Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Peja ( D ) -- active start, but Hedo was getting the better of him, and Peja was forcing off balance shots. And it kind of all went downhill from there. Never did get anything even remotely going offensively, and the other things he was doing -- rebounding, passing -- fell off as the Magic adjusted. Meanwhile his old understudy was having a good game on the other end. Depressing the guys winning the one on one matchup vs. Peja anymore. Briefly looked like he was going to reverse his normal pattern after returning late in the 4th. Hit an open three, nudged a couple of layups over the rim. But then went right back to missing shots in the clutch. Not just missing. AIRBALLING. He and Brad both. He also once bizarrely cut to the hoop, was wide open, but simply never looked for the ball as Brad threw it right past as ear and out of bounds. Another solid board night is nowhere near enough to make up for 4-16 night while his opponent had a big game.
Thomas ( D+ ) -- got chewed up again by the big kid. Started off okay, taking his jumper instead of forcing it in there, but Howard began to really take it at him as the half wore on. Ineffectual play in the second half actually saw him losing minutes to Reef, but for the second game in a row, came out on a run in OT -- this time not offensively, but instead by finally making a couple of stops on Howard on defense. But REALLY wiped out any warm and fuzzies by being a complete idiot and getting a technical in OT for throwing the ball at the ref. Rick immediately pulled him, as he should have, and Reef finished it out. And that free point for Orlando really hurt as Francis was able to make two FTs with 5 seconds to go to put them up an insurmountable 4 rather than only 3 (opening up the possibility of another miracle tie).
Miller ( C ) -- in the first quarter was having one of those ridiculous shooting nights where he was just standing outside and receiving nice passes from Mike, Martin and Peja for wide open jumpers, and barely moving the nets. But as many teams have been doing recently, the Magic adjusted, Brad abruptly quieted down, and it was a struggle the rest of the way. In the 2nd half did start to really battle in there on the glass against Howard and Battie, but the offense was gone and he was plagued by turnovers. And he added to his woes with poor play down the stretch. Misread a double on Hedo, opening the lane for a Hedo layup to bring the Magic within 2. Then airballed a shot with 30 seconds to go to open the door further. Finally at the regulation buzzer missed a very similar 25ft heave to the one he used to tie up the Lakers. And it got no better in overtime as he and Peja both chucked up awaful looking airballs off of decent looks. Gets the grade he does for the fast start and the boardwork. At least he has revived a bit on the glass and is getting us double figures on many nights now.
Martin ( C+ ) -- Back on the road, and Kevin disappeared once more. Got off to a slow offensive start, and then got into foul trouble again. Had a few bright moments along the way including one splashed in three, and an alley barely oop that he managed to just roll over the rim. Also was doing a solid job on the godawful Steve Francis when he was on him. But was not able to consistently hit open shots or have any impact on the game, and some shaky decisions found him back on the bench ala the last road trip watching Jason Hart take the bulk of the OG minutes late.
Bibby ( C ) -- came out firing. Recent 40pt performances have him thinking like a #1 option I guess. Steve Francis had an awful game, Deshawn Stevenson wasn't much better, and Mike's defense was at least respectable, although rarely noticeable. Eventually turned into a scrappy effort as Mike could never really get a rhythm, and was frequently frustrated trying to draw fouls -- bump contact was just not being called tonight. Nonetheless was really the only King besides Reef to effectively take the ball inside tonight with his herky jerky long stepping drives. Unfortunately in a complete reversal from last time out, Mike was just invisible in the late game. Think he had 19 in the 4th quarter and OT against the Lakers, and 0 points in those same periods this time out. Ouch.
Garcia ( C- ) -- came in and immediately got posterized by Hedo on an explosive drive and flush, and Hedo was just extremely active and took it to him in his entire first stint. Cisco eventually picked it up a little, collected a block, maybe a steal, but never had any real impact with his hustle. And the shooting was back to flat out bad. Wasn't forcing. Just missing wide open looks.
Reef ( B+ ) -- gave us better defense than KT, and an uncommonly solid rebounding effort. Was the only Kings big man who really stood up to Dwight Howard, although the results were quite mixed. Played pretty well down the stretch, and while far from brilliant, really our best player tonight in his fairly limited minutes.
Hart ( C+ ) -- came in hitting his shot, and continued to make it hard on Francis in his time against him. As during the last road trip nice again found himself logging major 2nd half minutes at OG. Came in for an ineffective Martin and for a while there was making a contribution. Played hard, really crashed back to help on the glass with our frontline getting pounded by the Orlando length. But as his minutes ran on, his deficiencies really came back to bite him. Namely his inability to hit even the simplest open shot, and then the amplifier being his frequent inability to distinguish between a good shot and a bad one. Overall I was not nearly as shocked, disappointed, or whatever else may be in Jason's performance. He tried, gave us some good work on the glass. But certainly is the last player on the Kings who is going to lead a struggling team out of an awful shooting slump like the one we fell into in the 2nd half.
Adelman ( D ) -- and just like that, there goes our momentum. Really disappointing thing is that we came out ready to play and played a good first half -- not great, but good. But the wheels came completely off in the third and we were never even able to find them again, let alone reattach them and get rolling once more. Steve Francs and Peja were having a suckoff, KT looked very very small in there against Howard, nobody could hit an open shot, Mike morphed into Mr. Unclutch and came up small late, and Brad visibly flinched everytime he got he ball and Howard was anywhere in his vicinity. We threw the ball all over the court, rarely to our own guys. Made every mistake you can make, had some of our best shooters throw up airballs, and none of our worst ones step up to compensate. Result: 50pts at half. 28 pts in the entire 2nd half and overtime. And that ladies and gents is how you lose to a bad team on the road. The Magic shot .337...and WON! Would love to blame it on gameplan, the lack of the home crowd or whatnot. But the fact of the matter is that we had this one at half. Were up 10-12, scoring pretty well. But somebody must have passed out the valiums at halftime, because there was not a single King who really played well after the intermission. Have to give credit where its due -- saw some good fight from our guys on the glass for once, our defense was sporadically effective. But the offense was just terrible, and nobody could lift it out. Some of that probably has to fall on Rick. Or at least theoretically. Who knows how it would have worked out, but hindsight being 20/20 and all that, there were things that could have been tried that were not. Rick did make a couple of changes, going with Reef for an extended stretch, and like last road trip, turning to Jason Hart to play the late OG minutes rather than Martin. But Reef only had flashes, and Jason Hart is really a desperation defensive substitution, not a guy to get something going on offense. Of course the two names missing from the boxscore were Corliss and SKinner once more. No idea whether they would have helped. But Corliss can be instant offense sometimes...although maybe not against Hedo backed by that frontline. And Skinner could have given us some size and fight inside...although Miller and Reef actually did an acceptable job in the 2nd half on the glass and defense. In any case, with the wheels completely off, seems like there were other steps that could have been tried. Just get the feeling that it is one of those situations where the coach keeps on holding on tighter and tighter as the game slips away, too scared to put in a deep reserve for fear of having a 6 or 8 point run from the other team result and sink him. And of course whatever Rick's halftime speech was...SCRAP IT! Anyway, after briefly reinstating some portion of the Arco advantage, back on the road we lose a bad one to a team missing half its roster (Nelson, Dooling, Hill, Cato, Outlaw). And now have to play tommorow night on the back to back against Shaw and Wade + Riles in Miami. Not the way you wanted to get this trip started.
Francis ( A- ) -- really blew it. Was working on an A++ and then had to spoil things with clutch play. Was 4-20, running his team awfully, turning it over, forcing it -- far and away our best player for 47 minutes. But then he had to go off and hit the game tying shot against us in regulation and follow it up by hitting the final four FTs of the game to ice it for the Magic in OT. Perfect example of how to blow the great grade for an opposing player. Let's hope Odom doesn't catch on anytime soon.
Thomas ( D+ ) -- got chewed up again by the big kid. Started off okay, taking his jumper instead of forcing it in there, but Howard began to really take it at him as the half wore on. Ineffectual play in the second half actually saw him losing minutes to Reef, but for the second game in a row, came out on a run in OT -- this time not offensively, but instead by finally making a couple of stops on Howard on defense. But REALLY wiped out any warm and fuzzies by being a complete idiot and getting a technical in OT for throwing the ball at the ref. Rick immediately pulled him, as he should have, and Reef finished it out. And that free point for Orlando really hurt as Francis was able to make two FTs with 5 seconds to go to put them up an insurmountable 4 rather than only 3 (opening up the possibility of another miracle tie).
Miller ( C ) -- in the first quarter was having one of those ridiculous shooting nights where he was just standing outside and receiving nice passes from Mike, Martin and Peja for wide open jumpers, and barely moving the nets. But as many teams have been doing recently, the Magic adjusted, Brad abruptly quieted down, and it was a struggle the rest of the way. In the 2nd half did start to really battle in there on the glass against Howard and Battie, but the offense was gone and he was plagued by turnovers. And he added to his woes with poor play down the stretch. Misread a double on Hedo, opening the lane for a Hedo layup to bring the Magic within 2. Then airballed a shot with 30 seconds to go to open the door further. Finally at the regulation buzzer missed a very similar 25ft heave to the one he used to tie up the Lakers. And it got no better in overtime as he and Peja both chucked up awaful looking airballs off of decent looks. Gets the grade he does for the fast start and the boardwork. At least he has revived a bit on the glass and is getting us double figures on many nights now.
Martin ( C+ ) -- Back on the road, and Kevin disappeared once more. Got off to a slow offensive start, and then got into foul trouble again. Had a few bright moments along the way including one splashed in three, and an alley barely oop that he managed to just roll over the rim. Also was doing a solid job on the godawful Steve Francis when he was on him. But was not able to consistently hit open shots or have any impact on the game, and some shaky decisions found him back on the bench ala the last road trip watching Jason Hart take the bulk of the OG minutes late.
Bibby ( C ) -- came out firing. Recent 40pt performances have him thinking like a #1 option I guess. Steve Francis had an awful game, Deshawn Stevenson wasn't much better, and Mike's defense was at least respectable, although rarely noticeable. Eventually turned into a scrappy effort as Mike could never really get a rhythm, and was frequently frustrated trying to draw fouls -- bump contact was just not being called tonight. Nonetheless was really the only King besides Reef to effectively take the ball inside tonight with his herky jerky long stepping drives. Unfortunately in a complete reversal from last time out, Mike was just invisible in the late game. Think he had 19 in the 4th quarter and OT against the Lakers, and 0 points in those same periods this time out. Ouch.
Garcia ( C- ) -- came in and immediately got posterized by Hedo on an explosive drive and flush, and Hedo was just extremely active and took it to him in his entire first stint. Cisco eventually picked it up a little, collected a block, maybe a steal, but never had any real impact with his hustle. And the shooting was back to flat out bad. Wasn't forcing. Just missing wide open looks.
Reef ( B+ ) -- gave us better defense than KT, and an uncommonly solid rebounding effort. Was the only Kings big man who really stood up to Dwight Howard, although the results were quite mixed. Played pretty well down the stretch, and while far from brilliant, really our best player tonight in his fairly limited minutes.
Hart ( C+ ) -- came in hitting his shot, and continued to make it hard on Francis in his time against him. As during the last road trip nice again found himself logging major 2nd half minutes at OG. Came in for an ineffective Martin and for a while there was making a contribution. Played hard, really crashed back to help on the glass with our frontline getting pounded by the Orlando length. But as his minutes ran on, his deficiencies really came back to bite him. Namely his inability to hit even the simplest open shot, and then the amplifier being his frequent inability to distinguish between a good shot and a bad one. Overall I was not nearly as shocked, disappointed, or whatever else may be in Jason's performance. He tried, gave us some good work on the glass. But certainly is the last player on the Kings who is going to lead a struggling team out of an awful shooting slump like the one we fell into in the 2nd half.
Adelman ( D ) -- and just like that, there goes our momentum. Really disappointing thing is that we came out ready to play and played a good first half -- not great, but good. But the wheels came completely off in the third and we were never even able to find them again, let alone reattach them and get rolling once more. Steve Francs and Peja were having a suckoff, KT looked very very small in there against Howard, nobody could hit an open shot, Mike morphed into Mr. Unclutch and came up small late, and Brad visibly flinched everytime he got he ball and Howard was anywhere in his vicinity. We threw the ball all over the court, rarely to our own guys. Made every mistake you can make, had some of our best shooters throw up airballs, and none of our worst ones step up to compensate. Result: 50pts at half. 28 pts in the entire 2nd half and overtime. And that ladies and gents is how you lose to a bad team on the road. The Magic shot .337...and WON! Would love to blame it on gameplan, the lack of the home crowd or whatnot. But the fact of the matter is that we had this one at half. Were up 10-12, scoring pretty well. But somebody must have passed out the valiums at halftime, because there was not a single King who really played well after the intermission. Have to give credit where its due -- saw some good fight from our guys on the glass for once, our defense was sporadically effective. But the offense was just terrible, and nobody could lift it out. Some of that probably has to fall on Rick. Or at least theoretically. Who knows how it would have worked out, but hindsight being 20/20 and all that, there were things that could have been tried that were not. Rick did make a couple of changes, going with Reef for an extended stretch, and like last road trip, turning to Jason Hart to play the late OG minutes rather than Martin. But Reef only had flashes, and Jason Hart is really a desperation defensive substitution, not a guy to get something going on offense. Of course the two names missing from the boxscore were Corliss and SKinner once more. No idea whether they would have helped. But Corliss can be instant offense sometimes...although maybe not against Hedo backed by that frontline. And Skinner could have given us some size and fight inside...although Miller and Reef actually did an acceptable job in the 2nd half on the glass and defense. In any case, with the wheels completely off, seems like there were other steps that could have been tried. Just get the feeling that it is one of those situations where the coach keeps on holding on tighter and tighter as the game slips away, too scared to put in a deep reserve for fear of having a 6 or 8 point run from the other team result and sink him. And of course whatever Rick's halftime speech was...SCRAP IT! Anyway, after briefly reinstating some portion of the Arco advantage, back on the road we lose a bad one to a team missing half its roster (Nelson, Dooling, Hill, Cato, Outlaw). And now have to play tommorow night on the back to back against Shaw and Wade + Riles in Miami. Not the way you wanted to get this trip started.
Francis ( A- ) -- really blew it. Was working on an A++ and then had to spoil things with clutch play. Was 4-20, running his team awfully, turning it over, forcing it -- far and away our best player for 47 minutes. But then he had to go off and hit the game tying shot against us in regulation and follow it up by hitting the final four FTs of the game to ice it for the Magic in OT. Perfect example of how to blow the great grade for an opposing player. Let's hope Odom doesn't catch on anytime soon.
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), but he made one surprise move in the 4th (it didn't work but it was so unlike Peja before). HE shot a 3 missed it off the rim, but he didn;t give up and tried running in and grabbing an offensive rebound. He didn't grab it, but he hussled for it.
