Updating the Maine assignees’ progress

The Maine Red Claws saw their seven-game win streak come to an end on Saturday night in Portland, dropping a 113-105 decision to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. But the rare loss for the league’s most assignment-heavy squad featured eight seconds shy of 100 total minutes from the team’s three players currently under NBA contracts, which means there is plenty to dissect.

Since simply devoting a section of this piece to each player would be too easy, we’ve decided to assess the play of Lester Hudson, Bill Walker and Alexis Ajinca using a different set of classifications. Away we go…

The Good

Walker’s scoring. He dominated this game with the ball in his hands in every conceivable manner. Off the dribble, he attacked and finished several acrobatic plays around the rim. In the post, he used his strength to seal off his man, catch and finish several lobs for easy lay-ins. But most impressive was Walker’s work outside the paint: Long criticized for his suspect jump shot, Walker banged three treys and didn’t miss from the outside until the Claws went into desperation-heave mode facing a multi-possession deficit and a waning clock. He looked more comfortable in catch-and-shoot situations than I had ever witnessed prior. My only concern here was the level of reliance on the post game: Without the same strength advantage at the next level, I don’t see Walker being able to make a regular habit of setting up camp on the block and operating from there and thus would rather he devoted the time in the D-League to firming up his outside shot and slashing to the rim with control. Still, he had it all going offensively on Saturday, and his 33 points on 14-for-17 shooting accurately reflects that.

Ajinca’s decision to play like a 7-footer at the offensive end. By and large, he cut the mid-range jumper from his repertoire for the evening and committed to getting inside, both through post-ups on the block and several basket cuts off of high screen-and-rolls. In addition to a myriad of dunks and lay-ins, Ajinca earned his way to the foul line 11 times with his work inside, including three conventional three-point play attempts, two of which he completed en route to 23 points. Crashing the glass for five offensive boards didn’t hurt either.

The Bad

Hudson’s job running the offense. Not so much “bad” as “unmoving,” but we’re sticking with the good-bad-ugly motif here. I saw Hudson do plenty of shooting, which wasn’t good enough to qualify for “bad” (we’ll get to that later) and found his play as a facilitator rather unspectacular. He penetrated and dished well on a few occasions, turned the ball over four times and generally wasn’t that memorable in any capacity. If the plan is for him to spell Rajon Rondo rather than serving as a human victory cigar (he played the latter role upon being recalled for Sunday’s rout of the Timberwolves), it seems reasonable to expect more of him in the D-League.

Ajinca’s dopey decision to revert to the 18-footer with less than four minutes to play in a two-point game. Screamed “Why?!?!” at my computer screen. You’re killing it in the post, keep at it!

Ajinca’s foul trouble. Another five personals for him. Gotta avoid the ticky-tack stuff.

Walker’s defensive awareness. At least three times, he forgot he was guarding someone who could shoot from the outside, which led to two made threes for Dewitt Scott and a miss on which Walker went lunging at the shooter with little sense of control. The third attempt could have just as easily turned into a ball-fake, two dribbles and a dunk. Walker has the strength and the speed to become a stopper, but he needs to stay focused at the defensive end. One rebound in 37-plus minutes for someone his size is a bit confusing as well.

Walker’s turnovers. Five is a bit many, but that’s the extent of my thoughts on that. The guy shot 82 percent from the field for the evening. I’m not harping on this.

The Ugly

Hudson’s shooting. Putrid. After knocking down 7-of-14 treys in his first two games with the Claws, Hudson hit just 1-of-9 from the perimeter on a forgettable 3-of-14 night overall. Fortunately, that won’t be the norm for him.

***

While Hudson returned to the Celtics this weekend, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back in the D for stretches this season. In the meantime, Walker and Ajinca both showed more promise offensively this weekend than we have seen from either of them so far this season, though both have plenty of work left to do, particularly at the defensive end (staying focused for Walker, getting stronger for Ajinca). But all three are part of a fun bunch to watch up in Portland, and no matter the steepenss of their learning curves, it won’t be laborious to continue to watch them and report on their progress as the season goes.