First off, that was bad.
Second off, I owe you all an apology for not getting grades out in a timely manner. Real life sorta got in the way there.
Third off, anyone still ready to dump George Hill?
Today's theme: Things that rhyme with poop (AKA the thing we played like today)
Bogdan Bogdanovic (B) --
B is for Bogdan. After the Kings made it official with Bogdan in the offseason, there was a slight undercurrent of "Can this dude play well enough to justify the Kings making him the richest rookie in the league?". Though it's only been three games (and over a half decade of pro action in Europe), the answer would appear to be a resounding yes. Simply put, the dude can just flat-out play ball. While I'd be hard pressed to say the man is elite in any one skill or another, Bogdan just seems to be good at almost anything, be it crafty drives to the hoop, pull up jumpers, catch and shoot situations, and, perhaps most importantly for this team, game management. I feel like tonight is the first time we really got to see Bogie reap the benefits of NBA spacing with him making a couple of nifty moves for scores that he simply couldn't do in the melee style physicality of the Euroleague game. On defense, Bogdan works hard, which is really all you can ask for from a guy who probably isn't the most amazing athlete in the world. He picked up four steals on the night and none of them were really of the "Well, I guess technically sure that's a steal" variety.
Skal Labissiere (D-) --
Oh boy, Skal certainly picked a good time to revert to his timid summer league form didn't he? After starting the season looking like our third or fourth best player, all of Skal's flaws were on full display against the Wizards. On defense, Skal both drifted off of his and left him open in the corner all night while simultaneously managing to not actually help on defense against anyone else. On offense, Skal played scared until the second half, then sorta got better in the third quarter all while also failing to pull down the rebounds. Obviously, since Skal has the body mass of a small elementary schooler, it probably wouldn't have helped much but I don't recall seeing the man even attempt to box out once. Not great, Bob.
Willie Caulie-Stein (D) --
Out of any of our starters not named Bogdan, Willie probably had the best night, which is to say he sucked but just not as much as some of the other dudes. Unlike the other young dudes, he at least tried to play some defense except playing help defense stands little chance of working if the man you're helping isn't, well, guarding his guy at all. He was second on the team in rebounding but many of those came not because of any extraordinary effort on Willie's part but rather just because someone had to grab one at some point. Trill displays the occasional offensive flash but will probably never be the dude to trust with running the team via the high post. Goody on us then.
Buddy Hield (F) --
I wonder what Vivek thinks. Now obviously it's not Buddy's fault that the owner of the basketball team he plays for set expectations ridiculously high by comparing the man to a former league MVP and then trading the team's franchise player for him and not much more but his play to start the year has largely been bleak save for the third quarter of the Suns game where he randomly decided to play like mini-Ron Artest. Aside from that, it's been missed shot after missed shot and horrible forced play after forced play. Does this mean that it's Buddy Bust-ets rather than Buddy Buckets? No, but I now think it's safe to say that buddy may not be the next Steph after all.
De'Aaron Fox (D-) --
Boy, it was not a good night for the rookie from Kentucky. For the first time in his short NBA career, Fox looked entirely outclassed and outmatched, like a boy playing against men. Perhaps having learned his lesson from the whole Lonzo Ball matchup fiasco earlier in the week, John Wall showed up and brought his A game and completely left Fox as a smoldering crater in his wake. De'Aaron, like the entire roster in the first half, simply couldn't make a shot to save his life and the rest of his game sorta wilted without the boost of his offensive ability. To his credit, he at least looked passable at times in the second half, when the game was already entirely out of reach. Sometimes its good to just pause and remember that the kid is still just nineteen and maybe not ready to become the bringer of destruction that we all know he can be with time.
---
Vince Carter (D) --
Has looked every bit his age since the first several games. Tonight, with most of the other elders out of the game, Vince tried to force the issue in his extended minutes. Unfortunately when your leader goes careening off a cliff, the rest of the followers will do the same. Has also played a lot of power forward (badly) in Joerger's attempted small lineups, which hasn't been that awesome.
Kosta Koufos (B) --
Even though he shots the ball like a man who's never seen a basketball game before, Kosta remains a solid plodding constant among the sea of young dudes and old guys. He can rebound, play solid, good if not spectacular team defense, and is probably the only guy on the team who is capable of setting a pick. Just don't ask the man to score.
Garrett Temple (C) --
On the one hand, it's GT so you know the effort is going to be there. On the other hand, his defense was pretty bad for the first time in like forever. Though he tried almost all game (or at least the minutes he was on the court), for whatever reason Garrett just didn't seem capable of guarding a butterfly resting on a flower. And, at the end of the day, while you appreciate everything else he's doing for you, GT's defensive prowess is what you want from him.
Frank Mason (C-) --
Frank finally got the playing time many in this fanbase have been asking for. The results were something of a mixed bag.
Malachi Richardson (D) --
Justin Jackson (D) --
Georgios Papagiannis (inc. garbage time) --
JaKarr Sampson (inc. garbage time) --
Second off, I owe you all an apology for not getting grades out in a timely manner. Real life sorta got in the way there.
Third off, anyone still ready to dump George Hill?
Today's theme: Things that rhyme with poop (AKA the thing we played like today)
Bogdan Bogdanovic (B) --
B is for Bogdan. After the Kings made it official with Bogdan in the offseason, there was a slight undercurrent of "Can this dude play well enough to justify the Kings making him the richest rookie in the league?". Though it's only been three games (and over a half decade of pro action in Europe), the answer would appear to be a resounding yes. Simply put, the dude can just flat-out play ball. While I'd be hard pressed to say the man is elite in any one skill or another, Bogdan just seems to be good at almost anything, be it crafty drives to the hoop, pull up jumpers, catch and shoot situations, and, perhaps most importantly for this team, game management. I feel like tonight is the first time we really got to see Bogie reap the benefits of NBA spacing with him making a couple of nifty moves for scores that he simply couldn't do in the melee style physicality of the Euroleague game. On defense, Bogdan works hard, which is really all you can ask for from a guy who probably isn't the most amazing athlete in the world. He picked up four steals on the night and none of them were really of the "Well, I guess technically sure that's a steal" variety.
Skal Labissiere (D-) --
Oh boy, Skal certainly picked a good time to revert to his timid summer league form didn't he? After starting the season looking like our third or fourth best player, all of Skal's flaws were on full display against the Wizards. On defense, Skal both drifted off of his and left him open in the corner all night while simultaneously managing to not actually help on defense against anyone else. On offense, Skal played scared until the second half, then sorta got better in the third quarter all while also failing to pull down the rebounds. Obviously, since Skal has the body mass of a small elementary schooler, it probably wouldn't have helped much but I don't recall seeing the man even attempt to box out once. Not great, Bob.
Willie Caulie-Stein (D) --
Out of any of our starters not named Bogdan, Willie probably had the best night, which is to say he sucked but just not as much as some of the other dudes. Unlike the other young dudes, he at least tried to play some defense except playing help defense stands little chance of working if the man you're helping isn't, well, guarding his guy at all. He was second on the team in rebounding but many of those came not because of any extraordinary effort on Willie's part but rather just because someone had to grab one at some point. Trill displays the occasional offensive flash but will probably never be the dude to trust with running the team via the high post. Goody on us then.
Buddy Hield (F) --
I wonder what Vivek thinks. Now obviously it's not Buddy's fault that the owner of the basketball team he plays for set expectations ridiculously high by comparing the man to a former league MVP and then trading the team's franchise player for him and not much more but his play to start the year has largely been bleak save for the third quarter of the Suns game where he randomly decided to play like mini-Ron Artest. Aside from that, it's been missed shot after missed shot and horrible forced play after forced play. Does this mean that it's Buddy Bust-ets rather than Buddy Buckets? No, but I now think it's safe to say that buddy may not be the next Steph after all.
De'Aaron Fox (D-) --
Boy, it was not a good night for the rookie from Kentucky. For the first time in his short NBA career, Fox looked entirely outclassed and outmatched, like a boy playing against men. Perhaps having learned his lesson from the whole Lonzo Ball matchup fiasco earlier in the week, John Wall showed up and brought his A game and completely left Fox as a smoldering crater in his wake. De'Aaron, like the entire roster in the first half, simply couldn't make a shot to save his life and the rest of his game sorta wilted without the boost of his offensive ability. To his credit, he at least looked passable at times in the second half, when the game was already entirely out of reach. Sometimes its good to just pause and remember that the kid is still just nineteen and maybe not ready to become the bringer of destruction that we all know he can be with time.
---
Vince Carter (D) --
Has looked every bit his age since the first several games. Tonight, with most of the other elders out of the game, Vince tried to force the issue in his extended minutes. Unfortunately when your leader goes careening off a cliff, the rest of the followers will do the same. Has also played a lot of power forward (badly) in Joerger's attempted small lineups, which hasn't been that awesome.
Kosta Koufos (B) --
Even though he shots the ball like a man who's never seen a basketball game before, Kosta remains a solid plodding constant among the sea of young dudes and old guys. He can rebound, play solid, good if not spectacular team defense, and is probably the only guy on the team who is capable of setting a pick. Just don't ask the man to score.
Garrett Temple (C) --
On the one hand, it's GT so you know the effort is going to be there. On the other hand, his defense was pretty bad for the first time in like forever. Though he tried almost all game (or at least the minutes he was on the court), for whatever reason Garrett just didn't seem capable of guarding a butterfly resting on a flower. And, at the end of the day, while you appreciate everything else he's doing for you, GT's defensive prowess is what you want from him.
Frank Mason (C-) --
Frank finally got the playing time many in this fanbase have been asking for. The results were something of a mixed bag.
Malachi Richardson (D) --
Justin Jackson (D) --
Georgios Papagiannis (inc. garbage time) --
JaKarr Sampson (inc. garbage time) --
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