Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Confuscious say team that gives up 129 points doesn't deserve to win. Ever. My worst nightmare is guys got their points by the end of this one and so go home feeling pretty happy with themselves despite having given up an average of 134 pts a game in their last 3 games. That is yet another new record for your record setting Kngs BTW:
Records Set Today
Record 1: Worst Record (10-31) By The MidPoint Of The Season In Sacramento History
Record 2: Most Points Given Up In A Three Game Stretch In Sacramento History (401)
No blowout by the end so no pretty girls -- as long as they were going to lose anyway they might as well have just done the standard collapse and cut us a break, but no, not even that.
Salmons ( A- ) -- one of the more bizarre grades I've had to prepare. I add little notes through the course of games to htese things, and by the end of the third those notes consisted almost entirely of "quitter" "selfish" "pouting" and "bum". Twelve minutes later I am pondering what sort of "A" to give him. Bizarre. Barely had a role to play in the first half and got into quick foul trouble and sat most of it out. One of those uninvolved nothing games where poor Johnny poo just cannot function because other guys get to have the ball. The few times he did shoot it was out of rhythm, and he was even missing FTs. Then out of nowhere quit pouty pooing and put together one of the best 4th quarters by a King in years to almost steal a game that we absolutely did not deserve to win. Responsible for at least 26 4th quarter points all by himself -- 20 of his own and two wide open threes that he set Cisco up for (I tried every grammatically correct structure there and none made as much sense as the dangling "for"). Bombed in threes, including a huge clutch one with a minute to go when we again looked dead, and finally locked in on Michael Redd (who realistically might have been tired) and helped hold him to zero points in the quarter after he had been on pace to break the Arco Arena scoring record for an oppponent (53 by Tony Delk in '01) with 44pts through three quarters. So...what to do with this grade? Three quarters of being his miserable self, and one qurter of being a superhero. Went A-. Such an outing does not pass the straight A sniff test, and us losing in the end made it an easy call. If he had come to play from the start, we ar enever in the position to need the monster 4th, or if we get it, we win. Would have preferred a B+ given that he had at best a D though 3/4, but the extent of the heroics forced me to bump it.
Thompson ( A ) -- the one legitimate bright light of this game -- I will say again that if we had won this one not only would we have not deserved it, but it might have taught all the wrong lessons to a team in absolute defensive collapse at this point. Why play defense at all when you can just get hot and maybe outscore them? Especially when you are already disinclined to make any effort on that end. So even the comeback wasn't all a good thing. But Jason's game was. Fast start hustling and scoring inside, yet pulled quickly for whatever reason (well the reason is largely Natt = dumb) and never a factor again in the first half. But back for the third, and that's when he really cranked it up, dominating play there for a long stretch of the quarter cleaning up all kinds of junk around the hoop and getting to the line again and again (and no homer B.S. -- a number of those FTs were referee gifts as he only had to take 5 shots on the night while the refs handed him 15 FTs), and shockingly knocked every one of them down -- was 11-11 from the line through three. Continued inside dominance into the 4th and our 65% FT shooter dud not miss one in this game until he was already 14-14 from the line. Yet for all of this, pulled by Natt for the stretch run because, well, its Kenny Natt. Career game, and the steadiest he has looked a starter. Not a "+" level of dominance, and the refs helped not only by sending him to the line over and over again but by having every single Milwaulkee big in major foul trouble all game long (they were missing Bogut to injury, and amazingly had 5 of the 6 frontcourt players on their roster wth 5 fouls by the end of this one). But the best and steadiest Jason has looked against anyone, and so an easy A for him tonight.
Miller ( B- ) -- odd game where Brad did almost of his damage in a strong second quarter stretch, then was largely victimized by Natt's smallballing, before suddenly getting the call for the final few minutes. Non factor on the glass early even with no Bogut, but upon his return in the 2nd quarter, woke up and realized there were no quality big men on the floor, and dominated play for about 5 minutes drawing us back form 23 down at one point to only 12. Neither he, nor we could not sustain however, and it was bakc to 20 by half. Things got even more ridiculous in the thrid, when the Bucks already without Bogut, saw Gadzuric pick up his 4th and 5th, and Elson his 4th, before the midpoint of the quarter, and had to resort to smallball. Brad proved he was too big for Villanueva inside, but could not contend with Villanueva's quickness down the stretch after we oh so wisely pulled Thompson, and watched Charlie V. run right by him again and again for 15 4th quarter points as the Bucks put this one away.
Martin ( B- ) -- the first half was a minor disaster for Kevin. You might look at the boxscore and say, ooh, he had 10pts at half, but it was an illusion. The shot was off (3-10), he got into quick foul trouble, and his man, Redd was absolutely destroying destroying us out there. Just looked bad out there, missing gimmes, wide open shots, and wathcing his man pour in 29 first half points the other way. Started off the second half with back to back 3pt plays reminscient of the way he tried to pull us back against Orlando, but quickly got into foul trouble trying to slow Redd, and had to leave by midquarter. Was reinserted late in the quarter with us desperately, and foolishly, trying to avoid getting to look at more pretty girls, and immediately hit another three as we made another mini-run. Disappeared in the 4th quarter as there is only room for one guy touching the ball in John's world. Not sure if he had any 4th quarter points before adding a meaningless 2 and a meaningless turnover on our last two possessions after the Bucks put it out of final reach. Salmons took the Redd cover as well. Its a testament to Kevin's natural scoring ability that he can continue to rack up 20pt nights when only playing well for one quarter. But that cuts both ways -- we are also still losing regardless of his point totals, and he often does little when not on those hot streaks. Given the scorching by Redd this may be a bit high for a grade, but that's part of the reason guys like these run up and down and chuck games -- you put up good looking numbers even when you are getting whipped.
Udrih ( C- ) -- some offensive hits against the pathetic Ridnour defense, but just plagued by turnovers all first half, of all kinds. Bad passes, fumbled catches, traveling calls, you name it. He and Brad in particular seemed to be having comunication problems all half. Chipped in a 3pt play to follow Kevin's two to being the 3rd quarter as we knocked 9pts off the lead in about a minute, but had little other role to play in the 3rd as Natt got so desperate he was even willing to let a kid (Brown) get some run in the mid quarter. Could not finish inside on several drives, including one that probably finished us at the end of the game.
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Cisco ( C ) -- yet another one of our Kings who struggled for most of the game, then had one hot stretch to garner what grade he gets. In the early going turned it over and unable to slow Redd at all off the bench. Shot was just flat off and we were again talking a low C/D sort of grade through three quarters. But should give John a big sloppy tongue kiss after this one, because during his 4th quarter mega-run not only did Salmons score and score some more himself, but twice he set Cisco up for wide open threes let him redeem himself. Could do nothing on offense without John's help however, and when he tried to jack threes off of the dribble, there was no chance. Did better on a strangely ineffective Jefferson on defense, and notched 4 blocked shots along guys driving the baseline to help balance the 3-11 shooting and 4 TOs.
Hawes ( C+ ) -- had a little impact after coming in in the first half, jsut because he was actually willing to rebound a little. Got almost no time after half as we went smallball, and didn't do himself any favors in the argument for more time by not taking advanatge of his seize advantage inside against the soft and foul plagued Bucks frontline.
BJax ( D+ ) -- forced action after entering, some good some bad. Made a great hustle play, but forced shots. Then Natt tried him on Redd, and he was just lit up.
Moore ( INC ) -- another brief foul plagued first half cameo with no return. What is the point exactly of these?
Brown ( INC ) -- after looking like he was headed for a second straight DNP-CD, finally got in for a brief spell in the 3rd. Chucked up and bricked two threes in his three minutes, but I actually thought he was one fo the few Kings at least trying on defense during the spell.
Records Set Today
Record 1: Worst Record (10-31) By The MidPoint Of The Season In Sacramento History
Record 2: Most Points Given Up In A Three Game Stretch In Sacramento History (401)
No blowout by the end so no pretty girls -- as long as they were going to lose anyway they might as well have just done the standard collapse and cut us a break, but no, not even that.
Salmons ( A- ) -- one of the more bizarre grades I've had to prepare. I add little notes through the course of games to htese things, and by the end of the third those notes consisted almost entirely of "quitter" "selfish" "pouting" and "bum". Twelve minutes later I am pondering what sort of "A" to give him. Bizarre. Barely had a role to play in the first half and got into quick foul trouble and sat most of it out. One of those uninvolved nothing games where poor Johnny poo just cannot function because other guys get to have the ball. The few times he did shoot it was out of rhythm, and he was even missing FTs. Then out of nowhere quit pouty pooing and put together one of the best 4th quarters by a King in years to almost steal a game that we absolutely did not deserve to win. Responsible for at least 26 4th quarter points all by himself -- 20 of his own and two wide open threes that he set Cisco up for (I tried every grammatically correct structure there and none made as much sense as the dangling "for"). Bombed in threes, including a huge clutch one with a minute to go when we again looked dead, and finally locked in on Michael Redd (who realistically might have been tired) and helped hold him to zero points in the quarter after he had been on pace to break the Arco Arena scoring record for an oppponent (53 by Tony Delk in '01) with 44pts through three quarters. So...what to do with this grade? Three quarters of being his miserable self, and one qurter of being a superhero. Went A-. Such an outing does not pass the straight A sniff test, and us losing in the end made it an easy call. If he had come to play from the start, we ar enever in the position to need the monster 4th, or if we get it, we win. Would have preferred a B+ given that he had at best a D though 3/4, but the extent of the heroics forced me to bump it.
Thompson ( A ) -- the one legitimate bright light of this game -- I will say again that if we had won this one not only would we have not deserved it, but it might have taught all the wrong lessons to a team in absolute defensive collapse at this point. Why play defense at all when you can just get hot and maybe outscore them? Especially when you are already disinclined to make any effort on that end. So even the comeback wasn't all a good thing. But Jason's game was. Fast start hustling and scoring inside, yet pulled quickly for whatever reason (well the reason is largely Natt = dumb) and never a factor again in the first half. But back for the third, and that's when he really cranked it up, dominating play there for a long stretch of the quarter cleaning up all kinds of junk around the hoop and getting to the line again and again (and no homer B.S. -- a number of those FTs were referee gifts as he only had to take 5 shots on the night while the refs handed him 15 FTs), and shockingly knocked every one of them down -- was 11-11 from the line through three. Continued inside dominance into the 4th and our 65% FT shooter dud not miss one in this game until he was already 14-14 from the line. Yet for all of this, pulled by Natt for the stretch run because, well, its Kenny Natt. Career game, and the steadiest he has looked a starter. Not a "+" level of dominance, and the refs helped not only by sending him to the line over and over again but by having every single Milwaulkee big in major foul trouble all game long (they were missing Bogut to injury, and amazingly had 5 of the 6 frontcourt players on their roster wth 5 fouls by the end of this one). But the best and steadiest Jason has looked against anyone, and so an easy A for him tonight.
Miller ( B- ) -- odd game where Brad did almost of his damage in a strong second quarter stretch, then was largely victimized by Natt's smallballing, before suddenly getting the call for the final few minutes. Non factor on the glass early even with no Bogut, but upon his return in the 2nd quarter, woke up and realized there were no quality big men on the floor, and dominated play for about 5 minutes drawing us back form 23 down at one point to only 12. Neither he, nor we could not sustain however, and it was bakc to 20 by half. Things got even more ridiculous in the thrid, when the Bucks already without Bogut, saw Gadzuric pick up his 4th and 5th, and Elson his 4th, before the midpoint of the quarter, and had to resort to smallball. Brad proved he was too big for Villanueva inside, but could not contend with Villanueva's quickness down the stretch after we oh so wisely pulled Thompson, and watched Charlie V. run right by him again and again for 15 4th quarter points as the Bucks put this one away.
Martin ( B- ) -- the first half was a minor disaster for Kevin. You might look at the boxscore and say, ooh, he had 10pts at half, but it was an illusion. The shot was off (3-10), he got into quick foul trouble, and his man, Redd was absolutely destroying destroying us out there. Just looked bad out there, missing gimmes, wide open shots, and wathcing his man pour in 29 first half points the other way. Started off the second half with back to back 3pt plays reminscient of the way he tried to pull us back against Orlando, but quickly got into foul trouble trying to slow Redd, and had to leave by midquarter. Was reinserted late in the quarter with us desperately, and foolishly, trying to avoid getting to look at more pretty girls, and immediately hit another three as we made another mini-run. Disappeared in the 4th quarter as there is only room for one guy touching the ball in John's world. Not sure if he had any 4th quarter points before adding a meaningless 2 and a meaningless turnover on our last two possessions after the Bucks put it out of final reach. Salmons took the Redd cover as well. Its a testament to Kevin's natural scoring ability that he can continue to rack up 20pt nights when only playing well for one quarter. But that cuts both ways -- we are also still losing regardless of his point totals, and he often does little when not on those hot streaks. Given the scorching by Redd this may be a bit high for a grade, but that's part of the reason guys like these run up and down and chuck games -- you put up good looking numbers even when you are getting whipped.
Udrih ( C- ) -- some offensive hits against the pathetic Ridnour defense, but just plagued by turnovers all first half, of all kinds. Bad passes, fumbled catches, traveling calls, you name it. He and Brad in particular seemed to be having comunication problems all half. Chipped in a 3pt play to follow Kevin's two to being the 3rd quarter as we knocked 9pts off the lead in about a minute, but had little other role to play in the 3rd as Natt got so desperate he was even willing to let a kid (Brown) get some run in the mid quarter. Could not finish inside on several drives, including one that probably finished us at the end of the game.
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Cisco ( C ) -- yet another one of our Kings who struggled for most of the game, then had one hot stretch to garner what grade he gets. In the early going turned it over and unable to slow Redd at all off the bench. Shot was just flat off and we were again talking a low C/D sort of grade through three quarters. But should give John a big sloppy tongue kiss after this one, because during his 4th quarter mega-run not only did Salmons score and score some more himself, but twice he set Cisco up for wide open threes let him redeem himself. Could do nothing on offense without John's help however, and when he tried to jack threes off of the dribble, there was no chance. Did better on a strangely ineffective Jefferson on defense, and notched 4 blocked shots along guys driving the baseline to help balance the 3-11 shooting and 4 TOs.
Hawes ( C+ ) -- had a little impact after coming in in the first half, jsut because he was actually willing to rebound a little. Got almost no time after half as we went smallball, and didn't do himself any favors in the argument for more time by not taking advanatge of his seize advantage inside against the soft and foul plagued Bucks frontline.
BJax ( D+ ) -- forced action after entering, some good some bad. Made a great hustle play, but forced shots. Then Natt tried him on Redd, and he was just lit up.
Moore ( INC ) -- another brief foul plagued first half cameo with no return. What is the point exactly of these?
Brown ( INC ) -- after looking like he was headed for a second straight DNP-CD, finally got in for a brief spell in the 3rd. Chucked up and bricked two threes in his three minutes, but I actually thought he was one fo the few Kings at least trying on defense during the spell.
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