This is the first ever edition of "The Post-Up Play" by Kevin Cantor. This is a new column where I’ll "dish-out" the issues concerning the NBA for the past week, highlight the player of the week, and much more. So stay tuned and read the column every Wednesday.First off, I’d just like to say that it’s great to have the NBA season back. Football is great, Baseball is dramatic, but nothing can match up to the heart-pounding excitement of basketball. On Opening Night we saw three great games including the 2003-2004 NBA Champions, the Detroit Pistons, battling T-Mac’s new home, the Houston Rockets. We also saw the new-look Denver Nuggets take on the new-look Los Angeles Lakers and in a continuation of their epic feud, we saw the Sacramento Kings tip-off against the Dallas Mavericks.
Last night the Pistons were able to fend-off the Rockets in an 87 to 79 victory. Rasheed Wallace was the big scorer coming up with 24 points. Wallace suited up for three different teams last year, but now it look like he has found a stable home in the Motor City. McGrady added 18 for Houston, but didn’t quite do enough to give his team the W. Yao Ming and Ben Wallace "battled for the boards," as both picked up 10 rebounds for the night. Given this was the season opener and they were playing the defending champions, but if Houston wants to make a serious attempt at the NBA Championship, they are going to have to step it up a notch. Yao Ming is 7’6" and 310 lbs. He needs to make his presence known, and take advantage of teams with small centers, like Detroit and the 6’9" Ben Wallace.
In other action, the Lakers defeated the Nuggets 89 to 78. Kobe Bryant proved that he does not need Shaq as he put up 25 points. But the real story for the Lakers was Chris Mihm who played the best game of his life last night. Mihm scored 23 points and 12 rebounds against the team from Denver. Mihm has huge shoes to fill as he’s one of the players needed to help do the job that Shaq did. For the Nuggets Carmelo Anthony put up 20 points, and Marcus Camby grabbed 16 boards for the evening. Kenyon Martin, making his regular season debut with the Nuggest, knocked down 13 points and 7 rebounds, both of which were lower than his average last year with the New Jersey Nets.
The final game of the night was one with years of regular season and post-season history. In the battle in the West, the Mavericks defeated the Kings 107 to 98. In this game the Kings never led at any point, which is uncommon for a team as deep as Sacramento. Dirk Nowitzki put up an amazing game scoring 33 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, leading his team in both fields. Brad Miller came up big with 24 points, leading his team in scoring. Chris Webber pulled down 10 rebounds and Mike Bibby dished out 6 assists. The Mavericks who are playing this season without Jamison, Walker, and Nash have the additions of Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse, among others. Only time will tell the success these great talents can bring to the ball club.
And that wraps up this edition of The Post-Up Play. We now finish with the Player Of The Week, and The Player To Look Out For :
Player Of The Week : Dirk Nowitzki (DAL)
Player To Watch : Chris Mihm (LAL)