Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Wanted to wait a bit here just to hear if Barkley could make me think he was any stupider than I already do, He couldn't as it turns out, but that's only because its virtually impossible for him to sink any further into ignorance in my opinion.
So, onto the game -- yahoo! Best game of the season. Most poiints, best FG%, against a quality opponent, on national TV, and our only legit blowout. And it hasn't come out of nowhere. Back to back games where our two young guns go for 20pts apiece. And those weeks of getting cloes then collapsing, followed by the last week of hanging on for clutch finishes, and now not only hangin on, but stomping on an opponent. Dust off the old neglected Kings gear -- tommorow you can wear it with pride.
Official Boxscore
Garcia ( B ) -- almost all of Cisco's production took place in the first quarter of this one, and in fact he only saw short minutes therafter. And in the first quarter his entire production centered around a quartet of threes he knocked down -- he ended the quarter 4-6 from 3pt land, and 4-6 from the field. And yet while normally having a big first quarter and then disappearing is a bad thing, I felt that early shooting explosion was quite critical to this game. We had started out shaky, looking like we wanted to compete, but were trying too hard to make everything great -- very likely the result of the national TV game. Everybody but Cisco that is, who almost singelhandedly kept us close by raining in three after three (not that the TNT crew noticed as they yabbered on for the entire first quarter tediously swapping old man stories rather than talking about the game). Had to be a huge confidence boost for us, and with just minor contributions from the rest of the crew we were able to go into the second quarter with the lead. On the other side Melo was more alive than he was last time out, and Cisco never really had him under control, although he was mre effective early than he was late. The threes were mosly nice spot up and shoot in rhythm types, although he did take one really ill advised hero/heat check 28 footer, and after a nice defensive play standing his ground inside against Birdman in the post, we forced the ball to him for another one, and he airballed it. Wasn't on the court to contribute in the second as Reke took the game over and Casspi was giving a nice effort on the wing, and by the time he came back in the third he didn't have much to offer offensively, and lost control of Melo the other way. Added a nice block inside on Birdman late and hustle and energy were excellent throughout.
Thompson ( C- ) -- you know, I'm pretty sure that Furry Alien Marmosets from the planet Bleep stole Jason away at some point during his cut finger related time off and replaced him with a dummy in a Jason suit, and I want the real thing back now. He hasn't given us a good one since his return, and certainly didn't show much this time out. Not able to stop Nene in the post in the early going, and troublingly muscled out of rebounding position repeatedly by the Nuggets undersized earht nover frontline of Shelden Williams and Nene, and a part of why we got our butts kicked on the board early. Back in midway through the second quarter and gave us a little help, doing a better job at controlling Al Harrington, getting a dunk on the break from Reke and running a nice pick and roll with Reke for the final score of the half. More empty minutes to begin the third spelled the end of his night with 6pts and 0rebs (wonder when the last time he grabbed zero rebounds was -- first time this year at least).
Cousins ( B- ) -- for those of you who may have missed it, Big Cuz came to life in December, started averaging about 16 a game, then came Chokegate, and after that silliness was over he has stepped up even further and now is putting in 20 just about every night. In fact given the state of the West's centers -- they were mentioning last night that Nene should by all rights be the frickin' All Star starter -- if DeMarcus Cousins had played like this all season, and if we weren't 8-25, this could easily be your All Star center, and may well be by next season. But this season DeMarcus still has to make everything hard. Wonderfully talented (Webb last night twice repeated a statement from Coachie that Cousins is the most talented player he has ever come across -- think about that), but still so much the unruly and unreasonable toddler. Was erratic in the early going mixing flashes of talent with some wild play. Showed the ability to knock them down outside, but also just bully balled Birdman, bouncing him around at will while powering inside. Shot selection was questionable though as he threw up some wild junk on certain possessions. Then disaster nearly struck as the inner child -- a child that you would really really like to spank btw despite that being passe -- reared its ugly ugly head. We were up 14 at half, started the third doing that inexplicably shaky/ugly thing we do where ball movement ceases and everything becomes one on one forces and turnovers, and despite making a nifty pass to Beno on an interior cut that had the announcers buzzing, Cousins began to get frustrated. And when he does he is just such a child that he literally can't control himself. He traveled, committed frustration fouls, and Melo was cleverly goading him on by talking with him constantly and yanking the kid's chain and all of a sudden Boogie just melted, every call was an emo level disaster, everybody, and I do mean everybody, was being meanies and he wasn't going to listen to anybody, whether it be refs, coaches, players, nobody. He stomped, he pouted, he messed up, and he really destroyed our momentum and peace of mind as the Nuggets roared back to tie it. It was an ugly display, and one that Westphal let go on far too long before he finally benched him, and he did it on national TV just to give all the ammunition ever needed to his detractors. You should have seen the expression on Tyreke's face on one play in the middle of it when he went back on defense. Reke never emotes on court, but this was a very distinct eye rolling WTF man look of exasperation after we'd worked so hard to get the big lead and Cousins went out and pooped his diaper. As mentioned the Nuggets used it all to roar back and tie it up in the mid-quarter, but then a funny thing happened. The Coach FINALLY gave Cousins a timeout and sent him to his room, and the Kings instantly responded to his absence by reigniting and going on another big run to resume control. And when Cousins was brought back a few minutes later he wasn't suckin his thumb any longer, and got back to the business of being a very large adult butt kicker. Took a Beno pass for a big dunk, got a steal, led the break, and found Jeter for the score. And came up with some nifty scores in the 4th as we opened it up and put them away, including a nifty left handed up and under move that Webb had to respect, and a tough turnaroujnd jumper to get to 20pts again. The talent was on display, but man Cuz, why the hell you have to make it so hard? One other note: only grabbed 6 rebounds, and needs to rediciate himself on that end as the increased scoring has been accompanied by a falloff in rebounding of late.
Udrih ( B- ) -- strugged again in the early going, and was just invisble for the longest time. But quietly got stronger as the night wore on, and while all the attention was on Reke, and Cousins, and Cisco's threes, and Webber and Miller swapping "back when I was young" stories, Beno worked his way into a solid game by attacking inside hard and drawing fouls. Had a three and a two before the break, but was otherwise vying for Mr. Irrelevancy honors. But both received and delivered nifty passed from/to Cousins in the third, including the critical "welcome back" dish and dunk after Cousins got back in after the meltdown. Some tough tough drives in the 4th, including one slash through three Nuggets who clobbered him and sent him sprawling in amongst the photographers. Missed multiple open threes in the 4th again on setups from Reke that would have given him his career-tying 13th assist.
So, onto the game -- yahoo! Best game of the season. Most poiints, best FG%, against a quality opponent, on national TV, and our only legit blowout. And it hasn't come out of nowhere. Back to back games where our two young guns go for 20pts apiece. And those weeks of getting cloes then collapsing, followed by the last week of hanging on for clutch finishes, and now not only hangin on, but stomping on an opponent. Dust off the old neglected Kings gear -- tommorow you can wear it with pride.
Official Boxscore
Garcia ( B ) -- almost all of Cisco's production took place in the first quarter of this one, and in fact he only saw short minutes therafter. And in the first quarter his entire production centered around a quartet of threes he knocked down -- he ended the quarter 4-6 from 3pt land, and 4-6 from the field. And yet while normally having a big first quarter and then disappearing is a bad thing, I felt that early shooting explosion was quite critical to this game. We had started out shaky, looking like we wanted to compete, but were trying too hard to make everything great -- very likely the result of the national TV game. Everybody but Cisco that is, who almost singelhandedly kept us close by raining in three after three (not that the TNT crew noticed as they yabbered on for the entire first quarter tediously swapping old man stories rather than talking about the game). Had to be a huge confidence boost for us, and with just minor contributions from the rest of the crew we were able to go into the second quarter with the lead. On the other side Melo was more alive than he was last time out, and Cisco never really had him under control, although he was mre effective early than he was late. The threes were mosly nice spot up and shoot in rhythm types, although he did take one really ill advised hero/heat check 28 footer, and after a nice defensive play standing his ground inside against Birdman in the post, we forced the ball to him for another one, and he airballed it. Wasn't on the court to contribute in the second as Reke took the game over and Casspi was giving a nice effort on the wing, and by the time he came back in the third he didn't have much to offer offensively, and lost control of Melo the other way. Added a nice block inside on Birdman late and hustle and energy were excellent throughout.
Thompson ( C- ) -- you know, I'm pretty sure that Furry Alien Marmosets from the planet Bleep stole Jason away at some point during his cut finger related time off and replaced him with a dummy in a Jason suit, and I want the real thing back now. He hasn't given us a good one since his return, and certainly didn't show much this time out. Not able to stop Nene in the post in the early going, and troublingly muscled out of rebounding position repeatedly by the Nuggets undersized earht nover frontline of Shelden Williams and Nene, and a part of why we got our butts kicked on the board early. Back in midway through the second quarter and gave us a little help, doing a better job at controlling Al Harrington, getting a dunk on the break from Reke and running a nice pick and roll with Reke for the final score of the half. More empty minutes to begin the third spelled the end of his night with 6pts and 0rebs (wonder when the last time he grabbed zero rebounds was -- first time this year at least).
Cousins ( B- ) -- for those of you who may have missed it, Big Cuz came to life in December, started averaging about 16 a game, then came Chokegate, and after that silliness was over he has stepped up even further and now is putting in 20 just about every night. In fact given the state of the West's centers -- they were mentioning last night that Nene should by all rights be the frickin' All Star starter -- if DeMarcus Cousins had played like this all season, and if we weren't 8-25, this could easily be your All Star center, and may well be by next season. But this season DeMarcus still has to make everything hard. Wonderfully talented (Webb last night twice repeated a statement from Coachie that Cousins is the most talented player he has ever come across -- think about that), but still so much the unruly and unreasonable toddler. Was erratic in the early going mixing flashes of talent with some wild play. Showed the ability to knock them down outside, but also just bully balled Birdman, bouncing him around at will while powering inside. Shot selection was questionable though as he threw up some wild junk on certain possessions. Then disaster nearly struck as the inner child -- a child that you would really really like to spank btw despite that being passe -- reared its ugly ugly head. We were up 14 at half, started the third doing that inexplicably shaky/ugly thing we do where ball movement ceases and everything becomes one on one forces and turnovers, and despite making a nifty pass to Beno on an interior cut that had the announcers buzzing, Cousins began to get frustrated. And when he does he is just such a child that he literally can't control himself. He traveled, committed frustration fouls, and Melo was cleverly goading him on by talking with him constantly and yanking the kid's chain and all of a sudden Boogie just melted, every call was an emo level disaster, everybody, and I do mean everybody, was being meanies and he wasn't going to listen to anybody, whether it be refs, coaches, players, nobody. He stomped, he pouted, he messed up, and he really destroyed our momentum and peace of mind as the Nuggets roared back to tie it. It was an ugly display, and one that Westphal let go on far too long before he finally benched him, and he did it on national TV just to give all the ammunition ever needed to his detractors. You should have seen the expression on Tyreke's face on one play in the middle of it when he went back on defense. Reke never emotes on court, but this was a very distinct eye rolling WTF man look of exasperation after we'd worked so hard to get the big lead and Cousins went out and pooped his diaper. As mentioned the Nuggets used it all to roar back and tie it up in the mid-quarter, but then a funny thing happened. The Coach FINALLY gave Cousins a timeout and sent him to his room, and the Kings instantly responded to his absence by reigniting and going on another big run to resume control. And when Cousins was brought back a few minutes later he wasn't suckin his thumb any longer, and got back to the business of being a very large adult butt kicker. Took a Beno pass for a big dunk, got a steal, led the break, and found Jeter for the score. And came up with some nifty scores in the 4th as we opened it up and put them away, including a nifty left handed up and under move that Webb had to respect, and a tough turnaroujnd jumper to get to 20pts again. The talent was on display, but man Cuz, why the hell you have to make it so hard? One other note: only grabbed 6 rebounds, and needs to rediciate himself on that end as the increased scoring has been accompanied by a falloff in rebounding of late.
Udrih ( B- ) -- strugged again in the early going, and was just invisble for the longest time. But quietly got stronger as the night wore on, and while all the attention was on Reke, and Cousins, and Cisco's threes, and Webber and Miller swapping "back when I was young" stories, Beno worked his way into a solid game by attacking inside hard and drawing fouls. Had a three and a two before the break, but was otherwise vying for Mr. Irrelevancy honors. But both received and delivered nifty passed from/to Cousins in the third, including the critical "welcome back" dish and dunk after Cousins got back in after the meltdown. Some tough tough drives in the 4th, including one slash through three Nuggets who clobbered him and sent him sprawling in amongst the photographers. Missed multiple open threes in the 4th again on setups from Reke that would have given him his career-tying 13th assist.
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The youngins are starting to believe in themselves and more importantly in each other.
but demarcus needs to stop pouting lol. i think two of his fouls today were frustration fouls. other than that. Yaaaaaa go kings!
