Alright baby! Have to photoshop up something new here -- this one is getting worn out from over use.
[yt= The Game Winner]X6MGueF-IlM[/yt]
Casspi ( B- ) -- while Reke was of course the story again tonight, Casspi had a role to play before it was over as well. Wouldn't have known that was going to be the case early as Omri came out in this one just like he had played n Golden State, which is to say flat as a board. Just nothing early again, bricked an open three off a Reke kick out of the double. Ran a terrible break. He had grabbed a few defensive rebounds, but the offense was not there. But as has sometimes happened this year you could really feel the coaching staff consciously trying to turn things for him. At the end of the first half we had him step up to take a technical FT -- obviously not who you would normally have take it -- and he hit it. And we came out of half wiht him more involved, including quickly splashing in a three as we came back in the early third. Went hustling in for an o-baord and drew the foul, later rattled in another jumper. Added a good strong take in mid 4th, and more d-board work. Still looked like he was setting himself up to be the goat when he badly missed back to back shots down the stretch that almost killed us, first a driving layup at the 3:30 mark, then an airballed post
move from the right block. But again you could feel the coaching at work behind this game, as despite the struuggles, despite another poor 3pt shooting night, we came out of the timeout at the 1:11 mark with the play drawn for Omri for a three from the left corner, and he drained the huge shot to tie us back up. Afterword this was the quote from Wetphal:
Reke is unquestionably our closer, but Casspi is the guy we trust to hit the big three. Not bad status for a pair of rookies. Overall not one of Omri's better games, but hit the big shot when we needed it.
Thompson ( F ) -- ok, and so we interrupt a generally feel good set of grades to announce a meltdown. Jason...Jason just never showed up tonight. Certainly his head didn't. Whatever slump demons he has been dealing with, they all came home to roost in this one. And the thing is, the coaches just got tired of it basically and benched him. Brock was keeping it simple and doing what Jason should be able to do. Spencer of all people now had the confidence and played a major role for us in winning this one. So Jason bouncing around screwing up and hanging his head over it just became a distraction we did not need on the night. Started with a high turnover on the spin, came up with a good take, then got his next shot blocked, and was out quickly to sit on the bench and think about it as Hawes came in. Started off the third poorly again, missing a hook and then fouling. Gave us a cou0ple of some good d-boards, but it was not long before we figured we could do better with Spencer/Brock again. Back in to start 4th and quickly turned it over leading to a breakaway, then shuffled his feet on a post move as he was not strong enough against Nene's physical defense. Then picked up a foul. Brockman was back in for him at 6:00 mark and thought maybe that would be it, but the coaches again made themslves evident and surprisingly JT was back in for the final two minutes. A subtext to all of these close games and wins and losses is jsut how important Westphal has deemed it that it is the kids doing this. You don't see all vet lineups out there trying to experience in a win, he puts as many of our key kids as he can in the game at the end, and if it costs us a game here or there, that's ok as he is trying to accelerate the growth of the young players. Fortunately while Jaosn had a miserable game, and looked like he was in misery all night while having it, he did not cost us the game. Even had a minor role in saving it as he and Nene got tangled up on what should have been denver's final possession to try to win it, the offensive foul was called on Nene, and we got the ball back for Reke to play the hero. Not enough to bump this grade though as this had to be some sort of nadir for JT. Not only playing terribly, shooting terribly, turning it over, but losing the confidence of the coaching staff in the process and watching much of the game from the bench.
Brockman ( B+ ) -- got the start likely because of his work against Nene last time we faced the Nuggets, and quickly justified it and then some. Quickly got an o-board, aggressive take and second effort. Did the work you expected on the galss and banging bodies early, but offensively unable to ever overcome his stubbiness and finished up 2-9 wiht numerous shots blocked and altered inside. Unable to use his size inside over Smith on a switch. In the early second again had back to back defeats inside, the second swatted out of bounds by Birdman. Took a bad jumper from 18 feet -- his only real ill conceived shot of the night. Continued working the glass into the third, adn effectively benched JT with his play (or maybe Hawes did, but either way that was the pairing). Got overpowered to the rim and fouled Martin for the +1, but often guarded Nene and impeded if not stopped him. Came up with an offensive board and follow of a Hawes miss for his only second ahlf points. May legitmately have tired in this one -- think he had 8rebs at half, and possibly all 12 of his by the end of the third. Not a factor in the 4th, but a definite factor oin the game doing a very nice job as a physical/boarding roleplayer. Grow him 4 inches and make him a shotblocker as well, and in fact that is all we would need from that position. Do the dirt work, clean up the messes, stay out of the way of the stars.
Udrih ( C ) -- Basically played one quarter out of four tonight for us. Did nothing, I mean NOTHING before half again. Just nothing. It was the second half vs. Golden State redux. 0pts 1 ast at half. But then came out in the third and exploded out of the gate with a jumper, a three, set up Casspi for a three, and he, and we, was back. Missed the technical foul FT at the 4:53 mark of the third, but then hit another jumper and added two FTs to close the third. And then promptly disappeared again, including some shoddy defense on Billups and Smith, until adding two clutch FTs just before Tyreke's game winner. A bit siimilar to Casspi int hat the struggle continued from the other night, but both guys came through in the clutch to make contributions.
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