LAKERS -at- ROCKETS - 1-8-14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:23 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- ROCKETS - 1-8-14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Free Falling… If the games ended in the first half, the Lakers might look a lot more respectable. They seem to hang with teams that long before the inevitable collapse. Despite a brief double-digit first half lead, the Lakers fell to the Rockets 113-99.

“We get slow, we get methodical, we get stuck in the mud in the second half,” D’Antoni said. The Lakers had 15 points on the break in the first half and just 2 in the second half. Meanwhile, the Rockets ran the ball down their throats.

Teams simply flex their muscle and impose their will on the Lakers right now. The Lakers just don’t have the talent to turn the tables like that.

With the Clippers waiting to get a little revenge on the Lakers after the opening day beating the Lakers gave them, there’s not soft landing for this free fall.


Gasol -- -- Part of the Lakers collapses are Pau’s consistent ineffectiveness in the second half of games. When he was imposing his will in the first half (not just on shots, but hitting the boards and playing D), the Lakers were hanging in there. When he disappeared, so did the Lakers. It seems like when Pau has it going offensively, he puts in a better defensive effort. At the end of the night, it was a pretty good game from Pau, but we just can’t hang with teams right now. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 8-13 shooting (0-1 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 12 boards (4 offensive), 3 assists, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -16. The Action: He had the ball poked from him in the post for points the other way. Quick first step around Howard on the face up and he drew FTs on the reverse, he made one but got it back. His hook over Howard was then blocked, but it went to Wes and he hit Pau for a dunk. Quick spin in the post and he dunked before Howard could help. He blocked Howard, but it went right back to him. He backed his man down and hit the baseline fade over him. He was stripped by Howard on the face-up. He got tapped on a wing jumper over Dwight. He faked Howard for as if he was going into a jumphook and went with the up-and-under wisely and drew FTs (can’t be predictable against Dwight), he made both. He tipped in a missed Hill layup. Wow, cheap foul on what looked like a clean poke away on Howard’s drive. He put back in a missed jumphook by Hill. He was fouled on the offensive glass when Dwight left him to try to block a shot, he made both FTs. Nice bounce entry to Hill under the hoop for the layup. He had 15 points, 6 boards and 2 blocks at the half. Second Half: He lost the handle in the post, layup the other way. He missed a three on the secondary break. He missed a short one over Dwight in the post. He missed a step-through layup. He swished an 18-footer, his first points in the half with 6 minutes left to go. He backed Dwight down and hit the jumphook over him. He hit a lefty jumphook off the interior feed.

Meeks -- -- His playmaking attempts were awful tonight. Many of his attacks resulted in turnovers or missed floaters. He did scratch out a good number of trips to the line and another good scoring game. But in the end, our two PGs had 10 turnovers tonight. The Rockets turned those into easy points the other way. Defensively, Meeks got in on a couple more steals, which is almost automatic from him these days. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 5-13 shooting (2-5 from three, 9-10 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He missed a three straight away on the Lakers first attempt. He cut backdoor and Marshall hit him for the reverse. He picked up two quick fouls and had to sit after 2 minutes. Sloppy kickout trying to playmake, dunk the other way. He swiped a pass and hit Wes for the layup on the break. He sank a three in early offense. He attacked Lin off a change of pace in early offense and drew FTs, he made both. He was blocked on a floater. Sweet bounce pass in transition off the dribble to Young for the layup. He tried to playmake off the dribble, points the other way on the turnover. He choked a layup on a drive off of Pau’s post up. Horrible kickout by the Rockets and Meeks pounced all over it for a dunk the other way. Second Half: He attacked and threw it away trying to playmake. He missed a quick chuck in offense. He threw down a one-handed dunk on the quick counter strike after a made basket. He missed a long floater (wish he could Goudelock those into the hoop). He fumbled a bounce pass out of bounds. He attacked and missed a prayer. He attacked and drew FTs. He missed a corner three. He drew FTs on a rare second-half bustout. He drained a corner three on a Marshall kickout. Strong cut and Kaman hit him for FTs, he made both. He attacked and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a floater. He attacked a crowd, turnover.

Marshall -- -- It looked like his confidence in his shot left him in this game. That made it much easier on the D to just play under the screens and disrupt the two-man game. That’s how you defend him. It will be up to Kendall to make them pay. He couldn’t and had another high turnover game. “It’s a product of the team. We don’t have a good pace and it happens,” D’Antoni said of the turnovers. Some of that is true, but Kendall was an easy cover tonight. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-13 shooting (1-6 from three) to go with 5 boards, 8 assists, 1 steal, 6 turnovers and 4 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: He attacked and kicked to Wes for three. He hit Meeks with a bounce pass on the backdoor cut for a layup. Poor, slow pass across court that was picked off for a score. He didn’t hit rim on a wing jumper. He drained a wing three on the kickout from Young. He was called for using an off-arm on a drive. He missed a long perimeter jumper. He deflected a pass in transition to get a stop. He missed a wide open wing three in transition. He wheeled around Harden off the dribble, used his hips well on the finish to get separation and scored the easy layup. He missed a wing three on a kickout. He was blocked on a drive. He missed a drive and looked like he got hit in the face with no call. Second Half: He attacked and airballed a layup concerned about Howard. He telegraphed a pass and it was deflected off him for a turnover. He went between a defender’s legs with a pass and Young hit the three. He missed a wing three. He attacked a crowd and threw it way. He missed a wing three. He attacked and kicked to Meeks for the open three. He missed an open three. He missed a wing jumper. His swing pass was picked off.

Johnson -- -- I didn’t think his D against Harden was half bad when they matched up. We gave Harden a ton of breakaway scores and he feasted. We didn’t slow the game into a halfcourt game defensively, which is hard to do when you want to push the pace. Wes said it’s important not to use your hands against Harden since he draws all those whistles. Offensively, he scratched out a few points, hitting a couple of threes in this one. Good effort, overall. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-13 shooting (2-5 from three) to go with 4 boards (3 offensive), 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He drained a wing three on a kickout. He hit Pau under the hoop for a dunk. He sank a baseline catch and shoot from the left corner. His post entry pass was picked off. He missed a pull-up on iso. He missed a long wing jumper. It looked like he jumped over Brooks to finish a layup in transition. He then got back and blocked a shot to get a stop at the other end. He missed a rushed baseline jumper. He deflected a pass to get a stop. He missed a baseline jumper, but tracked the miss down and hit Hill under the hoop for the layup. He missed a wing jumper. He had 7 points at the half. Second Half: He missed a pull-up from the FT line. He drained a three right over his man with the shotclock low. He got caught in the air not shooting, travel. He missed a three on a kickout. He attacked and missed a drive. He forced up a three and missed.

Sacre -- -- He was fairly invisible out there tonight aside from a couple of blocks. I’ve got only a couple of notes. He had some moments on D, but didn’t bring much to the table, which may have resulted in the Kaman sighting we saw later in the game. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting to go with 3 boards, 2 blocks and 3 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He rejected Lin at the rim. Second Half: He missed a 15-footer on the Pau kickout.

Young -- -- Well, a better game from Nick over the last one. He still had some moments where he pounded the ball too much and it resulted in bad shots. But he’s out there quite a bit without a playmaker, so the ball-stopping iso chucks are just going to have to be accepted. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 10-20 shooting (2-6 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist and 4 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: Not close on a wild fading pull-up jumper. Nice help D under the hoop to help block a big to get a shotclock violation. He attacked baseline and kicked out to Marshall for three. Nice change of direction in transition and he scored an And-1 layup around Lin, he made the FT. He forced up a miss, we got it back and he hit the wide open, controlled wing jumper. He attacked off the three line and drew FTs, he made both. He got completely tapped on a three straight away at the end of the quarter. He attacked past Lin and scored a layup. Up against the shotclock and he hit a jumper over Lin. Quick attack from the wing and he banked the runner. Out on the break and Meeks hit him with a long bounce pass for the layup. He missed a pull-up jumper working off a screen. He had 15 points at the half. Second Half: A second after entering the game and he drained a three straight away. He probed and missed a wing jumper. Turnover on a drive, dunk the other way. He iso’d and hit the pull-up jumper, griping to the ref about a no call. He pounded the dribble into a long wing chuck from three and missed badly. He missed a jumphook in the paint. He missed a three. Good initial D on Harden, then he reached on a falling fade by Harden to give him FTs. He sank a wing pull-up jumper working off the screen. He missed an elbow fade. He missed an off-balance three. He sank a long garbage-time three.

Hill -- -- Decent game from Hill with the near double-double, which included 5 offensive boards. Not a big fan of seeing the Pau/Kelly bigman combo when we’ve got Hill playing 22 minutes. That’s just tankage waiting to happen. Nice to see Pau tipping in Hill misses and getting to the offensive boards after Hill keeps things alive. That was some better chemistry from that duo tonight. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-8 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards (5 offensive), 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: He forced a couple of Rockets to knock a rebound out of bounds. He tipped in a Kelly missed drive. He rejected a man at the rim, but it went right to another Rocket. He threw a kickout into the stands. He missed a putback, but Pau tipped it in. He scored a layup when Wes found him off the scramble for a loose ball. Great job getting Wes’s missed jumper, but he missed the putback, Pau was there to clean it up again. He missed a jumphook, but Pau drew FTs on the putback attempt. Pau found him under the hoop and Hill scored the layup off the head fake. Second Half: He battled for an offensive board and kicked it out while on the ground (it led to a Young three). He took the high-low from Pau, faked and drew FTs, he missed both. He shed his man, grabbed the offensive board and dunked. He hit the jumphook in the post over a smaller man.

Kaman -- -- A Kaman sighting tonight. He mentioned that the Lakers are trying to develop some of their younger guys and get them minutes. Kaman’s got more game than a Sacre and certainly Kelly when we try to use him at PF. But we’re in tank mode, so Kaman’s sitting a lot and Sacre and Kelly are getting valuable time to develop their game. Against some of the lesser teams, you might have scrapped for W’s with Kaman, but certainly not against the tougher teams. The Lakers are taking their lumps. “It’s been a tough road the last 10 or 15 games,” Kaman said. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-4 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards (2 offensive), 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He went high-low to Hill who scored over a smaller man. He up-faked, attacked, spun on Dwight and was hacked for FTs, he made one. He swatted Howard’s post move out of the paint. He attacked the paint and hit the turnaround. He missed a fading pull-up in the paint. His man kind of flopped on him in the post, charge. He blocked a drive and it led to a Meeks bustout. He set up Meeks cutting for FTs. He lost his balance in the post and flipped in a reverse granny before stumbling. That looked like a H-O-R-S-E shot. He missed a left-handed chippy.

Kelly -- -- Not much to say about either him or Sacre tonight. Kelly is just not ready for prime time, but these are developmental minutes for him. He’s got to take advantage of that. Hate seeing another 1-board game from him. It was a nice one. But what else can you say about 1 board and 2 points? He and Marshall seem to have the transition foul down well on D. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-3 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He attacked and missed the running hook, but Hill tipped it in. He missed a short baseline jumper. He missed the wing three on a kickout. Second Half: Poor angle close out and he fouled his man. Harden made him look silly on a Euro-step in transition. He attacked in garbage time and earned FTs, he made both.

D’Antoni -- -- He got a good first half out of the team anyway… First sub, he sat Meeks for Young after Meeks picked up 2 quick fouls in 2 minutes to open the game… The Lakers took a 17-11 lead after 6 minutes, hitting threes and getting to the rim for dunks or layups... He brought in Hill for Sacre out of that timeout… He brought in Kelly for Wes up 7… Up 3, he sat Pau and Marshall for Meeks and Johnson… The Lakers led 28-24 after the first quarter. Nice to see a little D… He started the Hill, Kelly, Johnson, Young, Meeks lineup… Up 6, he brought in Pau and Marshall for Hill and Johnson. The Kelly/Pau bigman combo looks scary on D… D’Antoni quickly decided the same and sat Kelly for Sacre up by 4… He sat Meeks for Wes with 6 minutes left up by 6… He sat Sacre for Kelly after Sacre picked up another foul. Uggh. Pau/Kelly combo with the Lakers up by 5… Kelly picked up his third and sat for Hill with the lead down to 4. He also sat Young for Meeks… This unit stretched it to 8 points with 2:34 forcing a timeout. Good job by the bigs… The Lakers led 57-52 at the half. The Lakers had 15 points on the break. They would finish with 17. The D wouldn’t hold up to get them break opportunities… Up 3, D’Antoni called a timeout after several Lakers stood and watched a score in transition that went right through them. Welcome to the Laker second halves lately. Glad he’s on them for the D… Down 1, he sat Sacre for Hill and Johnson for Young after 5 minutes… Down 3, we brought in Kelly for Meeks… Down 10, he called another timeout. He sat Pau for Wes and Marshall for Meeks… Down 12, he brought in Kaman with 2 minutes left in the third… Houston just getting too many easy ones and the Lakers fade into the night again giving up another 30+ point quarter… The Lakers trailed 85-72 heading into the fourth… He started the Kaman, Hill, Johnson, Young, Meeks lineup… Down 14, he sat Hill and Wes for Pau and Marshall… The lead ballooned to 20 and then Pau finally started to score a little and the Lakers cut it to 13, forcing a timeout… Down 13 with 4:41 left and we went to the Hack-a-Howard… That just delayed the inevitable…
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moonriver24
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:27 pm    Post subject:

first but not proud
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:28 pm    Post subject:

I'm really hoping Sacre can play well so we can have a productive cheap big for next year. Was a bit disappointed with him tonight. I don't mind the loss, but it's a lot easier to watch the team work their way towards a good draft pick if the prospects on the team seem to be figuring out their games and getting better.

Same goes for Marshall.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:35 pm    Post subject:

Pau needs to take it upon himself to demand the ball and try to score when we have these lulls. So frustrating to see him get the ball and kick it back out every time he sees the double starting to come. A contested look from him down low is better these days than our guards trying to create offense.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:36 pm    Post subject:

Kaman should start the second halves instead of Pau. At least it would be interesting.

I'm really disappointed in Kelly though.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:40 pm    Post subject:

Any ideas on why Pau seems unable to sustain effort in the second half?

Is he STILL not completely in game shape or recovering or ?

Right now this Laker team is just so frustrating to watch.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:40 pm    Post subject:

Oh, and Meeks is a disaster running the pick and roll. It seemed like he turned the ball over half of the times we tried it. He was making the right reads it seemed like, but he has no clue how to pass the ball past the defenders. If it was Blake, those would have gotten through.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:45 pm    Post subject:



Thanks, DB.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 9:48 pm    Post subject:

SweetP wrote:
Any ideas on why Pau seems unable to sustain effort in the second half?

Is he STILL not completely in game shape or recovering or ?

Right now this Laker team is just so frustrating to watch.


Today, at least, it looked like the Rockets were having the guards dig down on him more aggressively, and he was just kicking it back out even when it was more of a soft double. To be fair to Pau, it did look like he was expecting the repost a few times and our guard decided to swing the ball away or drive into traffic. But mostly, he just doesn't look for his shot in the third quarters; he just tries to swing the ball and facilitate. He needs to exert himself more, and to stop settling. He have Dwight fits today even when he missed a couple bunnies, and he just let him off the hook in the second half.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:08 pm    Post subject:

SweetP wrote:
Any ideas on why Pau seems unable to sustain effort in the second half?

Is he STILL not completely in game shape or recovering or ?

Right now this Laker team is just so frustrating to watch.


Because he logging close to 40 minutes a game.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:32 pm    Post subject:

I get the impression that opposing teams aren't taking the Lakers too seriously, going on cruise control in the first half with the confidence of knowing they put the game away in the second half.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:40 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 12:56 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB. I know how excruciating this task is, but it is appreciated.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:51 am    Post subject:

lakerjoshua wrote:
SweetP wrote:
Any ideas on why Pau seems unable to sustain effort in the second half?

Is he STILL not completely in game shape or recovering or ?

Right now this Laker team is just so frustrating to watch.


Because he logging close to 40 minutes a game.


So basically MDA is running him into the ground, as he has done every other big man he has had?

Thanks MDA.

SMH.

This guy is easily the worst coach the Lakers have had in nearly twenty years. SHEESH.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 5:04 am    Post subject:

I forget to say:

Thanks DB

I realize it's tough writing Thoughts and Ratings for this team, but have you considered a life of sadomasochism? It might make the task easier.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 5:38 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB. Missed the last two games (perhaps for the best) and these recaps are more than enough to fill me in.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 8:11 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB for doing a HARD job this season

If MDA says that we are playing "slow and methodical" in the second half, isn't this ideal for Pau to be assertive on offense.

With Marshall and Pau playing 38/36 minutes - with Marshall still adjusting to having this much PT - it highlights how much MDA is handicapped when one realizes that Meeks is the backup PG and Hill/Sacre/Kelly/Kaman is his bench.

How many teams can be successful with a recent D League callup (Marshall) passing to a late 2nd round draft choice that was injured at the start of the season.

Hopefully Marshall will realize that the way to stop long runs is to go to Pau first to force him to make IMPACTFUL plays. Pau shooting is better than Johnson/Kelly/Marshall shooting 3s or Hill/Sacre in the paint
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 9:00 am    Post subject:

This is really getting painful. I do get the sense the guys are playing hard, and what can you expect with a D-League guard leading the team? Pau has been putting up 2x2's, but the impact isn't felt. Meeks, IMO, has improved his game, but putting him as the "decision maker" is putting him out of position.

To paraphrase Bruce Lee, "It's the art of tanking without tanking."
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 9:51 am    Post subject:

Klone_dd wrote:
This is really getting painful. I do get the sense the guys are playing hard, and what can you expect with a D-League guard leading the team? Pau has been putting up 2x2's, but the impact isn't felt. Meeks, IMO, has improved his game, but putting him as the "decision maker" is putting him out of position.

To paraphrase Bruce Lee, "It's the art of tanking without tanking."
Marshall has been ok

Pau and Meeks not making an impact during critical/crunch time has bee providing a fast-growing body of evidence that they are not ready for prime team in leading/leadership roles in championship teams. Not a knock just a reality check.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 11:13 am    Post subject:

I don't believe Mitch truly believes they can make a run in the second half. He's posturing and that just infuriates me. His one weakness has been his fondness for veteran players. They usually get hurt and stay hurt. At 14-22, that's waaaay too much ground to cover IMO. Even healthy, the interior Defense is horrible with Matador Pau watching lay-ups go by him. I wish I could say hope for the best but this is a truly a year to forget forever.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 12:23 pm    Post subject:

LakerEric wrote:
I don't believe Mitch truly believes they can make a run in the second half. He's posturing and that just infuriates me. His one weakness has been his fondness for veteran players. They usually get hurt and stay hurt. At 14-22, that's waaaay too much ground to cover IMO. Even healthy, the interior Defense is horrible with Matador Pau watching lay-ups go by him. I wish I could say hope for the best but this is a truly a year to forget forever.
Mitch shares the same weakness with the Zen Master that must be the reason why they have not achieved much success.

NBA season is a marathon filled with surprises, injuries and trades that can/has/will dramatically change the focus of teams.

I am not advocating that this team will win a ring, but they are playing hard and they have a lot of players on thr DL
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 12:25 pm    Post subject:

LakerEric wrote:
I don't believe Mitch truly believes they can make a run in the second half. He's posturing and that just infuriates me. His one weakness has been his fondness for veteran players. They usually get hurt and stay hurt. At 14-22, that's waaaay too much ground to cover IMO. Even healthy, the interior Defense is horrible with Matador Pau watching lay-ups go by him. I wish I could say hope for the best but this is a truly a year to forget forever.

Mitch can't sub Kaman in for Pau or play Hill.

The record Lakers had before Farmar started the row of injuries shows that this team could win at least some games. Could, if MDA played his cards better. Pau is a sensitive type. If the team is doing well, he tends to do better. If team is losing, Pau stops pushing him. They are the two leaders left in this team. Both are performing quite miserable.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 12:29 pm    Post subject:

Klone_dd wrote:

To paraphrase Bruce Lee, "It's the art of tanking without tanking."


Very true.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 12:40 pm    Post subject:

angrypuppy wrote:
I forget to say:

Thanks DB

I realize it's tough writing Thoughts and Ratings for this team, but have you considered a life of sadomasochism? It might make the task easier.




thanks db!
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 1:58 pm    Post subject:

As an unofficial spokesperson for Team Tank, I can share our criteria for a good game:

1. We lose without it looking too deliberate
2. We incur no new injuries
3. Our young guys or future prospects get significant burn that helps us understand whether we should keep them or not.

From that perspective, this was a Team Tank Good Game (ttgg)!

To point #3: None of our really raw prospects (Sacre, Kelly, Marshall) showed us much to convince us to keep them. I'm going to make a prospect evaluation thread and consolidate that kind of feedback there.
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