SLC Dunk

Note: I'm putting this together at work, and YouTube is blocked. So I'm hoping all the videos are working correctly. If not, I'll fix it when I get home at about 3:00.

The Punching Bag Blues

We said:
Big Al's just no good
Big Al is just a bum
The season aint even started
And I know I want him gone
But then he learned to play D, carry the team, and now we're glad and we think of the games we won.

We said:
Raja's so, so bad now
Look, he's scared to shoot
Can't defend a sponge
KOC, give the dude the boot!
But then his wife had a baby, he's shot threes like crazy, and defended like a brute.

We said:
CJ, you're playin' stupid
CJ, you're playin' dumb
When the shot clock's at 20
That's not the time to gun
But then he drove to the hole, took good shots lots more, and started playin' fun

We said:
Devin, why can't you shoot?
Devin, why can't you pass?
We thought you could be half of Deron
But your play is simply trash.
But then he drove to the lane, quick-stepped again, and made the game tempo fast

We said:
Gordon, you're one for seven,
Gordon, you're one for nine
You're passive all the time now
You're killing the team all the time
But then he played with aggression, took shots on possessions, and turned himself into G-Time

So, who's struggling and want to be our punching bag next? We're 5-5 on turning them around. I vote for interior defense.

Good things from the week that was

It wasn't the best week. We all know that. But there were still decent things to be happy about despite it all:

1. Hayward went from being terrified to shoot, to the best all-around player despite his few shots, to the best player who also took his shots. All in four days.
2. Once Alec calmed down and started to play in the offense against the Kings, he looked simply great.
3. Al's not Boozer. I hated it when Boozer would not come back until after he felt 100% for four weeks. Al will come back as soon as possible. Now if only Ty could notice him hobbling around and realize maybe playing injured Al 30+ minutes isnt' the best of ideas.
4. Millsap gave his same dominant stat-line for two of the three games.
5. Devin is cutting to the basket and taking his guy off the dribble again.
6. Raja's still playing good D and hitting his few shots.
7. Kanter showed us some legit post moves.
8. Favors showed us some legit post moves.
9. Jeremy Evans blocked a shot.
10. Josh Howard improved from disgusting to merely dreadful
11. CJ is playing like 100% smart CJ (or at least 95%, which is still an A)
12. Earl didn't play as well as he has been, but wasn't terrible.
13. Tinsley played a couple minutes.

Videos:

Even with a gimpy leg, Al did this:

Alec played within the offense and did this:

CJ did this kind of thing often

Jeremy can jump.

Derrick pulled off passes like this

Hayward did this again (finally!)

Millsap did this

Kanter did this

Final Bow

Despite the overall downer week that was, there was still some stuff worth cheering for. Let's hope Al either gets mobile again or Ty cuts his minutes to save our team's interior D, let's hope Earl gets his mojo back, let's hope Millsap's Sacto game was just a blip, and more than anything else, let's hope Hayward can play like he did against the Kings every game. If we have to fly his girlfriend in every game so they can do some celebrating afterwards, I'd be willing to donate $5 to the cause.