Boxscore
Nocioni ( B ) -- slow start as the entire team got off the line sluggishly, but after being reinserted later in the quarter quickly knocked down a short jumper and then charged in and drew a +1. We got good performances from virtually the entire bench which limited Noc's first half minutes. Started off the third with a good bat back to save an offensive possesson and then canned the three when the ball was kicked bakc out to him. Hit a second three a few minutes later as we began to open this one up, but then picked up his 4th foul, left the game, and never had to return as we blew it open. This sort of thing is hard to grade because it was such a short night for Noc (17min) but in those 17minutes he put up 14pts on 5-7 shooting. Best he's looked in some time, and even accounting for lack of serious opposition that's still worth something gradewise.
Thompson ( A- ) -- in the early going got off to the poor start as he and Spencer got pummeled by Love and Jefferson inside in the opening minutes. Spencer was quickly gone with foul trouble, but Jason hung in there and as the Wolves went to big but not terribly talented Nathan Jawai off the bench JT started gaining traction. Funny thing is you see the big numbers in the boxscore, but that "-" is next to the A because it really was never THAT impressive a performance. Strong no doubt, but JT never really dominated this one. Rarely really squared his man up and took him to the hoop or ran off a string of boards on both ends. What he did do was one of his best and most efficent jobs of playing garbageman out there for us. Again and again he grabbed o-boards off of other peole's misses and laid them in (and even hit almost all the layups). Again and again he moved toward the hoop and took a pass from Reke, or Hawes, or Beno or whoever and went in nearly uncontested for the assisted finish. Was still missing his FTs left and right, but otherwise showed just how efficient he could be if he just had any touch around the rim, finishing 11-17. There were a handful of spectacular plays along the way including a good hustle block getting back to defend on the break against a little Pavlovic jumper. But not enough, and not enoguh of an opponent, to bounce this to the straight A.
Hawes ( C ) -- good pass to start the game to Reke on the cut, but then got faked out by Jefferson on the other end for the dunk, and Big Al spent the next few minutes just pummeling Spencer like an over the hill palooka and chasing him from the game with 2 merciful fouls. Spencer was reinserted in the second and lasted all of 23 more seconds before he picked up his third getting overpowered by Jawai and had to leave once more. Came back out after half with much more energy and saved his grade here while helping in a lot of little ways. Made a steal, had a dunk on the break courtesy of Reke, made several good passes. Played deep into garbagetime, I guess to make up for his lack of early minutes. Gained the partial redemption, and the partial redemption grade, but could go no higher given that he finished with 8pts 5rebs and his opponent finished with 26 and 11 and got to sepnd most of hsi night beating up on other smaller Kings because Spencer could not handle him. Spencer, 2 words: weight room!
Greene ( C ) -- this was...a mess. But not a complete loss. Was wild from the start however, and it was sloppy enough you have to worry a little bit about regression. It was also full of hustle and energy however, and when you get a 6'11" athlete who's willing to leave it out on the floor you'll take occasional bits of wildness. Hustled hard in the third and was part of the big energy push, but shot poorly on the night, and the shot selection was let's say, questionable. That much improved three point shot looked like it did last year, and he had a handful of drives that were equal parts aggressive and just insanely wild. On one of them he went up and looked like he was going to try to tear the rim off the backboard, through two TWolves. Had no chance of course, but that's ok, we've needed some of that spirit in these parts for the longest time. So go ahead Donte, tear that rim down, and if somebody tries to block the shot tear his bleeping arm off and dunk it too. Do that an I'll give you an A even if you do shoot 2-11 on the night. Until then you'll have to settle for a higher grade than your numbers suggest just for the spirit behind them.
Evans ( B ) -- This was an interesting grade -- the numbers were right there at just slightly off the kid's normal game: 18pts 5rebs 5ast 2stls. But the devil was in the details. Did something I normally grade down for, as he dominated the first quarter, just steamrollling a helplessly undersized Johnny Flynn, and then largely just settled back and coasted on home. But on a night where we dominated and essentially had the game over by the end of the third a first quarter dominant game isn't the wart it is when you are needed late and just don't show. And on top of that he proved the point that needed to be proved right there in the first -- that our decision to draft Tyreke rather than Flynn (who is better than he looked tonight) or He Who Shall Not Be Named was a franchise turner. Just like that, we have turned the corner, while the Wolves still wallow and wait for a shot at John Wall.
Reke's first couple of layups were actually off assists by Hawes and Thomas -- a rarity for a kid who normally creates for himself and for whom we don't run many cut to the hoop plays. Also threw in a big smack block on Flynn early as he bullyballed a guy who has maybe been the #3 rook on both ends of the court. Really began to click into gear again as the quarter went along, getting to the hoop, kicking passes out, posting Flynn at will where the smaller guard could not handle the physicality. Was up on his toes defensively up top, on one play playing a one man trap on defense racing around to almost pick three different Wolves. After a 14pt first quarter, not surprisingly drew a lot of attention in the second and slowed. Was doing an excellent job of finding open spot up guys around the perimeter though, and while this may be a cliche, I counted at least 6 blown assists tonight on wide open shots 2s and 3s that just were not converted. It was a better passing game than the 5 assists would indicate. But while the defense was locked into him again (and gee its nice to have that defense bender again -- the guy other teams fear so much it changes their whole scheme) part of it too was less savory -- our other PGs, who were extremely effective BTW, were playing a bit of keepaway too.
Its been something I have noticed all season. For all his size and skill Reke is NOT a shooting guard, as Memphis found out last year. When the ball is not in his hands he really doesn't know what to do with himself, and when the other points have the ball we run few plays for him. End result is often that when he does get the ball in those pairings he's impatient to do something and has a tendency to force the action. And hey, did not matter tonight and everyone played well. But its a distinct syndrome that will need to be addressed eventually. Finally got his only hoop of the second running the final play of the half correctly -- a real relief there after we have blown so many of those opportunities this year. Brouhgt the ball down and intiated his drive at 5 seconds, not 7, not 12. That was right -- enough time to score + maybe get an o-reb, not enough for the opponent to get it back and score the other way. Got fouled on the drive -- Minny had one to give -- and then with 3 seconds to go just took the give and go from JT and blew past his man slashing to the hoop for the closing layup at the buzzer. Perfect execution. Finally.
Started off the third with a double dribble -- not the way you want to start things. And was again forcing shots with the other points handling. Was a factor with his all around skills, but offensively only had 4pts after the first quarter pummeling he laid on Flynn. Left in the late third adn I thought that was going to be it, but returend for a short and not terribly effective 4 minute stint in garbagetime. So, for average Reke numbers, better passing than the numbers show, and for pummeling another of the rookie PG pretenders I bumped him half a grade here. Ironically for an opposing team with a GM who went PG nuts over the offseason, we appeared to have the three best ones on the court tonight.
Nocioni ( B ) -- slow start as the entire team got off the line sluggishly, but after being reinserted later in the quarter quickly knocked down a short jumper and then charged in and drew a +1. We got good performances from virtually the entire bench which limited Noc's first half minutes. Started off the third with a good bat back to save an offensive possesson and then canned the three when the ball was kicked bakc out to him. Hit a second three a few minutes later as we began to open this one up, but then picked up his 4th foul, left the game, and never had to return as we blew it open. This sort of thing is hard to grade because it was such a short night for Noc (17min) but in those 17minutes he put up 14pts on 5-7 shooting. Best he's looked in some time, and even accounting for lack of serious opposition that's still worth something gradewise.
Thompson ( A- ) -- in the early going got off to the poor start as he and Spencer got pummeled by Love and Jefferson inside in the opening minutes. Spencer was quickly gone with foul trouble, but Jason hung in there and as the Wolves went to big but not terribly talented Nathan Jawai off the bench JT started gaining traction. Funny thing is you see the big numbers in the boxscore, but that "-" is next to the A because it really was never THAT impressive a performance. Strong no doubt, but JT never really dominated this one. Rarely really squared his man up and took him to the hoop or ran off a string of boards on both ends. What he did do was one of his best and most efficent jobs of playing garbageman out there for us. Again and again he grabbed o-boards off of other peole's misses and laid them in (and even hit almost all the layups). Again and again he moved toward the hoop and took a pass from Reke, or Hawes, or Beno or whoever and went in nearly uncontested for the assisted finish. Was still missing his FTs left and right, but otherwise showed just how efficient he could be if he just had any touch around the rim, finishing 11-17. There were a handful of spectacular plays along the way including a good hustle block getting back to defend on the break against a little Pavlovic jumper. But not enough, and not enoguh of an opponent, to bounce this to the straight A.
Hawes ( C ) -- good pass to start the game to Reke on the cut, but then got faked out by Jefferson on the other end for the dunk, and Big Al spent the next few minutes just pummeling Spencer like an over the hill palooka and chasing him from the game with 2 merciful fouls. Spencer was reinserted in the second and lasted all of 23 more seconds before he picked up his third getting overpowered by Jawai and had to leave once more. Came back out after half with much more energy and saved his grade here while helping in a lot of little ways. Made a steal, had a dunk on the break courtesy of Reke, made several good passes. Played deep into garbagetime, I guess to make up for his lack of early minutes. Gained the partial redemption, and the partial redemption grade, but could go no higher given that he finished with 8pts 5rebs and his opponent finished with 26 and 11 and got to sepnd most of hsi night beating up on other smaller Kings because Spencer could not handle him. Spencer, 2 words: weight room!
Greene ( C ) -- this was...a mess. But not a complete loss. Was wild from the start however, and it was sloppy enough you have to worry a little bit about regression. It was also full of hustle and energy however, and when you get a 6'11" athlete who's willing to leave it out on the floor you'll take occasional bits of wildness. Hustled hard in the third and was part of the big energy push, but shot poorly on the night, and the shot selection was let's say, questionable. That much improved three point shot looked like it did last year, and he had a handful of drives that were equal parts aggressive and just insanely wild. On one of them he went up and looked like he was going to try to tear the rim off the backboard, through two TWolves. Had no chance of course, but that's ok, we've needed some of that spirit in these parts for the longest time. So go ahead Donte, tear that rim down, and if somebody tries to block the shot tear his bleeping arm off and dunk it too. Do that an I'll give you an A even if you do shoot 2-11 on the night. Until then you'll have to settle for a higher grade than your numbers suggest just for the spirit behind them.
Evans ( B ) -- This was an interesting grade -- the numbers were right there at just slightly off the kid's normal game: 18pts 5rebs 5ast 2stls. But the devil was in the details. Did something I normally grade down for, as he dominated the first quarter, just steamrollling a helplessly undersized Johnny Flynn, and then largely just settled back and coasted on home. But on a night where we dominated and essentially had the game over by the end of the third a first quarter dominant game isn't the wart it is when you are needed late and just don't show. And on top of that he proved the point that needed to be proved right there in the first -- that our decision to draft Tyreke rather than Flynn (who is better than he looked tonight) or He Who Shall Not Be Named was a franchise turner. Just like that, we have turned the corner, while the Wolves still wallow and wait for a shot at John Wall.
Reke's first couple of layups were actually off assists by Hawes and Thomas -- a rarity for a kid who normally creates for himself and for whom we don't run many cut to the hoop plays. Also threw in a big smack block on Flynn early as he bullyballed a guy who has maybe been the #3 rook on both ends of the court. Really began to click into gear again as the quarter went along, getting to the hoop, kicking passes out, posting Flynn at will where the smaller guard could not handle the physicality. Was up on his toes defensively up top, on one play playing a one man trap on defense racing around to almost pick three different Wolves. After a 14pt first quarter, not surprisingly drew a lot of attention in the second and slowed. Was doing an excellent job of finding open spot up guys around the perimeter though, and while this may be a cliche, I counted at least 6 blown assists tonight on wide open shots 2s and 3s that just were not converted. It was a better passing game than the 5 assists would indicate. But while the defense was locked into him again (and gee its nice to have that defense bender again -- the guy other teams fear so much it changes their whole scheme) part of it too was less savory -- our other PGs, who were extremely effective BTW, were playing a bit of keepaway too.
Its been something I have noticed all season. For all his size and skill Reke is NOT a shooting guard, as Memphis found out last year. When the ball is not in his hands he really doesn't know what to do with himself, and when the other points have the ball we run few plays for him. End result is often that when he does get the ball in those pairings he's impatient to do something and has a tendency to force the action. And hey, did not matter tonight and everyone played well. But its a distinct syndrome that will need to be addressed eventually. Finally got his only hoop of the second running the final play of the half correctly -- a real relief there after we have blown so many of those opportunities this year. Brouhgt the ball down and intiated his drive at 5 seconds, not 7, not 12. That was right -- enough time to score + maybe get an o-reb, not enough for the opponent to get it back and score the other way. Got fouled on the drive -- Minny had one to give -- and then with 3 seconds to go just took the give and go from JT and blew past his man slashing to the hoop for the closing layup at the buzzer. Perfect execution. Finally.
Started off the third with a double dribble -- not the way you want to start things. And was again forcing shots with the other points handling. Was a factor with his all around skills, but offensively only had 4pts after the first quarter pummeling he laid on Flynn. Left in the late third adn I thought that was going to be it, but returend for a short and not terribly effective 4 minute stint in garbagetime. So, for average Reke numbers, better passing than the numbers show, and for pummeling another of the rookie PG pretenders I bumped him half a grade here. Ironically for an opposing team with a GM who went PG nuts over the offseason, we appeared to have the three best ones on the court tonight.
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