Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Well, I really wanted to win this one, but we never quite got over the hump. And watching it you could just see the accumuation of paper cuts that did it. Some big cuts -- we are one of the worst defensive teams in the league just as we have been ever since the Maloofs fired Rick Adelman for not coaching defense 7 years ago, lol (here's hoping for a radical readjustemnt of that philosophy under the next regime). And as usual no good game goes unpunished in Coach "Smart's" brilliant substitution scheme. If I were on the team I would chuck up a terrible brick not quite everytime I touched the ball, but let's say 4 out of 5 times, and then make every 5th one (the 1 you make confuses poor Coach Smart and he has to wait 5 more minutes to see if it might happen again), and I could virtually guarantee msyelf 48min of playing time over the poor schlub behind me trying to play a team game. But also just little things. The wrong turnover at the wrong time. A forced shot just when you almost were ready to come back. An unwise pass. A soft foul. A missed rebound. Tonight Tyreke, who played a great game otherwise, missed 4 FTs etc. We were in this game. We had our main guys playing pretty strong games, but the Grizzlies are pros and we are a young team that just finds ways to kill ourselves. Not big dramatic ways this time. Just an accumulation of little errors that stopped us from ever really going on a big run and which all add up to a loss.
For your entertainmnet:
We've seen that kind of thing during his summer scrimmages, but the defender there was none other than Tony Allen, as in First Team All Defense at SG the last two years Tony Allen.
Full Grading Consortium for tonight:
Bricklayer
Capt. Factorial
bajaden
Boxscore
Stats: 30min 2pts (1-5, 0-3, 0-0) 3reb 2ast 1stl 1blk 0TO
Salmons ( D- ) -- the sort of game that will make you question yourself for questioning the Salmons oversized role last time out. Was back to the roleplayer this time out, unfortunately his role was being bad and racking up giftwrapped Smart minutes anyway. And the bad was pretty much on both ends this time, as this time Tony Allen was largely looking silly good against us against John while Reke was often on Prince. Showed good defensive hustle in the early going, but just never looked quick enough to stay in front of Allen, who might be an All Star if he played all 82 games against us. Of course compounded it on the other end of the court where he stepped back into the shadows...and stumbled around in the dark and fell down the steps. Missed all of his kickout threes and did not finally hit his first, and only, jumper until late in the 3rd. Highlight of the night was a solitary play where he did set up Reke nicely on a backcut on the semi-break, but that was about it. Still managed to rack up more minutes than Jason, who scored 15pts on 7-11 shooting, and only 1 minute less than Reke, who scored 20pts on 10-17 shooting, because, well, he is John Salmons, and we love him. --Brick
Stats: 28min 15pts (7-11, 0-0, 1-1) 6reb 0ast 1stl 0blk 2TO
Thompson ( B+ ) -- Thompson's scoring was very nice once again tonight, with JT going 7-10 before missing a shot in the lane during garbage time. Six of his seven hits were layups, tip-ins, or dunks, including a layup and a dunk on two consecutive transition plays to close out the first half. He didn't have any assists but he did make one very nice pass from the perimeter to Tyreke in the low post where he eventually earned foul shots (missed, but that's not JT's fault). Defensively, I liked his work quite a bit tonight. In the first half he forced three misses on help, helped force a 24-second violation, and even (apparently) convinced the refs to call a travel. In the second half, nobody even scored on him, and he forced Gasol into two missed jumpers. One of those was not only a particularly ugly example of a force, but Thompson grabbed the board and shot it up court for a Tyreke layup that brought us within one. Unfortunately, that was our closest approach and perhaps more unfortunately, Smart benched him for a 13-minute stretch at the end of the third and most of the fourth when we really could have used him on the floor - simply because of four fouls. JT's only real downside tonight was his low total of 6 rebounds - not terrible for 28 minutes of work but not great, and worse when you realize that two of those were in the last minute or so of garbage time. --Capt.
Stats: 36min 23pts (8-15, 0-0, 7-9) 7reb 4ast 5stl 0blk 3TO
Cousins ( A- ) -- strong game for DeMarcus missing only bigger rebounding numbers, although you did not reallly feel him missing too many he should have got. Was teaming with Reke in the early going to give us an early lead, and looked like he had finally figured out the Marc Gasol connundrum, mixing in jumpers and drive attempts in pretty comfortable combination making the most of his mobility advantage in the matchup. But eventually got in foul trouble again on an unnecessary foul with little chance of it being anything else trying to defend on the break. Or more likely just trying to work out his frustrations. So we lost him, a few minutes later it was important for Smart to get Reke his nightly half hour of first half rest, and we relinquished the lead and never really regained control of the game therafter. When he returned for the later stages of the half the Grizzlies began guarding him with Zach Randolph, and things took a decidedly chippee turn as the two brahma bulls were really banging bodies out there, with Cuz probably trying too hard to serve notice to Randolph and mixing erratic jumpers with very aggressive drives getting right on the rim. Wasn't just bull in china shopping though, as was keeping his head up for passing opportunuities, and made several. Some impatience and forcing of shots in the late third as he again got more determined to win the mano a mano with Zach, but was moving very well this game, racking up numerous steals and one going full court all on his own as the Grizzlies just never stopped ball or seemed to consider it a possibility a 270lb center was going to go coast to coast on them. On one play frustrated Gasol enough after he finished through him for the +1 that Gasol picked up a technical. Looked good after returning in the 4th. Got to the hoop repeatedly and then just reached out and swiped the ball from Gasol up top and galloped the other way. Went back and forth, forth and back between B+ and A- on this grade, but should be noted that many/most of Gasol's numbers came againt JT and Chuck, while Cuz was often on Zach, so it let me squeeze this upward despite the middling board total. --Brick
Stats: 32min 20pts (10-17, 0-1, 0-4) 7reb 3ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Evans ( A- ) -- This was a night that Tyreke came to play. It wasn't a perfect night, but it came close. He only had 3 assists, but not for lack of trying. I know of at least 3 other passes that should have ended up assists, one to Hayes right under the basket, that were missed. He started the night by blowing right past Prince down the right baseline and laying it in. Prince tried to repay him at the other end, and Tyreke had none of it. Once again, almost all of Tyreke's points came at the basket, as he had trouble getting his long range shot to fall. He did hit a nice 16 footer coming off a screen at the left elbow. Both his assists in the first half were passes in traffic to JT under the basket. He also had a beautiful circus shot where he did a spin move past two defenders and threw up a shot high off the glass that went in. The second half was more of the same, but he was a little less effective. He missed two three's to start, but followed with a beautiful reverse layup on a nice pass from Salmons. The downside of the night was missing all his freethrows, 4 in total, with 2 coming at a point when we really needed them. But all in all, it was a very good night for Tyreke, who also added 7 rebounds, and zero turnovers. --Baja
Stats: 29min 11pts (4-9, 0-3, 3-3) 0reb 3ast 1stl 0blk 1TO
Thomas ( C ) -- not able to beat Conley with quickness early, and missed 3 threes on kickouts as he was generally ineffective. Finally got his first shot to drop on a jumper over Prince on a switch. Still not terribly effective later in the half, but was able to draw several fouls of a questionable nature before the break, including one that critically sent Conley to the bench with 3 fouls. Got more offensively aggressive in the early third, which was both a good and a bad thing as the mixed results indicated. When Conley went to the bench, was able to really pester and harass Bayless as a ballhandler, but maybe was making it if anything too personal, as there was something punkish about it and IT seemed to be forgetting about the team game to invent a grudge match. With Cousins involved in a similar pissing contest with Randolph at the time, we were not exactly functioning like a smoothly oiled machine. When Brooks' minutes carried over with the starters returning in the 4th and he again showed the ability to step back and let the main guys be the main guys, thought it was probably a decent decision for the offense that he was just left in to run things the rest of the way while IT watched. --Brick
For your entertainmnet:
Full Grading Consortium for tonight:
Bricklayer
Capt. Factorial
bajaden
Boxscore
Stats: 30min 2pts (1-5, 0-3, 0-0) 3reb 2ast 1stl 1blk 0TO
Salmons ( D- ) -- the sort of game that will make you question yourself for questioning the Salmons oversized role last time out. Was back to the roleplayer this time out, unfortunately his role was being bad and racking up giftwrapped Smart minutes anyway. And the bad was pretty much on both ends this time, as this time Tony Allen was largely looking silly good against us against John while Reke was often on Prince. Showed good defensive hustle in the early going, but just never looked quick enough to stay in front of Allen, who might be an All Star if he played all 82 games against us. Of course compounded it on the other end of the court where he stepped back into the shadows...and stumbled around in the dark and fell down the steps. Missed all of his kickout threes and did not finally hit his first, and only, jumper until late in the 3rd. Highlight of the night was a solitary play where he did set up Reke nicely on a backcut on the semi-break, but that was about it. Still managed to rack up more minutes than Jason, who scored 15pts on 7-11 shooting, and only 1 minute less than Reke, who scored 20pts on 10-17 shooting, because, well, he is John Salmons, and we love him. --Brick
Stats: 28min 15pts (7-11, 0-0, 1-1) 6reb 0ast 1stl 0blk 2TO
Thompson ( B+ ) -- Thompson's scoring was very nice once again tonight, with JT going 7-10 before missing a shot in the lane during garbage time. Six of his seven hits were layups, tip-ins, or dunks, including a layup and a dunk on two consecutive transition plays to close out the first half. He didn't have any assists but he did make one very nice pass from the perimeter to Tyreke in the low post where he eventually earned foul shots (missed, but that's not JT's fault). Defensively, I liked his work quite a bit tonight. In the first half he forced three misses on help, helped force a 24-second violation, and even (apparently) convinced the refs to call a travel. In the second half, nobody even scored on him, and he forced Gasol into two missed jumpers. One of those was not only a particularly ugly example of a force, but Thompson grabbed the board and shot it up court for a Tyreke layup that brought us within one. Unfortunately, that was our closest approach and perhaps more unfortunately, Smart benched him for a 13-minute stretch at the end of the third and most of the fourth when we really could have used him on the floor - simply because of four fouls. JT's only real downside tonight was his low total of 6 rebounds - not terrible for 28 minutes of work but not great, and worse when you realize that two of those were in the last minute or so of garbage time. --Capt.
Stats: 36min 23pts (8-15, 0-0, 7-9) 7reb 4ast 5stl 0blk 3TO
Cousins ( A- ) -- strong game for DeMarcus missing only bigger rebounding numbers, although you did not reallly feel him missing too many he should have got. Was teaming with Reke in the early going to give us an early lead, and looked like he had finally figured out the Marc Gasol connundrum, mixing in jumpers and drive attempts in pretty comfortable combination making the most of his mobility advantage in the matchup. But eventually got in foul trouble again on an unnecessary foul with little chance of it being anything else trying to defend on the break. Or more likely just trying to work out his frustrations. So we lost him, a few minutes later it was important for Smart to get Reke his nightly half hour of first half rest, and we relinquished the lead and never really regained control of the game therafter. When he returned for the later stages of the half the Grizzlies began guarding him with Zach Randolph, and things took a decidedly chippee turn as the two brahma bulls were really banging bodies out there, with Cuz probably trying too hard to serve notice to Randolph and mixing erratic jumpers with very aggressive drives getting right on the rim. Wasn't just bull in china shopping though, as was keeping his head up for passing opportunuities, and made several. Some impatience and forcing of shots in the late third as he again got more determined to win the mano a mano with Zach, but was moving very well this game, racking up numerous steals and one going full court all on his own as the Grizzlies just never stopped ball or seemed to consider it a possibility a 270lb center was going to go coast to coast on them. On one play frustrated Gasol enough after he finished through him for the +1 that Gasol picked up a technical. Looked good after returning in the 4th. Got to the hoop repeatedly and then just reached out and swiped the ball from Gasol up top and galloped the other way. Went back and forth, forth and back between B+ and A- on this grade, but should be noted that many/most of Gasol's numbers came againt JT and Chuck, while Cuz was often on Zach, so it let me squeeze this upward despite the middling board total. --Brick
Stats: 32min 20pts (10-17, 0-1, 0-4) 7reb 3ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Evans ( A- ) -- This was a night that Tyreke came to play. It wasn't a perfect night, but it came close. He only had 3 assists, but not for lack of trying. I know of at least 3 other passes that should have ended up assists, one to Hayes right under the basket, that were missed. He started the night by blowing right past Prince down the right baseline and laying it in. Prince tried to repay him at the other end, and Tyreke had none of it. Once again, almost all of Tyreke's points came at the basket, as he had trouble getting his long range shot to fall. He did hit a nice 16 footer coming off a screen at the left elbow. Both his assists in the first half were passes in traffic to JT under the basket. He also had a beautiful circus shot where he did a spin move past two defenders and threw up a shot high off the glass that went in. The second half was more of the same, but he was a little less effective. He missed two three's to start, but followed with a beautiful reverse layup on a nice pass from Salmons. The downside of the night was missing all his freethrows, 4 in total, with 2 coming at a point when we really needed them. But all in all, it was a very good night for Tyreke, who also added 7 rebounds, and zero turnovers. --Baja
Stats: 29min 11pts (4-9, 0-3, 3-3) 0reb 3ast 1stl 0blk 1TO
Thomas ( C ) -- not able to beat Conley with quickness early, and missed 3 threes on kickouts as he was generally ineffective. Finally got his first shot to drop on a jumper over Prince on a switch. Still not terribly effective later in the half, but was able to draw several fouls of a questionable nature before the break, including one that critically sent Conley to the bench with 3 fouls. Got more offensively aggressive in the early third, which was both a good and a bad thing as the mixed results indicated. When Conley went to the bench, was able to really pester and harass Bayless as a ballhandler, but maybe was making it if anything too personal, as there was something punkish about it and IT seemed to be forgetting about the team game to invent a grudge match. With Cousins involved in a similar pissing contest with Randolph at the time, we were not exactly functioning like a smoothly oiled machine. When Brooks' minutes carried over with the starters returning in the 4th and he again showed the ability to step back and let the main guys be the main guys, thought it was probably a decent decision for the offense that he was just left in to run things the rest of the way while IT watched. --Brick
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