Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Wow -- saved by Rasual Butler of all people. Theme of course will be The Many Faces of Vlade
Nocioni ( A- ) -- took advantage of Julian Wright in the early going to splash in two open threes, and was off to a huge 13pt first quarter as he and Cisco combined to score 25. Was hurting West inside and out with his superior mobility after moving to the PF as well, although on defense he never figured out anything better to do than just to honor Vlade by trying to flop again and again. Came on with another surge at the close of the first half, including a flying dunk that he got T'd up on for doing a chinup. And continued pouring it on in the 3rd. In fact through three quarters had put together a fairly remarkable game had would have had a straight A here. Was one of several Kings to largely disappear in the final stanza however, and even ended up playing a bit of the goat on the final game winning shot by the Hornets as he was not able to rotate out and close fast enough on Butler to disrupt his game winning shot. The late fade combined with the men he was guarding (Julian Wright + David West mostly) having great shooting nights is enough to add the "-" here.
Younger Days -- the bearded wonder
Thompson ( D ) -- disappointing game for Jason as easily the worst of the Kings. Looked overhyped from the start, and got into quick foul trouble. Just over eager and picking up cheap fouls inside against West, and not quite able to go over him for boards (West is a terrible rebounder). In fact the rebounding became at least as big a story as the fouls for Jason, as he had a 3 inch height advantage, a weak rebounder across from him who was badly limping most of the game, the likes of Hilton Armstorng and Sean Marks filling in the other frontcourt minutes, and yet Jason amazingly only came up with 2 borads in 27 minutes. Had a brief period where he helped as about the only guy doing anything in the first portion of the 4th quarter. But really all he was doing was flying inside borderline out of control and drawing fouls, and he wasn't making his foul shots. Meanwhile one legged David West (he hurt his leg in the first half but put on a very gutsy performance sticking out the rest of the game) was hobbling up and down the court scoring like that sneaky 50yr old fat guy at the park. By the end the score was big atheltic kid: 8pts 2reb 0ast. One legged injured midget PF: 40pts 9rebs 6ast. That matchup obviously was the game.
Draft Night, 1989 -- on the bottom right, the center we selected #1 overall. In the back, the center who's jersey we eventually retired.
Hawes ( B ) -- able to outlength Armstrong in there early, but got quiet until a little scoring burst in the latter stages of the 2nd quarter made him our 4th double figure scorer of the half. Finished the first half with only 2rebs though as he and Jason just did not get the job done on the glass this time out. Played a strong third, as West's leg injury completely eliminated the last of any Hornets frontline. Scored inside, and also stepped into the corner for a three (which alas encouraged him to keep up chucking them from out there). Also began to squelch the middle against Chris Paul in the third, cutting off penetration and trapping the little man inside on rotations, and even playing well on several switches which left Paul isolated on him and should have been automatic, but weren't. Did not contribute much in the 4th, and the inability to clear the glass against the battered and undersized Hornets (we got whipped 41-29 and our leading rebounder was actually Beno, with 7) was a mystery all night long.
The Face of the Enemy -- notice in the background Vlade's future coach.
Martin ( C ) -- scored easily early over Butler in the early going, and while lost behind the big Cisco/Noc fireworks of the first quarter, Kevin quietly was perking along with his normal 11pt half. Started hitting shots in the early 3rd as we passed the Hornets up again, and they were running out of bodies to counter with. One of the disappearing Kings in the 4th, when the only point he came up with was 1 of 2 FTs in the late going (we obviously could have used the other point), but still struggled his way to a 20pt night (on 5-13 shooting) as our second leading scorer. A little better I think than the Suns outing, but in both of these high water games for us it has been others (a lot of Noc and Cisco) who have been providing the punch while Kevin has struggled to stay involved. Note: while his man (Butler) hit the game winning three, was not Kevin's fault on that play -- it appeared either Noc or Ciosco were supposed to have him (the fact that you could not even tell which one says a lot).
The Franchise Turns
Nocioni ( A- ) -- took advantage of Julian Wright in the early going to splash in two open threes, and was off to a huge 13pt first quarter as he and Cisco combined to score 25. Was hurting West inside and out with his superior mobility after moving to the PF as well, although on defense he never figured out anything better to do than just to honor Vlade by trying to flop again and again. Came on with another surge at the close of the first half, including a flying dunk that he got T'd up on for doing a chinup. And continued pouring it on in the 3rd. In fact through three quarters had put together a fairly remarkable game had would have had a straight A here. Was one of several Kings to largely disappear in the final stanza however, and even ended up playing a bit of the goat on the final game winning shot by the Hornets as he was not able to rotate out and close fast enough on Butler to disrupt his game winning shot. The late fade combined with the men he was guarding (Julian Wright + David West mostly) having great shooting nights is enough to add the "-" here.
Younger Days -- the bearded wonder
Thompson ( D ) -- disappointing game for Jason as easily the worst of the Kings. Looked overhyped from the start, and got into quick foul trouble. Just over eager and picking up cheap fouls inside against West, and not quite able to go over him for boards (West is a terrible rebounder). In fact the rebounding became at least as big a story as the fouls for Jason, as he had a 3 inch height advantage, a weak rebounder across from him who was badly limping most of the game, the likes of Hilton Armstorng and Sean Marks filling in the other frontcourt minutes, and yet Jason amazingly only came up with 2 borads in 27 minutes. Had a brief period where he helped as about the only guy doing anything in the first portion of the 4th quarter. But really all he was doing was flying inside borderline out of control and drawing fouls, and he wasn't making his foul shots. Meanwhile one legged David West (he hurt his leg in the first half but put on a very gutsy performance sticking out the rest of the game) was hobbling up and down the court scoring like that sneaky 50yr old fat guy at the park. By the end the score was big atheltic kid: 8pts 2reb 0ast. One legged injured midget PF: 40pts 9rebs 6ast. That matchup obviously was the game.
Draft Night, 1989 -- on the bottom right, the center we selected #1 overall. In the back, the center who's jersey we eventually retired.
Hawes ( B ) -- able to outlength Armstrong in there early, but got quiet until a little scoring burst in the latter stages of the 2nd quarter made him our 4th double figure scorer of the half. Finished the first half with only 2rebs though as he and Jason just did not get the job done on the glass this time out. Played a strong third, as West's leg injury completely eliminated the last of any Hornets frontline. Scored inside, and also stepped into the corner for a three (which alas encouraged him to keep up chucking them from out there). Also began to squelch the middle against Chris Paul in the third, cutting off penetration and trapping the little man inside on rotations, and even playing well on several switches which left Paul isolated on him and should have been automatic, but weren't. Did not contribute much in the 4th, and the inability to clear the glass against the battered and undersized Hornets (we got whipped 41-29 and our leading rebounder was actually Beno, with 7) was a mystery all night long.
The Face of the Enemy -- notice in the background Vlade's future coach.
Martin ( C ) -- scored easily early over Butler in the early going, and while lost behind the big Cisco/Noc fireworks of the first quarter, Kevin quietly was perking along with his normal 11pt half. Started hitting shots in the early 3rd as we passed the Hornets up again, and they were running out of bodies to counter with. One of the disappearing Kings in the 4th, when the only point he came up with was 1 of 2 FTs in the late going (we obviously could have used the other point), but still struggled his way to a 20pt night (on 5-13 shooting) as our second leading scorer. A little better I think than the Suns outing, but in both of these high water games for us it has been others (a lot of Noc and Cisco) who have been providing the punch while Kevin has struggled to stay involved. Note: while his man (Butler) hit the game winning three, was not Kevin's fault on that play -- it appeared either Noc or Ciosco were supposed to have him (the fact that you could not even tell which one says a lot).
The Franchise Turns
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And now...only one game left to really care about, and that's next Tuesday night against 'that team'.
