Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Well...harumph.
Greene ( D- ) -- just gave is nothing form the opening tip onward. I mean come on. No impact defensively. Completely invisible offensively. Boarded over. Finally made a couple of plays late in the 4th, hitting a three and coming up with a block on Hayward inside. It may be preseason and all but Donte has been looking awful here. No spark at all. Hard to tell what it is. Just lifeless. Maybe confusion with the role, the weight, whatever., Not what I was hopinh for.
Jackson ( C- ) -- starting PF now? Egads, not the way to build toward the regular season. Tried hard, but looked overmatched. Rejected by Ak47 early, and never heard from again offensively until the near garbagetime fo the last 3-4 minutes of the game. Hustling hard after balls, but not getting to them and not effectkive on the glass. A lot of minutes in the 4th in this one, but very little productivity, Unable to stop Fesenko at all (no King was able to). A bit of blackholing late in this one finally got him some points.
Cousins ( D ) -- sloppy and ineffective. You could see the skills and feel for the game at times, but nothing came of it except turnovers, and there was no meat and potatoes behind the flash. Did not look sure how he wanted to attack Big Al, who is not normally that hard to attack. Again confused Mikki Moore with a good defender and spent most of the night taking the long arms attached to that 6'11" frame and jamming them to his sides trying to draw charges rather than defend. When he did defend, had several players make nice shots shooting right over him. Unable to finish on the semi-break as the ball got knocked away, or he lost control of it. Tried to flop and draw a charge but did not get it and left the middle open. Some nice passes, some too fancy pases for TOs. Had a few little moments. A nice dime from the post to Evans for a three. Started working the glass a little in the 2nd, and benefitted from us hiding him the zone. Nice full court gallop in the third. Still all added up to an ugle 4pt 4reb night on 1-7 shooting and 6TOs. The rebounding especially is a concern. As someone else noted, it seems to be folowing the same pattern it did in summer league. From effective thumper and board dominator earlier in camp, to Hawes like rebounding late in camp. He couldn't be tired already could he? There was a little something here. Some talent at least. Evidence he knows how ot play. But this grade reflects the fact that for both his and our sakes I can't imagine a much worse performance from him. This has got to be near nadir, and time to strap it on for the regular season.
Udrih ( B ) -- I am not sure if it was an experiment or what, but for whatever reason Westphal basically shut down aklmost our entire shooting corps last night (Casspi, Cisco, Head), leaving only Donte and Beno to carry the load. With Donte checked out, Beno basically had to do all of our shooting, and every play, evey Reke drive and kick, was almost invariably being run to set up our 6'3" combo PG. And all in all he did a pretty nice job of it allthings considered. Not overwhelming, but he was one fo the few Kings you would really have called steady tonight. Hit a three to start, then started missing as you became aware that the offense was oddly centering around setting up Beno. Nice up and under scoop late in the quarter was about the only play that wasn't him being set up for an open jumper. Was a bit concerend about somebody repeatredly not stopping Watson with the ball on the break, but neither Beno or Reke was anywhere remotely close to him on those plays, so maybe Earl was Cousins man. Started off the third bricking, and ou offense went in the tank because of it. I mean when your star and goto guy can't hit, what hope do you have as a team? Added a good fulll length gallop for the break out hoop in late 4th, but he and Landry as our only offensive engines was barely enough to get us over 70.
Evans ( D ) -- spent much of the first quarter setting up Beno for jumpers, and in that role at least he was being pretty effective. Doing a nice job of drawing attention and kicking. Had several scoops to the hoop when he couldn't quite make it to the backboard that at first were impressive, but as things went on became a concern,because he just wasn't getting to the rim as usual. Hit a three late in the first quarter courtesy of a Cousins kickout, but it was the only jumper hit as well. Seemed to be having a hard time finding guys inside, and may have lost some confidence in them as the game went along. This was a strange effort, by both Reke and the Kings overall. I choose not to believe Gordon Hayward is a Reke stopper who can hold him to 9 shots in a game. But right now I think either his feet/ankles might be, or the offense might be. (On that latter point we just looked confused. Nobody knew where anybody else was oging to be. It resulted in numerous TOs and near TOs from Cousins and Reke trying to pass it, and guys not being redy or not being where the pass went. And up top, reke was not probing so much as he was searching, almost pickup ball style waving guys over, and trying to figure out what to do. Add in a clueless rookie, an equally confused looking SF, and the random appearance of a Darnell Jackson ini the lineup, and it was a mess.
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Bench
Landry ( B ) -- yay, somebody who did ok. Came in and immediagtely tried to attack in the post. Atfer an experimental lineup left him at SF late in the first, was able to get the post game going. Effective off the bench, as he has been throughout his career. Very solid in the second quarter where he kind of anchored our kids and scrubs. Doing a better job of passing out of the post in this one as well, even though it didn't result in any assists on the boxscore.
Whiteside ( B+ ) -- I may be in love. Missed a turnaround J to start in his first real NBA action, but went down the other way though and came up with beautiful back to back blocks on AK47 an Big Al. Really made a defensive impact for us, changing the entire tone of our interior defense whenever he was in there. Then began to run the floor and have na impact on offense too. Unable to stop Fesenko early in the 4th in man defense, and strength again appeared to be the difference, even though Hassan has bulked up so much its hard to properly call him skinny anymore. Seeing what a difference he made, I'm eaer to see if Dalembert can make a similar difference amongst the starters.
Thompson ( C ) -- came in as we wnet to a big/big/big JT/Whiteside/Landry frontline that was effective. Jason was the least effective of the three, but they worked together well and gave us sufficient size, anchored by Whiteside as the shotblocker. Not much productivity in the first quarter for Jason, but started the second with a nice baseline J, then got a block on CJ Miles jumping right into his chest. Little of note afterwards. Was missing his FTs.
Jeter ( C+ ) -- shot over by Price, ineffective off the bench in the first half until Cousins foulnd him for a side jumper in the mid quarter. Led a push in the late 3rd until getting selfish on the buzzer beating attempt and forgetting NBA guys are taller than Euro guys. On and off ok.
Wright ( D+ ) -- did nothing for the longest time before finally hitting a three late in the third as we came back. Got caught faceguarding on the defensive glass and never saw the ball as it basically fell right on his back and he barely even flinched. Now that's dedication to your craft. Or complete obliviousness. Useful hard foul on Hayward in the mid-4th. Maybe he can find himself a niche as a thug. Many good teams keep one around.
Greene ( D- ) -- just gave is nothing form the opening tip onward. I mean come on. No impact defensively. Completely invisible offensively. Boarded over. Finally made a couple of plays late in the 4th, hitting a three and coming up with a block on Hayward inside. It may be preseason and all but Donte has been looking awful here. No spark at all. Hard to tell what it is. Just lifeless. Maybe confusion with the role, the weight, whatever., Not what I was hopinh for.
Jackson ( C- ) -- starting PF now? Egads, not the way to build toward the regular season. Tried hard, but looked overmatched. Rejected by Ak47 early, and never heard from again offensively until the near garbagetime fo the last 3-4 minutes of the game. Hustling hard after balls, but not getting to them and not effectkive on the glass. A lot of minutes in the 4th in this one, but very little productivity, Unable to stop Fesenko at all (no King was able to). A bit of blackholing late in this one finally got him some points.
Cousins ( D ) -- sloppy and ineffective. You could see the skills and feel for the game at times, but nothing came of it except turnovers, and there was no meat and potatoes behind the flash. Did not look sure how he wanted to attack Big Al, who is not normally that hard to attack. Again confused Mikki Moore with a good defender and spent most of the night taking the long arms attached to that 6'11" frame and jamming them to his sides trying to draw charges rather than defend. When he did defend, had several players make nice shots shooting right over him. Unable to finish on the semi-break as the ball got knocked away, or he lost control of it. Tried to flop and draw a charge but did not get it and left the middle open. Some nice passes, some too fancy pases for TOs. Had a few little moments. A nice dime from the post to Evans for a three. Started working the glass a little in the 2nd, and benefitted from us hiding him the zone. Nice full court gallop in the third. Still all added up to an ugle 4pt 4reb night on 1-7 shooting and 6TOs. The rebounding especially is a concern. As someone else noted, it seems to be folowing the same pattern it did in summer league. From effective thumper and board dominator earlier in camp, to Hawes like rebounding late in camp. He couldn't be tired already could he? There was a little something here. Some talent at least. Evidence he knows how ot play. But this grade reflects the fact that for both his and our sakes I can't imagine a much worse performance from him. This has got to be near nadir, and time to strap it on for the regular season.
Udrih ( B ) -- I am not sure if it was an experiment or what, but for whatever reason Westphal basically shut down aklmost our entire shooting corps last night (Casspi, Cisco, Head), leaving only Donte and Beno to carry the load. With Donte checked out, Beno basically had to do all of our shooting, and every play, evey Reke drive and kick, was almost invariably being run to set up our 6'3" combo PG. And all in all he did a pretty nice job of it allthings considered. Not overwhelming, but he was one fo the few Kings you would really have called steady tonight. Hit a three to start, then started missing as you became aware that the offense was oddly centering around setting up Beno. Nice up and under scoop late in the quarter was about the only play that wasn't him being set up for an open jumper. Was a bit concerend about somebody repeatredly not stopping Watson with the ball on the break, but neither Beno or Reke was anywhere remotely close to him on those plays, so maybe Earl was Cousins man. Started off the third bricking, and ou offense went in the tank because of it. I mean when your star and goto guy can't hit, what hope do you have as a team? Added a good fulll length gallop for the break out hoop in late 4th, but he and Landry as our only offensive engines was barely enough to get us over 70.
Evans ( D ) -- spent much of the first quarter setting up Beno for jumpers, and in that role at least he was being pretty effective. Doing a nice job of drawing attention and kicking. Had several scoops to the hoop when he couldn't quite make it to the backboard that at first were impressive, but as things went on became a concern,because he just wasn't getting to the rim as usual. Hit a three late in the first quarter courtesy of a Cousins kickout, but it was the only jumper hit as well. Seemed to be having a hard time finding guys inside, and may have lost some confidence in them as the game went along. This was a strange effort, by both Reke and the Kings overall. I choose not to believe Gordon Hayward is a Reke stopper who can hold him to 9 shots in a game. But right now I think either his feet/ankles might be, or the offense might be. (On that latter point we just looked confused. Nobody knew where anybody else was oging to be. It resulted in numerous TOs and near TOs from Cousins and Reke trying to pass it, and guys not being redy or not being where the pass went. And up top, reke was not probing so much as he was searching, almost pickup ball style waving guys over, and trying to figure out what to do. Add in a clueless rookie, an equally confused looking SF, and the random appearance of a Darnell Jackson ini the lineup, and it was a mess.
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Bench
Landry ( B ) -- yay, somebody who did ok. Came in and immediagtely tried to attack in the post. Atfer an experimental lineup left him at SF late in the first, was able to get the post game going. Effective off the bench, as he has been throughout his career. Very solid in the second quarter where he kind of anchored our kids and scrubs. Doing a better job of passing out of the post in this one as well, even though it didn't result in any assists on the boxscore.
Whiteside ( B+ ) -- I may be in love. Missed a turnaround J to start in his first real NBA action, but went down the other way though and came up with beautiful back to back blocks on AK47 an Big Al. Really made a defensive impact for us, changing the entire tone of our interior defense whenever he was in there. Then began to run the floor and have na impact on offense too. Unable to stop Fesenko early in the 4th in man defense, and strength again appeared to be the difference, even though Hassan has bulked up so much its hard to properly call him skinny anymore. Seeing what a difference he made, I'm eaer to see if Dalembert can make a similar difference amongst the starters.
Thompson ( C ) -- came in as we wnet to a big/big/big JT/Whiteside/Landry frontline that was effective. Jason was the least effective of the three, but they worked together well and gave us sufficient size, anchored by Whiteside as the shotblocker. Not much productivity in the first quarter for Jason, but started the second with a nice baseline J, then got a block on CJ Miles jumping right into his chest. Little of note afterwards. Was missing his FTs.
Jeter ( C+ ) -- shot over by Price, ineffective off the bench in the first half until Cousins foulnd him for a side jumper in the mid quarter. Led a push in the late 3rd until getting selfish on the buzzer beating attempt and forgetting NBA guys are taller than Euro guys. On and off ok.
Wright ( D+ ) -- did nothing for the longest time before finally hitting a three late in the third as we came back. Got caught faceguarding on the defensive glass and never saw the ball as it basically fell right on his back and he barely even flinched. Now that's dedication to your craft. Or complete obliviousness. Useful hard foul on Hayward in the mid-4th. Maybe he can find himself a niche as a thug. Many good teams keep one around.
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