), but I seen the box score and decided to log all of RJ's assists. A 20 Assist game from RJ?? Really? I had to see what really happened.This is the list of all of Reggie's 20 assists
> To KCP great seam bounce pass in transition Zach Randolph last man back D a bit lazy
> Leaves it for Tolliver in transition he hits the 3
> Lob to Dre P&R
> Lead pass to KCP leaking out/cherry picking lazy D again by MEM
> Baseline drive (light contest) kick to Shawne Williams in corner for 3 (half lazy Jeff Green)
> Drives left, Lee helps, Pass to KCP moving baseline, KCP aggressive driving dunk
> Reverse lob to Andre P&R
> KCP work off ball curls around Dre nice delivery from RJ, KCP finishes layup
> Drives passes to corner to AT for 3 draws help... Udrih a bit light on D
> Dribbles up pass to aggressive KCP in transition jabs then pops 21 footer
> OREB kick out swing to wide open Caron Butler for 3
> Half-drive at Udrih draws help semi-loses ball passes out to Tolliver he hits 3 Z-Bo late
> Drives, pass to corner Udrih easy to get step, Z-Bo slow ass help late back to AT 3 again
> P&R assist to Dre good pass and timing quick move by Dre hook shot score
> P&R right, pass to weak-side KCP hot takes solid contest 3... splashes on Tony Allen's head
> Lob to Andre solid D Koufos/Calathes vs. RJ/Dre P&R 76-75
> P&R Left pass weakside Tayshaun knocks down long 2 Z-Bo soft off-ball D
> Udrih bad entry post pass to Marc, good D, Reggie swipes, pushes... pass to Tay for layup
> Pick left pass weakside to Tay he pulls 21 footer yes
> Oop to Dre at the end (mop-up)
Analysis
First off great floor game by Reggie, knowing when to get it to the shooters, and he made very good decisions throughout the game. With that being said, Beno Udrih vs. his athleticism was a TERRIBLE defensive matchup for Memphis. TERRIBLE. RJ drove in the lane pretty much at will against him, and it wasn't until late that MEM put Tony Allen on him. Also Zach Randolph was especially lazy yesterday, and his matchup vs. the stretch 4 Prince/Tolliver was a mismatch all game. His help defense was weak, transition defense was weak, and he was late closing out all game.
As far as the assists 10 of them were on shots 20+ feet away from the basket. Udrih is not a good defender which allowed him to collapse rather easily and dish, Z-Bo wasn't interested in guarding Tolliver, and sometimes RJ just simply ran pick & roll and dished to the weak side and guys just hit shots and were aggressive. The decisions were good but he didn't really have to do much. Shooters simply knocked down shots. Tay was on from deep/long 2, Tolliver, KCP, Shawne Williams hit one, etc. There wasn't one pass to a shooter that was anything more than a good decision and a made shot.
In terms of creating RJ wasn't required to do much. He made the right decisions, yes... but was he really challenged? No. Out of the 20 assists I only give RJ true credit for creating the offense on 4 of them. Those four are the 3 beautiful lobs to Andre, and the play where he stole Udrih's entry pass to Gasol, pushed, and hit Tay on the break for the transition layup. All great plays. The rest were just good decisions that turned into assists because shooters made shots, players were aggressive (KCP), and the defense was VERY underwhelming (Udrih/Randolph). There was a play where KCP cherry picked and nobody got back. RJ had a wonderful bounce pass to KCP on the break, but Z-Bo sort of just looked at him....
The 20 assist game looks good on the stat sheet, but it wasn't impressive from a basketball perspective at all. There isn't a starting PG in the league and very few backups that couldn't make the majority of those passes/decisions. Offensively he benefited from bad help from Z-Bo on a couple occasions, abused Udrih, and even though he's streaky he did hit some shots. Vs. Tony Allen at the end he got ripped once but did have a wonderful drive faking P&R right and driving left with the acrobatic finish on him at the rim. Playing with the floor spread helped everybody too. KCP drove a closeout for an RJ assist, worked off ball around Dre in a non-congested lane, etc. This brings up the question of.... do we really want to bring back Monroe?? I'm sort of leaning no.
As far as Reggie though.... Inefficient/streaky O overall, doesn't efficiently create offense vs good D, too streaky from 3, 6th/7th man not a starting PG.... I feel the same way this game doesn't change anything
This thread is the sequel to
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