Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Three things:
1) I am still not sure I can remember a team with a record as bad as us consistently playing good teams as closely as we have played them for 3 months, and yet still finding a way to lose almost every game.
2) it is almost inconceivable that given our ability to playt he league's best teams pretty much dead even for 44 minutes almost every night, that with Reke back, added age/experience, a high lottery pick and massive free agency money, that this team does not take a giant step forward next season. I am not going to say they will until I have seen what they do this offseason, but if there were no lockout and you told me this team was going to make an OKC type jump and win 50 games next year I would not even blink.
3) but who to keep/not to keep now? Reke = keep, Cousins = keep, Daly = keep (defense), Thornton = keep (offense), Taylor = keep as a cheapie? I mean why not -- playing consistently well. Beno = probably keep? Kind of a key roelplayer, support guy. Cisco = probably keep? Vet leadership and shooting. JT = good guy, affordable big third big...you get the problem? We are going to win win 20 games, and yet you start marching down the roster there are good arguments to keep about 3/4 of our personnel, which I doubt happens given our plans to improve.
Official Boxscore
Garcia ( B+ ) -- early long three. The Spurs kept on throwing the ball to him in the early third as he racked up 4 steals without having to move more than 2 feet in either direction. Hit a big three late in the third, and then a layup on the break to cut it to 4 late in the 3rd. Poked balls away from several Spurs' ballhandlers as well. This statline was not spectacular, but I felt like the game was better than the stats and we were getting a lot of saavy plays at key moments from the position while the Spurs were not.
Cousins ( C+ ) -- had a quick burst of early offense before the Spurs locked in and took it away. But it was the how the Spurs took it away that was interesting -- they started doubling him. On the catch, on the bounce, a team that has been one of the best defensive teams of the last decade, and who has the best record in the league, felt like they had to double our rookie to stop him. Same thing I said when they started doing that to Reke last year -- GREAT sign. And just as good a sign was Cousins response -- he again began to beat the doubles with great big man passing. No offense after the ealy burst and often got stripped when he did wade in there, but he was making the passes, and he was strong on the glass. Finally hit a long Duncanesque off the glass jumper in the mid 3rd for his first hoop since the opening minutes. And added a nifty no look pass on the move at the close of the third to Casspi for a layup to cut it to 4. I just mention that casually, but look, that's a play that only an elite handful of bigs, several of whom we had, could ever do. Made several offensive rebound tips off of Spurs or to teammates that will not show up in his own boxscore. In the 4th made a great pass to Taylor for a spectacular alley oop to cut the lead to three. Kind of had an interesting little tiff with Casspi down the stretch of the game when they both fought over a rebound and it flew out of bounds for a Spurs possession. Looked like they were sniping, Omri was waving his arms aroudn in explanation, and Cousins stomped toward the sidelines where Cisco came up to him and said something, and DeMarcus spun around, went back and high fived Omri, and life went on. Not able to impose himself at all offensively with the team sliding again. Spurs wouldn't let him, and he didn't come up with anything really brilliant in response. For a second game in a row chucked a desperation three at the end of the game, and that was that. There wasa lot of good to waht DeMarcus did out there, he showed a lot really. But offensively he was held way down, shot poorly, and turned it over, and so this grade is held down too.
Dalembert ( D ) -- jsut did not look comforrtable or settled out there at al this time, and as the Spurs went small, so did we (of course) and Daly's minutes were strictly, and perhaps mercifully, limited because of it. Did a reaosnabel job on the boards, but repeatedly tried to take Duncan 1 on 1 into the post -- why? Turned it over, missed his shots, and just generaly did not look focused or play well.
Thornton ( C- ) -- this was not at all Marcus's night, matched agaisnt a pretty good opponent in Manu. At no point was the shot there for him, and despite leading the team in minutes and FGA, 5 other Kings outscored him on the evening. Without Beno, and drawing a lot of attention, he did try to function as a passer and racked up a team high 6 assists for us. He made a number of mistakes, had 4 TOs, but shows nice quick thinking and brsts of unselfishness at times, quickly dropping passes to slashers and to people on the break. And again some of the struggle may be because as a starter teams are gameplanning for him in a way they could not when he was bursting off the bench. Some of it is better competition. And some of it is the lack of Beno there to set him up. But in any case his shot was never really on, there were no major bursts as our two most potent pieces (DeMarcus is the other) were held silent, and Manu dropped a smooth 24pts 7ast the other way. So not a good outing.
Head ( B- ) -- started off in this one like he was ready to make all of his KF detractors kiss his behind. Got beat on the first play by Parker's quickness, but settled in, girded up his loins, and for the remainder of the quarter actually got the better of the matchup, repeatedly stripping Parker, blocking his shots, and generally harassing the heck out of him. Unnfortunately of course there ware 4 quarters, and byt the end of this one Parker had gotten his, and then some (much of it however against others). Luther added in a terrible forced one on one 28 footer just to remind us of who he is and what he's not. Hit a three in the early third, but he ws no longer having the same effect defensively. Got victimized by a terrible call trying to block out Blair and got called for a foul when Blair climbed all over his back and fell down. Eventually lost his minutes to strong play from Tyalor and Pooh off the bench, but was pretty soldi for us, if obviously nothing special.
Bench
Thompson ( B- ) -- gave us another solid account of himself in that "third big" role. Had a nice early help block on Blair, and a strong finish inside on the reverse layup. With a minute left in the half got the Kobeesque foul call on Bonner's ear agianst his elbow for the +1 opportunty, but missed the FT. Began to rack up fouls of his own, of course, and combined with turnovers to hold this grade down.,
Taylor ( A- ) -- a strong game from Taylor, and really he's put up enough of these recently, and consistently enough, that he really looks like a rotation worthy find that we picked up for basically nothing. In fact our midseason patching of the position has netted us Taylor and Thornton, who along with Cisco might in the end have the position covered. In predictable fashion out of the timeout late in the 1st got another of those alley oops from Cousins. 1 on 1 he still doesn't have what it takes, but as a role player he was excelling. Came up with a nice bkck from behind on Blair, and started running the floor and using his athleticism in the open court. Really was doing a bit of everything -- dishing passes in what continues to be a welcome revelation, hitting jumpers. But when matched on him was not staying with George Hill well off the off the ball movemnt or off the bounce. Came up with a drive and layin in the mid 4th to retie the game at 87, and had a spectacular alley oop out of the timeout at the 5:30 mark, again from Cousins, to put us up 3. 16 pts in 18 minutes works.
Jackson ( INC ) -- played the early 2nd banging big bodies with Blair, and if he didn't exactly win that matchup, he didn't get dominated either
Casspi ( B+ ) -- gave us a nice boost after coming in in the 2nd, knocking down a shot, playing some good defense, and making a nice pass inside to Thompson. Nice drive off the glass out of the timeout play late in the half. Was back and playing a lot of smallball PF, and knocked down a three in the late third to cut it to 6. That was followed by a layup on the break from Cousins at the 3rd quarter buzzer to cut it to 4. Added another three in the late 4th as we hung right there before our traditional, inevitable, fade. Fought with Demarcus for a rebound that we evntually lost at the 3:00 mark and they were barking at each other until Cisco said somethign to DeMarcus and it became all high 5s and kissie poohs.
Jeter ( B ) -- in to start the 2nd and immediately beat by Parker in what was a game long pattern, but then knocked down an open three which became a game long pattern the othe way. Hit several more jumpers in the first half. Was forcing both shots and drives in his second stint, but settled in and was called upon to run the team down the stretch. Felt this was a good game, but only one one side of the ball. And he seemed shot happy for some reason, although with most of them going in, it pretty much worked out. We fell apart again down the stretch, of course, but there was little of that you could directly pin to Pooh at the point.
1) I am still not sure I can remember a team with a record as bad as us consistently playing good teams as closely as we have played them for 3 months, and yet still finding a way to lose almost every game.
2) it is almost inconceivable that given our ability to playt he league's best teams pretty much dead even for 44 minutes almost every night, that with Reke back, added age/experience, a high lottery pick and massive free agency money, that this team does not take a giant step forward next season. I am not going to say they will until I have seen what they do this offseason, but if there were no lockout and you told me this team was going to make an OKC type jump and win 50 games next year I would not even blink.
3) but who to keep/not to keep now? Reke = keep, Cousins = keep, Daly = keep (defense), Thornton = keep (offense), Taylor = keep as a cheapie? I mean why not -- playing consistently well. Beno = probably keep? Kind of a key roelplayer, support guy. Cisco = probably keep? Vet leadership and shooting. JT = good guy, affordable big third big...you get the problem? We are going to win win 20 games, and yet you start marching down the roster there are good arguments to keep about 3/4 of our personnel, which I doubt happens given our plans to improve.
Official Boxscore
Garcia ( B+ ) -- early long three. The Spurs kept on throwing the ball to him in the early third as he racked up 4 steals without having to move more than 2 feet in either direction. Hit a big three late in the third, and then a layup on the break to cut it to 4 late in the 3rd. Poked balls away from several Spurs' ballhandlers as well. This statline was not spectacular, but I felt like the game was better than the stats and we were getting a lot of saavy plays at key moments from the position while the Spurs were not.
Cousins ( C+ ) -- had a quick burst of early offense before the Spurs locked in and took it away. But it was the how the Spurs took it away that was interesting -- they started doubling him. On the catch, on the bounce, a team that has been one of the best defensive teams of the last decade, and who has the best record in the league, felt like they had to double our rookie to stop him. Same thing I said when they started doing that to Reke last year -- GREAT sign. And just as good a sign was Cousins response -- he again began to beat the doubles with great big man passing. No offense after the ealy burst and often got stripped when he did wade in there, but he was making the passes, and he was strong on the glass. Finally hit a long Duncanesque off the glass jumper in the mid 3rd for his first hoop since the opening minutes. And added a nifty no look pass on the move at the close of the third to Casspi for a layup to cut it to 4. I just mention that casually, but look, that's a play that only an elite handful of bigs, several of whom we had, could ever do. Made several offensive rebound tips off of Spurs or to teammates that will not show up in his own boxscore. In the 4th made a great pass to Taylor for a spectacular alley oop to cut the lead to three. Kind of had an interesting little tiff with Casspi down the stretch of the game when they both fought over a rebound and it flew out of bounds for a Spurs possession. Looked like they were sniping, Omri was waving his arms aroudn in explanation, and Cousins stomped toward the sidelines where Cisco came up to him and said something, and DeMarcus spun around, went back and high fived Omri, and life went on. Not able to impose himself at all offensively with the team sliding again. Spurs wouldn't let him, and he didn't come up with anything really brilliant in response. For a second game in a row chucked a desperation three at the end of the game, and that was that. There wasa lot of good to waht DeMarcus did out there, he showed a lot really. But offensively he was held way down, shot poorly, and turned it over, and so this grade is held down too.
Dalembert ( D ) -- jsut did not look comforrtable or settled out there at al this time, and as the Spurs went small, so did we (of course) and Daly's minutes were strictly, and perhaps mercifully, limited because of it. Did a reaosnabel job on the boards, but repeatedly tried to take Duncan 1 on 1 into the post -- why? Turned it over, missed his shots, and just generaly did not look focused or play well.
Thornton ( C- ) -- this was not at all Marcus's night, matched agaisnt a pretty good opponent in Manu. At no point was the shot there for him, and despite leading the team in minutes and FGA, 5 other Kings outscored him on the evening. Without Beno, and drawing a lot of attention, he did try to function as a passer and racked up a team high 6 assists for us. He made a number of mistakes, had 4 TOs, but shows nice quick thinking and brsts of unselfishness at times, quickly dropping passes to slashers and to people on the break. And again some of the struggle may be because as a starter teams are gameplanning for him in a way they could not when he was bursting off the bench. Some of it is better competition. And some of it is the lack of Beno there to set him up. But in any case his shot was never really on, there were no major bursts as our two most potent pieces (DeMarcus is the other) were held silent, and Manu dropped a smooth 24pts 7ast the other way. So not a good outing.
Head ( B- ) -- started off in this one like he was ready to make all of his KF detractors kiss his behind. Got beat on the first play by Parker's quickness, but settled in, girded up his loins, and for the remainder of the quarter actually got the better of the matchup, repeatedly stripping Parker, blocking his shots, and generally harassing the heck out of him. Unnfortunately of course there ware 4 quarters, and byt the end of this one Parker had gotten his, and then some (much of it however against others). Luther added in a terrible forced one on one 28 footer just to remind us of who he is and what he's not. Hit a three in the early third, but he ws no longer having the same effect defensively. Got victimized by a terrible call trying to block out Blair and got called for a foul when Blair climbed all over his back and fell down. Eventually lost his minutes to strong play from Tyalor and Pooh off the bench, but was pretty soldi for us, if obviously nothing special.
Bench
Thompson ( B- ) -- gave us another solid account of himself in that "third big" role. Had a nice early help block on Blair, and a strong finish inside on the reverse layup. With a minute left in the half got the Kobeesque foul call on Bonner's ear agianst his elbow for the +1 opportunty, but missed the FT. Began to rack up fouls of his own, of course, and combined with turnovers to hold this grade down.,
Taylor ( A- ) -- a strong game from Taylor, and really he's put up enough of these recently, and consistently enough, that he really looks like a rotation worthy find that we picked up for basically nothing. In fact our midseason patching of the position has netted us Taylor and Thornton, who along with Cisco might in the end have the position covered. In predictable fashion out of the timeout late in the 1st got another of those alley oops from Cousins. 1 on 1 he still doesn't have what it takes, but as a role player he was excelling. Came up with a nice bkck from behind on Blair, and started running the floor and using his athleticism in the open court. Really was doing a bit of everything -- dishing passes in what continues to be a welcome revelation, hitting jumpers. But when matched on him was not staying with George Hill well off the off the ball movemnt or off the bounce. Came up with a drive and layin in the mid 4th to retie the game at 87, and had a spectacular alley oop out of the timeout at the 5:30 mark, again from Cousins, to put us up 3. 16 pts in 18 minutes works.
Jackson ( INC ) -- played the early 2nd banging big bodies with Blair, and if he didn't exactly win that matchup, he didn't get dominated either
Casspi ( B+ ) -- gave us a nice boost after coming in in the 2nd, knocking down a shot, playing some good defense, and making a nice pass inside to Thompson. Nice drive off the glass out of the timeout play late in the half. Was back and playing a lot of smallball PF, and knocked down a three in the late third to cut it to 6. That was followed by a layup on the break from Cousins at the 3rd quarter buzzer to cut it to 4. Added another three in the late 4th as we hung right there before our traditional, inevitable, fade. Fought with Demarcus for a rebound that we evntually lost at the 3:00 mark and they were barking at each other until Cisco said somethign to DeMarcus and it became all high 5s and kissie poohs.
Jeter ( B ) -- in to start the 2nd and immediately beat by Parker in what was a game long pattern, but then knocked down an open three which became a game long pattern the othe way. Hit several more jumpers in the first half. Was forcing both shots and drives in his second stint, but settled in and was called upon to run the team down the stretch. Felt this was a good game, but only one one side of the ball. And he seemed shot happy for some reason, although with most of them going in, it pretty much worked out. We fell apart again down the stretch, of course, but there was little of that you could directly pin to Pooh at the point.
Last edited:
