Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Just remember boys and girls, Rick Adelman can't coach defense.
Theme? Let's see...another one of these semi-blowouts. Competetive through 2 1/2 quarters, then the Rockets put the pedal down and outscored us by 22 after half for the 17 point win...is that Pretty Girls? I do like Pretty Girls. Or my Historical Turning Points thing? What about Polymaths? Something whimsical? Me think on it.
Alright, given time constraints I'm going to go with something easily accessible as the theme. Many of our members already muck around in the Personnel section debating the merits of various potential Kings, but I know these threads attract a lot of people not that hardcore, so for them and in light of our current situation, the theme = Meet Your Future Kings (In all Liklihood One of These Guys Will Be Wearing Kings Purple Next Year)
Nocioni ( C+ ) -- Noc was obviously in a tussel he could not win this time out. Artest was shooting over him in the early going, and Noc didn't get much of anything going the other way. Guess you could say that he was making Artest into more of a jumpshooter than an inside player, but when said jump shooter is lighting you up to the tune of 26pts on 10-18 shooting, maybe you shoudl have made them into an inside player instead. Largely shut out through three quarters, and then got the bulk of his numbers in the late going. Can't quite call what we did one of our normal futile charges -- we never got enough momentum going to call it a charge. But we cut their 18 point lead down to 13 a couple of times, so whatever that is, that's what we did, and Noc was largely the main guy. Hit a three, drove the right side for a +1 conventional 4pt play, got to the line etc. But it didn't matter by that point, and I'm going wiht the bulk of this grade for how he did while the game was still on.
[yt=Blake Griffin Mix]re0yWFsNtQ0[/yt]
Blake Griffin
Pos: PF
Hgt: 6'10"
Wgt: 251lbs
For those who have been living in a cave for the past 6 months, Blake Griffin was the player of the year in the NCAA this year, averaging 22.7pts and 14.4rebs for the Oklahoma Sooners. He's strong, lively, athletic, runs the floor, and is relentless...on offense at least. Defense? Well that was another story. There is some question whether he is truly 6'10" or not, so the measurements at the draft camp will be interesting. But unless he measures out at 4'8" it seems a pretty safe bet he will go #1 in this draft. If we get the #1 pick, this is probably the guy you will see on the Kings next year unless we pull off a draft day trade for a guy who doesn't play Jason's position.
Thompson ( B ) -- this was a tale of two halves for Jason. Started off very fast, getting follow finishes seemingly every time down the floor as the Rockets (Scola in particular) repeatedly left him to challenge players with nobody rotating down to keep him off the glass. Dominated the first half matchup against Scola, and had something like 14pts 8rebs by the break. And that was while sitting out a chunk of time with 2 fouls. But then halftime came, and somebody in the Rockets lockerroom -- obviously not Rick or Elston Turner since we know that they can't coach defense -- made a few adjustments, and Jason might as well not even have come out after the break. Was checked off the glass, and with that weapon removed, could get almost nothing going. Meanwhile Scola woke up and in his own ugly shuffling way spun the tables nearly entirely around on Jason, dominating the offensive glass and the matchup throughout the 3rd and 4th. Jason still ended up with 16 and 10, and I'm holding his grade up because of it, but one thing -- the 8 offensive rebounds were fun. Nice work in that first half and a major factor in us being ahead at the break. But where was he on the defensive glass? 6'11" guys are supposed to be able to grab more than 2 defensive rebounds for you.
[yt=Ricky Rubio Mix]12FOZsjWxwk[/yt]
Ricky Rubio
Pos: PG
Hgt: 6'4"
Wgt: 180lbs
Its been on again off again about whether hot Spanish prospect Ricky Rubio was going to declare for this draft or not (the problem being he has a nasty buyout clause in his current contract in Europe). But now it appears he is in, and that adds a lot of intrigue for a team like ourselves with a high pick and an opening at PG. Rubio is one of those passing savants -- we've all seen that before when we had one in Jason Williams. The passes he makes (check out the mix), you don't teach that. Its a gift. He's got good size (heightwise) at 6'4", great vision, and he actually tries on defense. People have been excited about his potential for several years now. But he's still very weak by NBA standards, is a poor shooter, and the question is whether he will be athletic enoguh to make an impact in the NBA. Much will be determined by his private workouts I am sure, but if we are picking #2 or #3, don't be surprised at all if this is the guy.
Hawes ( A- ) -- started off the game scoring comfortabley from the outside vs. Yao, and the confidence seemed to bleed over to everything else he was doing. Yao was flat and had nothing, and Spencer badly outplayed him before the break. We were sending all kinds of help of course, but it was still Spencer doubling him up statistcially. Continued to look very comfortable on offense against Yao right through the third quarter, but Yao came out to paly after half and started to overwhelm Spencer inside on offense as the Rockets pummeled us wiht their inside out game. By the end it was a statisitcal draw, although Spencer did take 10 extra minutes to get there. But 22 and 11 on 10-17 shooting vs. 20 and 9 on 10-17 shooting. Which you will still take BTW. A statistical draw vs. Pau followed by a statistical draw v. Yao on back to back nights. That works. Of course he did not slow either guy (Yao for a half) and our defense remains nonexistent, but jsut being able to compete and hurt the other team back the other way is promising. One thing that should have been isntructive last night -- Spencer had a good game and hurt the Rockets. But like most of our players, he just got his hoops. Meanwhile Yao of course is the centerpiece of the offense in Houston and not only got his own numbers, but picked us apart with kickout passes. One of those things Spencer is yet to learn -- being a great post scorer is not the same thing as bieng a great post player.
[yt=Hasheem Thabeet Mix]5GFC5892OTs[/yt]
Hasheem Thabeet
Pos: C
Hgt: 7'3"
Wgt: 263lbs
See the number next to the Hgt column? Yes, there is a 7'3" center available in this draft. And not just a 7'3" center, but one of the most talented and sophisticated shotblockers I have seen, at any height, at any level. He's really special, blocks with both hands, rarely fouls, and just dominated college basketball this year defensively. Throw in that he is also just about the most atheltic 7'3" guy I can remember since maybe back in the days of Ralph Sampson 25 years ago and its a no brainer right? Well, maybe yes. Maybe no. His offense is largely limited to dunking, there have been questions raised about his strength and ability to deal with much smaller mobile guys, and his motor is sometimes questioned because he sometimes seems to loaf up and down court. Nonetheless, while we are a franchise that has seemingly completely forsaken defense, it would be shocking if Thabeet was not at least brought in for a workout as a potential defensive anchor if we are in the #2-#5 range.
Cisco ( B- ) -- impressively racked up 9 early points against Battier as we bolted out of the gate, although Battier scored right back at him (Battier's offense though almost entirely consists of standing out at the three point line waiting for Yao to kick it to him, so saying that Battier was scoring back is pretty much just saying that Cisco was drifitng off of him at the perimeter). Battier began to lock in though, and Cisco just dispapeared in a long armed shadow from the second quarter onward, popping up only to stroke a couple of long threes. Note that on a night when Spencer and Jason combined for zero blocks, Cisco, Noc, and McCants took care of the duties, with cisco notching 3 of them.
[yt=Brandon Jennings Mix]FVw1YxEE9RQ[/yt]
Brandon Jennings
Pos: PG
Hgt: 6'1"
Wgt: 170lbs
A great wildcard in this draft, if you watch that mix (particularly later on when they begin to get to his ballhandling/passing skills) you will see a ridiculously athletic ballhandling wizard of a prospect. A 6'1" 170lb PG who can go between his legs for the tomahawk dunk, go behind his back at full speed and drop the no look pass, and in general make just about every spectacular play there is. But the question with Jennings is whether he can make any of the simple ones, whether he can run an offense, and whether he is mature enough to be the floor general for a pro team. There is a lot of streetball in this kid. And we didn't get to see much of him this year as he took an eyebrow raising route, skipping college (shaky test scores) to try to go play in Europe as a pro, but only receiving sporadic playing time. So you can see the talent, but you just do not know. Given that Geoff once drafted JWill, anything is possible, but I suspect workouts will tell the tale for Jennings.
Theme? Let's see...another one of these semi-blowouts. Competetive through 2 1/2 quarters, then the Rockets put the pedal down and outscored us by 22 after half for the 17 point win...is that Pretty Girls? I do like Pretty Girls. Or my Historical Turning Points thing? What about Polymaths? Something whimsical? Me think on it.
Alright, given time constraints I'm going to go with something easily accessible as the theme. Many of our members already muck around in the Personnel section debating the merits of various potential Kings, but I know these threads attract a lot of people not that hardcore, so for them and in light of our current situation, the theme = Meet Your Future Kings (In all Liklihood One of These Guys Will Be Wearing Kings Purple Next Year)
Nocioni ( C+ ) -- Noc was obviously in a tussel he could not win this time out. Artest was shooting over him in the early going, and Noc didn't get much of anything going the other way. Guess you could say that he was making Artest into more of a jumpshooter than an inside player, but when said jump shooter is lighting you up to the tune of 26pts on 10-18 shooting, maybe you shoudl have made them into an inside player instead. Largely shut out through three quarters, and then got the bulk of his numbers in the late going. Can't quite call what we did one of our normal futile charges -- we never got enough momentum going to call it a charge. But we cut their 18 point lead down to 13 a couple of times, so whatever that is, that's what we did, and Noc was largely the main guy. Hit a three, drove the right side for a +1 conventional 4pt play, got to the line etc. But it didn't matter by that point, and I'm going wiht the bulk of this grade for how he did while the game was still on.
[yt=Blake Griffin Mix]re0yWFsNtQ0[/yt]
Blake Griffin
Pos: PF
Hgt: 6'10"
Wgt: 251lbs
For those who have been living in a cave for the past 6 months, Blake Griffin was the player of the year in the NCAA this year, averaging 22.7pts and 14.4rebs for the Oklahoma Sooners. He's strong, lively, athletic, runs the floor, and is relentless...on offense at least. Defense? Well that was another story. There is some question whether he is truly 6'10" or not, so the measurements at the draft camp will be interesting. But unless he measures out at 4'8" it seems a pretty safe bet he will go #1 in this draft. If we get the #1 pick, this is probably the guy you will see on the Kings next year unless we pull off a draft day trade for a guy who doesn't play Jason's position.
Thompson ( B ) -- this was a tale of two halves for Jason. Started off very fast, getting follow finishes seemingly every time down the floor as the Rockets (Scola in particular) repeatedly left him to challenge players with nobody rotating down to keep him off the glass. Dominated the first half matchup against Scola, and had something like 14pts 8rebs by the break. And that was while sitting out a chunk of time with 2 fouls. But then halftime came, and somebody in the Rockets lockerroom -- obviously not Rick or Elston Turner since we know that they can't coach defense -- made a few adjustments, and Jason might as well not even have come out after the break. Was checked off the glass, and with that weapon removed, could get almost nothing going. Meanwhile Scola woke up and in his own ugly shuffling way spun the tables nearly entirely around on Jason, dominating the offensive glass and the matchup throughout the 3rd and 4th. Jason still ended up with 16 and 10, and I'm holding his grade up because of it, but one thing -- the 8 offensive rebounds were fun. Nice work in that first half and a major factor in us being ahead at the break. But where was he on the defensive glass? 6'11" guys are supposed to be able to grab more than 2 defensive rebounds for you.
[yt=Ricky Rubio Mix]12FOZsjWxwk[/yt]
Ricky Rubio
Pos: PG
Hgt: 6'4"
Wgt: 180lbs
Its been on again off again about whether hot Spanish prospect Ricky Rubio was going to declare for this draft or not (the problem being he has a nasty buyout clause in his current contract in Europe). But now it appears he is in, and that adds a lot of intrigue for a team like ourselves with a high pick and an opening at PG. Rubio is one of those passing savants -- we've all seen that before when we had one in Jason Williams. The passes he makes (check out the mix), you don't teach that. Its a gift. He's got good size (heightwise) at 6'4", great vision, and he actually tries on defense. People have been excited about his potential for several years now. But he's still very weak by NBA standards, is a poor shooter, and the question is whether he will be athletic enoguh to make an impact in the NBA. Much will be determined by his private workouts I am sure, but if we are picking #2 or #3, don't be surprised at all if this is the guy.
Hawes ( A- ) -- started off the game scoring comfortabley from the outside vs. Yao, and the confidence seemed to bleed over to everything else he was doing. Yao was flat and had nothing, and Spencer badly outplayed him before the break. We were sending all kinds of help of course, but it was still Spencer doubling him up statistcially. Continued to look very comfortable on offense against Yao right through the third quarter, but Yao came out to paly after half and started to overwhelm Spencer inside on offense as the Rockets pummeled us wiht their inside out game. By the end it was a statisitcal draw, although Spencer did take 10 extra minutes to get there. But 22 and 11 on 10-17 shooting vs. 20 and 9 on 10-17 shooting. Which you will still take BTW. A statistical draw vs. Pau followed by a statistical draw v. Yao on back to back nights. That works. Of course he did not slow either guy (Yao for a half) and our defense remains nonexistent, but jsut being able to compete and hurt the other team back the other way is promising. One thing that should have been isntructive last night -- Spencer had a good game and hurt the Rockets. But like most of our players, he just got his hoops. Meanwhile Yao of course is the centerpiece of the offense in Houston and not only got his own numbers, but picked us apart with kickout passes. One of those things Spencer is yet to learn -- being a great post scorer is not the same thing as bieng a great post player.
[yt=Hasheem Thabeet Mix]5GFC5892OTs[/yt]
Hasheem Thabeet
Pos: C
Hgt: 7'3"
Wgt: 263lbs
See the number next to the Hgt column? Yes, there is a 7'3" center available in this draft. And not just a 7'3" center, but one of the most talented and sophisticated shotblockers I have seen, at any height, at any level. He's really special, blocks with both hands, rarely fouls, and just dominated college basketball this year defensively. Throw in that he is also just about the most atheltic 7'3" guy I can remember since maybe back in the days of Ralph Sampson 25 years ago and its a no brainer right? Well, maybe yes. Maybe no. His offense is largely limited to dunking, there have been questions raised about his strength and ability to deal with much smaller mobile guys, and his motor is sometimes questioned because he sometimes seems to loaf up and down court. Nonetheless, while we are a franchise that has seemingly completely forsaken defense, it would be shocking if Thabeet was not at least brought in for a workout as a potential defensive anchor if we are in the #2-#5 range.
Cisco ( B- ) -- impressively racked up 9 early points against Battier as we bolted out of the gate, although Battier scored right back at him (Battier's offense though almost entirely consists of standing out at the three point line waiting for Yao to kick it to him, so saying that Battier was scoring back is pretty much just saying that Cisco was drifitng off of him at the perimeter). Battier began to lock in though, and Cisco just dispapeared in a long armed shadow from the second quarter onward, popping up only to stroke a couple of long threes. Note that on a night when Spencer and Jason combined for zero blocks, Cisco, Noc, and McCants took care of the duties, with cisco notching 3 of them.
[yt=Brandon Jennings Mix]FVw1YxEE9RQ[/yt]
Brandon Jennings
Pos: PG
Hgt: 6'1"
Wgt: 170lbs
A great wildcard in this draft, if you watch that mix (particularly later on when they begin to get to his ballhandling/passing skills) you will see a ridiculously athletic ballhandling wizard of a prospect. A 6'1" 170lb PG who can go between his legs for the tomahawk dunk, go behind his back at full speed and drop the no look pass, and in general make just about every spectacular play there is. But the question with Jennings is whether he can make any of the simple ones, whether he can run an offense, and whether he is mature enough to be the floor general for a pro team. There is a lot of streetball in this kid. And we didn't get to see much of him this year as he took an eyebrow raising route, skipping college (shaky test scores) to try to go play in Europe as a pro, but only receiving sporadic playing time. So you can see the talent, but you just do not know. Given that Geoff once drafted JWill, anything is possible, but I suspect workouts will tell the tale for Jennings.
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