Grades for 05/06 Season

[Bricklayer]

Well, did not do this last year. Figured, I would give it a shot this year. Please note that Kingscookie has already put a lot of work into compiling "GPAs" by totalling each grade each player received over the course of the year in this thread: http://www.kingsfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11975 .

However, as I warned him, not sure that my grades always add up.

So, without further ado (one player at a time since they are long):

Bonzi Wells ( B+ ) 32.4min 13.6pts (.463 .222 .679) 7.7reb 2.8ast 1.8stl 0.5blk 2.4TO
EXPECTATIONS: Mercurial power guard, potential cancer, strong post game, physical and competitive. Thought 15 and 6 was possible. Thought blowing up and taking down the coach and team was possible too.

THE GOOD: First of course, the remarkable rebounding. Bonzi averaged 7.7 rebs/game this year, in only 32.4min. For an OG that is amazing (as a comparison Kobe's career high is 6.9), and his rebounding as a guard was a godsend this year with the frontline not getting its fair share in there. Secondly, not only did Bonzi not blow up, but he emerged as the most unexpected of hustling, scrapping leaders. Showed a little clutch along the way too. At his best, was a walking mismatch nightmare out there for more normal sized guards, as he simply overpowers basically anybody at the position. Was likely the best King before the injury and Ron's arrival.

THE BAD: Turnovers and blown layups, as well as limitations on his range, which were known before we got him. At his worst, can go on turnover streaks where he will make repeated ball handling errors, and for all the bang and crunch inside, misses a surprising number of layups (although he does frequently grab the miss and finish anyway). Also, as befits his power guard status, not a high percentage shooter from three point land or the line.

OVERALL: Picking up Bonzi was a risk -- it could have gone badly. Instead it went very well. In some ways perhaps less potent offensively than I remembered him. But instead transformed himself into the ultimate power guard, with both its strengths and weaknesses, and was a source of both physicality and fearlessness even when the rest of the team wavered. And down the stretch the Artest/Bonzi pairing has caused sometimes literal headaches for the teams trying to match up with them. As a free agent Bonzi's success and the uniqueness of his game make for one of the very interesting offseason decisions for the Kings with young Kevin Martin waiting in the wings. Missing 1/3 of the season with the groin injury drops this half a tick.

 

[Bricklayer]

Mike Bibby ( B ) 38.6min 21.1pts (.432 .386 .849) 2.9reb 5.4ast 1.0stl 0.1blk 2.4TO
EXPECTATIONS: Holdover PG would have to serve as our leader in the absence of anyone else to start the year. Was expected to lead the team and make all the new pieces work together. Given the numerous competing offensive options 18pts 6ast seemed a reasonable expectation.

THE GOOD: Mike set a career high mark in scoring this year as our leading scorer, and its the 5th straight year his ppg have gone up for us. In his "on" games, he was absolutely deadly, and as potent as any non-LeBron/Kobe/A.I. player in the league. In January once notched 4 40pt games in two weeks. Also kicked his three point shooting up another notch with the slow but steady departure of long-bombing teammates which used to define our style. Took a career-high 497 threes this year (previous high = 378), but continued to hit them at his normal pace.

THE BAD: Defense is of course first in line. Early in the season it had reached irresponsible levels, and he managed to notch a career low in steals this season (1.0). Rebounding also fell way off after a career-high 4.2 last year, and Mike became more one-dimensional and scoring oriented (assists however remained the same as they have always been for us). And he became very inconsistent, having great nights one night, and then terrible ones the next. Finally of course he essentially failed as our leader early in the season -- we were struggling and directionless, and Mike joined in the struggles rather than leading us out of them. Just not a natural leader.

OVERALL: A tough one to grade when you are talking about expectations, because what were they? And were they fair? Mike clearly failed the leadership test, but then again thrusting him into that role made no sense at an organizational level. Offensively, he stepped his game up one more notch, and quietly finished 17th in the league in scoring this year at 21.1ppg. But it was a wildly inconsistent 21.1, and predicting when Mike was going to have a big game or a terrible one was a bit like predicting rain with a divining rod. Defensively he may have fallen off even for Mike, and the overall statline was perhaps the most one-dimnsional we've seen since Mike arrived. He especially struggled during the transition periods at the beginning of the season and then post-Artest trade, where the changes seemed to throw him off his game. But I think Artest's presence has helped Mike overall, as he was able to slip back into a more comfortable role for him on the leadership ladder, and seemed to respond to Ron's urgings with better effort on the defensive side of the floor. Overall a mixed bag of a year, stepping forward as one of the league's leading scorers, but seeing much of the rest of his game fall off. Continuity into next season may help, assuming Mike is back of course.

 

[Larry89]

Good Job!

 

[Bricklayer]

Rebounds and Assists should be switched around..

Yep. Thx (and to the person who sent me a PM about it too).

 

[Bricklayer]

Kenny Thomas ( C+ ) 28.0min 9.1pts (.505 .000 .676) 7.5reb 2.0ast 0.9stl 0.5blk 1.7TO
EXPECTATIONS: From this vantage point, that Kenny would be Kenny. I never bought into the Kenny as 6th man of the year stuff, but also did not expect him to eventually supplant Reef. Thought he'd just be Kenny -- get the most out of limited size, hustle on the glass, be short.

THE GOOD: After taking over for Reef in the starting lineup routinely brought hustling boardwork to the table, and while he fought it every step of the way, settled in as a roleplaying rebounding specialist PF. Was our best rebounder, and along with Bonzi the only thing standing between us and being the worst boarding team in the league.

THE BAD: Failed miserably as a 6th man to start the year, and a lot of it seemed likely to stem from his overinflated opinion of himself. Perhaps not dogging it, but not happy, and not focused. In fact even after taking over as a starter in the wake of the Reef injury, questions about his attitude and willingness to sacrifice for the team have lingered. On court, remained what he is -- a 6'7" PF just physically unable to clog the lane on defense or switch assignments with Brad to help on bigger centers.

OVERALL: And in the end, Kenny really kind of was Kenny. Stats, minutes, production, all very much in the normal range for the career parttime starter. Perhaps a low A- for his work as a starter (remember this is all relative, and Kenny was giving most of what he could as a starter) and a C as a bencher, with the consistent feature beign his attitude. The very trait which causes him to excel for his size -- overweaning pride and determination to prove the doubters wrong, also has caused him to be a more or less permanent malcontent, never happy with his role, shots, minutes. Rebounding effort is admiarable, and you only wish a few of our other frontcourt players went after the ball with 1/10th of that intensity. But overall remains a subpar starting option, and along with the coaching situation and OG platoon, finding a defensive upgrade at PF has to be one of the main goals heading into the offseason. Unfortauntely we have already seen how Kenny reacts to coming off the bench, and so bringing in somebody ahead of Kenny and trying him as a 6th man again may not be tenable.

 

[6th]

While I am enjoying your analysis, seeing Bibby and Kenny with the same grade, makes me want to gag. How could that happen?

 

[GoGoGadget]

While I am enjoying your analysis, seeing Bibby and Kenny with the same grade, makes me want to gag. How could that happen?

Expectations, I'm guessing.

 

[6th]

Expectations, I'm guessing.

Matters not! I still want to puke.

 

[Bricklayer]

Ron Artest ( A- ) 40.1min 16.9pts (.383 .302 .717) 5.2reb 4.2ast 2.0stl 0.8blk 2.2TO
EXPECTATIONS: Anything and everything. That he could be our savior, our defensive captain, change the tone, shake things up. That he could implode, explode, rip apart the team, seal the deal on chasing the Kings from town.

THE GOOD: Of all the various expectations the one that you would never have put in there was "will become the undisputed leader of the team and drive them to the playoffs." But there it was. From the moment he showed up made this his team in true great player fashion, and our rudderless crew only too gladly bought in and followed the nutty guy who believed. Changed the tone so dramatically that you are almost tempted to completely overlook the drawbacks to his game. One thing that has never been a drawback is the defense though -- and its a thing of beauty. Not the thug you might think from the national media, but a wonderful technically near-flawless brand of defense combining incredible footwork, perfect angles, great recovery time, and non-stop hustle. Its not only bump and grind, its near constant impediment, and Ron is so good at it that despite the intensity he really does not get many fouls called on him. Combine that with lightning quick strong hands that poke away ball after ball, and you have what may well be the best defender in the league.

THE BAD: Easy to overlook because of the amazing effect Ron has had on the whole team, but his individual performances have been all over the map. Its a tribute to his impact that a 38% shooter who rebounds like the small forward who proceeded him and often shows shaky offensive decisionmaking could still earn an A of some sort. But he did. Meanwhile however, heading into next year Ron could stand to improve his outside shooting, calm down and play within the offense, concentrate on inside work rather than outside bombing, and get on the glass.

OVERALL: As mentioned, how could you not give this guy an A of some sort? Flaws and all, he quite clearly turned around the Kings entire season with his cocky belief, not only in himself, but critically in US. And along the way the team's defensive improvement was staggering -- far exceeding just having the ultimate stopper of 2/3s, and flowing through every other King who followed Ron's lead and began giving better efforts on that end of the floor. So far, so very very good. Of course we will never truly be safe with Ron -- can never really be sure he'll stay happy and content and lead us up rather than down. In particular as changes loom this offseason, we'll have to see how Ron responds to them. But the Maloofs gambled big and came up with another star-level leader -- perhaps the rarest of all NBA birds. So despite the occasional shortcomings and deficiencies, the A- here might be on the LOW side of what Ron has quickly come to mean for us.

 

[Bricklayer]

Brad Miller ( B- ) 37.0min 15.0pts (.495 .386 .828) 7.8reb 4.7ast 0.8stl 0.8blk 2.3TO
EXPECTATIONS: To be Brad, but with a little more muscle. He promised to work out last summer, was going to have to be the dependable rock in the middle with all the changes. Some added post play would have been welcome too. Was hoping for 13 and 10, would have settled for 12 and 9.

THE GOOD: Brad retained his title as the premiere shooting big man in the league, and even expanded things late in the year when he started bombing threes at a decent clip. He also quietly DID add a few little post moves. A little half hook etc. Very modest by most big man standards, but a vast improvement over his own previous ineptness. Early in the year was used as a bit of a 7'0" PG, but that role decreased after the changes. As some had predicted, responded to the arrival of Ron with tougher, albeit inconsistent , play around the hoop on defense (was averaging 0.5blks a game before Ron, but was up over 1.0 a game for the two months after Ron arrived). Also, and this was nice, managed to stay healthy for the full year for the first time as a King, and one of the few times in his career.

THE BAD: Defense and rebounding of course. With both reaching sometimes scary lows for us. Just could not stop anyone inside one on one, and his help defense to shut down the lane was just terrible. Even for Brad, a significant falloff in steals and shotblocking from his first two years for us. And the rebounding...more frightening still. Rebounding has declined every year for us, down to an unacceptable 7.8 this season. Some of those woes may stem from Brad apparently NOT working out over the summer, as he came into camp looking less ripped than when he left last spring.

OVERALL: Perhaps the ultimate Kings freak player -- a 7'0" center who's best attributes are jumpshooting and passing, while we have a 6'5" OG who's best attributes are rebounding and postwork. Very inconsistent year for Brad, and his head remains a question. Seems to entirely psyche himself out of some games. You just never know when. Can be very tough to matchup with when he's rolling because of his unconventional skills pulling guys away from the hoop, but a team like Dallas appeared to solve this by simply calling a spade a spade and guarding him with a SF. Going forward remains a unique key player for us because of what he does bring, but is near fatally flawed by what he does not. The rebounding in particular is frightening, because he is getting older now and you have to wonder how low it will go. The three point shooting is a new trick, and looks legit. But having your big man shoot threes is always a bit dubious (who grabs the rebound?), and you can see Brad perhaps heading along the career path of notable big man bombers like Mills, Perkins and Laimbeer, who largely just abdicated the middle late in their careers and became tall guards with plummeting rebounding totals.

 

[Kings113]

Ron is definitely a guy who'll work on his game. He worked on his jumper last year (showed early on from what I saw, and as he said), and should more again. Seems like Peja didn't work on his game much the last couple summers. Not too worried about how Ron will be with us.

 

[atxrocker]

Brick, love the assessment of Ron.. right on point. Nice job.

 

[Bricklayer]

Shareef Abdur-Rahim ( C+ ) 27.2min 12.3pts (.525 .227 .784) 5.0reb 2.1ast 0.7stl 0.6blk 1.5TO
EXPECTATIONS: At no point did I expect Reef to be able to come in and replace Webb. But this was a career 20ppg scorer we were talking about, and even with all of the competition for shots, 17pts 8rebs seemed a reasonable expectation.

THE GOOD: Was a professional as always, and not just a professional, but a professional scorer who retains some of the prettiest spinning post moves in the game. Man defense was also a pleasant surprise, and coming back early from his broken jaw to tough it out earns him major brownie points. Lastly, did a good job accepting a late season reserve role and not being disruptive, and whether he wants to hear it or not, may have started to find himself a niche there as a 6th man.

THE BAD: Of course the oft-discussed rebounding heads this list, as Reef somehow completely forgot how to rebound this season and turned in not only a career low, but one of the lowest marks in the league of anybody considered a "PF". When combined with Brad, the effect was toxic with our frontline unable to outrebound anybody. Struggled with assertiveness as a starter, and would go through long periods of passivity on offense and invisibility otherwise. In production and one-dimensionality became a bit of a post playing version of Peja. Of course yet another Kings big who can't shut down the lane, and while it was not his fault how he was used, this was particularly nasty when he was being played as a "center".

OVERALL: Receives this grade because of the magnitude of player that he once was, and the disappointment relative to expectations. We went from people, however delusional, arguing that he was better than Webb, to serious discussions about whether he was better than Kenny Thomas. But earned some respect for playing through pain for us, and being classy about his benching. And late in the year really seemed to be growing into that 6th man role and consistently attacking out of it. Also was perhaps the most surprising King to seem to respond positively to Ron's leadership, and played hard down the stretch to secure a playoff berth. So, the worst year of Reef's professional career, and far from a glowing acheivement. But even as we look to upgrade next year, you can see room for Reef to return if we can find somebody to cover for his weaknesses.

 

[Bricklayer]

Kevin Martin ( A- ) 26.6min 10.8pts (.480 .369 .847) 3.6reb 1.3ast 0.8stl 0.1blk 1.1TO
EXPECTATIONS: Coming into the season, low to none. He had had another good summer league, but after having been left off the playoff roster the year before and with the arrival of Bonzi, Kevin's career could easily have gone in a different direction.

THE GOOD: Kevin had the all important breakout year that he needed to establish himself in the league, and really courtesy of the injury to Bonzi. Thrust suddenly into the starting role, Kevin thrived, and in the most startling ways. Less than a 20% career three point shooter before moving into the starting linuep, and armed with one of the ugliest jumpers in the game, Kevin abruptly started knocking down threes at a Pejalike pace, and as his confidence grew, quit hesitating on the shot as well. And while I thought there was a bit of a fools gold aspect to the early push -- teams simply were ignoring him and daring him to shoot because of his earlier ineptitude -- after they did make adjustments, Kevin then started displaying a much more spohisticated offensive game than merely three pointer/alley oop, and worked in a number of very professional looking midrange floaters that probably will do more to assure him of a long future in the league than anything else -- not many guys have those moves.

THE BAD: Continued to stuggle with inconsistency and in particular aggressiveness for much of the year, particularly off the bench. Its easy to forget that early in the year Kevin had actually played himself out of the rotation and to the end of the bench before he had his awakening. Also had a bizarrely pronounced home/road split for much fo the season -- maybe a little too dependant on the home fans to get him pumped. Can be a good defender, but is not always, and has problems with falling asleep. Can also be a good rebounder, but that comes and goes as well. Inconsistency is the byword. Late in the season his hot shooting cooled off, and while he can hit those shots, there would be a question about how consistently.

OVERALL: Its not clear, to me at least, exactly how far Kevin will rise in the future. A starter? A 6th man? A star? But what is clear is how far he has already come. There wass absolutely no comparison between the Kevin we saw in Jan/Feb of this year and the Kevin of the previous Jan/Feb. This version had added SO much to his game, and most of all, confidence. Consistency problems and aggressiveness problems continue to plague, and trying to get a read on the final potential, and what it all means for Bonzi/Cisco etc. will be one of the real challenges, and real risks of the offseason for our front office. But we have already gotten a much better player than the one we started the season with, and Kevin's emergence has to remain one of the true bright points of the season as far as the Kings are concerned.

 

[slugking50]

Ron Artest ( A- ) 40.1min 16.9pts (.383 .302 .717) 5.2reb 4.2ast 2.0stl 0.8blk 2.2TO
EXPECTATIONS: Anything and everything. That he could be our savior, our defensive captain, change the tone, shake things up. That he could implode, explode, rip apart the team, seal the deal on chasing the Kings from town.

THE GOOD: Of all the various expectations the one that you would never have put in there was "will become the undisputed leader of the team and drive them to the playoffs." But there it was. From the moment he showed up made this his team in true great player fashion, and our rudderless crew only too glady bought in and followed the nutty guy with the belief. Changed the tone so dramatically that you are almost tempted to completely overlook the drawbacks to his game. One thing that has never been a drawback is the defense though -- and its a thing of beauty. Not the thug you might think from the national media, but a wonderful technically near-flawless brand of defense combing incredible footwork, perfect angles, great recovery time, and non-stop hustle. Its not only bump and grind, its near constant impediment, and Ron is so good at it that he really does not even get many fouls called on him. Combine that with lightning quick strong hands that poke away ball after ball, and you have what may well be the best defender in the league.

THE BAD: Easy to overlook because of the amazing effect Ron has had on the whole team, but his individual performances have been all over the map. Its a tribute to his impact that a 38% shooter who rebounds like the small forward who proceeded him and often shows shaky offensive decisionamking could still earn an A of some sort. But he did. Meanwhile however, heading into next year Ron culd stand to improve his outside shooting, calm down and play wihtin the offense, concentrate on inside work rather than outside bombing, and get on the glass.

OVERALL: As mentioned, how could you not give this guy an A of some sort? Flaws and all, he quite clearly turned around the Kings entire season with his cocky belief, not only in himself, but critically in US. And along the way the team's defensive improvement was staggering -- far exceeeding just having the ultimate stopper of 2/3s, and flowing through every other King who followed Ron's lead and began giving better efforts on that end of the floor. So far, so very very good. Of course we will never truly be safe with Ron -- can never really be sure he'll stay happy and content and lead us up rather than down. In particular as changes loom this offseason, we'll have to see how Ron responds to them. But the Maloofs gambled big and came up with another star-level leader -- perhaps the rarest of all NBA birds. So despite the occasional shortcomings and deficiencies, the A- here might be on the LOW side of what Ron has quickly come to mean for us.

Only a A-? See I knew it. Your just an Artest Hater!

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. Ah c'mon, SOMEONE had to do it!





Nice grades Brick.

 

[bozzwell]

Ron Artest ( A- ) 40.1min 16.9pts (.383 .302 .717) 5.2reb 4.2ast 2.0stl 0.8blk 2.2TO
EXPECTATIONS: Anything and everything. That he could be our savior, our defensive captain, change the tone, shake things up. That he could implode, explode, rip apart the team, seal the deal on chasing the Kings from town.

THE GOOD: Of all the various expectations the one that you would never have put in there was "will become the undisputed leader of the team and drive them to the playoffs." But there it was. From the moment he showed up made this his team in true great player fashion, and our rudderless crew only too gladly bought in and followed the nutty guy who believed. Changed the tone so dramatically that you are almost tempted to completely overlook the drawbacks to his game. One thing that has never been a drawback is the defense though -- and its a thing of beauty. Not the thug you might think from the national media, but a wonderful technically near-flawless brand of defense combining incredible footwork, perfect angles, great recovery time, and non-stop hustle. Its not only bump and grind, its near constant impediment, and Ron is so good at it that despite the intensity he really does not get many fouls called on him. Combine that with lightning quick strong hands that poke away ball after ball, and you have what may well be the best defender in the league.

THE BAD: Easy to overlook because of the amazing effect Ron has had on the whole team, but his individual performances have been all over the map. Its a tribute to his impact that a 38% shooter who rebounds like the small forward who proceeded him and often shows shaky offensive decisionmaking could still earn an A of some sort. But he did. Meanwhile however, heading into next year Ron could stand to improve his outside shooting, calm down and play within the offense, concentrate on inside work rather than outside bombing, and get on the glass.

OVERALL: As mentioned, how could you not give this guy an A of some sort? Flaws and all, he quite clearly turned around the Kings entire season with his cocky belief, not only in himself, but critically in US. And along the way the team's defensive improvement was staggering -- far exceeding just having the ultimate stopper of 2/3s, and flowing through every other King who followed Ron's lead and began giving better efforts on that end of the floor. So far, so very very good. Of course we will never truly be safe with Ron -- can never really be sure he'll stay happy and content and lead us up rather than down. In particular as changes loom this offseason, we'll have to see how Ron responds to them. But the Maloofs gambled big and came up with another star-level leader -- perhaps the rarest of all NBA birds. So despite the occasional shortcomings and deficiencies, the A- here might be on the LOW side of what Ron has quickly come to mean for us.

The Best. Ron-Ron. Assesment. Ever!

You've outdone yourself here. I've been listening to commentators and analysts talk about Ron's D for years now, and noone has been able to put it in a "nutshell" like you just did.

Rerest of the rare birds, indeed.

 

[LilMissDiva]

I would give Shareef a B- simply because of his ability to want to help the team regardless of any situation. I like the guy.

 

[Bballkingsrock]

I would give Shareef a B- simply because of his ability to want to help the team regardless of any situation. I like the guy.

Yeah, me too. He didn't reall do anything bad except rebounding. But he wasn't GREAT either. I would give a B or a B-.

 

[nbrans]

I think Shareef is sometimes given a bum rap on the board, but frankly I think a C+ is probably accurate. He sort of seemed to come onto the team with the goal of not making too many waves -- kind of like Bibby's first year when he didn't shoot until the playoffs because he was deferring to the other guys. In actuality, the Kings probably needed a bit more selfishness and attention on offense from Shareef, and they definitely needed more rebounding. He deserves a lot of credit for making the 6th man thing work and playing with the jaw broken when the Kings simply could not afford any more losses, but for the majority of the season he didn't look like the aggressive Shareef of the past, and for that C+ is probably about right.

 

[VF21]

Kevin Martin ( A- ) 26.6min 10.8pts (.480 .369 .847) 3.6reb 1.3ast 0.8stl 0.1blk 1.1TO
EXPECTATIONS: Coming into the season, low to none. He had had another good summer league, but after having been left off the playoff roster the year before and with the arrival of Bonzi, Kevin's career could easily have gone in a different direction.

THE GOOD: Kevin had the all important breakout year that he needed to establish himself in the league, and really courtesy of the injury to Bonzi. Thrust suddenly into the starting role, Kevin thrived, and in the most startling ways. Less than a 20% career three point shooter before moving into the starting linuep, and armed with one of the ugliest jumpers in the game, Kevin abruptly started knocking down threes at a Pejalike pace, and as his confidence grew, quit hesitating on the shot as well. And while I thought there was a bit of a fools gold aspect to the early push -- teams simply were ignoring him and daring him to shoot because of his earlier ineptitude -- after they did make adjustments, Kevin then started displaying a much more spohisticated offensive game than merely three pointer/alley oop, and worked in a number of very professional looking midrange floaters that probably will do more to assure him of a long future in the league than anything else -- not many guys have those moves.

THE BAD: Continued to stuggle with inconsistency and in particular aggressiveness for much of the year, particularly off the bench. Its easy to forget that early in the year Kevin had actually played himself out of the rotation and to the end of the bench before he had his awakening. Also had a bizarrely pronounced home/road split for much fo the season -- maybe a little too dependant on the home fans to get him pumped. Can be a good defender, but is not always, and has problems with falling asleep. Can also be a good rebounder, but that comes and goes as well. Inconsistency is the byword. Late in the season his hot shooting cooled off, and while he can hit those shots, there would be a question about how consistently.

OVERALL: Its not clear, to me at least, exactly how far Kevin will rise in the future. A starter? A 6th man? A star? But what is clear is how far he has already come. There wass absolutely no comparison between the Kevin we saw in Jan/Feb of this year and the Kevin of the previous Jan/Feb. This version had added SO much to his game, and most of all, confidence. Consistency problems and aggressiveness problems continue to plague, and trying to get a read on the final potential, and what it all means for Bonzi/Cisco etc. will be one of the real challenges, and real risks of the offseason for our front office. But we have already gotten a much better player than the one we started the season with, and Kevin's emergence has to remain one of the true bright points of the season as far as the Kings are concerned.

As with your assessment of Artest, this really seems to say everything about Kevin and his season...

As far as the rest of the grades go, I find myself nodding in agreement as I read each one of them. Kudos, Brickie. You've outdone yourself.

 

[Rome]

Reef gets a B from me. He played with his wired shut plus playing off the bench without any complaining. He did put pretty good numbers when he started but then his average went down as the season progressed due to PT. His lack of rebounding keeps him away from the A range.

 

[VF21]

BUMP

Bringing it back because you need to see the ORIGINAL team grades for the season, with all the depth and analysis the Bee neglected to include.

NICE JOB, Brickie!

 

[Padrino]

BUMP

Bringing it back because you need to see the ORIGINAL team grades for the season, with all the depth and analysis the Bee neglected to include.

NICE JOB, Brickie!

ya know...i'm not one to defend the bee's sports writers, but i think this is an instance in which article space factors into the equation, not to mention brevity for the sake of casual fans who don't care about over-analysis and season-long tracking of the players and coach, but would rather see the quick "back of the box" summary.

but that's what makes it great to be a part of kingsfans.com! we're not the casual fan! we kick ***, over-analyze, cut apart, build up, rip down, tear into, decipher, decode, and read into everything that happens to this team! we get to one-up the journalists in this case, having the opportunity to act both as fans of the team and unbiased critics. its more fun this way. the bee gets to borrow from us.

 

[Evenstar]

that put the bee's grades to SHAME

thank brick, those were GREAT reads.

 

[DirkAB]

How about a grade for Adelman?

 

[PFFFT!!]

Brad Miller deserves a C IMHO.

 

[kingsfan101]

I feel Bibby deserves some props for not missing games and minutes played.
For the two previous seasons he carried the load when Bobby was out, and
this season, when Hart's performance did not live up to expectations. Often
he was our main scoring threat, and the focus of opposing defense. Currently
too, he is the only proven long distance threat on the team (Martin and
Garcia have shown promise, but have still to do it consistently. Ron, Miller and
Bonzi can all hit the long ball, but we would that they rather play closer to
the basket).

 

[DoDiGaG0]

Brad and Bibby both deserve C's

 

[NJO]

Shareef Abdur-Rahim ( C+ ) 27.2min 12.3pts (.525 .227 .784) 5.0reb 2.1ast 0.7stl 0.6blk 1.5TO
EXPECTATIONS: At no point did I expect Reef to be able to come in and replace Webb. But this was a career 20ppg scorer we were talking about, and even with all of the competition for shots, 17pts 8rebs seemed a reasonable expectation.

THE GOOD: Was a professional as always, and not just a professional, but a professional scorer who retains some of the prettiest spinning post moves in the game. Man defense was also a pleasant surprise, and coming back early from his broken jaw to tough it out earns him major brownie points. Lastly, did a good job accepting a late season reserve role and not being disruptive, and whether he wants to hear it or not, may have started to find himself a niche there as a 6th man.

THE BAD: Of course the oft-discussed rebounding heads this list, as Reef somehow completely forgot how to rebound this season and turned in not only a career low, but one of the lowest marks in the league of anybody considered a "PF". When combined with Brad, the effect was toxic with our frontline unable to outrebound anybody. Struggled with assertiveness as a starter, and would go through long periods of passivity on offense and invisibility otherwise. In production and one-dimensionality became a bit of a post playing version of Peja. Of course yet another Kings big who can't shut down the lane, and while it was not his fault how he was used, this was particularly nasty when he was being played as a "center".

OVERALL: Receives this grade because of the magnitude of player that he once was, and the disappointment relative to expectations. We went from people, however delusional, arguing that he was better than Webb, to serious discussions about whether he was better than Kenny Thomas. But earned some respect for playing through pain for us, and being classy about his benching. And late in the year really seemed to be growing into that 6th man role and consistently attacking out of it. Also was perhaps the most surprising King to seem to respond positively to Ron's leadership, and played hard down the stretch to secure a playoff berth. So, the worst year of Reef's professional career, and far from a glowing acheivement. But even as we look to upgrade next year, you can see room for Reef to return if we can find somebody to cover for his weaknesses.

No freakin way a C+. I would have graded him a solid B. With the broken jaw losing all that weight and still playing like he did was amazing. He may not have put up 20/10 numbers but so what. I wouldn't feel like playing after drinking my meals. He will gain his weight back and my prediction is of him starting and getting 18 ppg 9 rpg next year. K9 will take a seat and like it or get traded. His passive nature this year has to be attributed to his jaw and the fear of rebreaking it. He will rebound nicely next year. (Pun intended)

 

[VF21]

The thing is the grades aren't based on what he might have done. It's what the player SAR did on the court to help the team. Yes, he played through a broken jaw but did that help or hurt the Kings?

A C+ is a pretty fair assessment of what he did and how it benefitted the Kings.