Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Garcia ( C+ ) -- got off to another Garcia start -- flying up and down the court creating havoc...for both sides. His energy helped key our hot start, and he made some nice passes along the way too. Unfortunately the flipside was his energy was also helping key the Celtics as he threw the ball all over the couort and missed open looks. And in the third quarter the horrid shooting really began to catch up to him and us, and at the same time Ricky Davis really began to heat up. Result was Rick eventually decide to pull him as a completely unpredictable force, and went with much maligned sucko PG Jason Hart as his OG the rest of the way (shifting Martin to SF).
Thomas ( A ) -- Grant should insult this guy more often. Actually not a surprise -- my read on Thomas has always been that he is a grudge/prove it to you player, and his biggest nights are always when he can get himself screwed up and convince himself he has something to prove. Was very energetic from the start, got garbage points and points off of slashes. In the second half began to mix in open jumpers for the big scoring night. And poured it on down the stretch, grabbing several rebounds and just being in the right place at the right time (not always luck) around the rim to get putbacks and draw fouls. One of his best games since being a King, and the best part was that he wasn't breaking the offense to do his huck-a-chuck jumper thing. It was all coming off of movement, set plays, open looks, hustle. 29 points, and they were almost all "good" points as opposed to forces.
Miller ( B+ ) --got off to the ridiculous start, and much of it wasn't even his normal stuff -- on something like four straight possessions in the first quarter we came out and uncharacteristically ran the exact same play. Featured KT up high with the ball and Brad being involved in slashing to the hoop and getting picked up by much smaller men on the switches. And Brad, to his credit, was being very aggressive in there and just turning and dropping it into the hoop over the Celtics Pgs and SFs. He pulled a Peja though, and his production was all first quarter -- had something like 14pts 6rebs after one, and almost nothing therafter. Started to get blocked inside, charged, committed some turnovers. And as usual was unable to shut down the lane against the Celtics. Not awful, but very ordinary after the big burst. 20-10 and an A++ first quarter, but not really an A effort over the whole game.
Martin ( A ) -- and here it finally was -- for perhaps the first time in Kevin's young career he managed to put together big games back to back. What we (well I) have been waiting for. Got off to a big energetic start, again doing the things that he should be able to do every night -- used his athleticism on the glass and in the passing lanes. Early on the offense was still a mixed bag, consisting mostly of finishes at the rim off of passes from others, and then bricks from outside. But played within himself for the most part and did not do the dumb forced drive, instead just taking jumpers in the rhythm of the offense. Did finally hit a three in the third, although he missed 2 or 3 others. Jumper looked smoother though, even on the misses, and they weren't embarrassing. And kept on getting to the rim on breaks and set plays right through the 4th quarter to finish with another career night. Along the way there were still some mistakes, both of commission (bad passes) and omission (passed up an open jumper in the final two minutes leading to a turnover). But the overall effect was dynamic. Hustled all over the court, attacked and played fearlessly. He could be making his career right now.
Bibby ( A ) --in the first quarter was largely taking a back seat to the Miller show, but as we started to struggle in the second Mike was the guy who kept us afloat. Of course he was also one of the guys turning the ball over every other time down the floor, but when he managed to hold onto the ball, he was pure and absolutely deadly from three point range. And that kept on right into the second half as he carried us with a second straight 30-10 performance (wonder how many guys in the entire NBA can say that?). Was not great down the stretch, and may have been tiring out. Nonetheless another monster game from Mike-as-star, and once again just flowing and playing. No ovethinking awkardness. No looks of consternation/frustration. Just playing alongside a bunch of athletes flying up and down the floor. And Brad of course
But maybe a half step back from the gleeful I'm-the-best-player-on-the-floor effort down in Clipperland, and so no "+" this time.
Hart ( B- ) -- at least noticed him in his first half stint, but that's not always a good thing. Collected an offensive foul using the off arm to clear out Delonte West's face on a 2-1 break. Missed Kevin too low on an attempted alley oop (Kevin caught it but was going to have to gather and double pump to get the dunk). But had good energy and helped us sustain in that aspect. Retuned in the third for the wild Garcia, and while certianly not spectacular, did a few things for us. Hit an important shot to break a Boston run in the early 4th, on a number of possessions severely harassed Ricky Davis, who had been going off. Missed too many shots, and continued to show dubious decisionmaking down the stretch of a tight game. But brought defense and energy and for once he mattered.
Williamson ( C+ ) -- not much in the first half. Forced some shots, turned it over a few times. Not a disaster, but no impact. In the second half I had to grit my teeth as Corliss came back in....at center! Grrrr... But scored the final hoop of the third for us from that position at least. And while in the 4th he struggled a bit to get the post shots off against the much taller Celtics frontline, he did at least grab some boards and was stable if not great. Of course absolutely no shotblockling whatsoever with him at one of the power spots and either Miller or KT at the other.
Skinner ( C- ) -- into the rotation finally with all of the injuries, but in the first half did little. Seemed to be just a step slow to grab rebounds. Battled a little, but not very effectively. And so was out of the rotation just that fast with Corliss
taking his second half minutes.
Adelman ( A ) -- now this was a coaching job, start to finish. Not only were the guys ready, they obviously came out armed with weapons given them by Rick. We came out and immediately slipped into a zone which confounded the Celtics and kept the ball out of Pierce's hands early in the game. And then on offense we just repeatedly ran the same play to Miller time after time with the Celtics appearing helpless to stop it. Eventually the Celtics would adjust, but we were off and running by then. Sloppy sloppy first half that was nonetheless entertaining. I would not have really cared if we had lost with the effort we were displaying out there, but its good we cleaned it up and pulled it out for some positive reinforcement. Guys, hustle = good. Rick did make a move apparently just to tweak my nose when with Brad in foul trouble at the end of the third, he turns to...Corliss Williamson as his center instead of Skinner (who was not very effective in the first half). Grrf. But Rick also came up with a good move, albeit a depserate no-other-answers one, by subbing in Jason Hart for the wild and bricklaying Garcia and sticking with him as an undersized OG for the rest of the game. Hart wasn't great by any stretch, but he did finally show some flashes of that tenacious defense we thought we were getting. Rick loses his "+" for a couple of things: 1) Corliss at C. I hate that. He tried. But our interior defense is pathetic without the 6'5" man looking up at their OG paired with the 6'7" man looking up at their SF; and 2) Rick somehow mysteriously got a technical foul with a couple of minutes left and the game still in question. He didn't mean to. Didn't even look like he was being that excitable. But somehow he got it and it cost us a point down the stretch of a tight game. I'm sure Rick himself is a little mystified and embarrassed by that, but it still could have been a dumb and critical error that could have cost us the game. Nonetheless, overall a superior effort. There seems to be some addition by subtraction going on here, and a couple of days after Rick's job may very well have been on the line, the sudden burst of life and energy from these replacement players is turning the focus of this disappointing season elsewhere. The ship is not righted. The Celtics were all of 2-10 on the road coming in and showed why with their "defense". But we've played with pride and effort. And if the coach catches flak when we don't, then he deserves kudos when we do. Keep up whatever you are doing Rick.
Guest Grade
Doc Rivers ( A+ ) -- of course Rick wasn't even our best coach of the night. That honor belonged to Doc Rivers, who simply refused to call a timeout early to reset his team against our zone. Refused to call a timeout or make an early adjustment to the Miller play we beat them over the head with repeatedly in the first quarter (other than to bench Kendrick Perkins), and then mysteriously and stupidly limited Al Jefferson's (17 min 5-7shootig 10pts 8rebs 2stls 3blks) minutes in favor of the all mediocrity soft-on-the-glass duo of Marc Blount and Raef LaFrentz. This despite Jefferson scoring with ease over any and all of our "bigs" whenever he felt like it. Thanks a lot coach! Couldn't have done it without you!
Thomas ( A ) -- Grant should insult this guy more often. Actually not a surprise -- my read on Thomas has always been that he is a grudge/prove it to you player, and his biggest nights are always when he can get himself screwed up and convince himself he has something to prove. Was very energetic from the start, got garbage points and points off of slashes. In the second half began to mix in open jumpers for the big scoring night. And poured it on down the stretch, grabbing several rebounds and just being in the right place at the right time (not always luck) around the rim to get putbacks and draw fouls. One of his best games since being a King, and the best part was that he wasn't breaking the offense to do his huck-a-chuck jumper thing. It was all coming off of movement, set plays, open looks, hustle. 29 points, and they were almost all "good" points as opposed to forces.
Miller ( B+ ) --got off to the ridiculous start, and much of it wasn't even his normal stuff -- on something like four straight possessions in the first quarter we came out and uncharacteristically ran the exact same play. Featured KT up high with the ball and Brad being involved in slashing to the hoop and getting picked up by much smaller men on the switches. And Brad, to his credit, was being very aggressive in there and just turning and dropping it into the hoop over the Celtics Pgs and SFs. He pulled a Peja though, and his production was all first quarter -- had something like 14pts 6rebs after one, and almost nothing therafter. Started to get blocked inside, charged, committed some turnovers. And as usual was unable to shut down the lane against the Celtics. Not awful, but very ordinary after the big burst. 20-10 and an A++ first quarter, but not really an A effort over the whole game.
Martin ( A ) -- and here it finally was -- for perhaps the first time in Kevin's young career he managed to put together big games back to back. What we (well I) have been waiting for. Got off to a big energetic start, again doing the things that he should be able to do every night -- used his athleticism on the glass and in the passing lanes. Early on the offense was still a mixed bag, consisting mostly of finishes at the rim off of passes from others, and then bricks from outside. But played within himself for the most part and did not do the dumb forced drive, instead just taking jumpers in the rhythm of the offense. Did finally hit a three in the third, although he missed 2 or 3 others. Jumper looked smoother though, even on the misses, and they weren't embarrassing. And kept on getting to the rim on breaks and set plays right through the 4th quarter to finish with another career night. Along the way there were still some mistakes, both of commission (bad passes) and omission (passed up an open jumper in the final two minutes leading to a turnover). But the overall effect was dynamic. Hustled all over the court, attacked and played fearlessly. He could be making his career right now.
Bibby ( A ) --in the first quarter was largely taking a back seat to the Miller show, but as we started to struggle in the second Mike was the guy who kept us afloat. Of course he was also one of the guys turning the ball over every other time down the floor, but when he managed to hold onto the ball, he was pure and absolutely deadly from three point range. And that kept on right into the second half as he carried us with a second straight 30-10 performance (wonder how many guys in the entire NBA can say that?). Was not great down the stretch, and may have been tiring out. Nonetheless another monster game from Mike-as-star, and once again just flowing and playing. No ovethinking awkardness. No looks of consternation/frustration. Just playing alongside a bunch of athletes flying up and down the floor. And Brad of course
But maybe a half step back from the gleeful I'm-the-best-player-on-the-floor effort down in Clipperland, and so no "+" this time.Hart ( B- ) -- at least noticed him in his first half stint, but that's not always a good thing. Collected an offensive foul using the off arm to clear out Delonte West's face on a 2-1 break. Missed Kevin too low on an attempted alley oop (Kevin caught it but was going to have to gather and double pump to get the dunk). But had good energy and helped us sustain in that aspect. Retuned in the third for the wild Garcia, and while certianly not spectacular, did a few things for us. Hit an important shot to break a Boston run in the early 4th, on a number of possessions severely harassed Ricky Davis, who had been going off. Missed too many shots, and continued to show dubious decisionmaking down the stretch of a tight game. But brought defense and energy and for once he mattered.
Williamson ( C+ ) -- not much in the first half. Forced some shots, turned it over a few times. Not a disaster, but no impact. In the second half I had to grit my teeth as Corliss came back in....at center! Grrrr... But scored the final hoop of the third for us from that position at least. And while in the 4th he struggled a bit to get the post shots off against the much taller Celtics frontline, he did at least grab some boards and was stable if not great. Of course absolutely no shotblockling whatsoever with him at one of the power spots and either Miller or KT at the other.
Skinner ( C- ) -- into the rotation finally with all of the injuries, but in the first half did little. Seemed to be just a step slow to grab rebounds. Battled a little, but not very effectively. And so was out of the rotation just that fast with Corliss
taking his second half minutes.Adelman ( A ) -- now this was a coaching job, start to finish. Not only were the guys ready, they obviously came out armed with weapons given them by Rick. We came out and immediately slipped into a zone which confounded the Celtics and kept the ball out of Pierce's hands early in the game. And then on offense we just repeatedly ran the same play to Miller time after time with the Celtics appearing helpless to stop it. Eventually the Celtics would adjust, but we were off and running by then. Sloppy sloppy first half that was nonetheless entertaining. I would not have really cared if we had lost with the effort we were displaying out there, but its good we cleaned it up and pulled it out for some positive reinforcement. Guys, hustle = good. Rick did make a move apparently just to tweak my nose when with Brad in foul trouble at the end of the third, he turns to...Corliss Williamson as his center instead of Skinner (who was not very effective in the first half). Grrf. But Rick also came up with a good move, albeit a depserate no-other-answers one, by subbing in Jason Hart for the wild and bricklaying Garcia and sticking with him as an undersized OG for the rest of the game. Hart wasn't great by any stretch, but he did finally show some flashes of that tenacious defense we thought we were getting. Rick loses his "+" for a couple of things: 1) Corliss at C. I hate that. He tried. But our interior defense is pathetic without the 6'5" man looking up at their OG paired with the 6'7" man looking up at their SF; and 2) Rick somehow mysteriously got a technical foul with a couple of minutes left and the game still in question. He didn't mean to. Didn't even look like he was being that excitable. But somehow he got it and it cost us a point down the stretch of a tight game. I'm sure Rick himself is a little mystified and embarrassed by that, but it still could have been a dumb and critical error that could have cost us the game. Nonetheless, overall a superior effort. There seems to be some addition by subtraction going on here, and a couple of days after Rick's job may very well have been on the line, the sudden burst of life and energy from these replacement players is turning the focus of this disappointing season elsewhere. The ship is not righted. The Celtics were all of 2-10 on the road coming in and showed why with their "defense". But we've played with pride and effort. And if the coach catches flak when we don't, then he deserves kudos when we do. Keep up whatever you are doing Rick.
Guest Grade
Doc Rivers ( A+ ) -- of course Rick wasn't even our best coach of the night. That honor belonged to Doc Rivers, who simply refused to call a timeout early to reset his team against our zone. Refused to call a timeout or make an early adjustment to the Miller play we beat them over the head with repeatedly in the first quarter (other than to bench Kendrick Perkins), and then mysteriously and stupidly limited Al Jefferson's (17 min 5-7shootig 10pts 8rebs 2stls 3blks) minutes in favor of the all mediocrity soft-on-the-glass duo of Marc Blount and Raef LaFrentz. This despite Jefferson scoring with ease over any and all of our "bigs" whenever he felt like it. Thanks a lot coach! Couldn't have done it without you!
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And putting a fouling machine with the likes of Fortson and Nocioni won't help.
