Because of the way the schedule was set up today, I only watched three games. Yes, I know, it is very disappointing that I didn't catch a fourth, which I am sure you have grown accustomed to.
Our beloved Spurs played the night cap and eeked out a 78-76 victory.
Yours truly got a big laugh out of Ian Mahinmi after the game. Ian Interview Game Two
[Update]: A very nice recap of the game and evaluation of Ian by Timothy Varner at 48MoH.
Game One - Knicks vs Grizzlies
The Grizz whipped up on the Knicks in the fourth quarter to take this one 90-86.
- DeMarre Carroll - I love me some DeMarre Carroll. 9 points and 4 rebounds will get you a yawn from most people. I like everything he does on the court. He hustles. He rebounds. He handles the ball intelligently. Give him a couple years to work on his shot and he will be a top-tier role player on a team.
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Hamed Haddadi - The big Iranian is only 24 and he is WAY better than Thabeet right now. He's got really nice, and VERY large hands. Good court vision. He had a very slick pass to Darrell Arthur that spoke volumes for his coordination. He caught a pass in the paint while cutting across the lane and executed a nice little scoop pass just as he caught the ball to Arthur who was cutting in from the wing. It was gorgeous. He also had 2 blocks and 5 boards in 12 minutes.
- Darrell Arthur - He's got a really nice jumper and excellent moves within in 15 feet. He was impossible for them to stop.
- Hasheem Thabeet - I still don't like what I see from him. His defensive game is decent, but his hands are terrible. Kwame Brown terrible. Enough said.
- Morris Almond - Great shooter. End of story.
- Jordan Hill - I wasn't really paying attention to him. He didn't stand out to me, but his numbers where decent. 13 points and 8 rebounds in 29 minutes.
- Joe Crawford - He wowed us with a couple plays.
- Nikoloz Tskitishvili - The big man can shoot. 3 of 5 from downtown. 12 points and 4 rebounds in 26 minutes.
Game Two - Bulls vs Warriors
This was my fourth look at the Warriors. More of the same.
- Anthony Randolph - This was his show. He put up 42. Yes, 42. He was 13-22 from the field and 16-21 from the line. This was his first game in which he didn't have a double-double as he only came up with 3 rebounds. The funny part is that me and another guy were joking about what kinds of questions we could ask him. Like, "Anthony, you only had 3 rebounds. Do you think that kind of performance is going to help you get playing time?" Hahahaha. Anyway, we are coming up with all kinds of asinine questions we could ask him, and you know what, in his post game interview he brings up his 3 rebounds as something to work on. I can't believe he's only played one year. His offensive game is ridiculous. He's still fairly poor on the defensive end, but crikey the man can score.
- Stephen Curry - He's shooting 31% in four games. On 70 shots. Yes, 70 shots. He's got a better handle than I thought he would but I think he's going to have a hard time when the games aren't called so tightly.
- James Augustine - I fairly certain he played in the Spanish ACB League with Unicaja last year. He has a complete game. He showed great body control and ball skills. He went 10-11 from the field and pulled down 7 rebounds in 34 minutes.
- James Johnson - The rookie from Wake Forest has some potential. He went for 21 and 8. I want to watch him a little more closely.
- Taj Gibson - The rookie from USC was very active. He ended with 14 points and 12 rebounds in just under 30 minutes.
- DeMarcus Nelson - 4-12 from the field.
- Anthony Roberson - 3-13 from the field.
- Bench - The Bulls bench went 0-11 from the field.
Game Three - Spurs vs Nuggets
The Spurs turnovers and fouls kept the Nuggets in this game. We held them to 34% shooting and out rebounded them by 10.
- Coby Karl - He made a LOT of shots. He missed one. He had 19 points and, in general, was very good.
- Ronald Dupree - 13 points.
- Ian Mahinmi - The inauspicious triple double. Or is it triple bumble? He did look good for long stretches. All in all, I'm very pleased with this performance after Sunday's. Plus, I made him GOL. Or was that LOL?
- James Gist - I'm not sure if he played poorly or played well and just didn't have stats.
- Malik Hairston - I am really starting to like his composure and presence. He had 17 points on 7-11 shooting. Only 2 rebounds in 31 minutes though. I would like to see other contributions in the stat sheet. I do think, however, that he played good defense.
- Jack McClinton - Another 0-2 in only 11 minutes. He did have the Spurs only 4 assists in the first quarter. I'm not sure what is going on with him, but he still has 6 more missed to go to get into George Hill Land.
- George Hill - The Spurs were terrible again with him not on the floor. He did miss a free throw. 16 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers.
- Stephane Lasme - He was very active around the basket. While I don't think he has a shot to make the Spurs, I think he is doing a good job of getting himself a contract overseas.
- Romel Beck - The guy can shoot. He doesn't make good decisions with the ball though. He'll probably be overseas as well.
- Donnell Taylor - He was my favorite bench player tonight. He had 6 points and 8 rebounds in 21 minutes. He is still struggling at the point, but he's getting better.
- Squeaky - His only dent in the stat sheet was 2 turnovers.
Day Five is in the books. Tomorrow, we get back to the full 4 game schedule for ATS. I enjoyed my short day, now back to the grind.