Artest ( B- ) -- very quiet in the early going, but started to aggressively attack inside at the end of the half, with some good, some bad results. Did make several great individual defensive plays in the half though. Got dominated in the 3rd by a superactive Kirilneko, but came back to try to carry us back into it in the early 4th, As usual with such efforts, there was some good, some bad from him, but regardless of overall efficiency, he was at least an aggressive presence starting our comeback and demanding that we deliver a competitive response. And on a play when it looked like Mike should be handling in the final minute, it was Ron who demanded the ball and then set up Reef for the corner three that put us up 1. This really wasn't a great effort by Ron, but I'm giving him the grade here mostly because I thought it was his spirit in the early 4th that prevented us from just quietly sliding away again.
Thomas ( C- ) -- sigh. Well...nothing much to start the game, and once again here he was only notching 15 minutes in a start. But he did join the party in the 3rd as one of several Kings who did a solid job bodying up on Boozer. I was floating between a C and C- here, but went with the lower grade simply because he was the starter, at least in theory.
Miller ( B- ) -- okay to start, but we got a definite boost this time when Reef came in to replace him. Made some contributions though -- not on the glass or on defense of course, but on offense by repeatedly rumbling inside for little semi-post hoops. Ironic given that he has no post game, but he has been doing a lot of that in recent weeks, I think as much out of complete lack of confidence in his jumper as anything else. In any case, he's keeping it simple, just moving toward the hoop at 7'0" 260lbs, catching the ball, keeping it high and just flipping it up. When he's not guarded by a true big, its been somewhat effective, and was again tonight.
Martin ( D+ ) -- poor game, although maybe not quite as poor as the 2-12 would indicate. Ragged start getting introduced to Andrei Kirilenko's shotblocking. Backdoored Fisher on one end, then came back down to the other end of the floor and promptly had Fisher beat him with the backdoor in return. And just never could get anything consistent going. As per usual drew a number of fouls and got to the line, where he knocked them all down. But was off from the perimeter, was bothered by the Jazz interior defenders on the drive, and just never got settled into any sort of rhythm. Rest of his game was pretty much a shrug -- got beat a few times by Williams and Giricek on D, but it wasn't a slaughter, had the normal 4 rebs 2 asts. Mostly just another bad shooting night. Be interesting to see if Mike actually stays waken up after this one, and if he does whether it will free Kevin back up.
Bibby ( A- ) -- Okay -- here's a toughie to grade, but obviously I went high since he basically won the game for us, with an assist from Reef. We are in fact the old Vancouver Grizzlies. Lucky us. Another offensive struggle to start this one and think he was something like 1-7 or 2-8 or some such at half, and not helping. But came alive for a burst in the 3rd and was basically the only thing keeping us from blowout city. And while he was quiet offensively for most of the 4th, he stepped up down the stretch, made several excellent passes to set up people inside, hit a big shot to draw us within 7 with 3:00 to go and followed that up with a three point play with 2:00 to go to draw us within 2. It was in fact the old clutch down the stretch Bibby that hasn't been heard from all year long. So, overall game was not hugely impressive by Bibby standards, but when it mattered, Mike was the guy making all the plays. And when Utah started fumbling about and opened the door for us, he was the guy leading the charge through the gates.
Reef ( A ) -- strong game for Reef as he got the best of the Jazz bigs. Started off with a good stint at the end of the first quarter where he scored very effectively. There were some turnovers, but this time he also rediscovered the outlet pass out of the post and notched a couple of assists with it as well. Came back and began to notch more numbers in the 4th playing steady wingman as first Ron, and then Mike, stepped up to lead us back into it. Hit a big three pointer to put us ahead by a point with 1 minute to go. Maybe a bad shot -- in a critical sitiuation he takes a three when he hasn't hit one all year? But Ron didn't leave him much choice on the kickout, and it turned into one of those no no no no YES shots. In any case, he knocked it down and with this team, going the way we've been, you take it. Also was willing to bang with Boozer in the post down the stretch on defense. Results were mixed, but the resistance was enough to make a difference on an off night for Carlos. Ron and Mike may have been the engines of the comeback, but Reef was the most consistent threat the Kings had tonight.
Salmons ( D ) -- Crikey -- one of those games for John when he does his Mr. Invisible trick. Modest first half contributions mostly centered around getting into foul trouble. Returned in the thrid, and began the 4th with a nice and 1 drive, but failed to convert on the 1. Did nothing thereafter but force a couple of things, and was eventually replaced down the stretch by Keivn despite the kid's own struggles.
Garcia ( B- ) -- pretty good overall effort tongiht. Hit a couple of shots in a short first half stint, and he was part of an active second unit that came in and changed the tone for us. Unfortunately his activity resulted in quick fouls on attempted hustle plays in the 4th, and he wasn't much help
Price ( B- ) -- good first half stint when he picked us up on both ends of the floor. Hit a three and drew a foul on one end, was pesky at the other. Unfortunately got a little wild in his second half stint, with several "almost" great plays gone wrong -- drives that rolled out, an attempted block that turned into a goaltend AND a foul etc. End redult was him getting himself sent to the bench in favor of a few minutes of Jason Hart before Mike rode to the rescue down the stretch.
Williamson ( B- ) -- nothing there in the numbers, but Corliss played an important role tonight, playing the strong stubby foil to Carlos Boozer's strong stubby All Star this year. Good matchup for Corliss, and he was erffective, along with many of our bigs actually, at keeping Boozer from dominating action inside. Did little of anything else -- 6pts 2rebs in 23 min. And so the grade has to be capped at a certain level. But was effective tonight and bodying Boozer solidly
Hart ( INC ) -- a brief 4th quarter stint in place of Price...not sure why? Price was flying around out of control, but at least he was trying. Might have hurt himself on an attempted blocked shot though just before Jason came in. In any case, Hart did little, the lead during most of his stint was 15 for the Jazz, and after a couple of minutes, Mike was back, thank God, Allah and the Great Pumpkin.
Muss ( B ) -- Turnabout is fair play so they say. Reminded me of the Chicago game early in the season. Hope this one has more of a lingering effect. Muss was swapping in all kinds of players in in the first half, but this tiem the results were decent. Got several good performances off the bench, and one in particular (Reef) returned to play a key role down the stretch. One way or the other he also got some strong physical defensive performances on Boozer and utilized some good matchups -- stubby power players in Corliss and Artest capable of holding their ground. Utilized a wuick quick very aggressive timeout to open the second half -- all of 45 seconds into the half after the Jazz opened the half scoring the first two baskets. Unfortunately it did not work in the least and a few minutes later we were down by 12. His substitution patterns remain a mystery, but down the stretch he got the important basics right as Mike, Ron and SAR were leaned upon to make this thing happen, and they got it done. So overall a good win. Somehow oddly predictable despite the seeming mismatch. And I certainly suspect that over on the Jazz boards they are talking about how crappy theyb played down the stretch as they gave it to us. But at least we shwoed enough spirit to hangclose enoguh to be in position to steal it, and the reappearance of clutch Bibby could be an important turning point for us. Of course the question being turning point to what?
Thomas ( C- ) -- sigh. Well...nothing much to start the game, and once again here he was only notching 15 minutes in a start. But he did join the party in the 3rd as one of several Kings who did a solid job bodying up on Boozer. I was floating between a C and C- here, but went with the lower grade simply because he was the starter, at least in theory.
Miller ( B- ) -- okay to start, but we got a definite boost this time when Reef came in to replace him. Made some contributions though -- not on the glass or on defense of course, but on offense by repeatedly rumbling inside for little semi-post hoops. Ironic given that he has no post game, but he has been doing a lot of that in recent weeks, I think as much out of complete lack of confidence in his jumper as anything else. In any case, he's keeping it simple, just moving toward the hoop at 7'0" 260lbs, catching the ball, keeping it high and just flipping it up. When he's not guarded by a true big, its been somewhat effective, and was again tonight.
Martin ( D+ ) -- poor game, although maybe not quite as poor as the 2-12 would indicate. Ragged start getting introduced to Andrei Kirilenko's shotblocking. Backdoored Fisher on one end, then came back down to the other end of the floor and promptly had Fisher beat him with the backdoor in return. And just never could get anything consistent going. As per usual drew a number of fouls and got to the line, where he knocked them all down. But was off from the perimeter, was bothered by the Jazz interior defenders on the drive, and just never got settled into any sort of rhythm. Rest of his game was pretty much a shrug -- got beat a few times by Williams and Giricek on D, but it wasn't a slaughter, had the normal 4 rebs 2 asts. Mostly just another bad shooting night. Be interesting to see if Mike actually stays waken up after this one, and if he does whether it will free Kevin back up.
Bibby ( A- ) -- Okay -- here's a toughie to grade, but obviously I went high since he basically won the game for us, with an assist from Reef. We are in fact the old Vancouver Grizzlies. Lucky us. Another offensive struggle to start this one and think he was something like 1-7 or 2-8 or some such at half, and not helping. But came alive for a burst in the 3rd and was basically the only thing keeping us from blowout city. And while he was quiet offensively for most of the 4th, he stepped up down the stretch, made several excellent passes to set up people inside, hit a big shot to draw us within 7 with 3:00 to go and followed that up with a three point play with 2:00 to go to draw us within 2. It was in fact the old clutch down the stretch Bibby that hasn't been heard from all year long. So, overall game was not hugely impressive by Bibby standards, but when it mattered, Mike was the guy making all the plays. And when Utah started fumbling about and opened the door for us, he was the guy leading the charge through the gates.
Reef ( A ) -- strong game for Reef as he got the best of the Jazz bigs. Started off with a good stint at the end of the first quarter where he scored very effectively. There were some turnovers, but this time he also rediscovered the outlet pass out of the post and notched a couple of assists with it as well. Came back and began to notch more numbers in the 4th playing steady wingman as first Ron, and then Mike, stepped up to lead us back into it. Hit a big three pointer to put us ahead by a point with 1 minute to go. Maybe a bad shot -- in a critical sitiuation he takes a three when he hasn't hit one all year? But Ron didn't leave him much choice on the kickout, and it turned into one of those no no no no YES shots. In any case, he knocked it down and with this team, going the way we've been, you take it. Also was willing to bang with Boozer in the post down the stretch on defense. Results were mixed, but the resistance was enough to make a difference on an off night for Carlos. Ron and Mike may have been the engines of the comeback, but Reef was the most consistent threat the Kings had tonight.
Salmons ( D ) -- Crikey -- one of those games for John when he does his Mr. Invisible trick. Modest first half contributions mostly centered around getting into foul trouble. Returned in the thrid, and began the 4th with a nice and 1 drive, but failed to convert on the 1. Did nothing thereafter but force a couple of things, and was eventually replaced down the stretch by Keivn despite the kid's own struggles.
Garcia ( B- ) -- pretty good overall effort tongiht. Hit a couple of shots in a short first half stint, and he was part of an active second unit that came in and changed the tone for us. Unfortunately his activity resulted in quick fouls on attempted hustle plays in the 4th, and he wasn't much help
Price ( B- ) -- good first half stint when he picked us up on both ends of the floor. Hit a three and drew a foul on one end, was pesky at the other. Unfortunately got a little wild in his second half stint, with several "almost" great plays gone wrong -- drives that rolled out, an attempted block that turned into a goaltend AND a foul etc. End redult was him getting himself sent to the bench in favor of a few minutes of Jason Hart before Mike rode to the rescue down the stretch.
Williamson ( B- ) -- nothing there in the numbers, but Corliss played an important role tonight, playing the strong stubby foil to Carlos Boozer's strong stubby All Star this year. Good matchup for Corliss, and he was erffective, along with many of our bigs actually, at keeping Boozer from dominating action inside. Did little of anything else -- 6pts 2rebs in 23 min. And so the grade has to be capped at a certain level. But was effective tonight and bodying Boozer solidly
Hart ( INC ) -- a brief 4th quarter stint in place of Price...not sure why? Price was flying around out of control, but at least he was trying. Might have hurt himself on an attempted blocked shot though just before Jason came in. In any case, Hart did little, the lead during most of his stint was 15 for the Jazz, and after a couple of minutes, Mike was back, thank God, Allah and the Great Pumpkin.
Muss ( B ) -- Turnabout is fair play so they say. Reminded me of the Chicago game early in the season. Hope this one has more of a lingering effect. Muss was swapping in all kinds of players in in the first half, but this tiem the results were decent. Got several good performances off the bench, and one in particular (Reef) returned to play a key role down the stretch. One way or the other he also got some strong physical defensive performances on Boozer and utilized some good matchups -- stubby power players in Corliss and Artest capable of holding their ground. Utilized a wuick quick very aggressive timeout to open the second half -- all of 45 seconds into the half after the Jazz opened the half scoring the first two baskets. Unfortunately it did not work in the least and a few minutes later we were down by 12. His substitution patterns remain a mystery, but down the stretch he got the important basics right as Mike, Ron and SAR were leaned upon to make this thing happen, and they got it done. So overall a good win. Somehow oddly predictable despite the seeming mismatch. And I certainly suspect that over on the Jazz boards they are talking about how crappy theyb played down the stretch as they gave it to us. But at least we shwoed enough spirit to hangclose enoguh to be in position to steal it, and the reappearance of clutch Bibby could be an important turning point for us. Of course the question being turning point to what?
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