Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Peja ( C+ ) -- offensively came out and looked...just bad. Forced shots, got pickpocketed again, blew layups. But oddly was working the defensive glass as the team's early energy even extended to Peja. Had some defensive breakdowns late in the half as Memphis went on their big game changing run. Finally began to wake up offensively in the third as he got some relatively free outside looks. Held it together to throw in one more early in the 4th. But of course disappeared late, other than one turnover, and was rather badly outplayed by his counterpart Mike Miller, who popped open all over the perimeter from the second quarter onward, and threw in one of the more unlikely triple doubles you're likely to see. 
Thomas ( B ) -- got off to a scorching start as the apparent focus of our early offense. But more than just the offense, was hustling all over the court, passing, just playing at a level above everybody else on the court other than Gasol. But was also expending a lot of energy, and maybe he tired out, because his game fell off dramatically as the half wore on, and he was having a lot of problems with Hakim Warrick off the bench in particular. And in the second half really could get little if anything going. Was 14 and 5 within the first 12-14 minutes, and then scored all of 2 points for the entire rest of the game. IN the second half the Grizzlies even started to guard him with Shane Battier, a SF who still has a height advantage on Kenny, and got away with it. Nonetheless his early burst gave us our best moments of the game, and as much as his grade kept falling and falling it was hard to shake the image out of my mind of KT being the best player on an NBA basketball floor for the entire first quarter.
Miller ( F ) -- nothing offensively early, but did at least make a few passes to help the KT show get going. But on the other end got worked over all night by Gasol and gave us a wonderful 2pt 1reb performance in the first half. And amazingly, did not get any better in the second. I am getting so tired of handing out Fs to our main guys on nights when we desperately need more. 5pts 4rebs against a team wihtout a true center, and who did not play the one they had (Wright) even 10 minutes? Huh??
Martin ( B- ) -- quietly contributed in the early going, getting off no shots at all, but being around the ball and picking up rebounds and loose balls when they came his way. And then when he finally woke up offensively, it was to hit back to back threes in the second quarter? Really?? But like so much else for us tonight, there was a sea change there in the second, and thereafter all of those balls that he had been getting to in the early going seemed to fall just out of his reach. And offensively...Memphis puts a lot of defensive pressure out there, but Kevin played 32 minutes and somehow managed to only take THREE shots? You could say he was efficient, but efficient or not, this was a 7 point outing as our starting OG. Good news was that Eddie Jones, his counterpart, was equally invisible. Well, except for his SEVEN steals of course. In any case, Kevin's man did not go off, and while I am not sure how much of that was really Kevin's doing, as always, some of that is going to bleed over into Kevin's grade.
Bibby ( B ) -- what Thomas did not do in the first quarter, Bibby did. Really ran the team, and hit his open shots. In the process badly outplayed Bobby Jackson (who would eventually have the last laugh though) and managed to avoid the inevitable "we'd rather have BJax" talk that would have sprung up had Mike laid another stinker. And late in the second quarter with us completely collapsing, it was Mike who stepped forward to stem the bleeding a bit. Like that Clipper game down in Clipperland, was playing like a leader at that point. But also started to force. And while he and Peja were pretty much all we had going in the second half, Mike was never able to string anything together and had repeated turnover problems under pressure. Finally lost control of Bobby on defense too after really seeming to have his number through much of this one. In the end a 26pt performance, but along with 6 TOs and a lot of one on one type play as the game went along. Huge issue for this team in its collapses -- when a good defensive team squeezes, we have no confidence in each other and start trying to win it individually.
Hart ( C ) -- ok second quarter stint, hit his only shot. But really found himself overplayed in the second half for no apparent reason other than the lack of viable alternatives I guess. Rick went with a smallball all PG backcourt to get Mike off the ball, on defense at least. And Jason really gave us little. Some pretty good defense on Bobby of course. But that was really about it. 20min 3pts 3rebs 0ast.
Skinner ( A ) -- came in in the early second and gave us an even bigger energy burst than we already had with KT and Bibby. Hustled on the glass, blocked and altered a number of shots inside. Had a major impact as we opened the lead all the way up to 15. And then...well was bizarrely forgotten about until late in the game despite a terrible performance by Brad. And even after getting a few minutes there late in the 4th, was subbed back out for by Brad again down the stretch? That I did not understand at ALL. But that's on the coach obviously. Skinner did his job. Including being the only King to significantly bother Pau for the whole night, even if it was only for a few plays.
Williamson ( C ) -- came in, immediately brought an aggressive post, but then fell off and did not do much until scoring a few points in garbagetime.
Garcia ( INC ) -- garbagetime
Price ( INC ) -- garbagetime
Sampson ( INC ) -- garbagetime
Adelman ( D ) -- decision to feature Thomas early worked brilliantly, ala the decision to feature Brad a few games back against Boston. We were really moving the ball to start, and if nothing else it was encouraging just to see what certainly appeared to be a pride response after the Arco debacle. But things began to go south for us, and Rick, midway throught the second quarter. Yet another of our collapses of confidence led to terible 13-0 + maybe 18-1? run as the Grizz stromed back into it. And in the second half substitution patterns became a major distraction. Not that I really think we would have won it anyway. But the inexplicable nature of what was going on really became too much. Brian Skinner was having himself a heck of a game as that shotblocking presence we've needed so badly. Brad Miller on the other hand sucked. And yet Brian could barely touch the floor in the second half despite us getting an immediate burst almost every time he hit the floor. Particularly disturbing was the substitution at the five minute mark, where with us still in the game, alebit barely, we all of a sudden decide to bring in a cold flat Brad and remove our only interior prsesence? Meanwhile Jason Hart remains Jason Hart, and while Kevin had certainly had himself a very quiet game over at OG, for what possible reason would you replace him with the ultra-mediocre Hart playing out of position as part of a mini-backcourt? Questions without answers. And meanwhile, the Grizzlies made their halftime adjustments and really took it to us in the second half. Least we had our moment to shine early. At this point, even that is cause for celebration. Maybe a little pride from the guys, but also maybe an artificial high not sustainable. This game was a longshot anyway, but I really realy wish Rick could channel himself from back in 2000 at a time when still believed in true bangers like Scot Pollard. As it is -- well, there's always tommorow. And tommorow brings a huge break for us as we get Houston wihtout TMac OR Yao. Just win baby.
BJax ( C ) -- for old times sake Bobby inadvertently played 6th man for us again in a first half where he was wild and forced the action. Unfortunately he woke up in time to have the last laugh, hitting big big shots down the stretch to ice it. Still could see a little of the difficulty of BJax as a starter when his on the edge energy game is so pefect for a bencher.
Thomas ( B ) -- got off to a scorching start as the apparent focus of our early offense. But more than just the offense, was hustling all over the court, passing, just playing at a level above everybody else on the court other than Gasol. But was also expending a lot of energy, and maybe he tired out, because his game fell off dramatically as the half wore on, and he was having a lot of problems with Hakim Warrick off the bench in particular. And in the second half really could get little if anything going. Was 14 and 5 within the first 12-14 minutes, and then scored all of 2 points for the entire rest of the game. IN the second half the Grizzlies even started to guard him with Shane Battier, a SF who still has a height advantage on Kenny, and got away with it. Nonetheless his early burst gave us our best moments of the game, and as much as his grade kept falling and falling it was hard to shake the image out of my mind of KT being the best player on an NBA basketball floor for the entire first quarter.
Miller ( F ) -- nothing offensively early, but did at least make a few passes to help the KT show get going. But on the other end got worked over all night by Gasol and gave us a wonderful 2pt 1reb performance in the first half. And amazingly, did not get any better in the second. I am getting so tired of handing out Fs to our main guys on nights when we desperately need more. 5pts 4rebs against a team wihtout a true center, and who did not play the one they had (Wright) even 10 minutes? Huh??
Martin ( B- ) -- quietly contributed in the early going, getting off no shots at all, but being around the ball and picking up rebounds and loose balls when they came his way. And then when he finally woke up offensively, it was to hit back to back threes in the second quarter? Really?? But like so much else for us tonight, there was a sea change there in the second, and thereafter all of those balls that he had been getting to in the early going seemed to fall just out of his reach. And offensively...Memphis puts a lot of defensive pressure out there, but Kevin played 32 minutes and somehow managed to only take THREE shots? You could say he was efficient, but efficient or not, this was a 7 point outing as our starting OG. Good news was that Eddie Jones, his counterpart, was equally invisible. Well, except for his SEVEN steals of course. In any case, Kevin's man did not go off, and while I am not sure how much of that was really Kevin's doing, as always, some of that is going to bleed over into Kevin's grade.
Bibby ( B ) -- what Thomas did not do in the first quarter, Bibby did. Really ran the team, and hit his open shots. In the process badly outplayed Bobby Jackson (who would eventually have the last laugh though) and managed to avoid the inevitable "we'd rather have BJax" talk that would have sprung up had Mike laid another stinker. And late in the second quarter with us completely collapsing, it was Mike who stepped forward to stem the bleeding a bit. Like that Clipper game down in Clipperland, was playing like a leader at that point. But also started to force. And while he and Peja were pretty much all we had going in the second half, Mike was never able to string anything together and had repeated turnover problems under pressure. Finally lost control of Bobby on defense too after really seeming to have his number through much of this one. In the end a 26pt performance, but along with 6 TOs and a lot of one on one type play as the game went along. Huge issue for this team in its collapses -- when a good defensive team squeezes, we have no confidence in each other and start trying to win it individually.
Hart ( C ) -- ok second quarter stint, hit his only shot. But really found himself overplayed in the second half for no apparent reason other than the lack of viable alternatives I guess. Rick went with a smallball all PG backcourt to get Mike off the ball, on defense at least. And Jason really gave us little. Some pretty good defense on Bobby of course. But that was really about it. 20min 3pts 3rebs 0ast.
Skinner ( A ) -- came in in the early second and gave us an even bigger energy burst than we already had with KT and Bibby. Hustled on the glass, blocked and altered a number of shots inside. Had a major impact as we opened the lead all the way up to 15. And then...well was bizarrely forgotten about until late in the game despite a terrible performance by Brad. And even after getting a few minutes there late in the 4th, was subbed back out for by Brad again down the stretch? That I did not understand at ALL. But that's on the coach obviously. Skinner did his job. Including being the only King to significantly bother Pau for the whole night, even if it was only for a few plays.
Williamson ( C ) -- came in, immediately brought an aggressive post, but then fell off and did not do much until scoring a few points in garbagetime.
Garcia ( INC ) -- garbagetime
Price ( INC ) -- garbagetime
Sampson ( INC ) -- garbagetime
Adelman ( D ) -- decision to feature Thomas early worked brilliantly, ala the decision to feature Brad a few games back against Boston. We were really moving the ball to start, and if nothing else it was encouraging just to see what certainly appeared to be a pride response after the Arco debacle. But things began to go south for us, and Rick, midway throught the second quarter. Yet another of our collapses of confidence led to terible 13-0 + maybe 18-1? run as the Grizz stromed back into it. And in the second half substitution patterns became a major distraction. Not that I really think we would have won it anyway. But the inexplicable nature of what was going on really became too much. Brian Skinner was having himself a heck of a game as that shotblocking presence we've needed so badly. Brad Miller on the other hand sucked. And yet Brian could barely touch the floor in the second half despite us getting an immediate burst almost every time he hit the floor. Particularly disturbing was the substitution at the five minute mark, where with us still in the game, alebit barely, we all of a sudden decide to bring in a cold flat Brad and remove our only interior prsesence? Meanwhile Jason Hart remains Jason Hart, and while Kevin had certainly had himself a very quiet game over at OG, for what possible reason would you replace him with the ultra-mediocre Hart playing out of position as part of a mini-backcourt? Questions without answers. And meanwhile, the Grizzlies made their halftime adjustments and really took it to us in the second half. Least we had our moment to shine early. At this point, even that is cause for celebration. Maybe a little pride from the guys, but also maybe an artificial high not sustainable. This game was a longshot anyway, but I really realy wish Rick could channel himself from back in 2000 at a time when still believed in true bangers like Scot Pollard. As it is -- well, there's always tommorow. And tommorow brings a huge break for us as we get Houston wihtout TMac OR Yao. Just win baby.
BJax ( C ) -- for old times sake Bobby inadvertently played 6th man for us again in a first half where he was wild and forced the action. Unfortunately he woke up in time to have the last laugh, hitting big big shots down the stretch to ice it. Still could see a little of the difficulty of BJax as a starter when his on the edge energy game is so pefect for a bencher.
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