[Grades] Grades v. Rockets 04/14/2013

[Bricklayer]

In a game that was composed almost entirely of garbagetime, what fun there was came from watching garbagetime players put up big garbagetime stats. And in counting down the days to the End of Smart. 2 games now. Bring on the future.

Oh, and the Jazz fan wants girls. In the spirit of intertribal accommodation I guess I'll oblige. See? Even though they are deformed rude hairy little people with bad breath, they aren't all bad.

Grading Consortium Rotation tonight (just like Smart, you never know who its gonna be):
Bricklayer
bajaden
Uncia03
Capt. Smellypants
hrdboild

Boxscore

Stats: 26min 14pts (5-8, 3-6, 1-1) 0reb 0ast 0stl 1blk 1TO
Salmons ( D+ ) -- Salmons actually ended up with a pretty decent offensive night, scoring 14 points on 8 shots, three of his makes from long distance. One complaint could be that 8 of those 14 points came in the third quarter, when the game was already more or less in the bag for the Rockets. Salmons had zero assists, but did set up his teammates for shots 6 times, with his targets coming up empty five times and on the sixth time JT getting fouled for free throws. Defensively, John wasn't great tonight, and was a contributor to the Kings' big deficit in the first half. Ultimately, the Rockets took 15 shots against Salmons, scoring 23 points (four threes), most of that damage naturally being done by Parsons and Harden. John was in the right place at the right time on two proximate possessions in the second quarter, picking up the loose ball when teammates tipped it loose, but was not credited with the steal on either. He did contest and block Lin's jumper at the end of the half as well. But his D was ugly at times - I actually noted four different bad defensive plays that I thought deserved mention, but I'll cut that to two: First off, he let Lin use him as a screen for a shot. You know, it's hard enough to work through and around screens set by the offense to also have to deal with screens set by your own teammates. Second, on one possession in the second half he just plain left Chandler Parsons for explicable reason. It's almost like he thought that there was going to be a switch, but there damn well wasn't a switch in the offing. The result - a wide open made three. The bad defense was only slightly offset by his scoring - enough to avoid an F but not much more. --Capt.

Amanda Markum -- you know your sports culture has gotten out of proportion when women who look like this only get famous when they are the wives of no name school basketball coaches.

Stats: 21min 7pts (3-11, 0-0, 1-2) 4reb 2ast 0stl 1blk 1TO
Thompson ( D ) -- JT basicly provided 21 minutes of nothing tonight. Well he did score 7 points on 3 of 11 shooting. He added a few rebounds, but other than that, not much to talk about. I'm going to keep this short, because going over it detail by detail would just increase the pain. JT is a better player than he showed tonight. The only reason I didn't give him an F, is because he left the game with 6:13 left in the third, and never returned. So I'm cutting him some slack, because he didn't get a chance to redeem himself later. The way he started the game might have been an omen of things to come. He tried to pass the ball to Cuz in the post and threw it over everyone, right after he got posted up by Greg Smith and scored on. A bit later he tried guarding Asik, who just walked though him and scored. He did have a couple of good moments, but they were outweighed by the bad one's. Other than Thomas, who decided to up his season assist totals, the whole starting unit was terrible. Although Salmons seemed to find his shot again. Hang in there JT, only two games left. --Baja

Sharlene Rochard

Stats: 22min 8pts (3-9, 0-0, 2-4) 8reb 0ast 3stl 0blk 2TO
Cousins ( C- ) -- In almost the mirror image of last Friday's game, what started out as an up tempo slug-fest with all of the starters involved and both teams trading baskets early turned into an unwatchable bore. Not counting the unexplained benching against Dallas last week, this was Demarcus' lowest minute total in over a month and there was nothing in his play tonight which justified it. Smart seemed to have made up his mind before the game that he was going to let his bench log heavy minutes. Cousins never really got on one of the rolls that he can get into offensively, but the point total is also a little deceiving. Houston was doubling him as soon as he caught the ball in the post and he made several nice passes out of the double-team which went unrewarded. Most of his damage was done off the offensive glass where he was simply too close to miss. The defense was a mixed bag. He was switching off between Greg Smith and Omer Asik and collectively he gave up about as many points as he scored. He did have a couple of nice defensive sequences -- he broke up a 3 on 1 break by himself in the first and drove the ball the full length of the court for the layup, throwing in a little behind the back "look what I can do" flair for good measure. He also stopped a James Harden drive by himself in the third, forced the miss, and pulled down the rebound. Unfortunately for every successful stop in the paint there was a play where he got caught out of position under the basket resulting in a dunk or floating out on the perimeter where he waived at Lin and Harden as they blew by him unimpeded. So all in all a reasonably productive night cut short by Smart's love of bench scrubs, with 3 steals to offset the mental lapses. He did manage to pick up his 16th technical of the season, which may or may not be rescinded, despite the short night courtesy of one Violet Palmer. Actually his best play of the game might have been allowing that incident to pass without further escalation. Points for good behavior, but he may be watching from the bench tomorrow regardless. --hrd

Mercedes Masohn

Stats: 18min 10pts (4-10, 1-3, 1-1) 3reb 1ast 0stl 1blk 2TO
Evans ( C- ) -- This was a very odd game from Tyreke and a lot of the issues fall on the coach. He played the entire 1st quarter and half of the 3rd quarter for a total of 18 minutes of playing time, and that was it. I was tempted to call this an incomplete even though he did play those 18 minutes. What makes this so strange is that not only was Tyreke was the best King on the floor in the 1st quarter, but he really only had involvement in the offense for 1.5 minutes in the 3rd quarter. Tyreke was the best King in the 1st quarter. He played good defense (scored over on 2 possessions) and was aggressive on offense, and though he had some good moments, he also made some poor decisions. He didn’t touch the ball on offense until about 2.5 minutes had passed, and the first time he touched it, he attempted to drive to the basket and after getting bumped put up a shot. No foul was called, so it was essentially a turn-over. He followed that up with five good offensive possessions, including a coast-to-coast bucket, a stand-still 3pt shot, and a nice back-door cut for the easy lay-up. He didn’t have any assists, though he did set up teammates twice for open looks. He was credited with 1 turn-over, but he basically was responsible for 3 possessions that allowed the Rockets to gain possession of the ball. Tyreke started the 2nd half off like the 1st half. After 3 minutes of play he had not touched the ball once. Smart calls a time-out and when they get back on the floor Tyreke gets aggressive for the next minute and a half. He gets the ball and drives into the lane and kicks out to Salmons for the 3pt shot. He then misses a pull-up jumper and a corner 3, and misses a drive in the lane where there was a lot of contact but no foul. He doesn’t touch the ball again for another minute and a half and with 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter gets replaced by Travis Outlaw. His night is done. I’m not certain how Tyreke is taking this, but I hope that things like this don't prevent us from re-signing him in the off-season, because he certainly has to be tremendously frustrated. --Uncia

Vahina Giocante -- French actress

 

[Bricklayer]

Stats: 28min 10pts (2-9, 1-3, 5-5) 1reb 10ast 0stl 0blk 1TO
Thomas ( C+ ) -- thought IT actually started this game doing a nice job running the offense without gumming up the works. Had his head up on his probes, and while I don't think he actually created any shots that weren't there, he was seeing open guys and hitting them consistently. His own offense wasn't there, but it wouldn't be until the second half that he abandoned team for Isaiah, and he scored his one tough hoop of the night near the end of the quarter with a sudden burst of acceleration and finish +1. Was another night when he lost almost all his 2nd quarter minutes to the TD/Jimmer combo (this time randomly with Jimmer playing the PG and TD the SG), and when he came out in the third whatever control he had had of his game was largely gone. That's the beauty of Smartball -- by the time guys get back in they've entirely forgotten what they were doing. Was still picking up assists, and it should be noted that this was Isaiah's season high assist game -- he notched 10, his first double digit assist effort of the year. Unfortunately the defense sprang to life as a major issue after half as once again a team started setting screens on him, and he just gets nailed on everyone and lost. Lin didn't personally punish him for it as much as he could have, but it broke our defense repeatedly and set up numerous pass pass pass drain a three sequences for the Rockets. And on offense, while he was still picking up assists, the tone changed, he became increasingly ball dominant, and by the end of the quarter he was largely playing one man keepaway dribbling around until he could either force up a shot at the rim and get it deposited back in his face, or hit somebody late in the clock. Added one of those terrible 1 on 4 with nobody underneath pullup threes on the break, and if anybody but Bobby Jackson were his mentor/coach that would just have to be unacceptable. Left in to begin the 4th, but wasn't getting much accomplished, and left the game poorly committing a flagrant foul that was half frustration, half tackle. Thing that raised an eyebrow for me was that I had noted him glance over at Jimmer as he walked to the scorers table to replace him a minute earlier, and had to wonder if the foul was a pissed at coming out thing. Anyway, I'm going to buck the all gloom all the time crew we've got grading this mess, and give IT a little something of a grade for playing it right for a half at least. Didn't do much else. Shooting was terrible, he reverted after half mentally, but for a while he was running the offense, and it was pretty much the most consistent we've seen him as a passer all year. --Brick

Danielle Fishel

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Bench

Stats: 8min 0pts (0-6, 0-2, 0-0) 1reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 1TO
Thorton ( F ) -- MT23 had a first half to forget, playing only 8 minutes, missing each of his six shots and contributing nothing else on the offensive end. On the defensive side of the ball, he also played pretty badly, getting caught on screens continuously and mercifully allowing only five points because his charges only took three shots. With the game a blowout in the second half, the Bayou Bummer just rode the pine in favor of the deep bench. He wasn't going to make any difference missing all his shots anyway. --Capt.

Radha Mitchell

Stats: 27min 8pts (4-11, 0-1, 0-0) 4reb 2ast 2stl 2blk 0TO
Patterson ( C+ ) -- If PP's shot had been falling, he probably would have gotten a B, but it didn't. He hasn't shot the ball well from the outside since injuring his thumb. Obviously its bothering him, but, I have to go with results, and they tell me he scored 8 points on 4 of 11 shooting. Aside from that, he played very well. He defended well, and although he only had 4 boards, he had several tips to teammates, and blocked out well. He missed his first shot right at the basket, but went to the other end and blocked a shot by Lin. He had 2 blocks on the night. He then scored with a hookshot on a nice feed from Jimmer. In the second half he came in midway through the 3rd quarter, and immediately hit a 16 footer. He then missed a corner three, but Cuz grabbed the rebound and put it back in. Twice he made beautiful passes for dunks. Once to Aldrich, and once to Outlaw, both right under the basket. It was one of those nights where I thought he played well, but just didn't get the results in some areas. Defensively he always seems to be in the right place on the rotations. Only two more games, and he can give his thumb a rest... --Baja

Jennifer Freeman

Stats: 24min 6pts (2-7, 2-5, 0-0) 5reb 1ast 1stl 0blk 3TO
Douglas ( C ) -- not a great game out there for TD. Looked a little unsettled on defense in the 2nd, including letting Beverly get by him several times and gambling for wraparound pokeaways from behind rather than staying in front of his man. On offense was mysteriously transferred off the ball for this one after doing a nice job as a PG last time out. But this time it was TD at SG, and Jimmer at PG (albeit a 14 shots in 21min PG). And so Douglas's offense was pretty much just reduced to occasional pullup threes when the Rockets forgot to guard him. A couple went in, more did not. Defense was better in garbagetime, but never the smothering effect he has had in other games. --Brick

Olivia Wilde -- even though this is like the third time we've used her just this season I'll look the other way and honor the request. May not have for a lesser beauty.

Stats: 21min 10pts (5-14, 0-2, 0-0) 5reb 5ast 3stl 0blk 1TO
Fredette ( B- ) -- sputtered on and off in this one mixing stretches of nice play with stretches of dumb gunning. It was the gunning to start, as he entered the game and immediately got caught up in the Rockets' pace trap, chucking up several forced bricks before Smart called a timeout. But after returning to the floor came back with a new attitude, and for about 5 or 6 minutes was doing a nice job as a PG. Was notable tonight that IT and Jimmer both had stretches of the game where they had their head up on their little probes that normally just result in off balance gunned up shots. Jimmer was getting to spots, settling with the dribble, and actually looking around to see who might be open. On top of that he might have had a career high in rebounds, as he is notoriously invisible on the glass but tonight actually went after several of them on the d-boards and finished with one of his best rounded statlines of his career. Unfortunately as it was with IT the stretch of smart PGish play didn't hold, it got to be way too much Jimmer gunning as a replacement for offense, and he was forcing up a lot of junk that had no right to fall, and did not. Meanwhile on defense we tried to hide him off on the Rockets SGs to avoid the quickness issue, but that sometimes meant he was guarding some dude named Harden. Oh goodie. In any case this grade gets trapped between what is likely Jimmer's best combined passing/rebounding effort of his career, and a 14 shot in 21 minute chuckfest that surrounded it. . --Brick

Adriana Lima -- and if we have perhaps overused Ms. Wilde in these threads of late, we perhaps have not used Ms. Lima enough. She's largely dropped off the radar after retiring to live out life with the crosseyed caveman looking dude of her dreams, but I mean, still. Look at that.

 

[Bricklayer]

Stats: 26min 12pts (6-7, 0-0, 0-0) 12reb 0ast 1stl 4blk 1TO
Aldrich ( A ) -- Cole stole the show tonight and filled his role beautifully and probably has a few more fans clamoring for us to find a way to bring him back next year. For those who like defense, for those who like their bigs altering and contesting shots and setting a defensive tone, watching Cole tonight brought warmth to your hearts. Cole's activity level was high from the start and he impacted the game on both sides of the ball. He checked into the game in the early 2nd quarter when we were down 24-38 and proceeded to play a huge part in us making a run and getting back into the game. Changed the tone of the game defensively as soon as he checked in, clogging the paint and contesting shots. What was somewhat unexpected was Cole's offensive contributions, as he moved well without the ball, finishing a couple nice drop off passes off good movement and converted an offensive rebound into a putback. He was an inside presence on both ends as we cut the lead to 7 at 44-51. Unfortunately for Cole and the team our coach stuck with the bench too long and Houston closed the quarter on their own run where we were down 44-62 at half. Smart may have gotten in the way of team success but Mr. Aldrich was not going to let Smart stop him from having his coming out party, and he was just getting started. Cole entered the game in the late 3rd and immediately converted a nice, sweeping reverse. Then he attacked the glass. Again and again. On both ends. Kept the possession alive as he tipped the ball to a teammate. Had two offensive rebounds inside and finished one for a basket. Then another offensive rebound off a PP miss and saved the possession by getting it back to PP while toeing the baseline. Then had yet another offensive rebound and dunk. 4 offensive rebounds all together in the 4th. But the glass wasn't the only thing Cole attacked. He challenged anyone who dared come in the paint. Had 6 either blocked or altered shots in the 4th quarter alone, including one sequence where he forced two different players to pump fake in the key, causing a three second violation. When was the last time we had a center who forced a three second violation because the opponent was scared their shots would get sent right back in their face? If you enjoyed that, I did as well, truly brings warmth to the heart. Cole's 4th quarter included 4 points, 8 rebounds, 6 blocked or altered shots and a whole lot of hustle. A number of plays which don't show up in the boxscore. Tips to keep possession alive, altering the Hou attack by showing hard in the paint, tough screens freeing shooters and something I noticed while watching him closely, his movement. Cole not only is always on the move, but he moves with a purpose. Sets a screen, then turns and looks to set another screen, on the ball or off, if not screening he's cutting baseline or diving through the key, or trying to create an avenue to get an offensive rebound. He's always moving which makes us harder to guard. Just doesn't plant himself on the block and the way in which he's always looking to set screens, multiple screens in single possessions is something both JT and Cuz need to learn from. So, 12 points, 12 rebs, 4 blocks (9 total blocked or altered shots by my count) in 26 mins is phenomenal production from our backup center. I'm not sure you can ask Cole to play much better, and even though his 2nd half minutes came in garbage time, I still believe this is a performance to celebrate as it's a role this team vitally needs to fill. And given this was a rough game within an even rougher season, I'm giving Cole an A because this was one of the most refreshing performances we've seen out of a King all year, the final score be damned. Cole can't control his surroundings, only himself, and there isn't more you can ask of a backup center than what he did tonight. While great shooting/scoring nights are fun to watch and can garner A grades from time to time, this A grade was purely effort based from Cole and based around his defense, which makes it even more impressive in my eyes. Congrats, Cole, great game. --Rain

Marissa Miller -- there is an old secret to this picture I'll let you figure out yourself, but given where we are today, I figured a Kings fan model, um, wearing Kings colors should get the call. Go jump in a lake Seattle.

Stats: 18min 15pts (5-8, 1-3, 4-4) 2reb 3ast 0stl 1blk 2TO
Outlaw ( A- ) -- Travis Outlaw was one of our best players tonight and ended the game with team high score honors. He was brought in at the mid-way point of the 3rd quarter and played the rest of the game. What’s interesting is that for the entire 3rd quarter he was essentially non-existent. On offense he just stood in the corner waiting to get the ball. He had one bucket in transition and a missed 3pt shot from the corner, along with one block.
Starting the 4th quarter he had sticky hands and shot the ball every time he touched it till the 7:30 minute mark, when he finally passed up the ball. I think he figured he had a good chance of staying in the rest of the game and decided to play more team-oriented basketball. He ended the game 5-8 from the floor, with 1 3pt make, 2 buckets in transition, 1 back-door slam and 4/4 from the FT line on aggressive takes to the basket. He also notched 3 assists once he started passing the ball. He gets the minus along with his A as he didn’t rebound well, grabbing only 2 in his 18 minutes of work.
So he led the team in scoring and we lose by 21, I don’t think anyone would be surprised by that. Still he was giving the opportunity in the 4th quarter and he took advantage, so you have to give him credit for that. --Uncia

Didn't want you ladies to think I had forgotten you!

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

:: clears throat ::


HERE WE GO, AGAIN! (Here we go again!)
SAME OLD SONG AGAIN! (Same old song again!)
MARCHING DOWN THE AVENUE! (Marching down the avenue!)
2 MORE GAMES, AND HE'LL BE THROUGH! (2 more games, and he'll be through!)

 

[rainmaker]

Pretty much have no explanation for what we just saw combined with Smart's postgame comments.

2

More

Games

Smart btw, might be killing his chances to even be hired as an assistant. I seriously have never seen a coach at any level in any sport go away from his better players to this extent. Even in little league or pop warner you have the problem of coaches riding the better players too much and parents complaining about their less talented children not getting enough minutes. Smart does it backwards from any coach who's ever coached, any sport, anywhere, ever. This is what happens when he spends an off season studying film going back to the 40's, and his conclusion is the Harlem Globetrotters are the model to follow.

Wouldn't be surprised if Vivek sets him up with a job in India where he can join another of our phenomenal ex-coaches in Kenny Natt.

 

[rainmaker]

As for the poll, I'd love him back as our backup center. His scoring was nice tonight but I'm not that interested in his scoring. It's his length, his defense, his screens and his effort. A perfect defensive role player who should be pretty cheap. Upgrade at PF and have JT/Cole off the bench and it's a good step in the right direction. As for the backcourt....

 

[VF21]

In a game that was composed almost entirely of garbagetime, what fun there was came from watching garbagetime players put up big garbagetime stats. And in counting down the days to the End of Smart. 2 games now. Bring on the future.

placeholder...

I'm sorry but I can not participate in a poll where one of the choices is not "has a pure heart."

edit: Oh wait. I can fix that!! Sorry, Brickie, but I couldn't help myself.

 

[Kingsfan23]

Funny how on Grant's twisted show he talks about Smart's future as if its up in the air

 

[rainmaker]

Funny how on Grant's twisted show he talks about Smart's future as if its up in the air

It's a metaphor. His career is up in the air, with multiple missile defense systems owned by Vivek locked in on it, about to blow it to pieces where it will disintegrate into a cloud of flames and dust.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

game was terrible, watching Travis Outlaw play extended minutes was terrible, the Technical foul call on Cousins was terrible. but i love what Cole Aldrich brings to the team when he gets to play!!!

 

[kingsnation]

Funny how on Grant's twisted show he talks about Smart's future as if its up in the air

One can only hope Smart takes Grant with him.

 

[HereWeStay]

i<3 grant

 

[Npliam]

No Girls?

 

[Bricklayer]

No Girls?

Heh, that's not a bad idea at all. With the sword fo Damacles hanging over the franchise's head girls have seemed a bit trite this past month, but maybe one more time just in case there aren't anymore chances.

 

[Kingsfan23]

Heh, that's not a bad idea at all. With the sword fo Damacles hanging over the franchise's head girls have seemed a bit trite this past month, but maybe one more time just in case there aren't anymore chances.

If these coming games are the last time we get to see you do them (I fully expect they won't be), I'd like to say even if I disagree with you sometimes on your stances regarding the players, your tastes in women is usually on point

 

[Spike]

Boy, Topanga has sure grown up...

 

[mac]

If Keith Smart somehow weasels his way back onto the team next season as coach... The fact that we're still watching every game, putting up with this cr*p goes to show how much we love the team, but at this point I can honestly say watching another season of Keith Smart may be too dangerous for my health. I swear a goldfish could have the team playing better than he has them playing.

Thank goodness things are going to change soon!

 

[jalfa]

Seeing as how this chance will probably not present itself again for some time, for good or bad reason, it'll need to be grasped one last time: Olivia Wilde, Olivia Wilde, Olivia Wilde...

 

[Kingster]

They keep playing like this and we may not feel too badly about Seattle taking them off our hands....
just kidding.

Interior defense continues to be gawdaweful. Cole's defense provided the perfect counterpoint to a non-existing defense. Are they mailing it in? I also don't understand why Salmons is guarding Harden. Isn't Tyreke the best defense player, or second best defensive player? If the guy is a stopper, then it would make some sense to try him on Harden. I did see him play Harden a little during the game, but after the game seemed to be over. The un-Smart team continues for couple of games more.

 

[ppine]

aldrich

Aldrich played some inspired ball against his former team. How do we get him fired up every game like that? Very impressive, because he brings all the things that Cousins really doesn't. The defensive presence was a strong reminder of why the Kings stuggle in limiting the opponent's scoring. He changed the game inside. Being a dunkmaster is always a high percentage proposition. He showed some decent passing skills. He has always run the floor.

It was the type of performance the Kings need to be competitive on defense. It should be the priority probably, although the SF still lingers. I agree with other posters that there is something downright heart warming about watching a performance like that. I had some oh yeah, that is how a center is supposed to play in this league moments. I would like to see cousins move to the 4 and play along side a shot blocker/rebounder first type player, that can still get 10 points a game.

 

[Mad D]

She is married to Earl Watson. She's also very abusive--

 

[IfAt1st]

Tech on DMC was rescinded, per Twitter: (Jason Jones)

He avoided suspension after the technical was taken off the board, so he should be a safe play tonight as the Kings look to play spoiler against the Thunder.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

Aldrich played some inspired ball against his former team. How do we get him fired up every game like that?

he always plays like that. he just doesn't get to play much