Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Believe it or not you can see creeping signs of progress now, mostly centered around our two most talented players (Reke and Cousins) beginning to get into gear and give us some decent games. But we still shoot ourselves in the foot with amazing proficiency, struggle to knock down wide open threes, and get knocked into death spirals with the slightest nudge or resistance. Still, there is hope where there has been none, if we can hold together rather than splinter in the face of all the losing.
Theme will be...I guess we're going to go with: Really REALLY Bad Pickup Lines
Official Boxscore
Greene ( C ) -- now this is a tough grade -- Donte did absolutely NOTHING...except maybe the most important thing. He played 25 minutes, he scored 2pts, he grabbed 0 rebounds, which is just inexcusable, he dished out 0 assists. But his job tonight wasn't to score, wasn't to rebound, it was ot hold Kevin Durant in check on the other end of the floor, and by and large he did just that -- we did not get beat by Durant, which is saying something. In fact until the final semi-garbagetime minutes of this one he, with a little help, had held Durant to 18pts on 5-13 shooting. He got into foul trouble early in this one trying to do the job, and getting victimized on at least one of them by a superstar/NBAish stlyle offensive player gets to jump into you and get the foul call sort of deal. But picked the thread back up int he thrid, and was doing a nice job harassing Durant again. Combined with Demarcus to draw a charge from the other Green in the late 3rd. But there never was anything to talk about on the toher end, adn while for most of the night he was just very very quiet, down the stretch as things fell apart and we got desperate again he had several loose offensive possesions and started throwing up jumpers that just had little chance. That was the period where Durant finally got free for a few dunks as well, as you can really jsut feel it when our composure breaks, everybody starts playing 1 on 1, and all attention to details is lost. We need a yoga instructor or something. Anyway, despite an incredibly empty statline this was NOT an awful performance. Donte took on one of the toughest jobs in the NBA, slwo down Kevin Durant, and acquitted himself well at it. He's going to get some grade for that. But he's gto to be able to still function in other ways while he's about it. Nothing huge. 6-8pts 3-4rebs would have done it and made this into a B type grade. But 2pts 0rebs 0ast makes a C for the defense the absolute highest I am willing to consider.
"Are your parents from Iraq? [followed by 'no']
Because I think you're the bomb!"
Thompson ( C ) -- started this game out playing really well, and working really well with Cousins up front. Its another one of those promising signs of late -- Reke and Cousins are starting to come online, Donte and JT are providing defenseive/rebounding roleplaying length at the forwards, and JT is starting to work well with DeMarcus. Jason's pasing was particularly useful in the early going as he set up both Reke and DeMarcus for early hoops inside, and added a nice spin move to the hoop too. After returning got a lucky bounce off a terrible Cousins pass off the front of the rim, and got a 3pt opportunity out of it at a critical time after we only scored 3pts in the first 6 minutes of the 2nd. Of course since we nightly make a mockery of the concept of "free" throws, he bricked the freebie. Started playing a lot of backup center as the game went along, whether to feed Westphal's smallball fetish or because of an amazingly incompetent first half stint by Dalembert that left him unplayable I am not sure. Did ok, but not nearly as effective as he was when playing alongside Cousins, and for the second game in a row a strong start faded out into weak numbers. Made a mistake trying tio guard Durant on the perimeter late in the third. went for an upfake, and Durant jumped into him for the 3 FTs (luckily he missed 2 of 3), and in general went threw a bad spell hacking at people again. Not a facor down the stretch.
"Hey, do you work for UPS? I could have sworn I saw you checkin' out ma' package!"
Cousins ( A- ) -- DeMarcus is starting to settle in now, and we are beginning to see flashes of what we were expecting this season. Still much slop, many ups and dwns, but this was close to if in fact not his career game, and he just outmuscled the Thunder inside all game long. He of course fouled out again, and he STILL tried to steal one from Durant in the backcourt and just got lukcy or he would have fouled out earlier, but he managed to last starters minutes (33) before KOing himself this time. Had the full package of skills on display -- took care of the glass early on both ends, used his bulk to overpower the skinny Ibaka, and was doing a great job as a high post passer. Play tailed a bit in the second as he began to have problems keeping Collison off the boards, but it never reached meltdown status. Started the third with a nice in rhythm 18 foot jumper off a pass, and then used the space that created and followed with a fake and power move to the hoop. Just good smart basketball that's going to make him a terror to guard in a year or two. But along with the rest of the team just lost the thread in the middle of the third, play started getting scruffy, and capped things with a terrible crosscourt pass in transtion which was easily picked off. Started making too many msitakes, then getting frustration fouls on top of it, eventually picking up his 5th. Just lost his composure again. Got a rest, and after coming back in for the stretch run immediately helped settle us, hitting a long jumper against the clock, and then slamming inside and drawing a foul. Unfortunately capped his evening making the ultimate young dumb play, getting a defensive steal that could have let us get it to 8 or 7, and neve giving it up, weaving it all the way down the floor until he finally got the offensive foul and fouled out. Maybe his finest game, a near dominant effort, adn dripping wiht all the potential we have been wanting to see. But also still so flawed, so full of errors and slop and mental mistakes that I found it impossible to leave off the "-" on this grade. Nonethless, if this keeps up we'll turn a corner here sooner or later.
"If you were a new hamburger at McDonald's, you would be McGorgeous!"
Udrih ( B ) -- and while Reke and Cousins are starting to play, Beno has been stepping up as ample support. Tonight it was scoring support, as a one dimesnional 19pt 1reb 0ast stat line disguised the fact that he played his role well, and stayed out of the way while the Reke/Boogie combo largely directied things. Got an early layup off a nice Reke pass, and was hitting his little jumpers in rhythm early. Hit back to back little 12 footers along the baseline in the mid second, the first off a nice Reke drive and dish, the second for another 3pt play opportunity that went by the wayside as he blew the freebie. Got quiet after half, but came up with a circus layup in the mid-3rd as about the only thing we had going during our roghest patch fo the game, and canned a three on a kick from Reke in the mid-4th to cut the lead back to 6. Along the way of course did not rack up any assists, but then again given that nobody but Reke or Cousins could score tonight, and those guys largely take care of themselves, there weren't many assisat to be had. Put in some effort on defense as his 5 fouls will attest. Not going to jump up and down about him being a stopper or anything, but hey, he was more effective than Pooh on that end, so that's something right?
"Hey baby, my name is _______, remember it, cause you'll be screaming it all night long."
Theme will be...I guess we're going to go with: Really REALLY Bad Pickup Lines
Official Boxscore
Greene ( C ) -- now this is a tough grade -- Donte did absolutely NOTHING...except maybe the most important thing. He played 25 minutes, he scored 2pts, he grabbed 0 rebounds, which is just inexcusable, he dished out 0 assists. But his job tonight wasn't to score, wasn't to rebound, it was ot hold Kevin Durant in check on the other end of the floor, and by and large he did just that -- we did not get beat by Durant, which is saying something. In fact until the final semi-garbagetime minutes of this one he, with a little help, had held Durant to 18pts on 5-13 shooting. He got into foul trouble early in this one trying to do the job, and getting victimized on at least one of them by a superstar/NBAish stlyle offensive player gets to jump into you and get the foul call sort of deal. But picked the thread back up int he thrid, and was doing a nice job harassing Durant again. Combined with Demarcus to draw a charge from the other Green in the late 3rd. But there never was anything to talk about on the toher end, adn while for most of the night he was just very very quiet, down the stretch as things fell apart and we got desperate again he had several loose offensive possesions and started throwing up jumpers that just had little chance. That was the period where Durant finally got free for a few dunks as well, as you can really jsut feel it when our composure breaks, everybody starts playing 1 on 1, and all attention to details is lost. We need a yoga instructor or something. Anyway, despite an incredibly empty statline this was NOT an awful performance. Donte took on one of the toughest jobs in the NBA, slwo down Kevin Durant, and acquitted himself well at it. He's going to get some grade for that. But he's gto to be able to still function in other ways while he's about it. Nothing huge. 6-8pts 3-4rebs would have done it and made this into a B type grade. But 2pts 0rebs 0ast makes a C for the defense the absolute highest I am willing to consider.
"Are your parents from Iraq? [followed by 'no']
Because I think you're the bomb!"
Thompson ( C ) -- started this game out playing really well, and working really well with Cousins up front. Its another one of those promising signs of late -- Reke and Cousins are starting to come online, Donte and JT are providing defenseive/rebounding roleplaying length at the forwards, and JT is starting to work well with DeMarcus. Jason's pasing was particularly useful in the early going as he set up both Reke and DeMarcus for early hoops inside, and added a nice spin move to the hoop too. After returning got a lucky bounce off a terrible Cousins pass off the front of the rim, and got a 3pt opportunity out of it at a critical time after we only scored 3pts in the first 6 minutes of the 2nd. Of course since we nightly make a mockery of the concept of "free" throws, he bricked the freebie. Started playing a lot of backup center as the game went along, whether to feed Westphal's smallball fetish or because of an amazingly incompetent first half stint by Dalembert that left him unplayable I am not sure. Did ok, but not nearly as effective as he was when playing alongside Cousins, and for the second game in a row a strong start faded out into weak numbers. Made a mistake trying tio guard Durant on the perimeter late in the third. went for an upfake, and Durant jumped into him for the 3 FTs (luckily he missed 2 of 3), and in general went threw a bad spell hacking at people again. Not a facor down the stretch.
"Hey, do you work for UPS? I could have sworn I saw you checkin' out ma' package!"
Cousins ( A- ) -- DeMarcus is starting to settle in now, and we are beginning to see flashes of what we were expecting this season. Still much slop, many ups and dwns, but this was close to if in fact not his career game, and he just outmuscled the Thunder inside all game long. He of course fouled out again, and he STILL tried to steal one from Durant in the backcourt and just got lukcy or he would have fouled out earlier, but he managed to last starters minutes (33) before KOing himself this time. Had the full package of skills on display -- took care of the glass early on both ends, used his bulk to overpower the skinny Ibaka, and was doing a great job as a high post passer. Play tailed a bit in the second as he began to have problems keeping Collison off the boards, but it never reached meltdown status. Started the third with a nice in rhythm 18 foot jumper off a pass, and then used the space that created and followed with a fake and power move to the hoop. Just good smart basketball that's going to make him a terror to guard in a year or two. But along with the rest of the team just lost the thread in the middle of the third, play started getting scruffy, and capped things with a terrible crosscourt pass in transtion which was easily picked off. Started making too many msitakes, then getting frustration fouls on top of it, eventually picking up his 5th. Just lost his composure again. Got a rest, and after coming back in for the stretch run immediately helped settle us, hitting a long jumper against the clock, and then slamming inside and drawing a foul. Unfortunately capped his evening making the ultimate young dumb play, getting a defensive steal that could have let us get it to 8 or 7, and neve giving it up, weaving it all the way down the floor until he finally got the offensive foul and fouled out. Maybe his finest game, a near dominant effort, adn dripping wiht all the potential we have been wanting to see. But also still so flawed, so full of errors and slop and mental mistakes that I found it impossible to leave off the "-" on this grade. Nonethless, if this keeps up we'll turn a corner here sooner or later.
"If you were a new hamburger at McDonald's, you would be McGorgeous!"
Udrih ( B ) -- and while Reke and Cousins are starting to play, Beno has been stepping up as ample support. Tonight it was scoring support, as a one dimesnional 19pt 1reb 0ast stat line disguised the fact that he played his role well, and stayed out of the way while the Reke/Boogie combo largely directied things. Got an early layup off a nice Reke pass, and was hitting his little jumpers in rhythm early. Hit back to back little 12 footers along the baseline in the mid second, the first off a nice Reke drive and dish, the second for another 3pt play opportunity that went by the wayside as he blew the freebie. Got quiet after half, but came up with a circus layup in the mid-3rd as about the only thing we had going during our roghest patch fo the game, and canned a three on a kick from Reke in the mid-4th to cut the lead back to 6. Along the way of course did not rack up any assists, but then again given that nobody but Reke or Cousins could score tonight, and those guys largely take care of themselves, there weren't many assisat to be had. Put in some effort on defense as his 5 fouls will attest. Not going to jump up and down about him being a stopper or anything, but hey, he was more effective than Pooh on that end, so that's something right?
"Hey baby, my name is _______, remember it, cause you'll be screaming it all night long."
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