Williamson ( A- ) -- Tonight our new guys carried our old guys, and first among them was Corliss who got the start at SF and pummeled Kyle Korver in the post all night long. Really our best player in the starting lineup tongiht -- its a homecoming game for him, and players often have big games in their first game back. Earns his minus for making a dumb dumb foul to foul out of the game with 8 seconds to go, fouling Andre Igoudala on a three point attempt to give the rook 3 FTs to try to tie it (he choked one of them as we repeatedly dodged Philly bullets in the last minute).
Songaila ( C ) -- Just one game after seeming to really make a case for himself as our starting PF, Darius came out and had a quiet night and ended up watching most of it from the bench as Kenny Thomas made an impressive debut. Of course the motivations were different -- Thomas had to be super-amped in his debut in front of his old team, while Darius and the rest of the main guns still looked depressed over Webber being in an opposing uniform. But still a bit disappointing to go from 23 & 12 to 4 & 5 in the space of one game.
Miller ( C+ ) -- started out active but only sporadically effective. Settled in thereafter, but it was interesting to watch this one because we were far more effective on the glass and on defense when Brad was out of the game and the new guys were in. Whether it was playing against Webber and a big shotblocker in Dalembert, or just our offensive still being disjointed, Brad just looked uncomfortable on that end of the floor and returned to his hesitant-to-shoot ways. Did however make a real difference with his passing late in the game, and gave Mike some welcome help there. With so many new bodies, and none of them passers, its up to those two guys to try to keep the offense rolling forward now.
Mobley ( C ) -- wow, got off to an absolutely horrendous start to this one. I mean, everything that you could do wrong, he was doing. Missing shot after shot, turning the ball over, losing both Iverson and Igoudala on defense, and looked miserable while doing it. But after three quarters of struggling, he finally woke up and you have to give him credit -- made all the clutch plays for us down the stretch. Hit big shots and big FTs. We could easily have lost this one, actually probably should have if Philly hadn't repeatedly blown opportunities. But Mobley was the main guy bailing us out at the end.
Bibby ( C ) -- got off to a really ragged start, and you can see the strain right now on Mike having to try to create everybody's offense and not knowing where everybody is going to be. Looks almost like Iverson out there at times running around, loking, looking, forcing, throwing up off balance stuff. Hard for Mike to play his normal efficient game. A few times seemed to be coming to life, but just never able to sustain. When he was guarding Iverson, got toasted -- one of those nights where A.I. threw up all sorts of junk, but wasn't really our fault as he got into the lane nearly every possession. Quiet down the stretch again as in Dallas -- I really do think that there might be too much strain on Mike right now, and he's getting tired before we reach the end of the game. We're going to have to address that somehow since we need his clutch shooting.
Thomas ( A- ) -- extremely active tonight and really brought his "A" game with active rebounding and athletic drives -- looked like a SF more than a PF. Lot of inspiration -- not only his return to Philly, but also trying to stake out his territory for the PF spot. Counterpunch to Darius's big game in Dallas -- be interesting to see how the competition for the starting PF spot plays out. Did start to miss his shots late, and looked even more undersized out there than I remember him, but an excellent debut.
Evans ( B ) -- decent effort for Mo back in the backup role for which he's probably better suited. Gave us his energy and a big dunk, and provided a nice athletic counter to the groundbound power game of Corliss.
House ( A ) -- it was the night for the new Kings, and while House at this point is almost a greybeard, he joined right in anyway and had perhaps his finest game as a King. Hit three huge three pointers in the 4th for us, and was in there as a combo guard backing up both Mobley and Bibby tonight. Also did probably a better job on A.I. than any other Kings defender.
Skinner ( B ) -- statistically this does not look like much, but came in in the first half and immediately gave us a nice burst of shot blocking, which I suspect we'll have to fine him for since we don't allow any of that chicanery on the Kings. Also bodied up Webb pretty well (sounds odd to say). There were a couple of utterly terrifying moments there where we gave the ball to him and ran our offense through him, but he survived without mishap. No boards, but he was in there after them, just grabbed by other Kings (good job gang rebounding at times tonight).
Adelman ( A- ) -- Man, look at the boxscore and the names there -- only 1 player played tonight remaining from the team two years ago that had our last best chance at a title. Remarkable turnover. Brad and Darius have been here less than 2 years and they are now considered grizzled Kings vets even though neither can remember the great rivalry years with the Lakers. The count on champinship era Kings now is down to three (Bibby, Bobby, Peja) -- brave new world. But Rick took all these guys, threw them out there in all sorts of combinations, and came out with a victory over an equally disjointed Philly team. Was good at recognizing who was hot and who was not tonight, and going to the former. With fewer great players, and almost no established vets familiar with the system, the lack of a comfort zone seemed to make him a little more flexible. Also liked what Rick did at the end of the game -- after we AGAIN allowed an offensive board off a missed FT, he started subbing in Darius alongside Thomas and Miller to try to ensure we got those damn boards off missed FTs. Of course ironically it did not work, and Webber grabbed a big O-board with 2 seconds left and a chance at a hook to tie it, but it was still a good idea. This was not an A game for us, or even really a B game in a lot of ways. We probably should have lost it there at the end where poor rebounding was killing us, and the Sixers had open perimeter looks and numerous free throws to win it. But they didn't convert, and we hung around long enough to steal it on the ironic final play (as an aside am I the only one VERY glad that Iverson did not see Webber standing out there at the three point line on the pay where Igoudala got fouled. You just know he would have loved to have taken that shot, and he was wide open.). Much needed victory, and maybe we can get our tails out from between our legs now. New guys aren't always going to play this well -- homecoming burst for them tonihgt. But then again, hopefully the old guys aren't always going to pay this bad. So onward we go.
Songaila ( C ) -- Just one game after seeming to really make a case for himself as our starting PF, Darius came out and had a quiet night and ended up watching most of it from the bench as Kenny Thomas made an impressive debut. Of course the motivations were different -- Thomas had to be super-amped in his debut in front of his old team, while Darius and the rest of the main guns still looked depressed over Webber being in an opposing uniform. But still a bit disappointing to go from 23 & 12 to 4 & 5 in the space of one game.
Miller ( C+ ) -- started out active but only sporadically effective. Settled in thereafter, but it was interesting to watch this one because we were far more effective on the glass and on defense when Brad was out of the game and the new guys were in. Whether it was playing against Webber and a big shotblocker in Dalembert, or just our offensive still being disjointed, Brad just looked uncomfortable on that end of the floor and returned to his hesitant-to-shoot ways. Did however make a real difference with his passing late in the game, and gave Mike some welcome help there. With so many new bodies, and none of them passers, its up to those two guys to try to keep the offense rolling forward now.
Mobley ( C ) -- wow, got off to an absolutely horrendous start to this one. I mean, everything that you could do wrong, he was doing. Missing shot after shot, turning the ball over, losing both Iverson and Igoudala on defense, and looked miserable while doing it. But after three quarters of struggling, he finally woke up and you have to give him credit -- made all the clutch plays for us down the stretch. Hit big shots and big FTs. We could easily have lost this one, actually probably should have if Philly hadn't repeatedly blown opportunities. But Mobley was the main guy bailing us out at the end.
Bibby ( C ) -- got off to a really ragged start, and you can see the strain right now on Mike having to try to create everybody's offense and not knowing where everybody is going to be. Looks almost like Iverson out there at times running around, loking, looking, forcing, throwing up off balance stuff. Hard for Mike to play his normal efficient game. A few times seemed to be coming to life, but just never able to sustain. When he was guarding Iverson, got toasted -- one of those nights where A.I. threw up all sorts of junk, but wasn't really our fault as he got into the lane nearly every possession. Quiet down the stretch again as in Dallas -- I really do think that there might be too much strain on Mike right now, and he's getting tired before we reach the end of the game. We're going to have to address that somehow since we need his clutch shooting.
Thomas ( A- ) -- extremely active tonight and really brought his "A" game with active rebounding and athletic drives -- looked like a SF more than a PF. Lot of inspiration -- not only his return to Philly, but also trying to stake out his territory for the PF spot. Counterpunch to Darius's big game in Dallas -- be interesting to see how the competition for the starting PF spot plays out. Did start to miss his shots late, and looked even more undersized out there than I remember him, but an excellent debut.
Evans ( B ) -- decent effort for Mo back in the backup role for which he's probably better suited. Gave us his energy and a big dunk, and provided a nice athletic counter to the groundbound power game of Corliss.
House ( A ) -- it was the night for the new Kings, and while House at this point is almost a greybeard, he joined right in anyway and had perhaps his finest game as a King. Hit three huge three pointers in the 4th for us, and was in there as a combo guard backing up both Mobley and Bibby tonight. Also did probably a better job on A.I. than any other Kings defender.
Skinner ( B ) -- statistically this does not look like much, but came in in the first half and immediately gave us a nice burst of shot blocking, which I suspect we'll have to fine him for since we don't allow any of that chicanery on the Kings. Also bodied up Webb pretty well (sounds odd to say). There were a couple of utterly terrifying moments there where we gave the ball to him and ran our offense through him, but he survived without mishap. No boards, but he was in there after them, just grabbed by other Kings (good job gang rebounding at times tonight).
Adelman ( A- ) -- Man, look at the boxscore and the names there -- only 1 player played tonight remaining from the team two years ago that had our last best chance at a title. Remarkable turnover. Brad and Darius have been here less than 2 years and they are now considered grizzled Kings vets even though neither can remember the great rivalry years with the Lakers. The count on champinship era Kings now is down to three (Bibby, Bobby, Peja) -- brave new world. But Rick took all these guys, threw them out there in all sorts of combinations, and came out with a victory over an equally disjointed Philly team. Was good at recognizing who was hot and who was not tonight, and going to the former. With fewer great players, and almost no established vets familiar with the system, the lack of a comfort zone seemed to make him a little more flexible. Also liked what Rick did at the end of the game -- after we AGAIN allowed an offensive board off a missed FT, he started subbing in Darius alongside Thomas and Miller to try to ensure we got those damn boards off missed FTs. Of course ironically it did not work, and Webber grabbed a big O-board with 2 seconds left and a chance at a hook to tie it, but it was still a good idea. This was not an A game for us, or even really a B game in a lot of ways. We probably should have lost it there at the end where poor rebounding was killing us, and the Sixers had open perimeter looks and numerous free throws to win it. But they didn't convert, and we hung around long enough to steal it on the ironic final play (as an aside am I the only one VERY glad that Iverson did not see Webber standing out there at the three point line on the pay where Igoudala got fouled. You just know he would have loved to have taken that shot, and he was wide open.). Much needed victory, and maybe we can get our tails out from between our legs now. New guys aren't always going to play this well -- homecoming burst for them tonihgt. But then again, hopefully the old guys aren't always going to pay this bad. So onward we go.
Last edited:
