The ‘that was pretty boring’ edition.
Banks – the anchor.
Bargnani – the return of the foul. He had one of those nights where you just wanted to push him to the basket more. Seems like the days of him finishing hard like he did the first few games of the season are already fading from memory. It’s fine when his outside touch is on, but he had a few opportunities down low tonight that could have converted into buckets.
Belinelli – I was surprised by how long it took him to get subbed in. Played well out of the gate, lost his touch late. A lot of his play patterns tonight (cutting through the paint and doing the up-curl) reminded me of Kapono last year, so have to wonder if those “plays” that were run for Kap are coming back for Marco this year.
Bosh – the curse of Amare remains. Sure, Bosh played off him on the switch for a portion of the game, but for the times they were matched up, Amare seemed to have no issue taking it to Bosh. On the other end, though, Chris continues to impress with his paint play. Horrible hands on a pass from Belli and a poor timing choice on that 3pt attempt, but still the focal point of this team.
Calderon – not the most impressive line, but when you consider he ended up guarding Amare, he fared well. You could tell he was up for this game from the outset and I’m sure it came from Triano being in his ear trying to guide him on what Nash was going to do. I think it is safe to say that Jose is pretty much back and all the hate can start to stop.
DeRozan – maybe he is learning that a good effort and listening to your coach tell you where you should be on the floor actually results in more playing time. We need him to start attracting attention because teams will start fading off him. Need to make them pay.
Evans – faker.
Jack – still subpar, but some good stuff happened off his drives and kicks. A common theme amongst our guards, but attack and kick or attack and go up are two things that seem to work quite a bit this season.
Johnson – I’m beginning to wonder if instead of carrying a bag with his gear in it if he doesn’t just carry a lunch pail. This man was working again tonight, even shooting a good percentage. Maybe a little Bosh inspiration has rubbed off and Amir is thinking of taking up residence in the paint on the offensive end as well as the defensive end. He is JYD without the towel waving and I like it.
Nesterovic – didn’t play since we were actually trying to win this game.
O’Bryant – anybody else think that the only reason he isn’t on the IR is because he doesn’t own a suit?
Turkoglu- maybe the “Mister 4th Quarter” moniker only applies for the first 11:50? We were finally in a situation that called for the reason we paid big bucks for him but, unfortunately, it didn’t pan out. He deserves a lot of credit for keeping us in it down the stretch and he had another game where he seemed to take a step forward. Be nice to see what he can do when he is not tired or banged up. 2012?
Weems – Only played 8min, but didn’t do badly for someone who rarely sees the floor. It’s his job to be active and try to shake free from his defender to make something happen. He did 50% of those things tonight, which is pretty good from a scrub.
Wright – didn’t play because he hates the gorilla. Reminds him of his first girlfriend.
Driving The Bus: Chris Bosh
Under The Bus: Jarrett Jack
Game Theme:
