Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Welcome to summer league!
Amusing, but that weren't basketball.
Theme = Some of Kevin's Illustrious Fellows in the 50 Point Club
Nocioni ( C+ ) -- perhaps a little too interestred in playing real basketball in the early going of this one, and so got into quick foul trouble and had to watch while everybody else ran up and down the floor like it was rec league. Got posterized by an impressive Anthony Randolph in the early second quarter, first when the kid muscled a board away from him for a follow, and then when the kid folowed that on the next possession with a huge flying dunk. In fact was pretty much being schooled by Randolph right through the mid third quartrer When Noc suddenly came to life, found a way to use his muscle inside, and got Randolph to the bench with foul trouble (Nellie did the rest -- Randolph had racked up 17pts and 10rebs on 7-9 shooting in only 19 minutes of action, but never got to see the floor again). Despite some impressive moments of using his size (remember, to the Warriors anybody over 6'3" is a monstrous figure) to batter the Warriors inside, did not really cause any consistent problems for the Warriors and finally fouled out when he got beat for a 3pt play to tie the game back up with 48 seconds to go in OT.
Dana Barros (scored 50pts on 3/14/95)
Career Stats: 10.9pts 1.9reb 3.3ast
Dana Barros was the ultimate one hit wonder. Not the 50pt game in particular, although that was part of it back in 1995. But rather his whole career. A backup PG known for his 3pt shooting, he was suddenly thrust into a starting role in Phbiladelphia, averaged 13pts and 5ast in the first year wiht the Sixers, and then exploded for 20pts 7ast and an All Star berth in yr 2. Thereafter, his job done, he rapidly returned to just being Dana Barros, backup PG, and never averaged more than 13pts or 4.2 ast for the remainder of his career. It would be as if Beno suddenly exploded next year and outperformed Deron and Parker for an All Star berth, and then jsut as suddenly returned to just being Beno.
Thompson ( A- ) -- not surprsingly able to dominate the glass early, but was only sporadically noticeable until the early 4th, when he began to really use his size advantage to dominate in around the paint. After the third was largely the only big we played as Natt responded to some soft play by Spencer by getting sucked into the smallball trap, and trhere were times when Noc was playing "center" for us. Finally fouled out in OT after he grabbed Kevin's bricked 3pt attempt to win it, missed the follow, then fouled Turisaf going after it again. Grabbed a career high 19 rebounds on the night, which is obviously a big impressive number and earned him this grade. But has to be tempered a bit by the game that was being played -- in a 143-141 chuckfest there are a ridiculous number of boards to be had, an the man he was matched with for much of the night, the less than spectacular Rony Turiaf, had 13 as well.
Tony Delk (scored 53pts on 1/2/01 (OT))
Career Stats: 9.1pts 2.5reb 1.9ast
Such a famous case that we named an award after him for it, Delk dropped 53 on us in apparent revenge the season after we let him go and replaced him with BJax. On the season he averaged all of 12.3ppg on .415 shooting, and during his career, all of 9.1.
Hawes ( C ) -- for Spencer's sake I am going to chalk this one up to inexperience rather than softness, but Spencer fell all too easily into Nellie's trap. Was able to easily control the glass early with no Biedrins available, and had 6 of his 7 rebounds in the game in the first quarter. Most of them were offensive where there was nobody of any height to check him off the boards. But he unfortunately got caught up in the Warriors game and drifted further and furtehr out, taking, and canning three three in the first half. And hey, he hit them. But he was at the three point line at 7 feet tall like Nellie's old center Raef LaFrentz, the rebounding went away, and he did not remotely punish the Warriors inside. In fact he did no damage at all except from the 3pt line. Lack of strength on display in the early 3rd as he was repeatedly unable to take advantage of 6'7" SG/SF Azubuike guarding him in the post. Not able to grab boards either, and got pulled so we could smallball with the Warriors. Was finally back in at the end of the OT, and missed the tip follow attempt of Beno's final shot.
Willie Burton (scored 53pts on 12/13/93)
Career Stats: 10.3pts 2.9reb 1.2ast
Willie Burton was an entirely mediocre SG/SF during the early 90s. A player maybe on Cisco's level or a little less. And then he had a revenge game, and a revenge season. A 10.3ppg career scorer, he suddenly exploded with 53 against his former team (the Heat) the year after they traded him. Not only did he average a career high 15.3pts that year, but after never having hit more than six 3pts in a season in his first four years, he all of a sudden started bombing them and canned 106 in his career year. That was it though. He did not even play the next year and enver averaged more than 6.2ppg in any season of his remaining career.
Martin ( A ) -- and of course obviously the story of the night with his first career 50pt game (albeit in OT), and Kevin finally having one of these games against a team that has always seemed tailor made for Kevin's open court preferences, but against whom he has not always put up monster numbers. And you drop 50 that just about has to be an A no matter who you are. Yet I withheld the "+" for reasons I'll get into. Had a 19 point first quarter with everything falling as there was absolutely, completely, nothing even remotely resembling defense being played, and Kevin was largely being checked by Jamal Crawford, a longtime veteran of the no defense squad. Was drawing a ton of fouls too, and in the early going some of them were of the cheap variety. In fact the Warriors', and their fans', response to all the fouls really defined the game before half, as they were absolutely howling, picked up 4 technical fouls, and the refs needed security to make it into halftime in one piece. Slowed down in the second quarter and "only" had 25 at the half. Crawford, himself a multiple time 50pt scorer, was largely ineffective back the other way as Kevin dominated the matchup. But when it was Ellis instead that he was checking, the battle was much more even. Monta forced a lot, but on the night ended up with 42pts himself. Kevin meanwhile had 34 points by the mid third, largely on 22 FTs with the Warriors and their crowd growingly increasingly incensed, even on the ones he actually earned (I think there was only one shaky call in the third), and was up to 39 by the end of the quarter. Slowly chipped toward the 50pt night in the 4th but may have been running out of steam and would not have made it without the OT. And here is how a 50pt game lost that plus -- not that it took OT to get it, but that even on this night, on a career night for Kevin, he choked. Badly. Again. And that starts to get alarming when you can't doi it even on the best scoring night of your career. Almost threw the game away with two bad traveling turnovers in the final 3 minutes of regulation, the second of which involved him wide open for a three on the semi-break and just mysteriously catching the ball, and basically walking up to the 3pt line -- 4 steps at least, maybe 5, and there was nobody remotely close to him. Beno saved the game for the OT, and that let Kevin finally reach his 50 on a wide open three in the OT after Turiaf went down with Thompson falling on his head, leaving the Warriors playing 4 on 5. But then missed the wide open corner 3ptr to win the game in OT with 12 seconds to go (leading to Jason fouling out trying to get the follow), and came back on our next attempt with us down only 1, and again missed the shot on a called play out of the timeout. On our last last gasp (we were playing the foul game to extend the final seconds) Natt just said screw it and went with Beno instead, leaving Kevin with a 50pt night, but his clutch credentials still very much in question.
Jamaal Crawford (three time 50pt scorer (52, 50, 50))
Career Stats: 15.1pts 2.7reb 4.2ast
I thought the appropriate selection here as he was the man guarding Kevin and knows a thing or two about scoring 50 (and letting people score as well). Crawford is a good scorer obviously. A 15ppg guy who averaged over 20 last year for the first time, and might be there again in Nellie's junkball system if Nellie were not screwing with his head and tanking or whatever it is that he is doing over there. But he is no 50pt scorer, let alone a 3x 50pt scorer. Somebody looking back at the 50pt game list 30 years from now is going to see all those 50pt games and think he must have been one of the premiere scorers of his era, when in fact all he is is a streak shooter who can get really hot from time to time.
Amusing, but that weren't basketball.
Theme = Some of Kevin's Illustrious Fellows in the 50 Point Club
Nocioni ( C+ ) -- perhaps a little too interestred in playing real basketball in the early going of this one, and so got into quick foul trouble and had to watch while everybody else ran up and down the floor like it was rec league. Got posterized by an impressive Anthony Randolph in the early second quarter, first when the kid muscled a board away from him for a follow, and then when the kid folowed that on the next possession with a huge flying dunk. In fact was pretty much being schooled by Randolph right through the mid third quartrer When Noc suddenly came to life, found a way to use his muscle inside, and got Randolph to the bench with foul trouble (Nellie did the rest -- Randolph had racked up 17pts and 10rebs on 7-9 shooting in only 19 minutes of action, but never got to see the floor again). Despite some impressive moments of using his size (remember, to the Warriors anybody over 6'3" is a monstrous figure) to batter the Warriors inside, did not really cause any consistent problems for the Warriors and finally fouled out when he got beat for a 3pt play to tie the game back up with 48 seconds to go in OT.
Dana Barros (scored 50pts on 3/14/95)
Career Stats: 10.9pts 1.9reb 3.3ast
Dana Barros was the ultimate one hit wonder. Not the 50pt game in particular, although that was part of it back in 1995. But rather his whole career. A backup PG known for his 3pt shooting, he was suddenly thrust into a starting role in Phbiladelphia, averaged 13pts and 5ast in the first year wiht the Sixers, and then exploded for 20pts 7ast and an All Star berth in yr 2. Thereafter, his job done, he rapidly returned to just being Dana Barros, backup PG, and never averaged more than 13pts or 4.2 ast for the remainder of his career. It would be as if Beno suddenly exploded next year and outperformed Deron and Parker for an All Star berth, and then jsut as suddenly returned to just being Beno.
Thompson ( A- ) -- not surprsingly able to dominate the glass early, but was only sporadically noticeable until the early 4th, when he began to really use his size advantage to dominate in around the paint. After the third was largely the only big we played as Natt responded to some soft play by Spencer by getting sucked into the smallball trap, and trhere were times when Noc was playing "center" for us. Finally fouled out in OT after he grabbed Kevin's bricked 3pt attempt to win it, missed the follow, then fouled Turisaf going after it again. Grabbed a career high 19 rebounds on the night, which is obviously a big impressive number and earned him this grade. But has to be tempered a bit by the game that was being played -- in a 143-141 chuckfest there are a ridiculous number of boards to be had, an the man he was matched with for much of the night, the less than spectacular Rony Turiaf, had 13 as well.
Tony Delk (scored 53pts on 1/2/01 (OT))
Career Stats: 9.1pts 2.5reb 1.9ast
Such a famous case that we named an award after him for it, Delk dropped 53 on us in apparent revenge the season after we let him go and replaced him with BJax. On the season he averaged all of 12.3ppg on .415 shooting, and during his career, all of 9.1.
Hawes ( C ) -- for Spencer's sake I am going to chalk this one up to inexperience rather than softness, but Spencer fell all too easily into Nellie's trap. Was able to easily control the glass early with no Biedrins available, and had 6 of his 7 rebounds in the game in the first quarter. Most of them were offensive where there was nobody of any height to check him off the boards. But he unfortunately got caught up in the Warriors game and drifted further and furtehr out, taking, and canning three three in the first half. And hey, he hit them. But he was at the three point line at 7 feet tall like Nellie's old center Raef LaFrentz, the rebounding went away, and he did not remotely punish the Warriors inside. In fact he did no damage at all except from the 3pt line. Lack of strength on display in the early 3rd as he was repeatedly unable to take advantage of 6'7" SG/SF Azubuike guarding him in the post. Not able to grab boards either, and got pulled so we could smallball with the Warriors. Was finally back in at the end of the OT, and missed the tip follow attempt of Beno's final shot.
Willie Burton (scored 53pts on 12/13/93)
Career Stats: 10.3pts 2.9reb 1.2ast
Willie Burton was an entirely mediocre SG/SF during the early 90s. A player maybe on Cisco's level or a little less. And then he had a revenge game, and a revenge season. A 10.3ppg career scorer, he suddenly exploded with 53 against his former team (the Heat) the year after they traded him. Not only did he average a career high 15.3pts that year, but after never having hit more than six 3pts in a season in his first four years, he all of a sudden started bombing them and canned 106 in his career year. That was it though. He did not even play the next year and enver averaged more than 6.2ppg in any season of his remaining career.
Martin ( A ) -- and of course obviously the story of the night with his first career 50pt game (albeit in OT), and Kevin finally having one of these games against a team that has always seemed tailor made for Kevin's open court preferences, but against whom he has not always put up monster numbers. And you drop 50 that just about has to be an A no matter who you are. Yet I withheld the "+" for reasons I'll get into. Had a 19 point first quarter with everything falling as there was absolutely, completely, nothing even remotely resembling defense being played, and Kevin was largely being checked by Jamal Crawford, a longtime veteran of the no defense squad. Was drawing a ton of fouls too, and in the early going some of them were of the cheap variety. In fact the Warriors', and their fans', response to all the fouls really defined the game before half, as they were absolutely howling, picked up 4 technical fouls, and the refs needed security to make it into halftime in one piece. Slowed down in the second quarter and "only" had 25 at the half. Crawford, himself a multiple time 50pt scorer, was largely ineffective back the other way as Kevin dominated the matchup. But when it was Ellis instead that he was checking, the battle was much more even. Monta forced a lot, but on the night ended up with 42pts himself. Kevin meanwhile had 34 points by the mid third, largely on 22 FTs with the Warriors and their crowd growingly increasingly incensed, even on the ones he actually earned (I think there was only one shaky call in the third), and was up to 39 by the end of the quarter. Slowly chipped toward the 50pt night in the 4th but may have been running out of steam and would not have made it without the OT. And here is how a 50pt game lost that plus -- not that it took OT to get it, but that even on this night, on a career night for Kevin, he choked. Badly. Again. And that starts to get alarming when you can't doi it even on the best scoring night of your career. Almost threw the game away with two bad traveling turnovers in the final 3 minutes of regulation, the second of which involved him wide open for a three on the semi-break and just mysteriously catching the ball, and basically walking up to the 3pt line -- 4 steps at least, maybe 5, and there was nobody remotely close to him. Beno saved the game for the OT, and that let Kevin finally reach his 50 on a wide open three in the OT after Turiaf went down with Thompson falling on his head, leaving the Warriors playing 4 on 5. But then missed the wide open corner 3ptr to win the game in OT with 12 seconds to go (leading to Jason fouling out trying to get the follow), and came back on our next attempt with us down only 1, and again missed the shot on a called play out of the timeout. On our last last gasp (we were playing the foul game to extend the final seconds) Natt just said screw it and went with Beno instead, leaving Kevin with a 50pt night, but his clutch credentials still very much in question.
Jamaal Crawford (three time 50pt scorer (52, 50, 50))
Career Stats: 15.1pts 2.7reb 4.2ast
I thought the appropriate selection here as he was the man guarding Kevin and knows a thing or two about scoring 50 (and letting people score as well). Crawford is a good scorer obviously. A 15ppg guy who averaged over 20 last year for the first time, and might be there again in Nellie's junkball system if Nellie were not screwing with his head and tanking or whatever it is that he is doing over there. But he is no 50pt scorer, let alone a 3x 50pt scorer. Somebody looking back at the 50pt game list 30 years from now is going to see all those 50pt games and think he must have been one of the premiere scorers of his era, when in fact all he is is a streak shooter who can get really hot from time to time.
Last edited:
