Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Peja ( A ) -- best all around game of the season. Not only was he scoring (most of it in the first half), but his hustle was way way up to positively un-Peja like levels. Rebounding wasn't much better than its been, but he stuck his nose in there for once, got on the offensive glass, came up with a number of loose balls, and even threw in a couple of blocked shots. Hard to come to any other conclusion than thbat he was embarrassed by his effort last game. Always good to see, because Peja is a quiet guy and let's face it, is basically a softie. Its not always easy to tell if he really cares about the hustle and hard work aspects of the game. Tonight he showed that he does and that he is capable of contributing in those aspects. Of course that also means he has no excuse for wussing out in the future.
Webber ( A- ) -- just a smooth well rounded game. Never really forcing. Never really dominant. But just smoothly put up his season numbers across the board. Got a little shaky in the late game with a couple of missed shots and bobbled balls, but then stepped right up and hit the game clincher with 10 seconds to go. Had a couple of nasty dunks, and is starting too show respectable movement and reaction speed on penetration plays. Beocming more of a factor in shutting down the middle, which is a welcome sight.
Miller ( C+ ) -- came on in the 4th quarter after being largely invisible through three quarters. Did not look ragged so much as just unimportant out there for most of the night. Only 5 rebounds again. Not a terrible game, and fairly well rounded, bu not an All-Star performance either.
Christie ( C ) -- did a nice job distributing, and was helping Peja get off to his hot start. But had little impact defensively -- Memphis' perimeter people were popping open all night long. And that is what we pay Doug for. Furthermore made some shaky decisions in the 4th quarter that helped Memphis catch back up and make things tight down the stretch.
Bibby ( C- ) -- poor effort for 47 minutes by Mike. Not only did he generate no offense himself, but he was not containing Earl Watson at all. But when it mattered in the dying seconds of the game, Mike stepped up to hit the big clutch shot to put us up 3 . Webb would add the clincher a few seconds later, but Bibby's shot was the one that put us in command in the final minute.
BJax ( A- ) -- captained a strong bench unit tonight. Along with Tag helped the Kings open a nice lead in the 4th quarter with a series of tough shots. Got a little wild, as is his wont, and as usual had to throw in a couple of heat check forced shots. But came in and gave us a big and critical boost of BJax energy with Bibby struggling. On defense did not have much more luck with Watson than Bibby was having.
Songaila ( C- ) -- the lone disappointment off the bench tonight. Gave us some hustle, but missed his shots and was ineffective on defense. With Tag going so well, lost his second half minutes to the big guy.
Ostertag ( A ) -- the Tag has landed! Finally gave us a game where the things he can do were on full display. Blocked and altered numerous shots -- something nobody else on the roster is capable of doing. Also grabbed some strong rebounds. And even showed some more interior passing. Was actually one of the main pieces to help us open up an 11 point lead in the 4th.
Barnes ( B ) -- was providing us with a real boost with hustle and smart, fluid play. But in the 4th began to fall victim to his wild side again, and hurt us with some sloppy decisionmkaking. Still a nice solid contributing game on a night when our bench depth looked just fine, thank you.
Adelman ( A ) -- got a much much better effort out of his team on the hustle board. Was helped immeasurably in that aspect by the sudden arrival of Tag, and Rick was smart enough to give the big lug long minutes once he started to roll. Also appeared to be making a conscious effort to help Peja go off, as there seemed to be a disproportionate number of plays called for him in the early game. Our late game execution was shaky, which is a concern. but we must be doing something right, because this is something like the 7th game in a row where its come down to the dying minutes, and in 6 of those 7 we've emerged victorious.
Webber ( A- ) -- just a smooth well rounded game. Never really forcing. Never really dominant. But just smoothly put up his season numbers across the board. Got a little shaky in the late game with a couple of missed shots and bobbled balls, but then stepped right up and hit the game clincher with 10 seconds to go. Had a couple of nasty dunks, and is starting too show respectable movement and reaction speed on penetration plays. Beocming more of a factor in shutting down the middle, which is a welcome sight.
Miller ( C+ ) -- came on in the 4th quarter after being largely invisible through three quarters. Did not look ragged so much as just unimportant out there for most of the night. Only 5 rebounds again. Not a terrible game, and fairly well rounded, bu not an All-Star performance either.
Christie ( C ) -- did a nice job distributing, and was helping Peja get off to his hot start. But had little impact defensively -- Memphis' perimeter people were popping open all night long. And that is what we pay Doug for. Furthermore made some shaky decisions in the 4th quarter that helped Memphis catch back up and make things tight down the stretch.
Bibby ( C- ) -- poor effort for 47 minutes by Mike. Not only did he generate no offense himself, but he was not containing Earl Watson at all. But when it mattered in the dying seconds of the game, Mike stepped up to hit the big clutch shot to put us up 3 . Webb would add the clincher a few seconds later, but Bibby's shot was the one that put us in command in the final minute.
BJax ( A- ) -- captained a strong bench unit tonight. Along with Tag helped the Kings open a nice lead in the 4th quarter with a series of tough shots. Got a little wild, as is his wont, and as usual had to throw in a couple of heat check forced shots. But came in and gave us a big and critical boost of BJax energy with Bibby struggling. On defense did not have much more luck with Watson than Bibby was having.
Songaila ( C- ) -- the lone disappointment off the bench tonight. Gave us some hustle, but missed his shots and was ineffective on defense. With Tag going so well, lost his second half minutes to the big guy.
Ostertag ( A ) -- the Tag has landed! Finally gave us a game where the things he can do were on full display. Blocked and altered numerous shots -- something nobody else on the roster is capable of doing. Also grabbed some strong rebounds. And even showed some more interior passing. Was actually one of the main pieces to help us open up an 11 point lead in the 4th.
Barnes ( B ) -- was providing us with a real boost with hustle and smart, fluid play. But in the 4th began to fall victim to his wild side again, and hurt us with some sloppy decisionmkaking. Still a nice solid contributing game on a night when our bench depth looked just fine, thank you.
Adelman ( A ) -- got a much much better effort out of his team on the hustle board. Was helped immeasurably in that aspect by the sudden arrival of Tag, and Rick was smart enough to give the big lug long minutes once he started to roll. Also appeared to be making a conscious effort to help Peja go off, as there seemed to be a disproportionate number of plays called for him in the early game. Our late game execution was shaky, which is a concern. but we must be doing something right, because this is something like the 7th game in a row where its come down to the dying minutes, and in 6 of those 7 we've emerged victorious.
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