Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Heh, you just never know do you? A little treat for the dozen or so Kings fans who are not cowering under their beds hiding out until March 2.
Official Boxscore
Casspi ( B ) -- sevreal hits early as we got off to the hot start. Was running the floor and hitting from the corners. However on the other end was once again having his normal effect, making Hedo into an efficient offensive player. Stepped up with back to back strong plays out on the break in the mid 4th, including a three to give us the lead back. Made a good play to tie up Howard for a jumpball (which he obviously lost). But then made a mistake running the break at the 1:20 mark traveling for no reaosn at all to deny us a hoop to go up 7. Managed to finally have an efficient game, and those 11pts 6rebs on 4-11 type nights he has been specializing in, with efficiency and the few extra miuutes that brought morphed into a 13pt 8reb on 5-7 shooting night. Not buttkicking, but solid roleplay.
Thompson ( B ) -- turned in another solid effort, and critically was not scared/intimidated by Dwight. Smoothly drained a long jumper, slammed right into Dwight's chest and got to the line, but again missed both. Strong drive as well. Big effort to swat away the Magic's quarter ending attempt. Able to abuse the undersized Bass through much of the game, and in the early 3rd came out strong and helped us catch right back up. Some good finsihes in the second half, not being too intimidated to go in there, and he was hleoing by making good passes through an unusually sloppy Magic defense as well. Should mention however his rebounding has been falling off. Late in the game forced a dumb shot at the 50 seciond mark, but got bailed out and went to he line where he just calmly hit both, after struggling through Florida to push the lead back to 4.
Cousins ( D+ ) -- so Game 2 (or 4) of the I-Don'T-Need-Me-No-Reke campaign, and still nothing. Of course for obvious reasons you could have predicted problems with this one. Started the game with a nice alley oop pass to Taylor for the very first play of the game, but then went down the other way and immediately fouled Howard -- just can't afford those quickies. Missed a jumper, but then went right at Howard in the post and scored over him on a spin move. Was really his last successful trip against Howard on offense however. On the other end was getting pinned by Dwight and was just letting him go for dunks. Had a few more moments on offense when he got a chance to simply overpower Bass in the post. But Dwight began to figure him out and time him, and you obviously aren't moving that beast. Made some good passes in the third as he and JT combined for 10 o the night as the main reason our assist totals were so high, but struggled to get anything going offensively against Howard, and the fouls were piling up, often on silly/dumb ones. With Daly once again coming in as the strong veteran center, once Demarcus picked up his 5th he went to the bench and just was never summoned again. A good sign was that he was over on the bench enthusiastically cheering the guys on as they put it away down the stretch, but his own game you are going to just chalk this up to learning basically.
Taylor ( A ) -- had a heck of a game, maybe even a career game...at least on offense (on defense that athleticism seems wasted, or maybe its just good run/jump athleticism, but not much lateral movement). And did it mostly just by keeping it simple. Started the game with a backdoor alley oop to start from Cousins, and was moving well well without the ball just taking passes in rhythm for layups and dunks. He had 11pts by the end of the first quarter, and he may not have taken 11 dribbles in that time -- really was basically playing the "scoring roleplayer" -- wasn't creating his own offense, but was finishing everything created by others. Kind of a walking dunk. Had one or two moments when he briefly forgot what he was doing and forced up something quick or dumb, but otherwise it was impressively disciplined for a young player. Used the athleticism on the offensive glass as well. The flip side of course was the defense, which is just odd. He stands there too upright like the great stonelegs, like he can't get those lanky limbs to move left or right, while guys just blow right by him. Might as well not be out there. In any case, was great per minute production, but late int he game with a crew featuring noen other than fan fave Luther Head pulling away and icing the game, was not needed and just kind of forgotten about over on the bench, so finished wiht fewer than 30 minutes in maybe his career game. Still made a good argument for himself that he should be the third guard with Beno and Thornton until Reke gets back.
Udrih ( A- ) -- did not start the game great as Nelson was getting around him early and he was still refusing to shoot, and at times that was causing us to head toward turnovers or lesser shooters having to shoot against the clock. but was doing a nice job of moving the ball early, and really picked up his offense in the second as the Magic stormed back, finally playing as aggressively as we need him to with Reke out. Down the stretch was the steady presence we needed on the perimeter to team with Daly's steady interior play. Good drive and dish to Daly for a layup to put us up 4 with 2:15 to go. Got the layup himself from Head at the 1:45 mark to again make it 4 as we refused to give away the lead. And had the good sense to get out of Head's way so his superstar could close the game. All in all probably Beno's best game in a month, and a major part of us pulling this one off.
Bench
Dalembert ( B+ ) -- not horrendously effective in the first half and blanked on the glass before having to leave th game after taking ashot to the eye. But dang if he didn't come in in the second half and once again face down a major opponent, matching and even exceeeding Howard's 2nd half productiond with 13pts 9rebs after the break. Played strong defense in the third, occasionally got muscled out of the by Howard and not able to match his strength obviously, but was very quick to the ball on the glass. Not sure what his idea was the other way repeatedly going at Howard 1 on 1 in the post, but down the stretch he stepped forward with his offense and along with Beno and of course Super Head carried us on home. Made a nice spinning no look hook at the 3:20 mark to give us back the 2pt lead, and coming out of the timeout a layup in the clutch at the 2:20 mark from Beno bouncced the lead to 4. Cousins will be one day, but right now Daly is the most legit NBA big we've had in years -- he's able to go out there and on any given night just be able to compete with bascially anybody in the league. Doesn't make him a star, but when he's out there you feel like you have a chance, and at least our guy isn't scared or weak for once.
Head ( B ) -- keeps on popping back up in the lineup like a rash. In the first half hit a three, but was not defending Arenas at all. But saved his best play for late as he took the 4th quarter by storm in a performacne reminscient of prime MJ. Made a nice pass out on the break feeding Casspi in the early 4th as we stromed back one more time. A few minutes latermade a nice pass to Daly for a dunk to retie it as on this night even a chucker like Luther racked up 5 assists. Then airballed a three unfortunately (in true chcuker fashon he actually shoots them better off his own dribble than he does wiht his feet set) and folowed with an airballed 2. But he was still Luther ****ing Head, so it was still all ok. Played some good defense on Nelson, and despite the normal nervewracking nature of his ballhandling and decisionmaking he made the passes tonight. And then of course, with us up 4, 20 seconds to go, the clock running down, shwoed those Luther Head only icewater veins, just calmly stepping in and driving the dagger home with another of his Luther Head special jumpshots. The Magic no doubt knew it was coming, but waht are you going to do when Luther Head is coming down court with that look in his eye? You're going to lose, that's what.
Greene ( D ) -- this is one of those grades that could have been an incomplete (playewd less than 7 min), could have been anf F (did nothing out there, including missing his only three and a dunk), but just settled in as a D because while he wasn't any good, he wasn't spectacular in his badness and did not play any huge factor in hurting us. Just came in in the first half, was ineffective, never came back.
Jackson ( B- ) -- in the game and immediately with a dunk. Did a nice job banging with Dwight down the stretch of the half and poked away a ball just before the break that Taylor scooped up for a layup.
Jeter ( C ) -- in the game for the first time in the third. Not big enough to do anything against a half court alley oop to JRich on the break. Hit a jumper to start the 4th. Mostly quiet in his minutes, neithier helping, nor hurting, other than in stealing minutes from the ar more worthy Luther Head.
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Official Boxscore
Casspi ( B ) -- sevreal hits early as we got off to the hot start. Was running the floor and hitting from the corners. However on the other end was once again having his normal effect, making Hedo into an efficient offensive player. Stepped up with back to back strong plays out on the break in the mid 4th, including a three to give us the lead back. Made a good play to tie up Howard for a jumpball (which he obviously lost). But then made a mistake running the break at the 1:20 mark traveling for no reaosn at all to deny us a hoop to go up 7. Managed to finally have an efficient game, and those 11pts 6rebs on 4-11 type nights he has been specializing in, with efficiency and the few extra miuutes that brought morphed into a 13pt 8reb on 5-7 shooting night. Not buttkicking, but solid roleplay.
Thompson ( B ) -- turned in another solid effort, and critically was not scared/intimidated by Dwight. Smoothly drained a long jumper, slammed right into Dwight's chest and got to the line, but again missed both. Strong drive as well. Big effort to swat away the Magic's quarter ending attempt. Able to abuse the undersized Bass through much of the game, and in the early 3rd came out strong and helped us catch right back up. Some good finsihes in the second half, not being too intimidated to go in there, and he was hleoing by making good passes through an unusually sloppy Magic defense as well. Should mention however his rebounding has been falling off. Late in the game forced a dumb shot at the 50 seciond mark, but got bailed out and went to he line where he just calmly hit both, after struggling through Florida to push the lead back to 4.
Cousins ( D+ ) -- so Game 2 (or 4) of the I-Don'T-Need-Me-No-Reke campaign, and still nothing. Of course for obvious reasons you could have predicted problems with this one. Started the game with a nice alley oop pass to Taylor for the very first play of the game, but then went down the other way and immediately fouled Howard -- just can't afford those quickies. Missed a jumper, but then went right at Howard in the post and scored over him on a spin move. Was really his last successful trip against Howard on offense however. On the other end was getting pinned by Dwight and was just letting him go for dunks. Had a few more moments on offense when he got a chance to simply overpower Bass in the post. But Dwight began to figure him out and time him, and you obviously aren't moving that beast. Made some good passes in the third as he and JT combined for 10 o the night as the main reason our assist totals were so high, but struggled to get anything going offensively against Howard, and the fouls were piling up, often on silly/dumb ones. With Daly once again coming in as the strong veteran center, once Demarcus picked up his 5th he went to the bench and just was never summoned again. A good sign was that he was over on the bench enthusiastically cheering the guys on as they put it away down the stretch, but his own game you are going to just chalk this up to learning basically.
Taylor ( A ) -- had a heck of a game, maybe even a career game...at least on offense (on defense that athleticism seems wasted, or maybe its just good run/jump athleticism, but not much lateral movement). And did it mostly just by keeping it simple. Started the game with a backdoor alley oop to start from Cousins, and was moving well well without the ball just taking passes in rhythm for layups and dunks. He had 11pts by the end of the first quarter, and he may not have taken 11 dribbles in that time -- really was basically playing the "scoring roleplayer" -- wasn't creating his own offense, but was finishing everything created by others. Kind of a walking dunk. Had one or two moments when he briefly forgot what he was doing and forced up something quick or dumb, but otherwise it was impressively disciplined for a young player. Used the athleticism on the offensive glass as well. The flip side of course was the defense, which is just odd. He stands there too upright like the great stonelegs, like he can't get those lanky limbs to move left or right, while guys just blow right by him. Might as well not be out there. In any case, was great per minute production, but late int he game with a crew featuring noen other than fan fave Luther Head pulling away and icing the game, was not needed and just kind of forgotten about over on the bench, so finished wiht fewer than 30 minutes in maybe his career game. Still made a good argument for himself that he should be the third guard with Beno and Thornton until Reke gets back.
Udrih ( A- ) -- did not start the game great as Nelson was getting around him early and he was still refusing to shoot, and at times that was causing us to head toward turnovers or lesser shooters having to shoot against the clock. but was doing a nice job of moving the ball early, and really picked up his offense in the second as the Magic stormed back, finally playing as aggressively as we need him to with Reke out. Down the stretch was the steady presence we needed on the perimeter to team with Daly's steady interior play. Good drive and dish to Daly for a layup to put us up 4 with 2:15 to go. Got the layup himself from Head at the 1:45 mark to again make it 4 as we refused to give away the lead. And had the good sense to get out of Head's way so his superstar could close the game. All in all probably Beno's best game in a month, and a major part of us pulling this one off.
Bench
Dalembert ( B+ ) -- not horrendously effective in the first half and blanked on the glass before having to leave th game after taking ashot to the eye. But dang if he didn't come in in the second half and once again face down a major opponent, matching and even exceeeding Howard's 2nd half productiond with 13pts 9rebs after the break. Played strong defense in the third, occasionally got muscled out of the by Howard and not able to match his strength obviously, but was very quick to the ball on the glass. Not sure what his idea was the other way repeatedly going at Howard 1 on 1 in the post, but down the stretch he stepped forward with his offense and along with Beno and of course Super Head carried us on home. Made a nice spinning no look hook at the 3:20 mark to give us back the 2pt lead, and coming out of the timeout a layup in the clutch at the 2:20 mark from Beno bouncced the lead to 4. Cousins will be one day, but right now Daly is the most legit NBA big we've had in years -- he's able to go out there and on any given night just be able to compete with bascially anybody in the league. Doesn't make him a star, but when he's out there you feel like you have a chance, and at least our guy isn't scared or weak for once.
Head ( B ) -- keeps on popping back up in the lineup like a rash. In the first half hit a three, but was not defending Arenas at all. But saved his best play for late as he took the 4th quarter by storm in a performacne reminscient of prime MJ. Made a nice pass out on the break feeding Casspi in the early 4th as we stromed back one more time. A few minutes latermade a nice pass to Daly for a dunk to retie it as on this night even a chucker like Luther racked up 5 assists. Then airballed a three unfortunately (in true chcuker fashon he actually shoots them better off his own dribble than he does wiht his feet set) and folowed with an airballed 2. But he was still Luther ****ing Head, so it was still all ok. Played some good defense on Nelson, and despite the normal nervewracking nature of his ballhandling and decisionmaking he made the passes tonight. And then of course, with us up 4, 20 seconds to go, the clock running down, shwoed those Luther Head only icewater veins, just calmly stepping in and driving the dagger home with another of his Luther Head special jumpshots. The Magic no doubt knew it was coming, but waht are you going to do when Luther Head is coming down court with that look in his eye? You're going to lose, that's what.
Greene ( D ) -- this is one of those grades that could have been an incomplete (playewd less than 7 min), could have been anf F (did nothing out there, including missing his only three and a dunk), but just settled in as a D because while he wasn't any good, he wasn't spectacular in his badness and did not play any huge factor in hurting us. Just came in in the first half, was ineffective, never came back.
Jackson ( B- ) -- in the game and immediately with a dunk. Did a nice job banging with Dwight down the stretch of the half and poked away a ball just before the break that Taylor scooped up for a layup.
Jeter ( C ) -- in the game for the first time in the third. Not big enough to do anything against a half court alley oop to JRich on the break. Hit a jumper to start the 4th. Mostly quiet in his minutes, neithier helping, nor hurting, other than in stealing minutes from the ar more worthy Luther Head.
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