Just about impossible game to grade -- I dread these games when you have 3 1/2 quarters of crap and 10 minutes of brilliance. What's that average out to??
Peja ( A- ) -- our lone, and I do mean LONE, offensive weapon for 44 minutes tonight. Had a quiet first quarter, but then came on strong and played one of his most aggressive stretches of basketball in a long time. Not just passive open jump-shooting offense, but aggressively forcing the action. And the aggression showed on the glass as well where he grabbed a solid seven tonight and even made some hustle plays. Did not dominate the game, but easily our most effective player until Cat exploded late, and we would have been lost without him. An "A" game until the end when he got very quiet again when it came time to win the game -- while we came roaring back in the final few minutes and OT Peja contributed no points, no rebounds, and it was up to Cat, Bibby, Thomas to make the plays to win it.
Songaila ( C- ) -- pretty much just fouled himself right out of the lineup tonight. In foul trouble from the very start and just never able to get anything going. Did make one nice pass from the high post to a cutter -- of real note on a night when our passing offense was officially pronounced dead on arrival.
Skinner ( B ) -- finally breaks his "A" string with a good, but not great game. Did a pretty good job on Brand -- what I like about Skinner's future here is that he is the only Kings big man big enough and athletic enough to be able to face down an Elton Brand one on one. Remarkable final few seconds of regulation for Brian -- first Bobby Simmons cans a huge off-balance three pointer in Tut's face to tie the game, then we come out of a timeout tied with 10 seconds to go and draw up a play for...Brian Skinner??? And not surprisingly he got overeager and shuffled his feet for the turnover which put us in danger. Then he comes over and either blocks or intimidates Maggette's final attempt to win it at the buzzer, and we escape to OT.
Mobley ( B ) -- Wow -- how to grade this?? For 3 1/2 quarters Cat was playing a "D" game. And then for 3 minutes he turned into MJ. Struggled along with the rest of the team for most of the night, but then came through down the stretch with a superstar-like stretch of dominant play, scoring something like 15 points in half a dozen possessions in the final four minutes of regulation. Also hit the sealing FTs at the end of OT. Without him we are toast and in real danger of slipping back further in the playoff race. On defense another real tough matchup for Cat -- these games against the Richardsons and Maggettes are when our lack of size at the OG really comes back to hurt us.
Bibby ( C- ) -- for almost the entire night did not look good at all -- looked like a guy very much in need of a rest actually. Had a couple of nifty hoops, but mixed them in with a number of off-balance shots and give-up threes from deep out on the court. Was struggling all night long...and then crunch time hit and Mike Bibby answered the bell one more time hitting two free throws and a jumper down in the final minute of regulation, and a couple of more shots in overtime. But then wavered again and threw up a couple of terrible chucks late in OT -- we were lucky that Maggette panicked there because Mike was doing his best to keep the Clips in it.
Thomas ( B ) -- well, came out firing, which was both a good and a bad thing. Very aggressive offensively, and no hesitation whatsoever to shoot. On the other hand, wasn't making them, and thought he was a primary offensive weapon with 9 shots in his first 12 minutes. Did wise up and abandoned the outside jumper for a couple of nice semi-post moves. Slowed down dramatically after the fast start, and in the second half looked very much the undersized PF unable to get anything going on offense or make an impact on defense. Emerged from his funk through with big play down the stretch and in OT -- suddenly the jumper was back on, and he also grabbed a big defensive board to help hold the Clips off.
Evans ( C- ) -- came in and gave us a better physical matchup with Maggette, but was only marginally effective, and wasn't making his shots.
House ( B ) -- did a nice job spelling Mike in the first half. Gave us a nice long 8 minute span in the second quarter when he did a little of everything. Got chased from the lineup in the second half by the increasingly assertive play of 6'7" Shaun Livingston -- Rick decided to go with Martin instead for extra size.
Williamson ( B- ) -- On several occasions Rick went tiny with his lineup again, and for a stretch in the first half it worked better than it has been, although part of that may have been the terrible inexperienced bench players the Clippers were throwing out there. Tried it again in the late 3rd/4th and it then fell apart once more as the game started to get out of hand. Pretty effective game for Corliss statistically, but picked up a stupid technical in the 4th that could have really cost us, and in effect put us into OT.
Martin ( INC ) -- finally got a little run tonight as a surprise 4th quarter substitution to give us better size on Shaun Livingston, who is over half a foot taller than our other PGs. Didn't do much + missed a couple of shots.
Maggette ( C ) -- unfortunately can not be given an "A" because he kicked our collective butts for most of the night. But in the clutch when it came time to win he totally lost his composure and looked hurried and panicky out there. Clips could very well have won this one were it not for his poor decision-making.
Adelman ( B- ) -- well, we won on a night when we really did not deserve to, but these are the ones you have to get. Done it a lot this season, and the Clips showed why they are the chokers supreme of the NBA in close games. Rick again tried to save the wear and tear on Bibby, and again was thwarted by a tight game, and one that went into OT to boot. Of course it makes it a lot easier to experiment with shaving Bibby's time when he's having these really bad flameout games. Rick also made a good adjustment to insert Kevin Martin to check the oversized PG Shaun Livingston in the 4th, but it didn't really pan out. Also again went to those damn small lineups -- apparently we will not be satisfied until we are officially the twerpiest team in NBA history. Worked pretty well in the first half actually as our backups were much more experienced than the Clipper garbage off the bench. But in the late third and 4th we got killed with the little lineups as the Clips just played over the top of us and ignored us on both ends of the floor. Play call to go to Skinner for the regulation game winner was a ?????
, but I'm going to give Rick the benefit of the doubt and assume that that was a 3rd or 4th option on that play and one of our primary options made a bad read/decision there.
Peja ( A- ) -- our lone, and I do mean LONE, offensive weapon for 44 minutes tonight. Had a quiet first quarter, but then came on strong and played one of his most aggressive stretches of basketball in a long time. Not just passive open jump-shooting offense, but aggressively forcing the action. And the aggression showed on the glass as well where he grabbed a solid seven tonight and even made some hustle plays. Did not dominate the game, but easily our most effective player until Cat exploded late, and we would have been lost without him. An "A" game until the end when he got very quiet again when it came time to win the game -- while we came roaring back in the final few minutes and OT Peja contributed no points, no rebounds, and it was up to Cat, Bibby, Thomas to make the plays to win it.
Songaila ( C- ) -- pretty much just fouled himself right out of the lineup tonight. In foul trouble from the very start and just never able to get anything going. Did make one nice pass from the high post to a cutter -- of real note on a night when our passing offense was officially pronounced dead on arrival.
Skinner ( B ) -- finally breaks his "A" string with a good, but not great game. Did a pretty good job on Brand -- what I like about Skinner's future here is that he is the only Kings big man big enough and athletic enough to be able to face down an Elton Brand one on one. Remarkable final few seconds of regulation for Brian -- first Bobby Simmons cans a huge off-balance three pointer in Tut's face to tie the game, then we come out of a timeout tied with 10 seconds to go and draw up a play for...Brian Skinner??? And not surprisingly he got overeager and shuffled his feet for the turnover which put us in danger. Then he comes over and either blocks or intimidates Maggette's final attempt to win it at the buzzer, and we escape to OT.
Mobley ( B ) -- Wow -- how to grade this?? For 3 1/2 quarters Cat was playing a "D" game. And then for 3 minutes he turned into MJ. Struggled along with the rest of the team for most of the night, but then came through down the stretch with a superstar-like stretch of dominant play, scoring something like 15 points in half a dozen possessions in the final four minutes of regulation. Also hit the sealing FTs at the end of OT. Without him we are toast and in real danger of slipping back further in the playoff race. On defense another real tough matchup for Cat -- these games against the Richardsons and Maggettes are when our lack of size at the OG really comes back to hurt us.
Bibby ( C- ) -- for almost the entire night did not look good at all -- looked like a guy very much in need of a rest actually. Had a couple of nifty hoops, but mixed them in with a number of off-balance shots and give-up threes from deep out on the court. Was struggling all night long...and then crunch time hit and Mike Bibby answered the bell one more time hitting two free throws and a jumper down in the final minute of regulation, and a couple of more shots in overtime. But then wavered again and threw up a couple of terrible chucks late in OT -- we were lucky that Maggette panicked there because Mike was doing his best to keep the Clips in it.
Thomas ( B ) -- well, came out firing, which was both a good and a bad thing. Very aggressive offensively, and no hesitation whatsoever to shoot. On the other hand, wasn't making them, and thought he was a primary offensive weapon with 9 shots in his first 12 minutes. Did wise up and abandoned the outside jumper for a couple of nice semi-post moves. Slowed down dramatically after the fast start, and in the second half looked very much the undersized PF unable to get anything going on offense or make an impact on defense. Emerged from his funk through with big play down the stretch and in OT -- suddenly the jumper was back on, and he also grabbed a big defensive board to help hold the Clips off.
Evans ( C- ) -- came in and gave us a better physical matchup with Maggette, but was only marginally effective, and wasn't making his shots.
House ( B ) -- did a nice job spelling Mike in the first half. Gave us a nice long 8 minute span in the second quarter when he did a little of everything. Got chased from the lineup in the second half by the increasingly assertive play of 6'7" Shaun Livingston -- Rick decided to go with Martin instead for extra size.
Williamson ( B- ) -- On several occasions Rick went tiny with his lineup again, and for a stretch in the first half it worked better than it has been, although part of that may have been the terrible inexperienced bench players the Clippers were throwing out there. Tried it again in the late 3rd/4th and it then fell apart once more as the game started to get out of hand. Pretty effective game for Corliss statistically, but picked up a stupid technical in the 4th that could have really cost us, and in effect put us into OT.
Martin ( INC ) -- finally got a little run tonight as a surprise 4th quarter substitution to give us better size on Shaun Livingston, who is over half a foot taller than our other PGs. Didn't do much + missed a couple of shots.
Maggette ( C ) -- unfortunately can not be given an "A" because he kicked our collective butts for most of the night. But in the clutch when it came time to win he totally lost his composure and looked hurried and panicky out there. Clips could very well have won this one were it not for his poor decision-making.
Adelman ( B- ) -- well, we won on a night when we really did not deserve to, but these are the ones you have to get. Done it a lot this season, and the Clips showed why they are the chokers supreme of the NBA in close games. Rick again tried to save the wear and tear on Bibby, and again was thwarted by a tight game, and one that went into OT to boot. Of course it makes it a lot easier to experiment with shaving Bibby's time when he's having these really bad flameout games. Rick also made a good adjustment to insert Kevin Martin to check the oversized PG Shaun Livingston in the 4th, but it didn't really pan out. Also again went to those damn small lineups -- apparently we will not be satisfied until we are officially the twerpiest team in NBA history. Worked pretty well in the first half actually as our backups were much more experienced than the Clipper garbage off the bench. But in the late third and 4th we got killed with the little lineups as the Clips just played over the top of us and ignored us on both ends of the floor. Play call to go to Skinner for the regulation game winner was a ?????
, but I'm going to give Rick the benefit of the doubt and assume that that was a 3rd or 4th option on that play and one of our primary options made a bad read/decision there.
Last edited:
