Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
I could not do these at work so tape delayed:
Artest ( D+ ) -- poor game in his return to the garden. Lit up the Knicks earlier this year, lit it up last game, but tonight he was settling for jumpers for most of the night, and not hitting. When he did get inside, created a few shots for teammates. Got his hands on a number of balls for steals, but the overall defensive impact was limited by there being nobody to guard at his position. Had to take a foul when switched onto Curry at one point. And gave up a ket basket to Jamaal Crawford in the last minute -- althoguh gave up is not really the right word because Ron contested it all the way, and Crawford just hit a great teardrop over him (and everyone else). More important were soem not terribly bright attempted heroics down the stretch -- missed the dumb forced three with 40 seconds to go, and with us neededing a trhree to tie in the final seconds, it was Ron who came down court with little interest in passing, and chucked the clanker up to seal another loss.
Reef ( A- ) -- started off the game missing a couple of jumpers, but then went to work down inside, and for much of the game was the 1b to Kevin's 1a. Gave us nothing on the glass as we got pounded, but got his hands on a lot of balls on defense, even while being overwhelmed by Curry at times. Things got a bit ugly in the 4th as Reef got quiet, went to the bench, and int he final minutes did the Reef whiny thing where he completely lost his composure over a noncall on a missed dunk he thought he should get. Was running up and down the court bitching at the ref and could have gotten a T. But he stepped back up to hit a big bucket to put us ahead for the final time in the last minute, and on the killer play for us (the illegal screen), he was one of the options (along wiht Kevin).
Taylor ( B- ) -- in there to try to match up physically with the massive Eddie Curry, and actually banged with him pretty well. Scrapped around, grabbed some boards -- again, things that have never been associated with Mo. Taylor, but at least he tried. On the other hand, also got into foul trouble and got sloppy with turnovers when he was last seen in the mid third quarter. Still, this was not a terrible effort for Mo. Came out, gave us a little physicality in there against a very big center. Not great certainly, but he contributed.
Martin ( A ) -- a big effort from Kevin wasted. Started off the game scoring the Kings' first 8 points smoothly stroking jumpers from around the perimeter, and oen of those games when whenever he was open, they were going in. In the late third and early 4th had a string of excellent play, including one really nifty spinning drive to the hoop thaat we have not seen before. Was lighting up Knicks rook Rolando Balkman for many fo those points, who's rep is as a defensive hustler. But kind of a SF/PF defensive hustler, not a quick guard. And so it was interesting that Zeke went to his bench and brought Stephon Marbury back into check Kevin at that point -- not a noted defender -- and he was considerably shut down by the quickness of Starbury from that point onward. An emerging Peja type pattern there where its actually small quick guys that give Kevin more problmes on defense than larger, slower guys. Kevin stpped back up to hit abigt three that looked to get us in position to win it, and we were tryign to get him the ball for the game winner when Corliss stepped out of bounds ont eh screen. Somebody else actually mentioned that that may have been Kevin's fault for running too far out of bounds and forcing Corliss to have to take the wide step to try to pick Kevin's man. Makes sense, but I would have to see the play again. Capped an excellent night on a down note -- got beat by Crawford for the game winning shot. But like Artest a few seconds before, played solid defense, and was just beat by a vetter offensive play.
Bibby ( D ) -- Sigh. Another bad game for Mike. Began the game trying to break the backboard with an ugly brick, and for whatever reason its been right back to the shooting struggle for him. Nor in this one were there ever really any signs of life. No little bursts. No better quarters. Everything was short pretty much the entire night. Matched Ron's 4-15 shot for shot, without the defense, and with turnovers thrown in for good measure. On the ever so modest positive side, he did help a little on the glass in a game where we got beat up inside again, and this time he realized he was ice cold and did not try the late game heroics -- left that to Ron.
Salmons ( D ) -- one of those total nothing games from John. Would not shoot, tried to force the drive, turned it over, and was shaky with his passing. No real defensive impact either. Just one of those things that comes with the Salmons package. Major part of our bench ineffectiveness tongiht though.
Corliss ( C- ) -- from hero to goat -- coming off the monster game Nasty looked shaky all night. In the first half missed his shots, and then got the unfortunate matchup vs. Curry + was overwhelmed. Got back in for the stretch run, and hit two important, but shaky layups to barely roll in. Drew an offensive foul on Curry, but then was shaky ont he FTs and barely hit 1 of 2. And then got fitted for the goat horns as with us down 1 with :18 to go, and needing to hit a shot to stave off defeat, Corliss got called for an illegal screen to give the ball back to the Knicks, where they promptly went up by 3. May have been pulled out of bounds byt eh angle Kevin took, not sure., But upon seeing the replay, it was definitely illegal. So...damn. No boardwork either. Gets what grade he does for the timing of his points, shaky as they were.
Thomas ( C- ) -- did little in his limited minutes tonight. Played most of a shaky 2nd quarter for us, but little boardwork, and aside from one nice hustle play going after a ball headed out of bounds, not much life. More trouble in Kennyland, and a game after losing 2nd half minutes to Corliss, now lost them to Justin Williams. Not a good sign.
Williams ( B+ ) -- hey hey, there ya go kid! This was his real for true debut, and he made a ncie impression. Was lively in there on the glass, had a couple of finishes at the rim, and went after a lot of shots on defense. Didn't get any that counted, but at least somebody back there was waving his arms. Flipside is this a) seeing him out there with Reef, he is actually no bigger than Reef is, and considerably skinnier + with a very narrow build. Thus he was way too small to body Curry -- you can see he has nowhere near NBA center size. But nonetheless hustled, made an impact with the rest of his game. Might be Yogi Stewart part II (again the parallels to our last rebuilding season in '98).
Garcia ( B- ) -- got in for one possession to close the 2nd quarter, but still got a second stint after half to open thr 4th quarter, and made a postive contribution in his minutes. Hit a hustle layup, got a steal, a good hustle board. Did miss an open three. But for a few minutes there was doing mostly good things for us in front of the hometown fans, especially as part of an unusual Salmons/Martin/Garcia backcourt that briefly pushed the lead out.
Douby ( INC ) -- short first half stint, missed a three, did nothing terrible, but only returned for the final :30 seconds of the first half
Price ( INC ) -- just a single possession at the end fo the first half
Muss ( B ) -- Ok, another tough loss. And they are obviously just piling up now. But Muss himself has been doing a little better of late. If you'd asked me how he was doing in the first half, I would not have been so charitable -- as usual his substitution patterns remain mystifying, and we really suffered in the second quarter because of it. Guys we had ont eh floor had rarely played together and had no idea how to break the zoen the Knicks fell into. And Muss's use of the NY kids in particular was just...odd. As was whatever role KT is in now. But after half things went better...at least for Muss (to be fair I thought the decision to start Mo to body Curry was a good one too, although Muss may have been determined to start him whatever the matchup). We played better in the third, and Muss's decision to roll the dice with Justin Williams rather than one of the vets after Mo got into foul trouble turne dout to be an inspired one. Kid was far from perfect, but gave us a burst of energy inside. An early 4th quarter experimental lineup featuring Salmons/Cisco and Kevin as the three guards also worked well...at least for a while. Very athletic obviously, but John was not playing well today and had to be the primary ballhandler there. Muss actually saw the Salmons limitations today, and did not force him to play longer minutes than he deserved however, and his insertion of his other veteran crutch -- Corliss --for the stretch run was a mixed bag. He did score for us, but it looked shaky. And then of course he made the big mistake with :18 seconds to go. Muss had the right play called though -- in fact twice in a row called the same play with the game on the line -- a long set of screens trying to free up our hottest hand (Kevin) with a secondary option being our 2nd hottest hand (Reef). For once we were getting the balls into the right hands. Well...except for the forces by Ron whihc for Muss's sake I am going to assume he did not call for. Still all adds up to another loss, and a nght after getting 30pts form one bench player, tongiht we got a grand total of 13 out of all fo them combined. As usual, nothing that we can count on from night to night on this squad. Except the losing. But at least the helmsman looked a little steadier tonight, and did more good than he did bad.
Artest ( D+ ) -- poor game in his return to the garden. Lit up the Knicks earlier this year, lit it up last game, but tonight he was settling for jumpers for most of the night, and not hitting. When he did get inside, created a few shots for teammates. Got his hands on a number of balls for steals, but the overall defensive impact was limited by there being nobody to guard at his position. Had to take a foul when switched onto Curry at one point. And gave up a ket basket to Jamaal Crawford in the last minute -- althoguh gave up is not really the right word because Ron contested it all the way, and Crawford just hit a great teardrop over him (and everyone else). More important were soem not terribly bright attempted heroics down the stretch -- missed the dumb forced three with 40 seconds to go, and with us neededing a trhree to tie in the final seconds, it was Ron who came down court with little interest in passing, and chucked the clanker up to seal another loss.
Reef ( A- ) -- started off the game missing a couple of jumpers, but then went to work down inside, and for much of the game was the 1b to Kevin's 1a. Gave us nothing on the glass as we got pounded, but got his hands on a lot of balls on defense, even while being overwhelmed by Curry at times. Things got a bit ugly in the 4th as Reef got quiet, went to the bench, and int he final minutes did the Reef whiny thing where he completely lost his composure over a noncall on a missed dunk he thought he should get. Was running up and down the court bitching at the ref and could have gotten a T. But he stepped back up to hit a big bucket to put us ahead for the final time in the last minute, and on the killer play for us (the illegal screen), he was one of the options (along wiht Kevin).
Taylor ( B- ) -- in there to try to match up physically with the massive Eddie Curry, and actually banged with him pretty well. Scrapped around, grabbed some boards -- again, things that have never been associated with Mo. Taylor, but at least he tried. On the other hand, also got into foul trouble and got sloppy with turnovers when he was last seen in the mid third quarter. Still, this was not a terrible effort for Mo. Came out, gave us a little physicality in there against a very big center. Not great certainly, but he contributed.
Martin ( A ) -- a big effort from Kevin wasted. Started off the game scoring the Kings' first 8 points smoothly stroking jumpers from around the perimeter, and oen of those games when whenever he was open, they were going in. In the late third and early 4th had a string of excellent play, including one really nifty spinning drive to the hoop thaat we have not seen before. Was lighting up Knicks rook Rolando Balkman for many fo those points, who's rep is as a defensive hustler. But kind of a SF/PF defensive hustler, not a quick guard. And so it was interesting that Zeke went to his bench and brought Stephon Marbury back into check Kevin at that point -- not a noted defender -- and he was considerably shut down by the quickness of Starbury from that point onward. An emerging Peja type pattern there where its actually small quick guys that give Kevin more problmes on defense than larger, slower guys. Kevin stpped back up to hit abigt three that looked to get us in position to win it, and we were tryign to get him the ball for the game winner when Corliss stepped out of bounds ont eh screen. Somebody else actually mentioned that that may have been Kevin's fault for running too far out of bounds and forcing Corliss to have to take the wide step to try to pick Kevin's man. Makes sense, but I would have to see the play again. Capped an excellent night on a down note -- got beat by Crawford for the game winning shot. But like Artest a few seconds before, played solid defense, and was just beat by a vetter offensive play.
Bibby ( D ) -- Sigh. Another bad game for Mike. Began the game trying to break the backboard with an ugly brick, and for whatever reason its been right back to the shooting struggle for him. Nor in this one were there ever really any signs of life. No little bursts. No better quarters. Everything was short pretty much the entire night. Matched Ron's 4-15 shot for shot, without the defense, and with turnovers thrown in for good measure. On the ever so modest positive side, he did help a little on the glass in a game where we got beat up inside again, and this time he realized he was ice cold and did not try the late game heroics -- left that to Ron.
Salmons ( D ) -- one of those total nothing games from John. Would not shoot, tried to force the drive, turned it over, and was shaky with his passing. No real defensive impact either. Just one of those things that comes with the Salmons package. Major part of our bench ineffectiveness tongiht though.
Corliss ( C- ) -- from hero to goat -- coming off the monster game Nasty looked shaky all night. In the first half missed his shots, and then got the unfortunate matchup vs. Curry + was overwhelmed. Got back in for the stretch run, and hit two important, but shaky layups to barely roll in. Drew an offensive foul on Curry, but then was shaky ont he FTs and barely hit 1 of 2. And then got fitted for the goat horns as with us down 1 with :18 to go, and needing to hit a shot to stave off defeat, Corliss got called for an illegal screen to give the ball back to the Knicks, where they promptly went up by 3. May have been pulled out of bounds byt eh angle Kevin took, not sure., But upon seeing the replay, it was definitely illegal. So...damn. No boardwork either. Gets what grade he does for the timing of his points, shaky as they were.
Thomas ( C- ) -- did little in his limited minutes tonight. Played most of a shaky 2nd quarter for us, but little boardwork, and aside from one nice hustle play going after a ball headed out of bounds, not much life. More trouble in Kennyland, and a game after losing 2nd half minutes to Corliss, now lost them to Justin Williams. Not a good sign.
Williams ( B+ ) -- hey hey, there ya go kid! This was his real for true debut, and he made a ncie impression. Was lively in there on the glass, had a couple of finishes at the rim, and went after a lot of shots on defense. Didn't get any that counted, but at least somebody back there was waving his arms. Flipside is this a) seeing him out there with Reef, he is actually no bigger than Reef is, and considerably skinnier + with a very narrow build. Thus he was way too small to body Curry -- you can see he has nowhere near NBA center size. But nonetheless hustled, made an impact with the rest of his game. Might be Yogi Stewart part II (again the parallels to our last rebuilding season in '98).
Garcia ( B- ) -- got in for one possession to close the 2nd quarter, but still got a second stint after half to open thr 4th quarter, and made a postive contribution in his minutes. Hit a hustle layup, got a steal, a good hustle board. Did miss an open three. But for a few minutes there was doing mostly good things for us in front of the hometown fans, especially as part of an unusual Salmons/Martin/Garcia backcourt that briefly pushed the lead out.
Douby ( INC ) -- short first half stint, missed a three, did nothing terrible, but only returned for the final :30 seconds of the first half
Price ( INC ) -- just a single possession at the end fo the first half
Muss ( B ) -- Ok, another tough loss. And they are obviously just piling up now. But Muss himself has been doing a little better of late. If you'd asked me how he was doing in the first half, I would not have been so charitable -- as usual his substitution patterns remain mystifying, and we really suffered in the second quarter because of it. Guys we had ont eh floor had rarely played together and had no idea how to break the zoen the Knicks fell into. And Muss's use of the NY kids in particular was just...odd. As was whatever role KT is in now. But after half things went better...at least for Muss (to be fair I thought the decision to start Mo to body Curry was a good one too, although Muss may have been determined to start him whatever the matchup). We played better in the third, and Muss's decision to roll the dice with Justin Williams rather than one of the vets after Mo got into foul trouble turne dout to be an inspired one. Kid was far from perfect, but gave us a burst of energy inside. An early 4th quarter experimental lineup featuring Salmons/Cisco and Kevin as the three guards also worked well...at least for a while. Very athletic obviously, but John was not playing well today and had to be the primary ballhandler there. Muss actually saw the Salmons limitations today, and did not force him to play longer minutes than he deserved however, and his insertion of his other veteran crutch -- Corliss --for the stretch run was a mixed bag. He did score for us, but it looked shaky. And then of course he made the big mistake with :18 seconds to go. Muss had the right play called though -- in fact twice in a row called the same play with the game on the line -- a long set of screens trying to free up our hottest hand (Kevin) with a secondary option being our 2nd hottest hand (Reef). For once we were getting the balls into the right hands. Well...except for the forces by Ron whihc for Muss's sake I am going to assume he did not call for. Still all adds up to another loss, and a nght after getting 30pts form one bench player, tongiht we got a grand total of 13 out of all fo them combined. As usual, nothing that we can count on from night to night on this squad. Except the losing. But at least the helmsman looked a little steadier tonight, and did more good than he did bad.
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