Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Not too often your opponent can have three players combine for 89 points between them, and you still win, but you just never know with us and we'll take it any way we can get it. We even got enough all around contributions from enough people that I can run a real "Kings player of the game poll" without smoke and mirrors. Woot woot.
Best passing we've seen from these guys in a while, adn is often the case with us, its hard to explain given it was pretty much the same crew, with one notably selfish addition in MT, that was out there for the recent debacles. So...hey, whatever. Worked tonight.
P.S. Welcome back Marcus.
Boxscore
Stats: 35min 17pts (6-13, 0-1, 5-6) 6reb 5ast 1stl 1blk 1TO
Salmons ( B ) -- was once again setting people up in the early minutes, and then began to get going himself offensively as the first quarter went along and it became apparent this was going to be a shootout. Tought it was just going to be an aberrant burst when he disappeared therafter, but got a hoop on the break in the early third to break into double figures and was even consenting to grab a few rebounds this time. After doing nothing in the first half, Harrison Barnes came alive in the third the other way and was getting by John for a stretch, but all the Warriros' offensive fireworks were coming from elsewhere -- specifically from David Lee and hen anybody lucky enough to be matched up against our all mini-chucker backcourt tonight. down the stretch was returned to the game for defensive purposes I think, as he was alarmingly the only little player on the team capable of playing any defense at all by that point -- Reke was out, Cisco was out, Johnson...was deemed unplayable and isn't little, so Curry and Jack were going absolutley bananas against a backcourt of Aaron Brooks, Marcus Thornton, Jimmer Fredette, and Isaiah Thomas. Oy vey. Unfortunately while I thought the sub was the right call given that the Warriros were on pace to score about 150 if we didn't find some way to slow them down, offensively John was pissing me off, missing a wide open three at the 3:30 mark that we needed, and then forcing and forcing some more bad 1 on 1 dribble around shots...until suddenly he made what could well have been a game changing play with one of those shots as our veteran was very determinedly dribbling around and dribbling around and forcing his offense in an intentional effort to make Stephen Curry play defense on him. And as Stephen Curry is such a bad defender he should really come join our own mini-chucker crew, he ended up fouling John and fouling out in the process with 2:30 left ot go. Which was not an accident -- can't remember the last time we were smart and went after an opponent in foul trouble like that. And given that Curry had already poured in 32pts on none of our minis has showed any ability to contain him at all, who knows, maybe that one play sealed this victory.
Stats: 35min 10pts (5-14, 0-0, 0-0) 15reb 3ast 0stl 3blk 0TO
Thompson ( B+ ) -- very effective with his size early as he punished the Warriors again inside as he has seemed ot do so often in his career. Was the dominant rebounder in the game for his minutes out there, nearly doubling up any other player and singlehandedly keeping us in it on the glass with Boogie not rebounding at all until very late in this one. One of many guys not able to slow down Lee, but man was he really not able to slow him down, as in Lee had 20 by halftime on him. Came up with several help blocks and has been doing better at that lately, but the inability to contain Lee led directly to his having to watch the close of this from the bench as Chuck Hayes ran the PF late for defenseive purposes. Could really have cost us as all night long we were completly unable to rebound without JT out there, but fortunately Cuz woke up on the glass just in time to help seal it.
Stats: 38min 24pts (5-12, 0-0, 14-18) 7reb 5ast 2stl 1blk 5TO
Cousins ( B ) -- more luck outside than in early in the game and was very quiet as our perimeter players and theirs engaged in an And1 tournament. But there was an unselfish tinge to his quiet, and he made a beautiful bounce pass on the move on the break to Thronton for the layup Started
getting going offensively late in the half after being largely stonewalled by Festus Ezili in the early going. Just resorted to slamming into Ezili untilt he refs called the poor guy for a foul for preventing a hoop -- an obvious no no in a game like this one. So DeMarcus began to get very aggressive, and the Warriors -- remember the same team that intentionally fouled Dwight Howrd to 30+ FTs last year -- seemed to have a strategy of hitting him hard andoften to see if they could get him to lose his cool. Or at least shoot FTs like Dwight. Boogie did neither. Funny thing was, or it would not have been so funny if we had lost, but still the odd thing was despite the very phsycial work inside, Boiogie was being checked off the galss all ngiht long. He only had 2 rebounds midways through the 4th quarter as JT was having to do all the glasswork on his own. On the other hand, as hinted above, Boogie was a very willing passer tonight, drawing attempt and finding open guys. That should be there every night for him, he has the skills. But was for a night at least. Still, between his not forcing the early action and nto getting ont he glass, this was goign to be a fairly mediocre gradeuntil the Warriros made the mistake of tryign to smallball on us. One of the reasons that the idea of DeMarcus as PF continues to intrigue is that when he gets a little guy on him, he jus goes to work and overwhlems them. Soit was in this game, when the Warriors went small and told Carl Landry to guard Cuz in the third. You remember Landry's defense from hsi tiem wiht us? Yeah, so good luck with that. The big guy immediately went to work and just started overpowering him, posting him, shooting over him etc. as he blew up on offense. Of course with our little chuckers all wnating to get up theri own stuff we were sometimes stupid and did not ride that matchup as hard as we could have, but Boogie still truned dominant. On one end -- on the other Landry began attacking him back the other way in the 4th, and Boogie was no more able to stop him than he was able to stop Boogie. With Jason out and Hayes in for dfense on Lee, the big guy picked a good time to finally come alive on the glass down the stretch of the game, inclduing a saving offensive rebound off a missed FT after he got fouled and missed both FTs. Got a chance at redemption and helped seal it wiht 2 FTs off the intetional foul at the 21 second mark.
Stats: 11min 5pts (1-1, 1-1, 2-2) 1reb 3ast 0stl 1blk 0TO
Garcia ( INC ) -- was playing pretty well in the early going. Got a three off of good ball movement. Made a nice pass inside to Brooks for a layup as Cisco helped estbalish an early passing focus iin this one that jsut has not been there. Klay Thompson was quiet the other way. But got upended flying on defense trying to keep it that way, and took a hard fall out of the air late in the half that finished his night. Dide not return after the break, and given that he landed on his wrist and back, and moves like he's 60 even during the best of tiems, we'll have to see about his availability for the next one.
Stats: 30min 23pts (9-12, 3-3, 2-2) 2reb 5ast 2stl 0blk 1TO
Brooks ( A- ) -- played maybe his best game as a King, getting silly hot and staying that way as he and Curry engaged in a game long playground pissing match contest. Aaron would drain a three, so Curry would race back the other way and drain a three over him in return. So Brooks would get the ball and race back the other way, blow by Curry to the hoop for himself or to set up a teammate. And then the Warrriors would quickly inbound it to Curry who would race the other way....and just etc. But managed to play like that with relatively few errors -- his only turnover of the game came early when the Warriors trapped him and he threw a wild wobbler out toward the top of the circle that just neded up getting picked off and triggering the Warriors' break. Came up with a tough little board in there to close a Warriors break late in the half, and stayed hot after half, engaging in a festy battle with Curry and Jack and using his quickness to blow by them. Came up huge in the final minutes, getting a good strip diving down to help on Lee at the 2:00 mark, draining a huge three a few seconds later, and then setting up Thornton for the backbreaking three at the 1:00 mark on a classic drive and dish. I cannot and will not give a guy a flat A who gets torched on defense like this, but offensively he was great and hsi big play was obviosuly critical to us pulling this one out.
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