Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
A lot of good performances tonight.
For a theme, in honor of the Olympics coming to a close, how about National Anthems.
Boxscore
Casspi ( C- ) -- poor Omri -- everybody else was haivng fun out there, and he barely got to contribute as his struggles continued. Wild one handed pass out of bounds early. Two early quick fouls, but we let him play through them as Westphal contiues to refuse to be intimidated by those, in particular at the SF spot where we have so many options. Picked off a ball to stop a fastbreak and was fouled. Was right on AK, but struggled to contain him. Committed a bad 3rd foul, running under Boozer for the Jazz's closing score of the half to give them a 3pt play and a three point lead. But out of the timeout we designed a nice play him redemption and his only bucket of the night on a driving dunk to close the half. In the 3rd had a nice feed out of bounds to Beno slashing for a hoop, but also a bad attempted post feed to Hawes -- not sure why so many of our guys have problems feeding the post. Its an art, but its not that hard. Not in there in the 4th as a platoon of roleplayers filled in as the 5th starter next to the strong Evans/Udrih/Landry/Hawes quartet. Did not think he played awfully. But not well enough to be anything other than a spare wheel on this night.
[yt=Soviet National Anthem]0dt7VjkRSb4[/yt]
Soviet National Anthem -- confession time: nice American boy that I was, growing up during the end of the Cold War era even, I never thought much of our national anthem. Strange and ungainly beast. And the anthem that I thought really rocked? This one right here.
Grand and powerful, and I think works better if you don't know the Russian, because if you do you will find that the music is wasted on a lot of communist propoganda -- we've even got an ironic "Oh great motherland, home of the free" type line in there. In any case, musically it rocked and was tailor made for big impressive stadium singalongs and the bit.
Landry ( B- ) -- had a better game than I think the numbers indicated, and despite our normal inside pummelage coutesy of the opposing PF, thought Landry did a good job fighting back and being a presence. Not involved offensively early, and got his first shot blocked. Didn't allow any chance the second time finishing with the dunk. Doing a solid job defensively on Boozer in the early going before getting beat up later. Strong take right with the high finish. No boarding early again, and in what has to be a concern only grabbed 4 again as we got crushed on the glass. Nice quick quick move to get fouled + hit both FTs -- beginning to get notable on this team when that happens. Missed a post move. Made the next on a turnarond. Cut off and fouled by Boozer on the baseline. Started the second half with a long faceup jumper, then missed another. Quickness got him fouled by Boozer again. Got called for a flagrant on a weak call again Milsap, letting the Jazz catchup with a 4pt play. Boozer really ran over us after half, sometimes going through Landry, but at othertimes oddly being left open as Carl went to help on other players -- leaving the opposing team's best scorer normally isn't a good defensive stratgem. In the final quarter drove and got tied up, turning it into a jumpball. Won the tip, but smacked it back toward our hoop and we could not control it, and Price took it for the dunk to put us down 6. Side pop form Cisco. Sloppy sequence where he got it stripped, we scrambled around, got it again, the ball was on the floor, he came up with it but not until time ran out. Fouled in the post at the 1:50 mark and calmly knocked both down. Then secured the d-board on the next Jazz possession. Got picked on the post move, scrapped to try to get it back, a scramble play ensued, but got back down the court to grab the d-board after Beno forced the miss. Mostly lost the battles while we won the war, but the most important thing was that there was fight in this dog and the scrap was a definite boost. Can't go higher on the grade for a PF who grabs 4 rebs and gets outscored 26pts 10reb 6ast to 15pts 4reb however.
[yt=Canadian National Anthem]Fc3OO0IUPjE[/yt]
Canadian National Anthem -- you know who else has a great national anthem? Our neighbors to the north. Maybe the best argument for why we don't just go ahead and conquer them is that then we'd lose this anthem and they'd have to sing ours.
Hawes ( A- ) -- Started things with the chestbump with Coach Westphal, which I took for cheesy posing at the time, but which was backed up by such a strong effort that it gains credence as an important moment and saavy play by Coach to get Spencer back in the fold. Was very active early on defense and the glass, knocked down a three, hit a jumper off the little kickout from Reke in the post. Energy dipped somewhat during on his second stint. Tried to post but our guys did not find him, so repeatedly popped out for jumpers along the baseline and it was effective. Got a block from behind in the early third as his energy and aggressiveness stayed high. Got his shot blocked, but got it back and finished. Missed two shots down the stretch fo the quarter, one apost move and one a jumper. In the 4th got the big dunk off the Beno feed. Was rebounding out of his area and in all ways acting like an active and aggressive player, not a scared and sot one. Missed a long jumper -- too far out and with his toe on the line. Nice kick to Beno for a tying score at the 3:30 mark. Flashed into the post, missed the half hook, but got the rebound back and finsihed the follow to put us up at the 3:20 mark. Not a huge huge statistical game, but a big one, and the aggression all game long was exactly what we have been looking for.
[yt=South Africa National Anthem]qXKur2FAN7g[/yt]
South Africa National Anthem -- stumbled across this one, and thought it was pretty and unique. Assume it must be a relatively new one post-apartheid from the African overtones.
Udrih ( A ) -- back in the starting lineup, and it was the return of the early season's SuperBeno to really help key this win. Gambled for a steal and missed, resulting in an easy layup for the Jazz. Nice slash along the baseline, followed by a nice switch of the hands layup on the break. Then an up and under layup. Got a steal playing good defense. Allow me to repeat that: got asteal playing good defense. Take left. Dribbled through half the Jazz defense for the FTs to close the quarter. Passed up an open three to swing it to Ime for an even more open three, which he missed. Started the third with the feed to Reke under the hoop. Nice slash to the hoop on an out of bounds play, then hit the jumper. Got run over by Deron, right into his chest...and got called for he foul. Missed the spinning move in the paint. Stayed strong down the stretch, starting the 4th with a good pass to a cutting Hawes for the dunk. Then a tough little drive and finish. Another good drive. The ball fell in his hands on defense, and he raced full court through all the Jazz, but missed the FT to leave us tied with 7 minutes to go. Jumper from Hawes at the 3:30 mark to tie it up. Made a great defensive (there's that word again) play after Landry turned it over at the 1:15 mark, getting back to stop the break and send us the other way. Good job racing up court with the ball after the Jazz scored to cut it to 3 late, ran off 4 seconds before he got fouled. Short armed the first FT to make things exciting, then drained the second one effectively icing things. People always try to claim that Beno is the Pg when he and Reke are paired, jsut because he is of course a PG. But that's not the way it works out. Beno guarded the SG, he looked for his own offense, he got half the assists Reke did. He was the SG. But a creative shootng guard, and the yin to Reke's yang. It was a successful pairing early in the season, and it worked again here, with Beno full of energy and even bringing it on both ends. Great outing.
[yt=Irish National Rugby Anthem]YwSE9uopbmQ[/yt]
Irish National Rugby Anthem -- now the Irish do have a normal national anthem, but frankly its pretty bland. Fortunately they also have this -- their "national rugby anthem" called Ireland's Call. And if you are going to have 60,000 drunk people in a stadium singing along, this is the one you are going to go with.
For a theme, in honor of the Olympics coming to a close, how about National Anthems.
Boxscore
Casspi ( C- ) -- poor Omri -- everybody else was haivng fun out there, and he barely got to contribute as his struggles continued. Wild one handed pass out of bounds early. Two early quick fouls, but we let him play through them as Westphal contiues to refuse to be intimidated by those, in particular at the SF spot where we have so many options. Picked off a ball to stop a fastbreak and was fouled. Was right on AK, but struggled to contain him. Committed a bad 3rd foul, running under Boozer for the Jazz's closing score of the half to give them a 3pt play and a three point lead. But out of the timeout we designed a nice play him redemption and his only bucket of the night on a driving dunk to close the half. In the 3rd had a nice feed out of bounds to Beno slashing for a hoop, but also a bad attempted post feed to Hawes -- not sure why so many of our guys have problems feeding the post. Its an art, but its not that hard. Not in there in the 4th as a platoon of roleplayers filled in as the 5th starter next to the strong Evans/Udrih/Landry/Hawes quartet. Did not think he played awfully. But not well enough to be anything other than a spare wheel on this night.
[yt=Soviet National Anthem]0dt7VjkRSb4[/yt]
Soviet National Anthem -- confession time: nice American boy that I was, growing up during the end of the Cold War era even, I never thought much of our national anthem. Strange and ungainly beast. And the anthem that I thought really rocked? This one right here.
Grand and powerful, and I think works better if you don't know the Russian, because if you do you will find that the music is wasted on a lot of communist propoganda -- we've even got an ironic "Oh great motherland, home of the free" type line in there. In any case, musically it rocked and was tailor made for big impressive stadium singalongs and the bit. Landry ( B- ) -- had a better game than I think the numbers indicated, and despite our normal inside pummelage coutesy of the opposing PF, thought Landry did a good job fighting back and being a presence. Not involved offensively early, and got his first shot blocked. Didn't allow any chance the second time finishing with the dunk. Doing a solid job defensively on Boozer in the early going before getting beat up later. Strong take right with the high finish. No boarding early again, and in what has to be a concern only grabbed 4 again as we got crushed on the glass. Nice quick quick move to get fouled + hit both FTs -- beginning to get notable on this team when that happens. Missed a post move. Made the next on a turnarond. Cut off and fouled by Boozer on the baseline. Started the second half with a long faceup jumper, then missed another. Quickness got him fouled by Boozer again. Got called for a flagrant on a weak call again Milsap, letting the Jazz catchup with a 4pt play. Boozer really ran over us after half, sometimes going through Landry, but at othertimes oddly being left open as Carl went to help on other players -- leaving the opposing team's best scorer normally isn't a good defensive stratgem. In the final quarter drove and got tied up, turning it into a jumpball. Won the tip, but smacked it back toward our hoop and we could not control it, and Price took it for the dunk to put us down 6. Side pop form Cisco. Sloppy sequence where he got it stripped, we scrambled around, got it again, the ball was on the floor, he came up with it but not until time ran out. Fouled in the post at the 1:50 mark and calmly knocked both down. Then secured the d-board on the next Jazz possession. Got picked on the post move, scrapped to try to get it back, a scramble play ensued, but got back down the court to grab the d-board after Beno forced the miss. Mostly lost the battles while we won the war, but the most important thing was that there was fight in this dog and the scrap was a definite boost. Can't go higher on the grade for a PF who grabs 4 rebs and gets outscored 26pts 10reb 6ast to 15pts 4reb however.
[yt=Canadian National Anthem]Fc3OO0IUPjE[/yt]
Canadian National Anthem -- you know who else has a great national anthem? Our neighbors to the north. Maybe the best argument for why we don't just go ahead and conquer them is that then we'd lose this anthem and they'd have to sing ours.
Hawes ( A- ) -- Started things with the chestbump with Coach Westphal, which I took for cheesy posing at the time, but which was backed up by such a strong effort that it gains credence as an important moment and saavy play by Coach to get Spencer back in the fold. Was very active early on defense and the glass, knocked down a three, hit a jumper off the little kickout from Reke in the post. Energy dipped somewhat during on his second stint. Tried to post but our guys did not find him, so repeatedly popped out for jumpers along the baseline and it was effective. Got a block from behind in the early third as his energy and aggressiveness stayed high. Got his shot blocked, but got it back and finished. Missed two shots down the stretch fo the quarter, one apost move and one a jumper. In the 4th got the big dunk off the Beno feed. Was rebounding out of his area and in all ways acting like an active and aggressive player, not a scared and sot one. Missed a long jumper -- too far out and with his toe on the line. Nice kick to Beno for a tying score at the 3:30 mark. Flashed into the post, missed the half hook, but got the rebound back and finsihed the follow to put us up at the 3:20 mark. Not a huge huge statistical game, but a big one, and the aggression all game long was exactly what we have been looking for.
[yt=South Africa National Anthem]qXKur2FAN7g[/yt]
South Africa National Anthem -- stumbled across this one, and thought it was pretty and unique. Assume it must be a relatively new one post-apartheid from the African overtones.
Udrih ( A ) -- back in the starting lineup, and it was the return of the early season's SuperBeno to really help key this win. Gambled for a steal and missed, resulting in an easy layup for the Jazz. Nice slash along the baseline, followed by a nice switch of the hands layup on the break. Then an up and under layup. Got a steal playing good defense. Allow me to repeat that: got asteal playing good defense. Take left. Dribbled through half the Jazz defense for the FTs to close the quarter. Passed up an open three to swing it to Ime for an even more open three, which he missed. Started the third with the feed to Reke under the hoop. Nice slash to the hoop on an out of bounds play, then hit the jumper. Got run over by Deron, right into his chest...and got called for he foul. Missed the spinning move in the paint. Stayed strong down the stretch, starting the 4th with a good pass to a cutting Hawes for the dunk. Then a tough little drive and finish. Another good drive. The ball fell in his hands on defense, and he raced full court through all the Jazz, but missed the FT to leave us tied with 7 minutes to go. Jumper from Hawes at the 3:30 mark to tie it up. Made a great defensive (there's that word again) play after Landry turned it over at the 1:15 mark, getting back to stop the break and send us the other way. Good job racing up court with the ball after the Jazz scored to cut it to 3 late, ran off 4 seconds before he got fouled. Short armed the first FT to make things exciting, then drained the second one effectively icing things. People always try to claim that Beno is the Pg when he and Reke are paired, jsut because he is of course a PG. But that's not the way it works out. Beno guarded the SG, he looked for his own offense, he got half the assists Reke did. He was the SG. But a creative shootng guard, and the yin to Reke's yang. It was a successful pairing early in the season, and it worked again here, with Beno full of energy and even bringing it on both ends. Great outing.
[yt=Irish National Rugby Anthem]YwSE9uopbmQ[/yt]
Irish National Rugby Anthem -- now the Irish do have a normal national anthem, but frankly its pretty bland. Fortunately they also have this -- their "national rugby anthem" called Ireland's Call. And if you are going to have 60,000 drunk people in a stadium singing along, this is the one you are going to go with.
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I voted Super Beno in a whisker over the great Super Rook 'Reke.
Anyways, that's the entire point, our kids NEED to be a part of these wins TODAY. They need to experience the ups and downs, highs and lows of these types of games. You know, even 8-10 minutes would've been ok, but a DNP-CD? Isn't that the point of a rebuild, VF? Isn't that what's been advertised all year by this team? Building and developing the future? Having patience with the kids as we give them the time and minutes they need? 
