Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
I may never have to do another theme. 
This team is young, its talented, and its starting to have some fun. We had three guys go for double doubles...and two of them were guards. We had two guys sniffing around triple doubles, including Tyreke in only 25 minutes of action (no comment on Bill Walton's reaction to that). Both our young SFs gave us strong bursts. It was good fun...except for those of you caught with Walton for the whole telecast. You have my pity.
Official Boxscore
Garcia ( D ) -- wrong guy to have to start things off with, as Cisco did not have himself much of a game. In fact it was not even as good as the meager numbers (6pts 2rebs 1ast in 18min) suggest. Sloppy and struggling in the first half while fumbling and bumbling out there. Was missing his threes, and the few shots he did hit seemed to be as a direct result of Cousins' passing. Perhaps a bigger thing is that he seemed to have no energy on the other end, and wasn't getting back defensively. Donte continuing with his surge cut into Cisco's minutes somewhat. But after continuing to struggle coming out of halftime, it was also Omri finally getting back on court and doing well, and then us closing the game with our three guards out there together that pinned Cisco to the bench, and tonight we were better off for it.
Cousins ( B ) -- at times sloppy with his own offense, but had a spectacular passing night. Early on came up with a nifty move against Gortat taking him off the move and dropping in a drop step. Just picked the Suns apart with his passing in the second. The names can't be dropped enough -- Vlade, CWebb type stuff. I think he's already ahead of the secondary guys in our passing center tradition (Miler, Hawes) and he is picking teams apart off the move too. Was a spate of offensive wildness down the stretch of the half as he forced up some ugly junk. Settled after the break though and gave us a little push of scoring both inside and out. Not one of his stronger rebounding efforts (how could he, our guards were grabbing all of them) but used those hands for some good d-boards down the stretch. Had a final minute+ of the game he's probably like to forget as he seemed the only King who had not gotten the memo that we had turned the corner on the late game chokes. Forced and missed the post opportunity at the 1:15 mark. Then a minute later made our normal late game let's give the game away error fouling a three poinit shooter in Frye with 10 seconds to go. Fortunately we were up 6 by that time. Tried to cap things by making a bad pass turnover in the final seconds while trying to avoid getting fouled. Fortunately time ran out just as the Suns got the ball, otherwise they would actually amazingly have had a chance to tie it with a desperation heave at the buzzer. He's a rook so these things will happen, but still enough to shake the "+" off this grade.
Dalembert ( INC ) -- slow start struggling to finish over Frye, and then came to the sideline holding his ribs, and had to go in for x-rays. Did not see the play, but an elbow probably. Able to return just before the half though. Some effect defensively after returning. Tried to go after half, but did not last long. He made it well over my nomral grading minute limit (6 mins) but I thought an incomplete was the way to go here. If I grade him, its maybe a C, but he got hurt very early, tried to come back, but clearly was not comfortable and so never really was in the game this time out.
Thornton ( A ) -- and yet another big game for Marcus. Lack of size actually a problem on defense early against the Suns with Hill/Dudley out there together. Was giving up 4 inches and 20 lbs and it showed. But as usual got it back the other way. And not only with his own scoring -- had a nice little quick dropoff pass tpo Donte on the break for the dunk and continues to show himself a great passer in the open court. And added a nifty pass on the pick and roll as well, ad he has shown he knows how to deliver the ball in those situations too. Made a mistake out of the timeout for the last shot of the half, as he got picked from behind and let the Suns race the other way to take the lead. Begant o really show up on the glass after the break, not only grabbing multiple d-boards back there amongst the trees, but grabbing a couple of incrediblty athletic offensive rebounds inside on one play before finally getting the layup. Kept on peppering in points against a defense which of course will let you do that, but ended up sitting out most of the 4th as Reke and Beno, with a healthy assist from Omri, were leading a huge run to take control of the game back. When he finally did return to the game wiht a shade under 3 minutes to go, it was for Omri instead of Reke/Beno, and we got our first look at the three guard lineup in the crunch, and it did well. Not his best distance shooting night, but hit the huge three by with 50 seconds to go to give us the lead back. Also came up with the big defensive rebound off the Suns miss with 14 seconds to go, got fouled, and hit the FTs to push the lead to 6 and largely secure the win.
Udrih ( B+ ) -- came out and simply could not miss in the first half. There wasn't actually any dominant stretch, and it wasn't all one kind of scoring. He was just hitting everything he took from wherever on the floor, moving well and scoring, and getting set up repeatedly by Reke and Cousins. Hit 7 of his 8 first half shots, and had a few special moments too, such as when he went inside for a great offensive rebound over three Suns, including Gortat, and stepped out for little jumper. Second half was not nearly as strong, as he was quiet for a long spell, and then seemed to lose that magic shooting touch in the early 4th, only spliting two pairs of FTs in a tight game and airballing a three. But while his own offense evaproated, he teamed with Evans and Casspi to really have the team's offense humming through much of the 4th. Got his only shot of the second half to fall with a spinning jumper at the 3:30 mark,and found Thronton for the game's biggest three with a minute to go.
Bench
Thompson ( B+ ) -- second straight really strong game off the bench for JT. Came in playing well, and even dropped a nice post move on Gortat. And with Dalembert taken down by injury, JT's minutes and role shot up, and he stayed solid all game. Some especially good offensive rebounding work in the early third. Got the flying dunk on the break in the early 4th on his way to a strong quarter anchroing the middle for us and providing big energy. The big wart here? FT shooting. He's completely collpased from the line, and shooting 0-6 from the "free" throw stripe could easily have been fatal in a 3pt game that went down to the final seconds. This was almost an A-, and would have been without that problem.
Evans ( A- ) -- damn near had a triple double in only 25 minutes off the bench. From the very beginning of the game you could see his focus was on the "other things". There were a couple of shaky stretches of offense, such as when he settled for a couple of shaky jumpers down the stretch of the first quarter, but they did not last long. And meanwhile he was playing a great floorgame otherwise (much to the apparent chagrin of a certain big hippie). Had several good offensive rebounds soon after taking the floor, and several good passes that came up empty when Cisco and Cousins got blocked by Gortat on the way to the hoop. Doing a great job grabbing defensive rebounds and racing out pushing the break on his way to 7rebs and 6ast before the half. Moved without the ball to take a nice layup from Cousins too, and it was good to see those two guys creating for each other out there. Added in a spetacular one handed bounce pass to Beno slashing without the ball that looked almost John Stocktonish. Returned late int eh thrid and ran the entire rest of the game as if there was a 24min minute cap, we decided to cheat a bit to get the win. Scooped up several loose balls in the early 4th and quiclky got them ahead to trigger back to back breaks -- and again, the ball was not sticking. He was noticeably quick in his decisions and seemed to trust his teammates. Added one of his classic drive and finsihes through traffic on the break, but his play in teh final few minutes was a little shaky, and ultimately added the minus here. Missed a layuop off the cut that he just should have had. Rust? Maybe. But it was standstil layup, so maybe just an oops. And then quickshot several short jumpers in crunchtime, including one littel 12 footer that airballed. In fact you could see us suddenly getting more selfish as thigns started to grind in the last few minutes -- it was a very distinct change in tone not just by Reke, but by everbody, as we went through an extended series of one on one forces. Came up with the door slammer though when he drove and got fouled at the 19 second mark and hit both clutch FTs to put us up 4 and leave the Suns two possessions behind. On the game showed continued excellent chemistry with Donte, works well with JT, Cisco, Beno, and promisingly seems to be working better with Cousins. The one pairing of interest where I did not see much interaction yet was with Thornton. Which is of course a critical one. Quite obviously both guys had big games and certainly were not hurt by each other, but I want to see them start finding each other and really put opposing teams in a bind.
Greene ( A- ) -- a couple of weeks back in regards to the young SFs I said that I doubted that Greene was even going to get a chance to argue for a return next season before this one was out. I was wrong. And boy has he been taking full advantage of it. Came into the game in the first and immediately hit a three off a Reke kick again. Continued his keep me push with a dunk on the break from Thornton, and a side jumper, and another three. Nice catch of a pass behind him as he moved toward the hoop, and converted the the layin. Blew up for 12 points in maybe 10 minutes or so of first half action, dsiplaying not only the athleticism moving without the ball, but if you had never seen him before you would have been convinced you were looking at a shootist. Had nobody in particular to guard and no impact on the other side, and hence the minus, but it was a heck of an offensive show. Added two more threes after the break to finsih 4-6 from downtown on the night, and then sat as Casspi came on strong, and in classic Donte fashion was leading the cheers from the bench as we came back. That I think as much as anything might be a great argument for bringing him back -- chemistry and team.
Jeter ( INC ) -- just a brief little 2 minute stint as the Reke/Beno/Thornotn trio was just too good tonight to justify more. But in that time made a nice play getting a hand on an inbounds pass leading to a Suns turnover. Was amusing that we would even have a 5'11" guy guarding the inbounds play, let alone that the Suns wouldn't be able to get it past him.
This team is young, its talented, and its starting to have some fun. We had three guys go for double doubles...and two of them were guards. We had two guys sniffing around triple doubles, including Tyreke in only 25 minutes of action (no comment on Bill Walton's reaction to that). Both our young SFs gave us strong bursts. It was good fun...except for those of you caught with Walton for the whole telecast. You have my pity.
Official Boxscore
Garcia ( D ) -- wrong guy to have to start things off with, as Cisco did not have himself much of a game. In fact it was not even as good as the meager numbers (6pts 2rebs 1ast in 18min) suggest. Sloppy and struggling in the first half while fumbling and bumbling out there. Was missing his threes, and the few shots he did hit seemed to be as a direct result of Cousins' passing. Perhaps a bigger thing is that he seemed to have no energy on the other end, and wasn't getting back defensively. Donte continuing with his surge cut into Cisco's minutes somewhat. But after continuing to struggle coming out of halftime, it was also Omri finally getting back on court and doing well, and then us closing the game with our three guards out there together that pinned Cisco to the bench, and tonight we were better off for it.
Cousins ( B ) -- at times sloppy with his own offense, but had a spectacular passing night. Early on came up with a nifty move against Gortat taking him off the move and dropping in a drop step. Just picked the Suns apart with his passing in the second. The names can't be dropped enough -- Vlade, CWebb type stuff. I think he's already ahead of the secondary guys in our passing center tradition (Miler, Hawes) and he is picking teams apart off the move too. Was a spate of offensive wildness down the stretch of the half as he forced up some ugly junk. Settled after the break though and gave us a little push of scoring both inside and out. Not one of his stronger rebounding efforts (how could he, our guards were grabbing all of them) but used those hands for some good d-boards down the stretch. Had a final minute+ of the game he's probably like to forget as he seemed the only King who had not gotten the memo that we had turned the corner on the late game chokes. Forced and missed the post opportunity at the 1:15 mark. Then a minute later made our normal late game let's give the game away error fouling a three poinit shooter in Frye with 10 seconds to go. Fortunately we were up 6 by that time. Tried to cap things by making a bad pass turnover in the final seconds while trying to avoid getting fouled. Fortunately time ran out just as the Suns got the ball, otherwise they would actually amazingly have had a chance to tie it with a desperation heave at the buzzer. He's a rook so these things will happen, but still enough to shake the "+" off this grade.
Dalembert ( INC ) -- slow start struggling to finish over Frye, and then came to the sideline holding his ribs, and had to go in for x-rays. Did not see the play, but an elbow probably. Able to return just before the half though. Some effect defensively after returning. Tried to go after half, but did not last long. He made it well over my nomral grading minute limit (6 mins) but I thought an incomplete was the way to go here. If I grade him, its maybe a C, but he got hurt very early, tried to come back, but clearly was not comfortable and so never really was in the game this time out.
Thornton ( A ) -- and yet another big game for Marcus. Lack of size actually a problem on defense early against the Suns with Hill/Dudley out there together. Was giving up 4 inches and 20 lbs and it showed. But as usual got it back the other way. And not only with his own scoring -- had a nice little quick dropoff pass tpo Donte on the break for the dunk and continues to show himself a great passer in the open court. And added a nifty pass on the pick and roll as well, ad he has shown he knows how to deliver the ball in those situations too. Made a mistake out of the timeout for the last shot of the half, as he got picked from behind and let the Suns race the other way to take the lead. Begant o really show up on the glass after the break, not only grabbing multiple d-boards back there amongst the trees, but grabbing a couple of incrediblty athletic offensive rebounds inside on one play before finally getting the layup. Kept on peppering in points against a defense which of course will let you do that, but ended up sitting out most of the 4th as Reke and Beno, with a healthy assist from Omri, were leading a huge run to take control of the game back. When he finally did return to the game wiht a shade under 3 minutes to go, it was for Omri instead of Reke/Beno, and we got our first look at the three guard lineup in the crunch, and it did well. Not his best distance shooting night, but hit the huge three by with 50 seconds to go to give us the lead back. Also came up with the big defensive rebound off the Suns miss with 14 seconds to go, got fouled, and hit the FTs to push the lead to 6 and largely secure the win.
Udrih ( B+ ) -- came out and simply could not miss in the first half. There wasn't actually any dominant stretch, and it wasn't all one kind of scoring. He was just hitting everything he took from wherever on the floor, moving well and scoring, and getting set up repeatedly by Reke and Cousins. Hit 7 of his 8 first half shots, and had a few special moments too, such as when he went inside for a great offensive rebound over three Suns, including Gortat, and stepped out for little jumper. Second half was not nearly as strong, as he was quiet for a long spell, and then seemed to lose that magic shooting touch in the early 4th, only spliting two pairs of FTs in a tight game and airballing a three. But while his own offense evaproated, he teamed with Evans and Casspi to really have the team's offense humming through much of the 4th. Got his only shot of the second half to fall with a spinning jumper at the 3:30 mark,and found Thronton for the game's biggest three with a minute to go.
Bench
Thompson ( B+ ) -- second straight really strong game off the bench for JT. Came in playing well, and even dropped a nice post move on Gortat. And with Dalembert taken down by injury, JT's minutes and role shot up, and he stayed solid all game. Some especially good offensive rebounding work in the early third. Got the flying dunk on the break in the early 4th on his way to a strong quarter anchroing the middle for us and providing big energy. The big wart here? FT shooting. He's completely collpased from the line, and shooting 0-6 from the "free" throw stripe could easily have been fatal in a 3pt game that went down to the final seconds. This was almost an A-, and would have been without that problem.
Evans ( A- ) -- damn near had a triple double in only 25 minutes off the bench. From the very beginning of the game you could see his focus was on the "other things". There were a couple of shaky stretches of offense, such as when he settled for a couple of shaky jumpers down the stretch of the first quarter, but they did not last long. And meanwhile he was playing a great floorgame otherwise (much to the apparent chagrin of a certain big hippie). Had several good offensive rebounds soon after taking the floor, and several good passes that came up empty when Cisco and Cousins got blocked by Gortat on the way to the hoop. Doing a great job grabbing defensive rebounds and racing out pushing the break on his way to 7rebs and 6ast before the half. Moved without the ball to take a nice layup from Cousins too, and it was good to see those two guys creating for each other out there. Added in a spetacular one handed bounce pass to Beno slashing without the ball that looked almost John Stocktonish. Returned late int eh thrid and ran the entire rest of the game as if there was a 24min minute cap, we decided to cheat a bit to get the win. Scooped up several loose balls in the early 4th and quiclky got them ahead to trigger back to back breaks -- and again, the ball was not sticking. He was noticeably quick in his decisions and seemed to trust his teammates. Added one of his classic drive and finsihes through traffic on the break, but his play in teh final few minutes was a little shaky, and ultimately added the minus here. Missed a layuop off the cut that he just should have had. Rust? Maybe. But it was standstil layup, so maybe just an oops. And then quickshot several short jumpers in crunchtime, including one littel 12 footer that airballed. In fact you could see us suddenly getting more selfish as thigns started to grind in the last few minutes -- it was a very distinct change in tone not just by Reke, but by everbody, as we went through an extended series of one on one forces. Came up with the door slammer though when he drove and got fouled at the 19 second mark and hit both clutch FTs to put us up 4 and leave the Suns two possessions behind. On the game showed continued excellent chemistry with Donte, works well with JT, Cisco, Beno, and promisingly seems to be working better with Cousins. The one pairing of interest where I did not see much interaction yet was with Thornton. Which is of course a critical one. Quite obviously both guys had big games and certainly were not hurt by each other, but I want to see them start finding each other and really put opposing teams in a bind.
Greene ( A- ) -- a couple of weeks back in regards to the young SFs I said that I doubted that Greene was even going to get a chance to argue for a return next season before this one was out. I was wrong. And boy has he been taking full advantage of it. Came into the game in the first and immediately hit a three off a Reke kick again. Continued his keep me push with a dunk on the break from Thornton, and a side jumper, and another three. Nice catch of a pass behind him as he moved toward the hoop, and converted the the layin. Blew up for 12 points in maybe 10 minutes or so of first half action, dsiplaying not only the athleticism moving without the ball, but if you had never seen him before you would have been convinced you were looking at a shootist. Had nobody in particular to guard and no impact on the other side, and hence the minus, but it was a heck of an offensive show. Added two more threes after the break to finsih 4-6 from downtown on the night, and then sat as Casspi came on strong, and in classic Donte fashion was leading the cheers from the bench as we came back. That I think as much as anything might be a great argument for bringing him back -- chemistry and team.
Jeter ( INC ) -- just a brief little 2 minute stint as the Reke/Beno/Thornotn trio was just too good tonight to justify more. But in that time made a nice play getting a hand on an inbounds pass leading to a Suns turnover. Was amusing that we would even have a 5'11" guy guarding the inbounds play, let alone that the Suns wouldn't be able to get it past him.
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