Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Well that was fugly -- nudge me the next time you see a team shoot 38% from the field on its way to still scoring 106pts. Memphis needs to be thrown out of this league for denigrating the NBA's product. Go to the soccer system, where if you suck too badly you get dropped out of your division into a lower division while somebody takes your spot. We can send Memphis to Europe and take back Real Madrid or somebody. They aren't talented enough to be in the NBA either, but at least they might try.
Let's see, as part of my attempt to do a theme a night for the rest of this lovely season, I think tonight I'll do something draft related, since watching college ball right now is considerably more interesting than watching Memphis/Sacramento showdowns. So, since we do not get to play Memphis every night, its pretty much a sure thing we are going to end up with a Top 5 pick (if we don't, somebody needs to deliver a swift kick in the nads to each and every member of the organization, starting with the players and finishing with the GM. Several swift kicks actually. And maybe a couple of good whacks with a pick axe. Anyway, I digress...). And one of the top college players likely to go in those Top 5 picks is an oft debated 7'3" shotblocking center by the name of Hasheem Thabeet. We probably won't take him -- ain't Geoff's style. But he'll be there as an option, and one of the bottom teams in need of interior defense is sure to. So tonight's theme -- The Ten Tallest Players In NBA History
rest will come...
Cisco ( B ) -- some good, some stupid in the early gonig, able to poke away several balls in the second quarter on terrible post feeds. Could say his defense really bothered Rudy Gay too, but not sure how accurate that would be. Off of tonight's performance, Memphis really should have been willing to part wiht Gay to get Amare. Hell, they should have been willing to part with Gay to get Luke Walton. He was embarrassingly awful. Cisco was on him and being a decent pest, but never in a million years would you have guessed Gay was supposed to be a star ratehr than a scrub -- do not let the final numebrs decieve you. All padded stats -- Gay was 4-19 at one point and his team got worse whenever he hit the floor before some late and largely meaningless dunks off of scramble plays. Meanwhile Cisco was going almost the whole way in this one, and oding...ok. Other than the defensive impact, to whatever degree he had impact, and one incredibly bad inbounds pass turnover that just had you slapping your head, he was ok. Did made a series of mental mistakes in the late game, commiting a dumb foul to put the Grizz over the limit, quick shooting a long three, turning the ball over on a 24 second violation. But he came back and made up for the mental mistakes by stepping up to hit mayeb the game saving three with a minute to go after BJax threatened to get the goat horns in this one with a bad open court dribbling error against OJ Mayo that suddenly let the Grizz get wihtin three with all the momentum.
#1 -- 7'7" Manute Bol -- and yes, that is a real picture. In Manute's rookie year the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) intentionally decided to go for a fan drawing freak show rater than a basketball team by pairing the tallest and shortest players in NBA history on the same team (7'7" Manute and 5'3" Mugsy Bogues). Manute of coure was the all time shotblocking freak of shotblocking freaks and an impossibly spider like 7'7". He is the only player in history to average more blocks per game than points. He once blocked 11 shots...in a half. He twice blocked 8 shots in a quarter. In 10 seasons, his blocks per 48 minutes was an absolutely astounding 8.45/per 48. Alas, that was absolutely and completely the only thing he could do out there as you can see what kind of freaky Dinka tribesman emaciated build he had. When he was young, before the NBA, he is rumored to have killed a lion with a spear. Hard to beleive, but then again with a 15 foot reach the poor kitty probably could never get remotely close enough to him to have a chance. His life after the NBA has been a tragic one, as his country (Sudan) has been torn by civil war, and Manute ended up on the wrong side of it, eventually losing everything and being chased from the country by the current dictatorship.
Thompson ( B+ ) -- best game in a while and off to the good start as our most effective player in the early going. Smoothly stroked jumpers, and the Grizzlies don't have any actual full sized PFs to throw in his way. Moved decently to get set up for dunks at the rim. Then started to get distracted by the foul calls again, and I think at some point here the actual best thing for him might be for the refs to actually T him up on one of these foul calls because the hopping and waving his arms and gesticulating just has got to stop -- like Brad before hiim he loses focus on the game and starts caring more about the calls than doing what he needs to do. Made a terrible inbounds pass that was picked off and led to a Grizzlies hoop that changed momentum in the third quarter when it looked like we might put the snoozing Grizzlies out of their misery with a double digit lead. Had a nice gallop to the hoop in the early 4th but missed 3 of 4 FTs at one stretch in the mid 4th as the Grizzlies made a mini move before Beno's bombs from three bailed him out.
#2 -- 7'7" Gheorghe Muresan -- perhaps the most imposing physical specimen ever to step onto an NBA court (until you saw him move), Muresan was not just freakishly tall, he was huge. HUGE. In the mid 90s he starred in a presumably horrific attempt at "comedy" with Billy Crystal called 'My Giant" and that was about right. In the picture above you can see him rejecting some midget who made the HOF. But he was a laughably horrible "athlete", and just could not move. Completely worthless on either end in a running game because he could never make it up and down court. As a halfcourt specimen however he had actually started to emerge as a significant force by his thrid year (averaged 14pts 10rebs and 2blks in only 29min a game) before his knees gave out. He had a nearly unblockable post game, and blotted out the entire lane. One of my fondest basketball memories of that era was sneaking back into town to catch a Kings game with my brother against the Wizards with Gheorghe in the year when the Kings had their own monstrous 7'3" Lurch of a center, in Randy Breur. It was truly a battle of the titans.
Hawes ( B- ) -- this was almost a tale of two games for Spencer. there was the game he had against Pau Gasol's younger and fatter brother Marc, who was just pathetic and looked more like Pau's abuelo than his brother for the night, and there was the game he had against infamous high lottery bust Darko Milicic. Against Gasol, Spencer was pretty effective, being active on offense while Gasol was busy looking for some more doughnuts to stuff in his face, and actually finishing his inside moves for once wiht a seriosu of nice little floating flips. But against Darko it was a radically different stoy, as Milicic pretty much just kicked his butt as Spencer made him actually look like a #2 pick for a night. In fact was having so many problmes with Milicic on defense that he started to get into foul trouble trying to stop the great offensive machine, and was getting muscled out of the way on the glass as well.
#3 -- 7'6" Yao Ming -- or maybe 7'5" -- it seems to vary, but either way, he's really really big. Yao is the best offensive player of all the supergiants in NBA history and is 22 and 10 on sheer size alone (not actually fair, as he actually has a good skillset). Here shown standing next to a member of the rodent family.
Martin ( A- ) -- An interesing game in that Kevin racked up 33 points -- well, he racked up 29pts and then got 4 freebies on the intentional foul at the end -- in mostly quiet fashion. That's actually probably a good thing as Kevin's there is sometimes the feeling that Kevin is racking up "pretty points" that are more for show than they are for winning. But tonight, he was just sort of quietly the engine in the background of an actual victory. Scored pretty well in the first quarter, mostly at the line, and did a nice job setting up Donte for a three on the drive and dish to close the first quarter. Kind of quietly continued racking up points in the second quarter and his defense was remarkable just in being unremarkable. There was only one play that stood out -- a pokeaway steal from behind up top -- but what did not stand out was Kevin being lazy or getting bured as he so often is. Was a pretty respectable defensive effort for most of the night. Did have too many turnovers as he sometimes will when he is trying to create. Had a lot of points in the third, but looked gassed by the end. And maybe he really was tired, because he largely disappeared again and scored his only two points of the 4th quarter (before the intentional fouling) on 2 FTs with 3 minutes to go. I fluttered back and forth between B+ and A- on this one, with the late fade again and again arguing for the B+, but there was just something about this one that felt less "pretty" and more substantial than Kevin's usual efforts, and I thought that should be rewarded with the higher grade. He wasn't just getting his numbers, he was kind of quietly leading here.
#4 -- 7'6" Shawn Bradley -- here shown getting his typical treatment by CWebb. One of the most disrespected figures in recent league history, Bradley was kind of mysteriously incompetent out there. He actually moved pretty well for a big guy, had some skills, could really block a shot, and yet he scared absolutely nobody and was routinely used as a background on posters by players willing to dunk in his face. Developed a bit of a temper about it too, and could get chippy.
Let's see, as part of my attempt to do a theme a night for the rest of this lovely season, I think tonight I'll do something draft related, since watching college ball right now is considerably more interesting than watching Memphis/Sacramento showdowns. So, since we do not get to play Memphis every night, its pretty much a sure thing we are going to end up with a Top 5 pick (if we don't, somebody needs to deliver a swift kick in the nads to each and every member of the organization, starting with the players and finishing with the GM. Several swift kicks actually. And maybe a couple of good whacks with a pick axe. Anyway, I digress...). And one of the top college players likely to go in those Top 5 picks is an oft debated 7'3" shotblocking center by the name of Hasheem Thabeet. We probably won't take him -- ain't Geoff's style. But he'll be there as an option, and one of the bottom teams in need of interior defense is sure to. So tonight's theme -- The Ten Tallest Players In NBA History
rest will come...
Cisco ( B ) -- some good, some stupid in the early gonig, able to poke away several balls in the second quarter on terrible post feeds. Could say his defense really bothered Rudy Gay too, but not sure how accurate that would be. Off of tonight's performance, Memphis really should have been willing to part wiht Gay to get Amare. Hell, they should have been willing to part with Gay to get Luke Walton. He was embarrassingly awful. Cisco was on him and being a decent pest, but never in a million years would you have guessed Gay was supposed to be a star ratehr than a scrub -- do not let the final numebrs decieve you. All padded stats -- Gay was 4-19 at one point and his team got worse whenever he hit the floor before some late and largely meaningless dunks off of scramble plays. Meanwhile Cisco was going almost the whole way in this one, and oding...ok. Other than the defensive impact, to whatever degree he had impact, and one incredibly bad inbounds pass turnover that just had you slapping your head, he was ok. Did made a series of mental mistakes in the late game, commiting a dumb foul to put the Grizz over the limit, quick shooting a long three, turning the ball over on a 24 second violation. But he came back and made up for the mental mistakes by stepping up to hit mayeb the game saving three with a minute to go after BJax threatened to get the goat horns in this one with a bad open court dribbling error against OJ Mayo that suddenly let the Grizz get wihtin three with all the momentum.
#1 -- 7'7" Manute Bol -- and yes, that is a real picture. In Manute's rookie year the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) intentionally decided to go for a fan drawing freak show rater than a basketball team by pairing the tallest and shortest players in NBA history on the same team (7'7" Manute and 5'3" Mugsy Bogues). Manute of coure was the all time shotblocking freak of shotblocking freaks and an impossibly spider like 7'7". He is the only player in history to average more blocks per game than points. He once blocked 11 shots...in a half. He twice blocked 8 shots in a quarter. In 10 seasons, his blocks per 48 minutes was an absolutely astounding 8.45/per 48. Alas, that was absolutely and completely the only thing he could do out there as you can see what kind of freaky Dinka tribesman emaciated build he had. When he was young, before the NBA, he is rumored to have killed a lion with a spear. Hard to beleive, but then again with a 15 foot reach the poor kitty probably could never get remotely close enough to him to have a chance. His life after the NBA has been a tragic one, as his country (Sudan) has been torn by civil war, and Manute ended up on the wrong side of it, eventually losing everything and being chased from the country by the current dictatorship.
Thompson ( B+ ) -- best game in a while and off to the good start as our most effective player in the early going. Smoothly stroked jumpers, and the Grizzlies don't have any actual full sized PFs to throw in his way. Moved decently to get set up for dunks at the rim. Then started to get distracted by the foul calls again, and I think at some point here the actual best thing for him might be for the refs to actually T him up on one of these foul calls because the hopping and waving his arms and gesticulating just has got to stop -- like Brad before hiim he loses focus on the game and starts caring more about the calls than doing what he needs to do. Made a terrible inbounds pass that was picked off and led to a Grizzlies hoop that changed momentum in the third quarter when it looked like we might put the snoozing Grizzlies out of their misery with a double digit lead. Had a nice gallop to the hoop in the early 4th but missed 3 of 4 FTs at one stretch in the mid 4th as the Grizzlies made a mini move before Beno's bombs from three bailed him out.
#2 -- 7'7" Gheorghe Muresan -- perhaps the most imposing physical specimen ever to step onto an NBA court (until you saw him move), Muresan was not just freakishly tall, he was huge. HUGE. In the mid 90s he starred in a presumably horrific attempt at "comedy" with Billy Crystal called 'My Giant" and that was about right. In the picture above you can see him rejecting some midget who made the HOF. But he was a laughably horrible "athlete", and just could not move. Completely worthless on either end in a running game because he could never make it up and down court. As a halfcourt specimen however he had actually started to emerge as a significant force by his thrid year (averaged 14pts 10rebs and 2blks in only 29min a game) before his knees gave out. He had a nearly unblockable post game, and blotted out the entire lane. One of my fondest basketball memories of that era was sneaking back into town to catch a Kings game with my brother against the Wizards with Gheorghe in the year when the Kings had their own monstrous 7'3" Lurch of a center, in Randy Breur. It was truly a battle of the titans.
Hawes ( B- ) -- this was almost a tale of two games for Spencer. there was the game he had against Pau Gasol's younger and fatter brother Marc, who was just pathetic and looked more like Pau's abuelo than his brother for the night, and there was the game he had against infamous high lottery bust Darko Milicic. Against Gasol, Spencer was pretty effective, being active on offense while Gasol was busy looking for some more doughnuts to stuff in his face, and actually finishing his inside moves for once wiht a seriosu of nice little floating flips. But against Darko it was a radically different stoy, as Milicic pretty much just kicked his butt as Spencer made him actually look like a #2 pick for a night. In fact was having so many problmes with Milicic on defense that he started to get into foul trouble trying to stop the great offensive machine, and was getting muscled out of the way on the glass as well.
#3 -- 7'6" Yao Ming -- or maybe 7'5" -- it seems to vary, but either way, he's really really big. Yao is the best offensive player of all the supergiants in NBA history and is 22 and 10 on sheer size alone (not actually fair, as he actually has a good skillset). Here shown standing next to a member of the rodent family.
Martin ( A- ) -- An interesing game in that Kevin racked up 33 points -- well, he racked up 29pts and then got 4 freebies on the intentional foul at the end -- in mostly quiet fashion. That's actually probably a good thing as Kevin's there is sometimes the feeling that Kevin is racking up "pretty points" that are more for show than they are for winning. But tonight, he was just sort of quietly the engine in the background of an actual victory. Scored pretty well in the first quarter, mostly at the line, and did a nice job setting up Donte for a three on the drive and dish to close the first quarter. Kind of quietly continued racking up points in the second quarter and his defense was remarkable just in being unremarkable. There was only one play that stood out -- a pokeaway steal from behind up top -- but what did not stand out was Kevin being lazy or getting bured as he so often is. Was a pretty respectable defensive effort for most of the night. Did have too many turnovers as he sometimes will when he is trying to create. Had a lot of points in the third, but looked gassed by the end. And maybe he really was tired, because he largely disappeared again and scored his only two points of the 4th quarter (before the intentional fouling) on 2 FTs with 3 minutes to go. I fluttered back and forth between B+ and A- on this one, with the late fade again and again arguing for the B+, but there was just something about this one that felt less "pretty" and more substantial than Kevin's usual efforts, and I thought that should be rewarded with the higher grade. He wasn't just getting his numbers, he was kind of quietly leading here.
#4 -- 7'6" Shawn Bradley -- here shown getting his typical treatment by CWebb. One of the most disrespected figures in recent league history, Bradley was kind of mysteriously incompetent out there. He actually moved pretty well for a big guy, had some skills, could really block a shot, and yet he scared absolutely nobody and was routinely used as a background on posters by players willing to dunk in his face. Developed a bit of a temper about it too, and could get chippy.
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With that amazingly horrid excuse for a frontcourt, Donte was actually our paint defender for the most part, and got several knockaways in there. Good first half stint all around, and finally, finally used that size for something, helping on the glass and repeatedly blocking careless Grizzlies shots. Was again playing well in the third before he started to get a little full of himself and three happy, just chucking them up. Made a bad dribbling error too, unnecessarily trying to take it coast to coast and getting stripped. Came up with a big follow jam at the end of the quarter though before we went back to vets for the epic Kings/Grizzlies stretch run. So, grade time. Kid made mistakes -- the dribbling mistake was stupid, and we need to attach an electrode to his jock strap that gives him a sharp jolt everytime he chucks up a three -- just like in college he far, far too often just chucks and chucks and chucks from out there without a bit of brain power in sight But tonight he really stepped it up on the other end, and finally, I think for the first time all season used that impressive size as a SF (was playing PF much of the time tongiht, but only against the Grizzlie Hakim Warrick and Darrel Arthur who are worst softest PF pairing of tweener forwards in the league). For much of the game was our best physical presence inside, grabed some boards, and swooped around for blocks. If he could do that, not just one night, but every night, he could be a very valuable player, even if he never becomes a consistent shooter.
