[Grades] Grades v. Warriors 03/24/12

[Bricklayer]

Um...okay. Er...what do you say to that? Er...

well somebody asked about Roadside Attractions as a theme, so maybe I'll give that shot.

Sigh.

Boxscore

Evans ( C+ ) -- kind of an overall shrug of a game for Reke, efficient in the end, but fairly punchless. Despite relative efficiency -- 8-14FG with only 1 TO -- went through stretches where he was just forcing some high degree of difficulty flips that did not have much chance to go in. Had moments of active defense early, but overall seemed a little slow out of the gate, and was making the over help mistake again and again on defense, leaving his guys open on the perimeter while he tried to help IT or MT or Cousins with their own um....unique interpretations of "defense" this time out. Got to the rim several times in the early third and seemed to be heating up, but then overpenetrated with the Warriors waiting for him back there and more critically picked up his forth foul, forcing him to the bench. Hit several easy looking jumpers including the one to finally put us up at the 3:50 mark -- go shot doc dude! Better defense locking up Jenkins late in the game -- when his man has the ball locks in and has less tendency to wander and overhelp. Strong drive to get us back to 1 at the 1:30 mark, and by all rights probably should have had the game winning layup on the break with 15 seconds to go...if our new guy on the 10 day contract hadn't been in there in the final minutes of a tight game and fumbled away the opportunity rather than making the pass.

The Thing, Somewhere in the Arizona Desert -- advertised by billboards for hundreds of miles in every direction since the 1950s, the "Mystery of the Desert" is in fact...well telling you would be no fun. Suffice it to say that its not a shape changing alien able to consume all life on Earth by exactly duplicating its cells and imitating it. Probably...

Greene ( C ) -- got the start with JT out, and was indifferent. Actually when your man puts up monster numbers on his way ot a near triple double (Lee had 22pts 14rebs 9ast) you would normally say you weren't even indifferent, but fact is the Warriros snuck through with fewer than 20min out of their two scrub center types this game, and were smallballing most of the game. Hence Lee did a lot of that damage against Cousins, and Donte's defense on the SFs that took Lee's place across from him was often solid. On the other side of the ball simply stayed out of the way, as you would have barely noticed Donte Greene was on the floor this time. We just bought time with his minutes.

Rock City, Tennessee -- advertised across the MidWest on over 900 barns painted with the "See Rock City" logo, I actually saw this place when I was young. It consists of a large area of privately owned natural beauty, including winding rock gardens, and a high prometory overhead from which its claimed you can see 7 states. That's what stuck in my 8-9yr old brain, although I have real doubts about the claim. Two notes of interest: one, the prometory, called Lookout Mountain, was actually used by both sides in the Civil War, and that is the time the claims of seeing 7 states eminate from. 2) the guy who developed the Rock City concept is also the guy who invented miniature golf. In fact one of his early plans was to put the world's first miniature golf course on top of the mountain.

Cousins ( A ) -- well he's no Derrick Favors or Enes Kanter, but we'll take him. Chewed up the giant hole which is the Warriors middle these days (aside from an odd little first quarter stretch where he was outplayed for a while by some dude they pulled off the street named Mickell Gladness) on his way to a huge 28pts 18reb 5ast 3blk night. In fact until slowing in the 4th, maybe due to fatigue, maybe due to rampant little man dumbness on our team, he was actually on pace for a monstrous 30-20 night. Not finishing after returning in the second, but continued to just pile up the numbers on offense, and in the 3rd we just hitched up and rode him as he banged around, set cutters up with passes, finished +1s with his huge strength advantage etc. Somewhere in there is when the Warriros announcers quit cutting on him and decided they would just pretend the monster tearing up their interior didn't exist and not talk about him instead. Unfortunately on the other side of the ball it was a different story, and if I were the sort of grader who would give a guy who put up 28pts 18rebs 5ast a minus to his A, I might have been tempted. However I am not that sort of grader. Despite the 3 blocks, and several more charges taken (much to the chagrin of the Warriros announcing crew again), did not have a good defensive night on Lee, who he guarded much of the time while the Warriors went small, and who seemed to be constantly slipping behind DeMarcus and getting right to the rim. In addition made a couple of post-foul goaltending mistakes, basically turning 2FTs into +1 opportunities. That will happen sometimes, with shotblockers in particular, but Cousins really isn't one of those and these felt like more of the not using your head variety than the intimidation variety. The big engine slowed in the 4th, and fatigue certainly would have been a legitimate excuse, as would the increasing use of doubles by the Warriors (that DeMarcus has to start recognizing quicker and beating with the pass). But on the other hand there was some definite dumbness/selfishness from the smaller players on the floor that contributed too. John took over as a #1 option(!), we were freaking trying to feed Chuck Hayes in the post, Terrence Wiliams got into his first game and decided well I'm here, I'm going to make the most of it and started forcing etc. Did finish with some good aggressive defense on Lee at the 23 sec mark moving his feet and blocking a shot.

South of the Border, South Carolina -- with a name like South of the Border and a giant sombrero wearing bandido as a mascot, you would naturally expect South of the Border to be somewhere in the Southwest right? Wrong. This famous rest stop/amusement park/hotel/kitsch complex actually got its name by being just south of the North Carolina border along Interstate 95, and traced its initial growth to being a place you could legally buy liquor, right across the border from several "dry" counties in North Carolina. Soon the exaggerated and intentinally cheesy Mexican theme followed, and as the place grew and grew, signs spread for hundreds of miles up and down the Interstate, the small amusement park was added, and a giant 150foot lighted Pedro (that's the bandido) tower that can be seen for miles around was added in the 70s.

 

[Bricklayer]

Thornton ( C- ) -- indifferent offensive start to this one, but of course one of the major issues we have to clean up is that middling isn't middling forus because our guards are getting lit pso badly on defense. Marcus had 6 early points, but the guy across from him (not always his man) had 20 and it was a losing propositon for us. Started the second half in determined fashion if nothing else -- he was going to slaminsie, and he was going to score, and you'd better just get out of the way. Tough physical drives, and came up with 5 offensive rebounds as he used his hops in traffic and tried to finish at the rim. The threes weren't falling and either he just wasn't feeling it or the size of Thompson was causing him issues, and so it was all at the hoop, even if some of it was forced and low percentage. Problem was at the toher end of the floor where he was just getting killed by Thompson on defense in the third. Just so undisicplined and just kep leaving him and leaving him as he bombed us back into the stone age from the 3pt line. Looked more focused after a timeout in the mid 3rd whee maybe one of the coaches got in his face, and amazingly once he actually started guarding him a little, Thompsons's career game actually slowed down. Sat out the bulk of the 4th along with IT in what I can only assume was eventual recognition of the huge defensive problems by our coaches. When returned was cold of course and had no impact in the final minutes, I think missing one shot and that was it.

The Golden Guitar, New South Wales -- America is not the only place that has roads, or roadside attractions. Seem to be prevalent in all the big open countries with car cultures (U.S. Australia, Canada). The Golden Guitar is one in New South Wales, Australia. Sits out in front of a hotel, and every year they have a big country music concert there -- yep, Australia, being the country with the most, well country outside of the U.S., has a country music scene too.

Thomas ( C ) -- size on defense a problem early, and just still can't slow Nate Robinson at all. Been lit up all three matchups against him, but this time at least was either trying to avoid the one on one duel that would freeze his teammates out, or was just not feeling it, as Nate was running roughshod on one end, but IT did not score his first points until the mid-2nd quarter despite playing every minute up until that point (I think Smart was scared to play Jimmer after what happened last time we faced these guys when they just starting calling clearouts against him and attacking him again and again). We seemingly caught a break when Nate went down in a heap after a drive just before half, but not as much of one as you might think as it turned out. In the third IT was kind of like MT, in that he got a little selfish, he forced too much stuff going to the hoop, but enough of it went in that he was making an offensive contribution, for himself at least. On maybe his best sequence he drove, got the +1 opportunity, missed the FT, but raced over to get the offensive rebound off of it, at 5'9", and dished inside to Cousins for the +1 and a 5pt play overall. But the problem again was on the other side. So now 5'8" Nate Robinson isn't there to kill you anymore -- a guy who was almost out of the league last year. Now instead you are faced with rookie combo guard Charles Jenkins who even after having his career game against you last week is still only averaging 2.8ppg as a rookie...and AGAIN you are getting killed. Now you have a problem. And it wans't all about how many points the guys were scoring themselves, it was also about how easily they were just bumping IT and penetrating at will to set up teammates. Smart finally had enough I think, benched IT for nearly the entire 4th, and did not bring him back until 2 minutes remained. IT surprised the Warriors with a great quick burst at the 45 second mark to get to the hoop and cut the lead to 1. But unfortunately the play everybody is going to remember from this one was our final play. Down 1 with a chance to win it and 10 seconds to go, IT isn't being pressured, does a simple little crossover up top...and somehow forgot to collect the ball with his right hand as it just bounced away and right out of bounds. No Warrior anywhere near. Just flat dribbled it out of bounds. We lose. Now if a certain other young player who often plays PG for us had made that error I know it would be a sign that he was lazy, stupid, and should be traded immediately. In IT's case though, he just ****ed up. No way around it. Unfortunately it happens, and could not have happened at a worst time. Not sure he should have had the ball at that time anyway -- has three teammates who have earned A grades in the last three games.

Bedrock City, Arizona -- Ah, this one too takes me back. Been there as a kid. Giant dinosaur slide. Little train around the park. Flintstone cars made out of logs. Dinosaurs, statues of the characters etc. Yabba Dabba Doo!
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Bench

Hayes ( C+ ) -- had little effect defensively in this one as Lee just ignored him, and the rest of the Warriors frontline was a bunch of SFs. More troublingly still wasn't rebounding at all against a team without a frontline. Grabbed all of one on the night. On the other hand again helped with the passing by hitting those backdoor cutters, and hit two shots, including in unlikely fashion the game tying shot in the late 4th. Also took a charge. Then unfortunately he, or we, got stupid, as hey, he'd scored once right? And so in the 4th quarter of a close game there we are intentionally trying to throw it to Chuck Hayes inside, and racking up TOs because of it.

Blue Whale, Catoosa Oklahoma -- once part of a larger roadside site that included a trading post run by a full blooded indian chief and a reptile house, this famous roadside attraction along old Route 66 had fallen into disrepair after the original owners died in 1990. Then the locals organized an all volunteer effeort to restore the landmark, and its still there today.

Whiteside ( B ) -- nice block saving a hoop in the late first. And really looked solid in there, admittedly against nobody in particular, in a 6 minute first half stint. Was boarding, setting picks, generally looking like a basketball player.

Roadside America Miniature Village -- didn't I use this earlier this year for museums? Maybe.Forget. Anyway, story is the same. Some dude wiht way too much time on his hands built an immense model of 8 American villages, all in different time frames, over a huge base, then put walkways around it, then died in 1963. Still there, same as he left it, 50 years later.

 

[Bricklayer]

Salmons ( A- ) -- in and immediately forced one of his 1 on 1 dribble shots. But kept on slowly chugging them up, and sort of in the shadows became our leading scorer in the quarter. Came back in in the late 3rd and picked right back up scoring on a backcut, then a little 1 on 1 move, then a drive and dish to Cousins for the +1. Got off to the shaky start to the 4th, forcing a drive that did not work, giving up penetration which broke our defense and throwing a bad pass toward Greene. But became like our #1 option when Cousins was out of the game late as we rode Salmons, Chuck Hayes, and Terrence Wiliams as far as they could take us. Was this really an A- game? Well given John Salmons this year it was.

Carhenge, a field in Nebraska -- well...its a stretch to call this a roadside attraction as its sitting off in the middle of a wheatfield in Nebraska. But it is a curiosity to say the elast. Stonehenge recreated with the shells of old American automobiles.

Garcia ( C- ) -- not a strong night for Cisco as he coudl not hit his threes, did not take care of the defensive glass as his man ran around him several times, and only shot 2-7. On one bizarre play in the second half made a bad mistake for some reason trying to chase a rebound and throw it back in under our basket even though it had been an airball and we would have had it if he had just let it go. Gave the Warriors another shot, which they thankfully missed (the Warriors announcers, who are tools, concluded that he was obviously trying to pad his rebounding stats -- Francisoc Garcia. A player they should know by now). As for the good, well, was moving well without the ball. and both his buckets came off of the backcuts which have become a much larger part of our offense in the last month. Defense? Well better than the starters at least.

World's Largest Dinosaur, Middle of Nowhere, Alberta -- stuck out in the middle of absolutely nowhere, Alberta, this 150foot, 65 ton supersized TRex is one of the attractiosn of the Royal Tyrell Paleontology Museum, which despite being in the middle of nowhere (about 100miles outside Calgary) is a popular tourist attraction. The MegaRex is hollow and the open mouth is actually a sightseeing platform to view the surroudning nothingness all the way to the horizon.

Williams ( B ) -- and now for hte most interesting and unlikely grade of the night. Terrence Williams, signed to a 10day contract 2 days ago, is suddenly inserted into a tight game (Golden State had a 4pt lead) in the 4th quarter. Better yet he was initially brought in as a 6'6" PF, which...stop. So what did we learn from this ultimate in random substitutions? Well, Terrence ain't shy for one. there was no carefully shuffling about trying not to make a mistake, no deferring to vets or major players on the team, this was I am Terrence Hear Me roar! and Occassionally Cough and Sputter! stuff. Was active on both ends. Too active really at times as the Terrence Williams show sometimes spun out of control. Nonetheless, very atheltic, and had a very strong take at the 4:45 mark to cut the lead to 2. But somehwo Smart leaves the 10 day contract guy in right through the stretch as we are trying to win. He has one turnove, then on what could have been our final defensive possession, made a great play blocking the Thompson shot in the corner (nice to have a full sized defender guarding him there), but then the yang side of it as he raced out on the break and turned it over for the killer. Reke was to his right too, so was Klay Thompson -- not an automatic pass. But certainly you have to do better than blowing a break opprotunity and fumbling it out of bounds. Anyway, you can't castigate the 10day contract guy thrown ito the fire like this too mcuh, but geez, we ahd two great chaces to win this, and just made two real bad plays. Overall? We saw the athleticism, defensive potential, and aggressiveness of this player that made him a lottery pick. We also saw the dumbness of a young player, and we've seen a lot of that this year. Promising debut.

Trees of Mystery, Klamath, CA -- fronted by giant statues of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe. A 30 foot tall lumberjack is perhaps an ironic choice of mascots for a roaside attraction celebrating old trees.

 

[Tetsujin]

So I think we can all agree that it was TyBust's fault that IT dribbled the ball off his foot.

 

[rainmaker]

I wonder, and am a tad bit worried, that this is now twice Smart has gone away from Cuz/Reke/MT at the end, and then come out in the media afterwards and say, well, I don't have a closer. Well you don't at a Kobe level, but you have three guys who've hit game winners at this level and you're not giving them a chance. MT hit a winner in this building late last season!

My worry, is how do our big 3 take this type of talk? F up their rotations, make an effort not to go to them at the end, as he didn't call a timeout and went to IT twice with the same iso play, and then say afterwards you basically don't have another option. Uh, that is a great way to lose the support of your best players. You think Cuz/Reke/MT don't think they can hit a game winner, and are happy their coach has now twice gone away from all three and then says publicly they basically aren't an option at the end?

You lose with your best players, not a guy on a 10 day(who I don't blame for being in that situation) or a cold IT, who at best is our 4th best player. Great way to lose your big 3. Keep it up coach.

As I brought up last week, a good coach can implement IT/MT/Reke into an offense and play them to their strengths. Yet Reke starts again, and Smart just seemed completely confused on how to use those three. Didn't even know how to use IT/MT the last 6 mins. Inexscusable imo.

 

[kingsnation]

One of the most impressive things about tonight was John Salmons. He played great defense and had clutch offense. He played awesome.

 

[Glenn]

I'll have to think about this awhile but I feel fairly secure when Salmons is the lead guard at the end of games. Maybe it's simply a height and experience issue. I feel more secure that he will do the right thing. Not necessarily the most heroic or exciting thing but the right thing. Maybe I've lost my mind. Being a Kings fan will do that to ya.

 

[rainmaker]

I'll have to think about this awhile but I feel fairly secure when Salmons is the lead guard at the end of games. Maybe it's simply a height and experience issue. I feel more secure that he will do the right thing. Not necessarily the most heroic or exciting thing but the right thing. Maybe I've lost my mind. Being a Kings fan will do that to ya.

That's not a bad point, if he is looking for MT/Reke coming off screens, or Cuz in the post. But when Smart isn't running plays to get those three the ball, and two aren't even in the game?

 

[Kingster]

For me the story of the game was Williams. He was the best defensive player on the floor tonight. Very physical and quick. I hope that he has the maturity to be a team player because if he has matured he could really help this team. Until he came into the game the Kings were looking unathletic and being outquicked. His presence was felt immediately.

The rest of the game was one of mistakes. Too many. They continue to look like a very young team, which of course they are. I'm hoping that next year, with a full preseason Smart can make some big inroads to cut down the miscues.

 

[Fear the Putin]

we is stupid

 

[pshn80]

If Smart played Williams for defense, he forgot to tell him to leave the offense to others. He's quick enough but didn't finish in a couple spots where others would.

 

[Kings Faithful]

I wonder what its like to be the spurs and never make a mistake. I bet its awesome.

 

[JB_kings]

Smart does chase the matchup game a little too hard and it results in some rather puzzling lineups. But I won't argue with the man if I had to watch a bunch of my regular guys absolutely refuse to play adequate defense for too long. I too would be frustrated enough to throw an athletic guy out there who will stick to a man like glue. And sure enough when Klay had T-Will in his grill, he struggled. I like Thornton, but I'm ready to join those who think he's our future 6th man scorer off the bench. He just doesn't want to put his heart into playing defense. MT and the Fish would make a nice backcourt off the bench. Now about that starting SF spot...

 

[Spok22]

Glad we lost this game. Kings reverted back to their old me-first style of play. Plus Keith Smart amazed even me today with his rotations. T-Will coming in for the first time in the 4th, when he hasnt even played a single game with our team yet? Not so smart today. LOL.

O and smart. We have 3 closers on our team and i don't think its very difficult to figure them out.

 

[Tetsujin]

Glad we lost this game. Kings reverted back to their old me-first style of play. Plus Keith Smart amazed even me today with his rotations. T-Will coming in for the first time in the 4th, when he hasnt even played a single game with our team yet? Not so smart today. LOL.

O and smart. We have 3 closers on our team and i don't think its very difficult to figure them out.

I dunno, his defense actually helped keep us in the game unlike IT and MT's staunch refusal to really play any tonight.

 

[mac]

This was kind of a team loss ... Not really any one player's fault in particular. Of course you have that UGHH plays by IT and T-will at the end, but at the same time they contributed in other ways so it isn't fair to just pin the blame on them.

What I did find funny however, was how the Warriors announcers were saying we didn't have IT in the game for a big part of the 4th because Charles Jenkins was eating him alive. Just found that amusing in comparison to what some posters here say about IT having no problems guarding the top PGs in the league in a 7 game playoff series. I'm not saying either side is right, it's just funny to have such differing views. I mean.. Charles Jenkins! lol.

Tyreke was forcing the offense in this game, but I'm sure many of you were pleased with his 2 or 3 outside shots. Looked much much better (and they went in!)

 

[Tetsujin]

This was kind of a team loss ... Not really any one player's fault in particular. Of course you have that UGHH plays by IT and T-will at the end, but at the same time they contributed in other ways so it isn't fair to just pin the blame on them.

What I did find funny however, was how the Warriors announcers were saying we didn't have IT in the game for a big part of the 4th because Charles Jenkins was eating him alive. Just found that amusing in comparison to what some posters here say about IT having no problems guarding the top PGs in the league in a 7 game playoff series. I'm not saying either side is right, it's just funny to have such differing views. I mean.. Charles Jenkins! lol.

Tyreke was forcing the offense in this game, but I'm sure many of you were pleased with his 2 or 3 outside shots. Looked much much better (and they went in!)

Charles Jenkins = the next Chris Paul

 

[Spok22]

I dunno, his defense actually helped keep us in the game unlike IT and MT's staunch refusal to really play any tonight.

Agreed. But im talking more about the offensive side. Messed up a couple of fast breaks we should have scored on.

 

[Kingster]

If Smart played Williams for defense, he forgot to tell him to leave the offense to others. He's quick enough but didn't finish in a couple spots where others would.

Williams is an excellent finisher around the rim. He has weaknesses in other areas like outside shooting. He got thrown into the game in the fourth quarter after a day of practice, which is a very tough spot to be in. As he gets more comfortable with the team, his performance on both ends of the floor should improve.

 

[pshn80]

Despite mistakes and lapses, this game falls in my 'good' game category making it, what, five in a row? Something like that. Certainly we are on a different plateau than we had been. Keep it up, guys, and get better.

 

[VF21]

Despite mistakes and lapses, this game falls in my 'good' game category making it, what, five in a row? Something like that. Certainly we are on a different plateau than we had been. Keep it up, guys, and get better.

I agree but I'm pretty sure we'll be outnumbered. Doesn't bother me too much any more, however. I'm back to watching games and enjoying them, something that hadn't been happening that much in the past couple of years.

 

[Spok22]

You guys must be fans no defense one on one halfcourt basketball then.

 

[Bricklayer]

You guys must be fans no defense one on one halfcourt basketball then.

Twas another 23assists and 108 points for us.

The no defense certainly applies.

 

[The_Jamal]

I'd like to see T-Will get a few more minutes next game. He actually looked like he gave a hoot on that end of the floor

 

[Tetsujin]

I'd like to see T-Will get a few more minutes next game. He actually looked like he gave a hoot on that end of the floor

What is this defense that you speak of?

 

[kingjatt]

We kinda started to slow them down with a full size lineup, wow what a concept.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

We kinda started to slow them down with a full size lineup, wow what a concept.

I imagine not having JT played an obvious roll in smallball.

 

[Gary]

You guys must be fans no defense one on one halfcourt basketball then.

We could have slowed the pace of the game WAYYYYYYY down and the score would have been 96-89 or something closer to resembling that we have an actual defense if you wanted to?

 

[William Blake]

It's no use slowing the pace down if your opponent still shoots at 50%.

 

[Henkel]

It's no use slowing the pace down if your opponent still shoots at 50%.

A concept some people around here can't seem to grasp.