For those wondering if Derrick Favors is going to start right away, Avery Johnson offered some definitive statements on the topic: “Right now, I just don’t want to start Favors,” Johnson said after the team’s shootaround Sunday. “He could be Bill Walton or Shaq, it doesn’t matter, I just don’t want to start him right now.”
Stefan Bondy gets the hype machine going:
If you weren’t excited enough about Derrick Favors’ 14-point, nine-rebound performance tonight, this postgame quote should be all the convincing you need:
“I’d say it was an okay day,” Favors said, without a hint of arrogance, following the 108-70 victory over Maccabi Haifa.
Okay? In his first professional game, Favors took eight shots and made six of them. His first shot was an alley-oop dunk. His second shot was a dunk. His third shot was a dunk.
Avery on the team’s overall effort yesterday (a 108-70 win over Maccabi Haifa): “We have a long ways to go,” Johnson said. “Fortunately for us the season doesn’t start now. Defensively, too many breakdowns, especially in the first half.”
Brook Lopez especially drew some criticism after last night: “Not good,” was Avery Johnson’s assessment of the player he just called a cornerstone a few days ago. “Not good. Not good, especially against a 6-6 center. Got overpowered, not good. But he brought more energy in the third quarter. We talked about it halftime and he responded.”
The ever-quirky Terrence Williams: “I call everyone rook now,” Williams said. “I even call Joe Smith a ‘rook.’ He’s a reborn ‘rook.’
