Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Okay, not exactly a chest thumping dominant win over a now 0-5 team, but hey, you gotta get these and we did. Defense did not hold up as well as the Pistons were able to take advantage of holes in the defense, slipping their bigs on the baseline as ours stepped up on pick and rolls, using some picks to get Prince switched onto our guards, and Brandon Knight having a field day shooting over our midget PGs. Offense was more effective though, and while it should not have been this close we avoided the late game meltdown this time and closed this out.
Kingsflix game highlights:
Boxscore
Stats: 32min 5pts (2-6, 0-0, 1-2) 5reb 2ast 0stl 1blk 2TO
Johnson ( C ) -- another awkward start for JJ on offense. Charging, missing shots. Got a follow dunk on the break in the 2nd. But then immediaely picked up a technical barking at a ref for a foul as well. Made his defensive contributions as hoped for, able to guard and shut down Prince's post game, and a little more rebounding this time. But the offense was still just a series of forced drives into traffic, and that's making it ard to give him any sort of grade. May have to adjust my scale for him if this is going to be it. Finally got a nice little spinning up and under in the post over Jerebko in the mid 4th. Defense on Prince was important, so worth at least a C.
Stats: 28min 13pts (5-6, 0-0, 3-4) 4reb 1ast 0stl 1blk 1TO
Thompson ( B- ) -- nice efficient offensive game from JT in support, but lack of boardwork is becoming a little troubling. Efficiency wasn't just all garbageman type follows either. Hit a jumper, and every once in a while we would throw it to him for a nice post move over stubby Maxiel. Unfortunately in the early going let Maxiel free several times himself, and the two roleplayers largely played to a draw. Continues to get outrebounded by Reke as our #2 rebounder, and lost repeated battles with Monroe for boards. With Hayes having a lousy game did not have to worry about Hayes replacing him for the stretch run this time....so instead Smart replaced him with Johnson as we smallballed. Kinda insulting.
Stats: 33min 21pts (8-17, 0-0, 5-7) 11reb 0ast 2stl 0blk 1TO
Cousins ( B+ ) -- now we're starting to roll a bit. With Monroe putting up a Brad Milleesque triple double cannot say he dominated his matchup with Monroe, but he was strong himself and got stronger still in he 4th after shaking off the effects of a shoulder injury he suffered in the first half. Was not the early focal point as IT dominated the offense in the early going, but had several strong rebounds and finishes around the rim. After he returned was very active defensively as we had our best defensive quarter (the two are related). Stepped in front of a pass for a steal, drew two charges, and came up with an up fake and drive with the big dunk finish with 2min left in the half. Yikes moment when he got flagrant fouled by Maxiel in the final minute of the half and went down holding his left shoulder. We've already seem that act last year with Hayes. Not interested in seeing it again with Cuz. Came out in the third with a shoulder sleeve, and blew the gimme layup. Soon therafter disappeared intot he tunnel to remove the gear, but not effective upon returning and Smart pulled him until the middle ranges of the 4th. Thankfully he was back to his normal self by the time he returned, and immediately went to work on Maxiel in the post when the Pistons briefly, and foolishly, went to to the 6'7" guy to try to guard him. Came on real strong down the stretch on the glass and inside, caught the pass from IT at the 30 second mark for the layup to get us up 5, and split a pair of FTs to help ice it. Not a dominant game, but a strong solid one (for Cousins 21-11 = merely strong/solid, for some guys its the career game), and after the slow start his season numbers are back up into the range they were last year (18 and 10 .450 FG). Gotta keep on rolling now and leave those first two games a distant memory.
Stats: 31min 15pts (5-11, 0-1, 5-6) 7reb 3ast 3stl 0blk 2TO
Evans ( B ) -- back to his his Iggy act after the disastrous outing last time. Trying to erase those memories, we called a play for him to start the game, and he responded with the strong drive and finish to start the game. But still could not hit the jumpers therafter (this is mental at this point, not physical), as he struggled with his own offense once more. Difference was that he was having an impact on the game with his hustle on defense and the glass even without the offense (amongst guards is 2nd in the NBA right now (to Paul George) at 6.8/gm) and grabbed 5 first quarter rebounds. Came up with a nice block chasing down a play from behind on the break -- right in the open court, think its even in the highlights, yet the scorekeeper did not credit it? Odd. Also had a nice dive back srtip on Monroe and took it full court the other way for another layup. Kept Stuckey in his box, although at this point so could I frankly. Even when Reke left him open once or twice it was just hopeless. There was a defensive weakpoint in the third, when the Pistons started to run picks to get Reke swithced onto Prince, and Reke still had no better idea how to guard him than last year, watching Prince shoot over him both from inside and out. Good sign for us when a pattern we saw in preseason repeated itself here -- Cousins went out in the late 3rd, and Reke immediately responded by stepping on the offensive gas himself, scoring 8 points in the final 4 minutes of the quarter to help carry us through that stretch, and working well with Brooks, both setting him up and being set up. After the first quarter seemed to largely ignore Smart's chuck a jumper no matter how bad it looks advice, and just concentrate on what he's good at.
Stats: 21min 15pts (6-9, 3-4, 0-0) 1reb 2ast 0stl 0blk 1TO
Thomas ( B ) -- the stats say this was a contiuance of the career of Isaiah Thomas, SG, but the flavor was different this time. Whereas in previous outings he has been playing a lot of off the ball, in this one IT dominated the ball, and created a lot of the offense for himself rather than spotting up. Was perhaps too much as our other weapons were forgtotten about -- he was creating his own shots, not shots for others -- but he put up points, which have been hard to come by early in the season, and closed the first quarter with a great crossover to the hoop for his 12th point of the quarter. The problem came on the other side of the ball where Knight was lighting him up as well -- in this game for the first time this season we had a bit of a gulf between guys doing well on defense and guys not doing as well. Sat out the second again as the platoon with Brooks grew even more complex as suddenly Jimmer was out there turning into a three headed monster. Returned in the third and dropped in a three from Reke for his only points of the second half. After another long sit again got into the game in the final minute, apparently for defensive purposes, although Brooks was playing the best defensive game of the little guys. Promptly made a strong play setting Cuz up for a layup off the drive and dish that should have iced it. But then let Knight bomb ANOTHER three over him to put us back in danger -- just left him for some reason when that was the last thing you wanted to do in that situation, and at 5'9" his late close was ignored. I'm not sure here, but despite the defense this felt more like the dynamic IT of last year.
Kingsflix game highlights:
Boxscore
Stats: 32min 5pts (2-6, 0-0, 1-2) 5reb 2ast 0stl 1blk 2TO
Johnson ( C ) -- another awkward start for JJ on offense. Charging, missing shots. Got a follow dunk on the break in the 2nd. But then immediaely picked up a technical barking at a ref for a foul as well. Made his defensive contributions as hoped for, able to guard and shut down Prince's post game, and a little more rebounding this time. But the offense was still just a series of forced drives into traffic, and that's making it ard to give him any sort of grade. May have to adjust my scale for him if this is going to be it. Finally got a nice little spinning up and under in the post over Jerebko in the mid 4th. Defense on Prince was important, so worth at least a C.
Stats: 28min 13pts (5-6, 0-0, 3-4) 4reb 1ast 0stl 1blk 1TO
Thompson ( B- ) -- nice efficient offensive game from JT in support, but lack of boardwork is becoming a little troubling. Efficiency wasn't just all garbageman type follows either. Hit a jumper, and every once in a while we would throw it to him for a nice post move over stubby Maxiel. Unfortunately in the early going let Maxiel free several times himself, and the two roleplayers largely played to a draw. Continues to get outrebounded by Reke as our #2 rebounder, and lost repeated battles with Monroe for boards. With Hayes having a lousy game did not have to worry about Hayes replacing him for the stretch run this time....so instead Smart replaced him with Johnson as we smallballed. Kinda insulting.
Stats: 33min 21pts (8-17, 0-0, 5-7) 11reb 0ast 2stl 0blk 1TO
Cousins ( B+ ) -- now we're starting to roll a bit. With Monroe putting up a Brad Milleesque triple double cannot say he dominated his matchup with Monroe, but he was strong himself and got stronger still in he 4th after shaking off the effects of a shoulder injury he suffered in the first half. Was not the early focal point as IT dominated the offense in the early going, but had several strong rebounds and finishes around the rim. After he returned was very active defensively as we had our best defensive quarter (the two are related). Stepped in front of a pass for a steal, drew two charges, and came up with an up fake and drive with the big dunk finish with 2min left in the half. Yikes moment when he got flagrant fouled by Maxiel in the final minute of the half and went down holding his left shoulder. We've already seem that act last year with Hayes. Not interested in seeing it again with Cuz. Came out in the third with a shoulder sleeve, and blew the gimme layup. Soon therafter disappeared intot he tunnel to remove the gear, but not effective upon returning and Smart pulled him until the middle ranges of the 4th. Thankfully he was back to his normal self by the time he returned, and immediately went to work on Maxiel in the post when the Pistons briefly, and foolishly, went to to the 6'7" guy to try to guard him. Came on real strong down the stretch on the glass and inside, caught the pass from IT at the 30 second mark for the layup to get us up 5, and split a pair of FTs to help ice it. Not a dominant game, but a strong solid one (for Cousins 21-11 = merely strong/solid, for some guys its the career game), and after the slow start his season numbers are back up into the range they were last year (18 and 10 .450 FG). Gotta keep on rolling now and leave those first two games a distant memory.
Stats: 31min 15pts (5-11, 0-1, 5-6) 7reb 3ast 3stl 0blk 2TO
Evans ( B ) -- back to his his Iggy act after the disastrous outing last time. Trying to erase those memories, we called a play for him to start the game, and he responded with the strong drive and finish to start the game. But still could not hit the jumpers therafter (this is mental at this point, not physical), as he struggled with his own offense once more. Difference was that he was having an impact on the game with his hustle on defense and the glass even without the offense (amongst guards is 2nd in the NBA right now (to Paul George) at 6.8/gm) and grabbed 5 first quarter rebounds. Came up with a nice block chasing down a play from behind on the break -- right in the open court, think its even in the highlights, yet the scorekeeper did not credit it? Odd. Also had a nice dive back srtip on Monroe and took it full court the other way for another layup. Kept Stuckey in his box, although at this point so could I frankly. Even when Reke left him open once or twice it was just hopeless. There was a defensive weakpoint in the third, when the Pistons started to run picks to get Reke swithced onto Prince, and Reke still had no better idea how to guard him than last year, watching Prince shoot over him both from inside and out. Good sign for us when a pattern we saw in preseason repeated itself here -- Cousins went out in the late 3rd, and Reke immediately responded by stepping on the offensive gas himself, scoring 8 points in the final 4 minutes of the quarter to help carry us through that stretch, and working well with Brooks, both setting him up and being set up. After the first quarter seemed to largely ignore Smart's chuck a jumper no matter how bad it looks advice, and just concentrate on what he's good at.
Stats: 21min 15pts (6-9, 3-4, 0-0) 1reb 2ast 0stl 0blk 1TO
Thomas ( B ) -- the stats say this was a contiuance of the career of Isaiah Thomas, SG, but the flavor was different this time. Whereas in previous outings he has been playing a lot of off the ball, in this one IT dominated the ball, and created a lot of the offense for himself rather than spotting up. Was perhaps too much as our other weapons were forgtotten about -- he was creating his own shots, not shots for others -- but he put up points, which have been hard to come by early in the season, and closed the first quarter with a great crossover to the hoop for his 12th point of the quarter. The problem came on the other side of the ball where Knight was lighting him up as well -- in this game for the first time this season we had a bit of a gulf between guys doing well on defense and guys not doing as well. Sat out the second again as the platoon with Brooks grew even more complex as suddenly Jimmer was out there turning into a three headed monster. Returned in the third and dropped in a three from Reke for his only points of the second half. After another long sit again got into the game in the final minute, apparently for defensive purposes, although Brooks was playing the best defensive game of the little guys. Promptly made a strong play setting Cuz up for a layup off the drive and dish that should have iced it. But then let Knight bomb ANOTHER three over him to put us back in danger -- just left him for some reason when that was the last thing you wanted to do in that situation, and at 5'9" his late close was ignored. I'm not sure here, but despite the defense this felt more like the dynamic IT of last year.
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