ClutchCity.Net Summer Pro League Report : Game 5 - Rockets 86, Grizzlies 99

Houston Rockets 86
Memphis Grizzlies 99

Well, I asked you guys to match the player with the point total, so here are the points and players matched up correctly. Don't bother editing your responses, I know nobody got it correct.

Leading Scorers for the Rockets :

Bostjan Nachbar - 32
Kyle Hill - 17
Brent Wright - 7
Tito Maddox - 7
Malick Badiane - 6

-------------------

Playing three games in three days apparently isn't a good thing. At least I hope that's the Rockets' excuse. We drop a sleeper to the Grizzlies in the final game of the Summer Pro League season for the Rockets. The coaches seemed to be focusing on Boki and Malick this game - scrutinizing their play and calling out their names specifically when setting up the offense and defense. They were pointing out miscues as they happened with those 2.

The first quarter saw Boki on his way to about 50 points the way he was hitting shots early and often, but Tito Maddox countered Boki's good play by letting Earl Watson outplay him. The end of the Boki quarter saw him score 12 points, yet the Rockets trailing 22-27.

The quarter didn't start out great as it looked as if Boki had reverted to his former self by shooting an airball and turning the ball over. He made up for it by combining with Malick on a nasty dunk. This was the quarter of the Malick highlights.

All 2 of them. More on that below. The quarter ended with the Rockets trailing 37-50.

The third quarter was where we really lost this game. We had a core melt-down on defense. That combined with the fact that Tito looked like he was doing a commercial for a brick company didn't help matters any. We once again saw unforced errors such as 24 second violations. If the Rockets had kept the game somewhat respectable in this quarter, they stood a chance to win it with the rally in the 4th. At the end of 3, the Rockets trailed 56-80.

The fourth quarter saw the Rockets come back from being 24 points down to within 7 with 3:44 left to play, but the lead was too big to overcome. Oddly enough, we came back with Tito Maddox as Jason Miskiri was sent back to the locker room with an injury at the 8:34 mark. The injury was apparently bad enough so that Keith Jones and some guy always taking photographs for the Rockets (I'll call him Picture Dude) had to help carry Miskiri straight back to the locker room. It looked like an injury to his left leg/knee. The final is as you see above 86-99, the Boys of the Bloody R losing.

How about some player news?!

Malicked...

Malick had possibly his worst game of the SPL. He was still bouncing around and flying after rebounds and blocks, but the coaches on the sidelines were really pointing out errors in his game and calling them out openly. This is the first game I've seen them do that. During the game, there seemed to be two people they were focused on training "on the job" : Malick and Boki. Malick's biggest problem this game, as it has been probably the entire summer league, was he does not react to offenses well. I think he's used to just sitting in a spot and playing zone or playing a specific man. He tried doing that in this game, but Coach Thibodeau wasn't having it. Thibodeau was calling his name out at every opportunity today. He was screaming "Malick! Malick!" yelling for Malick to watch the man cutting behind him and to drop off on d when a big man that can't hit 20 footers was 20 feet out. Thibodeau was even directing Malik how to run wide on the fast break as the break was happening. Malick, to his credit, relied on sheer speed an athleticism to contest some of the guys that made it to the rim because of his lapses on defense.

I tried concentrating on Malick's defensive presence more today. He was still getting bodied and bowled over by guys bigger than him at times, but was still trying to stop them till the end of the game. He never gave up. I don't know how much fatigue was a factor, but he seemed out of sync today for whatever reason.

From the moment I saw Malick play, I've described him as "awkwardly aggressive". I don't know how else to describe it. His arms and legs are all over the place on just about any play, but he's right there on just about any play because of the aggressiveness. It's this aggressiveness that allowed Malick to get 2 of the highlights from the game. One play was courtesy of Boki where Boki drove the baseline and passed to Malick in the paint when the defense came over. Malick took the ball with both hands and rammed the thing through the rim with a nasty dunk. The crowd erupted. Another one I wish I had captured on video/picture was a blocked shot. The defender was in the paint and going up for a jumper. Malick jumped with him, went up to block the shot with one arm, and I swear I saw the ball damn near disappear as he nearly cupped the ball on the shot. He probably fused a couple of the Grizzly player's vertebrae as he did it. The block was vicious. People around me were laughing and looking at each other saying "holy @*%!".

Interestingly, I think Malick did see more time this game. He had been entering the game starting the 2nd quarter, but he got in quickly today. Malick still has a lot to learn about defense, and his offense as they say is "raw", but he does have game and he is active. His moves still aren't fluid - they're pieced together. He has a little Dreamshake turnaround that he hit a few times during the SPL. He has a drop-step fake in which he traveled a lot, but wasn't whistled for it. It's a move that you may recognize from the Olajuwon years - but not quite so perfectd. He has a 10-15 foot jumper that if needed, he can take.

Don't expect him to replace Cato, Griffin or Mo in the lineup anytime soon. That cursed potential is always there, however...

Never underestimate the heart of a Slovenian!

Boki came out in the first quarter looking like somebody stole his lunch money. He scored 9 points in the first 5 or 6 minutes of the game. He ended the quarter with 12 points. He ended the game with 32 points. Despite the great point total, he was on and off with his shot this game. He nailed about 2 or 3 three pointers, but at the same time, he airballed another long jumper. Boki's game is pretty much slash and penetrate with a smattering of fadeaway jumpers and open bombs from long distance. He has a behind-the-back dribble that causes turnovers about as much as it allows him to get open for a jumper.

It's a sweet move when it works because he does it nearly full-speed while penetrating into the defense. His biggest problem this SPL other than missing jumpers has been that he'd drive straight into the teeth of the defense and brick a shot or turn the ball over. This game he was still attacking the defense, but he was getting calls. I don't know what the final free throw count was, but Boki had to have gone to the line for about 8-10 free throws.

Just as Boki's offense was clicking, his defense wasn't all that. He was letting Dermarr Johnson go by him and get open for jumpers. Boki has a problem where he'll try to help someone else on defense or collapse on a penetrating player and completely loose track of his own man. The next thing you know, that guy is open for a jumper on the other side of the basket with Boki looking around for his man. At one point during the game, Coach Thibodeau was screaming "Boki! Contact! Contact!". I'm assuming he was asking Boki to stay in contact with the man he's defending (probably via touch).

Boki does one thing really well whether he's hitting his shots or not - he brings the ball up the court. When there's no defensive pressure, he hauls up the court with the ball and gets it to the PG to set up the offense. There's no slow dribbling up the court. That's great to see, especially with Thibodeau screaming "Run" at every rebound and possession.

Thanks for playing...

As I said before, the coaches seemed to be focusing in on Boki and Malick for this game. Shawnelle Scott and Demarco Johnson didn't stand out in their play. Brent Wright got a few points, but didn't stand out too much. Tito Maddox proved again he has absolutely no jumper. The culimination of that proof was when he drove the paint and ... I kid you not ... airballed a 3-foot jumper. I feel for the guy, but knowing the way things have been going with the Rockets, he'll make the team.

Kyle Hill, along with Boki, helped pull as back into the game briefly in the 4th quarter. He was popping long-range 2's and 3's. He ran the court well and shot well. It's a shame we only got to see what he could do in the last game of the SPL season. He had a good summer league last year, too. I don't know if he did much for his chances of hooking on anywhere with his showing tonight, but hopefully for him, he did.

As I said before, Jason Miskiri was carried off with an injury, but hopefully the guy's ok. He played pretty well in the summer leagues and seems like he's got skills to at least be a backup PG somewhere.

Incidentally...

Jeff van Gundy didn't sit with the team on the bench today. As a matter of fact, I didn't see him the entire first half. If he was in the arena, he was in the stands or hiding somewhere else. As the 2nd quarter ended, I saw him in the entryway to the locker rooms talking to one of the Rockets people. I thought he would come sit with the Rockets in the 2nd half, but nope. I eventually did spot him sitting way up in the stands with some other guy who seemed to be scribbling a lot of stuff down as van Gundy talked. I'm guessing maybe a reporter?

I saw Bo Outlaw come out of the locker room area when our game had ended and start high fiving and hugging Keith Jones. Those two seem to be tight as they stood and talked for a bit. No, I didn't see any contract papers being signed!

I'll try to get some videos of Malick Badiane up when I get back to Dallas on this Sunday or maybe by Monday. I may try to get a few up within the next few days if I get the chance.

Can't wait until next year's summer leagues. This was fun as usual. Unfortunately I wasn't able to run around looking for quick interviews since my back's messed up, but hopefully next season I'll be able to do that. The whole California coast rocks, and it's nice to see women with nice tans as opposed to radioactive orange glows (hello? Dallas?). I'll be here until Sunday enjoying the weather.

------------------------------------

Added these pics July 18 :

Malick with the follow-through on the jumper
Malick warms up the pogos
van Gundy apparently giving an interview in a secure and quiet place