Peja ( A ) -- as anyone who reads these grades knows, I am a consistent critic of Peja's when he plays soft. Just not a trait the great ones have. Well tonight he was NOT soft. Kind of reminded me a little bit of that game last year when Posey started beating on him and Peja responded by dropping his career high on him. Now THAT'S the way the great ones respond. Poor boardwork, but on this night the poor rebounding numbers were not actually an indicator of his overall aggression. Continued a welcome recent trend by setting up teammates several times when he was being aggressively mugged by Harpring. By nature Peja has tunnel vision on offense -- only working for his own shot. But there have been several games recently where he's been looking to set up teammates -- making other guys better. Gets the A here not only for the numbers, but for the spirit and style of it too. Got into a chippy shoving match with Harpring and McLeod at one point there (might even end up getting fined, although hopefully not suspended), and you could see that Webber loved it even as he went over to break it up. That was my reaction too -- he responded with fire, and did not wilt.
Webber ( A ) -- big strong efficient game, and damn near earned the "+" tonight for being a real leader for us out there tonight. Grabbed rugged boards and had everybody's back on a night when we got into a real war with the Jazz. Had a few problems with Boozer early (so did Miller and Peja when switched on him) but dominated the matchup from the 2nd onward. Seemed to feed off of the energy of the kids as the game went along, and got his hands on a lot of balls. Brought the ball up the court on several occasions as we ran PG (or point PF) by committee. Made a spectacular play in the third that few PFs can dream of -- cleanly picking the pocket of a PG with those great hands and heading on down the court for a breakaway dunk. But the story of this game from him as far as I am concerend was his leadership in a tough physical game.
Miller ( A ) -- one of his most aggressive games in weeks. Got off to a slow start in the first quarter, but then kicked it into gear and got involved. Hit almost everything he put up, and was not doing that annoying hesitation thing with his shots. Also really helped us with his passing on a night when we had no PG and an inexperienced backcourt. Went to war with Webb on the glass, and in a tough physical game did not get into his tiresome argue-with-the-refs chippiness. This was All-Star Brad tonight. One minor tick -- still missing FTs, and needs to get his stoke figured out.
Evans ( B- ) -- first note: took a scary scary fall in the last two minutes as he was clotheslined by Carlos Boozer and pulled out of the air. Lay on the floor for a long long time and was bleeding from the ear. As for the game itself: not as good as his recent efforts, but still a contributor. Looked out of rhythm on offense, and there I wonder if the lack of Bibby, with whom he has a real chemistry, might have hurt. In any case, for one of the few times this season did not always play within himself, forced some one on one type shots, and that's not what he does well. Still had his daily spectacular dunk of course, this one courtesy of Miller. Defense was on and off. Made some mistakes, but hustle as always.
House ( C- ) -- got the start, and came out in the first half and really struggled. Just again looked unable to run the team. Got pulled mid-1st and did not return until after halftime. Rick did him a favor and ran a play for him right out of halftime which got him a free hoop. Seemed to settle him a little. Still was not good, but wasn't an actual detriment therafter. Had some moments where he showed defensive quickness the likes of which we haven't seen in Sacramento in some time. Took an ill-advised quick shot late which annoyed me, but made up for it by hitting a big shot in the last two minutes.
Martin ( B- ) -- was less unhappy with his game than his shooting numbers might indicate. But about the shooting -- the good is that he is clearly showing the game of a primary offensive weapon including the ability to post up smaller guards and drive aggressively to draw fouls. The bad is that he fell back into his training camp habit of forcing the drive and charging into the lane out of control. Might work in a small college against lesser athletes, not in the NBA with behemoths patrolling the paint. Made a couple of forces on the selfish side where he could have found teammates but looked for his own shot instead. But also found Peja for a couple of big open threes in the 4th that really gave us a boost. Gave us excellent energy on defense, and showed the ablity to harass PGs -- with his quickness and lack of bulk I think he might be able to help us there as his career progresses. Saw both Adelman and Webber talking to him as the game went along and he made mistakes -- but not angrily, just as teachers. He'll learn.
Barnes ( A- ) -- best game from Matt in a long time. On a night when we really had no PG, Matt went back and showed some of that great versatility that was so intriguing about him early in the season. He's a SF, but he really sees the floor, and he was very effective running the point for us tonight. Gave us hustle and athleticism, and was mostly in control. Also unfortunately started to get a little sloppy again late, and he's just got to find ways to cut down those mistakes if he wants to regain consistent playing time.
Songaila ( A- ) -- not as good as either of our starters tonight, and you could feel the team losing momentum with him in there in place of Miller in the mid to late 4th. But still a strong efficient game. Had a few defensive issues, but nothing serious. Got on the glass for us. Made an impressive one handed running dunk in the 4th.
Tag ( INC ) -- the first victim of Utah's aggression tonight. Brief 2nd quarter stint ended when he got smacked in the mouth and looked like he had his two front teeth knocked out. Lot of blood in the mouth. Made a nice pass to a slashing Evans or Barnes (I forget which) before exiting stage left.
Adelman ( A+ ) -- A+...not much more to say. Again very shorthanded -- we had three explosive scoring guards sitting next to each other in street clothes (Bobby, Bibby, Mobley) and ran away with this one on the strength of our starting frontcourt. THIS was the frontcourt that I think we all hoped for before the season. Three All-Stars playing at an All-Star level. But Rick also explored his entire bench tonight, and by mixing and matching all of our young guards and swingmen, found enough support to win the game. Without a true point, kept on switching up who played point throughout the game. House, Barnes, Webber and Martin all took turns. And the team's spirit tonight was excellent. Utah wanted to play football out there, and our team fought back big time. Its possible we could lose Peja or Webber to a suspension, but you know what? I don't care. We fought. We cared. We were not soft. Great to see.
Webber ( A ) -- big strong efficient game, and damn near earned the "+" tonight for being a real leader for us out there tonight. Grabbed rugged boards and had everybody's back on a night when we got into a real war with the Jazz. Had a few problems with Boozer early (so did Miller and Peja when switched on him) but dominated the matchup from the 2nd onward. Seemed to feed off of the energy of the kids as the game went along, and got his hands on a lot of balls. Brought the ball up the court on several occasions as we ran PG (or point PF) by committee. Made a spectacular play in the third that few PFs can dream of -- cleanly picking the pocket of a PG with those great hands and heading on down the court for a breakaway dunk. But the story of this game from him as far as I am concerend was his leadership in a tough physical game.
Miller ( A ) -- one of his most aggressive games in weeks. Got off to a slow start in the first quarter, but then kicked it into gear and got involved. Hit almost everything he put up, and was not doing that annoying hesitation thing with his shots. Also really helped us with his passing on a night when we had no PG and an inexperienced backcourt. Went to war with Webb on the glass, and in a tough physical game did not get into his tiresome argue-with-the-refs chippiness. This was All-Star Brad tonight. One minor tick -- still missing FTs, and needs to get his stoke figured out.
Evans ( B- ) -- first note: took a scary scary fall in the last two minutes as he was clotheslined by Carlos Boozer and pulled out of the air. Lay on the floor for a long long time and was bleeding from the ear. As for the game itself: not as good as his recent efforts, but still a contributor. Looked out of rhythm on offense, and there I wonder if the lack of Bibby, with whom he has a real chemistry, might have hurt. In any case, for one of the few times this season did not always play within himself, forced some one on one type shots, and that's not what he does well. Still had his daily spectacular dunk of course, this one courtesy of Miller. Defense was on and off. Made some mistakes, but hustle as always.
House ( C- ) -- got the start, and came out in the first half and really struggled. Just again looked unable to run the team. Got pulled mid-1st and did not return until after halftime. Rick did him a favor and ran a play for him right out of halftime which got him a free hoop. Seemed to settle him a little. Still was not good, but wasn't an actual detriment therafter. Had some moments where he showed defensive quickness the likes of which we haven't seen in Sacramento in some time. Took an ill-advised quick shot late which annoyed me, but made up for it by hitting a big shot in the last two minutes.
Martin ( B- ) -- was less unhappy with his game than his shooting numbers might indicate. But about the shooting -- the good is that he is clearly showing the game of a primary offensive weapon including the ability to post up smaller guards and drive aggressively to draw fouls. The bad is that he fell back into his training camp habit of forcing the drive and charging into the lane out of control. Might work in a small college against lesser athletes, not in the NBA with behemoths patrolling the paint. Made a couple of forces on the selfish side where he could have found teammates but looked for his own shot instead. But also found Peja for a couple of big open threes in the 4th that really gave us a boost. Gave us excellent energy on defense, and showed the ablity to harass PGs -- with his quickness and lack of bulk I think he might be able to help us there as his career progresses. Saw both Adelman and Webber talking to him as the game went along and he made mistakes -- but not angrily, just as teachers. He'll learn.
Barnes ( A- ) -- best game from Matt in a long time. On a night when we really had no PG, Matt went back and showed some of that great versatility that was so intriguing about him early in the season. He's a SF, but he really sees the floor, and he was very effective running the point for us tonight. Gave us hustle and athleticism, and was mostly in control. Also unfortunately started to get a little sloppy again late, and he's just got to find ways to cut down those mistakes if he wants to regain consistent playing time.
Songaila ( A- ) -- not as good as either of our starters tonight, and you could feel the team losing momentum with him in there in place of Miller in the mid to late 4th. But still a strong efficient game. Had a few defensive issues, but nothing serious. Got on the glass for us. Made an impressive one handed running dunk in the 4th.
Tag ( INC ) -- the first victim of Utah's aggression tonight. Brief 2nd quarter stint ended when he got smacked in the mouth and looked like he had his two front teeth knocked out. Lot of blood in the mouth. Made a nice pass to a slashing Evans or Barnes (I forget which) before exiting stage left.
Adelman ( A+ ) -- A+...not much more to say. Again very shorthanded -- we had three explosive scoring guards sitting next to each other in street clothes (Bobby, Bibby, Mobley) and ran away with this one on the strength of our starting frontcourt. THIS was the frontcourt that I think we all hoped for before the season. Three All-Stars playing at an All-Star level. But Rick also explored his entire bench tonight, and by mixing and matching all of our young guards and swingmen, found enough support to win the game. Without a true point, kept on switching up who played point throughout the game. House, Barnes, Webber and Martin all took turns. And the team's spirit tonight was excellent. Utah wanted to play football out there, and our team fought back big time. Its possible we could lose Peja or Webber to a suspension, but you know what? I don't care. We fought. We cared. We were not soft. Great to see.
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