Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
Note: I stopped watching the game after 9 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. I mean, who could possibly give up a 23 point lead. How good does it feel to finally get a win against a good team and in dominating fashion?
It was sure good to see Reke be Reke again. Looks like all he needed was one day of rest before he was back to his old self. There were points where he played like he was better than everybody else on the court because he honestly is.
Carl Landry wound up being a dominant scorer off the bench tonight and scored with ease thanks to couple of gorgeous feeds and somehow made some positive contributions on the defensive end.
Beno Udrih has been quiet though. He hasn't really done much to help the team other than play alright defense on Paul. Thankfully we didn't need him to since we had a 23 point advantage.
Paul Westphal coached a hell of a game. Finally, he decided to use our frontline in a matter befitting them. It also helped that Cousins absolutely dominated in the early going. What DeMarcus needs to do is limit the stupid fouls though. He starts off hot but then cools like a popsicle on the bench thanks to his fouling habits and comes back as another player entirely.
Either way, it was a good win and now we need to take this good play into OKC, where Westbrook and Durant await.
More once I've escaped from this glorious alternate dimension.
---
Wait... we lost?
AWARD TIME:
TDM: Thornton was a real thorn in our side (har har har) in the Hornets furious come back in the third quarter. It seemed like he couldn't miss when he got going.
JHA: Everyone except for Beno in the last quarter and a half. Seriously. What was that?
Mikki: Carl Landry, who after a half of not sucking decided to make up for it by shooting nothing but stupid 18 footers for the entire second half.
SAR: Jarret Jack. What happened to him?
RA&1: Luther Head. We brought you in to be our sharpshooter. As luck would have it, you don't know how to shoot.
WTF Moment: The meltdown. I'd be more angry if I didn't know that the Bulls gave up a bigger lead last year.
Happy Interlude:
Dear Paul Westphal,
Please stop feeding out players sleeping pills and cough syrup at halftime. I know it doesn't mean much to you but we Kings fans would really like to not have to turn the game off after halftime because everyone has inexplicably forgotten how to play basketball. Also, I know you have some contractual obligation to play Carl Landry more than thirty minutes per game but please, for the love of all that is holy, force him to stop taking those ridiculously stupid perimeter jumpshots. I know he's the size of a small forward but his shooting stroke is anything but that of one. If you could also teach him how to occassionally pass the ball, I'm sure that we would be eternally grateful. Oh, and if you could also find it in your heart to spare us the pain of watching Luther Head dribble more than a baby into a drool cup and then jacking up an ill-advised three pointer, I'm sure Kings fans everywhere would love you forever.
Sincerely,
Stephen Tetsu
PS: It would be great if you actually used our big men.
---
Tonight we face the Thunder, a team that people point to as an example of what we want to become. People are always angry because in comparison to them, we are a disappointment. A lot of folks were expecting us to put up a Thunder-like 50 win season and are naturally disgruntled.
The thing is, when they won those games, they were more experienced than us. Durant and Green were in their third year in the league, Westbrook was in his second. Their stars had had sufficient time to gel and develop together and it finally started to show. They had a solid crew of veteran roleplayers and a solid coach in Scotty Brooks to further help them along. They also had the added bonus of playing with the most passionate and rabid fanbase in the current NBA.
Let's look at us for a moment. Tyreke is in his second year (and hurt) and DeMarcus is in his first year (and has the added handicap of being a big man, a group with a significantly larger learning curve than other positions in the league). Donte and JT are in their third years (but in their rookie seasons they suffered from playing under the genius Kenny Natt and playing behind such notable superstars as Brad Miller and Mikki Moore). Throw in Omri as a second year player and you have a bunch of younger players who are still developing and (yes, they are) getting better. What's been hurting us, however, has been weak play from veterans who by all means should be playing better (Landry, Cisco, occasionally Beno) and bizarro rotations and line-ups by the coach. Looking back at it now, expecting the team to pull off a fifty win season was a rather unrealistic goal.
The Thunder's development was an anomaly, not the norm. Unless you're playing in the eastern conference, teams don't normally go from cellar-dwellers to playoff contenders over night.
It was sure good to see Reke be Reke again. Looks like all he needed was one day of rest before he was back to his old self. There were points where he played like he was better than everybody else on the court because he honestly is.
Carl Landry wound up being a dominant scorer off the bench tonight and scored with ease thanks to couple of gorgeous feeds and somehow made some positive contributions on the defensive end.
Beno Udrih has been quiet though. He hasn't really done much to help the team other than play alright defense on Paul. Thankfully we didn't need him to since we had a 23 point advantage.
Paul Westphal coached a hell of a game. Finally, he decided to use our frontline in a matter befitting them. It also helped that Cousins absolutely dominated in the early going. What DeMarcus needs to do is limit the stupid fouls though. He starts off hot but then cools like a popsicle on the bench thanks to his fouling habits and comes back as another player entirely.
Either way, it was a good win and now we need to take this good play into OKC, where Westbrook and Durant await.
More once I've escaped from this glorious alternate dimension.
---
Wait... we lost?
AWARD TIME:
TDM: Thornton was a real thorn in our side (har har har) in the Hornets furious come back in the third quarter. It seemed like he couldn't miss when he got going.
JHA: Everyone except for Beno in the last quarter and a half. Seriously. What was that?
Mikki: Carl Landry, who after a half of not sucking decided to make up for it by shooting nothing but stupid 18 footers for the entire second half.
SAR: Jarret Jack. What happened to him?
RA&1: Luther Head. We brought you in to be our sharpshooter. As luck would have it, you don't know how to shoot.
WTF Moment: The meltdown. I'd be more angry if I didn't know that the Bulls gave up a bigger lead last year.
Happy Interlude:
Dear Paul Westphal,
Please stop feeding out players sleeping pills and cough syrup at halftime. I know it doesn't mean much to you but we Kings fans would really like to not have to turn the game off after halftime because everyone has inexplicably forgotten how to play basketball. Also, I know you have some contractual obligation to play Carl Landry more than thirty minutes per game but please, for the love of all that is holy, force him to stop taking those ridiculously stupid perimeter jumpshots. I know he's the size of a small forward but his shooting stroke is anything but that of one. If you could also teach him how to occassionally pass the ball, I'm sure that we would be eternally grateful. Oh, and if you could also find it in your heart to spare us the pain of watching Luther Head dribble more than a baby into a drool cup and then jacking up an ill-advised three pointer, I'm sure Kings fans everywhere would love you forever.
Sincerely,
Stephen Tetsu
PS: It would be great if you actually used our big men.
---
Tonight we face the Thunder, a team that people point to as an example of what we want to become. People are always angry because in comparison to them, we are a disappointment. A lot of folks were expecting us to put up a Thunder-like 50 win season and are naturally disgruntled.
The thing is, when they won those games, they were more experienced than us. Durant and Green were in their third year in the league, Westbrook was in his second. Their stars had had sufficient time to gel and develop together and it finally started to show. They had a solid crew of veteran roleplayers and a solid coach in Scotty Brooks to further help them along. They also had the added bonus of playing with the most passionate and rabid fanbase in the current NBA.
Let's look at us for a moment. Tyreke is in his second year (and hurt) and DeMarcus is in his first year (and has the added handicap of being a big man, a group with a significantly larger learning curve than other positions in the league). Donte and JT are in their third years (but in their rookie seasons they suffered from playing under the genius Kenny Natt and playing behind such notable superstars as Brad Miller and Mikki Moore). Throw in Omri as a second year player and you have a bunch of younger players who are still developing and (yes, they are) getting better. What's been hurting us, however, has been weak play from veterans who by all means should be playing better (Landry, Cisco, occasionally Beno) and bizarro rotations and line-ups by the coach. Looking back at it now, expecting the team to pull off a fifty win season was a rather unrealistic goal.
The Thunder's development was an anomaly, not the norm. Unless you're playing in the eastern conference, teams don't normally go from cellar-dwellers to playoff contenders over night.
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