We good.
I would regale you with another perk me up theme, but am afraid I have used up my board sanctioned pretty girl posting quota for the week.
Cisco ( B ) -- in with Kevin, out with John, and Cisco with a solid start in his place. Gave us a boost with first half energy, grabbed some boards, made some passes, hustled around, flopped like a dead fish. Not a lot of offense, but overall helpful. Gave us a little more offense, but a little less of everything else after half, inlcuding defense where he kept on turning his head and losing his man. Still a solid contributing effort cut somewhat artificailly short when Reggie abruptly went with Douby instead for the final four minutes of the game.
Hawes ( B+ ) -- got the start, and in an apparent Theus nightmare, justified it. Actually was off to the mediocre start before half. Miller was doing more. Was not on the glass. Moved his feet well on defense but was giving us nothing as a shotblocker. And was rushing his shots a bit on offense. But it was Hawes who made the difference in the early 3rd quarter with a series of nifty plays, both passing the ball, stepping in front of passes for steals, and with his own offense. His length was also an impediment to Okur. Got Theused at the 3 minute mark of the quarter, when seconds after leading a fastbreak (yes, leading) and throwing a nifty behind the back pass on the move to Beno for the layup, he got yanked. Makes sense to me. Came back wiht a couple of good plays late, but was not a factor down the stretch. Most of the excitment cetners around the one quarter (the 3rd) and the boardwork was shoddy, so went with the B+ rather than the A-, but it was a good outing either way.
Miller ( B ) -- had his guy in the park standstill jumper game going nicely in the early going, and also had a couple of blocks against a suddenly vulnerable Jazz frontline (minus Boozer and AK47). Was solid on the galss, although still outperformed by both the Jazz bigs (Okur sand Milsap). Actually ended up recieving more good passes (often from Hawes) than he delivered tonight. Did try to get the Kevin backdoor game going, but only worked once that I can recall -- otherwise the Jazz were doing a good job defending it. Solid down the stretch, but no real impact. Made that pass, hit a couple of FTs, even had a post move to put us up one, but was invisible inside as Deron Williams ran right past him for a key layup (to be fair Brad was the only guy who was not invisible inside for most of the night with a very out of character 4 blocks) and wildly missed a layup with under 30 seconds to go that pretty much sealed things for us. Might have "+"'d him if we had won, but we did not. As an aside, notice that he and Spencer have not been chucking as many threes the last couple of games?
BJax ( D ) -- playing out of position and ineffective -- just cannot get that shot to fall anymore and was 0-4 again from three point land. Got a few hustle steals, and scored a few hoops on the break. Lost the late minutes after Korver in particular began to shoot over him with relative ease (nice 6-7 inch height advantage there).
Udrih ( C+ ) -- a game in which Beno did some good things, hit his shots, and for 44 minutes was the better PG on the floor, was noentheless marred by a stack of odd careless turnovers, foul trouble, and losing control of Deron when it mattered. This grade may be a half tic low, not sure. But the turnovers in particular are a real problem. Beno's offense was a general plus all night, but then he would jsut suddenly throw the ball to...noone. Not like he was forcing passes that could have made it. I mean just throw it out in space to nobody. there's got to be some miscommunication there -- its like when a quarterback throws a ball downfield and no receiver is within 10 yards of it. Somebody didn't know the route, whether it be the QB or the receiver. Ditto with some of these. No idea what Beno is looking at. Anyway, we still were holding our own in the PG matchup for most of the night, and with all the Jazz injuries that was a major reason why we had a chance to steal this. But then down the stretch Deron woke up and showed why he's a star player, taking over and picking us apart in crunchtime like it was the game in Utah all over again. Beno had a key drive to put us up one in the final minutes, and then added the meaningless cheapie at the buzzer, but in the end the gap between the guy in control of the whole court in the clutch and the guy who plays for the Kings was all too evident.
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Martin ( B ) -- our most important benchee of course as Kevin was finally back. Of course with
John now out, it became largely a wash, not that the two of them were really working great together at the start of the season. Came back hot shooting to start things, but then cooled dramatically as the 2nd quarter wore on and finished the half something like 3-9. In lieu of shooting the ball began to get the FT parade going in the third quarter and got his points that way. Was quiet in the 4th until bombing in back to back threes in the middle of the quarter to pull us back within striking distance and force the Jazz to bring back in the A-listers (or what is left of them on that banged up team). Think he got a freebie layup late with the game decided, but never back to the line. Was actually bothered significantly by Morris Almond on defense -- not a player I would think of as a top defender, but he was all over Kevin. Didn't come back playing anymore of a complete game than he left us with --2rebs 2asts 2stls -- but did not really expect him to, and first game back and all that. Not an explosive return, but a solid enough one. Was a bit of a struggle, but got his points, and the back to back threes in the 4th were important momentum shifters. Not there for us in crunchtime, but then again, who was?
Brown ( C ) -- five empty first half minutes, did use a nifty crossover to free himself up and set up Brad on one possession, but led to nothing. Was a little better after half, looked more competitive against Price on defense, and hit a three on a setup from Kevin. Still limited productivity here.
Thompson ( D ) -- gotta love Reggie's new "commitment to youth". Basically starting Hawes because if he doesn't he gets fired. JT? 3 minutes of first half action. But that was up to 8 after half, so its all good right? Right? Of course it would help if Jason would start doing something again. Have a chicken and the egg thing here. Did Jason's game go south once he was back to spot minutes and garbagetime and the coach lost confidence in him, or did the coach lose confidence in him because his game went south first? Not sure, but in any case gave us 11 minutes of nothing tonight. Should have had a block at the end of the 3rd, but got called a foul. Did almost nothing else of note. Not even enough bad stuff to give him an F. Just...nothing.
Moore ( D ) -- soon after entering tried a dunk with authority and missed, then got repeatedly smushed inside. May have been pressing trying to prove his worth but certainly did little to help his cause this time out. Was getting called for his normal assortment of defensive fouls, and complaining about them all. Was mysteriously inserted right in the middle of Spencer's third quarter hot streak. So maybe you can call Mikki Moore "the cooler" now. Not a good outing as our bench was a wasteland other than Kevin.
Greene ( INC ) -- another 3 minute first half kid, missed both his shots, including getting a dunk blocked at the last second. And that was it. No minutes after half.
Douby ( INC ) -- wow, this is unfair even having to put his name down. Fortunately he did not play enough minutes to get a real grade to make it worse. In any case, in the move of the game, Quincy Douby, who had not played a minute all game, suddenly gets inserted by Reggie Theus in a one point game (I think) wiht 4 minutes to go. The same guy who had his confidence crushed after back to back chokes last month. Don't know whether Reggie was trying to get it back for him or what, but just...wow. What a coaching move. If it was for defense...er, maybe. Did impede Korver on a shot. But really? A dead cold player suddenly inserted? If it was to help our draft position...well then we should all give Reggie a big ole kiss, because Quincy came out, and surprise! choked again. Not only do we have him out there, but all of a sudden he is like our goto guy down the stretch, and we get a badly clanked 3pter from one corner, leading to murmurs from the crowd. An out of control drive and pair of FTs which he mercifully hit. And then an AIRBALLED 3pt shot from the other corner which just...the crowd was not happy. I was not happy. And any hope Quincy Douby ever had of ever hitting another clutch shot in his basketball life may have just flown out the door. My goodness. Oh, we lost btw. Again, what a coaching move.
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Theus ( ) -- You know when the poll question is "Which coaching move drew your ire the most?" that there is going to be a problem here.
I would regale you with another perk me up theme, but am afraid I have used up my board sanctioned pretty girl posting quota for the week.
Cisco ( B ) -- in with Kevin, out with John, and Cisco with a solid start in his place. Gave us a boost with first half energy, grabbed some boards, made some passes, hustled around, flopped like a dead fish. Not a lot of offense, but overall helpful. Gave us a little more offense, but a little less of everything else after half, inlcuding defense where he kept on turning his head and losing his man. Still a solid contributing effort cut somewhat artificailly short when Reggie abruptly went with Douby instead for the final four minutes of the game.
Hawes ( B+ ) -- got the start, and in an apparent Theus nightmare, justified it. Actually was off to the mediocre start before half. Miller was doing more. Was not on the glass. Moved his feet well on defense but was giving us nothing as a shotblocker. And was rushing his shots a bit on offense. But it was Hawes who made the difference in the early 3rd quarter with a series of nifty plays, both passing the ball, stepping in front of passes for steals, and with his own offense. His length was also an impediment to Okur. Got Theused at the 3 minute mark of the quarter, when seconds after leading a fastbreak (yes, leading) and throwing a nifty behind the back pass on the move to Beno for the layup, he got yanked. Makes sense to me. Came back wiht a couple of good plays late, but was not a factor down the stretch. Most of the excitment cetners around the one quarter (the 3rd) and the boardwork was shoddy, so went with the B+ rather than the A-, but it was a good outing either way.
Miller ( B ) -- had his guy in the park standstill jumper game going nicely in the early going, and also had a couple of blocks against a suddenly vulnerable Jazz frontline (minus Boozer and AK47). Was solid on the galss, although still outperformed by both the Jazz bigs (Okur sand Milsap). Actually ended up recieving more good passes (often from Hawes) than he delivered tonight. Did try to get the Kevin backdoor game going, but only worked once that I can recall -- otherwise the Jazz were doing a good job defending it. Solid down the stretch, but no real impact. Made that pass, hit a couple of FTs, even had a post move to put us up one, but was invisible inside as Deron Williams ran right past him for a key layup (to be fair Brad was the only guy who was not invisible inside for most of the night with a very out of character 4 blocks) and wildly missed a layup with under 30 seconds to go that pretty much sealed things for us. Might have "+"'d him if we had won, but we did not. As an aside, notice that he and Spencer have not been chucking as many threes the last couple of games?
BJax ( D ) -- playing out of position and ineffective -- just cannot get that shot to fall anymore and was 0-4 again from three point land. Got a few hustle steals, and scored a few hoops on the break. Lost the late minutes after Korver in particular began to shoot over him with relative ease (nice 6-7 inch height advantage there).
Udrih ( C+ ) -- a game in which Beno did some good things, hit his shots, and for 44 minutes was the better PG on the floor, was noentheless marred by a stack of odd careless turnovers, foul trouble, and losing control of Deron when it mattered. This grade may be a half tic low, not sure. But the turnovers in particular are a real problem. Beno's offense was a general plus all night, but then he would jsut suddenly throw the ball to...noone. Not like he was forcing passes that could have made it. I mean just throw it out in space to nobody. there's got to be some miscommunication there -- its like when a quarterback throws a ball downfield and no receiver is within 10 yards of it. Somebody didn't know the route, whether it be the QB or the receiver. Ditto with some of these. No idea what Beno is looking at. Anyway, we still were holding our own in the PG matchup for most of the night, and with all the Jazz injuries that was a major reason why we had a chance to steal this. But then down the stretch Deron woke up and showed why he's a star player, taking over and picking us apart in crunchtime like it was the game in Utah all over again. Beno had a key drive to put us up one in the final minutes, and then added the meaningless cheapie at the buzzer, but in the end the gap between the guy in control of the whole court in the clutch and the guy who plays for the Kings was all too evident.
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Martin ( B ) -- our most important benchee of course as Kevin was finally back. Of course with
John now out, it became largely a wash, not that the two of them were really working great together at the start of the season. Came back hot shooting to start things, but then cooled dramatically as the 2nd quarter wore on and finished the half something like 3-9. In lieu of shooting the ball began to get the FT parade going in the third quarter and got his points that way. Was quiet in the 4th until bombing in back to back threes in the middle of the quarter to pull us back within striking distance and force the Jazz to bring back in the A-listers (or what is left of them on that banged up team). Think he got a freebie layup late with the game decided, but never back to the line. Was actually bothered significantly by Morris Almond on defense -- not a player I would think of as a top defender, but he was all over Kevin. Didn't come back playing anymore of a complete game than he left us with --2rebs 2asts 2stls -- but did not really expect him to, and first game back and all that. Not an explosive return, but a solid enough one. Was a bit of a struggle, but got his points, and the back to back threes in the 4th were important momentum shifters. Not there for us in crunchtime, but then again, who was?
Brown ( C ) -- five empty first half minutes, did use a nifty crossover to free himself up and set up Brad on one possession, but led to nothing. Was a little better after half, looked more competitive against Price on defense, and hit a three on a setup from Kevin. Still limited productivity here.
Thompson ( D ) -- gotta love Reggie's new "commitment to youth". Basically starting Hawes because if he doesn't he gets fired. JT? 3 minutes of first half action. But that was up to 8 after half, so its all good right? Right? Of course it would help if Jason would start doing something again. Have a chicken and the egg thing here. Did Jason's game go south once he was back to spot minutes and garbagetime and the coach lost confidence in him, or did the coach lose confidence in him because his game went south first? Not sure, but in any case gave us 11 minutes of nothing tonight. Should have had a block at the end of the 3rd, but got called a foul. Did almost nothing else of note. Not even enough bad stuff to give him an F. Just...nothing.
Moore ( D ) -- soon after entering tried a dunk with authority and missed, then got repeatedly smushed inside. May have been pressing trying to prove his worth but certainly did little to help his cause this time out. Was getting called for his normal assortment of defensive fouls, and complaining about them all. Was mysteriously inserted right in the middle of Spencer's third quarter hot streak. So maybe you can call Mikki Moore "the cooler" now. Not a good outing as our bench was a wasteland other than Kevin.
Greene ( INC ) -- another 3 minute first half kid, missed both his shots, including getting a dunk blocked at the last second. And that was it. No minutes after half.
Douby ( INC ) -- wow, this is unfair even having to put his name down. Fortunately he did not play enough minutes to get a real grade to make it worse. In any case, in the move of the game, Quincy Douby, who had not played a minute all game, suddenly gets inserted by Reggie Theus in a one point game (I think) wiht 4 minutes to go. The same guy who had his confidence crushed after back to back chokes last month. Don't know whether Reggie was trying to get it back for him or what, but just...wow. What a coaching move. If it was for defense...er, maybe. Did impede Korver on a shot. But really? A dead cold player suddenly inserted? If it was to help our draft position...well then we should all give Reggie a big ole kiss, because Quincy came out, and surprise! choked again. Not only do we have him out there, but all of a sudden he is like our goto guy down the stretch, and we get a badly clanked 3pter from one corner, leading to murmurs from the crowd. An out of control drive and pair of FTs which he mercifully hit. And then an AIRBALLED 3pt shot from the other corner which just...the crowd was not happy. I was not happy. And any hope Quincy Douby ever had of ever hitting another clutch shot in his basketball life may have just flown out the door. My goodness. Oh, we lost btw. Again, what a coaching move.
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Theus ( ) -- You know when the poll question is "Which coaching move drew your ire the most?" that there is going to be a problem here.
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