Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Peja ( B- ) -- started out slowly and shot was off. Had to be concerend about the hand, and also remmeber that he played 40min last night. With all of the concern about Webb on back to backs, sometimes its easy to forget that these games aren't easy for the rest of the players either. Settled for far too many three pointers -- a subtext to Peja's early season shooting woes is that he has been throwing up Antoine Walker numbers of three pointers. But heated up in the third, hit a few of those threes, and worked his way into a reasonable offensive game. Did not give us much on the boards, of course.
Webb ( B- ) -- clearly struggling physically with the back to back from the opening tip. Got stronger as the game went along, but never looked good. Began to rebound better late, but groundbound and slow to react most of the night. What points he did get all came off of face up jumpers -- no legs for the inside game tonight. Played it intelligently -- knew he didn't have the legs and did not force shots. Instead played point-PF for most of the night, and could have had a huge assist night if not for a rough patch in the second quarter when all of his passes were just a bit off -- not horribly off, but just 6 inches one way or the other causing the recipients to fumble them into TOs. Despite his limitations, was able to come in int he 4th along with Bobby and really settle the team down with solid play after the rest of the guys tried to fall apart and let the Hornets back into the game. This was not a pretty game for Webb, but deserves some sort of grade for just being smart and making the most of what he had to give tongiht.
Miller ( B+ ) -- excellent offensive game tonight. Amongst our starters was the only guy with it going for most of the game, and was getting it done in a variety fo ways. Not only with the jumper, but cutting to receive Webb passes, driving, and even threw in one incredibly ugly little half shovel/hal hook post move on Lee Nailon (yes the Hornets were frequently guarding him with a backup SF). On the downside, struggled on the glass again. The real problem is just that he is nto having any success rebounding in traffic this season. Don't know what's up, because last year his growly rebounding in there was actually inspirational.
Christie ( C+ ) -- numbers looked decent, and had some moments of inspirational defensive play. Also made some nice passes when he wasn't forcing. But he also made a lot of dumb plays and dumb mistakes, and for the second night in a row was right in the middle of some critical 4th quarter mistakes that let the other team back into the game.
Bibby ( C- ) -- really looked bad on offense. Just couldn't hit ANYTHING, and was stumbling around out there even before he rolled his ankle. Came back after the injury and was actually maybe a little more solid. One thing he did do all night was provide a nice boost on the boards -- grabbed 7, and a couple of them were of the impressive Bobbyesque variety.
BJax ( A ) -- might have been THE key King tonight. Don't know what his +/- was, but whenever he entered the game, we just surged away frm the hapless Hornets. Keyed a 19-0 run by the bench in the second quarter with trremendous energy and scoring (the rest of the guys fed of the energy, Bobby took care of the offense). And then with the team abruptly struggling to open the 4th, and the lead suddenly under 10, he and Webb stepped up to restore order. Bobby two big threes opened the margin right back up and took the wind right out of the Hornets sails. Inspired us, demoralized the Hornets.
Songaila ( C+ ) -- was part of our first half bench surge, but really along for the ride rather than keying it. Grabbed some boards and hustled. Was ineffective when he returned in the 4th and resumed his non-rebounding ways.
Ostertag ( B ) -- gave us some solid minutes in the second quarter as part of an impressive bench run. Shut down the middle, and grabbed a nifty o-board.
Barnes ( A- ) -- gave us a great stretch of play in the second quarter. Was the key guy along with Bobby in our big bench run. Great energy, and smart solid play across the board. Was the victim of rotation patterns in the 4th -- he had earned the second stint, but Peja was heating up, and Bobby/Bibby were on the floor together.
Daniels ( INC ) -- a couple of minutes of garbagetime. Blocked out nicely for a board, threw up an ugly shot which is his achilles heel.
Evans ( INC ) -- energetic couple of minutes in garbagetime
Martin ( INC ) -- still pressing too much in thiose brief moments when he's ont he floor. Would like to see him get a logner 6-8 minute run here and there so that maybe he could show something and earn the staff's confidence.
Adleman ( B ) -- this was an easy game and an ugly game for us. Terrible opponent, but Rick was having to fight the incredible lethargy of our starters for most of the game. Rick tried to do the right thing with the rotations, letting the bench play together for a huge run in the 2nd quarter, and then making what I thought was the right call to begin the 4th in sitting Webb and Bibby who were both struggling physically. But it backfired, the team abruptly quit playing well, and let the Hornets back into it, and he had to reinsert the guys to get control of the game again. And because of that bad stretch, we lost our chance at significant garbage time for the first time in forever. Disappointing. Also because of the way that played out, two guys who really helped our big surge int he second quarter -- Barnes and Tag, got forgotten about in the seond half. Made sense how and why all of this was happening, but still a little dissatisifying. We also were having breaking the Hornets zone -- execution was terrible. Rick used his timeouts to try to settle the team and design something, but it looked like a simple 2-3, so no idea why we didn't just carve it up with ease.
Webb ( B- ) -- clearly struggling physically with the back to back from the opening tip. Got stronger as the game went along, but never looked good. Began to rebound better late, but groundbound and slow to react most of the night. What points he did get all came off of face up jumpers -- no legs for the inside game tonight. Played it intelligently -- knew he didn't have the legs and did not force shots. Instead played point-PF for most of the night, and could have had a huge assist night if not for a rough patch in the second quarter when all of his passes were just a bit off -- not horribly off, but just 6 inches one way or the other causing the recipients to fumble them into TOs. Despite his limitations, was able to come in int he 4th along with Bobby and really settle the team down with solid play after the rest of the guys tried to fall apart and let the Hornets back into the game. This was not a pretty game for Webb, but deserves some sort of grade for just being smart and making the most of what he had to give tongiht.
Miller ( B+ ) -- excellent offensive game tonight. Amongst our starters was the only guy with it going for most of the game, and was getting it done in a variety fo ways. Not only with the jumper, but cutting to receive Webb passes, driving, and even threw in one incredibly ugly little half shovel/hal hook post move on Lee Nailon (yes the Hornets were frequently guarding him with a backup SF). On the downside, struggled on the glass again. The real problem is just that he is nto having any success rebounding in traffic this season. Don't know what's up, because last year his growly rebounding in there was actually inspirational.
Christie ( C+ ) -- numbers looked decent, and had some moments of inspirational defensive play. Also made some nice passes when he wasn't forcing. But he also made a lot of dumb plays and dumb mistakes, and for the second night in a row was right in the middle of some critical 4th quarter mistakes that let the other team back into the game.
Bibby ( C- ) -- really looked bad on offense. Just couldn't hit ANYTHING, and was stumbling around out there even before he rolled his ankle. Came back after the injury and was actually maybe a little more solid. One thing he did do all night was provide a nice boost on the boards -- grabbed 7, and a couple of them were of the impressive Bobbyesque variety.
BJax ( A ) -- might have been THE key King tonight. Don't know what his +/- was, but whenever he entered the game, we just surged away frm the hapless Hornets. Keyed a 19-0 run by the bench in the second quarter with trremendous energy and scoring (the rest of the guys fed of the energy, Bobby took care of the offense). And then with the team abruptly struggling to open the 4th, and the lead suddenly under 10, he and Webb stepped up to restore order. Bobby two big threes opened the margin right back up and took the wind right out of the Hornets sails. Inspired us, demoralized the Hornets.
Songaila ( C+ ) -- was part of our first half bench surge, but really along for the ride rather than keying it. Grabbed some boards and hustled. Was ineffective when he returned in the 4th and resumed his non-rebounding ways.
Ostertag ( B ) -- gave us some solid minutes in the second quarter as part of an impressive bench run. Shut down the middle, and grabbed a nifty o-board.
Barnes ( A- ) -- gave us a great stretch of play in the second quarter. Was the key guy along with Bobby in our big bench run. Great energy, and smart solid play across the board. Was the victim of rotation patterns in the 4th -- he had earned the second stint, but Peja was heating up, and Bobby/Bibby were on the floor together.
Daniels ( INC ) -- a couple of minutes of garbagetime. Blocked out nicely for a board, threw up an ugly shot which is his achilles heel.
Evans ( INC ) -- energetic couple of minutes in garbagetime
Martin ( INC ) -- still pressing too much in thiose brief moments when he's ont he floor. Would like to see him get a logner 6-8 minute run here and there so that maybe he could show something and earn the staff's confidence.
Adleman ( B ) -- this was an easy game and an ugly game for us. Terrible opponent, but Rick was having to fight the incredible lethargy of our starters for most of the game. Rick tried to do the right thing with the rotations, letting the bench play together for a huge run in the 2nd quarter, and then making what I thought was the right call to begin the 4th in sitting Webb and Bibby who were both struggling physically. But it backfired, the team abruptly quit playing well, and let the Hornets back into it, and he had to reinsert the guys to get control of the game again. And because of that bad stretch, we lost our chance at significant garbage time for the first time in forever. Disappointing. Also because of the way that played out, two guys who really helped our big surge int he second quarter -- Barnes and Tag, got forgotten about in the seond half. Made sense how and why all of this was happening, but still a little dissatisifying. We also were having breaking the Hornets zone -- execution was terrible. Rick used his timeouts to try to settle the team and design something, but it looked like a simple 2-3, so no idea why we didn't just carve it up with ease.
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