ChumpDumper
03-01-2008, 06:26 PM
Box Score (http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/20080229/FWNAUS/boxscore.html)
All good things must come to an end. Keith Langford was not listed on the roster last night and was presumably winging his way to Italy for a nice payday before making another run at the NBA this summer. The Toros will definitely miss his consistently high level of play on offense and defense, but after trading Justin Reed for another NBA vet, Andre Barrett, the team looks poised for a strong stretch run.
- Being Andre's first game running the team, some rough edges in the offense had to be expected. Barrett is a very quick point guard and has racked up a of assists of of penetration over the years, but the timing and location of some of his passes is quite different from what the other Toros have seen this year. At times when they would expect a guard to dribble back out of the paint after a probing drive, Barrett would rocket a pass out to the arc. More than once, the receiver wasn't ready for it and either lost the pass or fumbled with it, giving the defense a chance to close. The result was fewer assists for Barrett himself, but a general theme of ball movement and unselfishness for the team on the whole -- seven Toros ended the game with three or more assists. It was a solid, if conservative debut and I expect big things from Andre soon.
- Ian fouled out in a little over 16 minutes, but managed to amass 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in that short time. It was pretty disappointing because a lot of his fouls were completely unnecessary, called when he reached in during scrums for rebounds and the like. He was too quick for any of the Mad Ants' defenders and was pretty aggressive with his offense. His rebounding positioning was ok, but it may have been more a case of the Ants' being out of position. I really like the way he can block the shot of a driver coming right at him without fouling -- he shows excellent body control jumping the right way to avoid contact. He seemed to relish the challenge of playing Cheikh Samb and had no problem mixing it up with him -- probably too much as the foul total shows. He will match up with a real bruiser tonight against Anaheim. Former Toro Marcus Campbell had a pretty productive February with a couple of 19-rebound performances in the past weeks. Ian should be able to run rings around him, but might have trouble getting position down low.
- As the box score shows, the Story of the game was Justin Bowen. He scored 20 of his game and season-high 30 points in the first half and was instrumental in breaking the game open. Many of his baskets were scored off of relatively easy drives since his defender gave up the middle far too often, but Bowen still had to get past/over/around the ridiculously long Samb. He did a very good job of that -- I only remember Samb's blocking one of his lay-in attempts. Bowen also got a fair number of putbacks from his typically impressive work on the offensive boards. His defense was a little inconsistent; at one point he seemed to be trading baskets with his assignment, the ultra-athletic James Peters. He did do better on smaller guards, and finished with three blocks. Justin's playing time and production may have been held down by the bigger names that have played on the Toros this season. With most of them gone, he might be poised to pick up where he left off at the end of last season when he put up double-doubles in about half his games.
- DerMarr Johnson came down to earth from his call-up worthy performance against the Wizards last Saturday. He played decently considering his outside shot wasn't falling. The problem was he tried to do to much with the ball. The things he does best remind me of the things Stephen Jackson does best -- spot shooting, cutting and transition baskets. Whenever he tries to move away from that -- like, say driving in anything but a straight line -- there are big problems. Still, he did do it enough for me to label him a ballhog (four assists, after all) and his defensive effort was adequate -- it's just that everyone wants and expects so much more from him.
- Marcus Williams had yet another very solid game. The plays and defensive schemes are becoming much more second nature to him, and the deer-in-the-headlights days of summer league are long gone. He gets to the right spots and doesn't upset the flow of the offense. Looking back, he had a great February, averaging 18.6 points and 6 rebounds on 54% shooting (9/16 from the arc) -- mostly off the bench. His shot looks a lot better these days, with a quicker and more consistent release. Defensively, the staff much think a lot of it -- when they went small in the first half, Coach Snyder put him on Cheikh Samb instead of giving the assignment to the taller DerMarr. He actually did a fair job, even though Samb isn't the most aggressive offensive center. His team defense is still his strongest asset, and he did his part to disrupt the Mad Ant attack. With Langford gone, Williams has a good chance to become the #1 perimeter scorer on the team.
- The other players didn't do anything spectacular, as they are all adjusting or re-adjusting to life without Langford. Cheyne Gadson needs to looks for his offense more now that he's playing off the ball. Serge Angounou showed good hustle but still looks pretty lost out there. The Toros have one roster spot open. I assume it is being reserved for Eric Dawson, who should be returning from injury any day now. The only thing that would be better would be a big man with more scoring potential for the times Ian is out -- but this team is still one of the strongest in the D-League.
I'll put up some more pictures if I can sort them out before tonight's game.
All good things must come to an end. Keith Langford was not listed on the roster last night and was presumably winging his way to Italy for a nice payday before making another run at the NBA this summer. The Toros will definitely miss his consistently high level of play on offense and defense, but after trading Justin Reed for another NBA vet, Andre Barrett, the team looks poised for a strong stretch run.
- Being Andre's first game running the team, some rough edges in the offense had to be expected. Barrett is a very quick point guard and has racked up a of assists of of penetration over the years, but the timing and location of some of his passes is quite different from what the other Toros have seen this year. At times when they would expect a guard to dribble back out of the paint after a probing drive, Barrett would rocket a pass out to the arc. More than once, the receiver wasn't ready for it and either lost the pass or fumbled with it, giving the defense a chance to close. The result was fewer assists for Barrett himself, but a general theme of ball movement and unselfishness for the team on the whole -- seven Toros ended the game with three or more assists. It was a solid, if conservative debut and I expect big things from Andre soon.
- Ian fouled out in a little over 16 minutes, but managed to amass 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in that short time. It was pretty disappointing because a lot of his fouls were completely unnecessary, called when he reached in during scrums for rebounds and the like. He was too quick for any of the Mad Ants' defenders and was pretty aggressive with his offense. His rebounding positioning was ok, but it may have been more a case of the Ants' being out of position. I really like the way he can block the shot of a driver coming right at him without fouling -- he shows excellent body control jumping the right way to avoid contact. He seemed to relish the challenge of playing Cheikh Samb and had no problem mixing it up with him -- probably too much as the foul total shows. He will match up with a real bruiser tonight against Anaheim. Former Toro Marcus Campbell had a pretty productive February with a couple of 19-rebound performances in the past weeks. Ian should be able to run rings around him, but might have trouble getting position down low.
- As the box score shows, the Story of the game was Justin Bowen. He scored 20 of his game and season-high 30 points in the first half and was instrumental in breaking the game open. Many of his baskets were scored off of relatively easy drives since his defender gave up the middle far too often, but Bowen still had to get past/over/around the ridiculously long Samb. He did a very good job of that -- I only remember Samb's blocking one of his lay-in attempts. Bowen also got a fair number of putbacks from his typically impressive work on the offensive boards. His defense was a little inconsistent; at one point he seemed to be trading baskets with his assignment, the ultra-athletic James Peters. He did do better on smaller guards, and finished with three blocks. Justin's playing time and production may have been held down by the bigger names that have played on the Toros this season. With most of them gone, he might be poised to pick up where he left off at the end of last season when he put up double-doubles in about half his games.
- DerMarr Johnson came down to earth from his call-up worthy performance against the Wizards last Saturday. He played decently considering his outside shot wasn't falling. The problem was he tried to do to much with the ball. The things he does best remind me of the things Stephen Jackson does best -- spot shooting, cutting and transition baskets. Whenever he tries to move away from that -- like, say driving in anything but a straight line -- there are big problems. Still, he did do it enough for me to label him a ballhog (four assists, after all) and his defensive effort was adequate -- it's just that everyone wants and expects so much more from him.
- Marcus Williams had yet another very solid game. The plays and defensive schemes are becoming much more second nature to him, and the deer-in-the-headlights days of summer league are long gone. He gets to the right spots and doesn't upset the flow of the offense. Looking back, he had a great February, averaging 18.6 points and 6 rebounds on 54% shooting (9/16 from the arc) -- mostly off the bench. His shot looks a lot better these days, with a quicker and more consistent release. Defensively, the staff much think a lot of it -- when they went small in the first half, Coach Snyder put him on Cheikh Samb instead of giving the assignment to the taller DerMarr. He actually did a fair job, even though Samb isn't the most aggressive offensive center. His team defense is still his strongest asset, and he did his part to disrupt the Mad Ant attack. With Langford gone, Williams has a good chance to become the #1 perimeter scorer on the team.
- The other players didn't do anything spectacular, as they are all adjusting or re-adjusting to life without Langford. Cheyne Gadson needs to looks for his offense more now that he's playing off the ball. Serge Angounou showed good hustle but still looks pretty lost out there. The Toros have one roster spot open. I assume it is being reserved for Eric Dawson, who should be returning from injury any day now. The only thing that would be better would be a big man with more scoring potential for the times Ian is out -- but this team is still one of the strongest in the D-League.
I'll put up some more pictures if I can sort them out before tonight's game.