Grades v. Lakers 10/17 (pre)

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Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Adjusted after taking a look at the box. Kevin = up. Ron, Mo = down.

Perhaps a microcasm fo the coming season: the positives = the backcourt; the negatives = the frontcourt.

Artest ( C+ ) -- had more of an impact on defense early in this one, but the offense was a struggle again. Near the end of the third though he got on one of his hot streaks where he was hitting everything. I think overall, maybe another preseason B-
Thomas ( C ) -- had a brief bit of offensive aggression in the first, with mixed results, but otherwise another quiet outing.
Miller ( C- ) -- really didn't do much, other than begin the second half with a couple of sloppy passes for TOs. Wasn't victimized much directly on defense, but the help was back to nonexistent.
Martin ( A- ) -- Returned to his summer league stomping grounds, but got off to a slow/sluggish start and was unable to convert from inside or out in the first half. Came out much more focused in the third, and had a big quarter, largely just by getting out in the open court and running, running, running. Supplemented by drawing fouls. Think the big third quarter outweighs the first quarter struggles.
Bibby ( A- ) -- another very strong showing from Mike. This time the defense was not as eyeopening, but still solid. But offensively Mike not only lit it up again, but also worked well with Kevin in the 3rd quarter to get him going as well.
Taylor ( C- ) -- Mo came right into the game to make a positive impression, taking a charge on one side of the court, and hit his patented, and classic King-PF, little 17ft faceup jumper on the other end. In the second half, not nearly so good, as first the nightmare of Mo at center took place, and then he was ineffective to boot. Ronny Turiaf's eyes lit up as he just attacked the rim at will. Overall? Mayeb a C+. Maybe. Saw what he can do in the first half. Playing out of position in the second, largely got worked over by a 2nd round pick with a two piece sternum.
Reef ( C ) -- came in early, but had trouble getting into a rhythm. Was quiet again in the 4th, despite being the old salt on t he floor, but did hit an improtant momentum shifting shot to break an 11-0 Lakers run. Wasn't terrible, but didn't do much. Get the feeling that Reef is taking the vet approach to preseason -- i.e. ease on into it rather than really go full speed.
Salmons ( A- ) -- slouched around out there in the first half doing little, but when the game was on the line made a slough of nice plays to largely carry is to victory.
Garcia ( C- ) -- active in the second quarter, and got to the line repeatedly to give us a spark on both ends. But was still having a hard time hitting jumpers, and in the 4th quarter fell victim to all of his worst demons, playing out of control, missing shots, making dumb decisions. Sucha bad stint that it considerably outweighed his solid first half.
Price ( A- ) -- gave us a big offensive boost off the bench in the 2nd, and while he didn't do much on that end in the 4th, he made several good hustle plays to help us hold off a preseason rally by the Lakers. Made some mistakes along the way too, but that is kind of expected.
Douby ( B- ) -- airballed his first shot, but came back to hit a three near the end of the quarter, and made a couple of nice open court plays therafter -- a nice long pass on the break to hit Corliss in stride, and a steal in the backcourt. Not much in the second half.
Admundson ( INC ) -- only got one short stint in the second quarter, but impressed with some nice hustle plays on both ends.
Williams ( INC ) -- went up and blocked Andrew "we wouldn't trade him for Ron Artest" Bynum, but only got one short first half stint.
Woods ( INC ) -- had almost forgotten he played. Maybe not a good sign for him.
Corliss ( A- ) -- drew fouls and was very active in a first half stint. Making his argument, just not sure where he fits. Maybe in Cisco's spot after a bad showing tonight?

Muss -- well, our starters looked very sluggish to start, but the camp invites and benchers picked us up and gave us a healthy lead by half. defienitely nowhere near the showing form game 1. Bad start, late collapse, and bailed out by John Salmons of all people. But most of the backcourt guys played well, in spurts at least, and all of the kids looked good, with the exception fo Cisco who washed away a strong first half with a terrible out of control 4th that could not have done much for Muss's confidence in him.
 
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Overall a pretty sloppy game. But once again Bibby showed his intensity on defensive end. John Salmons looked great down the stretch. Louis staked his claim as to why he should make the team and Mo Taylor mixed it up on the defensive end which was very good to see.

Brad didn't look good at all and I wish Loren Woods got more time but the minutes were pretty erratic as it was.
 
Ugly game from top to bottom.

And, in my opinion, illustrated that there is a bigger problem with having a team in Vegas than the proximity sports betting. A Vegas team with 41 home games per season = 41 games in which all players from all teams look WAY over partied.
 
Brad didn't look good at all and I wish Loren Woods got more time but the minutes were pretty erratic as it was.

Eh, I am almost thinking he's halfway out the door. He hasn't been playing much at all in the games.
 
I thought Bibby still showed that he gets beat off the dribble quite easily. But at least he's contributing in other ways on defense with his hustle. At least he's gone from dreadful to so-so. For him that is a huge improvement. With Bibby you really need a better paint protection to back him up. Miller wasn't very good at all tonight with his defense.
 
I think Bibby's comments in a recent article deserve to be given some credence.

Everyone gets beat off the dribble! And everyone needs help at the rim. The help defense has been greatly improved so far and that is very important.
 
Eh, I am almost thinking he's halfway out the door. He hasn't been playing much at all in the games.
yeah, was thinking the same thing...Amundson/Williams probably will make it over Loren. Oh well, we just spent $300k on a practice guy for the pre-season...but who knows, maybe we'll see him a bit more coming up in the next few games.
 
I am looking for Loren to get his shot soon. There are still plenty of games left.

The two people I am wondering about are Vitaly and Jason. They have hardly played at all this preseason and in Vitaly's case he hasn't even played a second. That either means they are guaranteed a spot or they are not in the plans.
 
I think the reason Vitaly hasn't played is because he hasn't passed EMuss' conditioning test.

Brad had two blocks according to the stat line. Hard to believe because in the game I watched he was getting schooled by LAL's reserves whenever he was on the floor.
 
I think the reason Vitaly hasn't played is because he hasn't passed EMuss' conditioning test.

Brad had two blocks according to the stat line. Hard to believe because in the game I watched he was getting schooled by LAL's reserves whenever he was on the floor.
Brad definetely doesnt have his game face on yet...well, I dont know what his game face is...we see it so rarely these days, and only get the 'whiny face'...oh well, all we can do is hope for the best.
 
Actually I thought Brad wasn't too bad on defense and I thought he had 3 blocks. Hmm...oh well. On offense he sucked.
 
Brad definetely doesnt have his game face on yet...well, I dont know what his game face is...we see it so rarely these days, and only get the 'whiny face'...oh well, all we can do is hope for the best.
I wonder if the new emphasis on calling technical fouls for whining to the refs will be referred to as the "Brad Miller Rule". I'm just glad that wasn't in effect when Webber and Divac were still playing for us.
 
It couldn't be any worse than the Walton look.

;)

I think Williams is coming out ahead in the Williams vs. Amundson match-ups. I liked what I saw tonight, despite limited minutes, from Justin. He altered or deflected several shots that won't show up on the stat line.

I really like what I'm seeing with Bibby and Martin. Bibby's eyes light up when he sees - or senses - Kevin streaking down the court. His outlet passes to the 2-guard are poetry in motion.
 
And that may happen quite often VF! Kevin is a fast mo-fo!

One thing that excites me the very most out of this season is the chemistry between Kevin and Mike that could possibly develop. I think they are going to like playing with one another.
 
I think they already do, STK. Remember, it was Mike that dished the ball to Kevin for "THE SHOT"...

Our backcourt is solid. If we can avoid playing teams with anyone over about 6'8" we should do fine.

;)
 
ok two straight games where williams played well... although didnt play much tonight, he did play well in his limited minutes...

cant say this enough...

i want justin williams to stay!!!
 
ok two straight games where williams played well... although didnt play much tonight, he did play well in his limited minutes...

cant say this enough...

i want justin williams to stay!!!


Me too. Justin Williams played pretty well in his limited minutes, honestly I like him better than Mo T. Also had a very nice assist to Douby for 3, I think he's an underrated passer.
 
Justin Williams is raw. I'd love to see us keep him but, just like Kevin Martin his rookie year, he's going to need time to develop into an NBA player. Mo Taylor, on the other hand, is the veteran presence that could actually help teach Williams the ropes. There's a role each could play; I just don't see how we're going to be able to keep Williams and/or Amundson without jettisoning Hart and/or Potapenko.
 
John Salmons played great. I had that song "workin' hard for the money" in my head when he took over the 4th quarter. I don't mean to beat the dead horse but his first step is impressive. Price was impressive, and Salmons deserves some time at PG. Which leads me to believe that Hart is more of a waste than ever.
 
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