The “what? For $20mil you expect me to jump for a defensive board?” edition.
Adams – he enjoys bowling.
Bargnani – mediocre at best. You barely even noticed he was there, to be honest. Not surprising when you consider he had a tough time learning Sam’s system and it took him a few years to break out of his shell. Lord knows how long it will take as he tries to understand plays called in Canadian. I wonder if Jay has called a play for him as yet, because it sure doesn’t look like it.
Bosh – he appears mentally out of it lately. Some might chalk it up to the Sam situation, but I just wonder if he has hit a mental wall. He’s played a lot of ball for a year and after coming off the emotional high of a Gold medal and listening to the pre-season hype surrounding this team, it must be hard to be faced with the reality that this team is..well…bad. The Unicorn was held to 5 boards and 19 points by a young front line, but that early-season battle seems to have vanished.
Calderon – if ever you saw a statline that proves that stats lie, it could be this one: 15pts, 13 assists. He was up against a point guard that, hurt or not, he should have been able to dominate and I’m not convinced he did. He gave up the game winning 3 and allowed Blake to camp out in the corner so much that Coleman Canada is thinking of hiring Blake to be a spokesman for their camping gear. Why he didn’t go to Moon when Fernandez was limping around is an outrage and needs to be pointed out at tomorrow’s video session. Still, the stats outweigh the bad and Jose kept us in the game, but wasn’t good enough to enable us to win it.
Graham – if I told you last year that he would be on the floor on the defensive end at the end of a one-possession game, you would laugh and laugh and laugh. He was in this game, though, and he earned it. A sweet baseline jam, followed by a collar pop, attacking the rim more often than taking Moon-like jumpers, he needed a little bone as a reward. He didn’t have a stellar defensive game, which makes you question the move, but as it turns out, he was a non-factor in the game-losing possession.
Humphries – he was named Mr. Basketball in 2004 in the state of Minnesota.
Jawai – from nbadraft.net: “Still needs a bit of work on his stamina. He can only play stretches before his great size and lack of experience catch up with him and he needs a breather Working on conditioning will help him to become more consistent from game to game.” See, now that is writing and researching with your eyes and mind, not allowing your heart to stand in the way.
Kapono – like the rest of his team, he started off well on both ends of the ball. Some nice active hands on D, a nice 3 and even a skyhook in the lane. He then went the way of that sushi you left out on the counter overnight: you try and force it down, but you end up choking.
Moon – well, one thing can be culled from today’s game and it’s that he is showing passion again……just too bad it only shows up when he is on the bench. I’m not sure that he understands team concept basketball. Seems bizarre to say, I know, but he consistently seems to just float and looks to get his own as opposed to helping get ours.
O’Neal – excellent game by Reggie Miller II, bringing more credence to something Khandor has been saying and something I completely support, which is bringing him off the bench to start the game and have him go up against the second unit of the opposing squad. He had season highs in points and blocks and it sure isn’t because he went up against their starters. He did hit a couple shots early, but that isn’t uncommon for him, but disappearing toward the end isn’t either. PVR it all you want, but showing no effort to get that ball during the game-losing possession is pathetic. Triano did a nice job at not pointing fingers, but you don’t get boards by nailing your feet to the hardwood. He did try and redeem himself on Bosh’s miss, but failed. Somebody also needs to adjust his knee brace, me thinks.
Parker – think he reads the morning papers? Roy hit 6/16 and probably felt he had been wearing a suit made of lightbulbs in a farmers field in the dead of night, attracting attention to himself and not being able to shake it. AP did a remarkable job on the defensive end and seemed to eschew any worry about getting his own shot. That is when he is most affective and he had a nice all around game.
Solomon – making a surprise appearance, he held back his desire to start jacking up shots and was actually looking for teammates. Who knew? Completely invisible, though.
Ukic – his father played drums for a very famous Croatian rock band. May not be a bad idea to invite him over for some Rock Band.
Driving The Bus: Jermaine O’Neal
Under The Bus: Will Solomon
Game Theme: Daddy Mack will make ya…
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