Alright, that's it. They have finally done it. I'm not going to theme this one up because I have nothing prepared and its a short turnaround. But if they keep playing like this through the roadtrip, it will be the fulltime return fo the grades themes. This team is just flat out depressing rihgt now, so if they can't entertain, I will endeavor to do so.
Casspi ( C+ ) -- very solid statistical game that didn't leave nearly that mpression if you watched it. Missed a runner to start, and then of course missed an open three on the Reke kickout. But then rather shockingly finally hit one of those on another look, and did it again 30 seconds later. Got quiet for a long spell, opened the 2nd quarter grabbing a d-board and getting it stripped from behind for an eventual Suns score, and after picking up his 2nd foul took his first rest. Came up with another hit and a pair of FTs after returning late in the quarter, and then missed the three pointer at the halftime buzzer. 10pt half, but most of that was just those back to back threes in the ealry first. In the 3rd dropped in a layup +1 (and hit the +1), had some d-rebs, but was having problems on defense, picked up his 4th foul, and had to sit until the extende garbagetime of the 4th. Picked up a goaltending on a Dudley layup in the mid 4th. Missed a pair of baseline jumpers late. Finished with a very respectable 17 and 8 here, but he's had games with lesser numbers and greater impact. Still was one of only three guys to bring it for us tonight at any level.
Greene ( A ) -- and here was the bright point on the night. After getting a look at this new improved Donte early this season I began to tag him as the 2nd most exciting prospect on the team behind Reke, and tonight Donte showed why. How many teams have a 6'11" guy who can bring the ball up the court and guard everyone from Kobe to Amare? You know what we call that? We call that a bigger version of Scottie Pippen. So inconsistent still, but tonight it looked like Reke's Robin might already be in the building. Wasn't scared of Amare in the least, and that too is a thing of beauty -- Kobe, Melo, Amare...not only is Donte not afraid of them, he goes out there and wants to embarrass them. Was the man right from the beginning for us tonight. Two early hoops, then canned a three, and not in my housed Amare with a big block out to the three point line. Missed a series of jumpers down the stretch of the quarter, but drew the offensive foul on Amare and was clearly frustrating him. Came back aggressive in the 2nd. Nice slow hesitation drive from the perimeter around Amare and through Lopez. Amare took him on one side, so Donte responded and came back with a big long drive along the baseline right by Amare. Then Amare came back with the pick and roll dunk as they dueled. Donte got the mop up dunk on a Reke missed layop. Missed an open three in the final minute of the half that we could have used to make it more a more mangeable halftime deficit. Big cut and taken out of the air by Lopez as he caught the ball going to the hoop in the 3rd. Swooped to the hoop past Amare. Frustrated Amare so much that he chucked Donte running down the floor and picked up the foul. So Donte responds by taking the ball and ramming it right back through Amare and Lopez for another foul. Things were falling apart for us anyway, and another good drive cut the lead to a mere 28. woot! Started the 4th getting fouled twice, the second one a shooting foul that let him hit 2 Fts to set his career higg. Went into the post, missed the shot, grabbed the reb, and scored the layup. Kept on hitting into the garbage mintes. Nioce finish +1 from Sergio to get us within 19, but Westphal decided soon therafter that Donte has given us enough, and that he was no garbagetime player on this night. remember a week or two ago when Donte only got 4 first quarter minutes one game? We have just got to clear up this logjam and let these kids loose every night.
Hawes ( D+ ) -- blocked by Lopez to start, nifty pass to Reke on the block against Nash, but getting overpowered by Lopez on the glass, and threw up an 0-4 first quarter in response. Follow jam of a Donte miss and the +1 to get us back within 13, but missed the FT. Worked aggressively to establish post position in the mid-3rd against Amare and then Nash but our guards could not see him somehow and did not get it into him. Whipped by Amare's athleticism in the third on both ends and invisible on the glass. After a long stretch of good games, this was a significant regression.
Martin ( F ) -- F. F. F. This one damaged my calm. I mean what the hell? Did someone spike his water? Is he clinically depressed? It was like some extra from Dawn of the Dead shuffled on into our lineup, and the thing was, the kids out there knew it. After a while they seemed to just want to pretend Kevin was invisible and went out there and tried to play 4 on 5. Kevin had about 6 minutes of moderate energy to give us -- maybe he ate half a power bar before the game or something. Hit his first outside jumper, got in for a near nice tip on the o-boards, but missed it and then missed on a runner. As soon as Dragic came in to guard him he instantly took him off the dribble for a running jumper -- basically the only moment of aggressiveness he could muster for the entire game. He would miss his next three, the last one trying to draw a foul, and after jumping into Dragic to draw a rather sad foul to close the first quarter and hit 1 of 2 FTs, that was it. The end of his scoring. The end of any contribution at all. And damn if it wasn't bad enough it might not lead to the eventual end of his tenure here as well. Was back in after a few minutes and missed a three. Just disappeared therafter and finally sat with just 5 pts on 2-7 with 3 minutes to go in the half. Halftime did absolutely nothing to fix anything. Casually threw up a bricked three in the mid 3rd that didn't even look like he wanted to take it, almost like an afterthought. Another three brick and finally FINALLY taken out with 3 minutes to go in the third and a -31 +/- in 26 minutes. There was absolutely nothing good to take from this. In fact its hard not to see it as a disaster. Kevin didn't look like he wanted to be out there. His teammates didn't look like they wanted him out there. And the crowd didn't sound like they wanted him out there. Even Westphal's constant parade of excuses for these performances was reduced to a no comment. Its probably a good thing we are going out on the road now to get away from at least some of it.
Evans ( B- ) -- a short night in which he got into early foul trouble, played through it, continued to accumulate physical punishment, and was finally just given the rest of the night off with the game spiraling wildly out of reach. Think maybe if we had gotten it back to the point of being semi-possible late we might have seen him again -- he played pretty well while he was out there. But we never got it into any realistic position. Hurt his hand on an early drive by Nash -- maybe a jam or something? First shot was a jumper, started getting the drive and dish game to Casspi really going in the middle first quarter, and got inside on the postup of Nash courtesy of the nifty Hawes pass. But Nash was brilliant back the other way and mixed in long threes by driving into him again and again. He got 2 fouls, but Westphal stuck wiht him, knowing both that he's gotten good at avoiding poickig up that 3rd, and that we were threatening to get blown out and needed him. well, the gamble did not pay off this time, as Nash went at him and it was 3 fouls in the first 7 1/2 minutes that took him out. Thing was, and here I was proud of both Westphal and Reke, we come out to start the 2nd quarter, and there is Reke again. Just pure stubborness on our part, and daring the refs to call something ticky tack on our star for his 4th. They did not. First drive of the quarter was a wild drive. Followed with a tough strength drive, and then despite the fouls played some strong defense on the block against Dudley and got smacked in the face for hsi troubles -- lot of blood on his second injury of the night, and apparently he bit his toungue. And yet again we stubbornly returned him in the mid-2nd. Really our second highlight of the night -- 1) Donte's toughness in facing down Amare, and 2) our stubborness and Reke's toughness in just returning again and again through foul trouble and injuries. If you have to go down, at least go down swinging. Reached in stole the ball from Richardson to start the break -- another pretty ballsy play for having three fouls -- missed the layup to finish the break, but Donte mopped it up. Got fouled and hit 1 of 2 FTs, then a nifty drive that he finished on the left side with his right hand, then another power drive. Nearly traveled on the final possession of the half while kicking it out to Omri for another missed three. In the thrid froze JRich with the dribble and blew by him to the hoop. Then forced a three one on one. Near steal on Nash that Nash somehow saved after the scramble. On his final drive airblalled the finish. Far from perfect, but the sort of game that would have been his normal 20 5+ 5+ if he had played his normal minutes. Given that he didn't and we lost badly, was goig to go C+ here, but I liked the stubborness and feistiness of the response to the first half foul troubles and bumps and bruises, so giving him the never give up never surrender half tick.
Casspi ( C+ ) -- very solid statistical game that didn't leave nearly that mpression if you watched it. Missed a runner to start, and then of course missed an open three on the Reke kickout. But then rather shockingly finally hit one of those on another look, and did it again 30 seconds later. Got quiet for a long spell, opened the 2nd quarter grabbing a d-board and getting it stripped from behind for an eventual Suns score, and after picking up his 2nd foul took his first rest. Came up with another hit and a pair of FTs after returning late in the quarter, and then missed the three pointer at the halftime buzzer. 10pt half, but most of that was just those back to back threes in the ealry first. In the 3rd dropped in a layup +1 (and hit the +1), had some d-rebs, but was having problems on defense, picked up his 4th foul, and had to sit until the extende garbagetime of the 4th. Picked up a goaltending on a Dudley layup in the mid 4th. Missed a pair of baseline jumpers late. Finished with a very respectable 17 and 8 here, but he's had games with lesser numbers and greater impact. Still was one of only three guys to bring it for us tonight at any level.
Greene ( A ) -- and here was the bright point on the night. After getting a look at this new improved Donte early this season I began to tag him as the 2nd most exciting prospect on the team behind Reke, and tonight Donte showed why. How many teams have a 6'11" guy who can bring the ball up the court and guard everyone from Kobe to Amare? You know what we call that? We call that a bigger version of Scottie Pippen. So inconsistent still, but tonight it looked like Reke's Robin might already be in the building. Wasn't scared of Amare in the least, and that too is a thing of beauty -- Kobe, Melo, Amare...not only is Donte not afraid of them, he goes out there and wants to embarrass them. Was the man right from the beginning for us tonight. Two early hoops, then canned a three, and not in my housed Amare with a big block out to the three point line. Missed a series of jumpers down the stretch of the quarter, but drew the offensive foul on Amare and was clearly frustrating him. Came back aggressive in the 2nd. Nice slow hesitation drive from the perimeter around Amare and through Lopez. Amare took him on one side, so Donte responded and came back with a big long drive along the baseline right by Amare. Then Amare came back with the pick and roll dunk as they dueled. Donte got the mop up dunk on a Reke missed layop. Missed an open three in the final minute of the half that we could have used to make it more a more mangeable halftime deficit. Big cut and taken out of the air by Lopez as he caught the ball going to the hoop in the 3rd. Swooped to the hoop past Amare. Frustrated Amare so much that he chucked Donte running down the floor and picked up the foul. So Donte responds by taking the ball and ramming it right back through Amare and Lopez for another foul. Things were falling apart for us anyway, and another good drive cut the lead to a mere 28. woot! Started the 4th getting fouled twice, the second one a shooting foul that let him hit 2 Fts to set his career higg. Went into the post, missed the shot, grabbed the reb, and scored the layup. Kept on hitting into the garbage mintes. Nioce finish +1 from Sergio to get us within 19, but Westphal decided soon therafter that Donte has given us enough, and that he was no garbagetime player on this night. remember a week or two ago when Donte only got 4 first quarter minutes one game? We have just got to clear up this logjam and let these kids loose every night.
Hawes ( D+ ) -- blocked by Lopez to start, nifty pass to Reke on the block against Nash, but getting overpowered by Lopez on the glass, and threw up an 0-4 first quarter in response. Follow jam of a Donte miss and the +1 to get us back within 13, but missed the FT. Worked aggressively to establish post position in the mid-3rd against Amare and then Nash but our guards could not see him somehow and did not get it into him. Whipped by Amare's athleticism in the third on both ends and invisible on the glass. After a long stretch of good games, this was a significant regression.
Martin ( F ) -- F. F. F. This one damaged my calm. I mean what the hell? Did someone spike his water? Is he clinically depressed? It was like some extra from Dawn of the Dead shuffled on into our lineup, and the thing was, the kids out there knew it. After a while they seemed to just want to pretend Kevin was invisible and went out there and tried to play 4 on 5. Kevin had about 6 minutes of moderate energy to give us -- maybe he ate half a power bar before the game or something. Hit his first outside jumper, got in for a near nice tip on the o-boards, but missed it and then missed on a runner. As soon as Dragic came in to guard him he instantly took him off the dribble for a running jumper -- basically the only moment of aggressiveness he could muster for the entire game. He would miss his next three, the last one trying to draw a foul, and after jumping into Dragic to draw a rather sad foul to close the first quarter and hit 1 of 2 FTs, that was it. The end of his scoring. The end of any contribution at all. And damn if it wasn't bad enough it might not lead to the eventual end of his tenure here as well. Was back in after a few minutes and missed a three. Just disappeared therafter and finally sat with just 5 pts on 2-7 with 3 minutes to go in the half. Halftime did absolutely nothing to fix anything. Casually threw up a bricked three in the mid 3rd that didn't even look like he wanted to take it, almost like an afterthought. Another three brick and finally FINALLY taken out with 3 minutes to go in the third and a -31 +/- in 26 minutes. There was absolutely nothing good to take from this. In fact its hard not to see it as a disaster. Kevin didn't look like he wanted to be out there. His teammates didn't look like they wanted him out there. And the crowd didn't sound like they wanted him out there. Even Westphal's constant parade of excuses for these performances was reduced to a no comment. Its probably a good thing we are going out on the road now to get away from at least some of it.
Evans ( B- ) -- a short night in which he got into early foul trouble, played through it, continued to accumulate physical punishment, and was finally just given the rest of the night off with the game spiraling wildly out of reach. Think maybe if we had gotten it back to the point of being semi-possible late we might have seen him again -- he played pretty well while he was out there. But we never got it into any realistic position. Hurt his hand on an early drive by Nash -- maybe a jam or something? First shot was a jumper, started getting the drive and dish game to Casspi really going in the middle first quarter, and got inside on the postup of Nash courtesy of the nifty Hawes pass. But Nash was brilliant back the other way and mixed in long threes by driving into him again and again. He got 2 fouls, but Westphal stuck wiht him, knowing both that he's gotten good at avoiding poickig up that 3rd, and that we were threatening to get blown out and needed him. well, the gamble did not pay off this time, as Nash went at him and it was 3 fouls in the first 7 1/2 minutes that took him out. Thing was, and here I was proud of both Westphal and Reke, we come out to start the 2nd quarter, and there is Reke again. Just pure stubborness on our part, and daring the refs to call something ticky tack on our star for his 4th. They did not. First drive of the quarter was a wild drive. Followed with a tough strength drive, and then despite the fouls played some strong defense on the block against Dudley and got smacked in the face for hsi troubles -- lot of blood on his second injury of the night, and apparently he bit his toungue. And yet again we stubbornly returned him in the mid-2nd. Really our second highlight of the night -- 1) Donte's toughness in facing down Amare, and 2) our stubborness and Reke's toughness in just returning again and again through foul trouble and injuries. If you have to go down, at least go down swinging. Reached in stole the ball from Richardson to start the break -- another pretty ballsy play for having three fouls -- missed the layup to finish the break, but Donte mopped it up. Got fouled and hit 1 of 2 FTs, then a nifty drive that he finished on the left side with his right hand, then another power drive. Nearly traveled on the final possession of the half while kicking it out to Omri for another missed three. In the thrid froze JRich with the dribble and blew by him to the hoop. Then forced a three one on one. Near steal on Nash that Nash somehow saved after the scramble. On his final drive airblalled the finish. Far from perfect, but the sort of game that would have been his normal 20 5+ 5+ if he had played his normal minutes. Given that he didn't and we lost badly, was goig to go C+ here, but I liked the stubborness and feistiness of the response to the first half foul troubles and bumps and bruises, so giving him the never give up never surrender half tick.
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