Bryan Joiner

Not much to say here except that if you don’t miss shots, you’re probably going to win a lot of games. Garnett has been as-advertised, but I think this season is quickly shaping up to be a referendum on Paul Pierce: is he a good player, or is he a great one? I’ll admit that I was always in the former camp, but this year he’s going to get enough open looks to earn/re-earn his superstar reputation.

One thing bothers me, though: the notion that Pierce is the team’s captain. This seems to stem solely by virtue of his service to the organization. SI’s season preview described in detail how Pierce gained weight and was mentally checking out of games last year — those aren’t the actions of a team leader. I’m not dogging Pierce here. You can be ultra-competitive and a great player without being a team leader, and it’s not a diss to say so. Kobe would fall into the same camp. There aren’t that many team leaders out there, but the ones that are should be captains. Kevin Garnett is a team leader. He should be the captain in name if he already is so in spirit.