Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Just an awful capper to an awful day for Kings fans. Keith Smart and Serge Ibaka just entirely took our two best players out of the game, our #3 guy gunned selfishly for a half then disappeared completely after the break, and our PG blew up in the third quarter for 15 points, but forgot to bring anybody else along.
Theme...I don't really know. This always calls for girls. On the other hand soembody in the Game thread mentioned Friday the 13th, so thee's that. And I was also thinking of doing one on Kevin Johnson, who did his best and still came off looking far better today.
EDIT: no theme today. Have a headache, and it would just be depressing anyway. Will prepare crappy owners for one of the final games.
Boxscore
Going to shave these and make them grades in brief. Not much to say about this one really, and nobody is in the mood:
Evans ( INC ) -- was largely taken out of this game before it even started when Smart decided he was expendable and that matching up a 6'5" guy who started the season at PG against the 6'10" leading scorer in the league/likely MVP was a smart play. Should note BTW that we beat this same team just a couple of months ago with a conventiional lineup. Anyway, predictably Reke was quickly in foul trouble against Durant and was over on the bench within 4 minutes of tipoff. Not brought back until late, and never got in a rhythm in the first half, playing only 8+ min and scoring 0pts, inclduing an airballed jumper. Started off the third again trapped off the ball (a ball the guards weren't sharing) and matched up against a guy 5 inches taller than him. Was doing ok on defense, but nothing in other areas, and got all of 6 minutes in the 3rd before Smart subbed him out never to return. 14 total minutes of action. 2pts 1reb 1ast. And I don't give a damn at this point if you want to continue defending the coach or not, it is a coaching decision which created that statline for a player that can threaten a triple double when involved and playing his natural position. There is an F to be given on this grade, but it belongs to the coach, not the player thrown to the wolves. For Reke we'll just call it an INC and let it go at that.
Thompson ( C- ) -- banged around in the first half picking up fouls and struggling to make a positive impact. For some reason we kept on trying to post him up and it was fugly. Missed multiple running hooks, kind of his new favorite shot. Was stripped multiple times as the physical nature of the game caused him to lose contorl of the ball. He eneded up with 8pts and 7rebs, but everyone of those numbers was a struggle.
Cousins ( D ) -- its kind of offical: Serge Ibaka owns us. Owns us to the tune of 17 blocks...in 2 games! And he has terrorized nobody more than Cuz, who had any chance at a respectable night just blocked right out of the building, and with us getting routed, nd his not being able to even complete a dunk inside without Ibaka smushing it, Cuz got frustrated andas sloppy/slouchy as we have seen him this season. Had his first shot blocked by Ibaka. Made another mistake trying to lead the break, this time throwing a pass IT wasn't looking for straight out of bounds. Even got a big rolling dunk attempt smushed by Ibaka, who seems to have no trouble at all telling exactly what DeMarcus is going to shoot and when. In fact Cuz actually got intimidated enough that on his thrid shot he tried an ugly running flip thing that has been cropping up more and more often with him instead of challenging the shot blockers, and missed it badly. He was at least still reboundign well, but it wasn't just on offense he struggled, as Perkins frequently outworked him around the hoop for a big first half. Started the third with a good move along the baseline for a hoopl, and you were hoping maybe he was going to get it figured out, although the game ws already over by that point. But then on the very next attempt he AGAIN got his dunk attempt blocked and went into megafrustrated slouchy body language mode, the practical uptick of which was that he semi-quit and was not always running back hard. Think this is the worst game we have had since the Dallas debacle early in the year. Funny thing is, have Ibaka miss this game with food poisoning and Cuz would have been sitting on a solid 17pt 12reb 3stl night on 50% shooting. And really, maybe even better than that as Ibaka intimidated several he did not block.
Thornton ( C- ) -- got it going in the early going with 10pts in the first quarter against a very good defender in Sefalosha. Not sure really liked the shots he was taking, as it was basically all 1 on 1 contested jumpers, but that was precisely why it was hard for Sefalosha to stop -- guy was just hot and hsooting it right over good defense. Twice late in the half blew fastbreaks by throwing bad passes right to Thunder players, and we probably blew half a dozen breaks over the course of the game. Made several spectacular defensive plays including a couple of great steals and a blocked shot on a huge leap. But the offense dried up entirely after half, and since it had never been anything but 1 on1 anyway, and since IT for better or worse decided he was just going to shoot everything in the third, there was never any real chance for it to get back on track.
Thomas ( B ) -- in the early going was getting too caught up in trying to battle Westbrook 1 on 1 and having little luck containing a player every bit as quick as he is, but 6 inches taller. Got a few little hoops in the first half, but it was a one sided battle. Turned the tables in the third, when he blew up for 15pts and was basically the only guy scoring for us and got hot from the 3pt stripe -- which remains an oddity given that IT is shooting better from 3pt land in the pros than he did during any season in college from their shorter distance. Of course the slipside was that he was also about the only guy who touched the ball once he started rolling, as there was almost no passing from our starting lineup and everybody jsut looked for their own.
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Bench
Greene ( D ) -- in very early with Reke quickly in foul trouble against Durant, and seemed like a good call on the matchup, but Durant just went around him with ease.Not able to slow Duran, and to top things when the Thunder got cute and had Westbrook guard him, he struggled mightily to punsih them for the tactic. During the second half played extensive garbagetime mintues wihtout really getting anything done.
Fredette ( D+ ) -- look...despite TWill's determined efforts to set him up, generally got outgunned by Derek Fisher, who hasn't looked so fresh in years. Even got beat off the dribble by Fisher, which..I thought that was impossible. And really, if you can't guard Derek Fisher, then who can you guard? On the other side didn't do much but shoot, and didn't do that very accurately.
Williams ( B ) -- playing well in the early going again. Looking for guys, and more than just looking for them, using his dribble to create open shots for guys, which made him the only guy ont he team doing that tonight. Added a three, but was also picking up turnovers trying to do too much. Durant shot right over him as well as predictably we did not have a matchup to contain him. Clearly our leader and best bench player in the garbagetime, but just had almost no help. For the last 15 minutes of the game as our best scorer, rebouder, passer and defender, but there was never any synergy with all the depressed looking deers in headlights we had running around out there.
Hayes ( D ) -- I'm sure he was out there, but you never would have noticed it. Got his only bucket on a real nice pass that Outlaw busted througn traffic to him, and has apprently completely lost the ability to rebound at the NBA level.
Outlaw ( B- ) -- actually stopped Durant the first couple of possessions he faced him in the first half, and had another surprising dirve and dish through traffic to Hayes for the layup he's done that a couple of times in the last month, and I don't think anybody has known he could do that his entire career. Probably not even him. Then drained a three as well. Was going well enough he even got himself subbed out of the game for heat checking a challlenged on 1 three.
Honeycutt ( C+ ) -- overpowered by Durant on his first opportunity against him in the firs thalf and got benched for Reke immediately after. Couple of good dishes to Donte for hoops in the long garbagetime mintues, and looked solid, if never actually getting much accomplished..
Theme...I don't really know. This always calls for girls. On the other hand soembody in the Game thread mentioned Friday the 13th, so thee's that. And I was also thinking of doing one on Kevin Johnson, who did his best and still came off looking far better today.
EDIT: no theme today. Have a headache, and it would just be depressing anyway. Will prepare crappy owners for one of the final games.
Boxscore
Going to shave these and make them grades in brief. Not much to say about this one really, and nobody is in the mood:
Evans ( INC ) -- was largely taken out of this game before it even started when Smart decided he was expendable and that matching up a 6'5" guy who started the season at PG against the 6'10" leading scorer in the league/likely MVP was a smart play. Should note BTW that we beat this same team just a couple of months ago with a conventiional lineup. Anyway, predictably Reke was quickly in foul trouble against Durant and was over on the bench within 4 minutes of tipoff. Not brought back until late, and never got in a rhythm in the first half, playing only 8+ min and scoring 0pts, inclduing an airballed jumper. Started off the third again trapped off the ball (a ball the guards weren't sharing) and matched up against a guy 5 inches taller than him. Was doing ok on defense, but nothing in other areas, and got all of 6 minutes in the 3rd before Smart subbed him out never to return. 14 total minutes of action. 2pts 1reb 1ast. And I don't give a damn at this point if you want to continue defending the coach or not, it is a coaching decision which created that statline for a player that can threaten a triple double when involved and playing his natural position. There is an F to be given on this grade, but it belongs to the coach, not the player thrown to the wolves. For Reke we'll just call it an INC and let it go at that.
Thompson ( C- ) -- banged around in the first half picking up fouls and struggling to make a positive impact. For some reason we kept on trying to post him up and it was fugly. Missed multiple running hooks, kind of his new favorite shot. Was stripped multiple times as the physical nature of the game caused him to lose contorl of the ball. He eneded up with 8pts and 7rebs, but everyone of those numbers was a struggle.
Cousins ( D ) -- its kind of offical: Serge Ibaka owns us. Owns us to the tune of 17 blocks...in 2 games! And he has terrorized nobody more than Cuz, who had any chance at a respectable night just blocked right out of the building, and with us getting routed, nd his not being able to even complete a dunk inside without Ibaka smushing it, Cuz got frustrated andas sloppy/slouchy as we have seen him this season. Had his first shot blocked by Ibaka. Made another mistake trying to lead the break, this time throwing a pass IT wasn't looking for straight out of bounds. Even got a big rolling dunk attempt smushed by Ibaka, who seems to have no trouble at all telling exactly what DeMarcus is going to shoot and when. In fact Cuz actually got intimidated enough that on his thrid shot he tried an ugly running flip thing that has been cropping up more and more often with him instead of challenging the shot blockers, and missed it badly. He was at least still reboundign well, but it wasn't just on offense he struggled, as Perkins frequently outworked him around the hoop for a big first half. Started the third with a good move along the baseline for a hoopl, and you were hoping maybe he was going to get it figured out, although the game ws already over by that point. But then on the very next attempt he AGAIN got his dunk attempt blocked and went into megafrustrated slouchy body language mode, the practical uptick of which was that he semi-quit and was not always running back hard. Think this is the worst game we have had since the Dallas debacle early in the year. Funny thing is, have Ibaka miss this game with food poisoning and Cuz would have been sitting on a solid 17pt 12reb 3stl night on 50% shooting. And really, maybe even better than that as Ibaka intimidated several he did not block.
Thornton ( C- ) -- got it going in the early going with 10pts in the first quarter against a very good defender in Sefalosha. Not sure really liked the shots he was taking, as it was basically all 1 on 1 contested jumpers, but that was precisely why it was hard for Sefalosha to stop -- guy was just hot and hsooting it right over good defense. Twice late in the half blew fastbreaks by throwing bad passes right to Thunder players, and we probably blew half a dozen breaks over the course of the game. Made several spectacular defensive plays including a couple of great steals and a blocked shot on a huge leap. But the offense dried up entirely after half, and since it had never been anything but 1 on1 anyway, and since IT for better or worse decided he was just going to shoot everything in the third, there was never any real chance for it to get back on track.
Thomas ( B ) -- in the early going was getting too caught up in trying to battle Westbrook 1 on 1 and having little luck containing a player every bit as quick as he is, but 6 inches taller. Got a few little hoops in the first half, but it was a one sided battle. Turned the tables in the third, when he blew up for 15pts and was basically the only guy scoring for us and got hot from the 3pt stripe -- which remains an oddity given that IT is shooting better from 3pt land in the pros than he did during any season in college from their shorter distance. Of course the slipside was that he was also about the only guy who touched the ball once he started rolling, as there was almost no passing from our starting lineup and everybody jsut looked for their own.
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Bench
Greene ( D ) -- in very early with Reke quickly in foul trouble against Durant, and seemed like a good call on the matchup, but Durant just went around him with ease.Not able to slow Duran, and to top things when the Thunder got cute and had Westbrook guard him, he struggled mightily to punsih them for the tactic. During the second half played extensive garbagetime mintues wihtout really getting anything done.
Fredette ( D+ ) -- look...despite TWill's determined efforts to set him up, generally got outgunned by Derek Fisher, who hasn't looked so fresh in years. Even got beat off the dribble by Fisher, which..I thought that was impossible. And really, if you can't guard Derek Fisher, then who can you guard? On the other side didn't do much but shoot, and didn't do that very accurately.
Williams ( B ) -- playing well in the early going again. Looking for guys, and more than just looking for them, using his dribble to create open shots for guys, which made him the only guy ont he team doing that tonight. Added a three, but was also picking up turnovers trying to do too much. Durant shot right over him as well as predictably we did not have a matchup to contain him. Clearly our leader and best bench player in the garbagetime, but just had almost no help. For the last 15 minutes of the game as our best scorer, rebouder, passer and defender, but there was never any synergy with all the depressed looking deers in headlights we had running around out there.
Hayes ( D ) -- I'm sure he was out there, but you never would have noticed it. Got his only bucket on a real nice pass that Outlaw busted througn traffic to him, and has apprently completely lost the ability to rebound at the NBA level.
Outlaw ( B- ) -- actually stopped Durant the first couple of possessions he faced him in the first half, and had another surprising dirve and dish through traffic to Hayes for the layup he's done that a couple of times in the last month, and I don't think anybody has known he could do that his entire career. Probably not even him. Then drained a three as well. Was going well enough he even got himself subbed out of the game for heat checking a challlenged on 1 three.
Honeycutt ( C+ ) -- overpowered by Durant on his first opportunity against him in the firs thalf and got benched for Reke immediately after. Couple of good dishes to Donte for hoops in the long garbagetime mintues, and looked solid, if never actually getting much accomplished..
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