Happy NBA Opening Day!

Finally, we can stop wishing and fidgeting and wondering and get on with the games. The Bobcats may not play tonight, but Cats fans might especially be interested in checking out the Boston Celtics as they face the Cleveland Cavaliers. I've got no idea why the league scheduled Boston for a road-home back to back to start the season, but we're the beneficiaries, since we're the ones playing them tomorrow night.

Glen Davis is going to be out for a while after, apparently, busting his hand in a fight. That's not necessarily a bad thing for Boston, considering that I'm one of the biggest Rasheed Wallace fans outside of Detroit, and early in the season, the lack of fresher, younger, role players isn't an issue. They'll be fine if they have to give five minutes to Brian Scalabrine or Shelden Williams. We can use all the help we can get, and removing one of our opponents' rotation big men is a start.

For those of you who want to soak in the craziness tonight, here's more to look for:

-- How will Ron Artest mesh on offense with the Lakers? There's no way in the world his periodic gunner act will play alongside Kobe Bryant. I'm more inclined to think he'll be on the Rodman-with-Jordan side of the spectrum, but there's also a possibility he ends up on the Rodman-with-Robinson side of things.

-- LeBron has a new toy to play with: Shaq. Echoing dozens of posts/tweets/columns leading up to this, let's see if Shaq is serious about being a sidekick and not the big brother. If he does embrace the David Robinson ethic (two Admiral references in one post!) and cedes Best Player honor to the younger teammate, there's a chance the Cavs could simply wear down everyone else in the league from game to game with Shaq and Z playing 24 minutes each.

-- Will Gilbert Arenas play like the Agent Zero of old? For all his faults on the floor, when the guy is on, he's on, and the Wizards will need him to play his best in Antawn Jamison's absence. FreeDarko and others like to point out that in the NBA, character is essentially intertwined with production, and the Wizards have more characters than just about any other team in the league. How all that gets channeled, though, is to be determined.

-- Can Daryl Morey work a minor miracle in Houston? We're about to find out. With Yao Ming pretty much done for the year, and Tracy McGrady bound to miss a good chunk of games (unless he discovers Grant Hill's secret), the Rockets will be a grand experiment in unconventional roster construction. Seriously, they could be starting a 6-6 guy at center who's so bad on offense that the Lakers simply didn't guard him, and their GM insists he's the real deal! Hi. My name is David. I'm a rosterbation nut, and this is my catnip.