Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
On another depressing night, I decided a second pickmeup theme of Funny Quotes II was warranted:
Artest ( A ) -- apparently auditioning for a trade to the Heat tonight with a big night that singlehandedly kept this thing from blowout city. After a slow start forcing shots and missing easy ones, began to really come on and cause problems as the game headed toward halftime. And of the three guys who scored all our first half points (Mike, Reef, Ron), Ron was the one who seemed to have the biggest impact while he was going good. On the dowside, it was one of those streaks where nobody else touches the ball, and that persisted all evening. But then again on this night maybe nobody else deserved to touch the ball. In any case, came back out of half and carried us again in the early third with a couple of threes and some more trips to the line, and even picked up the rebounding as well. Missed some FTs that would have helped, but then again 10-13 is well above his season percentage. If we had won the game, and if that was actually a good thing at this point, might even have been a candidate for the "+", although there was the feeling that this was Ron determined to win and going great himself, rather than him finding a way to elevate the rest of the team.
"They (the Lakers) don't care if Michael Olowokandi gets points. If he explodes... he's gonna get 8." - Charles Barkley
Reef ( A- ) -- was the third of our three players to actually show up tonight, and played a solid and efficient game for the first time in a long while. Had a spate of early turnovers, but was about all we had going offensively there for a while in the late first/early second. Most of his first half offense was not the ball stopping black hole post play either, but an offensive rebound, a couple of quick conversions after good passes and hit one of his short corner threes. Was not overwhelmed as badly as you might have thought by Shaq when he tried to body him. Was not a dominant force, and 18 and 7 are nice numbers but not huge ones. But its been a while since he had anything like this game, and he did it this time for the most part within our flow rather than having to stop action so he could go to work. So A-. Downside was that the room for Reef's shots in our starting lineup came from Kevin and Brad basically stepping out.
"Play some Picasso." - Former New Jersey Net Chris Morris, to a piano player at a hotel bar while trying to impress a date.
Miller ( D+ ) -- you suspected that this would be a blowout at this late stage of their careers, and it did not disappoint. Had very little luck keeping Shaq from his spots, and never established any of his counter play from the perimeter. One or two good passes, and Shaq dominated, but did not destroy. Nonetheless this was pretty much a wipeout between these former "All Stars".
“Eric Piatkowski makes perhaps the greatest defensive play in Clipper history!” - Bill Walton, Mr Exaggeration
Martin ( D ) -- missed some wide open shots early, and was badly skunked by Eddie Jones before half. When not missing, was traveling. Just gave us nothing against for 3/4. Finally hit a shot in the early 4th, and looked a little more aggressive in the final quarter. But never established any consistency against Jones or Posey, who may be decrepit, but still know how to defend. For much of the night Kevin looked like the old guy ont he second half of a back to back. Had a few little moments darting about for some steals, and that pads this grade just a tad. Ever since that impressive player of the week run, Keivn has been erratic at best. Not sure exactly what I'm going to call an F for him, but 9pts on 3-9 from your leading scorer while an ancient waiver wire pickup lights us up the other way for 19pts on 7-9FGs is not good. So D again, and the Charlotte game as the only quality effort in the last 4.
"Christian (Laettner) is going to be the strongest man in the NBA next year, because all he's been doing all summer is carrying around the luggage for 11 guys." - Charles Barkley after Laettner's sumemr with the first (and only) Dream Team.
Artest ( A ) -- apparently auditioning for a trade to the Heat tonight with a big night that singlehandedly kept this thing from blowout city. After a slow start forcing shots and missing easy ones, began to really come on and cause problems as the game headed toward halftime. And of the three guys who scored all our first half points (Mike, Reef, Ron), Ron was the one who seemed to have the biggest impact while he was going good. On the dowside, it was one of those streaks where nobody else touches the ball, and that persisted all evening. But then again on this night maybe nobody else deserved to touch the ball. In any case, came back out of half and carried us again in the early third with a couple of threes and some more trips to the line, and even picked up the rebounding as well. Missed some FTs that would have helped, but then again 10-13 is well above his season percentage. If we had won the game, and if that was actually a good thing at this point, might even have been a candidate for the "+", although there was the feeling that this was Ron determined to win and going great himself, rather than him finding a way to elevate the rest of the team.
"They (the Lakers) don't care if Michael Olowokandi gets points. If he explodes... he's gonna get 8." - Charles Barkley
Reef ( A- ) -- was the third of our three players to actually show up tonight, and played a solid and efficient game for the first time in a long while. Had a spate of early turnovers, but was about all we had going offensively there for a while in the late first/early second. Most of his first half offense was not the ball stopping black hole post play either, but an offensive rebound, a couple of quick conversions after good passes and hit one of his short corner threes. Was not overwhelmed as badly as you might have thought by Shaq when he tried to body him. Was not a dominant force, and 18 and 7 are nice numbers but not huge ones. But its been a while since he had anything like this game, and he did it this time for the most part within our flow rather than having to stop action so he could go to work. So A-. Downside was that the room for Reef's shots in our starting lineup came from Kevin and Brad basically stepping out.
"Play some Picasso." - Former New Jersey Net Chris Morris, to a piano player at a hotel bar while trying to impress a date.
Miller ( D+ ) -- you suspected that this would be a blowout at this late stage of their careers, and it did not disappoint. Had very little luck keeping Shaq from his spots, and never established any of his counter play from the perimeter. One or two good passes, and Shaq dominated, but did not destroy. Nonetheless this was pretty much a wipeout between these former "All Stars".
“Eric Piatkowski makes perhaps the greatest defensive play in Clipper history!” - Bill Walton, Mr Exaggeration
Martin ( D ) -- missed some wide open shots early, and was badly skunked by Eddie Jones before half. When not missing, was traveling. Just gave us nothing against for 3/4. Finally hit a shot in the early 4th, and looked a little more aggressive in the final quarter. But never established any consistency against Jones or Posey, who may be decrepit, but still know how to defend. For much of the night Kevin looked like the old guy ont he second half of a back to back. Had a few little moments darting about for some steals, and that pads this grade just a tad. Ever since that impressive player of the week run, Keivn has been erratic at best. Not sure exactly what I'm going to call an F for him, but 9pts on 3-9 from your leading scorer while an ancient waiver wire pickup lights us up the other way for 19pts on 7-9FGs is not good. So D again, and the Charlotte game as the only quality effort in the last 4.
"Christian (Laettner) is going to be the strongest man in the NBA next year, because all he's been doing all summer is carrying around the luggage for 11 guys." - Charles Barkley after Laettner's sumemr with the first (and only) Dream Team.
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