Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Peja ( INC ) -- was not off to a very good start in this one, and then looked down, realized he was wearing a jersey which said Sacramento on it, and promptly tweaked a hamstring. Scary injury, just because hammies can linger and linger, but I think they said it might be a cramp? That we can deal with.
Webber ( B+ ) -- wow, hard one to grade. Comes up with his third triple double in 5 games (with a 17, 9 and 9 effort in there too) but really really struggled on offense for the first 30 minutes of this one. Started out missing his jumper, but even after he started going into the post, hooks, tips, everything was finding a way out of the hoop. Rebounding and passing was there all night long, and the offense finally came together during the third quarter. Defensively struggled to stay in the vicinity of Raef LaFrentz around the perimeter, but late in the game provided excellent help defense in the middle. Stepped up yet one more time late in the game -- was involved in almost all of our late plays, carrying us down the stretch along with Bibby, and even more importantly grabbed all of the huge defensive boards we needed to seal it. Gets the "+" for being the absolute man on the boards and stepping it up to help us pull it out.
Miller ( B ) -- had such a great first half, and then just totally disappeared in the second. Celts were keying on him of course, and that always makes it hard for Brad since he really only has the two moves -- jumper or drive straight to the rim. But it was more than just that -- thought in the early third when we started to get in trouble we just forgot about him and were being dumb. But therafter, even as the ball started coming back to him, he just was back into passive spectator mode on offense. Even passed up what could have been a critical open jumper in the last two minutes -- but actually turned out to benefit us as Bibby drained a deep clutch three moments later in the possession. Not much on the boards -- Webb was having to carry us in there tonight.
Mobley ( B+ ) -- was playing a good game for most of the night, but again made mistakes down the stretch. Also began to become something of a defensive liability as we couldn't figure out who to hide him on between Ricky Davis and Pierce, and he lacked the size to really challenge either. Still ended up with a nicely rounded 20pt night from an off guard -- 20pts 5rebs 5ast 3stl generally gets it done -- and was efficient about it too (particularly on the drive where he finsihed almost everything). Didn't force up as many bad shots, and made some sharp unselfish passes along the way.
Bibby ( A- ) -- was simply asleep out there for the first two and a half quarters of play, but woke up at the same time as Webb in the third and was off to the races therafter. He starts 3-11 from the field, and you look up a few minutes later and he's got 27 and is the leading scorer in the game. Nailed big clutch threes, but then turned around and choked more free throws. Bizarre problem he's having there, but right now he is simply not dependable from the stripe at any point of the game. Teamed with Webb to carry the team to victory down the stretch. Nice to actually have players that thrive in the clutch on the team.
Evans ( A ) -- really saved our bacon on a night when we lost Peja early. Stepped up and confidently stroked his jumper from all over the floor. Was having to do yeoman's duty on defense trying to guard both Davis and Pierce, both of whom were tough matchups for Mobley. Made what could have been a dumb play with 12 seconds to go and us up by two -- took an outlet pass from Webb off of the defensive glass, and rather than try to run out the clock turned and immediately charged at the rim. Drew the foul, but if he had missed one of the free throws, C's would have had one more gasp. Fortunately did not catch the teamwide chokitis disease from the stripe, and nailed both of them to seal it.
Barnes ( C ) -- pretty invisible game for Matt. Had a few little bursts of boardwork and hustle, and made a nice assist. Also strayed toward wildness a few times. But mostly, just didn't do much either way. Was out there, did his best on defense, but didn't score, rebound, cause havoc or much of anything else particularly well.
Songaila ( B ) -- went down in fairly frightening fashion in the first half with what looked to be a knee injury. Had been playing pretty well before that. Returned for the second half and while he didn't do much in his late stint, he looked ok physially and bought us a few minutes for Webb. While restricted by lack of length and natural rebounding talent, fought had on the boards tonight and tipped and slapped at anything he could not reach.
House ( C ) -- hustled hard on defense, but did little else in his first half stint
Adelman ( B ) -- well, we repeated many of the same mistakes we have made in the last few weeks, but this time we pulled it out. Critically, finally picked up our defense late to help seal it. Injuries forced Rick to scramble a little, but only a little. Mo and Matt were obvious choices to step up in place of Peja, and Mo in particular did a nice job of filling in. Darius was hardly even missed -- just a few more minutes for Webb really. Rick never panicked as Mike and Webb got off to terrible shooting starts -- shooters keep on shooting until they shoot their way out of it, and that's what happened in both cases tonight. On the other hand Rick again showed cognitive disconnect between a) a team driving the lane at absolute will against us; and b) the presence of a 7'2" shotblocker on our bench who keeps people from driving at will when he's in the game. Seems a pretty obvious solution, but Rick again appeared afraid that Tag could not keep up in a running game, or might not be able to guard big men out at the three point line. Comes a point though where you have to ask Rick, even if you were 100% right about Tag's limitations, how much worse could our defense possibly get if he were in there even against the most moblie of teams?
Webber ( B+ ) -- wow, hard one to grade. Comes up with his third triple double in 5 games (with a 17, 9 and 9 effort in there too) but really really struggled on offense for the first 30 minutes of this one. Started out missing his jumper, but even after he started going into the post, hooks, tips, everything was finding a way out of the hoop. Rebounding and passing was there all night long, and the offense finally came together during the third quarter. Defensively struggled to stay in the vicinity of Raef LaFrentz around the perimeter, but late in the game provided excellent help defense in the middle. Stepped up yet one more time late in the game -- was involved in almost all of our late plays, carrying us down the stretch along with Bibby, and even more importantly grabbed all of the huge defensive boards we needed to seal it. Gets the "+" for being the absolute man on the boards and stepping it up to help us pull it out.
Miller ( B ) -- had such a great first half, and then just totally disappeared in the second. Celts were keying on him of course, and that always makes it hard for Brad since he really only has the two moves -- jumper or drive straight to the rim. But it was more than just that -- thought in the early third when we started to get in trouble we just forgot about him and were being dumb. But therafter, even as the ball started coming back to him, he just was back into passive spectator mode on offense. Even passed up what could have been a critical open jumper in the last two minutes -- but actually turned out to benefit us as Bibby drained a deep clutch three moments later in the possession. Not much on the boards -- Webb was having to carry us in there tonight.
Mobley ( B+ ) -- was playing a good game for most of the night, but again made mistakes down the stretch. Also began to become something of a defensive liability as we couldn't figure out who to hide him on between Ricky Davis and Pierce, and he lacked the size to really challenge either. Still ended up with a nicely rounded 20pt night from an off guard -- 20pts 5rebs 5ast 3stl generally gets it done -- and was efficient about it too (particularly on the drive where he finsihed almost everything). Didn't force up as many bad shots, and made some sharp unselfish passes along the way.
Bibby ( A- ) -- was simply asleep out there for the first two and a half quarters of play, but woke up at the same time as Webb in the third and was off to the races therafter. He starts 3-11 from the field, and you look up a few minutes later and he's got 27 and is the leading scorer in the game. Nailed big clutch threes, but then turned around and choked more free throws. Bizarre problem he's having there, but right now he is simply not dependable from the stripe at any point of the game. Teamed with Webb to carry the team to victory down the stretch. Nice to actually have players that thrive in the clutch on the team.
Evans ( A ) -- really saved our bacon on a night when we lost Peja early. Stepped up and confidently stroked his jumper from all over the floor. Was having to do yeoman's duty on defense trying to guard both Davis and Pierce, both of whom were tough matchups for Mobley. Made what could have been a dumb play with 12 seconds to go and us up by two -- took an outlet pass from Webb off of the defensive glass, and rather than try to run out the clock turned and immediately charged at the rim. Drew the foul, but if he had missed one of the free throws, C's would have had one more gasp. Fortunately did not catch the teamwide chokitis disease from the stripe, and nailed both of them to seal it.
Barnes ( C ) -- pretty invisible game for Matt. Had a few little bursts of boardwork and hustle, and made a nice assist. Also strayed toward wildness a few times. But mostly, just didn't do much either way. Was out there, did his best on defense, but didn't score, rebound, cause havoc or much of anything else particularly well.
Songaila ( B ) -- went down in fairly frightening fashion in the first half with what looked to be a knee injury. Had been playing pretty well before that. Returned for the second half and while he didn't do much in his late stint, he looked ok physially and bought us a few minutes for Webb. While restricted by lack of length and natural rebounding talent, fought had on the boards tonight and tipped and slapped at anything he could not reach.
House ( C ) -- hustled hard on defense, but did little else in his first half stint
Adelman ( B ) -- well, we repeated many of the same mistakes we have made in the last few weeks, but this time we pulled it out. Critically, finally picked up our defense late to help seal it. Injuries forced Rick to scramble a little, but only a little. Mo and Matt were obvious choices to step up in place of Peja, and Mo in particular did a nice job of filling in. Darius was hardly even missed -- just a few more minutes for Webb really. Rick never panicked as Mike and Webb got off to terrible shooting starts -- shooters keep on shooting until they shoot their way out of it, and that's what happened in both cases tonight. On the other hand Rick again showed cognitive disconnect between a) a team driving the lane at absolute will against us; and b) the presence of a 7'2" shotblocker on our bench who keeps people from driving at will when he's in the game. Seems a pretty obvious solution, but Rick again appeared afraid that Tag could not keep up in a running game, or might not be able to guard big men out at the three point line. Comes a point though where you have to ask Rick, even if you were 100% right about Tag's limitations, how much worse could our defense possibly get if he were in there even against the most moblie of teams?
