Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Another game another loss...and yet if you watched this game rather than just read the boxscores there were a lot of interesting and promising developments. Unfortunately by the time those developments come to fruition we will have entirely passed out of this soft part of our schedule and have to be getting better playing L.A. and Miami every night.
A funny thing happened tonight: we dominated the first quarter with defense and post play and then lost the game, as well as the defensive thread, in the second quarter. Who were the primary players on the floor during that span? Basically our early season starters, many of whom were now coming off the bench. It was Beno and Omri and Carl and Cousins and Cisco, and they just got lit up like a pinball machine. Odd the correlation there.
I'll dig back into my bag of tricks for another theme, but I wish this team would just get over this and start winning some games. I'm going to be out of ideas by Christmas.
You know, its not only the losses piling up that is draining my bag of themes, its Westphal's nutty rotations running through all 12 guys on many nights. Have a number of 9-10 option themes thought up, relatively few with a full dozen. So tonight I'll go with one appropriate to the tiresome Tyreke debates: The History of Supersize PGs
Offical Boxscore
Postgame Quotes
Thompson ( D+ ) -- kind of a "well what did you expect?" game after Westphal started him at F, against a long range bomber no less. That is just so many shades of duh its hard to comprehend. May have been at "SF" but still went right to the post to start and for a few minutes it looked like the duh might actually work out. But ended up picking up a couple of his normal loose fouls as a starter, and never returned for the remainder of the half despite doing vaguely ok, and despite us getting whipped on defense again in the 2nd quarter. Never did anything after the break. Would have become the 2nd Kings PF to crash into Gallinari for 3 Fts -- one of the penalties of playing PFs at SF -- but luckily Gallinari had a toe on the line so it was only 2 FTs. Still refused to play him at PF even when Landry had to go out late, opting to go back to the totally ineffective Darnell Jackson instead. I have no idea what drugs Westphal has been using that explains some of these roster decisions, but I don't want any, thx. This grade is a real reach. There was not much to grade, and Jason never should have been in that position anyway.
The Big O (6'5") -- there is some irony to fans of this franchise of all franchises being shocked at the concept of a 6'5" PG, as we are in fact the franchise that more or less invented the beast. HOF PG Oscar Robertson was considered by many to be the most dominant guard of all time until Jordan came along, and while it was a radically different era his stats in his extended prime might be the most impressive of all time, Wilt being his only rival:
Age 22: 30.5pts (.473FG% .822FT%) 10.1reb 9.7ast
Age 23: 30.8pts (.478FG% .803FT%) 12.5reb 11.4ast
Age 24: 28.3pts (.518FG% .810FT%) 10.4reb 9.5ast
Age 25: 31.4pts (.483FG% .853FT%) 9.9reb 11.0ast
Age 26: 30.4pts (.480FG% .839FT%) 9.0reb 11.5ast
Age 27: 31.3pts (.475FG% .842FT%) 7.7reb 11.1ast
Age 28: 30.5pts (.493FG% .873FT%) 6.2reb 10.7ast
Age 29: 29.2pts (.500FG% .873FT%) 6.0reb 9.7ast
Landry ( A- ) -- and here is the first of several bright points we had in what was otherwise another frustrating loss. Mandry is back, and displaying the dangers of the internet -- when you jump out and say really terrible things about somebody, they never go away, even when that person is back in your good graces. For Carl a major part of the improvement has been as simple as scrapping the garbage jumpshooting game and just going into the paint and attacking. And we as a team did a much better job this game of focusing on feeding the post as well right from the beginning of the game. Carl went right inside from the opening tip and was scrapping for boards, dropping some nifty post moves, including the one that I used int hat little video I made a couple of months ago, and generally taking on all comers. Of course all comers in this case was just the Knicks frontline, but still. There were a couple of little settle jumpers, but he never became trapped y it and soon returned to the paint. Got out saavied by Gallinari (and the NBA's ridiculous interpretation of the rule) when he left his feet to contest a three and Gallinari jumped sideways into him to draw the foul. Late int eh game got clobbered and lost a contact, and got knocked out of the air again on a flying drive -- but those are the good things. Very physical effort, and that's what you are hoping for out of a PF. On the other end rarely had to guard anybody more formidable than Rony Turiaf, so while he was part of the crew that really lost control of any semblance of defense during the Knicks' 40pt 2nd quarter, he was not a primary issue this time. Abruptly is playing well for us, but slowed down as the game went along and not a factor down the stretch.
Anfernee Hardaway (6'7") -- a picture above of one possible model for our future. I always thought Penny was overrated back in his brief prime, but he was still a 4x All Star (the 4th just because fans are idiots) and 2x All NBA player as the little to Shaq's big. His efficiency took a gigantic hit when the big dope left Orlando to go star in Kazaam, but of course the real killer was the rapid disintegration of his knees. Let's hope our eventual fate is far kinder than Orlando's.
Dalembert ( C- ) -- in a not so encouraging sign for the first time since he started getting major minutes Daly really wasn't able to have much effect out there for us, and was held to very short minutes with Cousins surging. Not many early highlights, but was anchoring our superior defensive start. However in the third was not able to handle Amare's quickness and was quickly replaced and saw little action thereafter. Its a common problem with junkballing system's like D'Antoni's -- its poison to the Dalemberts of the world. Those systems give them nobody to guard, and if your center can't hurt them on the offensive end you're playing 4 on 5. That's where a guy like Cousins fits perfectly -- the defensive specialist big has trouble with smallball, but the offensive power player destroys them.
Jason Kidd (6'4") -- people forget that Jason Kidd is 6'4" tall. A pure PG to be sure, but would he even be a starter if he were 6'1" 165lbs? The great size for a PG has been a major factor in his dominance as a defender, a rebounder, the triple doubles, and the eventual HOF nod.
Head ( B ) -- of the two changes to the starting lineup, I thought the move to start Head in there alongside Reke in place of Beno was the less radical. We don't have any perfect fits for that position, and Head's defense had earned him a large chunk of Beno's minutes the game before. We should not be starting Luther Head, but so often the guys who start next to superstar level guards are very marginal individual players. Derek Fisher, Carlos Arroyo, Marco Bellinelli all say hi. Still, there was a risk, namely to our already struggling offense. In the early going the risk paid off, we played our best defensive quarter of the season, and Head was a significant part of that, ploggin our biggest hole and providing a big burst of energy for a crew that has often come out flat. Added in a nice nice baseline drive to squirt it up to just beat the 24 sec clock, and whiel the offense was not prolific, it felt a little bit clarified. We had a general purpose (pot when possible, else let Reke do his thing), and clear cut #1 and #2 options in Reke and Landry. Head was not responsible for the defensive collapse in the second which featured certain alternative personnel. He got off to a good start to the third, knocking down at two and a three and added a nice drive slashing to the rim. But unlike the first quarter it wasn't working for us as a team after half. We weren't strangling them on defense, and the offense was quickly stagnating with no ball movement at all, leading Beno to play much of the rest of the way -- we had gotten what we could out of the Head gimmick. It worked for a while though, and I would not be surprised at all to see us try it again.
Gary Payton (6'4") -- the pic above is how he's always going to be remembered, completely fearless, psychotic even, an intimidator at what is normally the smallest/weakest position the court. Its hard to talk about 6'4" Kidd without also talking about his 6'4" partner in crime, Its probably no coincidence that the two most dominant PGs of their era were also two of the biggest, and two of the best defenders of the position of all time.
A funny thing happened tonight: we dominated the first quarter with defense and post play and then lost the game, as well as the defensive thread, in the second quarter. Who were the primary players on the floor during that span? Basically our early season starters, many of whom were now coming off the bench. It was Beno and Omri and Carl and Cousins and Cisco, and they just got lit up like a pinball machine. Odd the correlation there.
I'll dig back into my bag of tricks for another theme, but I wish this team would just get over this and start winning some games. I'm going to be out of ideas by Christmas.
You know, its not only the losses piling up that is draining my bag of themes, its Westphal's nutty rotations running through all 12 guys on many nights. Have a number of 9-10 option themes thought up, relatively few with a full dozen. So tonight I'll go with one appropriate to the tiresome Tyreke debates: The History of Supersize PGs
Offical Boxscore
Postgame Quotes
Thompson ( D+ ) -- kind of a "well what did you expect?" game after Westphal started him at F, against a long range bomber no less. That is just so many shades of duh its hard to comprehend. May have been at "SF" but still went right to the post to start and for a few minutes it looked like the duh might actually work out. But ended up picking up a couple of his normal loose fouls as a starter, and never returned for the remainder of the half despite doing vaguely ok, and despite us getting whipped on defense again in the 2nd quarter. Never did anything after the break. Would have become the 2nd Kings PF to crash into Gallinari for 3 Fts -- one of the penalties of playing PFs at SF -- but luckily Gallinari had a toe on the line so it was only 2 FTs. Still refused to play him at PF even when Landry had to go out late, opting to go back to the totally ineffective Darnell Jackson instead. I have no idea what drugs Westphal has been using that explains some of these roster decisions, but I don't want any, thx. This grade is a real reach. There was not much to grade, and Jason never should have been in that position anyway.
The Big O (6'5") -- there is some irony to fans of this franchise of all franchises being shocked at the concept of a 6'5" PG, as we are in fact the franchise that more or less invented the beast. HOF PG Oscar Robertson was considered by many to be the most dominant guard of all time until Jordan came along, and while it was a radically different era his stats in his extended prime might be the most impressive of all time, Wilt being his only rival:
Age 22: 30.5pts (.473FG% .822FT%) 10.1reb 9.7ast
Age 23: 30.8pts (.478FG% .803FT%) 12.5reb 11.4ast
Age 24: 28.3pts (.518FG% .810FT%) 10.4reb 9.5ast
Age 25: 31.4pts (.483FG% .853FT%) 9.9reb 11.0ast
Age 26: 30.4pts (.480FG% .839FT%) 9.0reb 11.5ast
Age 27: 31.3pts (.475FG% .842FT%) 7.7reb 11.1ast
Age 28: 30.5pts (.493FG% .873FT%) 6.2reb 10.7ast
Age 29: 29.2pts (.500FG% .873FT%) 6.0reb 9.7ast
Landry ( A- ) -- and here is the first of several bright points we had in what was otherwise another frustrating loss. Mandry is back, and displaying the dangers of the internet -- when you jump out and say really terrible things about somebody, they never go away, even when that person is back in your good graces. For Carl a major part of the improvement has been as simple as scrapping the garbage jumpshooting game and just going into the paint and attacking. And we as a team did a much better job this game of focusing on feeding the post as well right from the beginning of the game. Carl went right inside from the opening tip and was scrapping for boards, dropping some nifty post moves, including the one that I used int hat little video I made a couple of months ago, and generally taking on all comers. Of course all comers in this case was just the Knicks frontline, but still. There were a couple of little settle jumpers, but he never became trapped y it and soon returned to the paint. Got out saavied by Gallinari (and the NBA's ridiculous interpretation of the rule) when he left his feet to contest a three and Gallinari jumped sideways into him to draw the foul. Late int eh game got clobbered and lost a contact, and got knocked out of the air again on a flying drive -- but those are the good things. Very physical effort, and that's what you are hoping for out of a PF. On the other end rarely had to guard anybody more formidable than Rony Turiaf, so while he was part of the crew that really lost control of any semblance of defense during the Knicks' 40pt 2nd quarter, he was not a primary issue this time. Abruptly is playing well for us, but slowed down as the game went along and not a factor down the stretch.
Anfernee Hardaway (6'7") -- a picture above of one possible model for our future. I always thought Penny was overrated back in his brief prime, but he was still a 4x All Star (the 4th just because fans are idiots) and 2x All NBA player as the little to Shaq's big. His efficiency took a gigantic hit when the big dope left Orlando to go star in Kazaam, but of course the real killer was the rapid disintegration of his knees. Let's hope our eventual fate is far kinder than Orlando's.
Dalembert ( C- ) -- in a not so encouraging sign for the first time since he started getting major minutes Daly really wasn't able to have much effect out there for us, and was held to very short minutes with Cousins surging. Not many early highlights, but was anchoring our superior defensive start. However in the third was not able to handle Amare's quickness and was quickly replaced and saw little action thereafter. Its a common problem with junkballing system's like D'Antoni's -- its poison to the Dalemberts of the world. Those systems give them nobody to guard, and if your center can't hurt them on the offensive end you're playing 4 on 5. That's where a guy like Cousins fits perfectly -- the defensive specialist big has trouble with smallball, but the offensive power player destroys them.
Jason Kidd (6'4") -- people forget that Jason Kidd is 6'4" tall. A pure PG to be sure, but would he even be a starter if he were 6'1" 165lbs? The great size for a PG has been a major factor in his dominance as a defender, a rebounder, the triple doubles, and the eventual HOF nod.
Head ( B ) -- of the two changes to the starting lineup, I thought the move to start Head in there alongside Reke in place of Beno was the less radical. We don't have any perfect fits for that position, and Head's defense had earned him a large chunk of Beno's minutes the game before. We should not be starting Luther Head, but so often the guys who start next to superstar level guards are very marginal individual players. Derek Fisher, Carlos Arroyo, Marco Bellinelli all say hi. Still, there was a risk, namely to our already struggling offense. In the early going the risk paid off, we played our best defensive quarter of the season, and Head was a significant part of that, ploggin our biggest hole and providing a big burst of energy for a crew that has often come out flat. Added in a nice nice baseline drive to squirt it up to just beat the 24 sec clock, and whiel the offense was not prolific, it felt a little bit clarified. We had a general purpose (pot when possible, else let Reke do his thing), and clear cut #1 and #2 options in Reke and Landry. Head was not responsible for the defensive collapse in the second which featured certain alternative personnel. He got off to a good start to the third, knocking down at two and a three and added a nice drive slashing to the rim. But unlike the first quarter it wasn't working for us as a team after half. We weren't strangling them on defense, and the offense was quickly stagnating with no ball movement at all, leading Beno to play much of the rest of the way -- we had gotten what we could out of the Head gimmick. It worked for a while though, and I would not be surprised at all to see us try it again.
Gary Payton (6'4") -- the pic above is how he's always going to be remembered, completely fearless, psychotic even, an intimidator at what is normally the smallest/weakest position the court. Its hard to talk about 6'4" Kidd without also talking about his 6'4" partner in crime, Its probably no coincidence that the two most dominant PGs of their era were also two of the biggest, and two of the best defenders of the position of all time.
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