Some post-game thoughts (Kings edition)

Here we go:

• While the post-game chatter will likely center around Jerryd Bayless, the game ball for tonight's game goes to Joel Przybilla.  And it's not even close.  Przybilla's stat line for the night was a rather pedestrian 5 points and 10 rebounds, but anyone who watched the game knows that the Blazers played like two different teams tonight: a good team when Joel was in the game and a terrible team when he was sitting.  Joel ended the night with a plus/minus of +27.  That's astounding considering the Blazers won by only 7 points.  No one else came anywhere close.  Joel was a defensive menace tonight and the team's MVP.


• Roy and Aldridge finished with pretty good traditional stat lines.  Roy had 29 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds (though he also had 5 turnovers).  Aldridge finished with 25 points, 9 boards, and 5 assists.  Both played a LOT of minutes (44 for Roy, 41 for Aldridge) which is worrisome.


• The media focus tomorrow will likely be on Jerryd Bayless, who had a real breakout performance.  He had 14 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists, but more importantly, he played solid ball down the stretch.  McMillan left him in the game during crunch time for the first time in his career and he responded well, scoring a number of key buckets in the last few minutes of the game.  I think Bayless himself could hardly believe he was out on the court in the final minutes of a close game, but he seemed to feed off the pressure and played his most inspired ball down the stretch.  Good for him.    


• Ironically, the odd man out for the Blazers tonight was Andre Miller.  Miller replaced Blake in the starting lineup and the team did pretty well while he was on the court, but Miller himself didn't seem to be involved in much of what was happening.  He had a miserable shooting night, going 2-10, with 4 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds in 29 minutes.  


• Steve Blake didn't exactly light the world on fire either, but was more efficient, going 2-4 and scoring 5 points, 2 assists, and 1 board in 24 minutes.  But Blake was in the game down the stretch and hit a key three. 


• Between Bayless, Miller, and Blake tonight, it wasn't even close.  Bayless played much better on both ends of the court.  


• Here's my meta-observation for the night.  Unlike most teams, the Blazers don't rely all that much on off-ball motion to get easy baskets.  They have a stagnant half court offense that relies on jump-shooting and individual guys beating their defenders off the dribble.  Normally, that's not a good recipe for offensive efficiency, but the Blazers have (at least in the past) made it work by combining strong perimeter shooting with aggressive offensive rebounding, leading to easy second chance points.  To be successful with that strategy, you have to have a lot of good shooters and a lot of good rebounders.  The problem for the Blazers this season is that--due to injuries and regression by some key players--they just aren't shooting or rebounding as well as they did last year.   And as a result, they're just not scoring enough.  


• One last observation.  I've been watching Tyreke Evans a lot this season thanks to League Pass.  What you saw tonight was no fluke.  Evans is incredibly good for a rookie.  He does the same kinds of things Brandon Roy does, but he's only 20.  He will be a superstar in this league.  Mark my words.  The sky is the limit with that kid.