Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Artest ( A ) -- continued his recent streak of near perfect ball in the first half and was feeling it in all aspects in the first quarter. 7pts 4reb 4ast. Had it all going, shooting, rebounding, passing. Still had some problems with Mason on defense, but racked up 5 steals to go with the 21pts 6reb 9ast (tying a career mark) all around do it all effort. There were a couple of selfisf forces in there, and he doinked the first of two FTs to clinch at the :24 second mark. Nonetheless, continues a streak again where he is almost playing like a true franchise player.
Thomas ( B- ) -- got off to an fast start running the floor for easy scores. But never have much of anything on the glass as we got killed yet again, and the easy transition looks dried up as the game went along. Did not see the court late once again.
Miller ( B- ) -- an afterthought in the first half, when he wasn't needed, and kind of played like it. Started off the second half more involved, hitting a couple of shots, and then trying to run some stuff from the high post. Foul trouble cut that short though, and he was having a generally crappy game until quite late. But down the stretch made more plays than anybody else, althouhg all in ugly surprising fashion. Drew two ugly fouls and hit all four FTs, and then in the dying seconds with the Hornets till withing striking range, Brad Miller, he of the 2" vertical leap of T-Rex arms, comes up with not one, but TWO blocks on the final Hornet possession. A defensive stand to seal the game. By Brad Miller. Will wonders never cease. Still felt like abad game with a cherry on top at the end, but good numbers for the minutes.
Martin ( C ) -- an afterthought in the first quarter, but some nice work in the second, including a steal and dish on the break, and a post up on Chris Paul. First half game didn't feel as one dimensional as the numbers say it was. Very quiet in the second half, and aside from one three where his feet were cleanly set, he wasn't even close on msot of his misses. Even airballed a couple.
Bibby ( B- ) -- big first quarter (14pts) with some warts -- repeatedly dribbled himself into trouble and had multiple early turnovers, but responded with a burst on both ends of the floor, nailing a three, stealing a ball for a breakaway, driving inside to draw a foul, then nailing 2 more shots. Even did a respectable job on Paul in the early going. Only got one shot in limited minutes in the second, but hit that too. Started off the second half ragged, missing his first shot, throwing a turnover and did not hit his first shot of the third until a big three to close the quarter and open the rapidly dwindling lead back up to 8. This was an A or A- first quarter, and then...what? 5 pts the rest of the way?
Corliss ( C- ) -- had trouble finishing all game long against the Hornets' frontline length. Looked ragged and made some mental mistakes too. Muscled some rebounds for once, but I was more than a little surprised to see him getting stretch run minutes again with this performance.
Salmons ( C ) -- in the first half some defense on the quicker points, and one finish on the break courtest of Kevin, but was otherwise quiet. Rinse repeat after half. A little everywhere, not much anywhere. Missed a couple of open threes the Hornets begged him to take. I almost don't like grading this guy anymore. Gives you so little to hold onto one way or the other most nights.
Reef ( B- ) -- quiet first half as our two conventional post guys (Corliss, Reef) both struggled to get anything going. But picked it up after half, largely abandoning the post to become a jump shooter. Hit one jumper in the early 4th, and then came right back down on the next possession apparently thnking he'd found something, and chucked up a three. Numbers were solid at 12 and 6, but overall game did not feel that strong.
Douby ( B- ) -- a little burst in the early 2nd with back to back hits, one on the break. Came back in for the early 4th, and while we damn near gave away the lead while he and the reserves were in the game, his last act before heading to the bench at the 6:00 mark was to bank in a lucky three he missed by three feet to put us up 6. Can only give so much credit for a shot you miss so bad you make, and the stat sheet was all zeroes except for the points.
Cisco ( INC ) -- a foul, a block, a score on the break, a Cisco first half. An Inc here is almost a blessing toa grader, because it seems 7 out of 10 Cisco outings flal in that same general category of *shrug* (then the one impact game where you go *wow* and the two wild braindead games where you go *ugh*).
Brooks ( ) -- Well, we won. Time to can Brooks' *** before this gets out of control.
Actually, I am not too worried -- we actually played the exact same game we have been playing for Muss for the last month, only screwed up at the ened and actually won it. Let's see, we had the early lead, the develoutin inot on on one play, the third/early 4th quarter colapse letting the other team catch back up, the gettign creamed on the glass. Real problem in this one would be that Artest guy. Most of our wins in the last month have centered around one player having a great game to carry us, and tonight was no different. Mike had a big quarter, Brad had a big moment, but Ron was the engine again. And so we eked out another win over a middling team at home. Yay and all that. Brooks did fine as far as can be told. We came out firing, which you like to attribute to the coach sometimes, even if its not. We still suffered our second half woes, but this time it felt more like we just weren't that good than the whole team disintegrating with no help from the other guys. Scott also called a coupel of well placed timeouts when we started to struggle in stretches. His rotations...er...now we know why Muss hired him. Still, 2-0 (albeit both at home over unscary opponents), and so if his job was to hold down the fort, he did that and then some. May in fact have driven a big nasty nail into any Oden or Durant hopes. 17 days until the trade deadline. 3 months until they ask the season ticket holders to renew. Clocks are a tickin'. But Scotty can only handle what is in front of him on his plate, and he did what he was technically supposed to do. Best winning % in Kings history I would warrant.
Bobby ( ) -- once agin the 6th man came into the game and gave the Kings a big boost off the bench. The only problem was, he wasn't coming off the Kings bench this time. Was just terrible in the frist half, and helped us immensely in building up the lead.
Thomas ( B- ) -- got off to an fast start running the floor for easy scores. But never have much of anything on the glass as we got killed yet again, and the easy transition looks dried up as the game went along. Did not see the court late once again.
Miller ( B- ) -- an afterthought in the first half, when he wasn't needed, and kind of played like it. Started off the second half more involved, hitting a couple of shots, and then trying to run some stuff from the high post. Foul trouble cut that short though, and he was having a generally crappy game until quite late. But down the stretch made more plays than anybody else, althouhg all in ugly surprising fashion. Drew two ugly fouls and hit all four FTs, and then in the dying seconds with the Hornets till withing striking range, Brad Miller, he of the 2" vertical leap of T-Rex arms, comes up with not one, but TWO blocks on the final Hornet possession. A defensive stand to seal the game. By Brad Miller. Will wonders never cease. Still felt like abad game with a cherry on top at the end, but good numbers for the minutes.
Martin ( C ) -- an afterthought in the first quarter, but some nice work in the second, including a steal and dish on the break, and a post up on Chris Paul. First half game didn't feel as one dimensional as the numbers say it was. Very quiet in the second half, and aside from one three where his feet were cleanly set, he wasn't even close on msot of his misses. Even airballed a couple.
Bibby ( B- ) -- big first quarter (14pts) with some warts -- repeatedly dribbled himself into trouble and had multiple early turnovers, but responded with a burst on both ends of the floor, nailing a three, stealing a ball for a breakaway, driving inside to draw a foul, then nailing 2 more shots. Even did a respectable job on Paul in the early going. Only got one shot in limited minutes in the second, but hit that too. Started off the second half ragged, missing his first shot, throwing a turnover and did not hit his first shot of the third until a big three to close the quarter and open the rapidly dwindling lead back up to 8. This was an A or A- first quarter, and then...what? 5 pts the rest of the way?
Corliss ( C- ) -- had trouble finishing all game long against the Hornets' frontline length. Looked ragged and made some mental mistakes too. Muscled some rebounds for once, but I was more than a little surprised to see him getting stretch run minutes again with this performance.
Salmons ( C ) -- in the first half some defense on the quicker points, and one finish on the break courtest of Kevin, but was otherwise quiet. Rinse repeat after half. A little everywhere, not much anywhere. Missed a couple of open threes the Hornets begged him to take. I almost don't like grading this guy anymore. Gives you so little to hold onto one way or the other most nights.
Reef ( B- ) -- quiet first half as our two conventional post guys (Corliss, Reef) both struggled to get anything going. But picked it up after half, largely abandoning the post to become a jump shooter. Hit one jumper in the early 4th, and then came right back down on the next possession apparently thnking he'd found something, and chucked up a three. Numbers were solid at 12 and 6, but overall game did not feel that strong.
Douby ( B- ) -- a little burst in the early 2nd with back to back hits, one on the break. Came back in for the early 4th, and while we damn near gave away the lead while he and the reserves were in the game, his last act before heading to the bench at the 6:00 mark was to bank in a lucky three he missed by three feet to put us up 6. Can only give so much credit for a shot you miss so bad you make, and the stat sheet was all zeroes except for the points.
Cisco ( INC ) -- a foul, a block, a score on the break, a Cisco first half. An Inc here is almost a blessing toa grader, because it seems 7 out of 10 Cisco outings flal in that same general category of *shrug* (then the one impact game where you go *wow* and the two wild braindead games where you go *ugh*).
Brooks ( ) -- Well, we won. Time to can Brooks' *** before this gets out of control.
Actually, I am not too worried -- we actually played the exact same game we have been playing for Muss for the last month, only screwed up at the ened and actually won it. Let's see, we had the early lead, the develoutin inot on on one play, the third/early 4th quarter colapse letting the other team catch back up, the gettign creamed on the glass. Real problem in this one would be that Artest guy. Most of our wins in the last month have centered around one player having a great game to carry us, and tonight was no different. Mike had a big quarter, Brad had a big moment, but Ron was the engine again. And so we eked out another win over a middling team at home. Yay and all that. Brooks did fine as far as can be told. We came out firing, which you like to attribute to the coach sometimes, even if its not. We still suffered our second half woes, but this time it felt more like we just weren't that good than the whole team disintegrating with no help from the other guys. Scott also called a coupel of well placed timeouts when we started to struggle in stretches. His rotations...er...now we know why Muss hired him. Still, 2-0 (albeit both at home over unscary opponents), and so if his job was to hold down the fort, he did that and then some. May in fact have driven a big nasty nail into any Oden or Durant hopes. 17 days until the trade deadline. 3 months until they ask the season ticket holders to renew. Clocks are a tickin'. But Scotty can only handle what is in front of him on his plate, and he did what he was technically supposed to do. Best winning % in Kings history I would warrant. Bobby ( ) -- once agin the 6th man came into the game and gave the Kings a big boost off the bench. The only problem was, he wasn't coming off the Kings bench this time. Was just terrible in the frist half, and helped us immensely in building up the lead.
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