Grades v. Grizzlies 11/23/09

Whio had the most disappointing game of the night?

  • Thompson gets frustrated, does little

    Votes: 22 32.8%
  • Hawes does not build on big performance

    Votes: 39 58.2%
  • Udrih invisible

    Votes: 2 3.0%
  • May barely misses triple double by 10pts 7reb 10ast

    Votes: 4 6.0%

  • Total voters
    67
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Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Well, that was disappointing.

Boxscore


Nocioni ( C ) -- pretty much got every bit of grade he did for a 5 minute stretch of the second quarter. Wasn't even much point in givng Noc a first half grade until the 15 minute mark --just sucked. Until about the midpoint of the 2nd when it looked like he made a conscious decision to take advantage of the silly refs to get a three point play against Gay, then draw the third on Randolph -- even on bad days knows how to bait a ref. Seemed to wake him up, as he was strong down the stretch of the quarter, hit a three, had a follow, a good lead pass to Casspi on the break. Made into a smallball PF against Randolph after half, but that did not really work at all for any long stretch and we lost ground.

Thompson ( D ) -- bad, and considerably worse than the numbers indicate (althought my standard notation applies here that a guy who can put up numbers even on a crappy day is probably pretty good). After 4 or 5 strong game in arow during the long homestand, we went on the road and Jason turend back into a pumpkin. You name the problem he had it this time out. Offense, defense, foul trouble...got off to a slow start and never did recover. A lot of it was just unnecessary too -- hyperactive fouls, the missed gimmes again, just stuff that you are supposed to clean up sooner or later. After having to sit down the stretch of the second quarter with 3 fouls, came out to start the third and laid another egg, ragged offensively missing and getting his shots tipped and blocked. And is far too common wiht him, frustration led to even more foul trouble, and ended up taking a seat over next to Westphal with a towel over his head until the final minutes. Made just enough plays here, and by the end put up just enough numbers, to stay out of the cellar gradewise. But he kind of went AWOL on us this trip, and tonight in particular was nowhere to be found in a winnable game where Reke needed a wingman.

Hawes ( D ) -- sigh. Did not take long to figure out whether Specner was going to follow up his big game or not. Actually started off the game on his first two possessions at least TRYING to post up, but was the victim of back to back bad entry passes for turnovers. Then tried to force something weak into Gasol and got it smushed into his face, and that was kind of that for aggression inside. Had a few little bright spots fluttering about, followed the smush back in his face with a block of his own on a driving guard, had a nice high post pass to a cutting Beno (in fact some good passing on the night was maybe his highlight). But in general, this sucked. Faced with a physical frontline, he just wants no part of it. I don't even know what to say about that. But here it was again, and I don't know if that can be taught. He and May both played terrible high pick and roll defense as Gasol rolled unimpeded. Of course came out in the third and responded to pressure by chucking a three. That's the way to punch them in the nose Spence! Picked up several 3 second violations on the ngiht, which was surprising given how little damage he did in there. Lost a lot of minutes to various smallball lineups, and at the end of the game to his old college teammate Jon Brockman, who has no right to be playing in the NBA given his size, but has something Specner has yet to grow: cahones. I just don't get it. Talentwise, Spencer Hawes is better than Brockman, JT, Marc Gasol, and 3/4 of the other big men in the NBA. But if he doesn't get a grip and toughen up here its all going to go to waste.

Udrih ( D+ ) -- fairly considerable letdown game here. Once upon a time you wouldn't have said that. Last year he might have had 30 of these. But this season he has legitimately been good on most nights, and he and JT were the most consistent guys helping out Tyreke. Not tonight. Started off the game looking sluggish and it was kind of downhill from there. Outside shot was off, and defensively neither controlled Conley's quickness nor able to handle Tinsely in the post. Lost his minutes to Sergio tonight, including the entire stretch run.

Evans ( B ) -- the numbers were there tonight, but the game lacked that punch he has had in his better ones. Speaking of numbers BTW, our superrook merely averaged 28.5pts 5.5reb 7.0ast in the two games of the roadtrip he played in, and my grades, hohum, are A- for one and B for the other. Because of course 20yr old rookie's do that all the time. Don't be couting that rookie of the year race over just yet. But tonight, big though the numbers were, it just felt more individualistic and did not inspire a response from his teammates. Of course given that said teammates were largely incompetent perhaps I'm pointing the finger at the wrong person tonight -- tonight Reke scored 28, and all 4 other starters....scored 28. Lovely. Reke picked up two early ticky tack fouls but Westphal let him play through it, and he did his best to avoid that 3rd despite the refs apparently having bets down on who coul make the most ridiculous touch foul call. Was not able to get into any real offensive rhythm in the early going either. Beat his man at the end of the first and dashed in for a layup...and then Thabeet came out of nowhere to block it from behind. Thought Memphis, numbers aside, actually looked pretty good on defense at times, and had a pretty good scheme to make Reke uncomfortable both on the drive and when getting chances to post Conley. Second defender shifted over halfway and just lurked back there maybe 8-10 feet away. Just close enough to be able to help if necessary, but far enough to avoid setting his own man free on the true double. Reke was still the best/only thing we had going in the first half and got up to 10 points before the tweet happy zebras gave him his third, but it was a sloppy feeling 10 points. Lot of tipped balls on the drive, turnovers, blown assists by teammates, and just generally 10 points that was just 10 points, without any further impact. Started off the 3rd missing his first shot and getting the 2nd one blocked, but with nobody else doing anything really started to have to try to do it himself as the quarter wore on. Began to time the Memphis defense and the drives looked stronger and steadier, but again, just seemed to be isolated points without bringing any of his teammates along for the ride. Not sure of the body language when Bedno or Sergio took the ball to the other side of the court -- just sort of stopped and stood there with his hands at his sides. Not a new phenomenon, just mroe noticeable in a game that felt as disjointed and chemistryless as the body language sometimes suggests. Also one of those reasons that having a PG beside him (especially a non shoter like Rodriguez) feels like taking turns. Seems like we run plays with the Beno/Sergio PG dribbling directly away from Reke across the top of the key, leaving our best scorer, who is ot a spot shooter anyway, just standing there looking at their back. After Casspi got kicked late in the game, came on to pour in points down the stretch and continue his streak of 20+pt games -- he still has scored 20 or more in every game that Kevin has missed. Too little too late however, and while the minutes were not garbagetime and both teams had their best units out there (in Memphis's case their starters, in ours, basically Reke and the hustling bench guys who outplayed the starters), the game was probably over by the time Reek really got crunching.
 
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May ( INC ) -- came into the game out of nowhere in the early going to replace Spencer -- think he actually came in along with Casspi, but it amuses me to put him here as the 6th man. Did the least with his sudden opportunity, getting his shots blocked and playing crappy pick and roll defense on Gasol. Only last 6 minutes and that was that.

Casspi ( B+ ) -- came in and made a minor impact in the first half with hustle in the open court and some good passes. Played tough inside and was not afraid of Thabeet. Came back in the early third as an OG basiclaly -- good move that had the Grizz PGs guarding Evans and got Omri's energy back in the game. Continued to score agrgessively right up until he got a second technical in the 4th on a B.S. call against Tinsley. With Omri's talent and demeanor I am predicting he will pick up a lot of technicals over a lengthy NBA career, but this one was just Tinsley fooling the refs (who were reffing the game like fools in the first place).

Thomas ( INC ) -- seems to have fallen out of favor with Westphal on this roadtrip, and here was borught in after May as Coach desperately looked for anybody with spark, and was out again wihtin 3 minutes.

Greene ( C ) -- was being asked to guard Thabeet in the early 2nd
quarter, and had trouble holding off the size, quickly picking up two fouls. Picked up his third trying to guard Mayo, and his first half minutes were considerably limited because of fouls. Gave us a little boost in the third, but damnit if he does not seem to be regressing toward three point chucker again. The effort on defense is better, occasionally he pulled the ball down and tried to drive, but mostly he was standing outside chucking up threes, and he has never, at any point in his pro or college career, shown that he can consistently hit them. Somebody needs to grab him and show him a tape of his breakout game last week. Finally fouled out in the final minute.

Udoka ( INC ) -- like KT seems to have fallen out of favor for whatever reason. Here got a couple of minutes look and was gone just that fast.

Rodriguez ( A ) -- pushed ball on the break and gave us a spark of life after being the 11th King into the game by the mid 2nd. Returned and ran the entire 4th and generally did everything you could ask a Sergio Rodriguez to do. Not as good as the numbers of course -- if he was as good as the numbers he would average somewhere around 35pts 15ast a game and make Oscar Robertson look like the pathetic scrug he was. There was not that kind of pop, and if we did start to gain on the Grizzlies while he and reke were paired, it was a gradual erosion rather than a big rush. But he was good. Able to repeatedly slice down the lane for layups against the Grizz, and his presence passing the ball was a major reason we scored 32 and 36 points in the two quarters where he played and 18 and 19 points int eh two where he largely did not.

Brockman ( B ) -- the last King on floor made his first appearance in the 4th. Outside of the roster being awash with stubby scrubby excuses for backup bigs, never quite sure why/how he lost favor either. He's a minor player at best, but he will give you consistent effort and it seems like a logical place to go looking for it on a night when everybody else is flat. In any case, finally in late, but too late for it to make any difference. Replaced Spencer and the difference was stark. Quickly racked up fouls and may never play 30 minutes in an NBA game the way he hacks, but at least was being physical with Gasol after Flutter was last seen hiding behind the dance team trying to avoid getting ouchy bruises. Was not actually that strong on the glass in the face of all the big Grizz, but battled inside and converted on a trio of inside finishes -- and again Flutter might want to note how easy the game is if you keep it simple and just man up. Threw something approaching a dirty elbow on Gasol in the final minute. It may have been tough play, but I have to say having had my jaw broken by a "tough" elbow that if he had thrown it at me he would be sporting a few less teeth right now. May be a fine coming there.

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Notes: we started this one off in style with 3 straight turnovers to start the game and down 13-6 before the first timeout. The refs in this one were miserable little touch foul tweeters that were calling people for breathing on each other. Also seemed to have a traveling fetish, calling at least four of them in the first half. Altogether made for an ugly disjointed affair. Don't want to hear it about NBA conspiracies -- in no possible way could the NBA want its refs to make its product borderline unwatchable throough that kind of overreffing.
 
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memphis needed that win to prove a point after they lost in the arena, if not for Gay I don't know if they were won, but he stayed focus till the end and that's what made the difference.
In the Kings I think Tyreke was the best on the court, casspi did a solid job when he got the ball, because no one passes him, he stands alone on the 3 point line and everybody get into the paint against the whole defence.. I feel like Tyreke as a point guard sees only the big guys and himself, I mean, as a PG he's not doing the best job, sergio was better on that spot.
I think memphis got a lot of talent but sac could still beat those mofos, with better focus and with counting on each other

btw: feel free to correct my english because it's not my mother tongue
 
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It seems that this team will win most of its games by keeping the other team to <100 points and will lose most of the time it gives up more than 100.
 
memphis needed that win to prove a point after they lost in the arena, if not for Gay I don't know if they were won, but he stayed focus till the end and that's what made the difference.
In the Kings I think Tyreke was the best on the court, casspi did a solid job when he got the ball, because no one passes him, he stands alone on the 3 point line and everybody get into the paint against the whole defence.. I feel like Tyreke as a point guard sees only the big guys and himself, I mean, as a PG he's not doing the best job, sergio was better on that spot.
I think memphis got a lot of talent but sac could still beat those mofos, with better focus and with counting on each other

btw: feel free to correct my english because it's not my mother tongue

Not to worry REEM. You are doing a fine job of getting your point across.
Better, I might say, than some native english speakers.;)
 
Hawes is not getting it done man. And the guy decides to skip summer league?

It's almost December. I think you can let go of that now...

Sorry but I'm holding JT responsible more than Hawes tonight. Thompson was sloppy, he was pouty and he deserved most of those calls, despite what Howdy Doody had to say.

If Jason Thompson is looking to be the power forward of the future for this team, he needs to concentrate on his game and not the officials. His pouty face is actually worse than Miller's ever was. And the indignant shrug has gotten very old very quickly.

Blaming Hawes for everything but the death of the dinosaurs may be the fad of the season, but it's pretty one-sided.
 
jt and hawes both sucked HUGE tonight.

im sooooo sick of seeing JT scream and throw his hands in the air like a little girl after every damn call, the dude needs to shut his mouth and maybe he will earn some respect... its puts a bad vibe on our whole team when he does that, and the refs make us pay.
I think he may have ADHD and should probably pop a cuple dexedrine before the next game, that might help out a bit.
 
take the positive

I woke up at 3 AM to watch the game despite my wife's and friends' 'you are crazy' remarks and even tough we lost, I have enjoyed the game. The person who was probably most frustrated of the JT's performance was himself most probably. He looks so young out there that I have difficulty in putting him all the blame. Yes, he has to learn to control his arms while defending and avoid silly fouls but I hope he will. I will not give up on him just because this lousy performance. He at least tries. And for all those who think we are better without Martin, it was one of these games where we could have used his jumpers to spread the defense a little more.

What was surprising is more the inability of Memphis to put us away and their coach had to reintroduce Gasol and Gay around the 5 minute mark as our kids were not giving up despite having a terrible day out there.

I love this game and I love the Kings.
 
Well, that was disappointing.

Boxscore


Nocioni ( C ) -- pretty much got every bit of grade he did for a 5 minute stretch of the second quarter. Wasn't even much point in givng Noc a first half grade until the 15 minute mark --just sucked. Until about the midpoint of the 2nd when it looked like he made a conscious decision to take advantage of the silly refs to get a three point play against Gay, then draw the third on Randolph -- even on bad days knows how to bait a ref. Seemed to wake him up, as he was strong down the stretch of the quarter, hit a three, had a follow, a good lead pass to Casspi on the break. Made into a smallball PF against Randolph after half, but that did not really work at all for any long stretch and we lost ground.

Thompson ( D ) -- bad, and considerably worse than the numbers indicate (althought my standard notation applies here that a guy who can put up numbers even on a crappy day is probably pretty good). After 4 or 5 strong game in arow during the long homestand, we went on the road and Jason turend back into a pumpkin. You name the problem he had it this time out. Offense, defense, foul trouble...got off to a slow start and never did recover. A lot of it was just unnecessary too -- hyperactive fouls, the missed gimmes again, just stuff that you are supposed to clean up sooner or later. After having to sit down the stretch of the second quarter with 3 fouls, came out to start the third and laid another egg, ragged offensively missing and getting his shots tipped and blocked. And is far too common wiht him, frustration led to even more foul trouble, and ended up taking a seat over next to Westphal with a towel over his head until the final minutes. Made just enough plays here, and by the end put up just enough numbers, to stay out of the cellar gradewise. But he kind of went AWOL on us this trip, and tonight in particular was nowhere to be found in a winnable game where Reke needed a wingman.

Hawes ( D ) -- sigh. Did not take long to figure out whether Specner was going to follow up his big game or not. Actually started off the game on his first tow possessions at least TRYING to post up, but was the victim of back to back bad entry passes for turnovers. Then tried to force something weak into Gasol and got it blocked smushed into his face, and that was kind of that for aggression inside. Had a few little bright spots fluttering about, followed the smush back in his face with a block of his own on a driving guard, had a nice high post pass to a cutting Beno (in fact some good passing on the night was maybe his highlight). But in general, this sucked. Faced with a physical frontline, he just wants no part of it. I don't even know what to say about that. But here it was again, and I don't know if that can be taught. He and May both played terrible high pick and roll defense as Gasol rolled unimpeded. Of course came out in the third and responded to pressure by chucking a three. That's the way to punch them in the nose Spence! Picked up several 3 second violations on the ngiht, which was surprising given how little damage he did in there. Lost a lot of minutes to various smallball lineups, and at the end of the game to his old college teammate Jon Brockman, who has no right to be playing in the NBA given his size, but has something Specner has yet to grow: cahones. I just don't get it. Talentwise, Spencer Hawes is better than Brockman, JT, Marc Gasol, and 3/4 of the other big men in the NBA. But if he doesn't get a grip and toughen up here its all going to go to waste.

Tyreke (B-) -- And how do you give a player who scored 28 points, grabbed 4 rebs and dished out 4 assists while shooting over 50% and was perfect from the line a B-? Because the games we are going to see out of this kid in the future are going to be so damn brilliant you will know why you need to clean saliva off the ground, thats how. Because you watch this game and marvel at the amazing body control, the timely takes, you lament the minor rookie mental mistakes and realize that there is so much great basketball this kid has in him that Petrie must be polishing his nails in his breastplate. If you can give Petrie his due credit, that is.
 
Hawes played like a high school kid just learning some defensive fundamentals in basketball.

In many instances in this game and as shown on the highlights of the game, Hawes turned his back on Gasol and watched the player with the ball ( seemingly just for the sake of showing he is ready to give help defense ) and as a result got completely oblivious of where Gasol was at the given moment. And then Gasol got free for the gimme and points.

Somebody needs to tell Hawes to actually get closer at his man at least an arm's length most of the time inside the paint. A lot better if he can actually touch and feel his man, so he doesn't lose him while he turns his back, or moves his head to check what's going on around him.

BTW, I think he deserves a G for this game. :mad:
 
Hard game to watch. Both teams out of sync most of game and too many ticky-tacky fouls. But Hawes and JT really had off nights. Again Rodriguez and Casspi lit a spark and closed the gaps everytime they were in.

Again, as always it now seems Kings have no defense within an 8 ft radius of the basket, Hawes' territory. Wonder how much better K9 is down there. Seems to be the best "bigs" defender, he and The Brockness Monster.

Wouldn't this be interesting: start Brockman and bring Hawes off the bench?

Let Brockness Monster irritate the heck out of opposition big to soften them up for a Hawes stint. At at true 7 ft, Hawes is necessary vs. the other tall skinny centers and when he is on (not often enough unfortunately) he is very good scorer down low. He just needs to stay 4-6 ft out.

Now everybody just doubles JT and Hawes, when he is in, doesn't pick up the slack. Brockman seems to do better on defense but he will get 4-5 fouls every night too.
 
Hard game to watch. Both teams out of sync most of game and too many ticky-tacky fouls. But Hawes and JT really had off nights. Again Rodriguez and Casspi lit a spark and closed the gaps everytime they were in.

Again, as always it now seems Kings have no defense within an 8 ft radius of the basket, Hawes' territory. Wonder how much better K9 is down there. Seems to be the best "bigs" defender, he and The Brockness Monster.

Wouldn't this be interesting: start Brockman and bring Hawes off the bench?

Let Brockness Monster irritate the heck out of opposition big to soften them up for a Hawes stint. At at true 7 ft, Hawes is necessary vs. the other tall skinny centers and when he is on (not often enough unfortunately) he is very good scorer down low. He just needs to stay 4-6 ft out.

Now everybody just doubles JT and Hawes, when he is in, doesn't pick up the slack. Brockman seems to do better on defense but he will get 4-5 fouls every night too.

I generally don't quote or even paraphrase Jerry Reynolds, but in this case I think it actually fits...

If he's going to get called for 4-5 fouls every night, it's a good thing they allow them 6.

:)

And at least the fouls Brockman gets called for leave some evidence of their having occurred. You know, the old "Whoa. I bet that leaves a mark!"
 
Haha...I think we'll be seeing more of Brockness as the season goes on. Dude is going to be a fan favorite for sure.
 
There are only three rookies on this team, but the whole team continues to make rookie mistakes. I don't think it's bad coaching, just slow learners.
For Gods sake guys quit forcing passes. If the play is not there pull the ball back out and start over. It's not rocket science. It's basketball.:(
 
i loved the play where Brockness got the rebound, gasol tryed to get ball
fouled Brockness on the shoulder then swung his elbows high catching Gasol on the jaw, and Gasol got called for the foul Hoooaaa!

I love the hustle and toughness of this guy!!! He was 3 for 3 on buckets,
yeah he will get some fouls, but will get the boards

hopefully he will get more minutes, seems we get tougher on rebounds
if we are done showcasing KT for the trade deadline minutes can come from him

and please leave Sean May as DNP, totally useless!!!!
we always loose 4-6 points in offense/defense every time he comes
into game
 
So how was Sergio yesterday in D? His numbers are really terrific for 17 min (best game with the Kings) , but I guess he's not playing too much this year because of his terrible defense.
 
So how was Sergio yesterday in D? His numbers are really terrific for 17 min (best game with the Kings) , but I guess he's not playing too much this year because of his terrible defense.


His defense wasn't really noticeable either way last night. The Grizz don't really have any PGs to really punish poor PG defense anyway, so you just didn't notice Sergio last night.

A couple of nights ago in Houston though he surprised me by aggressively picking up his man full court and harassing him all the way up the court. Don't think he actually got any steals out of it, but he got his hands on a few balls and was disruptive. Never seen that from him before.
 
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