Grades v. Houston 03/13

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Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#1
Peja ( B- ) -- first half was shaping up to be a good bounce back game for Peja. Came out and was drawing a lot of attention again, but handled it well early (was a bit of touch and go as he looked passive to start), passing the ball off to teammates open on the doubles and switches, and then came on with his scoring as the pressure relaxed. Really was the only player keeping us close before the break. Looked like he had control of McGrady in the first quarter, but TMac broke loose in the second. Then Houston came out in the third recommitted to stopping Peja, and that was kind of that -- he got very quiet very quick. Scored a couple of late hoops just to let you know he was still breathing, but in general disappeared in the second half. Rebounding...tallest man on the court for us in several of our alignments today and TWO in 41 minutes?
Songaila ( B ) -- gave us some good hustle minutes, particularly in the third, hitting the offensive glass and scoring garbage hoops. Was nowhere to be found on the defensive glass though, and was uncharacteristically slow on his rotations. I would call the PF competition a draw this time out. Both guys did fairly well, neither great.
Skinner ( B ) -- really wasn't a fair matchup for Brian -- 6'9" PF asked to guard a 7'5" center in the post -- but that was the matchup, and in the first half for the first time since taking over for Brad, Skinner just looked far too small. Unable to alter Yao's shot at all, and Yao went right over him for rebounds as well. Didn't have much better luck with Mutumbo. Finally got on track with back to back hoops late in the third. Down the stretch was fighting hard on the glass, but just overmatched sizewise -- could not alter his opponent's shots, could not shoot over them. Not really fair to grade him down for being undersized, but nonetheless he was, and because of it he was overall considerably less effective than he has been thus far for us. Gets a small bump for maybe being our best player down the stretch tonight (wasn't great, but was really trying).
Mobley ( C ) -- had a tough first half, missing missing and missing, but perhaps more critically forcing forcing and forcing. We seem to really like to post him up for some reason, but the hit percentage in there is not great. Scary first half stat though -- Cat was our leading rebounder. :rolleyes: Came out in the third quarter firing, and briefly his hot shooting streak brought us as close as we ever got in the second half, cutting the Houston lead down to five at one point. If he could have kept it up into the 4th, maybe we have a shot. But he went cold again, and nobody else stepped up. Another "C" type grade for Cat, but this one is really for the poor shooting. On the roadtrip I kept on feeling like his numbers were empty and did not matter. Not the case here -- he mattered this time. Just unfortunately a give and take effort.
Bibby ( C- ) -- came out aggressive, but maybe forcing the passes a bit against the active Rocket defense -- had as many turnovers as assists when he left the game for the first time in the second quarter. And offensively never could get into rhythm -- lot of open looks you expected him to make, especially from three, and just did not have it. Eventually settled into a nice passing rhythm in the second half, but the shooting remained erratic and Mike seemed to get a little passive himself after a while. Did get his hands in there for a few stelas, but in general he and Mobley left a lot of Houston perimeter shooters open today -- back to his old tricks defensively. Late in the game kept on waiting for Super-Bibby to come swooping in to bail us out again, but just never much spark this time out.
Ostertag ( INC ) -- no idea what its going to take for Tag. A 7'5" center with a 7'2" backup, pounding us on the glass, we're getting lit up...and all Tag gets is one brief first half stint. Didn't do much good or bad. Four minutes and off to small ball.
Thomas ( B- ) -- active but scrappy effort tonight. Did not back down against the bigger Houston frontline, and found ways to score. Again had problems contesting shots up high, but continued to show quick hands down low for steals. Did not get the job done on the glass this time out -- tipped some balls, but the Houston big men were too tall, and the Hosuton guards were quicker to the ball. Missed a number of free throws -- kept on hitting one of two, one of two.
Evans ( C+ ) -- only got a first half stint, and only contribution of note was a breakaway dunk. Fell victim to Cat's hot third -- with Mobley carrying us Rick did not want to take him out, even running him at SF sometimes, and by the time that it was obvious Cat had cooled off, it was crunchtime and too late for Mo. May have been leaving his men too open on the perimeter, although I am just guessing because I did not notice it being his fault in particular -- just noticed the shots going up relatively uncontested.
Williamson ( C+ ) -- caught playing out of positions and totally overmatched sizewise for most of the night. Peja played 41 minutes, and even Cat got a few as our SF. Corliss logged most of his time as a mini mini PF/C in amongst the Houston trees. Made a few passes in there, but really very quiet -- none of the aggression we saw from him last time out. About the best that can be said is did not get killed despite the size disadvantage.
House ( B ) -- gave us a nice first half stint running the offense and hitting a couple of shots to keep us within shouting distance. Second half did not go as smoothly until he hit a big three to pull us back from the brink in the mid-4th. Was actually playing alongside Mike at one point, and gave us a little help on the boards. Got hurt by Mike James on defense.


Adelman ( C+ ) -- Houston was just too big for us inside, and every time their perimeter guys saw even a crack, the ball was in the hoop. Getting very tired of all this small ball crap. Not bad enough we have to endure our magnificent midget frontline of Peja/Thomas/Corliss, but in this one Rick also broke out a wonderful 3 guard alignment with 6'1" Bibby, 6'1" House, and 6'4" Cat Mobley at SF, and briefly even teamed that trio with a Corliss/Thomas frontline. I mean come on -- let's leave the small ball to Don Nelson, you know, he of the 1000 butter-soft teams and the sub .500 playoff record. And tonight we ran our three very cold horsemen right into the ground again with 41, 41, and 43 minutes. Thought it was an interesting move to try House and Bibby together just because House was shooting well and helping keep us in it. But then moving Cat to SF on top of that was just taking it too far. And while Corliss and Kenny compete in there, they are just far too small to be checking 7-footers. Have a real problem with games against a huge frontline when we are getting squished inside and Tag still rides pine. I mean, duh. Mo also never had a chance to try to energize us in the second half. Did not play a great first half, but was not awful either, and I would have thought off of those two excellent starts last week that he would have at least earned enough trust to get rotation minutes. Also getting a little tired of seeing Cat continually try to post people up -- that is not high percentage for him with a big frontline to help. Not sure if Rick is calling that, or Cat is. But see no reason to stop the offense to work our undersized OG in the post. Anyway, here we are again -- undersized, crunched on the glass, opposing team shoots +.500 against us. Not sure what the answers were if you're not going to try Tag, but whatever they may have been, Rick could not find them.
 
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VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#3
Team grade: ???

What can I say? You can't compare the two teams. This was a classic mismatch from start to finish, compounded at least in part by some strange - to say the least - rotations.

I also think having Deke suddenly remember years past happened at just the wrong time for the Kings.
 
#9
Bricklayer said:
Adelman ( C+ ) -- Houston was just too big for us inside, and every time thier perimeter guys saw even a crack, the ball was in the hoop. Getting very tired of all this small ball crap. Not bad enough we have to endure our magnificent midget frontline of Peja/Thomas/Corliss, but in this one Rick also broke out a wonderful 3 guard alignment with 6'1" Biby, 6'1" House, and 6'4" Cat Mobley at SF, and briefly even teamed that trio with a Corliss/Thomas frontline. I mean come on -- let's leave the small ball to Don Nelson, you know, he of 1000 butter-soft teams and sub .500 playoff record. And tonight we ran our three very very cold horsemen right into the ground again with 41, 41, and 43 mnutes. Thought it was an interesting move to try House and Bibby together just because House was shooting well and helping keep us in it. But then moving Cat to SF on top of that was just taking it too far. And while Corliss and Kenny compete in there, they are just far too small to be checking 7-footers. Have a real problem with games against a huge frontline when we are getting squished inside and Tag still rides pine. I mean, duh. Mo also never had a chance to ty to energize us in the second half. Did not play a great first half, but was not awful either, and I would have thought off of those twio excellent starts last week that he would have at least earned enough trust to get rotation minutes. Also getting a little tired of seeing Cat continually try to post people up -- that is not high percentage for him with a big frontline to help. Not sure if Rick is calling that, or Cat is. But see no reason to stop the offense to work our undersized OG in the post. Anyway, here we are again -- undersized, crunched on the glass, opposing team shoots +.500 against us. Not sure what the answers were if you're not going to try Tag, but whatever they may have been, Rick could not find them.
That grade is way to high, It should be atleast a D. He failed when it came to adjusting our defense. It seemed that the subs were not used at all for defensive adjustments. It seemed he tried to concentrate on our offense instead. That why we ended up with small day. We failed on the defensive end and our coach did adjust accordingly. Why again did we not use Ostertag more, it is not like Yao is a speed demon. Houston just out sized us the whole game.
 
#12
Grades are ok.....but who is mike james?.....he made every single shoots....always some no name guy has carrier night against the kings...I just hate that
 
#13
starks said:
Grades are ok.....but who is mike james?.....he made every single shoots....always some no name guy has carrier night against the kings...I just hate that
We certainly do seem to have a way of showcasing non-marquee talent.:eek:
 
#14
starks said:
Grades are ok.....but who is mike james?.....he made every single shoots....always some no name guy has carrier night against the kings...I just hate that
wasnt bibby gaurding james, becuase if he was well then you know why he had a good night. ;)
 
#16
Peja was much better today. Sure he was relatively invisible in the second half, but at least he didn't give a half-***ed effort, like he did Friday. As a fan, that is all I can really expect from him.
 
#17
i actually would of bumped Cat up to like at least C+...i mean in the 3rd he pretty much single handily carried us offensively

::shrugs::

but fair grades overall

i was stunned that Tag didn't get much play...i wish i could get into RA's head and see the logic

Houstons bench was absolutely incredible...Jon Barry hot...Mike James hot...Deke hot even David Wesley pretty much never missed...i mean its hard to go up against that on top of TMac and Mr. Yao just taking and making any shot they wanted...our transition defense just sucked big ones...

as hard as we tried and pushed and chipped...we never could get over that hump...being oversized obviously the big reason...

it was an unfortunate loss

it was kind of sad to Mike being so erractic and just cold as ice (in the bad way this time)...::sigh::

its definetly a bummer...and to tell you the truth im a bit depressed after the loss... but we (by we I mean the players) have to take a step back take a deep breath and then proceed to play games like we had been prior to this game...we have Orlando next and they are just absolutely HORRIBLE on the road they are something like 10-21 or something...they've been struggling of late losing 3 in a row...so we must take advantage especially in our last game of the 5 game homestand

here's hoping that the Rockets have a total let down game against the GSW and flat out lose

GO KINGS!!
 
#18
mikebibby1034 said:
wasnt bibby gaurding james, becuase if he was well then you know why he had a good night.
Mike James has had a great year just overall...since day one with Milwaukee and now with the Rockets...(which i said was gonna be a HUGE benefit for the Rockets once i heard the trade) if anyone didn't know who he was before he got traded to Houston they know about him now...he's been seriously ballin of late...in the starting line up....coming off the bench whatever...he's just been playing great

a lot of PGs have been burned by him so...
 
#20
Mike James is certainly not a nobody. Houston has been trying to get him since the beginning of the year. The GM was estatic when the deal finally came through. The only reason he didn't start over Sura was because Sura has been in the system longer and therefore has seniority. Mike has been shooting around 50% ever since he came to the Rockets. We have a similar situation with Thomas and Songaila with Songaila keeping his spot purely because he's been around longer.
 
#21
iheartBrad said:
i actually would of bumped Cat up to like at least C+...i mean in the 3rd he pretty much single handily carried us offensively
Yeah, but Mobley's grade falls back to a C, because he forced too many shots. He shot 24 shots and only made 8 of them, he was erratic. You have to admire him for trying to step up, but Peja and Eddie were open on a few occasions and he still fired up a bad shot. I would of liked to have seen tag play more against the big front line of houston, RA wanted to take advantage of the small lineup on offense, but we were getting killed defensively especially in the first half. Would of liked to have seen some adjustments during that period.
 
#22
Adelman - F

7'5 C playing against our undersized C... Yao struggles against physical big centers, so what does Rick do? Plays Ostertag for 4 minutes? Not that Yao had that big of a game or anything but still... On another note, how do Mike James and David Wesley combine for 41 points on 16-21 shooting... That's just awful defense...
 
#23
SacKings384 said:
On another note, how do Mike James and David Wesley combine for 41 points on 16-21 shooting... That's just awful defense...
You're right, bad D. But also, Wesley and James were hot like heck. 16-21 shooting?? I don't even remember a game Cat and Bibby shot that well. :eek:
 
#24
SacKings384 said:
Adelman - F

7'5 C playing against our undersized C... Yao struggles against physical big centers, so what does Rick do? Plays Ostertag for 4 minutes? Not that Yao had that big of a game or anything but still... On another note, how do Mike James and David Wesley combine for 41 points on 16-21 shooting... That's just awful defense...
You got it backwards. He has trouble with quicker, more athletic center-forwards like Stromile Swift. Unfortunately for us, Skinner is only small... and not an athletic freak. Yao's best games are against your more traditional centers and just about anyone, except Shaq, will lose to him if they play him straight up. Also, he usually has very good games against Shaq. Therefore, he'll draw the double almost always and thus we leave open the perimeter shooter.

As for perimeter defense, that's more Petrie's fault than Adelman's. If Bobby comes back anytime soon, we may want to try him at OG.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#25
iheartBrad said:
i actually would of bumped Cat up to like at least C+...i mean in the 3rd he pretty much single handily carried us offensively
I seriously considered it -- that's where I had him on the first draft but that constant post up stuff was SO dumb that I decided to drop it back. But was actually happier with his performance tonight than any of his road trip games. He mattered. Hits a few more shots, and would have even carried us.
 
#26
^i see

and i agree about his performance tonight...it has been his best game for awhile...well...he did have a good game against the Clips...i thought anyway
 
#28
Props to Peja for re-discovering that he can indeed shoot a basketball, and shoot it pretty well. I was harsh in my criticisms of him after last game, so I feel I at least need to acknowledge that he put forth some effort into this game to show that he wasn't the same bum who only scored 6 points on 10 shots in 37 minutes. Too bad Bibby had an off game tonight.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#29
4cwebb said:
Props to Peja for re-discovering that he can indeed shoot a basketball, and shoot it pretty well. I was harsh in my criticisms of him after last game, so I feel I at least need to acknowledge that he put forth some effort into this game to show that he wasn't the same bum who only scored 6 points on 10 shots in 37 minutes. Too bad Bibby had an off game tonight.
Peja was ok, I do think its saying something that we are all relatively happy with a 21pt 2reb 4ast performance where he disappeared after halftime though. In theory, tonight should be below average for him. Played a good first half, and then went bye bye. Passing the ball better now, but right now remains a weapon that teams are able to take away pretty much at will just by concentrating on him.
 
#30
I noticed how Peja can still get a B- with 2 boards and a 2nd half disappearing act (He also did pretty badly guarding Mcgrady but then, you don't expect anyone to guard that guy). Has expectations for him really dropped so low? Put him down to a C to leave room for 2 letter grade improvements for a 6+ rebound game and 2 complete halves. Or is that just too much to hope for these days?
 
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