Based on the two kings games, and this being a new team, I have many thoughts on all of our new and old players PGs 1.) Charlie Ward - Seems to be a good fit as a starter who doesnt play a lot of minutes. Defense is a bit lacking, but he rebounds surprisingly well, and of course his passing is tremendous. Gets us into the offense quickly and can shoot the three. Doesnt stand out a lot and maybe thats a good thing for a team with 2 superstars. Grade - B 2.) Lue - I already basically knew how he played and his strengths and weaknesses, so I'm not surprised at his pesky defense and quickness. He is a good change of pace and generally can get the offense started and get to the basket if needed, good for gaurding the quicker pgs ward can't Grade- B- 3.) Zimmerman- Seems to be a good athlete, but today he was very sloppy. Made a nice pass for a bucket to Mo or Howard, but turned the ball over off his foot and didn't do much else. Won't and shouldn't make the team. Grade - D- SG- 1.) Tmac - obviously we are set at the starter position with McGrady, his passing has been absolutely amazing so far, and his scoring has been good. Seems to be a little off right now, but he'll be fine. Best playing SG, and guarding SGs. On defense he has made some good plays but also has had guys like Martin and Bibby get a step on him but he usually recovers with his length. Rebounding has been very solid, should get 6-7.5 a game. Worked well with Yao so far, w/ the alley oop and gets it to him in the post with ease, but a few times he has ignored yao in the post (I am referring to 3 plays, all three he hit the jumper, and today he made the shot and 1 so i guess i shouldnt be complaining) and yao is setting huge screens for him to get open. Grade- B 2.) Gaines - Gaines is a weird player. His handle is good, but his shot is really akward with a over the shoulder high release point. Defense looks to be strong, hes gotten a few straight up rips fromt he ball handler, and hit 2 clutch free throws in the 1st kings game. I think he deserves 5 mins a game behind tmac and jj at the sg spot, but he probably wont get that. Grade- C 3.) Hawkins - Wow this guy is a beast. Odd player but no doubt that he has been effective and actually very good in this limited playing time. He comes in the game in attack mode, with his bully the defender into the lane moves, and good post moves. I really like this guy, he doesnt seem to be a liability on defense, and is instant offense off the bench. My only concerns are his shooting ability (seems to be lacking, but he makes up for it), but oppenents will catch on to his drive only game, and stop jumping on his pumpfakes under the basket (he does it everytime and they fall for it everytime so far). He deserves to make this team based on his scoring but so did Scales last year and he didnt so you never know. Grade-A SF 1.) JJ- Same JJ as last year, shoots quite a bit actually if you take note of it. But his rep as the ultimate team guy right now makes it seem alright. He looks like he'll be great again this year. Grade- B 2.)Boki- Ughhh... I hate to do this becuase he's my favorite player in the league, but boki has sucked. Flat out in every aspect thus far. My only excuses for him were that he would play great with the starters, and that his shooting will come around like JJ's did if he gets minutes (jj shot was horrible early last year). Well the starters thing is done. He is fouling every possession on defense and they are caling it sometimes, he leans all over the guy hes guarding, he still hustles but now Bowen kills him in that area. His shot is off as always, and the only one hes made didnt count (they wistled it dead) his drives are nonexistant so far, and if Bowen stays healthy boki shouldnt play. Grade- F 3.) Bowen- Ultimate hustle guy. That play where he came from nowhere and dove/slid to cause a TO in the first kings game was the most spectacular play I've seen so far. He cant shoot, dribble, post up, or anything, but his hustle and rebounding give us 4-5 extra possessions a game and that is worth alot more than a 3 pter. Grade- A PF- 1.) Howard- He has been awesome so far, seems like the perfect complement for Yao, he can shoot from mid range, board, pass, and is smart. Made Mo look like a poor mans Howard thus far. Grade- A- 2.) Mo- Same player as last year, can't resist the 19ft shot, can score pretty well, takes a few charges, can't really stop anyone or rebound tho. Grade- C 3.) Pagett- He is a very good pick and Roll partner, and we run a ton of them so he should play every few games. Hustles and is scrappy, gets more rebounds than he should Grade- C+ C- Yao- Seems to be at the same point now as he was at last year. A little bigger, but same player, but has better team mates now so his passing and scoring should go up. Still demands a double team at all times (even in preseason), still cant gaurd Brad miller or any other shooting Center. Grade- B- Deke- Wow, this is the other surprise guy so far. A lot of energy in this guy still. He's faster than Yao and has more agility and jumping ability which is kind of sad but its ok because he is on our team. Hook shot is still ugly but hes getting it done. Can still swat it Grade- A- Sales or whoever you are, You suck and are cut. ( Im to tired to keep writing) GRades are based on Preseason performance
Well, expectations also came into play, eg. Hawkins out of nowhere gives him an A even though tmac played better and got a B, Boki was expected to step up and he fell down, so he gets the F
I agree with all of those except for Hawkins. We must have been watching completely different games, because Hawkins just looked totally out of control. The only positive thing I saw was when he drew the charge in the second game, but even in that case, the opposing player (I think it was the scrub with the fro) was even more spasmodic. His entire offense seems to be hurling himself at the lane with reckless abandon, and he just doesn't seem to have any real skills to back it up. The turnover at the end didn't endear me to him either. I won't be shocked if he gets picked up as an energy guy, because Zimmerman and co. bring nothing to the table, but IMO it would just be a waste of money. Boki, who is already under contract, can fling himself toward the basket. Hawkins seems like a player in whom was placed all the bad traits of Steve Francis, with very little of the good.
Yao and the rest of the team did a pretty good job on Miller last night. He was following him out to the perimeter and shutting down the jumper. Yes, Miller and Webber still got some open looks and they knocked them down. But, I thought Yao did pretty good against them all things considering.
I think Hawkins has looked great when he drives the ball. I give him an A for when he was in. I don't know if he can score against First Team defenders like Kevin Garrnet and Tim Duncan, but he probably won't be playing against them. He IS NOT OUT OF CONTROL. He is totally in control when he drives.
I loved Ward's entry passes to Yao in the beginning of the game. Yao would be open for a second and zap, the pass was there. Very encouraging for this year. One of my big dissapointments with Stevie Franchise was how he had a hard time recognizing when Yao was open and when to get him the ball. High marks to Ward.
Charlie Ward should be the starter...he's got the instinct of knowing when to pass at what situation. He's just fundamental.
This is only preseason. None of these games count. None of the starters should be giving their 110% or going for A grades. To do so would be stupid as it would risk injury and wear them out. The starters should only be giving 80%, play a minimum amount, and play only to practice. The only players who need to give 110% or get an A grade are those coming off the bench or trying to make the team. Overall, I think Yao and T-Mac did fine for the minutes they played. Mo Tay did good, too, after a sloppy start. Yao needs to practice protecting the ball and rebounding.
my thoughts about the Rox preseason - I enjoy the way we set up our offense. It seems (I might be mistaken since im not actually timing) we are getting into our offense much more quickly and I like the way all the PG's quickly bring the ball up the court giving us more time to set up plays. Our PG's have exceeded my expectations so far this season and I must admit I am pleased. In this day and age it is too tough to always stay in front of the PG no matter who is guarding them. The guards these days are too quick off the dribble for most people to guard so that is not as is important to me. J
After seeing Ward pass the ball, im all for him starting at pg. Good analysis & Hawkins is looking reallly good i see him making the roster.
Boki just hasnt developed at all. His shot may have gotten worse his defense is better but its still the old foul prone crap were used to. I think he could be delt by seasons end. I love Hawkins i dont mean to jump on the growing bandwagon but this guy seems good. His shot needs some work but he could take C spoons spot next year as the undersized PF even though hes a SG.
You gotta be joking. Oh, it's your rating anyway. The rating is seriously flawed when Tmac is rated lower than David Hawkings. David Hawkings is a me-first, low ability, non-team player. That one-way sign on his arm turned me off.
Good post, enjoyed reading it. I can't find anything disagreeable enough for me to argue with. All I know is 55-60 wins. The West is ours!
