Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Unleash the guards!
Much needed reminder of just how good our starting guards can be if they are just allowed to be that good.
Salmons ( B- ) -- did most of his work early as a pretty clear 3rd option on a suddenly stripped down shot hierarchy, and I thought helped set the tone in this one by passing the ball pretty willingly, by John Salmons standards. Hit Evans with a nice backdoor pass, made anoher nice pass later to Hayes, but Hayes missed the layup. Guys felt like they could pass him the ball and have a reasonable chance of getting it back. Had a couple of hoops late in the half that were under control rather than 1 on 1 forces, inclduing a steal and breawkay dunk +1. Was less prominent after half after it really turned into the Reke and Marcus show, but performed this role (3rd gun) much more comfortably than he has played the roleplayer in the first week.
Hickson ( C- ) -- looked pretty active in the early going taking advantage of his opportunity, and came up with a block, but not much came of it. Without Cousins our little "bigs" were getting manhandled in there by Okafor and Kaman and we got crushed on the glass. Meanwhile Hickson, who has always been an offensively oriented player and part of the shots crunch ont his team, has really stepped back offensively the last couple of games, even though you would have expected him to get some post opportuities with Cousins gone. A little bit of good work late in the game wih some offensive boards and finsihes completed JJs night, but it was underwhelming.
Hayes ( C+ ) -- getting overwhelmed in there by Okafor in the early going, but was doing a good job helping to keep the ball distributed amongst the guards, and had a nice Princetonesque top of the key pass to cutting Jimmer. Was struggling to finish inside all night though and was outperformed by both of the Hornets' centers.
Thornton ( A- ) -- really didn't get off to the scorching start to this one. He was active and aggressive as always but he missed some easy looks set up by Reke and Salmons, and after crashing in amongst the trees inside for offensive rebounds, missed several follows as well, much to the delight of the pricks behind the New Orleans mikes. Was playing his gambling/one man trap defense up top, and came up with a number of steals out of it triggering fast breaks. After halftime he and Reke really began to take the game over, attackign the rim and causing havoc in the open court. Thornton never did get his 3pt game going, only hitting 1-5. But his aggression overwhelmed the sad Hornets backcourt (including the man that they still shockingly chose over him in Bellinelli) on the way to 25pts 6rebs and 5stls.
Evans ( A- ) -- started the game looking lively on both ends, attacking the hoop and helping out our beleagured "bigs" (who he can look in the eye) on the defensive glass. Shooting percentages weren't there in the first half, but the shots looked good. The jumpers were right online, and the finishes were just rolling off. Same thing was happening with the passes, as he and Salmons did a notably better job of finding teammtes this time out, but in the first half our guys were just not knocking down their shots. Reke could easily have finished this one with 8 assists wiht nothing more than guys, including top shooters like Thronton and Jimmer, just knocking down open threes. All of that set up a dynamic secodn half from he and Thornton, as rather than getting frustrated they just cranked it up another notch and all of a sudden all the things that had just been rolling off started going in. Really amde a run at the Hornets in the third, starting the quarter with a finish, a board, several nice looking (formwise = vast improvement) pullups, and adding a three for good measure. Fixed his FTs too. Nice penetration and spin dish to Salmons in the corner and had a beautiful crossover move on a drive from the corner before getting caught and havign to throw up a behind ghte head dlip that rolled out. Hit a desperation three after he had lost control of the ball and almsot run out the clock. And finished the game with a spectacular block on the break, that alas did not save the hoop as the Hornets got the ball back and finished anyway. Just very energetic and in control as he and Thornton combined for 52pts alone on 50% shooting. Night and day from the night before.
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Bench
Thompson ( B- ) -- the numbers here don't look great, but I thoguht Jason did a nice job of competing in there, in the first half in particular. He bodied up Kaman on defense, dropped a nice post move on him down the other way, and got a big dunk slashing down the lane wihtout the ball. Now in the end hsi shooting percentages dropped down to join our other bigs (JJ, Hayes and JT combined to shoot 6-22), but felt like JT helped us more than hurt.
Fredette ( C ) -- made some smart passes to set people up, but for much fo his time out there he was carrying over some of the struggles from the other night. Hit an early 1 on nobody 3pt shot, but then began to miss everything, including good looks for a shooter of his caliber. Forced a couple of shots too on anight when most of our guys had toned that down. Had a few ballhandling adventures again as peole are really testing him there. Thought he was left in there too long in the 4th with Reke chomping at the bit on the sidelines, but maybe Westphal was just trying to help the kid's confidence, and did not pull him until he finally got a couple of postive plays when Hayes and Thronton poked balls away, and Fredette lef the resulting breaks.
Outlaw ( C ) -- came in and immediately came up wtih a big blocked shot . Not strong enough to handle Landry in the post in his second stint and still not hitting his shots, but he looked more competent out there this time, and was able to be some factor defensively with his length.
Garcia ( B- ) -- nice block on the perimeter after finally getting in for the first time this season. Could see his wilingness to move the ball as soon as he entered,. But was way off on his early threes, and was making some dumb fous. Came back to hit back to back threes in the early 4th as we tried to buy time with Reke out. Not perfect, or brilliant, but a good roleplayer outing and some of what we have been missing in the ealry going. Veteran roleplayers = good if you've got the stars elsewhere.
Greene ( INC ) -- in of the last possession of the first half for defense
Thomas ( INC ) -- not much this time as we thankfully mostly stayed away from the twerpball stuff
Much needed reminder of just how good our starting guards can be if they are just allowed to be that good.
Salmons ( B- ) -- did most of his work early as a pretty clear 3rd option on a suddenly stripped down shot hierarchy, and I thought helped set the tone in this one by passing the ball pretty willingly, by John Salmons standards. Hit Evans with a nice backdoor pass, made anoher nice pass later to Hayes, but Hayes missed the layup. Guys felt like they could pass him the ball and have a reasonable chance of getting it back. Had a couple of hoops late in the half that were under control rather than 1 on 1 forces, inclduing a steal and breawkay dunk +1. Was less prominent after half after it really turned into the Reke and Marcus show, but performed this role (3rd gun) much more comfortably than he has played the roleplayer in the first week.
Hickson ( C- ) -- looked pretty active in the early going taking advantage of his opportunity, and came up with a block, but not much came of it. Without Cousins our little "bigs" were getting manhandled in there by Okafor and Kaman and we got crushed on the glass. Meanwhile Hickson, who has always been an offensively oriented player and part of the shots crunch ont his team, has really stepped back offensively the last couple of games, even though you would have expected him to get some post opportuities with Cousins gone. A little bit of good work late in the game wih some offensive boards and finsihes completed JJs night, but it was underwhelming.
Hayes ( C+ ) -- getting overwhelmed in there by Okafor in the early going, but was doing a good job helping to keep the ball distributed amongst the guards, and had a nice Princetonesque top of the key pass to cutting Jimmer. Was struggling to finish inside all night though and was outperformed by both of the Hornets' centers.
Thornton ( A- ) -- really didn't get off to the scorching start to this one. He was active and aggressive as always but he missed some easy looks set up by Reke and Salmons, and after crashing in amongst the trees inside for offensive rebounds, missed several follows as well, much to the delight of the pricks behind the New Orleans mikes. Was playing his gambling/one man trap defense up top, and came up with a number of steals out of it triggering fast breaks. After halftime he and Reke really began to take the game over, attackign the rim and causing havoc in the open court. Thornton never did get his 3pt game going, only hitting 1-5. But his aggression overwhelmed the sad Hornets backcourt (including the man that they still shockingly chose over him in Bellinelli) on the way to 25pts 6rebs and 5stls.
Evans ( A- ) -- started the game looking lively on both ends, attacking the hoop and helping out our beleagured "bigs" (who he can look in the eye) on the defensive glass. Shooting percentages weren't there in the first half, but the shots looked good. The jumpers were right online, and the finishes were just rolling off. Same thing was happening with the passes, as he and Salmons did a notably better job of finding teammtes this time out, but in the first half our guys were just not knocking down their shots. Reke could easily have finished this one with 8 assists wiht nothing more than guys, including top shooters like Thronton and Jimmer, just knocking down open threes. All of that set up a dynamic secodn half from he and Thornton, as rather than getting frustrated they just cranked it up another notch and all of a sudden all the things that had just been rolling off started going in. Really amde a run at the Hornets in the third, starting the quarter with a finish, a board, several nice looking (formwise = vast improvement) pullups, and adding a three for good measure. Fixed his FTs too. Nice penetration and spin dish to Salmons in the corner and had a beautiful crossover move on a drive from the corner before getting caught and havign to throw up a behind ghte head dlip that rolled out. Hit a desperation three after he had lost control of the ball and almsot run out the clock. And finished the game with a spectacular block on the break, that alas did not save the hoop as the Hornets got the ball back and finished anyway. Just very energetic and in control as he and Thornton combined for 52pts alone on 50% shooting. Night and day from the night before.
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Bench
Thompson ( B- ) -- the numbers here don't look great, but I thoguht Jason did a nice job of competing in there, in the first half in particular. He bodied up Kaman on defense, dropped a nice post move on him down the other way, and got a big dunk slashing down the lane wihtout the ball. Now in the end hsi shooting percentages dropped down to join our other bigs (JJ, Hayes and JT combined to shoot 6-22), but felt like JT helped us more than hurt.
Fredette ( C ) -- made some smart passes to set people up, but for much fo his time out there he was carrying over some of the struggles from the other night. Hit an early 1 on nobody 3pt shot, but then began to miss everything, including good looks for a shooter of his caliber. Forced a couple of shots too on anight when most of our guys had toned that down. Had a few ballhandling adventures again as peole are really testing him there. Thought he was left in there too long in the 4th with Reke chomping at the bit on the sidelines, but maybe Westphal was just trying to help the kid's confidence, and did not pull him until he finally got a couple of postive plays when Hayes and Thronton poked balls away, and Fredette lef the resulting breaks.
Outlaw ( C ) -- came in and immediately came up wtih a big blocked shot . Not strong enough to handle Landry in the post in his second stint and still not hitting his shots, but he looked more competent out there this time, and was able to be some factor defensively with his length.
Garcia ( B- ) -- nice block on the perimeter after finally getting in for the first time this season. Could see his wilingness to move the ball as soon as he entered,. But was way off on his early threes, and was making some dumb fous. Came back to hit back to back threes in the early 4th as we tried to buy time with Reke out. Not perfect, or brilliant, but a good roleplayer outing and some of what we have been missing in the ealry going. Veteran roleplayers = good if you've got the stars elsewhere.
Greene ( INC ) -- in of the last possession of the first half for defense
Thomas ( INC ) -- not much this time as we thankfully mostly stayed away from the twerpball stuff
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