We are apparently bad men. Very bad. Bad BAD men. And we must be punished for the safety of the innocent. Luckily we have NBA refs around to ensure that the poor dears we play won't get their makeup smudged.
So anyway, we once again started sluggish. Just cannot seem to shake it. And while the bench stabilized it, it wasn't until after halftime that we turned up the pressure and clearly established who was the better team. The refs briefly tried to make a game of it in the early 4th with a whole string of whistles, but all they could do is force us to put the starters back in to reestablish order, and we're 7-10 with a winnable game tomorrow.
Link to Boxscore
Starters
Gay ( B+ ) -- this probably deserves another tick, but the thing is I just was not very happy with Rudy to start this game. He seemed sluggish again, his shots were ill conceived and forced and it wasn't until I noticed a most unlikely column -- assists -- rising that I started to appreciate what he was doing. And then he returned in the 4th and really slammed the door hard on the Nets hopes.
Cousins ( A- ) -- looked sluggish and out of breath early in this one, and yet was doing the bulk of our scoring. Came back and actually played a very poor 2nd, still looking tired and out of sync. But really took the Nets team to the woodshed in the 3rd, and once he got rolling there was no Nets answer. BTW, is now shooting .409 from 3pt land. As a center.
Koufos ( C- ) -- its possible I should have left off the minus, but statistically there was nothing here. Basically in there to guard Lopez/match the Nets multiple bigs and...kinda did. I mean, was in there, mostly in the way, and rolled in a few of his hook things from various distances. But was not on the glass or protecting the rim. Did keep a few possessions alive making smart passes.
Featured Grade
Afflalo ( C ) -- Started off getting 2 quick baskets then Nets went on a run as AA nor others guarded anyone for awhile. Went to corner every time down court and waited for opportunities that never really came. The offensive flow just basically ignored him for the game. His defense was very good except for early lapses against 3 shooters. Hard to grade him as he just didn't show up on replays and stayed in the corners. Helped, didn't hurt the team.--Cruz
Collison ( B- ) -- another player who got off to a poor start from us, giving none of the spark as a starter he has given off the bench. But he got better with each stint, and after half finally turned the battle against Isaiah Whitehead, which is a battle which should not have needed turning.
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Bench
Lawson ( B ) -- has emerged in most unlikely fashion as the scrappy leader (well, I think Temple is the inspirer) of a scrappy bench crew. Which makes absolutely no sense at all give the rest of his career, but hey. Rediscovered his scoring touch as well, looking more smooth, and clever, than he has this season.
Barnes ( 18 to Life ) -- led the team in +/- despite kicking kicked out in the 4th for an oh so vicious hand to the face. Gave us a real boost with our passing, and his trying to passing, as he did when he missed an oop so badly that the ball went through the hoop anyway.
Featured Grade
Temple ( B+ ) -- Let me start by stating the obvious. Temple is a terrific defender. Despite shooting not shooting the ball well, and understatement, he was key to the Kings winning the game. He had three steals and poked the ball away twice. He entered the game at the 4:07 mark of the first quarter, and almost immediately deflected a pass away out of bounds. A bit later he made a beautiful bounce pass to Koufos under the basket in traffic for a layup. He then educated Yogi Ferrell by stealing the ball when he tried to go by him. He then applied his trade to Kilpatrick, who was having a terrific first half, causing a turnover. Unfortunately Garrett couldn't get anything to fall tonight. He missed a reverse layup and then a couple of corner threes. If he had made a couple of shots, he would have had an A. Still, a very good game for Temple. --Baja
Casspi ( B- ) -- has quickly worked his way back into the rotation, appearing as scheduled as part of the bench crew, and giving us a nice Omri burst as our bench righted the ship. Not effective after half however, and all of his numbers came from before the break.
McLemore ( INC ) -- given a short first half stint, and you barely noticed him. Got back in for the garbagetime at the end.
Cauley Stein ( INC ) -- just the last few min of garbagetime
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