ChumpDumper
12-29-2007, 03:51 AM
Holy crap! (http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/20071228/TULAUS/boxscore.html)
I expected at least some kind of letdown with three of the Toros four best players missing, but they came out and simply dismantled the 66ers methodically and decisively. For Tulsa, this is the kind of loss that could get a coach fired. They have far too much talent -- fully half the roster consists of players who currently are or have been in the NBA -- to take this severe a beating. For the Toros on the other hand, the win was a testament to the sheer depth of the roster and the strength of the system they pretty much all have bought into.
- Squeaky Johnson played just one minute Friday, but got the start on Saturday night putting up 10 points, 15 assists and 6 rebounds. Even more impressively, Ramon Sessions was held to just 13 points on 4-15 shooting due in no small part to the much smaller Toros guard staying in front of him and directing him towards the defensive help. Cheyne Gadson added another 8 assists, so the point guard situation looks pretty good right now from that angle. Hopefully they can be counted on to score a little more consistently with their roles increased.
- Ian dominated once more. Tulsa just doesn't have anyone to match him. His defensive rebounding numbers are a little inflated compared to what it might have been against stronger competition because the 66ers often had better position than Ian only to see him jump and reach over them. He does seem to be doing a better job of anticipating the boards though -- baby steps. He didn't get his second foul until the fourth quarter and none after that. His discipline in staying rooted to the floor at the right time is coming along nicely, and he was able to get four blocks by going for them at the right time -- a couple of them were the demoralizing, knock-it-out-of-the-building types we all love. The most encouraging thing I saw from him developmentally was that he hit two nice shots from 15-17 feet. More of that will help him be a better fit on the Spurs. Maybe he will be doing more of that with his new frontcourt mate:
- Kris Lang. Another LJ Ellis favorite, it seems Lang was just waiting for the Spurs to move to the top of the signing order to declare his availability to the D-League. Since he is an experienced guy with some knowledge of the system, Lang played as if he had been on the team all season, shooting 8-11 for 17 points and providing help defense with few problems or lapses. Lang probably has limited upside, but is a proven player on this level and play either the center or power forward role on offense, meaning Ian can work on both positions while the two are on the floor.
Lang's signing has made this team slightly heavy on big men, however. Since they didn't take the opportunity to sign a guard, I'm assuming the Toros are counting on one or both of Washington and Williams to rejoin the regular Toros roster. If both happen to come back, one big man will probably be let go. Eric Dawson told me he is probably a month away from playing, Kevin Pittsnogle seems to have lost his shot, which was the only thing that was justifying his playing time, and Anthony Fuqua is playing his best basketball of the season. The Toros may or may not have to lose a big man -- if they somehow keep them all and get them all playing to their potential, they will be the biggest, baddest team in the D-League.
- DerMarr Johnson led all scorers with 27. He seems to have made a conscious effort to diversify his offense the past few weeks, attacking the basket much more and settling less for the three pointer, though he was a perfect 4-4 from the arc. Seems to be in the mix more for rebounds too, which can only be a good thing. Hopefully he can keep his rebounding rate up at the level of the past two games.
- Justin Bowen continued his high energy play, this time as a starter. He had 19 points on 50% shooting, a few of them off putbacks from his usually solid offensive rebounding. He could probably stand to try more than one three pointer a game, but there isn't to much to complain about.
- Kenton Paulino made good use of his extended playing time (18 minutes after playing four minutes Friday), hitting a couple of threes, getting ten points and three steals.
I want to give coach Snyder some credit here. I got to see him work the game up close, and was pretty impressed. He's pretty intense about the game itself (the whole staff is), but not hard on the players at all. Sure, it's not really his system, but he has done a good job implementing it and keeping most of his players ready to answer the bell in the midst of myriad roster changes and wildly varying playing time. To have one's team lose three of its best players over the course of a few days and still have them focus enough to execute even better offensively and defensively is noteworthy. The Toros are looking better than ever.
PS - Thanks to the Toros staff in general and Rick Epstein in particular for accommodating my even more special than usual needs the past two games.
I expected at least some kind of letdown with three of the Toros four best players missing, but they came out and simply dismantled the 66ers methodically and decisively. For Tulsa, this is the kind of loss that could get a coach fired. They have far too much talent -- fully half the roster consists of players who currently are or have been in the NBA -- to take this severe a beating. For the Toros on the other hand, the win was a testament to the sheer depth of the roster and the strength of the system they pretty much all have bought into.
- Squeaky Johnson played just one minute Friday, but got the start on Saturday night putting up 10 points, 15 assists and 6 rebounds. Even more impressively, Ramon Sessions was held to just 13 points on 4-15 shooting due in no small part to the much smaller Toros guard staying in front of him and directing him towards the defensive help. Cheyne Gadson added another 8 assists, so the point guard situation looks pretty good right now from that angle. Hopefully they can be counted on to score a little more consistently with their roles increased.
- Ian dominated once more. Tulsa just doesn't have anyone to match him. His defensive rebounding numbers are a little inflated compared to what it might have been against stronger competition because the 66ers often had better position than Ian only to see him jump and reach over them. He does seem to be doing a better job of anticipating the boards though -- baby steps. He didn't get his second foul until the fourth quarter and none after that. His discipline in staying rooted to the floor at the right time is coming along nicely, and he was able to get four blocks by going for them at the right time -- a couple of them were the demoralizing, knock-it-out-of-the-building types we all love. The most encouraging thing I saw from him developmentally was that he hit two nice shots from 15-17 feet. More of that will help him be a better fit on the Spurs. Maybe he will be doing more of that with his new frontcourt mate:
- Kris Lang. Another LJ Ellis favorite, it seems Lang was just waiting for the Spurs to move to the top of the signing order to declare his availability to the D-League. Since he is an experienced guy with some knowledge of the system, Lang played as if he had been on the team all season, shooting 8-11 for 17 points and providing help defense with few problems or lapses. Lang probably has limited upside, but is a proven player on this level and play either the center or power forward role on offense, meaning Ian can work on both positions while the two are on the floor.
Lang's signing has made this team slightly heavy on big men, however. Since they didn't take the opportunity to sign a guard, I'm assuming the Toros are counting on one or both of Washington and Williams to rejoin the regular Toros roster. If both happen to come back, one big man will probably be let go. Eric Dawson told me he is probably a month away from playing, Kevin Pittsnogle seems to have lost his shot, which was the only thing that was justifying his playing time, and Anthony Fuqua is playing his best basketball of the season. The Toros may or may not have to lose a big man -- if they somehow keep them all and get them all playing to their potential, they will be the biggest, baddest team in the D-League.
- DerMarr Johnson led all scorers with 27. He seems to have made a conscious effort to diversify his offense the past few weeks, attacking the basket much more and settling less for the three pointer, though he was a perfect 4-4 from the arc. Seems to be in the mix more for rebounds too, which can only be a good thing. Hopefully he can keep his rebounding rate up at the level of the past two games.
- Justin Bowen continued his high energy play, this time as a starter. He had 19 points on 50% shooting, a few of them off putbacks from his usually solid offensive rebounding. He could probably stand to try more than one three pointer a game, but there isn't to much to complain about.
- Kenton Paulino made good use of his extended playing time (18 minutes after playing four minutes Friday), hitting a couple of threes, getting ten points and three steals.
I want to give coach Snyder some credit here. I got to see him work the game up close, and was pretty impressed. He's pretty intense about the game itself (the whole staff is), but not hard on the players at all. Sure, it's not really his system, but he has done a good job implementing it and keeping most of his players ready to answer the bell in the midst of myriad roster changes and wildly varying playing time. To have one's team lose three of its best players over the course of a few days and still have them focus enough to execute even better offensively and defensively is noteworthy. The Toros are looking better than ever.
PS - Thanks to the Toros staff in general and Rick Epstein in particular for accommodating my even more special than usual needs the past two games.