Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Well, the end result of this one was pretty much a given, so the joy in it was always going to be in the journey. And I was not dissatisifed with the journey. It was a fun game even if it did have some of the aspect of cat lazily playing with a mouse.
Twas defense that killed us in the end, as as I have mentioend a few times this season, while fans typically look to the offense first, we've been slowly improving on that end of the floor. On defense...not so much. As in not so much for the past 8 years. And we'll never be a good team until that somehow chanes one day.
Of especial note might be the long overdue shortening of our rotation, shouldering out most of our most problematic personnel. The irony of course is that with the exception of Hayes, the personnel shouldered out is a who's who of our offseason acquistions. Only Isiah and Hayes out of our surviving 8 weren't wiht the team last year.
No theme, but here's a random pickmeup I stumbled across:
Boxscore
Evans ( A- ) -- airballed his first jumper for no reason, then blew the layup against Lebron and there were danger signs. Everything was ragged. But he was big on the glass early, and he was being unselfish as his passing was a key to our early lead. And the offense eventually started to come as he got into a rhythm. Just took Battier right off the dribble, hit another half courter to close the first. Ended up playing most of the first half PG minutes anyway after Isiah's size was being exploited and he got into foul trouble. Airballed a three at the end of his stint before leaving having played the first 18 minutes straight -- might have been fatigue, although he can airballthose without it. Had some spectacular finishes in the third as he attacked the hoop and IT bombed away outside as the game got fun. Just had great bounce in his legs both on the drive and pass. Began to have problems finsiihing them in the 4th as the defensive pressure ratcheted up. Because we played so much zone we thankfully avoided the direct matchup too often, but on the night outperformed LeBron with another of his sniffing around a triple double games, and was really the King able to match the LeBron/Wade duo spectacular take for spectacular take.
Thompson ( B ) -- very active early hustling and covering up our errors, but not able to slow Bosh the other way. Got really screwed on a noncall as Wade ran into him on a catch, knocked him down causing the turnover, but hey, it was DWade you know? Did continue his FT woes missing another pair, and maybe that was the excuse for Smart to be not so Smart and leave Jason, after great hustle work on the glass and a 10pt 6reb first quarter, pinned ot the pine until the final two minutes of the half. Never did regain that same momentum he had had and for the rest of the game was just a guy as we got incresingly perimeter oriented.
Cousins ( D ) -- had enough really good plays in this one to avoid the seriously bad grades, but surprisingly given both his recent play and having the most favorable matchup, DeMarcus was the one Kings starter who looked overmatched out there. Was trying to do to much in the early going, and getting a lot of shots blocked as he was having real problems inside with he Heat's athleticism. Has to figure that out to take the next step. But made a nice Vlade pass to a cutting Cisco, and on one ridiculous sequence in the third, stole a ball along the sidelinel then started upcourt, dribbled the ball between Chalmers legs (!) in the open court, threw it to Reke, and eventually got the finish on the reverse flip as Reke hit him back. Next time down denied Lebron on defense and stopped him. Took several more charges as well. But began racking up fouls, and combinedwith getting embarrassed everytime he tried to go inside, the frustration got to him and he got a technical as well. Suppose we'll call it a learning expereince, as he certainly did not seem forcused. But the inability to finish around the hoop over lengtha nd athleticimsm remains his biggest concern. Needs to go study some Moses Malone tapes, or better yet to get some Moses Malone tutoring. There was a groundbound guy who knew how ot use his body -- hard for scrawny little twigs to get off the ground to block your shot when they've got your shoulder squarely planted in their midsection.
Thornton ( B+ ) -- another guy who was active and aggressive from the early going as we certainly weren't intimdated out there. Was at least trying to pass but typical of Marcus it was high risk/high reward stuff. Excellent energy, was running the court hard, doing anice job deflecting balls int he open court and had a huge offensive rebound in the mid 2nd. Nice pass to Cousins on the pick and roll for a dunk. Hit a series of big threes that kept us in this one longer than we otherwise might have lingered. Back to back huge threes near the end of the 2nd to combat a huge Heat run, and then another in the early thrid as we tried to weather another Heat storm. Normal defensive woes were largely avoided, or at least masked, by us just admitting it was hopeless and going to zones for long stretches of the game. Thus while some of Wade's 30-10 can be laid at Marcus's feet, its not as if he was being notably lit up out there more than anyone else.
Thomas ( B+ ) -- of course the natural tendency to say IT played a great game tonight, but that's not really accurate. He played 3/4 of an ok game, and then got ridiculously over the top hot for the other 1/4, and dropped TWENTY of his 24 points in the third quarter behind FIVE threes. Began the game having some little man misadventures as the Heat made him look 5'9", and got into early foul trouble. He was able to bail us out several times when the offense broke down, using his quickness to find space and knock down little jumpers. But he also had to relearn the "I'm only 5'9" " lesson several times as he forced the issue inside and the Heat swatted his shots away like he were a pesky child. On the other end they were having Chalmers post on him, and shooting over him on the perimeter. Forced the bad 1 on 1 shot to close the first half? Why with all our talent is IT taking that shot? But the script changed in the third as he started to come to life, and after he started never slowed down. Most of them were good shots of the catch and shoot variety, a few bordered on selfish, but as they all were falling during the peak of the huge three point barrage you don't complain. Thing is, this is NOT what he is known for. Isiah Thomas was not a great shooter even in college, and never shot even 35% from the college three point line, let alone pro. He started off this season struggling from that distance in the NBA. Now he catches fire for a quarter and goes Reggie Miller on the Miami Heat for a 20pt explosion? Wacky, but kept us in this thing until the 4th quarter when the mojo begant to wear off, which is more than just about anybody could have expected.
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Bench
Cisco ( B- ) -- this was a hard one to get a feel for, because for the whole game Cisco alternated between shuffling around looking like the old fumbling guy with no legs who replaced his body this season, and then every once in a while he would suddenly step froward to make a timely play. There was 5 minutes of nothing to start, but then a three in the early second and a nice touch pass to Thornton on the break. After another dry spell began the 4th with a good pass setting up Donte. And then after game long offensive invisibility, suddenly stepped up to hit back to back threes from Reke in the mid-4th to break a big Heat run. Kind of our last gasp really. And so you get to the end of the game and he's the old saavy guy in the park who people were running aronund all night, but who made the sneaky timely plays that kept his team on the court.
Greene ( C- ) -- in to defend Lebron on the final possessioon of the first quarter, did a great job, and Lebron still scored over him with the spectacular shot. Ineffective in the early second as our PF next to Hayes. Could feel the huge falloff from JT/Cousins. Kept missing his jumpers and finsihed the ngiht 1-6. I think despite playing out of position and missing shots maybe STILL more efffective than Hickson has been, just because he knows his role and tries to play it, and give syou good effort on D -- got into Bosh an few times with his length. But not a strong game.
Hayes ( C+ ) -- in and mixed defense on Bosh. When Bosh kept it low, effective. When he shot over him, not so. Gap between Hayes and even the struggling Cousins in there was comical in the first half and and couldn't clog the middle. But things got better in later stints, as he first made an impact as a passer, notcing two nice passes to Thornton and Reke on cuts, and forced a post move in the early 4th over Bosh. Bad idea, that never falls for him...but this one did. Not much on the glass.
Honeycutt ( INC ) -- just a minute+ of garbagetime
Whiteside ( INC ) -- just a minute+ of garbagetime, but he blocked a shot, grabbed 2 rebs, played some D. Dominance! He's ready baby.
Twas defense that killed us in the end, as as I have mentioend a few times this season, while fans typically look to the offense first, we've been slowly improving on that end of the floor. On defense...not so much. As in not so much for the past 8 years. And we'll never be a good team until that somehow chanes one day.
Of especial note might be the long overdue shortening of our rotation, shouldering out most of our most problematic personnel. The irony of course is that with the exception of Hayes, the personnel shouldered out is a who's who of our offseason acquistions. Only Isiah and Hayes out of our surviving 8 weren't wiht the team last year.
No theme, but here's a random pickmeup I stumbled across:
Boxscore
Evans ( A- ) -- airballed his first jumper for no reason, then blew the layup against Lebron and there were danger signs. Everything was ragged. But he was big on the glass early, and he was being unselfish as his passing was a key to our early lead. And the offense eventually started to come as he got into a rhythm. Just took Battier right off the dribble, hit another half courter to close the first. Ended up playing most of the first half PG minutes anyway after Isiah's size was being exploited and he got into foul trouble. Airballed a three at the end of his stint before leaving having played the first 18 minutes straight -- might have been fatigue, although he can airballthose without it. Had some spectacular finishes in the third as he attacked the hoop and IT bombed away outside as the game got fun. Just had great bounce in his legs both on the drive and pass. Began to have problems finsiihing them in the 4th as the defensive pressure ratcheted up. Because we played so much zone we thankfully avoided the direct matchup too often, but on the night outperformed LeBron with another of his sniffing around a triple double games, and was really the King able to match the LeBron/Wade duo spectacular take for spectacular take.
Thompson ( B ) -- very active early hustling and covering up our errors, but not able to slow Bosh the other way. Got really screwed on a noncall as Wade ran into him on a catch, knocked him down causing the turnover, but hey, it was DWade you know? Did continue his FT woes missing another pair, and maybe that was the excuse for Smart to be not so Smart and leave Jason, after great hustle work on the glass and a 10pt 6reb first quarter, pinned ot the pine until the final two minutes of the half. Never did regain that same momentum he had had and for the rest of the game was just a guy as we got incresingly perimeter oriented.
Cousins ( D ) -- had enough really good plays in this one to avoid the seriously bad grades, but surprisingly given both his recent play and having the most favorable matchup, DeMarcus was the one Kings starter who looked overmatched out there. Was trying to do to much in the early going, and getting a lot of shots blocked as he was having real problems inside with he Heat's athleticism. Has to figure that out to take the next step. But made a nice Vlade pass to a cutting Cisco, and on one ridiculous sequence in the third, stole a ball along the sidelinel then started upcourt, dribbled the ball between Chalmers legs (!) in the open court, threw it to Reke, and eventually got the finish on the reverse flip as Reke hit him back. Next time down denied Lebron on defense and stopped him. Took several more charges as well. But began racking up fouls, and combinedwith getting embarrassed everytime he tried to go inside, the frustration got to him and he got a technical as well. Suppose we'll call it a learning expereince, as he certainly did not seem forcused. But the inability to finish around the hoop over lengtha nd athleticimsm remains his biggest concern. Needs to go study some Moses Malone tapes, or better yet to get some Moses Malone tutoring. There was a groundbound guy who knew how ot use his body -- hard for scrawny little twigs to get off the ground to block your shot when they've got your shoulder squarely planted in their midsection.
Thornton ( B+ ) -- another guy who was active and aggressive from the early going as we certainly weren't intimdated out there. Was at least trying to pass but typical of Marcus it was high risk/high reward stuff. Excellent energy, was running the court hard, doing anice job deflecting balls int he open court and had a huge offensive rebound in the mid 2nd. Nice pass to Cousins on the pick and roll for a dunk. Hit a series of big threes that kept us in this one longer than we otherwise might have lingered. Back to back huge threes near the end of the 2nd to combat a huge Heat run, and then another in the early thrid as we tried to weather another Heat storm. Normal defensive woes were largely avoided, or at least masked, by us just admitting it was hopeless and going to zones for long stretches of the game. Thus while some of Wade's 30-10 can be laid at Marcus's feet, its not as if he was being notably lit up out there more than anyone else.
Thomas ( B+ ) -- of course the natural tendency to say IT played a great game tonight, but that's not really accurate. He played 3/4 of an ok game, and then got ridiculously over the top hot for the other 1/4, and dropped TWENTY of his 24 points in the third quarter behind FIVE threes. Began the game having some little man misadventures as the Heat made him look 5'9", and got into early foul trouble. He was able to bail us out several times when the offense broke down, using his quickness to find space and knock down little jumpers. But he also had to relearn the "I'm only 5'9" " lesson several times as he forced the issue inside and the Heat swatted his shots away like he were a pesky child. On the other end they were having Chalmers post on him, and shooting over him on the perimeter. Forced the bad 1 on 1 shot to close the first half? Why with all our talent is IT taking that shot? But the script changed in the third as he started to come to life, and after he started never slowed down. Most of them were good shots of the catch and shoot variety, a few bordered on selfish, but as they all were falling during the peak of the huge three point barrage you don't complain. Thing is, this is NOT what he is known for. Isiah Thomas was not a great shooter even in college, and never shot even 35% from the college three point line, let alone pro. He started off this season struggling from that distance in the NBA. Now he catches fire for a quarter and goes Reggie Miller on the Miami Heat for a 20pt explosion? Wacky, but kept us in this thing until the 4th quarter when the mojo begant to wear off, which is more than just about anybody could have expected.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bench
Cisco ( B- ) -- this was a hard one to get a feel for, because for the whole game Cisco alternated between shuffling around looking like the old fumbling guy with no legs who replaced his body this season, and then every once in a while he would suddenly step froward to make a timely play. There was 5 minutes of nothing to start, but then a three in the early second and a nice touch pass to Thornton on the break. After another dry spell began the 4th with a good pass setting up Donte. And then after game long offensive invisibility, suddenly stepped up to hit back to back threes from Reke in the mid-4th to break a big Heat run. Kind of our last gasp really. And so you get to the end of the game and he's the old saavy guy in the park who people were running aronund all night, but who made the sneaky timely plays that kept his team on the court.
Greene ( C- ) -- in to defend Lebron on the final possessioon of the first quarter, did a great job, and Lebron still scored over him with the spectacular shot. Ineffective in the early second as our PF next to Hayes. Could feel the huge falloff from JT/Cousins. Kept missing his jumpers and finsihed the ngiht 1-6. I think despite playing out of position and missing shots maybe STILL more efffective than Hickson has been, just because he knows his role and tries to play it, and give syou good effort on D -- got into Bosh an few times with his length. But not a strong game.
Hayes ( C+ ) -- in and mixed defense on Bosh. When Bosh kept it low, effective. When he shot over him, not so. Gap between Hayes and even the struggling Cousins in there was comical in the first half and and couldn't clog the middle. But things got better in later stints, as he first made an impact as a passer, notcing two nice passes to Thornton and Reke on cuts, and forced a post move in the early 4th over Bosh. Bad idea, that never falls for him...but this one did. Not much on the glass.
Honeycutt ( INC ) -- just a minute+ of garbagetime
Whiteside ( INC ) -- just a minute+ of garbagetime, but he blocked a shot, grabbed 2 rebs, played some D. Dominance! He's ready baby.
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