[Grades] Grades v. Heat 12/11/10

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Better team won. Our effort was not embarrassing, but in particular at key moments whenever we tried to push back thier two superstars (note I said two not three) came up with special stuff time and again.

Have been slowly reloading the girls and have a new set ready to go, but I don't think as many people read these things on the weekend (which I have always felt was odd/the reverse of what you would expect) so don't want to waste the lovely ladies if they may not be seen. So theme will be Malestroms instead.

Official Boxscore

Greene ( C ) -- for about a quarter of this one we outplayed the Heat, and a major reason why was because Donte was smothering LeBron, and Tyreke was doing a nice job harassing DWade. Unfortunately games do not end after one quarter, nor do great players quit coming at you after a quarter. And while Donte was playing solid team offense early in the game, moving without the ball, spotting up, and missing again unfortunately. But after being iced in the second quarter by solid play from Casspi, Donte never really returned. LeBron started getting the better of him, and whatever little scoring there had been early dried entirely up. Pretty much nothing at all in the third. So while this would have been a good grade after a quarter, 3/4 later it is hard to be too enthused, except to note that he showed the ability to get into LeBron and really cause him probelms...for a quarter.
Saltstraumen Maelstrom, Norway -- as the tides rush in and out of Skjerstad fjord through its 500 foot wide 100 foot deep channel, the currents are accelerated to speeds of 25mph and spawn whirlpools 30-50 feet across.

Thompson ( C+ ) -- very aggressive early with jumpers and inside play, and giving us a huge spark, and then like most of our team, just progressively beat down and made to look like nothing as the game went along. In fact that was really kind of the story here -- while, Donte, JT and Tyreke came out aggressive and athletic and neutralized the Miami Big Three in the early going, we were right there. But none of them were abel to sustain, and Cousins and Beno did not win the other positions badly enoguh to give us any real chance. JT fell off badly enough in the third that he was replaced early by Daly, and a late return for the stretch run didn't see any improvement. Most disappointing was him getting whipped ont he glass 17-5 by noted softie Chris Bosh -- that was the one area where you could have expected Jason to come out on top.
420-Untitled-1.jpg

Moskstraumen Maelstrom, Norway -- in many ways kind of the orignal Maelstrom, this most famous of maelstroms was known as far back as ancient times and inspired both Poe and Jules Verne in their famous treatments.

Cousins ( D ) -- overexcited on his first shot quickly forcing a wild falling down attempt. But settled in and for a few brief minutes of the first quarter made a series of nice plays keeping the Heat on their heels, including a tip folow, a nice pass to a cutting Donte, and strong d-boardwork. Was taken out of the game by two cheapie fouls and essentially never returned mentally. Ineffective in the second before going right back to the bench. Started the third with a dumb wild shot, forcing again, bad decisionmaking and shot seleciton. By garbagetime had lost all confidence in that faceup jumper and was blatantly pulling it down to pass the ball around. Did get a gallping finish in the open court, but far too late to matter. A very bried burst followed by a whole lot of unplayable stuff.
Corryvreckan Whirlpool, Scotland -- this appears to be some somebody's vacation video or something, wiht the whirlpool waters seen in the :30 to 1:01 stretch -- if water is acting like that, I don't want to be anywhere nearby.

Udrih ( B- ) -- the modest numbers here still seem better than Beno's game this time out with the possible exceptin of the 7 assists -- he was keeping the ball moving. In the early going, while our other guys were bothering the Big Three, Beno kept on losing Carlos bleeping Arroyo on defense. Luckily that rarely matters. Was missing his shots too, including the ansolutely all by himself wide open corner three on the beautiful kickout from Reke. Missed repeated easy shots, then made a bad turnover leading to a Heat beakout that cut the lead to 1. After half was MIA for the first 3/4 of the third, including missing FTs, then hit a wild off balance 24 second buzzer beating three to cut the lead from 17 to 14 late in the quarter. Didn't mean much, but was a highlight. Did just enough in the 4th to help us hang just enough around that LeBron was still in there to ice things with 2:00 to go in the game. Overall gets the best grade of all the starters, but I think all of them were more impressive in stretches than he was. He just managed to sustain ok play pretty much throughout while they all fell off.
Naruto Whirlpools, Japan -- the straight at Naruto Japan spawns numerous small whirlpools that have been turned into tourist attractions.
 
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Evans ( D ) -- may be the final time I type in a grade for Reke for a while if the rumors of us shutting him down are correct. And based off of this performance, why not? Started the game instantly chucking up a three early in the shot clock, and would do somethign similar coming out of half. Don't know if that was by design or what, but it kind of sucked. On the other hand really got into Wade on defense, coming up with several good steals and helping key the early defensive effort that had us the lead for a while. Wade put up huge numbers, but before half most of them came againat other guys, Cisco, Casspi etc. As mentioned started the third wrong with another settled for three, but even on those scattered occasions when he did decide to drive he had a pair of the toughest matchups int eh league in front of him, and ran into too much traffic to do anything with it. Was shut down for the 4th, as it had long since become a futile exercise, and may well be shut down for much longer here. Inspired early defense or no, 5pts 1reb 1ast is the worst statline of Reke's young career, and clearly so far off from what we need to be able to beat teams like this that something has to change. Grade is held up here by the D, nothing else.
oldsow.jpg

Old Sow, Maine (U.S.) -- actually located in between Maine and Canada, it got its name from the loud sucking noises it makes when storms push in high tides through its region. The maelstrom's diameter can reach 250 feet and swell up to 20 feet high, which must be impressive when you are standing on shore.

Bench
Dalembert ( B+ ) -- gave us strong play off the bench in this one, and was as competitive as any King. In early with the Cousins foul trouble, and after a roll to the hoop from Beno, came up with one of his blocks. Helped restore order after returning in the second with the Heat on a 15-0 run, including a block on Bron and some offensive boardwork. Gave us a little boost in the late third after coming in for JT and got Wade several more times in the 4th as we clung to bare respectability.
Skookumchuck Narrows, British Columbia -- looks like a raging river...except that its a tongue of the sea. Check out the dufus on the kayak. One good thing about thrill seekers like that is thatthey rarely live long enough to procreate.

Head ( INC ) -- in for the final possesion of the first quarter just to save a potential foul on Reke, and never returned, even in the semi-garbagetime of the 4th. If we are shutting Reke down, may get back into the rotation however.
kauaiMaelstrom.jpg

Kauai Maelstrom, Hawaii -- this one I've actually seen, and its completely gorgeous. Its also a bit of a cheat, since its not the currents that create this one, its Hawaii's volcanic heritage with these great lava shelves jutting from the sea floor and creating kind of a stepped pit that sucks the water down and then spits it out.

Casspi ( A- ) -- probably the Kings' best player of the night, largely, but not entirely, because of a 3pt shooting exhibition remiscient of the show he put on in New Jersey the second game of the season. Was hitting those corner threes that he often does not hit, and dropped several big bombs at critcal times to help us keep contact. Was hustling hard but things got scruffy as the Heat came back and he got overexcited on defense and committed unnecessary fouls. Got beat on back to back possessions by Wade in the last minute of the half (including an embarrassing one where 6'3"/6'4" Dwayne Wade posted him up), pushing the lead back from 1 to 5, and maybe denting our youthful exuberance. Came in off the bench in the third with us down 20 and immediatey gave us a kick in the pants with 5 quick points. Kept on bombing threes, and was making some great hustle plays knocking balls off of Heat in the 4th. The boxscore may say one dimesnional, but not if you were watching it.
Niagara Falls Whirlpool, New York -- well, I actualy chose a video of the Class 6 rapids immediately before the whirlpool. Class 6 meaning, as I understand it, that a) you WILL die; and b) if you get in trouble nobody's going to save you.
 
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Further maelstroms called on account of time constraints.

Garcia ( F ) -- awful to such a degree that you almost have to wonder if he has sacrificed his chances to move intot he starting lineup if Reke is shut down. Could not stay in front of Wade after coming in, took a bad bad 1 on 5 fastbreak jumper. Started the 4th with an immediate quickshot bricked three. Left. Was not missed.

Jeter ( B- ) -- not much until a great 3/4 pass ahead to Casspi to close the third. Again gave us a boost in the early 4th knocknig down jumpers and pushing the pace. Hopped in front of several players to try to take chargs -- shows something at his size. Not marvelous, but solid and helped a little.

Landry ( C ) -- truly a forgotten deep bench man ths time, finally hit a turnaround late in the first halfd. Blocked at the first hald buzzer. Had a tiny burst in the early 4th with a nice up and under followed by a strong baseline move. Held us vaguely in it. And that was that. Las years 6th man of the year candidate gave us nothing more off the bench, and topped it with another 0 rebound game as millions of dollars are probably in the process of being sucked out of his wallet with free agency looming.

Jackson ( INC ) -- in for the first time in the last two minutes of the game, got a little flush on a follow
 
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Lmao we suck so bad the title of this thread says grades vs 12-11-10. That's all brick needs to do now, just put grades vs the date that we played since we're going to lose anyways ;)
 
Just got back from the game. Gotta say it was as close to a playoff atmosphere as you can get in Arco now a days. I loved that the crowed boo'd LeBron whenever he touched the ball. It's too bad the Kings let the game get away from them in the 3rd :(
 
And just like that more fans are turned away from the kings. Tired of reassuring the angry masses on facebook that things will get better. its sad that people used to call us the best fans in the nba. i guess a whole lot of people were just bandwagon fans. :( sad times.
 
Casspi - A. played an awesome game and brought some serious hustle (lots of great plays that aren't going to show up in the box tonight).

DMC started hot but hit a serious wall within five minutes. Also went 0/4 or 1/4 (cant remember) within a minute right as Miami was pulling away, FTs that couldve and shouldve kept us in the game (at least a little longer). I will say however that the last week or two he's looked much more like an NBA post player rather than a kid lost out there- but still, he is very much a rookie.

Same for Reke, had a nifty move in the first, sparking hope that he'd challenge Miami inside, but quickly dissappeared.

Dalembert is one of my favs right now- he played well but he obviously can't win a game by himself. Pretty good night for him.

Coach waited waaay too long for Pooh. Might want to start drinking more water and getting fiber in his diet.

Overall a very 'meh' game...exciting start turned into a bust, and fast. If there's anything LBJ knows how to do, it's take over and dominate a regular season game against a team gunning for lottery position.
 
Tyreke Evans deserves a D for the whole season. We talk about slow sophomore starts, but forget that we were comparing Tyreke to Lebron, Wade, Kobe, not to Derrick Rose. Wade won a championship as the main man (at least he was in the finals) in his 3rd year. If he's cleared to play, Tyreke has no excuse to be giving us these kind of games almost night in and night out. On defense he is still playing pretty well, other than always going under screens, and I acknowledge his contributions on that end. The problem is his jumpshot is so ****ing bad that without his explosiveness he becomes useless on the offensive end
 
Tyreke Evans deserves a D for the whole season. We talk about slow sophomore starts, but forget that we were comparing Tyreke to Lebron, Wade, Kobe, not to Derrick Rose. Wade won a championship as the main man (at least he was in the finals) in his 3rd year. If he's cleared to play, Tyreke has no excuse to be giving us these kind of games almost night in and night out. On defense he is still playing pretty well, other than always going under screens, and I acknowledge his contributions on that end. The problem is his jumpshot is so ****ing bad that without his explosiveness he becomes useless on the offensive end

There is a growing voice saying that he shouldn't be playing. He looks bad right now. He showed early today that he could slash and score like last year, but something is clearly up.

He may never get that jumper but when he can't drive he needs to sit.
 
I see this as a "practice the jumper" season for Reke.

He's too hurt to drive like last year so he's relying on his shot, which is pretty terrible. We'll get that one game out of five where he's feeling it and actually able to score over 20, but other than that....A whole lot of 35%fg nights.

I think it would help the TEAM to rest Reke. But they want to sell as many seats as possible, so I guess they need Mr. 20/5/5 on the court.

Longterm: Maybe having to shoot a ton of jumpers this year will be a blessing in disguise and help accelerate the learning process for Reke. He could have a pretty beastly 3rd year if he's healthy. (This is me trying to be an optimist).


Also, I think Cuz had the yips this game. He usually hits his FTs.
 
I hope reke sees this season as a message what happens when your drive game is taken away.... he's forced to play to his weaknesses aka perimeter game and looking for other people...


add to the fact he is playing through pain, It's painful for him just as it is painful for us to watch the kings lose

but sometimes there are lessons that are just painful to learn, but are rewarding.

season is not over! go kings!
 
As much as i love what donte can do for us on D, he's really got to start stepping his offensive game up. As of now hes primarily a role player, going up for lobs, cutting, or moving the ball. If he could become more of an individual threat (maybe develop into a face up shooter with the great height that he has), itll take some pressure off the other players in creating or running a play, while putting more pressure on the defense, all of which would give us more options to work with on that end of the floor.

ed: casspi is playing terrific right now, i wouldnt be surprised if he starts sometime in the near future.
 
I see this as a "practice the jumper" season for Reke.

He's too hurt to drive like last year so he's relying on his shot, which is pretty terrible. We'll get that one game out of five where he's feeling it and actually able to score over 20, but other than that....A whole lot of 35%fg nights.

I think it would help the TEAM to rest Reke. But they want to sell as many seats as possible, so I guess they need Mr. 20/5/5 on the court.

Longterm: Maybe having to shoot a ton of jumpers this year will be a blessing in disguise and help accelerate the learning process for Reke. He could have a pretty beastly 3rd year if he's healthy. (This is me trying to be an optimist).


Also, I think Cuz had the yips this game. He usually hits his FTs.

Sure, if he actually starts hitting more and more shots. You're not achieving anything by "practising" throwing up brick after brick. Some of his shots don't even look close to going in.
 
Casspi must be a strater. for the moment he is the best player in the kings, and the only one, not accepting losses, trying to win it no matter what.
He is the first to come practices and the last to go out.
His defense got much better by term of steals rebounds and all other things not shown in the stats,
he passes the ball and makes his teamates better.
last 3 games stats:

Vs Clippers - 21 points 10 rebounds 1 assist and 1 steal within 33:56 minutes
Vs Wizards - 12 points 6 rebounds and 6 steals - within 24:46 minutes
Vs Miami - 20 points 3 rebounds and 1 assist (5 of 7 3pt, while the rest of the team 1 of 11) within 26:45 minutes

he has a season 41% for 3 pt. he got much better FT shooter. (aroubd 72% comparing 66% last year).
Shoud I say more ???
 
Casspi must be a strater. for the moment he is the best player in the kings, and the only one, not accepting losses, trying to win it no matter what.
He is the first to come practices and the last to go out.
His defense got much better by term of steals rebounds and all other things not shown in the stats,
he passes the ball and makes his teamates better.
last 3 games stats:

Vs Clippers - 21 points 10 rebounds 1 assist and 1 steal within 33:56 minutes
Vs Wizards - 12 points 6 rebounds and 6 steals - within 24:46 minutes
Vs Miami - 20 points 3 rebounds and 1 assist (5 of 7 3pt, while the rest of the team 1 of 11) within 26:45 minutes

he has a season 41% for 3 pt. he got much better FT shooter. (aroubd 72% comparing 66% last year).
Shoud I say more ???

If Casspi starts our bench will just die. Greene's not a good offensive player, nor is Dalembert. Garcia is useless right now, Landry has his moments but can't be relied on to carry the offense single handedly.
 
Shoud I say more ???

Coming in off the bench usually pits him against the other team's bench, which allows him to heat up and carry over through the rest of the game. Casspi as a starter create the same consistency in his game. But he's been getting the minutes, and making the most of them. That's more important than starting the game.
 
I think that it is quite simple equation - let the best players play and don't think about killing the bench what so ever.
Casspi with his current shape should play 33-38 minutes, means that he will meet the starters and the bench player of the opponent.
Miami bench is also quite weak in the offense, so should they bench flash ?

The problem is not just being a starter or not. Casspi is our best 3pt shooter for the moment. but I didn't see the team playing for him. putting him in his spots for much easier shots, more than it, in general, i cant see offensive drills to any of our player advantages.
asking Tyreke taking the ball and be creative every single attack we have, is killing this huge talent.
we need a system we need that every player will know exactly it's position, and how he can work one for each other.
we are an egoist team. it starts with Tyreke, continue with Landry and it sticks the entire team.
there were several nice plays with the team such as Casspi to Dallembert dunking and Donte assist, and whenever Jetter is in we are faster and passing the ball better.
we need much more of it.
I just can't wait seeing our team winning!
and I think that we have the talents , but they are not coached well.
 
I think that it is quite simple equation - let the best players play and don't think about killing the bench what so ever.
Casspi with his current shape should play 33-38 minutes, means that he will meet the starters and the bench player of the opponent.
Miami bench is also quite weak in the offense, so should they bench flash ?

The problem is not just being a starter or not. Casspi is our best 3pt shooter for the moment. but I didn't see the team playing for him. putting him in his spots for much easier shots, more than it, in general, i cant see offensive drills to any of our player advantages.
asking Tyreke taking the ball and be creative every single attack we have, is killing this huge talent.
we need a system we need that every player will know exactly it's position, and how he can work one for each other.
we are an egoist team. it starts with Tyreke, continue with Landry and it sticks the entire team.
there were several nice plays with the team such as Casspi to Dallembert dunking and Donte assist, and whenever Jetter is in we are faster and passing the ball better.
we need much more of it.
I just can't wait seeing our team winning!
and I think that we have the talents , but they are not coached well.

Well if you watched this game you would have seen that Tyreke barely touched the ball. In previous games yes, he has been the one setting up the offense. But in this one, he was basically either throwing up long jumpshots, missing layups or standing near half court while the 4 other guys did something.

What's the purpose behind starting Casspi? We know that he gives us offense off the bench, so what do you think the advantage will be in him starting?

Also, Omri Casspi is not Dwyane Wade, nor does he play on the Miami Heat. For one, Wade has to exert a lot less energy with LBJ and Bosh on the floor with him. I'll bet you that if Omri starts, by the time the real bench comes in which is bout 2 - 4 minutes into the 2nd quarter, he'll be tired and won't be able to shoot well consistently. By not starting him, we're bringing him fresh off the bench, full of energy and rested legs to hit shots and provide energy on both ends, usually for the purpose of trying to close the gap between us and the leading team.

Now if Tyreke were healthy and playing well it'd be completely different, because then Omri wouldn't need to run around as much on offense, just hang around and hit the open 3. It would leave him with more energy to be a weapon playing with the bench.
 
I just hope that Tyreke will have some sort of rebound towards the end of the season 'cause right now he's worse than a pooh ****in jeter.
 
I just hope that Tyreke will have some sort of rebound towards the end of the season 'cause right now he's worse than a pooh ****in jeter.

I feel that we should just rest him. Hell at this point I wouldn't even mind him sitting out the season, doing rehab and then getting back to shooting, since that's what guys usually do when they first recover from an injury.
 
Now if Tyreke were healthy and playing well it'd be completely different, because then Omri wouldn't need to run around as much on offense, just hang around and hit the open 3. It would leave him with more energy to be a weapon playing with the bench.

Waiting around on the 3-point line actually kills his energy, and does the same for a lot of other Kings players. That's why Tyreke shouldn't be a PG. His style of play as a PG forces everyone to stand around waiting for kickouts instead of moving without the ball and creating offensive opportunities, which kills everyone's energy and focus. Most of the players on this team are best suited for a dynamic game rather than the kind of static game we've been seeing from the Kings when Tyreke is trying to run the offense. Tyreke needs to learn how to be a SG asap.

Regardless of who starts, I would like to see a lot more minutes of the Pooh-Beno-Omri-JT-Cousins combo. These are the players that get the ball moving the most (and more importantly, move without the ball in their hands) and when they play together they actually look like a young and dynamic team, rather than the retirement-home-style basketball we've been seeing from the Kings as of late.
 
Now if Tyreke were healthy and playing well it'd be completely different, because then Omri wouldn't need to run around as much on offense, just hang around and hit the open 3. It would leave him with more energy to be a weapon playing with the bench.

Waiting around on the 3-point line actually kills his energy, and does the same for a lot of other Kings players. That's why Tyreke shouldn't be a PG. His style of play as a PG forces everyone to stand around waiting for kickouts instead of moving without the ball and creating offensive opportunities, which kills everyone's energy and focus. Most of the players on this team are best suited for a dynamic game rather than the kind of static game we've been seeing from the Kings when Tyreke is trying to run the offense. Tyreke needs to learn how to be a SG asap.

Regardless of who starts, I would like to see a lot more minutes of the Pooh-Beno-Omri-JT-Cousins combo. These are the players that get the ball moving the most (and more importantly, move without the ball in their hands) and when they play together they actually look like a young and dynamic team, rather than the retirement-home-style basketball we've been seeing from the Kings as of late.
 
Casspi must be a strater. for the moment he is the best player in the kings, and the only one, not accepting losses, trying to win it no matter what.
He is the first to come practices and the last to go out.
His defense got much better by term of steals rebounds and all other things not shown in the stats,
he passes the ball and makes his teamates better.
last 3 games stats:

Vs Clippers - 21 points 10 rebounds 1 assist and 1 steal within 33:56 minutes
Vs Wizards - 12 points 6 rebounds and 6 steals - within 24:46 minutes
Vs Miami - 20 points 3 rebounds and 1 assist (5 of 7 3pt, while the rest of the team 1 of 11) within 26:45 minutes

he has a season 41% for 3 pt. he got much better FT shooter. (aroubd 72% comparing 66% last year).
Shoud I say more ???

And then there's his defense. Like when he doesn't have the strength to keep 6'3" Wade from mauling him in the post. The problem with Casspi is he can't even keep weak players from taking him to the post, much less strong players. Right now, he's a one-way player - hits an open shot on the offensive end, hurts you on the defensive end. He doesn't create his own shot, nor does he create for others. So even on the offensive end, he's limited.

Greene is almost Casspi's mirror image - better on defense, worse on offense. So there's not a whole lot to choose from right now.
 
Better team won. Our effort was not embarrassing, but in particular at key moments whenever we tried to push back thier two superstars (note I said two not three) came up with special stuff time and again.

Have been slowly reloading the girls and have a new set ready to go, but I don't think as many people read these things on the weekend (which I have always felt was odd/the reverse of what you would expect) so don't want to waste the lovely ladies if they may not be seen. So theme will be Malestroms instead.

placeholder...

Malestroms as in underwear, swimwear, sleepwear, active wear and fine grooming products for men? or whirlpools n such. :cool:
 
Our effort was not embarrassing, but in particular at key moments whenever we tried to push back thier two superstars (note I said two not three) came up with special stuff time and again.

Does this mean you're officially off the Bosh-is-the-Superstar-the-Kings-need-to-win-that-championship bandwagon?
 
He is the worst defender on the team.

I know you are trying to make a point but there is no need to distort reality for that cause. Beno, Cousins, and Landry are easily worse defenders than Omri. Plus he has picked up his defense as of late, hence the 6 steals in the wizards game. He also goes after defensive rebounds, which is a big part of defense, and dives for every loose ball. He certainly hasn't been standing out as a bad defender in our recent games. In fact, he has been one of our better defenders lately.

Regardless of that, I would like to see some consistency from PW, so I think Omri should still come off the bench, but get big minutes and find himself on the court mostly with players who run and move the ball a lot, as I mentioned in an earlier post. That is the type of play that suits his game the most and will bring out the best in him.
 
And then there's his defense. Like when he doesn't have the strength to keep 6'3" Wade from mauling him in the post. The problem with Casspi is he can't even keep weak players from taking him to the post, much less strong players. Right now, he's a one-way player - hits an open shot on the offensive end, hurts you on the defensive end. He doesn't create his own shot, nor does he create for others. So even on the offensive end, he's limited.

Greene is almost Casspi's mirror image - better on defense, worse on offense. So there's not a whole lot to choose from right now.

For the second year running Casspi and Greene have the exact same (horrible) DRat. he save a similar StL%, and Donte is a much beter shotblocker. On the flip side, though, Casspi is a far superior rebounder (which kinda speaks to me about their respective levels of effort, considering Greene's physical gifts.)

And of course, Greene went from a net negative of 9 points per 100 posessions to to 10 this season. I'm really not sure why you've all sold yourselves on this career underachiever as some sort of defensive stopper. He's not.
 
Brick -

it would be great if you could put a link in the 1st post to a boxscore for the game. It could be helpful to anyone looking for stat perspective to your grades.

Just a thought....
 
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