Um Kevin, I may have mentioned this to you, like for your entire frickin' career, but THEY ARE NOT GOING TO SEND YOU TO THE LINE ON A FLOP IN THE FINAL SECONDS.
That said, I think we need to petition the league to let us play the Nuggets every game of the season. For the last month they have been just about all the entertainment we've had around here.
Greene ( C ) -- hit his first jumper from the right side, grabbed some early boards and generally played a good roleplaying first quarter. Blocked at the rim after Sergio hit him on the cut in the 2nd. Got his hands on quite a few balls on defense for near steals and tips again. Quiet after half as the wheels came off, and minutes were sporadic therafter. Grabbed a board or two, missed a three, but generally neither involved nor visible and lost minutes in the nightly minutes scrum as 9 players racked up 19 or more (and Jason had 19).
Thompson ( D+ ) -- and again, as with the Philly game, the strong late game play against Charlotte just led nowhere, and the slump continues. What Jason should be concerned with, as if he is not lost in enough waves of self inflicted mental anguish already, is that his minutes are shrinking almost nightly as it has reached proportions that have him losing his coach's confidence. Everybody has ups and downs, but this is ridiculous, and it is 100% his own doing. And if he doesn't get a hold of himself and quick we might just start picking up that phone when teams call to inquire. Got picked up top when we got all crowded up and ran 3 guys into his zone. Did not score before leaving late in the first, and with the bench taking over ended up sitting the rest of the half watching while we built the lead. Recovered to immediately get a layup from Beno to start the third. Spin move turnover, and then fouled trying to get it back. Post move to stop the bleeding as we fell behind in the 4th. Lost a ton of minutes to Brockman, who did the things Jason is supposed to without sulking, freaking out, bouncing around like an idiot, or any of the other self-inflicted wounds. Not effective defensively on the other KMart. Finished the game 9th on the team in minutes despite neither being injured nor in foul trouble and may be crossing a critical threshhold here from being aguy who loses minutes if he gives his coach a reason not to play him, to one who loses minutes unless he gives his coach a reason to play him.. Wake the bleep up Jason! The game's not that complex.
Hawes ( A- ) -- our best player on the night? None other than the man-boy known as "Flutter" and "Soggy Waffles" because of his penchant for soft play. Aggressive start going right at Nene in the post, and very involved early. Came over for the help block on Smith, made a backdoor pass to Kevin. back in for very end of half, and got fouled on a pick and roll and hit the FTs to put us up 13. Running hook in the ealy 3rd. Immediate surge after Sergio returned in the third with a pair of hoops, and then a block. Turnaround blocked by the Bird. Block on Nene as we started the fade in the 4th. Hit an important jumper in the mid 4th to cut it back to 4 and hit big shot after big shot holding us right there. Scooped up a loose ball in mid court and went spinning and swooping past Nene for the layup to get us back within 2. Tipped home the game tying shot at the 28 second mark as he was poised to get the big hero grading bump. But missed the long jumper at the buzzer as we headed to OT -- play was not primarily designed for him, but his passing options were cut off. Still got off a decent look. Hit the corner three for the lead at the 1:30 mark of OT. Did make a largely meaningless mistake at the 0.7 second mark after the Nuggets hit 1 of 2 to go up 3 and largely ice it. From under our own hoop, down three, the only way to tie a three...and he threw it full court court down to a man in the Nuggets paint. Did not matter that it was tipped away, even if we caught it it could not have worked. In any case, not perfect but damn if Waffles didn't step up when everybody else was stepping back and almost pull this out. Finished with 23pts on 10-18 shooting, 7rebs and 3 ast and even managed to avoid getting pummeled by Nene. He flashed a few moments of clutch last year as well -- just think how good he could be if his body produced any testosterone. Is BALCO still in business?
Martin ( C ) -- played a very good first half -- and it wasn't about shooting/scoring, which never came smoothly. Rather it was him taking a page from Reke's draw and kick book and notching up 5 assists before halftime. Wasn't hesitating, wasn't looking to flop or force, when the pressure came or he was cut off he swung it sharply to the open guy and we were knocing them down. Unfortunately of course a game is 48 minutes long, or in this case 53, and Kevin's game will appropriately be remembered by his late play ratehr than his early play. Was being chased of the backdoor cuts by Affalo in the early going, finally got a drive +1 in the mid 1st. Dish to Hawes. Then another quick drive. Used the drive and kick to Donte. Once J.R. Smtih entered able to get free for that backdoor cut -- amazing the difference a non-defender makes. Could see him aware of the Birdman when he entered the game to protect the rim. Played some good defense rotating on Lawson. Airballed an open shot in the mid 2nd. Got the open three with 30 seconds to go to put us up 16, but more importantly had those 5 first half assists. Some shaky ballhandling to start the third. On an attempted alley oop in the mid-third got blocked by Carter. No points in the third and started to do the Kevin slouch before being replaced by Beno late in the period. We tried to force it to him to start the 4th resulting in another turnover. Drew a foul to finally get a pair of FTs in the early 4th and only hit 1 of 2. Missed an open three in the corner. Pair of gift FTs in the mid 4th on a flail/flop. Then drew another foul to get it within 2. Could not stop Billups at all down the stretch of the 4th and kept sending him to line. We finally had ot bring in Beno and Sergio for defensive(!) purposes. Very bad 2nd half. Started the OT looking like he was aiming for the redemption, hitting an open three to start things. Then the next time down wildly threw himself around trying to draw a foul, which is just so beyond tired and would bite us in the butt a few minutes later. Got free on the backdoor cut at the 2:45 mark of OT and still looking like maybe the storline would be redemption. But collapsed in the clutch situation again. Maybe a little fortunate in getting the loose ball foul called on Nene at the 45 second mark as the clock was running out and Kevin was heading toward a travel. Then came back and turned it over going 1 on 2 on the ensuing possesion. Beat by Affalo of all people for the game winner at the 19 second mark on the step back off the tip pola. On the play everybody is talking about, again blew a game winning/tyiong attempt at the OT buzzer as he AGAIN tried to flail around and draw the foul rather than just shoot the damn ball. This is a career long pattern and he just does not seem tto learn. The refs will NOT call a foul on your flop to win the game for you in the final seconds. They just won't. Nor should they. Its up to Kevin to make the adjustment, not the refs. So what started off looking promising ended up fugly. 22pts, but in a ton of minutes (47), 5-17 shooting for our 39% shooting shooting guard and as poor after half as he was good before it. Would normally drop this half a grade for the clutch collapse, but liked what I saw before half as he notched 5reb and 6ast (for 1 night only he was a 20-5-5 guy himself) and that gets the counter bump. Leaves it at a flat C.
Udrih ( C- ) -- well, stepped in as starter as we awesomely reunited 4/5 of our 17 win starting lineup for this one, and played kind of like he did last year. Hit his first jumper, then the give and go with JT. Faked Billups right to the floor so badly it looked like he may have hurt him -- Chauncey was down and maybe clutching his ankle. Now THAT would a fake to tell the kids about. Fake a guy right out of the game. Sat for a long spell as Sergio effectively ran things in the 2nd. Back in as we strangled after half. Timely jumper along the baseline to get it back to 9 at the 2:00 mark of the third, but then missed a layup. Another bad end of quarter sequence -- bad pass turnover, then beat by Lawson's quickness for the layup to close the third and shrink our lead down to only 5. Beat by Lawson's quickness again. Forced into the bad shot by the Nuggets defense at the 2:00 mark of the 4th. Stopped Billups on one posession in the last 2 minutes but then Billups posted him and scored over him to make it 4 again at the 55 second mark. Got stripped on a drive at the 3:15 mark of OT. Tied up Kenyon Martin for the jumpball in the clsoing seconds, but of course lost that jump on the play that Affalo knocked down for the game winner. Finsihed up with a messy 7pts 4reb 5ast 5TO night which maybe wasn't as bad as that line suggests, but certianly was nothing to write home about. Unless that letter to home says "mom, please don't watch this one".
That said, I think we need to petition the league to let us play the Nuggets every game of the season. For the last month they have been just about all the entertainment we've had around here.
Greene ( C ) -- hit his first jumper from the right side, grabbed some early boards and generally played a good roleplaying first quarter. Blocked at the rim after Sergio hit him on the cut in the 2nd. Got his hands on quite a few balls on defense for near steals and tips again. Quiet after half as the wheels came off, and minutes were sporadic therafter. Grabbed a board or two, missed a three, but generally neither involved nor visible and lost minutes in the nightly minutes scrum as 9 players racked up 19 or more (and Jason had 19).
Thompson ( D+ ) -- and again, as with the Philly game, the strong late game play against Charlotte just led nowhere, and the slump continues. What Jason should be concerned with, as if he is not lost in enough waves of self inflicted mental anguish already, is that his minutes are shrinking almost nightly as it has reached proportions that have him losing his coach's confidence. Everybody has ups and downs, but this is ridiculous, and it is 100% his own doing. And if he doesn't get a hold of himself and quick we might just start picking up that phone when teams call to inquire. Got picked up top when we got all crowded up and ran 3 guys into his zone. Did not score before leaving late in the first, and with the bench taking over ended up sitting the rest of the half watching while we built the lead. Recovered to immediately get a layup from Beno to start the third. Spin move turnover, and then fouled trying to get it back. Post move to stop the bleeding as we fell behind in the 4th. Lost a ton of minutes to Brockman, who did the things Jason is supposed to without sulking, freaking out, bouncing around like an idiot, or any of the other self-inflicted wounds. Not effective defensively on the other KMart. Finished the game 9th on the team in minutes despite neither being injured nor in foul trouble and may be crossing a critical threshhold here from being aguy who loses minutes if he gives his coach a reason not to play him, to one who loses minutes unless he gives his coach a reason to play him.. Wake the bleep up Jason! The game's not that complex.
Hawes ( A- ) -- our best player on the night? None other than the man-boy known as "Flutter" and "Soggy Waffles" because of his penchant for soft play. Aggressive start going right at Nene in the post, and very involved early. Came over for the help block on Smith, made a backdoor pass to Kevin. back in for very end of half, and got fouled on a pick and roll and hit the FTs to put us up 13. Running hook in the ealy 3rd. Immediate surge after Sergio returned in the third with a pair of hoops, and then a block. Turnaround blocked by the Bird. Block on Nene as we started the fade in the 4th. Hit an important jumper in the mid 4th to cut it back to 4 and hit big shot after big shot holding us right there. Scooped up a loose ball in mid court and went spinning and swooping past Nene for the layup to get us back within 2. Tipped home the game tying shot at the 28 second mark as he was poised to get the big hero grading bump. But missed the long jumper at the buzzer as we headed to OT -- play was not primarily designed for him, but his passing options were cut off. Still got off a decent look. Hit the corner three for the lead at the 1:30 mark of OT. Did make a largely meaningless mistake at the 0.7 second mark after the Nuggets hit 1 of 2 to go up 3 and largely ice it. From under our own hoop, down three, the only way to tie a three...and he threw it full court court down to a man in the Nuggets paint. Did not matter that it was tipped away, even if we caught it it could not have worked. In any case, not perfect but damn if Waffles didn't step up when everybody else was stepping back and almost pull this out. Finished with 23pts on 10-18 shooting, 7rebs and 3 ast and even managed to avoid getting pummeled by Nene. He flashed a few moments of clutch last year as well -- just think how good he could be if his body produced any testosterone. Is BALCO still in business?
Martin ( C ) -- played a very good first half -- and it wasn't about shooting/scoring, which never came smoothly. Rather it was him taking a page from Reke's draw and kick book and notching up 5 assists before halftime. Wasn't hesitating, wasn't looking to flop or force, when the pressure came or he was cut off he swung it sharply to the open guy and we were knocing them down. Unfortunately of course a game is 48 minutes long, or in this case 53, and Kevin's game will appropriately be remembered by his late play ratehr than his early play. Was being chased of the backdoor cuts by Affalo in the early going, finally got a drive +1 in the mid 1st. Dish to Hawes. Then another quick drive. Used the drive and kick to Donte. Once J.R. Smtih entered able to get free for that backdoor cut -- amazing the difference a non-defender makes. Could see him aware of the Birdman when he entered the game to protect the rim. Played some good defense rotating on Lawson. Airballed an open shot in the mid 2nd. Got the open three with 30 seconds to go to put us up 16, but more importantly had those 5 first half assists. Some shaky ballhandling to start the third. On an attempted alley oop in the mid-third got blocked by Carter. No points in the third and started to do the Kevin slouch before being replaced by Beno late in the period. We tried to force it to him to start the 4th resulting in another turnover. Drew a foul to finally get a pair of FTs in the early 4th and only hit 1 of 2. Missed an open three in the corner. Pair of gift FTs in the mid 4th on a flail/flop. Then drew another foul to get it within 2. Could not stop Billups at all down the stretch of the 4th and kept sending him to line. We finally had ot bring in Beno and Sergio for defensive(!) purposes. Very bad 2nd half. Started the OT looking like he was aiming for the redemption, hitting an open three to start things. Then the next time down wildly threw himself around trying to draw a foul, which is just so beyond tired and would bite us in the butt a few minutes later. Got free on the backdoor cut at the 2:45 mark of OT and still looking like maybe the storline would be redemption. But collapsed in the clutch situation again. Maybe a little fortunate in getting the loose ball foul called on Nene at the 45 second mark as the clock was running out and Kevin was heading toward a travel. Then came back and turned it over going 1 on 2 on the ensuing possesion. Beat by Affalo of all people for the game winner at the 19 second mark on the step back off the tip pola. On the play everybody is talking about, again blew a game winning/tyiong attempt at the OT buzzer as he AGAIN tried to flail around and draw the foul rather than just shoot the damn ball. This is a career long pattern and he just does not seem tto learn. The refs will NOT call a foul on your flop to win the game for you in the final seconds. They just won't. Nor should they. Its up to Kevin to make the adjustment, not the refs. So what started off looking promising ended up fugly. 22pts, but in a ton of minutes (47), 5-17 shooting for our 39% shooting shooting guard and as poor after half as he was good before it. Would normally drop this half a grade for the clutch collapse, but liked what I saw before half as he notched 5reb and 6ast (for 1 night only he was a 20-5-5 guy himself) and that gets the counter bump. Leaves it at a flat C.
Udrih ( C- ) -- well, stepped in as starter as we awesomely reunited 4/5 of our 17 win starting lineup for this one, and played kind of like he did last year. Hit his first jumper, then the give and go with JT. Faked Billups right to the floor so badly it looked like he may have hurt him -- Chauncey was down and maybe clutching his ankle. Now THAT would a fake to tell the kids about. Fake a guy right out of the game. Sat for a long spell as Sergio effectively ran things in the 2nd. Back in as we strangled after half. Timely jumper along the baseline to get it back to 9 at the 2:00 mark of the third, but then missed a layup. Another bad end of quarter sequence -- bad pass turnover, then beat by Lawson's quickness for the layup to close the third and shrink our lead down to only 5. Beat by Lawson's quickness again. Forced into the bad shot by the Nuggets defense at the 2:00 mark of the 4th. Stopped Billups on one posession in the last 2 minutes but then Billups posted him and scored over him to make it 4 again at the 55 second mark. Got stripped on a drive at the 3:15 mark of OT. Tied up Kenyon Martin for the jumpball in the clsoing seconds, but of course lost that jump on the play that Affalo knocked down for the game winner. Finsihed up with a messy 7pts 4reb 5ast 5TO night which maybe wasn't as bad as that line suggests, but certianly was nothing to write home about. Unless that letter to home says "mom, please don't watch this one".
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