Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Peja ( INC ) -- was off to a scorching A/A+ start where he was hitting everything he threw up -- 14pts in 8 min. The flip side was that Walton and Butler were scoring back on him every possession (not much defense played tonight by anybody), but it was still a heck of a start. And then of course our curse rose up one more time, and suddenly we lost him to a groin injury. Just lovely.
Thomas ( B- ) -- got off to a very quiet start and was a non-factor in the first half. Came on strong in the second half to get up around his customary numbers, but began to force things a bit in the 4th, and took shots out of his comfort zone. Amazing that even one dribble turns the money 18ft jumper into a shotput. Also missed what would have been a monster follow dunk.
Skinner ( C+ ) -- had some good moments when he was actually on the floor, in particular on the offensive glass. Problem was he couldn't stay on the floor, and that took him out of the game both physically and mentally. Really did very little in the second half other than get into foul trouble, went to the bench, and never returned.
Mobley ( B+ ) -- was playing a strong overall game through three quarters. Not pouring in huge numbers of points, but really setting everybody else up. But in a significant reversal of his normal pattern, his play fell off in the 4th quarter until he hit a sealing three in the final 2 minutes. Had real problems on defense and the glass with Butler late. Picked up some free points on some late idiocy by the Lakers -- kind of a bizarre turn of events with a) Luke Walton nearly notching a triple double for the game; b) Luke inexplicably being pulled from the game at the 6 minute mark despite great play; and c) then returning him for the final garbagetime seconds and intetionally fouling us in a belated attempt to get the TD. Overall still a strong game for Cat, but the luster was dulled a bit by some late forces and defensive struggles.
Bibby ( A- ) -- Was playing a fairly quiet game for 3/4 in what was looking to be another easy blowout over a pathetic opponent. I even had a little hope that when he took his customary late rest he might be able to take the rest of the night off. But had to make an emergency return to the game in the 4th quarter with us beginning to unravel, and played the rest of the way out. And more than played, carried us home one more time. Aside from choking a pair of free throws, Mike was once again the guy making the big shots and passes for us down the stretch, and even did a little better job defensively than Eddie House had been.
Evans ( B ) -- Nice game from Evans more or less stepping up in place of the injured Peja (it appears that Rick has decided that Corliss is better at PF
). Solid but not dominant effort inside and on the boards, but really had the outside stroke going, and I have no idea when teams are going to realize that he's got a Bruce Bowenesque three point shooting game -- money in the corners, out of his range up top. Not much impact on defense this time out no matter who he was guarding.
Willaimson ( B ) -- Had some impact in his early minutes, and not only in his normal ways but also by coming up with steals and even leading the fast break on a few occassions. Also bailed us out big time late in the game with a critical post up score with 2 1/2 to go. The Lakers had closed to 5 and we were really struggling, but Corliss got the 3pt play to open it back up and out of reach. Had his struggles on defense where he joined our fouling trio and was repeatedly a step late in cutting off penetration. Eventually fouled out, but at least he was TRYING to get in front of somebody. Wish somebody else would.
Songaila ( C- ) -- had a few moments of muscling up inside, but I'm sorry, this fouling thing has gotten entirely out of control. 5 in 11 minutes tonight, and he and Skinner combined for a nifty 10 fouls in 33 combined minutes. Just out of control. Can't help if you can't stay on the floor. One measely rebound tonight as well.
House ( D+ ) -- for the first time in a long time, House came in and we actually fell off significantly and almost got ourselves in trouble there in the 4th quarter. Was having a lot of problems with Sasha Vujacic, and it was actually left to Bibby to come in and provide some defense.
Martin ( INC ) -- didn't do much in his first half stint but pick up a couple of fouls.
Adelman ( B- ) -- Not really sure how to grade Rick this time out. On the positive side after Peja's injury Rick thoroughly explored the non-Tag bench, got solid if not spectacular performances out of a number of guys, and seemed to be willing to try to treat this as an exhibition where he would play everybody. But on the other, we managed to once again turn what should have been an easy blowout over a terrible team into a close one late, and that of course meant we had to bring back the starters for big minutes. Also got beat on the boards again and played no defense, and there again Rick deserves some blame as he CONTINUES to insist on small balling us right into Dallashood. Good enough to beat the Lakers. Try it against an elite team in the playoffs and it will be good night. Overall thought Rick did a solid enough job, but the overall game did not turn out as well as I initially hoped.
Thomas ( B- ) -- got off to a very quiet start and was a non-factor in the first half. Came on strong in the second half to get up around his customary numbers, but began to force things a bit in the 4th, and took shots out of his comfort zone. Amazing that even one dribble turns the money 18ft jumper into a shotput. Also missed what would have been a monster follow dunk.
Skinner ( C+ ) -- had some good moments when he was actually on the floor, in particular on the offensive glass. Problem was he couldn't stay on the floor, and that took him out of the game both physically and mentally. Really did very little in the second half other than get into foul trouble, went to the bench, and never returned.
Mobley ( B+ ) -- was playing a strong overall game through three quarters. Not pouring in huge numbers of points, but really setting everybody else up. But in a significant reversal of his normal pattern, his play fell off in the 4th quarter until he hit a sealing three in the final 2 minutes. Had real problems on defense and the glass with Butler late. Picked up some free points on some late idiocy by the Lakers -- kind of a bizarre turn of events with a) Luke Walton nearly notching a triple double for the game; b) Luke inexplicably being pulled from the game at the 6 minute mark despite great play; and c) then returning him for the final garbagetime seconds and intetionally fouling us in a belated attempt to get the TD. Overall still a strong game for Cat, but the luster was dulled a bit by some late forces and defensive struggles.
Bibby ( A- ) -- Was playing a fairly quiet game for 3/4 in what was looking to be another easy blowout over a pathetic opponent. I even had a little hope that when he took his customary late rest he might be able to take the rest of the night off. But had to make an emergency return to the game in the 4th quarter with us beginning to unravel, and played the rest of the way out. And more than played, carried us home one more time. Aside from choking a pair of free throws, Mike was once again the guy making the big shots and passes for us down the stretch, and even did a little better job defensively than Eddie House had been.
Evans ( B ) -- Nice game from Evans more or less stepping up in place of the injured Peja (it appears that Rick has decided that Corliss is better at PF
). Solid but not dominant effort inside and on the boards, but really had the outside stroke going, and I have no idea when teams are going to realize that he's got a Bruce Bowenesque three point shooting game -- money in the corners, out of his range up top. Not much impact on defense this time out no matter who he was guarding.Willaimson ( B ) -- Had some impact in his early minutes, and not only in his normal ways but also by coming up with steals and even leading the fast break on a few occassions. Also bailed us out big time late in the game with a critical post up score with 2 1/2 to go. The Lakers had closed to 5 and we were really struggling, but Corliss got the 3pt play to open it back up and out of reach. Had his struggles on defense where he joined our fouling trio and was repeatedly a step late in cutting off penetration. Eventually fouled out, but at least he was TRYING to get in front of somebody. Wish somebody else would.
Songaila ( C- ) -- had a few moments of muscling up inside, but I'm sorry, this fouling thing has gotten entirely out of control. 5 in 11 minutes tonight, and he and Skinner combined for a nifty 10 fouls in 33 combined minutes. Just out of control. Can't help if you can't stay on the floor. One measely rebound tonight as well.
House ( D+ ) -- for the first time in a long time, House came in and we actually fell off significantly and almost got ourselves in trouble there in the 4th quarter. Was having a lot of problems with Sasha Vujacic, and it was actually left to Bibby to come in and provide some defense.
Martin ( INC ) -- didn't do much in his first half stint but pick up a couple of fouls.
Adelman ( B- ) -- Not really sure how to grade Rick this time out. On the positive side after Peja's injury Rick thoroughly explored the non-Tag bench, got solid if not spectacular performances out of a number of guys, and seemed to be willing to try to treat this as an exhibition where he would play everybody. But on the other, we managed to once again turn what should have been an easy blowout over a terrible team into a close one late, and that of course meant we had to bring back the starters for big minutes. Also got beat on the boards again and played no defense, and there again Rick deserves some blame as he CONTINUES to insist on small balling us right into Dallashood. Good enough to beat the Lakers. Try it against an elite team in the playoffs and it will be good night. Overall thought Rick did a solid enough job, but the overall game did not turn out as well as I initially hoped.
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I'm not really comfortable hearing people keep saying he's "done for the season" or "he's out for the season" I immediately flip out before I realize and say to myself "Sha thats 3 games"...I rather hear "Peja will be out for the next 3 games" that makes it sound a hell of a lot better...well for me anyway...hopefully others will step up big time...Cat and Kenny are gonna have to step there scoring up much more to help fill that 20 point gap...:sigh:...ofcourse Cat had to play 43 mins tonight...
You can't get wide open looks every possession. I want Mike or Cat (Peja's hurt) to be the ones that take the tough shots when they play good D, not Kenny or Corliss!
