Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Highlights for those unable to watch: http://www.nba.com/video/games/kings/2012/10/15/0011200050-por-sac-recap.nba/index.html
Outlaw ( C- ) -- did not do much in his minutes except stay out of the way, but there is some value to that too -- the roleplayer principle we have so often been missing. His few good plays were all off of scramble plays moving to the hoop and letting Boogie find him. Doesn't look to be on the same planet as Johnson talentwise, but maybe will get some starts anyway just for team balance.
Thompson ( C+ ) -- shrug of a game. Fumbled a couple of finishes in his early minutes and did most of his scoring from the FT line. Held his own on the glass without having any impact with it. His one big play was a good offensive board and finish +1 in the early 3rd. In a couple of minues after Boogie left wasn't able to do much as our replacement post goto guy. This was right on the border of a C/C+, but I nudged it up because overall we were very effective, and these roleplayers just playing their roles and staying within themselves subtly assisted that.
Cousins ( B+ ) -- actually so talented it makes grading difficult. What's his scale? Just easily dominant early as our offense was clicking as smoothly as we have seen it, and another one of those ill advised threes aside, Boogie was running smoothly within it. In fact we're running a lot of offense through him, he's getting doubled in the post, which is a beautiful thing to see, and passing out of it quickly, which breaks the defense and leads to open shots. Scored on a series of strong drives (including one where we ran a funny play having Reke set a screen for our 270lb center to pop out and then slash to the hoop) and a jumper, and was very active defensively early, notching 3 blocks on his own man. But then came out after half nowherre near as focused, and a series of atrocious calls against him got him into it with the refs again, leading to a technical and a benching as our smoothly humming machine fell apart under pressure. Redeemed himself when he finally returned in the mid 4th after a long cooloff and immediately started scoring every time down to open the lead back up and seal the victory. Tough to grade, but loses points for that 3rd quarter meltdown -- we are showing here the talent to possibly be good this year, but youth and losing our heads could still scuttle us unnecessarily.
Evans ( B- ) -- lurking is perhaps the best way to describe what we have been seeing out of Reke. The jumper definitely looks better, and he had a no hesitation pull up in transition that went in smoothly to start, nice little drop pass to Cousins for a dunk as well. But while he was playing pretty much entirely within the offense for 2 1/2 quarters,playing defense, drawing significant attention and passing it, taking jumpers that were given him rather than forcing drives etc., those jumpers quit falling, better looking or not, and it was feeling a little like last year again. But then the lurking factor came in. We fell apart in the early third, Boogie lost his composure and racked up a bunch of ticky tack fouls and had to leave, and our lead was cut under 10. And all of a sudden Reke came out of lurk mode and blew up for about 5 minutes, carrying us through the rough patch by foregoing the within the offense stuff and just attacking every time down the floor. Wasn't perfect, and there were a couple of fugly forces that make this a C+/B- borderline thing in my book, but the timing was perfect, he had a couple of gorgeous spin moves for buckets, and it felt suspiciously like a star player turning it on when his team needed it rather than somebody abandoning the team concept (which actually wasn't working at the time anyway).
Brooks ( B ) -- had a really strong first half as he staked his own claim to a starting spot, and then an ineffective third quarter as the Blazers came roaring back behind Damian Lillard. In the strong half was another of our players playing his role wihti the offense perfectly. He shot threes, but they were mostly catch and shoot. He drove, but normally only after Boogie or Reke had drawn the attention and kicked it to him. He was the PG, but was unobtrusive about it while the stars set up at least as many plays as he did, and so he only racked up 1 assist, but it was about what his role called for. And he hustled bigtime on defense again -- which is again not something he was known for previously in the NBA. But there he was diving on the floor for balls and pestering Lillard into an ineffective first half. Just looked good out there, efficient and within the offense. But in the third quarter as the Blazers squeezed, that offense fell apart, and Brooks was not able to do much to revitalize it. Worse, Lillard caught fire and started bombing threes from all angles on him. Not sure how much could have been done when a guy is just dribbling down and throwing them up, but the matchup definitely turned. Very encouragin first half though, and made the argument for the outside shooting PG as the appropriate Boogie/Reke starting complement.
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Bench
Johnson ( A ) -- looked very strong for the second game in a row on both sides of the ball. Starting with a nice offensive tip follow as he anticipated the shot and miss, and again showing he knows how to play with his passes and movement. Ended up playing a lot of PF in the second quartr after TRob rook-hacked his way to the bench, and with no post player off the bench to take Cousins' place, we resorted to JJ on the move cutting to the hoop for our interior plays. Could see he didn't really want to shoot he jumper, so instead just went right to the rim again and again in the 2nd for bucket after bucket. Gave us some good reboounds as well as we were badly undersized but opened up the lead anyway. Think maybe he had proved what needed proving, because he did not get back into the game until the final 4 minutes, when he immediately caused a turnover on defense, and restored our passing game on offense. Looking like a great pickup right now.
Robinson ( C- ) -- after the strong first game, came back to earth looking very much the rook for the second. Had good energy on the defensive glass in the early going, but was a little sloppy/rookie, got into foul toruble, and offensively didn't look sure what he wanted to do. His drives were taken away, causing him to hesitate and shuffle his feet. He resorted to long jumpers which did not fall. Looked small inside when paired with Hayes, and was eventually pulled late in the game wihtout having scored any points. Gentleman's C- for a rook.
Thornton ( A- ) --went to the bench and found out maybe its not that bad a place for his skills afterall, as he ended up playing a perfectly Marcus Thornton game no matter who he was paired with. In the early game was very aggressive and active off the bench with our hustle crew behind him, and did a nice job getting out on the break and finishing all night long. Briefly tried to do the right thing and saw him think better of one quickshot from outside against the whole defense (always amazes me how these guys must train that there's even a twitch like that's doable), but shrugged off the hesitation to take a couple of those as the half wore on, missing them and triggering Portland breaks. Closed the half in style hitting the buzzer beating desperation three to beat the halftime horn. Was quietfor awhile after retrning in the second half, but hit big back to back threes in the early 4th bailing out our scrubs and pushing the lead back to 13. And after a few minutes ineffectively tryign to set others up rather thna gun, knocked in back to back hoops in the final couple of minutes to ice it. We made a lot of sense tonight, as does Thornton in this sort of gunning 6th man role keeping pressure on the other team off the bench.
Thomas ( C ) --only got the first half reserve minutes, as we let Jimmer hang himself with those minutes after half. Was quiet until he dribbled through trafic to set Cisco up for back to back threes, then followed it with a three of his own. But after that quick burst, didn't do much, and was forcing a bit on drives into heavy trafffic. Maybe feeling pressure to impress in the battle for the starting spot.
Hayes ( B ) -- interesting what to do with this grade, because Chuck didn't do much wrong other than be Chuck. He didn't do anything spectacular either, and it was notable, especially in the 4th quarter, just how downshifted the offense was with him in there instead of Boogie -- all of a sudden we had no post play at all. But for his game, Chuck did exactly what you would ask for. He was solid on the glass, he was solid on man defense against Aldridge, never challenging or effecting the shots particularly, but staying in between him and the hoop and letting Aldridge just miss his bread and butter long jumpers. He made several smart passes to Johnson, as both those guys being good passers for their positions was giving us a little bball IQ off the bench. Aside from a ridiculous turnover to start the 4th quarter as he tried to throw a behind the back pass, there wasn't much to complain about other than the things that will always be there -- lack of size and intimidation inside, and lack of any offensive ability turning us into a perimeter oriented doughnut when Boogie isn't in there.
Garcia ( B- ) -- made a surprise appearance after TRob got himself into foul trouble and we were forced to go small (well nto forced, but we obviously did not want to bring any of our Cousins/JT/Outlaw starting trio back in in a preseason game). Hit back to back corner threes soon after entering for all his points, then disappeared back into roleplayerdom. Struggled a bit to handle Batum in the post with that skinny old body but made a nice touch pass on the break to Thronton for a layup. After being badly ineffective with the scrub group in the early 4th, instantly responded to Boogie's return in true roleplayer fashion, working to get him his hoops.
Fredette ( C ) -- one of those deceptive statline things, but the scattered good moments were enough to stop a truly punitive grade. Big step back from what we saw last time out though. Return to shaky defense (actually did a solid job on ball, but effort off ball and on rotations was terrible) and blew several drives. Not playing PG despite being left at PG as we did not bring back IT in the 2nd half, and continued the college gunner bit. Finally hit an open transition three to break through, but got called multiple times for travels on his moves late in the game. Did get a steal in the final two minutes up top, and Johnson found him for the part of the offense catch and shoot three in the final minute. Felt a bit like summer league. I'll respect the numbers here to give a little more grade than the game felt like it deserved.
Ndiaye ( INC ) -- only final 2 minutes. Got a good board and set a couple of physical picks. Showed good hustle and instincts on defense. Such a brief look though you wonder if he has any real shot to stick.
Outlaw ( C- ) -- did not do much in his minutes except stay out of the way, but there is some value to that too -- the roleplayer principle we have so often been missing. His few good plays were all off of scramble plays moving to the hoop and letting Boogie find him. Doesn't look to be on the same planet as Johnson talentwise, but maybe will get some starts anyway just for team balance.
Thompson ( C+ ) -- shrug of a game. Fumbled a couple of finishes in his early minutes and did most of his scoring from the FT line. Held his own on the glass without having any impact with it. His one big play was a good offensive board and finish +1 in the early 3rd. In a couple of minues after Boogie left wasn't able to do much as our replacement post goto guy. This was right on the border of a C/C+, but I nudged it up because overall we were very effective, and these roleplayers just playing their roles and staying within themselves subtly assisted that.
Cousins ( B+ ) -- actually so talented it makes grading difficult. What's his scale? Just easily dominant early as our offense was clicking as smoothly as we have seen it, and another one of those ill advised threes aside, Boogie was running smoothly within it. In fact we're running a lot of offense through him, he's getting doubled in the post, which is a beautiful thing to see, and passing out of it quickly, which breaks the defense and leads to open shots. Scored on a series of strong drives (including one where we ran a funny play having Reke set a screen for our 270lb center to pop out and then slash to the hoop) and a jumper, and was very active defensively early, notching 3 blocks on his own man. But then came out after half nowherre near as focused, and a series of atrocious calls against him got him into it with the refs again, leading to a technical and a benching as our smoothly humming machine fell apart under pressure. Redeemed himself when he finally returned in the mid 4th after a long cooloff and immediately started scoring every time down to open the lead back up and seal the victory. Tough to grade, but loses points for that 3rd quarter meltdown -- we are showing here the talent to possibly be good this year, but youth and losing our heads could still scuttle us unnecessarily.
Evans ( B- ) -- lurking is perhaps the best way to describe what we have been seeing out of Reke. The jumper definitely looks better, and he had a no hesitation pull up in transition that went in smoothly to start, nice little drop pass to Cousins for a dunk as well. But while he was playing pretty much entirely within the offense for 2 1/2 quarters,playing defense, drawing significant attention and passing it, taking jumpers that were given him rather than forcing drives etc., those jumpers quit falling, better looking or not, and it was feeling a little like last year again. But then the lurking factor came in. We fell apart in the early third, Boogie lost his composure and racked up a bunch of ticky tack fouls and had to leave, and our lead was cut under 10. And all of a sudden Reke came out of lurk mode and blew up for about 5 minutes, carrying us through the rough patch by foregoing the within the offense stuff and just attacking every time down the floor. Wasn't perfect, and there were a couple of fugly forces that make this a C+/B- borderline thing in my book, but the timing was perfect, he had a couple of gorgeous spin moves for buckets, and it felt suspiciously like a star player turning it on when his team needed it rather than somebody abandoning the team concept (which actually wasn't working at the time anyway).
Brooks ( B ) -- had a really strong first half as he staked his own claim to a starting spot, and then an ineffective third quarter as the Blazers came roaring back behind Damian Lillard. In the strong half was another of our players playing his role wihti the offense perfectly. He shot threes, but they were mostly catch and shoot. He drove, but normally only after Boogie or Reke had drawn the attention and kicked it to him. He was the PG, but was unobtrusive about it while the stars set up at least as many plays as he did, and so he only racked up 1 assist, but it was about what his role called for. And he hustled bigtime on defense again -- which is again not something he was known for previously in the NBA. But there he was diving on the floor for balls and pestering Lillard into an ineffective first half. Just looked good out there, efficient and within the offense. But in the third quarter as the Blazers squeezed, that offense fell apart, and Brooks was not able to do much to revitalize it. Worse, Lillard caught fire and started bombing threes from all angles on him. Not sure how much could have been done when a guy is just dribbling down and throwing them up, but the matchup definitely turned. Very encouragin first half though, and made the argument for the outside shooting PG as the appropriate Boogie/Reke starting complement.
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Bench
Johnson ( A ) -- looked very strong for the second game in a row on both sides of the ball. Starting with a nice offensive tip follow as he anticipated the shot and miss, and again showing he knows how to play with his passes and movement. Ended up playing a lot of PF in the second quartr after TRob rook-hacked his way to the bench, and with no post player off the bench to take Cousins' place, we resorted to JJ on the move cutting to the hoop for our interior plays. Could see he didn't really want to shoot he jumper, so instead just went right to the rim again and again in the 2nd for bucket after bucket. Gave us some good reboounds as well as we were badly undersized but opened up the lead anyway. Think maybe he had proved what needed proving, because he did not get back into the game until the final 4 minutes, when he immediately caused a turnover on defense, and restored our passing game on offense. Looking like a great pickup right now.
Robinson ( C- ) -- after the strong first game, came back to earth looking very much the rook for the second. Had good energy on the defensive glass in the early going, but was a little sloppy/rookie, got into foul toruble, and offensively didn't look sure what he wanted to do. His drives were taken away, causing him to hesitate and shuffle his feet. He resorted to long jumpers which did not fall. Looked small inside when paired with Hayes, and was eventually pulled late in the game wihtout having scored any points. Gentleman's C- for a rook.
Thornton ( A- ) --went to the bench and found out maybe its not that bad a place for his skills afterall, as he ended up playing a perfectly Marcus Thornton game no matter who he was paired with. In the early game was very aggressive and active off the bench with our hustle crew behind him, and did a nice job getting out on the break and finishing all night long. Briefly tried to do the right thing and saw him think better of one quickshot from outside against the whole defense (always amazes me how these guys must train that there's even a twitch like that's doable), but shrugged off the hesitation to take a couple of those as the half wore on, missing them and triggering Portland breaks. Closed the half in style hitting the buzzer beating desperation three to beat the halftime horn. Was quietfor awhile after retrning in the second half, but hit big back to back threes in the early 4th bailing out our scrubs and pushing the lead back to 13. And after a few minutes ineffectively tryign to set others up rather thna gun, knocked in back to back hoops in the final couple of minutes to ice it. We made a lot of sense tonight, as does Thornton in this sort of gunning 6th man role keeping pressure on the other team off the bench.
Thomas ( C ) --only got the first half reserve minutes, as we let Jimmer hang himself with those minutes after half. Was quiet until he dribbled through trafic to set Cisco up for back to back threes, then followed it with a three of his own. But after that quick burst, didn't do much, and was forcing a bit on drives into heavy trafffic. Maybe feeling pressure to impress in the battle for the starting spot.
Hayes ( B ) -- interesting what to do with this grade, because Chuck didn't do much wrong other than be Chuck. He didn't do anything spectacular either, and it was notable, especially in the 4th quarter, just how downshifted the offense was with him in there instead of Boogie -- all of a sudden we had no post play at all. But for his game, Chuck did exactly what you would ask for. He was solid on the glass, he was solid on man defense against Aldridge, never challenging or effecting the shots particularly, but staying in between him and the hoop and letting Aldridge just miss his bread and butter long jumpers. He made several smart passes to Johnson, as both those guys being good passers for their positions was giving us a little bball IQ off the bench. Aside from a ridiculous turnover to start the 4th quarter as he tried to throw a behind the back pass, there wasn't much to complain about other than the things that will always be there -- lack of size and intimidation inside, and lack of any offensive ability turning us into a perimeter oriented doughnut when Boogie isn't in there.
Garcia ( B- ) -- made a surprise appearance after TRob got himself into foul trouble and we were forced to go small (well nto forced, but we obviously did not want to bring any of our Cousins/JT/Outlaw starting trio back in in a preseason game). Hit back to back corner threes soon after entering for all his points, then disappeared back into roleplayerdom. Struggled a bit to handle Batum in the post with that skinny old body but made a nice touch pass on the break to Thronton for a layup. After being badly ineffective with the scrub group in the early 4th, instantly responded to Boogie's return in true roleplayer fashion, working to get him his hoops.
Fredette ( C ) -- one of those deceptive statline things, but the scattered good moments were enough to stop a truly punitive grade. Big step back from what we saw last time out though. Return to shaky defense (actually did a solid job on ball, but effort off ball and on rotations was terrible) and blew several drives. Not playing PG despite being left at PG as we did not bring back IT in the 2nd half, and continued the college gunner bit. Finally hit an open transition three to break through, but got called multiple times for travels on his moves late in the game. Did get a steal in the final two minutes up top, and Johnson found him for the part of the offense catch and shoot three in the final minute. Felt a bit like summer league. I'll respect the numbers here to give a little more grade than the game felt like it deserved.
Ndiaye ( INC ) -- only final 2 minutes. Got a good board and set a couple of physical picks. Showed good hustle and instincts on defense. Such a brief look though you wonder if he has any real shot to stick.
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