Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
And so the Kings "Whatever" tour continues, but at least you can take a little solace in the Lakers blowing an opportunity here -- this one could come back to haunt them when it comes to seeding at the end of the year.
Ron Artest ( B ) : 27min 17pts (6-14 FG, 0-2 3pt, 5-6 FT) 4rebs 2ast 4stl 1blk 3TO
Hyped up and amazingly showing no ill effects from his "injury". Was so active he was borderline out of control. Wanted this to be about him. Hit a jumper to close the first quarter and give us the lead. Came up with some spectacular plays in the second. Several full court gallops, a bunch of steals (Lakers were very sloppy in the first half). Was causing a lot of problems for Odom once again. Got chippy and out of control in the 3rd, and that was that. Reggie benched him. No more Ron for the entire game. Not in the 4th. Not down the stretch. Not even on the final play of the game when we needed a defensive stop. Very interesting. Reggie may want to invest in one of these: http://www.darksword-armory.com/images/gorget2main.jpg .
Mikki Moore ( A- ) -- 32min 14pts (5-7 FG, 0-0 3pt, 4-4 FT) 9rebs 1ast 1stl 0blk 3TO
While all the early attention was on Ron and Kevin, Mikki kind of quietly tied for our first quarter lead in scoring. As usual, working off of the attention drawn by the other players. But disappeared, both literally onto the bench, and just spiritually for the bulk of the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Missed a tip follow off the offensive rebound that would have put us up 5 going into the 4th. However popped back up to make a major contribution down the strecth...both ways. Finished off a nifty Beno pass, then calmly drained a long jumper of the no no no no Yes! variety. Then got a technical for throwing his elbows up high in response to pesky Vujacic defense, letting the Lakes get with 1 with 2:39 to go. Again got a dunk courtesy of Beno after slipping the screen with no Lakers rotation. And finished things off by providing long armed help defense to cause Kobe to come up short on the final shot to win it. This grade was up, then down, then back up again, and clocks in nicely here after it was nto Ron, not Kevin, not Salmons or Brad or whoever, but Beno Udrih and Mikki Moore who combined to lead us to the upset win down the stretch.
Brad Miller ( D ) -- 22min 2pts (1-2 FG, 0-0 3pt, 0-0 FT) 6reb 2ast 2stl 1blk 2TO
Well, at least Brad is consistent. Unlike the rest of these only play when I feel like it weenies, even with everybody else going well, Brad still gave us nothing. Hit his first and onyl bucket of the game on a midrange jumper in the third. Got into early foul trouble and spent a long time on the bench as Hawes outplayed him. Kind of makes you wonder -- Brad's disappearaance coincided with Ron's "sore foot", and you wonder if the trigger was the same. A mention of playing the kids maybe? Maybe Brad resented having Spencer taking his minutes? In any case if he keeps on giving us nothing games, and Spencer keeps on outplaying him, that's just what's going to happen.
Kevin Martin ( B- ) -- 38min 21pts (7-12 FG, 0-0 3pt, 7-8 FT) 4reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 3TO
Well this time the big first half, disappear for the second half pattern repeated itself, but the details were all different. Had a solid first half mostly with the fouls drawing. Came on down the stretch of the second quarter and finished with a solid 17pt half. Was benefitting immensely from Phil's utterly mystifying decision to start Vladimir Radmanovic against us. Quiet in the third, but got a couple of hoops later in the period to help us cling to a small lead. Then for the second Lakers game in a row came up with the big goose egg for the 4th quarter. But this is where things got different. First and foremost while Kevin had only 4 pts after half, well hey, this time those 4 points after half were only 2 less than Kobe had after the break. And whereas last time it was Kobe stepping up to shut him down on one end and dominate us on the other, this time not only was Kobe not dominant offensively, but the defender was not Kobe, but rather Sasha Vujacic. Which sounds ridiculous, but Kevin was perhaps bothered by Vujacic's quickness and tencacity -- and he is not the first King to have probelms with that scrub -- used to cause Bibby fits as well. While he had nothing himself, Kevin did contribute with a nice feed to Hawes for a dunk down the stretch (followed immediately by one from Beno).
Ron Artest ( B ) : 27min 17pts (6-14 FG, 0-2 3pt, 5-6 FT) 4rebs 2ast 4stl 1blk 3TO
Hyped up and amazingly showing no ill effects from his "injury". Was so active he was borderline out of control. Wanted this to be about him. Hit a jumper to close the first quarter and give us the lead. Came up with some spectacular plays in the second. Several full court gallops, a bunch of steals (Lakers were very sloppy in the first half). Was causing a lot of problems for Odom once again. Got chippy and out of control in the 3rd, and that was that. Reggie benched him. No more Ron for the entire game. Not in the 4th. Not down the stretch. Not even on the final play of the game when we needed a defensive stop. Very interesting. Reggie may want to invest in one of these: http://www.darksword-armory.com/images/gorget2main.jpg .
Mikki Moore ( A- ) -- 32min 14pts (5-7 FG, 0-0 3pt, 4-4 FT) 9rebs 1ast 1stl 0blk 3TO
While all the early attention was on Ron and Kevin, Mikki kind of quietly tied for our first quarter lead in scoring. As usual, working off of the attention drawn by the other players. But disappeared, both literally onto the bench, and just spiritually for the bulk of the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Missed a tip follow off the offensive rebound that would have put us up 5 going into the 4th. However popped back up to make a major contribution down the strecth...both ways. Finished off a nifty Beno pass, then calmly drained a long jumper of the no no no no Yes! variety. Then got a technical for throwing his elbows up high in response to pesky Vujacic defense, letting the Lakes get with 1 with 2:39 to go. Again got a dunk courtesy of Beno after slipping the screen with no Lakers rotation. And finished things off by providing long armed help defense to cause Kobe to come up short on the final shot to win it. This grade was up, then down, then back up again, and clocks in nicely here after it was nto Ron, not Kevin, not Salmons or Brad or whoever, but Beno Udrih and Mikki Moore who combined to lead us to the upset win down the stretch.
Brad Miller ( D ) -- 22min 2pts (1-2 FG, 0-0 3pt, 0-0 FT) 6reb 2ast 2stl 1blk 2TO
Well, at least Brad is consistent. Unlike the rest of these only play when I feel like it weenies, even with everybody else going well, Brad still gave us nothing. Hit his first and onyl bucket of the game on a midrange jumper in the third. Got into early foul trouble and spent a long time on the bench as Hawes outplayed him. Kind of makes you wonder -- Brad's disappearaance coincided with Ron's "sore foot", and you wonder if the trigger was the same. A mention of playing the kids maybe? Maybe Brad resented having Spencer taking his minutes? In any case if he keeps on giving us nothing games, and Spencer keeps on outplaying him, that's just what's going to happen.
Kevin Martin ( B- ) -- 38min 21pts (7-12 FG, 0-0 3pt, 7-8 FT) 4reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 3TO
Well this time the big first half, disappear for the second half pattern repeated itself, but the details were all different. Had a solid first half mostly with the fouls drawing. Came on down the stretch of the second quarter and finished with a solid 17pt half. Was benefitting immensely from Phil's utterly mystifying decision to start Vladimir Radmanovic against us. Quiet in the third, but got a couple of hoops later in the period to help us cling to a small lead. Then for the second Lakers game in a row came up with the big goose egg for the 4th quarter. But this is where things got different. First and foremost while Kevin had only 4 pts after half, well hey, this time those 4 points after half were only 2 less than Kobe had after the break. And whereas last time it was Kobe stepping up to shut him down on one end and dominate us on the other, this time not only was Kobe not dominant offensively, but the defender was not Kobe, but rather Sasha Vujacic. Which sounds ridiculous, but Kevin was perhaps bothered by Vujacic's quickness and tencacity -- and he is not the first King to have probelms with that scrub -- used to cause Bibby fits as well. While he had nothing himself, Kevin did contribute with a nice feed to Hawes for a dunk down the stretch (followed immediately by one from Beno).
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