Grades thread, meme edition. When mere words will not suffice. Rondo = cool beans. Cauley Stein = cool beans. Kings tonight = cool beans. It was the thrashing we needed to deliver to
showcase our talent.
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Boxscore
Stats: 31min 19pts (8-12, 2-3, 1-2) 6reb 3ast 2stl 0blk 0TO
Summary: Almost overshadowed by all the other fireworks, all Gay did was dominate Kobe
Gay ( B+ ) -- My goodness, what a game!! Clearly I can't do this evaluation properly, because I was so mesmerized by Rajon Rondo in the beginning of the game and Willie Cauley-Stein in the second part of the game. Anyway, Rudy started extremely well, missing his first shot only somewhere in the middle of the second quarter. He was shooting extremely well throughout the game and, except for his missed second 3-pointer, which was probably a hasty bad decision, he was Rudy at his best. Also defensively, initially guarding Kobe, Rudy was performing well. Kobe couldn't get anything going missing 7 out of his 8 attempts from downtown. It may sound unfair to give a player only B+ when he was shooting 67% both from the field and from 3-point range (19 points total) combined with 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals without a single turnover, but tonight I saved my grades starting with A to Rondo and Cauley-Stein. --Kingston
Stats: 30min 17pts (7-8, 0-0, 3-5) 9reb 1ast 1stl 3blk 2TO
Summary: a dynamic start for the rookie not only on D, but dropping some nice offensive moves too
Cauley Stein ( A+ ) -- forget whatever that rookie hazing thing was that Karl did with WCS in game 1 -- this was effectively his debut, and what a remarkably dynamic one it was. He was flat flying out there. Rim to rim at breakneck speed, taking finishes from Rondo and Colliosn on one end, then racing back in time to get chasedown blocks and challenges on the other. We, and the Lakers, got a full taste of the length and mobility that are going to make this kid such a special defensive presence. He began the 2nd half meeting Hibbert at the rim for another block, and as the rout was on in the 4th even added in a series of really nice looking post moves that you didn't know he had. Not every opponent is the Lakers, and not every night will be like tonight, but in one explosive game he already laid down notice that we've finally found the Boogie complement at PF. If he keeps on playing like this there quickly won't be any more talk of changing starters for every opponent etc. Too long and too fast, there's nothing there for opponents to take advantage of. --Brick
Stats: 28min 21pts (5-15, 0-2, 11-14) 11reb 3ast 0stl 2blk 0TO
Summary: put up 21-11 in only 28min while bullyboucing the smaller Lakers
Cousins ( A- ) -- What a game. Cousins had a great first half, despite not shooting particularly well. He managed to get Hibbert in foul trouble within the first five minutes of the game, which cleared the board for the Kings' bigs to completely dominate the 6'8" Bass, 6'8" Randle and 6'9" Tarik Black. The most important point is that Cousins was playing under control and not forcing the issue. He was drawing fouls throughout the game, and scored 11 of his 21 from the free throw line. Defensively, Cousins almost had the night off, partially due to the general incompetence of the Lakers front line, but largely due to the effectiveness of WCS and Koufos as primary defensive stoppers when they were in the game. With a little better shooting, this would have been an A+ game for Cousins. As it is, he still had a great game without needing to do everything for the team to win. --Hadlowe
Stats: 25min 7pts (2-8, 1-3, 2-2) 3reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 1TO
Summary: another invisible start that at least turned into attempts to join the party late in the blowout
McLemore ( C ) -- poor Ben -- the rest of the frat was out on the court having a party, and Ben was still stuck in a corner doing his homework. Fell asleep on defense early and got backcut on for a score, but as things quickly accelerated his defense was solid enough. About a third to a half of Clarkson's (who BTW, as I mentioned this summer I still think is their best guard) points were against him, and anything the Lakers were doing they were doing in the backcourt. But Ben wasn't lost out there, stayed in front of guys sometimes, when he got picked or rotated way it was mostly understandable. There was no hint of stopper, but he was moving well and wasn't hurting us with his defense. And with Rondo and Trill, two guys you normally expect single figures from, combining for 38 points, Ben's offensive invisibility wasn't a problem this time out either. Problem or not, of course he once again did almost nothing offensively before half, finally getting a three off a scramble play just before the half and never making anything of it. Nonetheless I bumped him half a grade here because down the stretch of the game for the first time you saw Ben begin to try to create, try to force action, try to join the party. He largely did not succeed, but it was the first sign o any kind of life so far this season, so it was notable. --Brick
Stats: 24min 21pts (9-13, 1-2, 2-2) 3reb 8ast 1stl 0blk 4TO
Summary: brilliant make up game, went right after Russel and dominated action early
Rondo ( A ) -- a huge bounceback game for Rajon. He actually blew a layup to start things off, but then he put the pedal to the medal and just dominated play for the next dozen minutes. Dominated the rookie Russel, who BTW could end up going down as a huge mistake for the Lakers, and who certain braniacs were urging we trade Cousins to get. Rajon was all over the place, had a steal and breakaway layup, was shredding the Lakers lack of transition defense fo layups of his own or setups of running big men. Added a poke away save of a break against Kobe, and just looked 100% in a different class/level than any Lakers player he was faced against. Actually so did we as a team. It looked suspciously like a good team taking a bad team to the woodshed, and an All Star taking some hapless kids out to the woodshed. His energy, and WCS's, set such a tone that everybody else couldn't help but get sucked up in it. --Brick
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