Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
I figured, sure -- why not? Came in a bit late (debate) had a few distractions, but for what they are worth for htose who did not get to watch:
New Unis ( A- ) -- me liked. Looked snazzy. The deep/bluish purple rather than the violet weenie stuff. Aggressive darty flourishes. I have never shown any hesitation in ripping crap unifroms if we have them, but these looked nice. Road at least.
Salmons ( D ) -- obviously got confused and thought he was coming off the bench. Night long struggle with the Blazers not letting him get all the way to the hoop, and he was making a lot of late decisions whether to throw a midair pass or force up an uncomfortable shot. Wonder if teams are onto him? Of course the Blazers have themselves a whole lot of nifty frontline beef to protect the hoop with.
Moore ( B- ) -- played a solid first half in which he substantially resembled Mikki Moore. Quite active. Quite invisible on the glass. Just got overpowered by Oden in there who has bulked up and looks about 2 Big Macs from a full Shaquille O'Neal. Also proved that he was in midseason fouling form, collecting 4 in just 14 minutes and sitting out the bulk of the second half therafter.
Hawes ( F ) -- just looked awful out there. If I wanted to find a positive I would say that he showed good passing instincts (of course), both out of the douhble and just in the normal offense. If I wanted to find a negative I would just point to everything else. That finesse tag Reggie dropped on him last year? Never did it look so appropriate as when he got matched up on Oden, who just bullied him inside. Meanwhile Spencer was still showing no shot selection and just chucking up long turnarounds, threes, making shaking decisions...bad showing. I'm thinking it was probably that conditioning test.
Cisco ( B+ ) -- Got the start at OG, and by the time I switched over to the game was in a very nice rhythm, if not quite dominating the game, then at the least being the best player on the floor, or at least our best player ont eh floor. Worth noting that that all pretty much stopped at about the same time everything else did for us. Chicken and egg maybe, but the Blazers called a timeout, ramped up the defensive pressure, and we collapsed. Cisco was rarely heard from therafter.
Udrih ( C ) -- aggressive but not terribly effective in his minutes out there. Was forcing a lot of action, but not making much happen. Also hit the floor an uncomfortable number of times for a preseason game -- hey Beno, you have a rep as injury prone, and we really need you given what's behind you on the depth chart. Cool it. Gets dropped a half grade here for repeatedly getting burned by Sergio Rodriguez at the three point line.
Now the interesting peeps:
Greene ( B ) -- got off to the dynamic start and had me going, hey maybe this kid isn't as far away as I thought. Soared high for a tip finish over the back of Travis Outlaw, then came back down and drained a three. Even made a nice give and go type pass (a rumored weakness). But quieted down thereafter and turned in a good debut performance (I'll take 18ptys for a debut thank you very muhc) -- scoring in a variety of ways (from the line, a post up move, the tip, threes), but not doing much else out there for us. Showed good athleticism, blocked a shot with it, and the defense did not look nearly as horrid as Reggie seemed to be implying last week. But still ended up with a 4-11 night, and not much on the stat sheet beyond points (18pts 2reb 1ast).
Thompson ( C+ ) -- got off to a dyanmic start himself -- in fact if you want to be excited about our rookies, just watch the 2nd quarter...and then turn off the TV.
Hit a smooth turnaround jumper, then showed a very quick first step for a big guy, and on the other end was winning the defensive battle against Shelden Will...we, I mean Ike Diogu, another powerful but undersized PF. Was using his superior length and challenging nearly everything. But as mentioned, maybe its best to turn the TV off after that. Because while Thompson never looked awful, he got quiet and irrelevant along with everybody else. Got worked by LaMarcus Alrdige, who interestingly looked to be a little bigger -- interesting just in that they are listed at pretty much the same size, and Aldrige is rarely confused wiht a muscleman. And then did not even do as well against Diogu late, who used his superior muscle to bully Jason out of the way. Good start, flashed some of what he can do, and clearly belongs in the NBA. Hard to say much more than that off this performance.
Brown ( C ) -- struggled to run the offense from the point and made some selfish shot decisions. Of course spent a lot of his time playing next to Bobby Jackson, so maybe he wasn't the point at all, but rather the shooting guard. In any case good athlete and moved the ball up and down the court quickly, but results were mixed when he got there. Knocked down a couple of jumpers late to show solid shooting touch, but had a lot of trouble finishing inside.
Williams ( B- ) -- looked more active than last year, particularly on defense. In limited minutes in fact looked to be our best match with Oden, doing the old Malik Rose on Shaq bit, and banging with him power on stubby power. On the other end continues to look horrid. His one hit was one of those surprising smooth 17ft jumpers, but everything inside was just a struggle.
And the not quite so interesting grades:
BJax ( C ) -- well, welcome back Bobby. Only player on our team that passed, or at least passed leading to made shots (3 of our 10 assists -- glad we fixed that passing issue we had from last year). But unable to really impact the game much, and at times looked a little lost out there surrounded by the kiddie corps. Lost a half grade for getting burned a bit on defense as Portland's guards began to have an assist party (note: they had 32 assists to our 10).
Ghost of KT ( INC ) -- had enough minutes to get graded, but not enough significane. Call it a D maybe if you must grade him. In his first stint picked up fouls while trying to wrestle with Oden (not his man, but Kenny was in there doing the chihuahua thing). Then his second stint corresponded with one of our worst stretches of ineffective play. Never got ont eh glass, scored, or did much else of note.
The cup of coffeeers:
Jones ( INC ) -- pretty decent athlete, forced a bit, and likely did not have the sort of performance he needed to make it even to the next preseason game
Zhang ( INC ) -- hope you enjoyed your American vacation. Next time may I suggest New York or Miami or San Francisco rather than Sacramento as far as vacation spot?
Felix ( INC ) -- cannot even tell you what he looks like
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Special Grades for poor deprived At&T Universe customers:
Rudy Fernadez ( A ) -- I'm in man love. Kid looked amazing out there, and dropped brilliant pass after brilliant pass to really power the blowout and send the crowd into a frenzy. If he turns out to be the real deal wiht all the other young talent they have up there...
Greg Oden ( B+ ) -- if he stays healthy is going to be a monster. Just absolutely physically huge in there, and on several plays reminded me a hell of a lot of young Shaq, just ripping the ball away and saying "Ball mine! Me eat!" and then able to explode up and dunk easily on both sides of the rim. Didn't dominate every play, but clearly already a force.
Blazers crowd ( A+ ) -- ridiculous showing for a preseason game. They have a potential dynasty in the making, and its like Arco '99-'00 up there at this point. team isn't elite yet, but everybody is drooling over the future. Were sold out, giving standing O's. Amazing.
New Unis ( A- ) -- me liked. Looked snazzy. The deep/bluish purple rather than the violet weenie stuff. Aggressive darty flourishes. I have never shown any hesitation in ripping crap unifroms if we have them, but these looked nice. Road at least.
Salmons ( D ) -- obviously got confused and thought he was coming off the bench. Night long struggle with the Blazers not letting him get all the way to the hoop, and he was making a lot of late decisions whether to throw a midair pass or force up an uncomfortable shot. Wonder if teams are onto him? Of course the Blazers have themselves a whole lot of nifty frontline beef to protect the hoop with.
Moore ( B- ) -- played a solid first half in which he substantially resembled Mikki Moore. Quite active. Quite invisible on the glass. Just got overpowered by Oden in there who has bulked up and looks about 2 Big Macs from a full Shaquille O'Neal. Also proved that he was in midseason fouling form, collecting 4 in just 14 minutes and sitting out the bulk of the second half therafter.
Hawes ( F ) -- just looked awful out there. If I wanted to find a positive I would say that he showed good passing instincts (of course), both out of the douhble and just in the normal offense. If I wanted to find a negative I would just point to everything else. That finesse tag Reggie dropped on him last year? Never did it look so appropriate as when he got matched up on Oden, who just bullied him inside. Meanwhile Spencer was still showing no shot selection and just chucking up long turnarounds, threes, making shaking decisions...bad showing. I'm thinking it was probably that conditioning test.
Cisco ( B+ ) -- Got the start at OG, and by the time I switched over to the game was in a very nice rhythm, if not quite dominating the game, then at the least being the best player on the floor, or at least our best player ont eh floor. Worth noting that that all pretty much stopped at about the same time everything else did for us. Chicken and egg maybe, but the Blazers called a timeout, ramped up the defensive pressure, and we collapsed. Cisco was rarely heard from therafter.
Udrih ( C ) -- aggressive but not terribly effective in his minutes out there. Was forcing a lot of action, but not making much happen. Also hit the floor an uncomfortable number of times for a preseason game -- hey Beno, you have a rep as injury prone, and we really need you given what's behind you on the depth chart. Cool it. Gets dropped a half grade here for repeatedly getting burned by Sergio Rodriguez at the three point line.
Now the interesting peeps:
Greene ( B ) -- got off to the dynamic start and had me going, hey maybe this kid isn't as far away as I thought. Soared high for a tip finish over the back of Travis Outlaw, then came back down and drained a three. Even made a nice give and go type pass (a rumored weakness). But quieted down thereafter and turned in a good debut performance (I'll take 18ptys for a debut thank you very muhc) -- scoring in a variety of ways (from the line, a post up move, the tip, threes), but not doing much else out there for us. Showed good athleticism, blocked a shot with it, and the defense did not look nearly as horrid as Reggie seemed to be implying last week. But still ended up with a 4-11 night, and not much on the stat sheet beyond points (18pts 2reb 1ast).
Thompson ( C+ ) -- got off to a dyanmic start himself -- in fact if you want to be excited about our rookies, just watch the 2nd quarter...and then turn off the TV.
Hit a smooth turnaround jumper, then showed a very quick first step for a big guy, and on the other end was winning the defensive battle against Shelden Will...we, I mean Ike Diogu, another powerful but undersized PF. Was using his superior length and challenging nearly everything. But as mentioned, maybe its best to turn the TV off after that. Because while Thompson never looked awful, he got quiet and irrelevant along with everybody else. Got worked by LaMarcus Alrdige, who interestingly looked to be a little bigger -- interesting just in that they are listed at pretty much the same size, and Aldrige is rarely confused wiht a muscleman. And then did not even do as well against Diogu late, who used his superior muscle to bully Jason out of the way. Good start, flashed some of what he can do, and clearly belongs in the NBA. Hard to say much more than that off this performance.Brown ( C ) -- struggled to run the offense from the point and made some selfish shot decisions. Of course spent a lot of his time playing next to Bobby Jackson, so maybe he wasn't the point at all, but rather the shooting guard. In any case good athlete and moved the ball up and down the court quickly, but results were mixed when he got there. Knocked down a couple of jumpers late to show solid shooting touch, but had a lot of trouble finishing inside.
Williams ( B- ) -- looked more active than last year, particularly on defense. In limited minutes in fact looked to be our best match with Oden, doing the old Malik Rose on Shaq bit, and banging with him power on stubby power. On the other end continues to look horrid. His one hit was one of those surprising smooth 17ft jumpers, but everything inside was just a struggle.
And the not quite so interesting grades:
BJax ( C ) -- well, welcome back Bobby. Only player on our team that passed, or at least passed leading to made shots (3 of our 10 assists -- glad we fixed that passing issue we had from last year). But unable to really impact the game much, and at times looked a little lost out there surrounded by the kiddie corps. Lost a half grade for getting burned a bit on defense as Portland's guards began to have an assist party (note: they had 32 assists to our 10).
Ghost of KT ( INC ) -- had enough minutes to get graded, but not enough significane. Call it a D maybe if you must grade him. In his first stint picked up fouls while trying to wrestle with Oden (not his man, but Kenny was in there doing the chihuahua thing). Then his second stint corresponded with one of our worst stretches of ineffective play. Never got ont eh glass, scored, or did much else of note.
The cup of coffeeers:
Jones ( INC ) -- pretty decent athlete, forced a bit, and likely did not have the sort of performance he needed to make it even to the next preseason game
Zhang ( INC ) -- hope you enjoyed your American vacation. Next time may I suggest New York or Miami or San Francisco rather than Sacramento as far as vacation spot?
Felix ( INC ) -- cannot even tell you what he looks like
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Special Grades for poor deprived At&T Universe customers:
Rudy Fernadez ( A ) -- I'm in man love. Kid looked amazing out there, and dropped brilliant pass after brilliant pass to really power the blowout and send the crowd into a frenzy. If he turns out to be the real deal wiht all the other young talent they have up there...
Greg Oden ( B+ ) -- if he stays healthy is going to be a monster. Just absolutely physically huge in there, and on several plays reminded me a hell of a lot of young Shaq, just ripping the ball away and saying "Ball mine! Me eat!" and then able to explode up and dunk easily on both sides of the rim. Didn't dominate every play, but clearly already a force.
Blazers crowd ( A+ ) -- ridiculous showing for a preseason game. They have a potential dynasty in the making, and its like Arco '99-'00 up there at this point. team isn't elite yet, but everybody is drooling over the future. Were sold out, giving standing O's. Amazing.
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