Return of the game grades

[FNG]

Ayo A
Rudy A
Donte A
Ju B+
Naz B
Ant B
Kyle C+
Jaden D
Bones D

Bones will have bad nights like this, and Jaden's energy was just off tonight. But other than that, it was a terrific team effort against a good team that was 19-9 on the road. Ayo's box score was unimpressive (except for the 3 steals), but his energy and defense were keys to this win...and can't ignore his team-leading +25 for a guy who struggles with this measure. I wanted to grade Kyle higher because I thought he filled in for Jaden very well and I loved his 4 assists and no turnovers. But while I love his smarts and toughness on defense, he isn't always effective against quicker wings...I think that's why he ended up with a -11.

Great win, led by three guys who seem to bring 100% effort every night!!!

[Q-is-here]

I'd probably give Rudy, DDV, and Ayo all an A+ while downgrading Ant to a C or C+.

I thought Ant was once again mediocre on defense and he had a lot of sloppy turnovers. He obviously still made some great plays, but if we are grading relative to role, salary, and expectations, I'd be tougher on him in this one.

DDV and Ayo played almost the perfect game to me and were the primary reasons we won. They were terrific defensively and made some big shots offensively, even if not at a high volume. What I like is both can go balls-out 110% on defense because neither has to play more than 30 MPG.

And Rudy was just outstanding. I think it's embarrassing to the League to have one of their more prominent former players and "analysts" in Shaq have such blatant antipathy toward Rudy.

[FNG]

I'll accept your Ant downgrade, Q. I also didn't like his turnovers, and thought his defense was spotty at times. But I have to admit I was influenced by Jon K tweeting that Ant "played great defense" and wondered if my assessment was faulty. But Jon saw it different than we did.

Totally agree with your comments about Ayo and Donte...their consistent defensive effort makes them really fun to watch. Donte's play in the first half where he gambled on a steal but then recovered quickly to intercept a pass 20 feet away was an unbelievably great defensive play! And nice to see Ayo get the on/off monkey off his back for one night, huh? It certainly matched my eye test even though he only had one assist and rebound.

[Wolvesfan21]

I'd probably give Rudy, DDV, and Ayo all an A+ while downgrading Ant to a C or C+.

I thought Ant was once again mediocre on defense and he had a lot of sloppy turnovers. He obviously still made some great plays, but if we are grading relative to role, salary, and expectations, I'd be tougher on him in this one.

DDV and Ayo played almost the perfect game to me and were the primary reasons we won. They were terrific defensively and made some big shots offensively, even if not at a high volume. What I like is both can go balls-out 110% on defense because neither has to play more than 30 MPG.

And Rudy was just outstanding. I think it's embarrassing to the League to have one of their more prominent former players and "analysts" in Shaq have such blatant antipathy toward Rudy.

He is especially salty and butthurt after Rudy dropped 25/20 on his Lakers to knock them out of the playoffs!!!

Shaq lost all his credibility! He's a clown!

[Q-is-here]

I'd probably give Rudy, DDV, and Ayo all an A+ while downgrading Ant to a C or C+.

I thought Ant was once again mediocre on defense and he had a lot of sloppy turnovers. He obviously still made some great plays, but if we are grading relative to role, salary, and expectations, I'd be tougher on him in this one.

DDV and Ayo played almost the perfect game to me and were the primary reasons we won. They were terrific defensively and made some big shots offensively, even if not at a high volume. What I like is both can go balls-out 110% on defense because neither has to play more than 30 MPG.

And Rudy was just outstanding. I think it's embarrassing to the League to have one of their more prominent former players and "analysts" in Shaq have such blatant antipathy toward Rudy.

He is especially salty and butthurt after Rudy dropped 25/20 on his Lakers to knock them out of the playoffs!!!

Shaq lost all his credibility! He's a clown!

I just mute or ignore Inside the NBA whenever I'm watching a game where they are the halftime/postgame crew. It's such a tired product at this point, but I get that they are there for entertainment.

[rapsuperstar31]

I'd probably give Rudy, DDV, and Ayo all an A+ while downgrading Ant to a C or C+.

I thought Ant was once again mediocre on defense and he had a lot of sloppy turnovers. He obviously still made some great plays, but if we are grading relative to role, salary, and expectations, I'd be tougher on him in this one.

DDV and Ayo played almost the perfect game to me and were the primary reasons we won. They were terrific defensively and made some big shots offensively, even if not at a high volume. What I like is both can go balls-out 110% on defense because neither has to play more than 30 MPG.

And Rudy was just outstanding. I think it's embarrassing to the League to have one of their more prominent former players and "analysts" in Shaq have such blatant antipathy toward Rudy.

I mean the showtime behind the back passes alone were worth at least the c+

[Wolvesfan21]

I'd probably give Rudy, DDV, and Ayo all an A+ while downgrading Ant to a C or C+.

I thought Ant was once again mediocre on defense and he had a lot of sloppy turnovers. He obviously still made some great plays, but if we are grading relative to role, salary, and expectations, I'd be tougher on him in this one.

DDV and Ayo played almost the perfect game to me and were the primary reasons we won. They were terrific defensively and made some big shots offensively, even if not at a high volume. What I like is both can go balls-out 110% on defense because neither has to play more than 30 MPG.

And Rudy was just outstanding. I think it's embarrassing to the League to have one of their more prominent former players and "analysts" in Shaq have such blatant antipathy toward Rudy.

He is especially salty and butthurt after Rudy dropped 25/20 on his Lakers to knock them out of the playoffs!!!

Shaq lost all his credibility! He's a clown!

I just mute or ignore Inside the NBA whenever I'm watching a game where they are the halftime/postgame crew. It's such a tired product at this point, but I get that they are there for entertainment.

I enjoyed them in the past, but you're right and for me I find their shtick used up and tired. I won't actively avoid them, but in the past I actually looked forward to watching the postgame show. Now I just don't care, they're washed up and mostly uninteresting to me now.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Everything has a shelf life.

The Inside the NBA team is nearing it. There are so many more outlets for former players now that it's not all that unique. And, it's become painfully obvious that they don't actually watch the games or know all that much about the NBA.

Somewhere, Barkley is still whining about Towns shooting too many threes. Interestingly, while Towns is a career 40% shooter on 4.3 attempts per game... Barkley once took 3.9 per game at a 28.3% clip.

And in another makeup room, Shaq is still bitter about Gobert over something something. He's probably tweeting Draymond Green whining about Rudy.

[Mnwild1128]

Rudy A+
Donte A+
Ayo A
Julius B-
Naz B-
Ant C+
SloMo C
Bones D+
Jaden D

If Jaden doesn't intercept a pass and also make a three late in that game, he would get an F.