Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Well, if there is such a thing as a good loss, this was it. It was against a terrible opponent of course, but almost everything we could have wanted to see was here -- our two young bigs both had themselves games, and John Salmons remembered how to pass...before morphing into Ron Artest at the end of the game. We even got to revel in the joy of Kenny Thomas. I am nearly orgasmic.
New feature this season with these threads: The Grades Thread Poll
Salmons ( A- ) -- slow start to this one, but did appear to have gotten the apparently teamwide passing memo, as we racked up 16 first half assists (pretty much a full game average for us). Got more aggressive in the third, and at one point pretty much singlehandedly chased Mike Miller from the games with oul trouble. And once Kevin left late in the third, John really took over and pretty much singlehandedly got us back the lead by the end of the quarter. He was the dominant offensive player again down the stretch, and while the passing had dried up in true Artest fashion, his role was not a bad thing. Kevin had a real struggle out there, nad it was John who was doing the damage on the offensive side of the court. Something like 20 second half pts, and finally forced the Wolves to switch defensive specialist Corey Brewer over onto him late in the game after he had hounded Kevin for most of the night. Probably should have gotten the ball for our final few possessions rather than Kevin, who was unable to come up with anything, but did grab an offensive rebound on our final desperate attempt, but had his followup shot blocked by Jefferson I think it was.
Moore ( D ) -- drew the assignment trying to guard Jefferson with us protecting Hawes, and got into his normal quick foul trouble. Hit a few outside jumpers against Kevin Love, then proceeded to get blitzed by Al Jefferson again late in the half. After half he did not get scored over and through nearly as often, but netiehr did he ever do anything positive other than toss in another jumper or two. Grabbed ZERO rebounds on a night when our young kids showed how that aspect of the game is supposed to be handled. While I am not remotely expecting a duplicate followup effort from JT next game, Mikki better watch out because those footsteps behind him just got a lot louder.
Hawes ( A ) -- got off to the fast start running the floor and being very active on both ends of the floor. The activity eventually resulted in some foul trouble, and he began to cool as the half went along. Quiet offensively after half, although continued to rack up rebounds. Got involved in an interesting apples and oranges stocky power vs. long finesse matchup with Kevin Love in the second and fourth quarters, having his moments, but also seeing Love begin to dominate the glass. What really drew attention however was his play down the stretch, when aside from running away from contact on one possession and throwing up a weak jumper, and simply not wanting to take the shot at all at the end of the game, he was doing a lot of stuff right, and a lot of things that we haven't had a big around here do in years. Because this wasn't about Spencer Hawes, softish finesse offensive player, it was about a center who grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked 6 shots, including two on back back to possessions in crunchtime that keyed our final rally that fell just short. By the end the statline looked like something from Marcus Camby, and oh we could use that (just please nobody go out and put their life savings down on Hawes averaging 14rebs and 6blks a game this season ok?).
Martin ( D+ ) -- this was a struggle. Actually teamed with Hawes for the fast start and had 7 quick points. Things seemed to turn however about the time he picked up an offensive foul being a bit selfish on a 2 on 1 break. Began to really struggle therafter, missing shots, turning it over, making bad decisions. Did make some kick out passes that resulted in assists and was involved in several scramble plays. I did not notice Brewer's role in his struggles in the first half (and could not figure why they would be starting him), but in the third Brewer's activity and scrawny quickness was definitely making him a good match and all around pain in the rump for Kevin. Salmons largely took over from that point, and it was not until the final minute when Kevin again had a major role to play, and that was just to be a bit of a goat as he missed a three to go ahead after we drew the play up for him, and then got trapped/chased up top after we again tried to have him initiate the game winning play. A major factor in Kevin's 5-19 tonight? he took 11 three pointers. 11. That's a Peja boxscore. Kept on shooting and shooting, guys kept on finding him out there, but it wasn't falling and was never able to get anything going consistently inside.
Udrih ( C ) -- passed the ball well in the first quarter, but looked shaky trying to bring it up against the less than smothering defense of Randy Foye. Got himself picked in the open court not once, but twice. Quiet in the second quarter as things began to slip a bit out of control but started the third looking more for his shots, and had a series of hits and saavy plays intermixed with another bad open court turnover. Not sure there were any assists at all after half as we returned to our more usual plodding assist totals (had 16 at half, only 6 in the second half). Despite the little surge in the third, too many turnovers here for a good grade, and on the final play of the game after the Wolves chased the ball out of Kevin's hands it looked like Beno might have a lane to the hoop before he instead ended up in a game of hot potato with Spencer.
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Thompson ( A ) -- got off to the fast start against Jefferson, who looked to be winded for some reason (reason being maybe out of shape), but did not slow down no matter who was matched up on him during an excellent 14pt 5reb first half. Was mostly still operating as an active garbageman, but we did hit him for a couple of quick hitters in the post, and he finally got that little jumper to fall once the games started to really matter. Our game noticeably picked up after he was reinserted in the late 3rd for Mikki, and continued his activity on the glass for us, helping us eventually win a battle we were trailing badly at before half. I think better than any effort that he put up in preseason, and while he was still more hustle player than draw a play around him player, he was providing some of the inside presence that we so desperately need around here, and put up an impressive 18pts 10reb in only 22min. The one negative was that he took that "I used to be a guard" thing a little too seriously a couple of times (or maybe he just wasn't a very good guard when he was a guard) and had some open court dribbling misadventures as smaller players jumped all over his dribble.
Douby ( C- ) -- got an opportunity with Cisco out and Doubied it. And what Doubying it of course means is his standard 1-5 in 12 minute performance that he seems to rack up in at least 50% of his games. But also saw some of his good defense as he caused Foye some problems, particularly later in the game when our defense actually helped key a comeback run.
BJax ( C- ) -- despite modest numbers kept the offense rolling in his first half minutes, and was operating alongside Beno there at one point. Had one of his old style slam bam inside continuations, but missed his only three going for a dagger go ahead shot late in the game. Second half minutes were not terribly effective either individually or in running the team.
Williams ( C ) -- was brought in briefly in the second quarter and teamed with Thompson, but things started to get ugly on his watch and eventually he was replaced by KT. Came back in the late third with similar results. This is kind of a giveup C here since I am not sure I really felt there was enough good or bad involving Shelden personally to grade on here. He did muscle Jefferson out of the post on one occasion, so guess that's something.
Thomas ( INC ) -- oh joy. Not really sure what the point was of Kenny's appearance with both Hawes and Thompson playing well in the first half and us having already played four other bigs, but there he was. Kind of did the Kenny, grabbing an offensive rebound and missing a shot inside. See, first we had "Doubying it", and now we have "doing the Kenny". Doing the Kenny does not typically result in many second half minutes.
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Theus ( B ) -- showed no reluctance in playing the kids, at least some of the kids, in the season opener (Donte Greene was not even activated, which confused me -- with Brad suspended and Cisco out, that should have left exactly 12 guys including Donte, so...? Is there some rule that for a game to count against a guy's suspension he has to be on the active roster?). Went deep into the bench in the first half -- mysteriously and unnecessarily deep as Kenny Thomas suddenly popped up, before halftime, as our FIFTH big. Few teams play 5 bigs in a game, let alone a half, let alone when a couple of them are really doing well. May have made some defensive adjustments at halftime on Al Jefferson (or Jefferson may have just tired -- did not look to be in great shape). Was flexible about PT after half as well, with Thompson earning the bulk of the PF minutes wiht his superior play. On the other hand showed rather stubborn loyalty to the concept of Kevin as goto guy even in the face of his considerable struggles tonight. Enough loyalty in fact that he may have lost the game because of it. But its the sort of thing that might bear long term fruit even if it resulted in a short term loss (Salmons was the hot hand). If he is serious about having a real frontline of players that can at least pretend to play inside, the performances by Spencer and Jason tonight should by all rights make him go hmmmm.
New feature this season with these threads: The Grades Thread Poll
Salmons ( A- ) -- slow start to this one, but did appear to have gotten the apparently teamwide passing memo, as we racked up 16 first half assists (pretty much a full game average for us). Got more aggressive in the third, and at one point pretty much singlehandedly chased Mike Miller from the games with oul trouble. And once Kevin left late in the third, John really took over and pretty much singlehandedly got us back the lead by the end of the quarter. He was the dominant offensive player again down the stretch, and while the passing had dried up in true Artest fashion, his role was not a bad thing. Kevin had a real struggle out there, nad it was John who was doing the damage on the offensive side of the court. Something like 20 second half pts, and finally forced the Wolves to switch defensive specialist Corey Brewer over onto him late in the game after he had hounded Kevin for most of the night. Probably should have gotten the ball for our final few possessions rather than Kevin, who was unable to come up with anything, but did grab an offensive rebound on our final desperate attempt, but had his followup shot blocked by Jefferson I think it was.
Moore ( D ) -- drew the assignment trying to guard Jefferson with us protecting Hawes, and got into his normal quick foul trouble. Hit a few outside jumpers against Kevin Love, then proceeded to get blitzed by Al Jefferson again late in the half. After half he did not get scored over and through nearly as often, but netiehr did he ever do anything positive other than toss in another jumper or two. Grabbed ZERO rebounds on a night when our young kids showed how that aspect of the game is supposed to be handled. While I am not remotely expecting a duplicate followup effort from JT next game, Mikki better watch out because those footsteps behind him just got a lot louder.
Hawes ( A ) -- got off to the fast start running the floor and being very active on both ends of the floor. The activity eventually resulted in some foul trouble, and he began to cool as the half went along. Quiet offensively after half, although continued to rack up rebounds. Got involved in an interesting apples and oranges stocky power vs. long finesse matchup with Kevin Love in the second and fourth quarters, having his moments, but also seeing Love begin to dominate the glass. What really drew attention however was his play down the stretch, when aside from running away from contact on one possession and throwing up a weak jumper, and simply not wanting to take the shot at all at the end of the game, he was doing a lot of stuff right, and a lot of things that we haven't had a big around here do in years. Because this wasn't about Spencer Hawes, softish finesse offensive player, it was about a center who grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked 6 shots, including two on back back to possessions in crunchtime that keyed our final rally that fell just short. By the end the statline looked like something from Marcus Camby, and oh we could use that (just please nobody go out and put their life savings down on Hawes averaging 14rebs and 6blks a game this season ok?).
Martin ( D+ ) -- this was a struggle. Actually teamed with Hawes for the fast start and had 7 quick points. Things seemed to turn however about the time he picked up an offensive foul being a bit selfish on a 2 on 1 break. Began to really struggle therafter, missing shots, turning it over, making bad decisions. Did make some kick out passes that resulted in assists and was involved in several scramble plays. I did not notice Brewer's role in his struggles in the first half (and could not figure why they would be starting him), but in the third Brewer's activity and scrawny quickness was definitely making him a good match and all around pain in the rump for Kevin. Salmons largely took over from that point, and it was not until the final minute when Kevin again had a major role to play, and that was just to be a bit of a goat as he missed a three to go ahead after we drew the play up for him, and then got trapped/chased up top after we again tried to have him initiate the game winning play. A major factor in Kevin's 5-19 tonight? he took 11 three pointers. 11. That's a Peja boxscore. Kept on shooting and shooting, guys kept on finding him out there, but it wasn't falling and was never able to get anything going consistently inside.
Udrih ( C ) -- passed the ball well in the first quarter, but looked shaky trying to bring it up against the less than smothering defense of Randy Foye. Got himself picked in the open court not once, but twice. Quiet in the second quarter as things began to slip a bit out of control but started the third looking more for his shots, and had a series of hits and saavy plays intermixed with another bad open court turnover. Not sure there were any assists at all after half as we returned to our more usual plodding assist totals (had 16 at half, only 6 in the second half). Despite the little surge in the third, too many turnovers here for a good grade, and on the final play of the game after the Wolves chased the ball out of Kevin's hands it looked like Beno might have a lane to the hoop before he instead ended up in a game of hot potato with Spencer.
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Thompson ( A ) -- got off to the fast start against Jefferson, who looked to be winded for some reason (reason being maybe out of shape), but did not slow down no matter who was matched up on him during an excellent 14pt 5reb first half. Was mostly still operating as an active garbageman, but we did hit him for a couple of quick hitters in the post, and he finally got that little jumper to fall once the games started to really matter. Our game noticeably picked up after he was reinserted in the late 3rd for Mikki, and continued his activity on the glass for us, helping us eventually win a battle we were trailing badly at before half. I think better than any effort that he put up in preseason, and while he was still more hustle player than draw a play around him player, he was providing some of the inside presence that we so desperately need around here, and put up an impressive 18pts 10reb in only 22min. The one negative was that he took that "I used to be a guard" thing a little too seriously a couple of times (or maybe he just wasn't a very good guard when he was a guard) and had some open court dribbling misadventures as smaller players jumped all over his dribble.
Douby ( C- ) -- got an opportunity with Cisco out and Doubied it. And what Doubying it of course means is his standard 1-5 in 12 minute performance that he seems to rack up in at least 50% of his games. But also saw some of his good defense as he caused Foye some problems, particularly later in the game when our defense actually helped key a comeback run.
BJax ( C- ) -- despite modest numbers kept the offense rolling in his first half minutes, and was operating alongside Beno there at one point. Had one of his old style slam bam inside continuations, but missed his only three going for a dagger go ahead shot late in the game. Second half minutes were not terribly effective either individually or in running the team.
Williams ( C ) -- was brought in briefly in the second quarter and teamed with Thompson, but things started to get ugly on his watch and eventually he was replaced by KT. Came back in the late third with similar results. This is kind of a giveup C here since I am not sure I really felt there was enough good or bad involving Shelden personally to grade on here. He did muscle Jefferson out of the post on one occasion, so guess that's something.
Thomas ( INC ) -- oh joy. Not really sure what the point was of Kenny's appearance with both Hawes and Thompson playing well in the first half and us having already played four other bigs, but there he was. Kind of did the Kenny, grabbing an offensive rebound and missing a shot inside. See, first we had "Doubying it", and now we have "doing the Kenny". Doing the Kenny does not typically result in many second half minutes.
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Theus ( B ) -- showed no reluctance in playing the kids, at least some of the kids, in the season opener (Donte Greene was not even activated, which confused me -- with Brad suspended and Cisco out, that should have left exactly 12 guys including Donte, so...? Is there some rule that for a game to count against a guy's suspension he has to be on the active roster?). Went deep into the bench in the first half -- mysteriously and unnecessarily deep as Kenny Thomas suddenly popped up, before halftime, as our FIFTH big. Few teams play 5 bigs in a game, let alone a half, let alone when a couple of them are really doing well. May have made some defensive adjustments at halftime on Al Jefferson (or Jefferson may have just tired -- did not look to be in great shape). Was flexible about PT after half as well, with Thompson earning the bulk of the PF minutes wiht his superior play. On the other hand showed rather stubborn loyalty to the concept of Kevin as goto guy even in the face of his considerable struggles tonight. Enough loyalty in fact that he may have lost the game because of it. But its the sort of thing that might bear long term fruit even if it resulted in a short term loss (Salmons was the hot hand). If he is serious about having a real frontline of players that can at least pretend to play inside, the performances by Spencer and Jason tonight should by all rights make him go hmmmm.
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