Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
That's right, we bad.
Salmons ( A ) -- by far the best game of the season for John, preseaon or regular. In the early going was not only making shots, but creating for others and then all game long just harrassed the hell out of Rudy Gay and clearly won the battle against one of the better young wing players in the league. Threw in 9 rebounds just for the heck of it. Kevin scored the most points, but John was the best all around player for us tonight. Pretty much did it all, and by stifling Gay took the Grizzlies out of most of what they wanted to do.
Mikki ( B+ ) -- Hey hey! An entirely respectable performance from the worst starting PF in the league so far this season. There was nobody trembling in fear at Mikki's early performance, but he clearly got the memo about his pathetic early season rebounding and had as many rebounds by the end of the first quarter (4) as he had total in our first 4 games (4). Nor did he let up, and finished with 11 rebs on the night, leading the team, leading the game, and proving he is every bit as good as Amare Stoudemire who also had 11 last night (*along with 49pts 6ast 5stl and 2blks). Played his roile well (the role we would want him to play), and for the first time this season outplayed our young bigs. Now we get to see whaty happens when Brad returns.
Hawes ( C+ ) -- Hey everybody! Come on over and meet Raef LaHawes! Faced with another strong physical center, what do you think Rae...er...Spencer's response was? If you guessed fleeing to the perimeter you win a gold star. For a player who scowls so much he sure seems willing to flee his post at the first sign of resistance. At least this time he hit his threes (yes, plural), and overall despite the Brian Cook statline (13pts (2-2 3pt) 3rebs), it wasn't all soft. In fact in the early going the first quarter was one of those "almost" quarters for Spencer, where he almost had a big one, but kept on screwing it up by being off by just a little. Missing shots by a little. Missing passes by a little. Almost getting things picked off. And compeltely predictable at this point -- faced with a powerful opponent, he runs out to the three point line. Was aggressive about fouling people in the open court rather than letting them get layups, but it added up and came back to haunt him late, leading to him fouling out with 6:00 to go and getting to watch us try to blow it from a nice seat over on the bench. Game felt better than the softness would indicate -- was around the ball a lot, seemed to be causing problems even without any numbers, and the repeated fouling, while eventua,ly biting him and us in the butt, nonetheless served as some sort of no layup rule on a night when the defense was much tougher than its been. I basically look at this grade this way -- if had missed those two threes then he shoots 3-9, most of them jumpers, for 7pts and 3rebs and has clearly wimped out and run outside and I am mad at him and thinking Ds. He hits them though and...C+.
Martin ( A- ) -- strong scoring night right from the start, and was very efficient in the first half, at least shooting wise (had some turnovers again). Was in a bit of a scoring battle with OJ Mayo across from him, but Mayo was scorng more from persistence and determination to shoot while Kevin was making it look easy. Solved the duel by getting Mayo into foul trouble in the third. Giving a guy with 33pts an A- is a bit harsh, and I could be talked into an A here. But my reasoning was thus: a) John Salmons was a little beter overall; b) Kevin's opponent nearly cancelled him out with his own 28, and it was Kevin's man too -- actually think he defense was less terrible than usual tonight and it was more Mayo just chucking up bombs, but still only +5; and finally Kevin was a bti shaky down the stretch, missing several shots as damn near gave the game away. Did get to pad the stats a bit in the last 30 seconds when the Grizz had to intentionally foul, but otherwise Kevin was better through three than he was down the stretch. So...A-. I will say though that this was a better game, and better A-, than the one in Philly. In Philly Kevin's points felt almost irrelevant. This time out he and John were clearly the engines that beat the Grizz, so it was an impact performance, whatever the litte warts.
Beno ( D ) Ok, now I know he's drunk. Got off to the absolutely disastrous start. Airballing shots, throwing bizarrely bad passes off peoples feet, repeatedly leaping in the air for kickouts to various Memphis Grizzlies, getting beat on defense. Jeesh. Hangover began to wear off in the third, when he made sevral good passes and finally hit a couple of shots. Saved a final sloppy turnover however for the final two minutes as we attempted to throw the game. Nice one too. Going to hold this grade at a D because for a while there he was at least distributing pretty well on an unusually unselfish night for us. But...jeesh. Beno! WAKE UP!
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Thomspon ( B- ) -- I always used to love the Roadrunner cartoons back when I was young. And watching Jason in the first half tonight I could not help but think that somebody needed to really run out there and jump in front of him with one of those hand held stop signs. The twittering lack of confidence in the preseason is certainly gone, but it was replaced in the early going here by an almost amusingly rabid rushing confidence -- he was running around at 1000 mph accomplishing little, rushing headlong attacking without any idea of the situation, throwing stuff up, rampantly aggressive, but setting nothing up and not being efficent. Was forcing everything, and I think was 2-7 by the end of the half while having expended more energy in 10 minutes than Brad Miller will expend all season. But after what I can only imiagine was a halftime spent with him bouncing off the locker room walls while the multiple Jolt Colas washed out of his system, he was more settled, and better after half. This was still probably the weakest of his early season performances, but after he got past his hyperness, he was helping once again with a more settled energy, and even had a hand in our staving off defeat, getting the call from Reggie on a key late possession and driving inside, drawing a double (again the value of people who play inside) and kicking the ball out nicely top the open shooter.
Brown ( A- ) -- Another King with his best game of the young season. Came in firing (of course), and it appears in only 4 games BJax's age-related struggles have seen Brown pass him up in the rotation just that quick. Much better than he has been since that one breakout preseaosn game. In control for the most part. Offensively potent, but this time racked up a respectable 5 assists as well and only had one of his playground dribble down and shoot the ball wihtout anybody else touching it moments. Got pummeled back the other way by one of my favorite little bowling balls in the league, Kyle Lowry, but given that this kid is a borderline NBAer playing his first significant minutes and came up with 10pts 5ast on 100% shooting, it still has to be an A of some sort. That we get three As in a squeaker win over the Memphis Grizzlies, at home, in a game we tried to blow late, says a lot about the state of the franchise now.
Williams ( INC ) -- after playing well on the roadtrip pretty much got bumped from the rotation by the emergence of a competent Mikki. did pretty well in his short first half stint -- hit a little jumper, grabbed some boards, got a block. But those four minutes were all he got.
Douby ( INC ) -- wasted first half minutes, just chucking up some bricked threes, and Reggie went with BJax instad after half.
BJax ( INC ) -- finally got in in the late third, and it was in at OG basically, replacing Kevin (he and Brown came in to play together). So pretty much taking the Douby munutes from the first half. Looked fine but did little of note. Best part was the standing ovation he got from the crowd when he finally got in. That was nice.
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Theus ( B ) -- This will be the game we have a chance to win this year -- at home, with our swingmen going good, and on a night when the guys decide to give some defensive effort. Oh, and of course against a crappy opponent. But hey, we got it. And crappy opponent or not, we looked a lot better doing it, late collapse aside. The defense was not Boston Celtic level, but it was night and day from what we saw on the road, and just as Theus gets to have his feet to the fire when we come out unprepared to put in any effort on that end, here he gets some kudos for having us ready to put forward a legit defensive effort in front of the home fans. Meanwhile Reggie continues to show a radically reformed attitude about playing the kids -- this was practically a kiddie night, Mikki Moore aside. First man off the bench? Jason Thompson. Second? Bobby Bornw. third? Quincy Douby. Fourth? Sheldon Williams. A pod person has takent he place of Reggie, who last year appeared so asininely stubborn on the issue that he was threatening to get himself fired over it. Now guess we see what happens when Brad comes back. Nothing terribly brilliant about this coaching performance, but he stayed out of the way, let the kids play, and got a good effort from most of the team. Good enough.
Salmons ( A ) -- by far the best game of the season for John, preseaon or regular. In the early going was not only making shots, but creating for others and then all game long just harrassed the hell out of Rudy Gay and clearly won the battle against one of the better young wing players in the league. Threw in 9 rebounds just for the heck of it. Kevin scored the most points, but John was the best all around player for us tonight. Pretty much did it all, and by stifling Gay took the Grizzlies out of most of what they wanted to do.
Mikki ( B+ ) -- Hey hey! An entirely respectable performance from the worst starting PF in the league so far this season. There was nobody trembling in fear at Mikki's early performance, but he clearly got the memo about his pathetic early season rebounding and had as many rebounds by the end of the first quarter (4) as he had total in our first 4 games (4). Nor did he let up, and finished with 11 rebs on the night, leading the team, leading the game, and proving he is every bit as good as Amare Stoudemire who also had 11 last night (*along with 49pts 6ast 5stl and 2blks). Played his roile well (the role we would want him to play), and for the first time this season outplayed our young bigs. Now we get to see whaty happens when Brad returns.
Hawes ( C+ ) -- Hey everybody! Come on over and meet Raef LaHawes! Faced with another strong physical center, what do you think Rae...er...Spencer's response was? If you guessed fleeing to the perimeter you win a gold star. For a player who scowls so much he sure seems willing to flee his post at the first sign of resistance. At least this time he hit his threes (yes, plural), and overall despite the Brian Cook statline (13pts (2-2 3pt) 3rebs), it wasn't all soft. In fact in the early going the first quarter was one of those "almost" quarters for Spencer, where he almost had a big one, but kept on screwing it up by being off by just a little. Missing shots by a little. Missing passes by a little. Almost getting things picked off. And compeltely predictable at this point -- faced with a powerful opponent, he runs out to the three point line. Was aggressive about fouling people in the open court rather than letting them get layups, but it added up and came back to haunt him late, leading to him fouling out with 6:00 to go and getting to watch us try to blow it from a nice seat over on the bench. Game felt better than the softness would indicate -- was around the ball a lot, seemed to be causing problems even without any numbers, and the repeated fouling, while eventua,ly biting him and us in the butt, nonetheless served as some sort of no layup rule on a night when the defense was much tougher than its been. I basically look at this grade this way -- if had missed those two threes then he shoots 3-9, most of them jumpers, for 7pts and 3rebs and has clearly wimped out and run outside and I am mad at him and thinking Ds. He hits them though and...C+.
Martin ( A- ) -- strong scoring night right from the start, and was very efficient in the first half, at least shooting wise (had some turnovers again). Was in a bit of a scoring battle with OJ Mayo across from him, but Mayo was scorng more from persistence and determination to shoot while Kevin was making it look easy. Solved the duel by getting Mayo into foul trouble in the third. Giving a guy with 33pts an A- is a bit harsh, and I could be talked into an A here. But my reasoning was thus: a) John Salmons was a little beter overall; b) Kevin's opponent nearly cancelled him out with his own 28, and it was Kevin's man too -- actually think he defense was less terrible than usual tonight and it was more Mayo just chucking up bombs, but still only +5; and finally Kevin was a bti shaky down the stretch, missing several shots as damn near gave the game away. Did get to pad the stats a bit in the last 30 seconds when the Grizz had to intentionally foul, but otherwise Kevin was better through three than he was down the stretch. So...A-. I will say though that this was a better game, and better A-, than the one in Philly. In Philly Kevin's points felt almost irrelevant. This time out he and John were clearly the engines that beat the Grizz, so it was an impact performance, whatever the litte warts.
Beno ( D ) Ok, now I know he's drunk. Got off to the absolutely disastrous start. Airballing shots, throwing bizarrely bad passes off peoples feet, repeatedly leaping in the air for kickouts to various Memphis Grizzlies, getting beat on defense. Jeesh. Hangover began to wear off in the third, when he made sevral good passes and finally hit a couple of shots. Saved a final sloppy turnover however for the final two minutes as we attempted to throw the game. Nice one too. Going to hold this grade at a D because for a while there he was at least distributing pretty well on an unusually unselfish night for us. But...jeesh. Beno! WAKE UP!
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Thomspon ( B- ) -- I always used to love the Roadrunner cartoons back when I was young. And watching Jason in the first half tonight I could not help but think that somebody needed to really run out there and jump in front of him with one of those hand held stop signs. The twittering lack of confidence in the preseason is certainly gone, but it was replaced in the early going here by an almost amusingly rabid rushing confidence -- he was running around at 1000 mph accomplishing little, rushing headlong attacking without any idea of the situation, throwing stuff up, rampantly aggressive, but setting nothing up and not being efficent. Was forcing everything, and I think was 2-7 by the end of the half while having expended more energy in 10 minutes than Brad Miller will expend all season. But after what I can only imiagine was a halftime spent with him bouncing off the locker room walls while the multiple Jolt Colas washed out of his system, he was more settled, and better after half. This was still probably the weakest of his early season performances, but after he got past his hyperness, he was helping once again with a more settled energy, and even had a hand in our staving off defeat, getting the call from Reggie on a key late possession and driving inside, drawing a double (again the value of people who play inside) and kicking the ball out nicely top the open shooter.
Brown ( A- ) -- Another King with his best game of the young season. Came in firing (of course), and it appears in only 4 games BJax's age-related struggles have seen Brown pass him up in the rotation just that quick. Much better than he has been since that one breakout preseaosn game. In control for the most part. Offensively potent, but this time racked up a respectable 5 assists as well and only had one of his playground dribble down and shoot the ball wihtout anybody else touching it moments. Got pummeled back the other way by one of my favorite little bowling balls in the league, Kyle Lowry, but given that this kid is a borderline NBAer playing his first significant minutes and came up with 10pts 5ast on 100% shooting, it still has to be an A of some sort. That we get three As in a squeaker win over the Memphis Grizzlies, at home, in a game we tried to blow late, says a lot about the state of the franchise now.
Williams ( INC ) -- after playing well on the roadtrip pretty much got bumped from the rotation by the emergence of a competent Mikki. did pretty well in his short first half stint -- hit a little jumper, grabbed some boards, got a block. But those four minutes were all he got.
Douby ( INC ) -- wasted first half minutes, just chucking up some bricked threes, and Reggie went with BJax instad after half.
BJax ( INC ) -- finally got in in the late third, and it was in at OG basically, replacing Kevin (he and Brown came in to play together). So pretty much taking the Douby munutes from the first half. Looked fine but did little of note. Best part was the standing ovation he got from the crowd when he finally got in. That was nice.
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Theus ( B ) -- This will be the game we have a chance to win this year -- at home, with our swingmen going good, and on a night when the guys decide to give some defensive effort. Oh, and of course against a crappy opponent. But hey, we got it. And crappy opponent or not, we looked a lot better doing it, late collapse aside. The defense was not Boston Celtic level, but it was night and day from what we saw on the road, and just as Theus gets to have his feet to the fire when we come out unprepared to put in any effort on that end, here he gets some kudos for having us ready to put forward a legit defensive effort in front of the home fans. Meanwhile Reggie continues to show a radically reformed attitude about playing the kids -- this was practically a kiddie night, Mikki Moore aside. First man off the bench? Jason Thompson. Second? Bobby Bornw. third? Quincy Douby. Fourth? Sheldon Williams. A pod person has takent he place of Reggie, who last year appeared so asininely stubborn on the issue that he was threatening to get himself fired over it. Now guess we see what happens when Brad comes back. Nothing terribly brilliant about this coaching performance, but he stayed out of the way, let the kids play, and got a good effort from most of the team. Good enough.
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