Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
A tale of three games.
A first half in which an injured Tyreke played pure distributor and Kevin ran wild. A 3rd quarter in which the Cats made adjustments and squished us, Reke was too hurt to make a difference, and Kevin found it a lot harder to get shots in the face fo extra attention. And a 3rd game int eh 4th quarter when Sergio Rodriguez and Jason Thompson, with a little help from Omri, said hey, we're still on the team too and mounted a big near-comeback against a Bobcats team that looked lik eit had packed it in early. I'm almost tempted to give out seperate grades for each game.
Boxscore
Greene ( C+ ) -- perhaps in apology for last night, racked up long minutes in this one. Missed a three courtesy of Reke kicking out of the double, good follow flush on a Kevin miss on the break, then another follow of a Kevin miss +1, but did not get the FT. Nifty long armed flip layup, but thta was it for the scoring. Still not many opportunities for anythign but garbage hoops, and when he did get one, it was normally against Gerald Wallace, who monstered us -- back to back monster games from Millsap and Wallace. Good defensive slapaway against the Charlotte break to save a hoop and create the turnover out of bounds off the Cats. Forced a 1 on 1 shot to start the third. Took a hard hit on an illegal screen that had him down for a bit, but was ok. Spent a lot of time on Wallace, who of course had the huge game. Yet really didn't think he did a bad job defensively when he was there. Wallace beat our team defense as much as Donte's, beating us out on the break, beating rotations, slipping behind screens, grabbing o-boards. Nonetheless having one of the main guys you are guarding go for 38 and 11 while you get 6 and 6 is not healthy for your grade. Played some good help defense. In the first half was able to play garbageman to give us a little offense. After half, largely invisble and could not hit his threes.
Thompson ( B- ) -- has a real gift for putting up big number games that don't feel nearly as good as the numbers, but at least in this one I knew when they were happening. Post over the smaller Wallace to start. Playing a nice all around floor game in the early going. Got another basket at the rim just before leaving in the later first quarter. Some good help defense as he returned in the second -- something that would become a welcome trend this game -- and kept it simple. Worked the boards, hustled. Had a major role to play in the semi-garbagetime comeback, and that makes this grade hard. Has worked his way up to a 4pt 10reb night by the end of the third, then through persistence more than brilliance added 8pts 6rebs in a quarter that may or may not have mattered. Didn't exactly start the quarter brilliantly, picking up an obvious offensive foul running over Gerald. Bu tcame back to hit a jumper. Blew a lyaup on the break, but got a second chance and hit it. Set a poor illegal screen. Kept playing though, and for once did it on both ends. Got some boards. A few little open jumpers, played good help defenseclosing the lane and helping the Cats stall out at 95pts. Tried to go inside and had no chance geting smushed by Gerald the same way AK47 got him last night. Grabebd a kevin miss in the final 20 seconds, got fouled...and then bricked bioth FTs. Fouled out finally on the intentional foul at the 2 second mark, because it wouldn't be a JT game if he didn't. But at least in this one he got some things done before he did. Probably a C+ type grade for the first three quarters -- better than he has been and doing a decent job of slipping into a non-scoring roleplaying role -- the key being if you are going to do that you have to defend, and he was at least trying. Then maybe a B+ in the 4th, which was either garbagetime or near big comeback depending on how you look at it. Throw in the numbers, and that mediates for a B grade, but really did not feel that good. So B- with a bullet. But also with a "better".
Hawes ( C+ ) -- nice swoop to the hoop to start, good pass to Reke. Hit Kevin on the backdoor cut as he was again having an impact with his passing. Unfortunately things were not going so well back the other way. Worked by Nazr in the high post area for 13 first half points. Nazr does not score 13pts in a half anymore, if he ever did. Tried to feed Reke out of the timeout at the 9:00 mark of the third but threw it over Reke's head. Good help defense on Felton to force the jump ball. Then a layup on the break. Good block on the other end. Was having a lot of balls tipped and slapped inside on offense for turnovers and near turnovers. Airballed a jumper. Another miss, and frankly it was too much Hawes on offense during our 3rd quarter collapse. Removed and never returned during the aborted comeback. Played pretty well on offense...right up until he quit playing pretty well on offense. Only a handful of shots of course. Defensively made another non-light (Nazr) look like a star, and so when he wasn't helping anymore on the other end, it was easy enough to shut him down for the night and smallball once again.
Martin ( B ) -- picked up right where he left off in a dynamic first half, then largely disappeared as the Bobcats closed in on him after the break. Missed his first three, hit his second, then missed another open one courtesy of Reke. Scored on the backdoor cut, out on the break for the basket+1 aga8in courtesy of Reke -- more on that under Reke's grade, but basiclaly he was hobbled and unable to move and concentrated on setting up Kevin in the first half. Dynamic first quarter, out on the break again, cherry picking as Casspi batted the ball to him for a +1. Another open three off of ball movement in the mid 2nd. Several more hits as the Charlotte zone oddly seemed designed to stop everybody but the guy scoring against them, and was up top 21pts by halftime. Left open in the corner AGAIN in the early third, and knocked down another three. But the Cats finally got the message, and with Reke basically unable to go after half, they shifted the focus to Kevin. The open looks evaporated and again and again he missed contested shots. After Reke left for the last time, almost a turnover as we tried to pass to him, then Kevin turned it over on a bad crosscourt pass. Then got a shot blocked. They squeezed, his offense collapsed. We brought Kevin back in after the backups had worked it down to 17 and he hit a few extra shots to sneak over 30 for the night. Tried to go backdoor with him on the set play, but got it blocked by Flip Murray (you read that right). Stepped in and missed another jumper in the 4th. Finally hit a three to make it 10 at the 3:47 mark. Got a blocking foul trying to draw the charge at the 1:50 mark. Beat by Murray for the FTs at the 1:20 makr. But used his speed to get back to back layuups in the last minute and cut the lead to 4. False alarm however as he was then blocked by Gerald on the play which killed our chances. Missed the desperation three in the final seconds. Big first half as the main weapon. Some late contributions to the Sergio led push. Yet took a ton of shots and was not that efficient about it by the end (11-25 on the night), had that one dimensional 2reb 1ast statline going again, and once again we failed to break 100 with Kevin out there -- we've done so only once since Kevin came back, and that was the last Charlotte game where we benched him in the 3rd.
Evans ( B- ) -- in some ways Tyreke Evans never showed up to this one, and that little factoid is important to understanding why this game went the way it did. Reke hurt his hip midway through that Utah game, and was noticeably hobbling in this one from the start, looked stiff and deadlegged in the third, and finally had to sit down for good. And what happened was that Reke turned into Rubio for a half. Unable to explode and consistently get that step on guys, Reke became an aggressive passer against the double teams the Cats were throwing at him -- doubles that probably were not necessary tonight -- and racked up 7 first half assists to only 4 points. He used the intimidation his offense causes to be as effective as a passer as a pure passing PG. And because of that Kevin was able to have one of his big scoring halves without it totally stalling us out. The difference? Kevin scored, but Reke did not. The offense can support scoring guard munching shots. Not two. Reke started this one by hitting a layup on a bounce pass from Hawes. Followed with a good pass to Kevin on the break for the layup +1, and kept on hitting Kevin agian and again in what could easily have been a 10 asist half. Was still dragging that leg, but got a steal and layup in early 2nd for the last of his points. Beat the doubles again with the pass to Udoka for a layup -- just slicing up the pressure tonight in the first half. Along with the jumper, that ability to beat a double with his passing will be the key to freeing up his inner superstar. Followed with more assists to Kevin -- 7 in the half as he had the offense humming about as well as it has since Kevin's return. Blocked a shot on defense to start the break near the end of half. Tried to score twice down the stretch of the first half, but I think just did not have the explosiveness and came up short and flat. Tried to go after half, but was jsut flat and relatrively immobile. Got nothing accomplished, and with the Cats squelching Kevin, unable to give us the normal lift out of trouble. Sat down mid quarter, and never returned. Would have to think he's questionable for Monday. Obviously way off his normal numbers, but not goign to mark him down too much here -- thought he got a lot out of what he had to work with tonight and largely helped as long as he was able.
A first half in which an injured Tyreke played pure distributor and Kevin ran wild. A 3rd quarter in which the Cats made adjustments and squished us, Reke was too hurt to make a difference, and Kevin found it a lot harder to get shots in the face fo extra attention. And a 3rd game int eh 4th quarter when Sergio Rodriguez and Jason Thompson, with a little help from Omri, said hey, we're still on the team too and mounted a big near-comeback against a Bobcats team that looked lik eit had packed it in early. I'm almost tempted to give out seperate grades for each game.
Boxscore
Greene ( C+ ) -- perhaps in apology for last night, racked up long minutes in this one. Missed a three courtesy of Reke kicking out of the double, good follow flush on a Kevin miss on the break, then another follow of a Kevin miss +1, but did not get the FT. Nifty long armed flip layup, but thta was it for the scoring. Still not many opportunities for anythign but garbage hoops, and when he did get one, it was normally against Gerald Wallace, who monstered us -- back to back monster games from Millsap and Wallace. Good defensive slapaway against the Charlotte break to save a hoop and create the turnover out of bounds off the Cats. Forced a 1 on 1 shot to start the third. Took a hard hit on an illegal screen that had him down for a bit, but was ok. Spent a lot of time on Wallace, who of course had the huge game. Yet really didn't think he did a bad job defensively when he was there. Wallace beat our team defense as much as Donte's, beating us out on the break, beating rotations, slipping behind screens, grabbing o-boards. Nonetheless having one of the main guys you are guarding go for 38 and 11 while you get 6 and 6 is not healthy for your grade. Played some good help defense. In the first half was able to play garbageman to give us a little offense. After half, largely invisble and could not hit his threes.
Thompson ( B- ) -- has a real gift for putting up big number games that don't feel nearly as good as the numbers, but at least in this one I knew when they were happening. Post over the smaller Wallace to start. Playing a nice all around floor game in the early going. Got another basket at the rim just before leaving in the later first quarter. Some good help defense as he returned in the second -- something that would become a welcome trend this game -- and kept it simple. Worked the boards, hustled. Had a major role to play in the semi-garbagetime comeback, and that makes this grade hard. Has worked his way up to a 4pt 10reb night by the end of the third, then through persistence more than brilliance added 8pts 6rebs in a quarter that may or may not have mattered. Didn't exactly start the quarter brilliantly, picking up an obvious offensive foul running over Gerald. Bu tcame back to hit a jumper. Blew a lyaup on the break, but got a second chance and hit it. Set a poor illegal screen. Kept playing though, and for once did it on both ends. Got some boards. A few little open jumpers, played good help defenseclosing the lane and helping the Cats stall out at 95pts. Tried to go inside and had no chance geting smushed by Gerald the same way AK47 got him last night. Grabebd a kevin miss in the final 20 seconds, got fouled...and then bricked bioth FTs. Fouled out finally on the intentional foul at the 2 second mark, because it wouldn't be a JT game if he didn't. But at least in this one he got some things done before he did. Probably a C+ type grade for the first three quarters -- better than he has been and doing a decent job of slipping into a non-scoring roleplaying role -- the key being if you are going to do that you have to defend, and he was at least trying. Then maybe a B+ in the 4th, which was either garbagetime or near big comeback depending on how you look at it. Throw in the numbers, and that mediates for a B grade, but really did not feel that good. So B- with a bullet. But also with a "better".
Hawes ( C+ ) -- nice swoop to the hoop to start, good pass to Reke. Hit Kevin on the backdoor cut as he was again having an impact with his passing. Unfortunately things were not going so well back the other way. Worked by Nazr in the high post area for 13 first half points. Nazr does not score 13pts in a half anymore, if he ever did. Tried to feed Reke out of the timeout at the 9:00 mark of the third but threw it over Reke's head. Good help defense on Felton to force the jump ball. Then a layup on the break. Good block on the other end. Was having a lot of balls tipped and slapped inside on offense for turnovers and near turnovers. Airballed a jumper. Another miss, and frankly it was too much Hawes on offense during our 3rd quarter collapse. Removed and never returned during the aborted comeback. Played pretty well on offense...right up until he quit playing pretty well on offense. Only a handful of shots of course. Defensively made another non-light (Nazr) look like a star, and so when he wasn't helping anymore on the other end, it was easy enough to shut him down for the night and smallball once again.
Martin ( B ) -- picked up right where he left off in a dynamic first half, then largely disappeared as the Bobcats closed in on him after the break. Missed his first three, hit his second, then missed another open one courtesy of Reke. Scored on the backdoor cut, out on the break for the basket+1 aga8in courtesy of Reke -- more on that under Reke's grade, but basiclaly he was hobbled and unable to move and concentrated on setting up Kevin in the first half. Dynamic first quarter, out on the break again, cherry picking as Casspi batted the ball to him for a +1. Another open three off of ball movement in the mid 2nd. Several more hits as the Charlotte zone oddly seemed designed to stop everybody but the guy scoring against them, and was up top 21pts by halftime. Left open in the corner AGAIN in the early third, and knocked down another three. But the Cats finally got the message, and with Reke basically unable to go after half, they shifted the focus to Kevin. The open looks evaporated and again and again he missed contested shots. After Reke left for the last time, almost a turnover as we tried to pass to him, then Kevin turned it over on a bad crosscourt pass. Then got a shot blocked. They squeezed, his offense collapsed. We brought Kevin back in after the backups had worked it down to 17 and he hit a few extra shots to sneak over 30 for the night. Tried to go backdoor with him on the set play, but got it blocked by Flip Murray (you read that right). Stepped in and missed another jumper in the 4th. Finally hit a three to make it 10 at the 3:47 mark. Got a blocking foul trying to draw the charge at the 1:50 mark. Beat by Murray for the FTs at the 1:20 makr. But used his speed to get back to back layuups in the last minute and cut the lead to 4. False alarm however as he was then blocked by Gerald on the play which killed our chances. Missed the desperation three in the final seconds. Big first half as the main weapon. Some late contributions to the Sergio led push. Yet took a ton of shots and was not that efficient about it by the end (11-25 on the night), had that one dimensional 2reb 1ast statline going again, and once again we failed to break 100 with Kevin out there -- we've done so only once since Kevin came back, and that was the last Charlotte game where we benched him in the 3rd.
Evans ( B- ) -- in some ways Tyreke Evans never showed up to this one, and that little factoid is important to understanding why this game went the way it did. Reke hurt his hip midway through that Utah game, and was noticeably hobbling in this one from the start, looked stiff and deadlegged in the third, and finally had to sit down for good. And what happened was that Reke turned into Rubio for a half. Unable to explode and consistently get that step on guys, Reke became an aggressive passer against the double teams the Cats were throwing at him -- doubles that probably were not necessary tonight -- and racked up 7 first half assists to only 4 points. He used the intimidation his offense causes to be as effective as a passer as a pure passing PG. And because of that Kevin was able to have one of his big scoring halves without it totally stalling us out. The difference? Kevin scored, but Reke did not. The offense can support scoring guard munching shots. Not two. Reke started this one by hitting a layup on a bounce pass from Hawes. Followed with a good pass to Kevin on the break for the layup +1, and kept on hitting Kevin agian and again in what could easily have been a 10 asist half. Was still dragging that leg, but got a steal and layup in early 2nd for the last of his points. Beat the doubles again with the pass to Udoka for a layup -- just slicing up the pressure tonight in the first half. Along with the jumper, that ability to beat a double with his passing will be the key to freeing up his inner superstar. Followed with more assists to Kevin -- 7 in the half as he had the offense humming about as well as it has since Kevin's return. Blocked a shot on defense to start the break near the end of half. Tried to score twice down the stretch of the first half, but I think just did not have the explosiveness and came up short and flat. Tried to go after half, but was jsut flat and relatrively immobile. Got nothing accomplished, and with the Cats squelching Kevin, unable to give us the normal lift out of trouble. Sat down mid quarter, and never returned. Would have to think he's questionable for Monday. Obviously way off his normal numbers, but not goign to mark him down too much here -- thought he got a lot out of what he had to work with tonight and largely helped as long as he was able.
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