Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Believe it or not, a better team game was played tonight, at least for a half. However the lesson to be taken away is that we simply aren't going to score and aren't going to win if our starting backourt isn't filling it up. You could throw Cousins in as well, but his thing was a little different, as he has a history of problems against long shotblockers, and did again tonight.
BTW, Thornton got absolutely SMOKED by Ridnour, on both sides of the ball believe it or not. Should seriously be embarrassed about it. Also raises a question I haven't really paid attention to before: could his prolific scoring be due to his quickness advantage over bigger 2s? And if so can a quick PG cause him problems?
Alright, stretching here, but since this was kind of a bad sequel, Theme = Bad Movie Sequels.
Boxscore
Salmons ( C ) -- ok, well, truth was that Salmons played better in some ways, and problematically in others. Chicken and egg thign here, but for whatever reason he was a bigger part of the offense for whatever reasno. So big in fact that a healthy percentage of our called plays out of timeouts were run for Salmons, and we appeared to have a specific iso set just for John. No, really, I do not kid. And thing is, finally elevated to the primary option role which he knows he has always deserved, John had some moments taking advantage of Wes Johnson, who has been almost as bad as John (apparently has hit 2 of his lat 25 threes). Of course the problem is that if you call John's number, it never really occurs to him that maybe he could draw some attention and pass the ball. So he had hits. And then he had 1 on team forces into the teeth of the defense, and either way the ball is completely stopped. And while Johnson is 2 of his last 25 from 3, i think John is now 0 for his last 27, as he once again bricked them all and apparently has issued a public statement flatly refusing to hit an open corner three, no matter how nicely set up, until he is guaranteed at least 15 shots a game. Bricked one of those at the end of the first quarter that should have made the lead 1, but instead led to a Wolves breakout to push it out to 6. Had another with nobody within 10 feet in crunchtime. Nothing. With all our main gusy struggling, was reinserted in the early 4th to try to tide us over until Reke and Thornton got back, but was out of synch with a bench crew experimenting with that newfangled passing stuff. Did find Cisco in the corner for a late thre, and here's where we're at with John that an 11pt 3reb 3ast game on sub 40% shooting is one of his better ones in recent memory.
The Legend of Zorro (2005) -- 1998's The Mask of Zorro was actually a decent light action flick. Fell apart a bit late, but Catherine Zeta Jones was at her hotness peak, so it all balanced out. 7 years later (never a good sign when it takes so long) along came a sequel nobody particularly was calling for, except now the principle characters are squabbling, whatever charm there is is gone, the cheese is high, and added on top is one of those Hollywood-only kids who simply must die. Not a scene goes by that he does not completely ruin, and they weren't great scenes to start with.
Hickson ( C- ) -- started off the game pretty well, scoring most of his points in his early stint, and helping Love to have an ugly first half. But got weaker the loinger this one went. Got undisciplined on is Love defense in the third, and unlike similar mistakes in the first half, after hafl Love took advantage and began to rather unimpressively rack up his typical big numbers. Not being a good reciever for Tyreke, missing shots that were sent up and fumbling balls down the stretch of the 4th. While the obvious guy to replace in a lineup shakeup is Salmons, there is a second move that could be made, and that is moving Jt into the starting lineup in place of Hickson. JT who both Cousins and Reke are familiar with and work well with as a roleplayer, while JJ is on and off and seemingly constantly searching for the right tone to his game.
Ocean's 12 (2004) -- the Clooney/Pitt remake of the original Brat Pack's Ocean's 11 was of course a blockbuster. A fun, swaggering caper flick with more style and more star power than you could shake a stick at. A sequel seemed natural, although from the beginning the plot was going to be artifical given the first one's premise. that the sequel could go so far sideways though was a major disapointment. The plot was a mess, but the issues went beyond that. Stuck with a huge array of characters from the first movie, and now trying to add in even more to keep things fresh, many of them were given inconsequential makework roles by the plot just so that they could have somethign to do. Meanwhile the main characters/actors got kind of lazy and smug. Rather than swagger you got self-satisfied smirks as the whole thing seemed more party for the cast than movie involving the characters. In the end it ended up all attitude and no substance as eveybody forgot just how mcuh of the enjoyment of a caper flick is tight clever plotting.
Cousins ( C ) -- if you didn't see the game this one would be hard to tell from the numbers, but basically what happened here is for the 3rd straight games since DeMarcus went post beast in Toronto he has gotten his butt kicked inside, and this time he it was Darko freakin' Milicic who modest numbers aside, smothered, blocked, or stripped DeMarcus on everything he tried to do inside and so tramuatized him that for the rest of the game he went into full Hawesesque retreat mode with his skirts raised up off his ankles. Knocked down several long jumpers from out there and thus gave the moderately "efficicent" statline. But being an efficient jumpshooting center is not the way to make any sort of impact. Was notably more active as a passer in this one, early on trying several impossible passes for turnovers, and later notching several good assists. That's a good signmostly, unless its going to be accompanies by the Haweslite race out to the perimete. Almost makes you wonder if we once again gave him new directions on how to play in our ever changing system. If so, give him back the old ones, just with passing. On the other end got 2 early blocks on Rubio, but for some reason there seemed to be somethgin off with his hands tonight. Normally the great mitts are a big part of his game, but he was fumbling every rebound out there tonightto complete the Hawes impression, and only finished with 3. Had one moment of glory, going to the ground tied up with Love as 2 of the former top per minute rebounders in the league wrestled for one. But that was it for Cousins as he started to resemble another old Kings fave, Mikki Moore, on the glass, and was even dropping things that hit his hands directly. As I said in Houston, whatever sickness he was supposed to have, I hope it was serious, like flesh eating bacteria serious, because it seems to have stopped his momentum just dead in his tracks. Just having a sniffle wiffles isn't going to cut it for explanation 3 games later.
The Whole Ten Yards (2004) --back in 2000 the Whole Nine Yards was kind of a surprise sleeper hit finding a quirky dark comedy balance with a story of a hitman who moves in next door to a loser of a dentist. Everyone seemed to be having fun, with Amanda Peet adding to the festivities getting starkers and making you think getting knocked off by her might almost be fun. Then this...thing came along as a sequel and just...it was hold your nose bad. Failed at just about everything. Same cast, but now made to look like a bunch of amateur actors by lousy direction and writing. Everything was over the top, the lines were flat and unfunny, even in situations that should have been. And I would go on except I could stomach no more after about the 30-40 minute mark, and a PG-13 rating meant that Amanda wasn't likely to be running around shooting anyone au natural this time.
Thornton ( D ) -- I am glad I took a little time before doing these, because I was hot about this one last night and might have jut dropped an F on Marcus for spite. His ofense consisted of a couple of strong finishes on the break early, and two spalshed in threes off nice Reke drive and kicks late, but the story of the game could be summed up thusly: Luke Ridnour kicked his ***. Completely, and in all ways. And made him like it. Might as well have gotten Marcsu some kinky bondage outfit because Luke Ridnour (Luke Ridnour!) made him his female dog for the night, and I hope that sticks in Marcus's craw. Completely unable to stay in front of Ridnour on dirves, effect his threes, or in anyway prevent him from having one of his biggest career games. And the flipside was perhaps even more distressing, as Ridnour's quickness caused Marcus obvious problems all night long. Could not get around him, or generate much space from him, and predictably resorted to low percentage drives after while over 2 or 3 defenders. And this is Luke Ridnour, noted softy you are supposed to be able to light up.
Batman and Robin (1997) -- the infamous Batman with nipples that George Clooney deperately wishes they would burn. Its a matter of debate when the 90's Batman franchise jumped the shark, but it was long gone with this one.
...
BTW, Thornton got absolutely SMOKED by Ridnour, on both sides of the ball believe it or not. Should seriously be embarrassed about it. Also raises a question I haven't really paid attention to before: could his prolific scoring be due to his quickness advantage over bigger 2s? And if so can a quick PG cause him problems?
Alright, stretching here, but since this was kind of a bad sequel, Theme = Bad Movie Sequels.
Boxscore
Salmons ( C ) -- ok, well, truth was that Salmons played better in some ways, and problematically in others. Chicken and egg thign here, but for whatever reason he was a bigger part of the offense for whatever reasno. So big in fact that a healthy percentage of our called plays out of timeouts were run for Salmons, and we appeared to have a specific iso set just for John. No, really, I do not kid. And thing is, finally elevated to the primary option role which he knows he has always deserved, John had some moments taking advantage of Wes Johnson, who has been almost as bad as John (apparently has hit 2 of his lat 25 threes). Of course the problem is that if you call John's number, it never really occurs to him that maybe he could draw some attention and pass the ball. So he had hits. And then he had 1 on team forces into the teeth of the defense, and either way the ball is completely stopped. And while Johnson is 2 of his last 25 from 3, i think John is now 0 for his last 27, as he once again bricked them all and apparently has issued a public statement flatly refusing to hit an open corner three, no matter how nicely set up, until he is guaranteed at least 15 shots a game. Bricked one of those at the end of the first quarter that should have made the lead 1, but instead led to a Wolves breakout to push it out to 6. Had another with nobody within 10 feet in crunchtime. Nothing. With all our main gusy struggling, was reinserted in the early 4th to try to tide us over until Reke and Thornton got back, but was out of synch with a bench crew experimenting with that newfangled passing stuff. Did find Cisco in the corner for a late thre, and here's where we're at with John that an 11pt 3reb 3ast game on sub 40% shooting is one of his better ones in recent memory.
The Legend of Zorro (2005) -- 1998's The Mask of Zorro was actually a decent light action flick. Fell apart a bit late, but Catherine Zeta Jones was at her hotness peak, so it all balanced out. 7 years later (never a good sign when it takes so long) along came a sequel nobody particularly was calling for, except now the principle characters are squabbling, whatever charm there is is gone, the cheese is high, and added on top is one of those Hollywood-only kids who simply must die. Not a scene goes by that he does not completely ruin, and they weren't great scenes to start with.
Hickson ( C- ) -- started off the game pretty well, scoring most of his points in his early stint, and helping Love to have an ugly first half. But got weaker the loinger this one went. Got undisciplined on is Love defense in the third, and unlike similar mistakes in the first half, after hafl Love took advantage and began to rather unimpressively rack up his typical big numbers. Not being a good reciever for Tyreke, missing shots that were sent up and fumbling balls down the stretch of the 4th. While the obvious guy to replace in a lineup shakeup is Salmons, there is a second move that could be made, and that is moving Jt into the starting lineup in place of Hickson. JT who both Cousins and Reke are familiar with and work well with as a roleplayer, while JJ is on and off and seemingly constantly searching for the right tone to his game.
Ocean's 12 (2004) -- the Clooney/Pitt remake of the original Brat Pack's Ocean's 11 was of course a blockbuster. A fun, swaggering caper flick with more style and more star power than you could shake a stick at. A sequel seemed natural, although from the beginning the plot was going to be artifical given the first one's premise. that the sequel could go so far sideways though was a major disapointment. The plot was a mess, but the issues went beyond that. Stuck with a huge array of characters from the first movie, and now trying to add in even more to keep things fresh, many of them were given inconsequential makework roles by the plot just so that they could have somethign to do. Meanwhile the main characters/actors got kind of lazy and smug. Rather than swagger you got self-satisfied smirks as the whole thing seemed more party for the cast than movie involving the characters. In the end it ended up all attitude and no substance as eveybody forgot just how mcuh of the enjoyment of a caper flick is tight clever plotting.
Cousins ( C ) -- if you didn't see the game this one would be hard to tell from the numbers, but basically what happened here is for the 3rd straight games since DeMarcus went post beast in Toronto he has gotten his butt kicked inside, and this time he it was Darko freakin' Milicic who modest numbers aside, smothered, blocked, or stripped DeMarcus on everything he tried to do inside and so tramuatized him that for the rest of the game he went into full Hawesesque retreat mode with his skirts raised up off his ankles. Knocked down several long jumpers from out there and thus gave the moderately "efficicent" statline. But being an efficient jumpshooting center is not the way to make any sort of impact. Was notably more active as a passer in this one, early on trying several impossible passes for turnovers, and later notching several good assists. That's a good signmostly, unless its going to be accompanies by the Haweslite race out to the perimete. Almost makes you wonder if we once again gave him new directions on how to play in our ever changing system. If so, give him back the old ones, just with passing. On the other end got 2 early blocks on Rubio, but for some reason there seemed to be somethgin off with his hands tonight. Normally the great mitts are a big part of his game, but he was fumbling every rebound out there tonightto complete the Hawes impression, and only finished with 3. Had one moment of glory, going to the ground tied up with Love as 2 of the former top per minute rebounders in the league wrestled for one. But that was it for Cousins as he started to resemble another old Kings fave, Mikki Moore, on the glass, and was even dropping things that hit his hands directly. As I said in Houston, whatever sickness he was supposed to have, I hope it was serious, like flesh eating bacteria serious, because it seems to have stopped his momentum just dead in his tracks. Just having a sniffle wiffles isn't going to cut it for explanation 3 games later.
The Whole Ten Yards (2004) --back in 2000 the Whole Nine Yards was kind of a surprise sleeper hit finding a quirky dark comedy balance with a story of a hitman who moves in next door to a loser of a dentist. Everyone seemed to be having fun, with Amanda Peet adding to the festivities getting starkers and making you think getting knocked off by her might almost be fun. Then this...thing came along as a sequel and just...it was hold your nose bad. Failed at just about everything. Same cast, but now made to look like a bunch of amateur actors by lousy direction and writing. Everything was over the top, the lines were flat and unfunny, even in situations that should have been. And I would go on except I could stomach no more after about the 30-40 minute mark, and a PG-13 rating meant that Amanda wasn't likely to be running around shooting anyone au natural this time.
Thornton ( D ) -- I am glad I took a little time before doing these, because I was hot about this one last night and might have jut dropped an F on Marcus for spite. His ofense consisted of a couple of strong finishes on the break early, and two spalshed in threes off nice Reke drive and kicks late, but the story of the game could be summed up thusly: Luke Ridnour kicked his ***. Completely, and in all ways. And made him like it. Might as well have gotten Marcsu some kinky bondage outfit because Luke Ridnour (Luke Ridnour!) made him his female dog for the night, and I hope that sticks in Marcus's craw. Completely unable to stay in front of Ridnour on dirves, effect his threes, or in anyway prevent him from having one of his biggest career games. And the flipside was perhaps even more distressing, as Ridnour's quickness caused Marcus obvious problems all night long. Could not get around him, or generate much space from him, and predictably resorted to low percentage drives after while over 2 or 3 defenders. And this is Luke Ridnour, noted softy you are supposed to be able to light up.
Batman and Robin (1997) -- the infamous Batman with nipples that George Clooney deperately wishes they would burn. Its a matter of debate when the 90's Batman franchise jumped the shark, but it was long gone with this one.
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