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Boxscore
Greene ( C- ) -- you know, until Sergio's late minipush, in the early going Donte actually had the single most impressive stretch of basketball by any King in this one. He was rewarded for it by being the first player subbed out as we went to some ill conceived 3-guard Reke/Kevin/Beno lineup, and was forgotten about for a good 12-15 minutes of game time. Might as well have just been forgotten about period, because he was unable to duplicate his success and fell into the same morass as the rest of the team after returning. During his good stretch started off with a drive he was unable to convert, grabbed the o-reb, and then missed the follow as well. SO not exactly a great start and still out of control. But did a good job helping on the glass, and then hit a good 3-4 minute stretch for basiclaly all of his grade tonight. Lost the tip to Dwight to open the game, but won a second one after Howard tied him up. Hit a three, then appeared to hit a second three up against the shot clock -- it was in fact up on the board, but they took it away after a review. Followed with a two. So after the 8/5pt burst Westphal quickly pulled him from the game to cool him off once the Magic inserted ultra scary JJ Reddick into the game. Afterall Donte may be able to guard Kobe, but Reddick? That's something else entirely. Back in after too long out and immediately missed a side jumper. Then got a second side jumpr partially blocked. Wild drive to start the third resulting in a 24 second violation. Disappeared to the bench soon therafter, the good start a distant memory. Gave him probably more of a bump than maybe he deserved just for showing a little life and spirit.
Thompson ( C- ) -- 2 FTs on a slash, but not much else in the early going. Hit a jumper and was fouled, but missed the foul shot. Solid job on the glass. Split another pair of FTs in the second, but not a factor. Came out and brciked a jumper to start the 3rd, grabbed a few more rebounds, but no threat at all offensively. Then had to spend a stetch tryign to guard Howard, and like in Sacramento, just showed he does not have the strength. Offense remained ugly in the 4th, but continued to fight on the glass and eventually got it into double figures. In fact finished with a double double 10pts 10rebs. But not remotely impressive in doing so. Hitting 10 in the board department actually caused me to bump this higher than it should have gone methinks.
Brockman ( C+ ) -- well, he came, he tried, he failed. But at least along the way he made Dwight work for position. Began to get outbanged by Howard as the first went along, but somewhat contained him even as he was racking up fouls. Tried the elbow jumper for no reason. Actually blanked on the boards in his first stint as all his attention was spent trying to keep the monster off of them as well (not very successfully). Played some good defense on Dwight to start the 3rd. But the depths of the offensive collapse were something to behold, and he just gave up again and took another missed elbow jumper. Got to the line out of a timeout, and then bricked both FTs, including an airball on the second. Back in to start the 4th and while it was really full on garbagetime by that point, showed nice hustle and made some plays until leaving wiht about 6 minutes to go. Had a tip, then a nice little half hook, a hustle block on the break to stop a hoop. And as the as game got loose (and the backups were in full time) was in banging on several offensive rebound follow attempts. John's game of course should have the least to do with any offensive woes. And really the oddest/ugliest thing about this one for him is that he was actually attempting shots -- in some of his best games he has attempted only 1 or 2. Gave him the little bump here for at elast being physical with Howard, but in no way did he stop him, and this was far form his best performance.
Martin ( D- ) -- this was...interesting. Interesting and disturbing. Started off this game in such a distinct pass first mode that it just couldn't have been a spur of the moment thing. Had to be a plan, whether his or Westphal's. Of course the Magic were doubling to leave guys open, but Kevin was rarely aggressive looking for his shot in this one. In fact, and here is the disturbing, after an early flurry of passes where he set people up, but could not hit his own shots, Kevin spent the last 20 minutes of this game doing absolutely nothing at all. Not even looking at the hoop. If this wasn't Kevin we were talking about I would almost have suspected him of pulling a Kobe passive/aggressive thing (a few years back Kobe wanted to prove that the Lakers neeed his offense, so told to pass more, he simply refused to shoot at all one game against us). Kevin started off this game with a nice pass to Brockman who had been left alone along the baseline for a dunk, then swung the ball to Reke for a three. Added a pass back to JT for a +1. But as a scorer, it was all ugly. Throwing up junk from the beginning, not only missing the easier ones, but forcing some off balance ugly ones. Finally got to the line near the end of the first, and it just led nowhere. Hit his only basket of the game with 1:00 to go in the quarter. Tried to go 1-4 flat with Kevin to end the first quarter and he got to the line on a bit of a gift call but only hit 1 of 2 -- even his FTs were off as he shot 3-6. Hit Noc with another pass for a three, missed a side jumper over Reddick to start the second, and got a post over Reddick for 2 more fouls (which he again split) in the early 2nd and that was really just about it for a long long LONG time. There was just something odd about the situation. Kevin Martin doesn't score 5pts in a game and only take 7 shots, and yet he did. And Yet Westphal simply refused to take him out. He racked up 40 minutes of complete emptiness with another game coming up tommorow. I'm not even sure if he had a shot in his final 15-20 minutes. And maybe 1 assist. It was just a giant missing position for us out there. Nothing in the 3rd. wasn't even looking at the hoop after a while, just...yikes. Was going back and forth whether Kevin was doing it intentionally, or was Westphal doing it intentionally? The most benign explanation would just be that Coach wanted Kevin to get in the extra work. But 5pts on 1-7 shooting in 40 minutes in an at times 30pt blowut the first night of a back to back? I bumped this out of F territory just because ironically Kevin's opening passing really accounted for every bit of decent offense we had in this one until Sergio came forward in deep garbagetime. But this was a strange one Mr. Grinch.
Evans ( C ) -- was every bit as gone as the rest of the team in the first half, in Reke's case taking the form of one of those can't hit a layup halves (helped along by Dwight of course). But fought through it -- really the only King on the entire roster able to do so -- and in the second half made the adjustments necessary to get his to the basket game going again. Finished with 19 points on a night when nobody else had more than 10, but these were irrelevant points that made no difference besides saving us from threatening the franchise low scoring mark. Hit a standstill three to start things, but then missed a layup off a cut and picked up his second foul on a foul that should have been on Kevin. Got fouled on a drive. Poked away a ball for a turnover from Pietrus, got to the rim but missed it, then turned it over. Was pretty saavy for a kid: Step 1 -- pledge $1,000 per point you score in a game; Step 2 -- proceed to blow layup after layup as you team scores 32 collective points in the half. Finally another hoop on a quick drive at the end of the 2nd quarter to get us to a magnifecent 10pt quarter. Second half started slowly as we tried to get him in the post on Nelson. Had a post move blocked by Howard. Then drove and got a shot blocked by Vince Carter leading to another 24 sec violation. Scored on a bad contnuation call (as in it should nto have been called continuation) in the mid-3rd to get us up to 35 pts wiht 18 minutes left in the game. Got a steal stopping a break but again missed the layup. Got aggressive going to the hoop late in the third, getting one to fall, then getting to the line. Good take on our final possession of the third. In the early 4th forced a drive into heavy traffic and just kept it and got fouled rather than kicking it to guys who had been missing everything all night. Was making a noticeable effort to play defense on everyone in the early 4th, with the unfortunate effect that he was not always guarding his own man. Added a jumper before finally leaving for the last time. Was our best player while he was out there, so this wasn't a Kevin situation, but still not sure why he played all those minutes either. Maybe to work with Kevin, albeit that was a lost cause tonight. Or maybe because Westphal has shown that he is a very aware coach this season, and it was about either the chaitable pledge to Haiti, or All Star chances, or ROY voting. Don't know. Just know this one was over by the mid 3rd, and Reke was around long after that.
Boxscore
Greene ( C- ) -- you know, until Sergio's late minipush, in the early going Donte actually had the single most impressive stretch of basketball by any King in this one. He was rewarded for it by being the first player subbed out as we went to some ill conceived 3-guard Reke/Kevin/Beno lineup, and was forgotten about for a good 12-15 minutes of game time. Might as well have just been forgotten about period, because he was unable to duplicate his success and fell into the same morass as the rest of the team after returning. During his good stretch started off with a drive he was unable to convert, grabbed the o-reb, and then missed the follow as well. SO not exactly a great start and still out of control. But did a good job helping on the glass, and then hit a good 3-4 minute stretch for basiclaly all of his grade tonight. Lost the tip to Dwight to open the game, but won a second one after Howard tied him up. Hit a three, then appeared to hit a second three up against the shot clock -- it was in fact up on the board, but they took it away after a review. Followed with a two. So after the 8/5pt burst Westphal quickly pulled him from the game to cool him off once the Magic inserted ultra scary JJ Reddick into the game. Afterall Donte may be able to guard Kobe, but Reddick? That's something else entirely. Back in after too long out and immediately missed a side jumper. Then got a second side jumpr partially blocked. Wild drive to start the third resulting in a 24 second violation. Disappeared to the bench soon therafter, the good start a distant memory. Gave him probably more of a bump than maybe he deserved just for showing a little life and spirit.
Thompson ( C- ) -- 2 FTs on a slash, but not much else in the early going. Hit a jumper and was fouled, but missed the foul shot. Solid job on the glass. Split another pair of FTs in the second, but not a factor. Came out and brciked a jumper to start the 3rd, grabbed a few more rebounds, but no threat at all offensively. Then had to spend a stetch tryign to guard Howard, and like in Sacramento, just showed he does not have the strength. Offense remained ugly in the 4th, but continued to fight on the glass and eventually got it into double figures. In fact finished with a double double 10pts 10rebs. But not remotely impressive in doing so. Hitting 10 in the board department actually caused me to bump this higher than it should have gone methinks.
Brockman ( C+ ) -- well, he came, he tried, he failed. But at least along the way he made Dwight work for position. Began to get outbanged by Howard as the first went along, but somewhat contained him even as he was racking up fouls. Tried the elbow jumper for no reason. Actually blanked on the boards in his first stint as all his attention was spent trying to keep the monster off of them as well (not very successfully). Played some good defense on Dwight to start the 3rd. But the depths of the offensive collapse were something to behold, and he just gave up again and took another missed elbow jumper. Got to the line out of a timeout, and then bricked both FTs, including an airball on the second. Back in to start the 4th and while it was really full on garbagetime by that point, showed nice hustle and made some plays until leaving wiht about 6 minutes to go. Had a tip, then a nice little half hook, a hustle block on the break to stop a hoop. And as the as game got loose (and the backups were in full time) was in banging on several offensive rebound follow attempts. John's game of course should have the least to do with any offensive woes. And really the oddest/ugliest thing about this one for him is that he was actually attempting shots -- in some of his best games he has attempted only 1 or 2. Gave him the little bump here for at elast being physical with Howard, but in no way did he stop him, and this was far form his best performance.
Martin ( D- ) -- this was...interesting. Interesting and disturbing. Started off this game in such a distinct pass first mode that it just couldn't have been a spur of the moment thing. Had to be a plan, whether his or Westphal's. Of course the Magic were doubling to leave guys open, but Kevin was rarely aggressive looking for his shot in this one. In fact, and here is the disturbing, after an early flurry of passes where he set people up, but could not hit his own shots, Kevin spent the last 20 minutes of this game doing absolutely nothing at all. Not even looking at the hoop. If this wasn't Kevin we were talking about I would almost have suspected him of pulling a Kobe passive/aggressive thing (a few years back Kobe wanted to prove that the Lakers neeed his offense, so told to pass more, he simply refused to shoot at all one game against us). Kevin started off this game with a nice pass to Brockman who had been left alone along the baseline for a dunk, then swung the ball to Reke for a three. Added a pass back to JT for a +1. But as a scorer, it was all ugly. Throwing up junk from the beginning, not only missing the easier ones, but forcing some off balance ugly ones. Finally got to the line near the end of the first, and it just led nowhere. Hit his only basket of the game with 1:00 to go in the quarter. Tried to go 1-4 flat with Kevin to end the first quarter and he got to the line on a bit of a gift call but only hit 1 of 2 -- even his FTs were off as he shot 3-6. Hit Noc with another pass for a three, missed a side jumper over Reddick to start the second, and got a post over Reddick for 2 more fouls (which he again split) in the early 2nd and that was really just about it for a long long LONG time. There was just something odd about the situation. Kevin Martin doesn't score 5pts in a game and only take 7 shots, and yet he did. And Yet Westphal simply refused to take him out. He racked up 40 minutes of complete emptiness with another game coming up tommorow. I'm not even sure if he had a shot in his final 15-20 minutes. And maybe 1 assist. It was just a giant missing position for us out there. Nothing in the 3rd. wasn't even looking at the hoop after a while, just...yikes. Was going back and forth whether Kevin was doing it intentionally, or was Westphal doing it intentionally? The most benign explanation would just be that Coach wanted Kevin to get in the extra work. But 5pts on 1-7 shooting in 40 minutes in an at times 30pt blowut the first night of a back to back? I bumped this out of F territory just because ironically Kevin's opening passing really accounted for every bit of decent offense we had in this one until Sergio came forward in deep garbagetime. But this was a strange one Mr. Grinch.
Evans ( C ) -- was every bit as gone as the rest of the team in the first half, in Reke's case taking the form of one of those can't hit a layup halves (helped along by Dwight of course). But fought through it -- really the only King on the entire roster able to do so -- and in the second half made the adjustments necessary to get his to the basket game going again. Finished with 19 points on a night when nobody else had more than 10, but these were irrelevant points that made no difference besides saving us from threatening the franchise low scoring mark. Hit a standstill three to start things, but then missed a layup off a cut and picked up his second foul on a foul that should have been on Kevin. Got fouled on a drive. Poked away a ball for a turnover from Pietrus, got to the rim but missed it, then turned it over. Was pretty saavy for a kid: Step 1 -- pledge $1,000 per point you score in a game; Step 2 -- proceed to blow layup after layup as you team scores 32 collective points in the half. Finally another hoop on a quick drive at the end of the 2nd quarter to get us to a magnifecent 10pt quarter. Second half started slowly as we tried to get him in the post on Nelson. Had a post move blocked by Howard. Then drove and got a shot blocked by Vince Carter leading to another 24 sec violation. Scored on a bad contnuation call (as in it should nto have been called continuation) in the mid-3rd to get us up to 35 pts wiht 18 minutes left in the game. Got a steal stopping a break but again missed the layup. Got aggressive going to the hoop late in the third, getting one to fall, then getting to the line. Good take on our final possession of the third. In the early 4th forced a drive into heavy traffic and just kept it and got fouled rather than kicking it to guys who had been missing everything all night. Was making a noticeable effort to play defense on everyone in the early 4th, with the unfortunate effect that he was not always guarding his own man. Added a jumper before finally leaving for the last time. Was our best player while he was out there, so this wasn't a Kevin situation, but still not sure why he played all those minutes either. Maybe to work with Kevin, albeit that was a lost cause tonight. Or maybe because Westphal has shown that he is a very aware coach this season, and it was about either the chaitable pledge to Haiti, or All Star chances, or ROY voting. Don't know. Just know this one was over by the mid 3rd, and Reke was around long after that.
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