Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Welcome everybody to the grades, North Pole edition.
Here's what it looks like in these parts:
Kings escaped just in time. Now onward with the grades:
Casspi ( B ) -- this was a big game for Omri, in New York (this region BTW actually has more jewish people than Israel), in front of family that had flown in -- he wanted this one and it showed in a big way as he came charging out of the gates. Knocked down his first jumper, and then drove on the semi break and came up with a big big dunk posterizing Gallinari. Added a strong finish in the post. Then got out on the break for a layup to close the first quarter. Drained a three to start the 2nd. Finally missed his next three, and that became an ugly trend in this one that threatened to spoil all the good things he was doing. Missed another three courtesy of Reke. Then missed another open three as the ball was swung around the perimeter against the zone. Left the game but never did find the stroke from deep, and finished the game 1-8 from 3pt land. Which is ugly. Hit a baseline jumper after returning in the late 2nd. Missed another three, then missed the little pullup off the jumper, but got it back, was fouled on the follow and hit both FTs. Finished the first half with 16 points putting on a show for the fans. Slowed dramatically after the break, and would have only 2pts the rest of the way. Maybe saved a continuation by swatting one away after the whistle. Got beat in the post by Gallinari. Missed another three. But chose an important time to score his only points of the half as he hit a key jumper late in the 3rd with us struggling. Missed multiple little jumpers down the stretch and made a critical mistake at the 40 second mark just pulling back his hand on a pass from Reke up top for the completely unnecessary turnover. It was easy pass, right to him, he just for whatever reason pulled his hand back inexplicably and the ball rolled out to the midcourt line. Was a steady factor on the glass all night, grabbing 9 on a night when we crushed the Knicks by 20. Was a nice moment after the game when Reke went up to Omri specifically and congratulated him for the win -- from his words afterward it was clear that Reke knew how important this one was to Omri and wanted to get it for him. Signs of chemistry and leadership.
[yt=Omri's Big Dunk]i8zo3vHhfnQ[/yt]
Greene ( A- ) -- another big game for Donte, and continues to work so well with Reke. It was those two guys who led us storming on back in the 4th -- at one point they combined for 20 straight points for us. Was active right from the beginning. Long straight on three to start, fouled on the wild drive but again missed the FTs, out on the breaqk for an alley oop. Blew the inbounds pass to close the first quarter, throwing it 3/4 court out of bounds past Kevin and giving the Knicks another chance -- it is comical how often we continue to blow end of quarter/half opportunities. Guarded various Knicks, hacing little troubel wiht Gallinari or Jeffries (although repeatedly did not block Jeffries off the boards), more with Harrington and Chandler. In the second added another dunk from Reke as they raced down on the break again. Knocked down a little jumper in the last minute of the half. Did not start the second half, which seemed to fly in the face of Westphal's whoever is playing well at the moment gets to start philosophy. But was back in after a few mintues for Brockman. Quiet for a while, but then a quick drive on the baseline and got fouled. This time hit bothe the FTs. Stepped into a three. Started the 4th playing solid defense but still not able to control Chandler, who is just not as good as he showed yesterday. And then after we wallowed for a bit -- we just could not score consistently in the third/early 4th, it was he and Reke who stepped forward and turned things. Hit a three out of the timeout at the 7:30 mark to make it 12. Saved a board along the d-baseline and gave it Reke to trigger the break. Then on the break Reke again found him on the kick for another three to make it 7. Drove, got it knocked away, but picked it up and laid it back in. Made what could have been a critical error on the bad pass turnover kicking it up top softly for the easy pickoff. Led to a breakaway foul we coul not afford and Donte was really pissed at himself in the huddle on the sideline afterwards -- underneath the happy go lucky exterior lurks a real competitor. Snagged good d-board in traffic down the stretch. In the OT started off with some good defense on Grown Up Al and snagged the d-board after forcing the miss, earngin the the high five from Reke -- call that signs of chemistry two and that's all key for us amongst the young guys. Missed a drive but used that length to tip it back up and in as we pulled away and held the Knicks off.
Hawes ( INC ) -- this was interesting, and for a long time it looked like maybe was going to be a mistake by Coach. Spencer started off with a nice pass to Beno on the cut, but missed in the post and had an ineffective first 6 minute stint on the glass and defensively. And so Coach benched him. For the entire game, and OT. Just like that. Even while we were struggling to find a way to score in the late 3rd/early 4th. Even while we fell 15 down at one point. Started slowly in an aspect that Westphal is demanding improvement from, and it cost him the rest of his minutes this game.
Udrih ( INC ) -- in the same boat as Spencer, Beno started this one off with a cut to the hoop and a good drive slicing down the paint a few minutes later. But again we were getting run on the other way and the problem was defense, and he would never return after his first 6 minute stint. The artificiality of having Kevin coming off the bench contributed as well in this case.
Evans ( A- ) -- for a long time it looked like the story of this one for Reke was going to be the struggle. Maybe going into the Garden as a kid, trying too hard, and coming up short because of it. It was one of those games where the opponent was going to pack it back in in the paint, slap a long rangy defender on him up top, and fall off, daring him to shoot that still shaky jumper. And it was going to be one of those games where the shots just would not fall. The jumper was off, the layups crawled off the rim. And then it came winning time and you could just throw all that stuff right out the window as it turned into a big night for Reke in the Mecca, maybe largely locking up the ROY award in front of the New York media glare. Got called for the carry early, too strong on the drive, airballed a wide open three, missed a second jumper as that was what the Knicks wanted him to take. Finally got the drive going, missed another layup, pass to Greene for an alley oop. dove to the floor in the 2nd to come up with a loose ball on the scramble on the d-boards -- despite the struggles it certinaly wasn't because of lack of effort. Hit a jumper, great drive out on the semi break. Then lead the break again and dumped it to Donte for another dunk. Out of the timeout easily sliced through the defense but missed another layup. Settled for a missed jumper and then turned it over on a pass off the dribble. Finished the half on a good note with a strong take to close things and get us within 4 going into the break. In the third forced and missed the drive into heavy traffic and maybe picked up the frustration foul on the other end. Came back with a nifty spinning layup. Then a great drive +1 slashing through Lee. Made a mistake and fouled a 3pt shooter. Missed a jumper and then drove and got it blocked by Lee. Just a lot of traffic and not enough of our guys hitting kickouts to free up things. Then the 4th rolled around you now, for years around here we've tittered about uh oh, its Kobe time or whatever, and we should have. Well, in a few years not only we, but the rest of the league, might be tittering about how its Havoc time. Scored 12 points down the stretch hammering inside, and he and Donte together combined to score 20 of our last 22 of regulation, with the other two belonging to Jason on the game tying dunk courtesy of a Reke drive and drop off pass. Reke began the stretch just slamming into Jeffries in the paint to get to the line, but missed both FTs. Out on the break after the first Greene three and sliced in for a layup. Then out on the break again and kicked it to Greene for another 3. Nifty move to get to the hoop but missed the layup at the end. Then back out on the break and missed another layup. Swooped in for the layup off the broken play. Tripped from behind on the break by Jeffries and took a bad fall. Hit the 2 Fts to make it 4. Then a great spinning drive to make it 2. Then another drive past Jeffries to make it 2 again, a steal and out on the break but we just could not convert. Out of the timeout at the 55 second mark another big swooping drive. D-board, then the drive and dish to JT for the dunk to tie at the 25 second mark, and it was time to pop that jersey again. In the overtime settled for two jumpers after the Knicks took away the drive, and missed both. Got the ball back for the icing FTs at the 5 second mark, and while the first one rattled before falling, once again he came up clutch, hit both for the 4pt lead and the game. 27pts 10reb 6ast...and a "-" for missing too many shots early. But really now, to paraphrase somebody I would normally never paraphrase, if you don't love this kid you really don't love Kings basketball.
Here's what it looks like in these parts:
Kings escaped just in time. Now onward with the grades:
Casspi ( B ) -- this was a big game for Omri, in New York (this region BTW actually has more jewish people than Israel), in front of family that had flown in -- he wanted this one and it showed in a big way as he came charging out of the gates. Knocked down his first jumper, and then drove on the semi break and came up with a big big dunk posterizing Gallinari. Added a strong finish in the post. Then got out on the break for a layup to close the first quarter. Drained a three to start the 2nd. Finally missed his next three, and that became an ugly trend in this one that threatened to spoil all the good things he was doing. Missed another three courtesy of Reke. Then missed another open three as the ball was swung around the perimeter against the zone. Left the game but never did find the stroke from deep, and finished the game 1-8 from 3pt land. Which is ugly. Hit a baseline jumper after returning in the late 2nd. Missed another three, then missed the little pullup off the jumper, but got it back, was fouled on the follow and hit both FTs. Finished the first half with 16 points putting on a show for the fans. Slowed dramatically after the break, and would have only 2pts the rest of the way. Maybe saved a continuation by swatting one away after the whistle. Got beat in the post by Gallinari. Missed another three. But chose an important time to score his only points of the half as he hit a key jumper late in the 3rd with us struggling. Missed multiple little jumpers down the stretch and made a critical mistake at the 40 second mark just pulling back his hand on a pass from Reke up top for the completely unnecessary turnover. It was easy pass, right to him, he just for whatever reason pulled his hand back inexplicably and the ball rolled out to the midcourt line. Was a steady factor on the glass all night, grabbing 9 on a night when we crushed the Knicks by 20. Was a nice moment after the game when Reke went up to Omri specifically and congratulated him for the win -- from his words afterward it was clear that Reke knew how important this one was to Omri and wanted to get it for him. Signs of chemistry and leadership.
[yt=Omri's Big Dunk]i8zo3vHhfnQ[/yt]
Greene ( A- ) -- another big game for Donte, and continues to work so well with Reke. It was those two guys who led us storming on back in the 4th -- at one point they combined for 20 straight points for us. Was active right from the beginning. Long straight on three to start, fouled on the wild drive but again missed the FTs, out on the breaqk for an alley oop. Blew the inbounds pass to close the first quarter, throwing it 3/4 court out of bounds past Kevin and giving the Knicks another chance -- it is comical how often we continue to blow end of quarter/half opportunities. Guarded various Knicks, hacing little troubel wiht Gallinari or Jeffries (although repeatedly did not block Jeffries off the boards), more with Harrington and Chandler. In the second added another dunk from Reke as they raced down on the break again. Knocked down a little jumper in the last minute of the half. Did not start the second half, which seemed to fly in the face of Westphal's whoever is playing well at the moment gets to start philosophy. But was back in after a few mintues for Brockman. Quiet for a while, but then a quick drive on the baseline and got fouled. This time hit bothe the FTs. Stepped into a three. Started the 4th playing solid defense but still not able to control Chandler, who is just not as good as he showed yesterday. And then after we wallowed for a bit -- we just could not score consistently in the third/early 4th, it was he and Reke who stepped forward and turned things. Hit a three out of the timeout at the 7:30 mark to make it 12. Saved a board along the d-baseline and gave it Reke to trigger the break. Then on the break Reke again found him on the kick for another three to make it 7. Drove, got it knocked away, but picked it up and laid it back in. Made what could have been a critical error on the bad pass turnover kicking it up top softly for the easy pickoff. Led to a breakaway foul we coul not afford and Donte was really pissed at himself in the huddle on the sideline afterwards -- underneath the happy go lucky exterior lurks a real competitor. Snagged good d-board in traffic down the stretch. In the OT started off with some good defense on Grown Up Al and snagged the d-board after forcing the miss, earngin the the high five from Reke -- call that signs of chemistry two and that's all key for us amongst the young guys. Missed a drive but used that length to tip it back up and in as we pulled away and held the Knicks off.
Hawes ( INC ) -- this was interesting, and for a long time it looked like maybe was going to be a mistake by Coach. Spencer started off with a nice pass to Beno on the cut, but missed in the post and had an ineffective first 6 minute stint on the glass and defensively. And so Coach benched him. For the entire game, and OT. Just like that. Even while we were struggling to find a way to score in the late 3rd/early 4th. Even while we fell 15 down at one point. Started slowly in an aspect that Westphal is demanding improvement from, and it cost him the rest of his minutes this game.
Udrih ( INC ) -- in the same boat as Spencer, Beno started this one off with a cut to the hoop and a good drive slicing down the paint a few minutes later. But again we were getting run on the other way and the problem was defense, and he would never return after his first 6 minute stint. The artificiality of having Kevin coming off the bench contributed as well in this case.
Evans ( A- ) -- for a long time it looked like the story of this one for Reke was going to be the struggle. Maybe going into the Garden as a kid, trying too hard, and coming up short because of it. It was one of those games where the opponent was going to pack it back in in the paint, slap a long rangy defender on him up top, and fall off, daring him to shoot that still shaky jumper. And it was going to be one of those games where the shots just would not fall. The jumper was off, the layups crawled off the rim. And then it came winning time and you could just throw all that stuff right out the window as it turned into a big night for Reke in the Mecca, maybe largely locking up the ROY award in front of the New York media glare. Got called for the carry early, too strong on the drive, airballed a wide open three, missed a second jumper as that was what the Knicks wanted him to take. Finally got the drive going, missed another layup, pass to Greene for an alley oop. dove to the floor in the 2nd to come up with a loose ball on the scramble on the d-boards -- despite the struggles it certinaly wasn't because of lack of effort. Hit a jumper, great drive out on the semi break. Then lead the break again and dumped it to Donte for another dunk. Out of the timeout easily sliced through the defense but missed another layup. Settled for a missed jumper and then turned it over on a pass off the dribble. Finished the half on a good note with a strong take to close things and get us within 4 going into the break. In the third forced and missed the drive into heavy traffic and maybe picked up the frustration foul on the other end. Came back with a nifty spinning layup. Then a great drive +1 slashing through Lee. Made a mistake and fouled a 3pt shooter. Missed a jumper and then drove and got it blocked by Lee. Just a lot of traffic and not enough of our guys hitting kickouts to free up things. Then the 4th rolled around you now, for years around here we've tittered about uh oh, its Kobe time or whatever, and we should have. Well, in a few years not only we, but the rest of the league, might be tittering about how its Havoc time. Scored 12 points down the stretch hammering inside, and he and Donte together combined to score 20 of our last 22 of regulation, with the other two belonging to Jason on the game tying dunk courtesy of a Reke drive and drop off pass. Reke began the stretch just slamming into Jeffries in the paint to get to the line, but missed both FTs. Out on the break after the first Greene three and sliced in for a layup. Then out on the break again and kicked it to Greene for another 3. Nifty move to get to the hoop but missed the layup at the end. Then back out on the break and missed another layup. Swooped in for the layup off the broken play. Tripped from behind on the break by Jeffries and took a bad fall. Hit the 2 Fts to make it 4. Then a great spinning drive to make it 2. Then another drive past Jeffries to make it 2 again, a steal and out on the break but we just could not convert. Out of the timeout at the 55 second mark another big swooping drive. D-board, then the drive and dish to JT for the dunk to tie at the 25 second mark, and it was time to pop that jersey again. In the overtime settled for two jumpers after the Knicks took away the drive, and missed both. Got the ball back for the icing FTs at the 5 second mark, and while the first one rattled before falling, once again he came up clutch, hit both for the 4pt lead and the game. 27pts 10reb 6ast...and a "-" for missing too many shots early. But really now, to paraphrase somebody I would normally never paraphrase, if you don't love this kid you really don't love Kings basketball.
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. He took only 8 shots, did not try to force the offense on his own...Tyreke took care of that. None of those ridiculous looking hook shots and strips as far as I can remember.
