Grades v. Suns 12/30

[Bricklayer]

Happy New Year folks!

As in, be happy its a new damn year: The Kings of 2007 went 31-52 combined, fired a coach, had several players arrested, broke our playoff streak, broke our sellout streak, and finished things off with an 0-4 holiday homestand. Blech!

Tonight's theme is very New Yearsy, but I'm not going to claim its necessarily a picker upper -- People We've Said Goodbye to in 2007

Cisco ( A ) -- scrambling first quarter with Cisco bouncing and flopping all over the floor to good effect, and this time while he made a number of shaky decisions, it never truly got out of control. The Suns just want to run and gun, and not stop you, and Cisco has loved every minute of that this season anmd put up numbers like he was back in summer league. Already weith his career high vs. the Suns a month back, he came up one shy of that (30) tonight. Was our main man really all game long, although perhaps predictably reverted a bit down the stretch and not able to close the deal. did not create much for his teammtes, but attacked with complete confidence and was very efficient himself. Also ventured inside to bang around with the Suns' bigs (who of course aren't very) and make some hustle plays around the glass. did make a big turnover (somehow not credited) in the midst of our usual late meltdown, but otherwise a relatively clean game (a few adventuresome moments, but generally able to play throuogh them this time). And of course all of this marks this as perhaps the exact polar opposite of his outing last time vs. the Sixers. Which in itself makes the two game set classic good/bad Cisco -- they should box these two up and have trhem serve as Exhibit #1 in the Cisco Hall of Fame after he retires. Or better yet, just box the Suns up and let him play against them every night and maybe he'd be in the real Hall of Fame.

Luciano Pavarotti -- opera is not remotely my thing. I have neither a natural affinity for it, nor a false one stemming from faked sophistication. Just not my thing. And yet still, to lose this most famous of singers was a noteworthy loss. He brought opera to the masses, adn came as close as any opera singer to crossing over as a pop icon. R.I.P. Luciano.

Moore ( A ) -- and two A's is pretty damn unusual for a game we lost, but really, what are you going to do this time out? Mikki had a poor first quarter, but came on strong for a stretch of the second where the Suns achilles' heel manifested itself in a big way, and we pounded them again and again on the glass inside, leading to numerous finishes by Mikki. Kept the same hustle and finishes going into the third, and while Shawn Marion is normally the vastly superior rebounder, he was completely absent on the glass tonight and seemed to be pointedly refusing to defend Mikki (or anyone at all for that matter). Mikki kept on hustling on the offensive glass right until the end, and the Suns never really did adjust. Unfortunately Coach Theus did, and made a mistake late in the game going smallball with Quincy and moving Mikki to center. Now Brad was playing poorly at that point, and Amare had been killing us, but once Mikki had to go against Amare on the other end rather than the oddly one-dimesnional Marion, his production largely dried up.

Benazir Bhutto -- this one obviously went down only a few days ago, but could end up being a huge blow to any hope for peace in that region. I wish I could say that I thought her motivations in returning to Pakistan were for anything more noble than a power grab while sensing a weakened regime, but her return, and now assassination, threatens to throw a nuclear armed nation into complete chaos. My guess is radical Islam did the deed -- they have oh so much love and respect for life, democracy, westernized women in power etc. -- in an attempt to frame and further weaken the dictatorship, and sow the chaos in which they thrive. But it could also be the other way around. And either way just another disaster for a region full of them. R.I.P. Prime Minister.

Miller ( D+ ) -- This grade is interesting, as was the first quarter where Brad was passing/running the offense brilliantly, but getting killed by Amare inside the other way. Missed three straight shots in the space of 20 seconds in the 2nd quarter as we kept on getting it back and giving it to him for another brick. The Suns inspired him to take the three point madness to a new height, or depth I suppose, and he was 1-4 in the first half alone, and finished 1-7. Made a few more assists in the third, but his game began to fall apart for him after half, and the incessant three point chucking, no doubt to the glee of the little knucklehead we call a color commentator, was getting ridiculous. Your center should rarely be 4-16, and 4-16 with 1-7 from 3pt is a Raef LaFrentz statline. Regardless, given the rounded stats -- 9pts 7rebs 7ast I might have held this above the Mendoza line were it not for Amare just creaming us back the other way to the tune of 31pts 17rebs. Not all of it against Brad. But more than enough of it to dwarf Brad's contributions and cause Reggie to experiment with a small lineup late in the game with Quincy in and Brad on the bench.

Anna Nicole Smith -- this one is almost amusing as this is one of those classic cases of being famous for being famous. What really had Anna Nicole done to be of the top names on this list? She of course gained fame for having some very nice anatomies, and being kind and generous enough to share them with the world in a much appreciated humanitarian gesture. And she even parlayed that into a couple of crappy movie roles and one marriage for the money. But even all that was a decade ago at least. And yet she lived on and on in the tabloids, being famous just for being who she was. And then she died very young and passed away in as sensationalistic fashion as she lived most of her life. Well, R.I.P. Anna Nicole, and may the P. part finally find you.

Salmons ( B+ ) -- as expected a big first quarter just getting to the rim at will against the Suns "defense", with or without the ball (set up numerous times by Brad). Slowed down offensively in the second, but began to play a more compelte game, and finished this one wiht 7rebs and 3ast to avoid his sometimes one dimensional statliner. In the third quietly racked up points in the shadow of Cisco's big game, and had 23 going into the final stanza. Unfoirtunately had 23 coming out of the final stanza too, and was involved in a critical sequence as we began our nightly meltdown. Drove to the hoop and appeared to get fouled by Amare (Amare got ball, but followed through the arms and there was a lot of contact). John was upset, so was Reggie, and after the Suns scored, the next time down the floor John really forced a drive -- an angry drive -- got up in the air with noplace to go and through a bad pass for a turnover. And just liek that we basically go TO, Phx score, TO...and I don't remember if it was another Phoenix score, but it would not surprise me. Throw in some Tos by Douby and Cisco as well, and there is your ballgame.

Dennis Johnson -- those of us who have been basketball fans long enough will all remember D.J. as the freckle-faced PG of the Bird-era Celtics the last time they were a championship level team (those who are older still may remember him leading the Sonics to a title in the late 70s). And then he, like Red before him, shockingly passed away just before the franchise finally revived itself under his old teammate Danny Ainge, and never got to see the Garden filled back up (different Garden). R.I.P. D.J.

 

[Bricklayer]

Udrih ( C- ) -- continued his wildy up and down play of late with a poor first half matched up against Nash, and gave us very little while getting into foul trouble (which in itself was a demerit since it meant more time for Douby). Did make one brilliant on the money bounce pass to Brad on the break, but that was it. Came back out int he second half, and there was not much improvement. This time the nifty pass was to Mikki, but just not enough. Oddly quiet too -- Nash is not known as much of a defender, and Beno rarely looked to even be challenging him. On the other end Nash did not shoot well, but he was just missing, not really being forced into misses, and he was moving to open spots and setting people up almost at will.

Boris Yeltsin -- remember this guy?? The world's most famous red-nosed drunk and first head of post-Soviet Russia? In some ways seems like forever, even though I grew up during the dying days of the Cold War. Of course I know for some board members Yeltsin was practically before their time, or at least when they were still in pre-school. Which of course just makes me feel old. In any case, this was one of the world's most unfit rulers, but you know what? He believed in democracy in a way that the budding dictatorship in Russia today has long since forgotten. R.I.P. Rudolph.

Douby ( D+ ) -- came off the bench firing...and missing. Got a couple of hoops, including a useful one in the 4th, and grabbed several long rebounds down the stretch as Reggie elected to play him in a smallball lineup, but also continued chucking up bricks and made an idiotic turnover on an attempted alley oop over Amare Stoudemire of all people. Just...messy again. And for the second night in a row it was his 4th quarter stint that broke our backs. Golden opportunity here for Douby with Ron out, but he's got to do something to jump up and seize it fast, because Bibby and Martin are going to bury him back on the bench in a couple of weeks. Heck, keeps on playing like this and Jones will bury him.

Jerry Falwell -- ah...must resist urge...damnit... As anything I would be likely to say here would be in bad taste, and adorning this paragraph with big old smilies likely to make me appear insensitive, I will just bow out with a Hope its Warm Enough for Ya Wherever You're at Jerry!

Thomas ( C- ) -- looked active, but accomplished little except to remind us of just how ugly that FT stroke has gotten (0-2). Tipped a few balls to keep them alive. Also tried to trifle with Amare in the post at the end of the half, leading to Amare spinning and dropping a big hammer dunk on him for his trouble. I dunno here. Opts 1reb in 7:30 minutes is just as ineffective and fugly as Kenny has been for most of the season, but for whatever reason this one felt slightly better than his customary "D" (for "D"id nothing). He at least felt alive this time. Let you be the judge if that is a good thing.

Bill Walsh -- while in some ways this is one of those shocking ones to see this Niners legend gone, its also another one of those where I have to really check myself. The man nicknamed "The Genius" has been gone from coaching for a long long time. Almost 20 years now actually, and again I would guess yonger readers here to find him coaching as ancient history as I suppose I found the idea of John Madden actually coaching rather than commentating when I was growing up. Nonetheless, by largely inventing the West Coast offense and spreading it across the league during a decade of football dominance, Walsh's legacy lives on as a man who changed the game.

Williams ( INC ) -- whoa! A Justin sighting! In the first half even! Unfortunately it was only for a few minutes, and effectively was just taking Spencer's minutes as token young frontcourt minutes for the half. But when he was out there he did the things that we all have foggy memories of him doing once upon a time when he was still allowed to play -- grabbed a couple of rebounds, blocked a shot (maybe even Amare, which would make him the only King to even dare to challenge Amare inside this game). And then was quickly pulled, and never returned, instead watching his token young guy minutes go back to Spenser in the second half. Hard to explain. Reggie likes to play man of the people, so next time he rears his head on local radio, one of you Sacto types should call in and ask what is up. I'll even word it for you so that you are most likely to get his attention and inspire a response: "Yo Reg! Me and my friends had a question for you...Why the **** won't you play Justin Williams? What the **** is up with that?" Gets a response every time.

Evel Knievel -- I seem to remember putting this picture up before, so I must have used him once...maybe in that real tough guys theme? Anwyay...doubt he will get anymore uses, because, well, he is dead. Now that's a little disresctful, but consider: this is a man who became famous enough to warrant mention in this thread for a) having a gift for self promotion; and b) being an idiot. Pretty spectacular idiot though, and the name was a stroke of genius. In any case, R.I.P. Evel (as an aside, that would be an amusing skeleton for archaeologists to exhume in the distant future -- 30+ broken bones and whatnot).

 

[Bricklayer]

Jones ( B ) -- you know what? I lost my notes on Dahntay's game tonight. Covered right over them wiht another save. Which is too bad, because he gave us another solid outing tonight and was basically it for our bench production on a night when our bench was: Douby, Jones, Thomas, Hawes and Williams. Oh my. Of course a pace game sans defense is perfect for his forays to the rim, and he even did something novel this time and hit all his FTs -- six of them in fact.

Calvert DeForest -- who??? You may ask. But if you've ever stayed up past 11, and are over the age of 12 or so, you might recognize Larry "Bud" Melman of Letterman fame. Sad little note: he lived alone in a rent controlled apartment in NYC for 47 years, had no funeral services (as per his request), and no living relatives. So we'll just remember him here. R.I.P. Bud.

Hawes ( C- ) -- curiously inserted for the first time in the second half after I had thought he was going to get a DNP-Too Slow...and apparently inserted in place of Justin for whatever reason to team with Brad in an ultra-slow footed frontcourt to confront the Suns? Oddness. And came right in and made back to back mistakes as we switched into a zone to cover the slowfooted frontline and Hawes insisted on, leaving Marion to can a three from the corner, and then next play repeated the exact same maneuver for the exact same result. Racked up nearly as many minutes as Kenny, and wiht similar effect (none). While not wishing to jinx Brad, the kid really needs Brad to sit out a few at some point here (which given Brad's history is pretty likely actually) so that he can get some good long runs out there. He's just going nowhere in his little 6-8 minutes a game. In the last 9 games Spencer has given us 2, 4, 0, 0, 2, 2, 2, 0 and 0 points. Woohoo!

Arthur M. Schlesinger -- and this might be a who? choice to many board members as well. But he was my choice out of the gaggle of big big writers we lost this year: David Halberstam, Kurt Vonnegut, Sidney Sheldon, Norman Mailer etc. And certianly to anyone who was/is a poly sci and/or history major (ahem), Schlesinger is liekly to eb required reading. A two time Pulitzer Prize winning Harvard professor who was intimate with the Kennedys and not only was an influential liberal threorist, but wrote one of the defining biographies of a presidency with his remarkable A Thousand Days (the story of the Kennedy presidency from the persepctive of a historian on the inside.) R.I.P. Arthur.


Theus ( ) --

Brooke Astor -- I pondered what to do with this last one, something colorful like Tammie Fae Baker perhpas, or conventional like Lady Bird Johnson or Eddie Robinson. But instead I thought I would add in somebody who truly deserved the notice. Probably little known outside of the New York City region, this grand old lady was one of the truly great philantropists and widely beloved. I had the honor of meeting her in the late 90's while she was still herself (she died at 105 and was suffering from Alzheimer's), and at the time she was still full of spunk even nearing 100. Her life and the generations of famous people she had met and associtaed with, was quite remarkable, and she was a huge supporter of the arts, utilizing her final husband's mega-millions for philantrophic purposes for the last 50 years of her life (he died half a century ago, when she was already past 50). Her motto "Money is like manure, it should be spread around" is one you don't forget. So R.I.P. Mrs. Astor. You earned it.