Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Well, who knows, maybe this game/sequence of events will be the event that rings our bell too.
Hardly an inspiring victory, but an effort which featured, well, effort from a team that has been laying down too easily for too long. The fact that even with the effort we've got Philadelphia scoring 15ppg above their average on us wasn't great. But we held them to 47 after the break, outscored them 39-23 to take it from them in the 4th, and those aren't numbers you put up unless you are giving a damn and trying. So a victory with a little promise, and we'll just have to see if it leads anywhere vs. the murderer's row awaiting us after the break.
Boxscore
Stats: 41min 22pts (9-20, 2-6, 2-2) 4reb 1ast 1stl 3blk 4TO
Summary:scarfed along as an inefficient scorer while everybody else was still snoozing, then struggled to guard threes when we awoke
Gay ( C+ ) -- was not terribly impressed with his early offense, and yet his on and off forces and erratic finishes were virtually all the offense we were getting with Cuz looking passive and trying to channel his inner Vlade by passing on every shot attempt. In the end Rudy was our early game scoring leader, and still had the most points at half, which he closed with an emphatic dunk. Trouble was brewing again however, as Robert Covington is making a career out of his matchups with us, and the threes started raining. Rudy's offense eventually faded, but Covington's didn't, and to cap things off Rudy even committed one more brain fart in the dying seconds, fouling Covington on a near three point shot with 35 seconds to go as the absolute and total one thing that you absolutely did not want to do if you were trying to win this. And he did it. Deserves a little credit for scruffily holding us in it when nobody else showed up, but not a terribly impressive overall game.
Stats: 17min 3pts (1-3, 0-0, 1-2) 3reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Summary: here's a change: actually replaced after half by Acy as we went looking for more hustle and muscle
Cauley Stein ( D+ ) -- only got 17 minutes on the night, and when you are a -14 in those 17 minutes maybe it says something. When you are a defensive specialist and you get replaced after half in the lineup by a guy 5 inches shorter than you for defensive purposes... Looked less awful than all that, but wasn't giving us the energetic burst early, and wasn't on the glass for us as the undersized Sixers just wanted it more. Got his shoulder injured late int eh first half as well, and played little afterwards. Just a comedown effort coming off of several strong ones.
Stats: 36min 28pts (8-18, 0-2, 12-17) 12reb 5ast 2stl 0blk 4TO
Summary: started this game so passive I was worried he was sending a message, but rumbled to inside wrecking life and played big late
Cousins ( B ) -- started the game off with a strangely calm and passive demeanor, repeatedly passing up shots and attacks to try to pass it to teammates, often unsuccessfully, and just barely challenging Okafor on defense. Not playing awful defense mind you, but against Okafor you have to be affirmatively good because he's going to be one of the better offensive bigs in the game. Went to the bench I think with only one shot, and despite what the naysayers might think, that's a bad sign for us, and indeed we were getting whomped. I was a little worried that he might not have agreed with Vlade's decision or something that has been said int he last few days and we were seeing him do the Kobe, and show the franchise what it looks like when he doesn't shoot. But whatever it was, and this first quarter malaise is a constant mystery, he came out in the second much more competitive and spent the whole quarter getting to the line again and again. Unfortunately he wasn't hitting his FTs, and we still weren't playing enough defense to keep it from often being 3pts for them, 1pt for us, although Cuz himself began to off and on get into Okafor. Really clicked into gear after half, and began to dominate the Sixers inside the way you hoped he would. Just too big, They couldn't stop him consistently without fouling, and he began to take the Okafor thing personally and really aggressively smother him. Had foul trouble, but hopped in there for multiple charges down the stretch too, and in general he and Collison took over as we came from behind to thump the Sixers in the 4th. Took way too long to wake up here, but let's hope that Cuz's awakening is mirrored by the team as a whole after the break.
Stats: 23min 6pts (3-9, 0-4, 0-0) 2reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 1TO
Summary: hit a couple of short jumpers, missed his threes, and replaced for defense after half as we got serious
Belinelli ( D ) -- started off the game looking like he was going to continue his recent streak of improved play, quickly knocking down a couple of little midrangers. But that never went anywhere, and by his 2nd stint he had returned to struggling, missing open shots he should hit as well as off balance ones he should not. Was not actually that involved in Stauskas having one of his few good games of the year -- Stauskas's threes were against a platoon of Kings, and reasonably challenged -- but on the other hand Nik's ability to get in the paint was breaking down the defense repeatedly. Nonetheless no more use on switches than normal, and after half he was explicitly replaced for defense when we went with James Anderson to start the half. If there is a trade coming up, for a defensive SG/swingman remains the play, if such piece is available.
Stats: 36min 14pts (7-13, 0-0, 0-0) 8reb 15ast 3stl 0blk 2TO
Summary: control of the game matched his stats this time, and the stats said he was two boards from yet another triple double
Rondo ( B+ ) -- when a player puts up 14pts 8reb 15ast and 3stls...how is that not an A right? We've grown stupidly numb to it, but this one of the best assisting seasons by any PG since prime Stockton. And tonight Rondo was particularly on target. Whatever that odd sudden couldn't pass deal was last week, tonight he notched 15 assists...with only 2 TOs. He did it without Bels or Casspi contributing any threes, or Willie or Ben out there to run for alley oops. And down the stretch his management was excellent this time as we picked the Sixers apart. And yet Rajon didn't have a big punchy impact on the on/off stats, and I think some of that is because Collison was really after half, and some of that is because of the damn defense. Ish Smith didn't light us up, but he got wherever he wanted to go, which helped with the slow start. Nonetheless, 14-8-15-3 with 2 TOs or less has only been done 20 times in the NBA.
Last edited:
