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>_<
Three games into the bright shining future! Two blowouts! One win against the worst defense in the league!
But at least our guys have more character than the other team, am I right?
Since Bricklayer is a much smarter guy than I am and abandoned ship before it had an opportunity to crash into yet another iceberg, I thought I'd try my hand at grades tonight. Don't expect many guys to be making the honor roll.
Ben Mclemore - (C) 24 min, 14 pts (5/10, 2/3 3p), 4 rbs, 1 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 3 tov, 2 pf
One of the few bright sides of the past couple of weeks has been Ben McLemore's sudden development into a consistent NBA basketball player. Was overmatched at small forward against the rapidly developing Andrew Wiggins but it's really hard to fault him for that since (a) Andrew Wiggins is really really good and (b) Ben is as much of a small forward as I am a bikini model. Hit his threes (would actually like to see him take more), fought for most of his playing time and, most important of all, displayed lots and lots of character <3
Willie Cauley-Stein - (C+) 34 min, 14 pt (5/11, 4/8 ft), 6 rbs, 5 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk, 4 tov, 3 pf
Oh Willie Willie Willie. After one 29 pt performance, Willie suddenly got it into his head that he was a number one option on offense, delivering a series of slightly bizarre and off-kilter interviews insinuating that the Boogie trade had finally allowed offensive juggernaut Willie to emerge from his cocoon and take the NBA by storm. While I'm not sure about that, Willie played a much better game than he did against the Hornets. Willie's probably never going to be a consistent double-digit rebound guy but he made an effort at times. Also continues to show above average passing talents and was finding cutters to start the game. He did this to a fault though and wound up with 4 turnovers. Also got absolutely demolished by KAT most of the night as the Timberwolves have apparently not given up on big man basketball.
Kosta Koufos - (B+) 24 min, 14 pt (6/8), 11 rbs, 1 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 1 tov, 3 pf
Was our best player tonight, which is more sad than anything else. Kosta had a really solid game and would have really looked good on a contending team somewhere, preferably a team that had given us a pick for his services but that's asking too much of our wonder team. When we tank, we do it half-assed and crappily. Anyways, Kosta looked like the best player on the court in the first quarter then disappeared in the second half when coach decided to throw Willie out there for huge minutes to middling results.
Ty Lawson - (C+) 35 min, 11 pt (5/13, 0/2 3p), 1 rbs, 9 ast, 2 stl, 0 blk, 3 tov, 2 pf
Ty had his best game since the all-star break, which isn't saying much as he still spent most of the night getting torched by Ricky Rubio. Also started at shooting guard as Coach Joerger just said "**** it" and has gone full small ball. Did pass the ball well tonight and was as much of a creator as our cluster**** of a team could allow. Still not really a good game by most measures but player with character so <3.
Darren Collison - (D+) 29 min, 10 pt (5/13), 2 rbs, 2 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 0 tov, 1 pf
And here's where things start to get fugly. On paper, Darren's night doesn't look as bad as it actually was. Simply couldn't do much of anything all night. Couldn't create for teammates or himself and missed most of the shots he did take. On the positive side, he was one of the few dudes who didn't turn the ball over so huzzah for that, I guess.
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Anthony Tolliver - (F) 20 min, 0 pt (0/2), 2 rbs, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk, 1 tov, 1 pf
Oh boy. Just not good. At. All. Wasn't aggressive, letting the T'Wolve collection of young bigs dominate him on the glass and on defense all night. On offense, didn't take shots he should have taken and just seemed out of sorts all night. But he's a locker room leader and seems like a good guy with lots of character <3
Tyreke Evans - (C-) 24 min, 13 pt (5/12, 3/3 3p), 5 rbs, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk, 2 tov, 3 pf
Hard to figure out Reke at this point in his career. Knee injuries have taken most of the explosiveness of his first stint in Sacramento, resulting in lots and lots of misses at the rim. Also didn't do much to help set up teammates, often grinding out a good six seconds of the possession before driving to the hoop for a miss. To his credit though, he's become a better perimeter shooter over the years. Didn't do much defensively to help stave off the Minnesota maelstrom and just wasn't all that impactful.
Steph Curry - (F) 26 min, 8 pts (3/8, 1/5 3p), 5 rbs, 0 ast, 1 stl, 0 blk, 4 tov, 1 pf
Just bad, soul-crushingly so. Started out making turds out of diamonds by turning over a couple of gimme possessions that pretty much demolished any and all momentum the team had in the early going. On defense, continues to get beaten by dudes on a continual basis. To his credit, Buddy, er, Steph 3.0, seems to have a real nose for the ball on the defensive glass, which is a good skill for your guards to have when your center is Willie "What's Boxing Out?" Cauley-Stein. Missed a couple more shots in the third quarter when we were making a mini-run to just completely and entirely kill any chance we had of making it a game. Scored in garbage time which probably made Vivek happy. Also, has lots and lots of character <3
Skal Labissiere - (B) 13 min, 4 pts (2/4), 6 rbs, 0 ast, 0 stl, 1 blk, 0 tov, 2 pf
Another promising performance from Skal, who is looking more and more like the steal of the draft. Is a much better rebounder than I remember him being from his time in Reno and college and had another one of those come-from-out-of-nowhere swats. Unfortunately still too skinny to muscle with guys down low and KAT really started rolling with Skal on him in the second. If you listen to Grant, Skal is the second coming. The reality is Skal is probably less than that but he's looking more and more like a key player going forward in Kings 3.0 basketball <3
Langston Galloway - (INC)
Token garbage time appearance.
Georgios Papagiannis - (INC)
See above
>
>
>_<
Three games into the bright shining future! Two blowouts! One win against the worst defense in the league!
But at least our guys have more character than the other team, am I right?
Since Bricklayer is a much smarter guy than I am and abandoned ship before it had an opportunity to crash into yet another iceberg, I thought I'd try my hand at grades tonight. Don't expect many guys to be making the honor roll.
Ben Mclemore - (C) 24 min, 14 pts (5/10, 2/3 3p), 4 rbs, 1 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 3 tov, 2 pf
One of the few bright sides of the past couple of weeks has been Ben McLemore's sudden development into a consistent NBA basketball player. Was overmatched at small forward against the rapidly developing Andrew Wiggins but it's really hard to fault him for that since (a) Andrew Wiggins is really really good and (b) Ben is as much of a small forward as I am a bikini model. Hit his threes (would actually like to see him take more), fought for most of his playing time and, most important of all, displayed lots and lots of character <3
Willie Cauley-Stein - (C+) 34 min, 14 pt (5/11, 4/8 ft), 6 rbs, 5 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk, 4 tov, 3 pf
Oh Willie Willie Willie. After one 29 pt performance, Willie suddenly got it into his head that he was a number one option on offense, delivering a series of slightly bizarre and off-kilter interviews insinuating that the Boogie trade had finally allowed offensive juggernaut Willie to emerge from his cocoon and take the NBA by storm. While I'm not sure about that, Willie played a much better game than he did against the Hornets. Willie's probably never going to be a consistent double-digit rebound guy but he made an effort at times. Also continues to show above average passing talents and was finding cutters to start the game. He did this to a fault though and wound up with 4 turnovers. Also got absolutely demolished by KAT most of the night as the Timberwolves have apparently not given up on big man basketball.
Kosta Koufos - (B+) 24 min, 14 pt (6/8), 11 rbs, 1 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 1 tov, 3 pf
Was our best player tonight, which is more sad than anything else. Kosta had a really solid game and would have really looked good on a contending team somewhere, preferably a team that had given us a pick for his services but that's asking too much of our wonder team. When we tank, we do it half-assed and crappily. Anyways, Kosta looked like the best player on the court in the first quarter then disappeared in the second half when coach decided to throw Willie out there for huge minutes to middling results.
Ty Lawson - (C+) 35 min, 11 pt (5/13, 0/2 3p), 1 rbs, 9 ast, 2 stl, 0 blk, 3 tov, 2 pf
Ty had his best game since the all-star break, which isn't saying much as he still spent most of the night getting torched by Ricky Rubio. Also started at shooting guard as Coach Joerger just said "**** it" and has gone full small ball. Did pass the ball well tonight and was as much of a creator as our cluster**** of a team could allow. Still not really a good game by most measures but player with character so <3.
Darren Collison - (D+) 29 min, 10 pt (5/13), 2 rbs, 2 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 0 tov, 1 pf
And here's where things start to get fugly. On paper, Darren's night doesn't look as bad as it actually was. Simply couldn't do much of anything all night. Couldn't create for teammates or himself and missed most of the shots he did take. On the positive side, he was one of the few dudes who didn't turn the ball over so huzzah for that, I guess.
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Anthony Tolliver - (F) 20 min, 0 pt (0/2), 2 rbs, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk, 1 tov, 1 pf
Oh boy. Just not good. At. All. Wasn't aggressive, letting the T'Wolve collection of young bigs dominate him on the glass and on defense all night. On offense, didn't take shots he should have taken and just seemed out of sorts all night. But he's a locker room leader and seems like a good guy with lots of character <3
Tyreke Evans - (C-) 24 min, 13 pt (5/12, 3/3 3p), 5 rbs, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk, 2 tov, 3 pf
Hard to figure out Reke at this point in his career. Knee injuries have taken most of the explosiveness of his first stint in Sacramento, resulting in lots and lots of misses at the rim. Also didn't do much to help set up teammates, often grinding out a good six seconds of the possession before driving to the hoop for a miss. To his credit though, he's become a better perimeter shooter over the years. Didn't do much defensively to help stave off the Minnesota maelstrom and just wasn't all that impactful.
Steph Curry - (F) 26 min, 8 pts (3/8, 1/5 3p), 5 rbs, 0 ast, 1 stl, 0 blk, 4 tov, 1 pf
Just bad, soul-crushingly so. Started out making turds out of diamonds by turning over a couple of gimme possessions that pretty much demolished any and all momentum the team had in the early going. On defense, continues to get beaten by dudes on a continual basis. To his credit, Buddy, er, Steph 3.0, seems to have a real nose for the ball on the defensive glass, which is a good skill for your guards to have when your center is Willie "What's Boxing Out?" Cauley-Stein. Missed a couple more shots in the third quarter when we were making a mini-run to just completely and entirely kill any chance we had of making it a game. Scored in garbage time which probably made Vivek happy. Also, has lots and lots of character <3
Skal Labissiere - (B) 13 min, 4 pts (2/4), 6 rbs, 0 ast, 0 stl, 1 blk, 0 tov, 2 pf
Another promising performance from Skal, who is looking more and more like the steal of the draft. Is a much better rebounder than I remember him being from his time in Reno and college and had another one of those come-from-out-of-nowhere swats. Unfortunately still too skinny to muscle with guys down low and KAT really started rolling with Skal on him in the second. If you listen to Grant, Skal is the second coming. The reality is Skal is probably less than that but he's looking more and more like a key player going forward in Kings 3.0 basketball <3
Langston Galloway - (INC)
Token garbage time appearance.
Georgios Papagiannis - (INC)
See above
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