Grading the Road Trip
by ForThree on Nov 1, 2009 7:07 AM PDT
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Well, we waitied all summer for this, here at the NBA Masochist Forum. No wins, three losses, but some items worth noting and getting excited about. Note that I'm giving out these grades based on my (hopefully) reasonable expectations, not comparing players to each other.
Tyreke Evans: B
A couple of bad decisions here and there, and a tough opener, but certainly well within what you'd expect from a rookie point guard asked to do everything. His defense on CP3 was special, he wants to involve his teammates, and we have every reason to be excited about him going forward.
Kevin Martin: C+
Some will probably feel I'm being generous here, but Kevin is doing some things I really like. His New Orleans game was abysmal, and certainly 34% shooting isn't getting it done. What I did like, is better defense, more competitiveness and more steals than turnovers. The last stat I think says a lot to help mitigate Kevin's bad shooting. I guess, if the thing I'm worried about with Kevin is shooting...I'm pretty hopeful.
Desmond Mason: B
In our one really good stretch during the NO game, he was absolutely shutting down David West. He's keeping the starting spot warm for Casspi and/or Donté to step up and claim, as long as he does it professionally, and plays hard, its tough to complain. I like him on the team, even if I'm hoping he plays 5 minutes a night by the end of the year.
Jason Thompson: A
Leading the team in rebounding isn't a surprise; leading the team in assists is Shocking. Add in, only 11 fouls, over 1 blocked shot a game and only 1 turnover in three games, and you have to be excited about Mr. Thompson. Let's throw in some more: he played respectable post defense against legit threats without fouling, he made great decisions with the ball (12 assists/ 1 turnover), showed an actual post up game (definite work in progress) and as always, the effort and hustle were there. He had a tough time finishing shots, and still doesn't seem to have a left hand, but the road trip put some of JT's development on display.
Sean May: D
Displayed a nice shot but played way too soft most of the time. Had some stretches of good defense, but if you're going to be the short big guy that can't jump, you need to box-out more and play harder. I hope for better.
Spencer Hawes: D+
The plus is because the 3rd game seemed to be going in the right direction. The first two were horrendous, with Spencer seemingly completely lost on offense. More energy, more competitiveness, Spencer showed some growth on defense, but needs to relax and get some confidence on offense. Hopefully the SA game was the start of something.
Andres Nocioni: C
Phenomenal in the NO game, way too much Noc Jordan in the SA game when it was getting away and Nocioni was trying to "take over". Play hard Noc, help our guys get better, Petrie will get you out of here as soon as he's able.
Omri Casspi: A
Nice three games Omri. Welcome to the NBA, I think we're going to be excited you're on the team for a while.
Beno Udrih: D
At some points in the NO game, I thought Beno and Nocioni were really getting it, but most of the time, Beno was doing his patented dribble a hole through the floor while he points at guys that aren't doing what he wants and they stare back at him with the "Who is this asshole and why does he make more money than me?" stare. Also, we saw plenty of this last year, but his defense was an embarrassment. This team has plenty of room on it for a scoring point guard coming off the bench, hopefully Beno will get it soon.
Jon Brockman: A
37 minutes, 14 rebounds and hustle. Brockman has tons to work on, but there's nothing to complain about at this point.
Sergio Rodriguez: Inc.
Didn't see enough to have an opinion.
Donté Green: Inc, but..
Obviously Donté didn't play enough to get a grade, but I will say, in the few minutes he played, he seemed to be making a concerted effort to give the coaching staff what they were looking for. Keep it up, PW will give him a chance, if he keeps working at developing an NBA game.
Coaching Staff: B+
I don't have a lot to complain about. Coaches, please put some time in with our guys defending the pick and roll. Our bigs don't step up hard enough to slow down the guard, or get back quickly enough to defend the big guy. We've got to do better defending the pick and roll at the top of the key. Rotations, minutes, timeouts, etc, I thought the coaches did a good job.
(This is a FanPost from a member of the Sactown Royalty community. The views expressed come from the member, and not Sactown Royalty staff.)
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Good stuff 4-3.
I think another good thing about the road trip is that we only lost to NO by 5 with K-Mart shooting 9-29 and having 0 fts. Thats something we wont be able to say often
Father of the "Natt this!" movement and Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order.
by Aykis16 on Nov 1, 2009 7:29 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
you grade on a curve and that is a good thing
The Frontcourt: C –
JT has been wonderful. Most impressively, he has shown significant improvement over last year. Spencer is going through a rough patch. He is having trouble fitting the pieces together thus far. Once he does, he will shine. What is it that everyone expects?
May is fine. He is an undersized power forward playing center.
Mason, Noce, Casspi, Brockman, Greene, Garcia: amorphous.
As a unit – rebounding well which raises their grade but defensively out of sync, offensively scattered.
The Backcourt: C
Kevin Martin has been reliable and true to form. Evans is a gem defensively for the most part, offensively challenged but productive. The rest of the guys, Beno, Sergio are ghosts.
Coaching: B -
One of the least talented teams in the League, perhaps the least talented, with youth thrown in. Paul Westphal is the right man for the job If his practice style and demeanor are anything like his camera personality. I called him Coach Unflappable ealier, I may change that. He must have the patience of a saint. St. Paul may be a better moniker. Again, let’s see what he sounds like 40 or 60 games in.
How can a team that went 0-3, lost poorly to OKC and San Antonio and almost won a game in New Orleans get C’s or better? because I am a fan and irrational.
Disagree on a couple.
I thought May was about a B-. He did a lot of things well.
I thought Beno was about a C+, slightly better than average. He did lapse into Tasmanian form a few times, but seemed to run the team well when he was on the floor.
I’d bump up Hawes’ grade a little bit, too, simply because of how he ended the game last night. He finally stopped forcing things and played within the offense.
And I’d put Martin at a solid B, because he was playing defense and getting his teammates involved. Also because in the game where he got no FTs, I didn’t see him whine to the officials once.
Yes, we lost all three games. OKC was our first game on the road against a team we don’t match up well against. We nearly beat NOH, and if you take the last 2 minutes of that game and play them in a month, I’d expect to win. We hung with the Spurs for a half, got trashed at the end of the 2nd quarter, then continued to hang with them, then continued to hang with them for the rest of the game. And they’re a championship-caliber team.
I think all of our guys learned a little and grew together a little, and considering that they’ve been playing together under a new coach for a month, I’m pleased overall. There were good signs in every game.
The draft lottery has reinforced my belief that there are not enough bad words in the English language.
by LeaguePassAddict on Nov 1, 2009 8:35 AM PDT reply actions
I agree with LPA on her grades (I think the only reason May isn't an A is because of how terrible he was vs OKC)
But May did turn it around against NO & SA.
On the other hand, there is NO WAY Omri Casspi deserves an A. No Way. I think JT is a B+ at best, and there’s no way you can give Martin an A. But there’s no way you can give him less than a solid B either.
I think Casspi deserves a C. Not because he played awful or anything, but because I don’t think he played that well vs NO or SA. He played well in OKC, but Spencer Hawes did some good things vs SA too. You aren’t even going to give Spencer a C for that are you?
I think Casspi deserves a C.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
How about
Giving Casspi an A for effort?
The draft lottery has reinforced my belief that there are not enough bad words in the English language.
by LeaguePassAddict on Nov 1, 2009 9:50 AM PST up reply actions
Nah
That would require me to give a shit.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
an you do Pookey, you do!
"We are in the business of kicking butt and business is very, very good." - Charles Barkley
There you go being optimistic BJ
What did i tell you about performing such crikeyness?
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Yes
Pookey is very generous at passing around the shit
Ball movement ... is like jogging for most people: They do it occasionally, and it makes them happy. Then they go back to not doing it. - Henry Abbott
by Kfan in Korea on Nov 1, 2009 2:54 PM PST up reply actions
No way
C for Casspi. That would mean he is basically average or just passable. He is playing better than he drafted in my opinion. His defense is good enough to play against three positions, PG, SG, and SF. His offense is anywhere from a half point to a point per minute on the floor. How is that just average or passable for where he was picked in the draft?
I do, however, think Spencer get a better grade for that last part of the Spurs game. I would agree with a C. Better grade for just the Spurs game. That showed he is really striving to do better. JT should, however, keep the A as he is showing a lot of growth and development as well as playing really well. Solid B for Kevin works as he was really stepping it up on Mason last night.
I was surprised that there wasn’t a grade for Brockman. The guys is a stud and rebounding machine. He is doing everything as advertised and if he could just make his free throws I would say he gets a solid B, now maybe C+ or B-.
I'd give him an A+
But he misses too many FT’s.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
And there is no way I'm going to give Casspi anything higher than a C
He did nothing to stick out in either SA or NO, and like Hawes he shined in a blowout game vs OKC. What’s to be impressed with about that?
I should have said from the beginning that this idea of giving grades after 3 games is very flawed.
But, if I was to give grades, I certainly wouldn’t give Casspi for giving “effort”. He has to make an impact on defense, and so far he has not.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
You missed it
Jon Brockman: A
37 minutes, 14 rebounds and hustle. Brockman has tons to work on, but there’s nothing to complain about at this point.
The draft lottery has reinforced my belief that there are not enough bad words in the English language.
by LeaguePassAddict on Nov 1, 2009 11:00 AM PST up reply actions
I think our difference on Casspi
is based on expectations.
I’m happy at this point, 3 games in, if it looks like he’ll have an NBA career. So far, to me, he’s looked like he belongs in the league and made a couple of shots, maybe I should have given him a B, not an A, but I’m pretty happy with him at this point.
Professional Hyperbole Slayer
I'm not unhappy about Casspi at all
I just don’t think he’s done anything spectacular. The hype is exceeding the play right now.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Just because TZ is back
Martin – 88, mostly because of the D in NO game and increased effort on D overall
JT – 95 because he’s this teachers pet. Signs everywhere that he worked on and raised his game this summer. Dimes are a plus and clearly he’s working on fouling less. Becoming a more vocal on court leader.
May – 79 better than I thought he’d be, not as valuable yet as he will be
Tyreke – 95.5 if he gets to play AI when he comes to town he will have played some really notable pgs and has held his own, even when he’s getting schooled. I keep telling myself “calm down, don’t get too excited”
Spence – 71 had to give him attitude demerits. Finally in garbage time last night he suddenly remembered how to play his game. I’m having questions about him that after two years in the league I never thought I’d have
Omri – 87 I like almost everything I’ve seen from him so far. Has to remember he is a “NBA” rookie. Will eventually be a starter on this team and will be an important piece in taking the Kings and Isreal back to the promised land.
Beno – 78 has taken to coming off the bench better than I thought he would. Liked his game in NO. Valuable back up
Sergio – 70 don’t get too attached to him, he’ll be gone after the season, we won’t miss him……………….too much
Cisco – 100 has played perfectly through 3 games, not 1 mistake. Never thought I would miss him this much
Mason -77 doing what Westphal wants him to do and doing it better than I thought he would. Would have given him and 82 but had to take off points for shooting too much.
é – 60 needs to go to D league ASAP. Has the D League started yet. On the positive side; he can’t get much worse
Cakes – 89.5 doesn’t do a lot of things but the things he does he does very well except for free throws and shooting
Coaching – 90 because I forgot what having a real coaching staff was like. so far, so good
Section 214 & ExG 110 for doing excellent work while TZ was away
Game threads – 100. Pure pleasure with a few idiots but no matter how badly we lose at least we aren’t GSOM. Many of the regulars are already in mid season form and we’ve picked up a bunch of good new participants.
evie – 100 it was real (real wierd) and from the heart (of a crazy person)
posters using multiple handles 0 go away
"We are in the business of kicking butt and business is very, very good." - Charles Barkley
by Bluejohn on Nov 1, 2009 11:21 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Your combined score puts at 82%.
For a team that has lost all three of its first games I would say we need to be at a C- at best.
Tyeke’s play should put him at around 84%
Hawe’s at 60%
Mason at 72%
Sergio at 70%
Martin at 75%
Beno at 70%
Cakes at 82%
JT at 88%
Coaching at 83%
May at 68%
by nothingbutnet on Nov 1, 2009 11:40 AM PST up reply actions
SB
Objectively you would have to give the team a d- for results. I was late for church and really went through the exercise as a way to give props to Section and Ex G props while TZ was away.
For non King’s fans who don’t follow the team, we have given them no reason to doubt the “experts” opinion that we will again be the league’s doormat. Based on our 0-3 record, an objective observer would discount even nbn’s score of 88% for JT down significantly because he is currently the best player on a bad team.For what it’s worth I had May rated at 79, Beno at 78 and Sergio at 70. I also had Cisco rated at 100 because through 3 games he’s made 0 mistakes. Sorry to offend, I thought from my comments, the comment itself would be read at least partially tongue in cheek
SB, on an entirely different subject I wanted to respond to something you wrote in your excellent response to evie’s post. I had no idea you are a novelist. My late father and little sister were/are both writers, fiction and non fiction. I had to laugh when I read how your mom responds to negative reviews of your books.
My grandmother was a diminutive, retired missionary and a harsh word never passed her lips but when she would read a less than effusive review of one of my dad’s books I believe she was capable of murder. My mother would obviously not like negative reviews of my dad’s work but when one of her daughter’s books would get panned, wow, look out. She would have happily run down the critic with her car as he/she crossed the street in the crosswalk. A mother’s love…………………
"We are in the business of kicking butt and business is very, very good." - Charles Barkley
LPS likes to joke that
she is not the daughter-in-law. She is the author’s wife. Oh, well I can probably count on them to sell at least 1oo books a year for me.
"Shut up and Coach!"
Vfettke
I'm going to start calling her LPS :)
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
That would make me
LeaguePassSubscriber, which is accurate doesn’t really convey the intensity of emotion I exude when watching my team.
The draft lottery has reinforced my belief that there are not enough bad words in the English language.
by LeaguePassAddict on Nov 2, 2009 3:01 PM PST up reply actions
Yes LPS
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
does that include Section's, Ex G's and evie's score?
what can I say? I’m a homer.
"We are in the business of kicking butt and business is very, very good." - Charles Barkley
that makes more sense
Life is every mammal's journey from very very wet to very very dry.
The team gets a D-
We gave up an aver 104ppg and scored 91, against one playoff team out of 3 games.
How can anyone play the pick & roll as poorly as May did in the first 3 mins of the SA game get anything over a C. The starting Center averages 3 rebounds and 5.7ppg. and gets scored over in the post. Sorry, D- at best.
Mason & Brockman rebound, and Mason can play some D and Brockman can hand out hard fouls to the groin. If this is your expectation, then give them B’s, but I want more even if I don’t expect it.
Tyreke, Martin & JT played as I’d hoped, with JT showing a little better low post game than last season, But, Martin didn’t show anything new. In fact, his attempts at begging for foul calls was way too similar to last year. And, he still the worst help defender on the team, and still leaves 3pt shooters to help. JT B+, Tyreke B, Martin C+
Beno, looks exactly like last year, ok offense, and no defense what so ever. C-
Spencer (sorry still can’t help myself, I have to defend the big ackward white boy, he reminds me of my little brothers). Still the best defender among the bigs, both in man and in help defense. If he were more athletic I’d expect him to be able to block or alter more shots, but he’s not so I don’t hold that against him. He got some easy dunks on guard penetration, as did JT. But, if Spence is to be our low post threat, shouldn’t the guards get him the ball in the paint and close to the basket? I still don’t see that from the guards, and PW said that would be part of his offensive scheme. So, with Spencer coming off the bench, and playing with the reserves, I’m giving him a C.
Reggie & Natt were bad, so hope is high that PW will be better, but I haven’t seen it yet. Some of his rotations have been questionable at best. The defense seems better, but there are better players than last year. I see not offensive scheme other than to give the ball to Tyreke or Martin, clearout the lane and let them drive to the basket. Seems like we did that last year, only it was Martin & Salmons.
But, my biggest complaint is the 4th quarter of the NO game. We had the lead going into the last few minutes, and PW stayed with Brockman. We pulled Mason because of his lack of scoring, but we left May & Hawes on the bench. Brockman is a hustle guy but he has no offense and can’t shot FT. Leaving him in the game is like playing the Prevent Defense in football. The only thing it usually prevents is a victory. So, because of the poor defense, the lack of a offensive sheme, and poor rotations and substatutions, I give PW a C-.
"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom
Beno was doing his patented dribble a hole through the floor while he points at guys that aren't doing what he wants and they stare back at him with the "Who is this asshole and why does he make more money than me?" stare.
You sir, made me crack up in class. thanks a lot!
"Are you tryin to say Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball?"
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