Artest ( A- ) -- put his offensive woes behind him in the early going here, powering us to an early lead behind 10 pts on perfect shooting. But it was too good to last, and after hitting his first 3 shots, he only shot about 20% for the rest of the game, including some rather dumb forces that began to hurt us. Fortunately the rest of his game remained very strong, as he once again hit the glass to grab 8 caroms, and simultaneously shut Ricky Davis completely out of the game (to be "fair", Davis played the game like he'd smoked an entire cannabis plant during shootaround -- I probably could have held him to single digits tonight). Nonetheless, I think the job on Davis is the tipper here between an A- grade or a B+ -- nice to see him show a semblance of decent offense, but Ron's calling card is defense, and he left it stapled to Davis's forehead tonight, while also pestering any other Wolves players who wandered into his region (including a classic rookie mistake by Randy Foye who decided he would just drive by Ron Artest for a cute little layup -- this ain't college kid).
Thomas ( B+ ) -- had a snoozeworthy first half -- grabbed a couple of good hustle boards, but combined it with a couple of really bad offensive decisions. But came out of the lockerroom after half with a burst of good garbageman play, scooping up loose balls, moving in to the hoop when others were doubled etc., and helped push us to a lead with four quick layups. Kind fo a tough one to grade, because that burst was basically ALL he did all game. BUt I felt he might be the player who really separated the teams with that little stretch, so earns the B+ basically for one quarter of good hustle work.
Reef ( C+ ) -- tried in the first half, but results against the big front line were decidely modest. Missed shots, had several shaky turnovers. And of course failed to rebound. Got...well, I guess you'd call it aggressive in the 3rd. But it came off looking a little selfish. Was kind of wild, and didn't seem interested in passing. By the end of the quarter though began to get a few things to drop, which is often the difference between "selfish" & "forceful", and finished up with a respectable 13pts 7rebs in 40+min. But it was sloppy and scrappy with turnovers and a missed shots all around.
Martin ( B ) -- this grade started out very high after Kevin got off to a hot start offensively. But maybe his best play in the early going was a crosscourt bullet pass on the break to set Mike up for an open 3. One of several nice setups he made today. Watching him being checked by Jaric was interesting -- Jaric looks a lot more focused this year, and it was a good matchup between long 6'7" guys. Grade began to sink after half as other than a few FTs was quiet in the 3rd. And I actually pondered a B- after watching soem bizarre play out of Kevin in the 4th in which he uncharacteristically got out of control and started forcing and missing shots badly, including one off of the side of the backboard. Got the feeling that he felt liek he wasn't getting his shots and so was going to go out and force the issue, and it wasn't pretty. Given that we hung on to win still gets the B for the strong first half helping spot us the lead, and especially showing some ability to create shots for teammates.
Bibby ( C- ) -- helped key our early offensive run with some good passes and a three (courtesy of Kevin) on the break. But then fell way off, could not get anything to fall, and was having basic dribbling and catching problems, including several turnovers off of his feet. Again probably the thumb there, but the end result was still an ineffective half and seeing Mike outperformed by his counterpart Mike (Mike James). At least found ways to help with his passing and racked up 8 assists, several of the very nice variety. But it was a very quiet outing for Mike, and after a while he was very much of an afterthought as the the game was played and won by others. The injury may have knocked him clear to irrelevancy in this one. Avoided killing us by not forcing the issue, but still gets dropped some grade points for being considerably outplayed by James (who still frankly wasn't that great despite scoring 23 -- no passion, and out of control a lot).
Salmons ( B+ ) -- had some good moments in his normal smattering of this that fashion in the first half. And after half stepped forward to score well for the second game in a row, finishing with a solid 13pts 5rebs in 26min, and closing the game with the starters. The good John Salmons streak again. Solid. The dark side being that the over under until he gives us 1pt on 0-3 shooting in 24min is about 2 games.
Taylor ( INC ) -- completely invisible again in the first half, yay. Did not get a return stint after half.
Price ( B- ) -- short first half minutes, missed a three, went to the bench. Came in at the end of the third and gave us a quick little boost with a hit and an assist on a three. Nothing spectacular and a few turnovers, but helped keep us steady in the second stint I thought.
Cisco ( INC ) -- hey, a Cisco sighting! Nothing great, but hit a FT, and hit a three to beat the buzzer at the end of the first half. Got him a couple more second half minutes when he had a nice assist off a drive and dish.
Corliss ( INC ) -- in a strange sequence came into the game for all of one play, and was immediately pulled back out. Hell of a way to wrap up a pretty good career.
Muss ( B ) -- Well, not a great win, but a solid one. And probably more important just in it not being a loss, which would have begun to put real pressure on the young regime. We got the lead in the first half with pretty much of a two man game -- Ron and Kevin were great, everybody else had apparently hit snooze. But the third quarter was encouraging in a larger team sense, and this TWolves team...I dunno. Don't think they are going to be dangerous no matter their talent. No spirit or fire. And with KT in particular hustling, there wasn't much of a response on their part. Of course we once again had long dry stretches offensively, but at least we continued our slow monthlong creep toward a 100pt game by making it to 93 this time. And the defensive plan was solid to try to keep the ball out of KG's hands. Muss is still annoying me by overplaying the starters though -- really overplaying them, and has this amazingly quick hook on the kids if they make even one mistake -- 1 turnover, 1 missed shot, you're banished. Glad to see Cisco do something good right off the bat this time to secure a few more miutes for himself. He might be able to help if he can ever get into a rhythm. And Muss frankly loses half a grade here for something I hate -- leaving our overplayed and banged up starters in after a timeout at the 1:50 mark in an 18 pt game, even as the Wolves went to the deep bench. That's both bad sportsmanship, and taking an unnecessary risk. We can afford no more injuries to major players. And the game is over. What the hell is Mike Bibby with a bad thumb doing on the floor checking Bracey Wrihgt and Justin Reed in the final minute of a near blowout?
Thomas ( B+ ) -- had a snoozeworthy first half -- grabbed a couple of good hustle boards, but combined it with a couple of really bad offensive decisions. But came out of the lockerroom after half with a burst of good garbageman play, scooping up loose balls, moving in to the hoop when others were doubled etc., and helped push us to a lead with four quick layups. Kind fo a tough one to grade, because that burst was basically ALL he did all game. BUt I felt he might be the player who really separated the teams with that little stretch, so earns the B+ basically for one quarter of good hustle work.
Reef ( C+ ) -- tried in the first half, but results against the big front line were decidely modest. Missed shots, had several shaky turnovers. And of course failed to rebound. Got...well, I guess you'd call it aggressive in the 3rd. But it came off looking a little selfish. Was kind of wild, and didn't seem interested in passing. By the end of the quarter though began to get a few things to drop, which is often the difference between "selfish" & "forceful", and finished up with a respectable 13pts 7rebs in 40+min. But it was sloppy and scrappy with turnovers and a missed shots all around.
Martin ( B ) -- this grade started out very high after Kevin got off to a hot start offensively. But maybe his best play in the early going was a crosscourt bullet pass on the break to set Mike up for an open 3. One of several nice setups he made today. Watching him being checked by Jaric was interesting -- Jaric looks a lot more focused this year, and it was a good matchup between long 6'7" guys. Grade began to sink after half as other than a few FTs was quiet in the 3rd. And I actually pondered a B- after watching soem bizarre play out of Kevin in the 4th in which he uncharacteristically got out of control and started forcing and missing shots badly, including one off of the side of the backboard. Got the feeling that he felt liek he wasn't getting his shots and so was going to go out and force the issue, and it wasn't pretty. Given that we hung on to win still gets the B for the strong first half helping spot us the lead, and especially showing some ability to create shots for teammates.
Bibby ( C- ) -- helped key our early offensive run with some good passes and a three (courtesy of Kevin) on the break. But then fell way off, could not get anything to fall, and was having basic dribbling and catching problems, including several turnovers off of his feet. Again probably the thumb there, but the end result was still an ineffective half and seeing Mike outperformed by his counterpart Mike (Mike James). At least found ways to help with his passing and racked up 8 assists, several of the very nice variety. But it was a very quiet outing for Mike, and after a while he was very much of an afterthought as the the game was played and won by others. The injury may have knocked him clear to irrelevancy in this one. Avoided killing us by not forcing the issue, but still gets dropped some grade points for being considerably outplayed by James (who still frankly wasn't that great despite scoring 23 -- no passion, and out of control a lot).
Salmons ( B+ ) -- had some good moments in his normal smattering of this that fashion in the first half. And after half stepped forward to score well for the second game in a row, finishing with a solid 13pts 5rebs in 26min, and closing the game with the starters. The good John Salmons streak again. Solid. The dark side being that the over under until he gives us 1pt on 0-3 shooting in 24min is about 2 games.
Taylor ( INC ) -- completely invisible again in the first half, yay. Did not get a return stint after half.
Price ( B- ) -- short first half minutes, missed a three, went to the bench. Came in at the end of the third and gave us a quick little boost with a hit and an assist on a three. Nothing spectacular and a few turnovers, but helped keep us steady in the second stint I thought.
Cisco ( INC ) -- hey, a Cisco sighting! Nothing great, but hit a FT, and hit a three to beat the buzzer at the end of the first half. Got him a couple more second half minutes when he had a nice assist off a drive and dish.
Corliss ( INC ) -- in a strange sequence came into the game for all of one play, and was immediately pulled back out. Hell of a way to wrap up a pretty good career.
Muss ( B ) -- Well, not a great win, but a solid one. And probably more important just in it not being a loss, which would have begun to put real pressure on the young regime. We got the lead in the first half with pretty much of a two man game -- Ron and Kevin were great, everybody else had apparently hit snooze. But the third quarter was encouraging in a larger team sense, and this TWolves team...I dunno. Don't think they are going to be dangerous no matter their talent. No spirit or fire. And with KT in particular hustling, there wasn't much of a response on their part. Of course we once again had long dry stretches offensively, but at least we continued our slow monthlong creep toward a 100pt game by making it to 93 this time. And the defensive plan was solid to try to keep the ball out of KG's hands. Muss is still annoying me by overplaying the starters though -- really overplaying them, and has this amazingly quick hook on the kids if they make even one mistake -- 1 turnover, 1 missed shot, you're banished. Glad to see Cisco do something good right off the bat this time to secure a few more miutes for himself. He might be able to help if he can ever get into a rhythm. And Muss frankly loses half a grade here for something I hate -- leaving our overplayed and banged up starters in after a timeout at the 1:50 mark in an 18 pt game, even as the Wolves went to the deep bench. That's both bad sportsmanship, and taking an unnecessary risk. We can afford no more injuries to major players. And the game is over. What the hell is Mike Bibby with a bad thumb doing on the floor checking Bracey Wrihgt and Justin Reed in the final minute of a near blowout?
Last edited:
