Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Thomas ( A ) -- best start he has had in weeks, and had excellent energy throughout a 12pt 8reb first half. And kept it roling in the second half rather than do the inconsistent disappear thing so many Kings have been practicing lately. Finished inside despite the Nuggets shotblockers, and took few dumb shots. Very active inside even in the shotblocking department, coming up with a season high 3. Obviously a big bounceback game.
Artest ( D+ ) -- didn't really look like he was showing any ill effects from the thumb in the early going, but one look at the quiet numbers suggest otherwise. Nicely impeded Carmelo Anthony, but was pretty much shutdown on the other side by Ruben Patterson. Started off the third forcing too many shots again and throwing us out of rhythm, but after a quick timeout by Rick, he at least began to force them around the hoop rather than from the perimeter. Got quiet therafter, neither helping nor hurting as others (Bonzi/Brad at that point) did the bulk of the lifting the rest of the way. You would have to ask Rick why he would run up another 37 minutes of wear and tear on Ron on a night like this and wearing a thumb brace.
Miller ( C ) -- Interesting game to grade. Very very slow start, although mercifully Camby was sluggish as well and did not take advantage. I'm not sure about an F first half, but really did absolutely nothing. Couldn't even get it up enough to be bad. Woke up after half though, and played a pretty strong third, contributing in a variety of ways, including even one of those surprise shotblocking games. Also, for the period at least, grabbed his fair share of boards. Night ended early, as the game was over by the end of the third. But the stong stretch at least partially made up for the non-existent first half, and came during the decisive period.
Wells ( C+ ) -- struggled with turnovers early, and had a very quiet first half. Know he says he struggles at the altitude, but have no idea if that was it or not. In any case picked it up in the early 3rd, both attacking inside effectively and playing some stout defense on Melo. And while he certainly did not come up with a gem this time out, in the second half was part of the group that separated us from the Nuggets.
Bibby ( A ) -- started off as one of those games for Mike where the basket looked as big as he ocean and he was bombing away. Came back in the second quarter and switched gears, becoming an effective distributor and directing the offense. Was quiet to start the third, but near the end of the quarter stepped up to quickly drop five more points on the Nuggets. Complete offensive game, both scoring and dishing, and the defense was solid enough that no Nuggets PG hd even an average game either.
Martin ( A- ) -- mixed first half bag, but better than its been. Airballed a wide open three, then came right back and confidently hit a contested jumper. Then disappeared offensively. Stange. Grabbed a few boards, and played smoothly if without impact. Came on to score well in the early 4th even before true garbagetime started and earn the A-, although was originally thinking B+ with the bulk of his contributions coming after the lead was already 30. Still nice to see him finally have another strong game.
Reef ( A- ) -- good solid minutes tonight, semi-quietly contributing this time in a variety of ways (including the rebounding). Got some of his numbers late, but was very solid in the first half as well. We got 30 and 13 out of Kevin and SAR tonight, whihc will get it done off the bench.
Hart ( B- ) -- solid first half stint, but a shot happy one. Competed defensively though, and did a decent job gettign the ball up and into the offense. Second half was uneventful, but not terribly productive, and adds the minus here.
Garcia ( INC ) -- reduced to garbagetime behind Hart now.
Corliss ( INC ) -- garbagetime
Potapenko ( INC ) -- garbagetime
Price ( INC ) -- garbagetime
Adelman ( A- ) -- This one should largely clench it. If we choke off the playoffs from this position and with Utah facing the most brutal of all closing stretches, well think I will just become a Knicks fan. Actually, given the state of the Knicks I think I will just become their GM and try to fix that fiasco. In any case...good game for us. Great game? No, not really. Score is a little desceptive just in that the Nuggets barely showed up, and we had several main cogs really not have very good games. Just ona night like this, with the Nuggets stinking up the joint a Bibby/Thomas + bench attack was more than enough. Result does make me a little annoyed again that we fell out of the running to grab #6 and a first round matchup with these Nuggets. They are SO ripe for an "upset", and have just the coach for a choke job too. We didn't really start this one off in dominant fashion. Player pretty well, but were depending on Mike's hot hand. In fact really up until half we were winning, but if the Nuggets had shown any heart it was still a game that could have gone either way. Third quarter was decisive, and also one single moment there is responsible for much of this grade -- we came out in the third quarter and very much WERE in full bnlow it/choke it mode. We were passive, selfish, forcing crap, and the Nuggets quickly caught up to us. If things didn't change it might have been US on the receiving end of the 20pt blowout. But Rick called a GREAT timeout, both in timing, and in effect, about 3 minutes into the quarter. And whatever he said hit home. We came out a different team after that, and by the end of the quarter had effectively finished what little life there was in Denver. Of course that timeouot and result was notable because that is precisely one of the things that Rick's harshest critics like to harp about Rick NEVER doing. But he did tonight, and it turned the game more than any single play or player. Rick picks up the minus here for another one of his habits he unfortunately may never break -- his tendency to NEVER under any circumstances clear his bench. No matter how big the blowout, no matter when the opposing team waves the white flag and puts in its own scrubs, Rick seems pathologically terrified of putting his deep benchers into the game. So we get the absurdity, and slightly dangerous absurdity, of our main guys running up and down the floor begging to get injured in a 24 pt blowout with 4 minutes to go. Its borderline bad sportsmanship for one thing, but the larger issue is its also a completely unnecessary risk. One injury to a Ron, Brad, Mike whoever in that situation and that is IT for our season. Obviously said injury did not happen (if it does one day this grade will read "F" in big bold letters"), but that doesn;t make it the right call. And heaven forbid there ever is an injury, because playes 9-12 on our bench cannot possibly even remember what its like to step onto an NBA floor, let alone be ready to log rotation minutes. So, minus to the A. But still an A of some sort -- this was just about a clencher. And if the Lakers open the door for us, we can still sneak into #7 to meet the Suns (whether that's a good thing or not we will have to find out).
Artest ( D+ ) -- didn't really look like he was showing any ill effects from the thumb in the early going, but one look at the quiet numbers suggest otherwise. Nicely impeded Carmelo Anthony, but was pretty much shutdown on the other side by Ruben Patterson. Started off the third forcing too many shots again and throwing us out of rhythm, but after a quick timeout by Rick, he at least began to force them around the hoop rather than from the perimeter. Got quiet therafter, neither helping nor hurting as others (Bonzi/Brad at that point) did the bulk of the lifting the rest of the way. You would have to ask Rick why he would run up another 37 minutes of wear and tear on Ron on a night like this and wearing a thumb brace.
Miller ( C ) -- Interesting game to grade. Very very slow start, although mercifully Camby was sluggish as well and did not take advantage. I'm not sure about an F first half, but really did absolutely nothing. Couldn't even get it up enough to be bad. Woke up after half though, and played a pretty strong third, contributing in a variety of ways, including even one of those surprise shotblocking games. Also, for the period at least, grabbed his fair share of boards. Night ended early, as the game was over by the end of the third. But the stong stretch at least partially made up for the non-existent first half, and came during the decisive period.
Wells ( C+ ) -- struggled with turnovers early, and had a very quiet first half. Know he says he struggles at the altitude, but have no idea if that was it or not. In any case picked it up in the early 3rd, both attacking inside effectively and playing some stout defense on Melo. And while he certainly did not come up with a gem this time out, in the second half was part of the group that separated us from the Nuggets.
Bibby ( A ) -- started off as one of those games for Mike where the basket looked as big as he ocean and he was bombing away. Came back in the second quarter and switched gears, becoming an effective distributor and directing the offense. Was quiet to start the third, but near the end of the quarter stepped up to quickly drop five more points on the Nuggets. Complete offensive game, both scoring and dishing, and the defense was solid enough that no Nuggets PG hd even an average game either.
Martin ( A- ) -- mixed first half bag, but better than its been. Airballed a wide open three, then came right back and confidently hit a contested jumper. Then disappeared offensively. Stange. Grabbed a few boards, and played smoothly if without impact. Came on to score well in the early 4th even before true garbagetime started and earn the A-, although was originally thinking B+ with the bulk of his contributions coming after the lead was already 30. Still nice to see him finally have another strong game.
Reef ( A- ) -- good solid minutes tonight, semi-quietly contributing this time in a variety of ways (including the rebounding). Got some of his numbers late, but was very solid in the first half as well. We got 30 and 13 out of Kevin and SAR tonight, whihc will get it done off the bench.
Hart ( B- ) -- solid first half stint, but a shot happy one. Competed defensively though, and did a decent job gettign the ball up and into the offense. Second half was uneventful, but not terribly productive, and adds the minus here.
Garcia ( INC ) -- reduced to garbagetime behind Hart now.
Corliss ( INC ) -- garbagetime
Potapenko ( INC ) -- garbagetime
Price ( INC ) -- garbagetime
Adelman ( A- ) -- This one should largely clench it. If we choke off the playoffs from this position and with Utah facing the most brutal of all closing stretches, well think I will just become a Knicks fan. Actually, given the state of the Knicks I think I will just become their GM and try to fix that fiasco. In any case...good game for us. Great game? No, not really. Score is a little desceptive just in that the Nuggets barely showed up, and we had several main cogs really not have very good games. Just ona night like this, with the Nuggets stinking up the joint a Bibby/Thomas + bench attack was more than enough. Result does make me a little annoyed again that we fell out of the running to grab #6 and a first round matchup with these Nuggets. They are SO ripe for an "upset", and have just the coach for a choke job too. We didn't really start this one off in dominant fashion. Player pretty well, but were depending on Mike's hot hand. In fact really up until half we were winning, but if the Nuggets had shown any heart it was still a game that could have gone either way. Third quarter was decisive, and also one single moment there is responsible for much of this grade -- we came out in the third quarter and very much WERE in full bnlow it/choke it mode. We were passive, selfish, forcing crap, and the Nuggets quickly caught up to us. If things didn't change it might have been US on the receiving end of the 20pt blowout. But Rick called a GREAT timeout, both in timing, and in effect, about 3 minutes into the quarter. And whatever he said hit home. We came out a different team after that, and by the end of the quarter had effectively finished what little life there was in Denver. Of course that timeouot and result was notable because that is precisely one of the things that Rick's harshest critics like to harp about Rick NEVER doing. But he did tonight, and it turned the game more than any single play or player. Rick picks up the minus here for another one of his habits he unfortunately may never break -- his tendency to NEVER under any circumstances clear his bench. No matter how big the blowout, no matter when the opposing team waves the white flag and puts in its own scrubs, Rick seems pathologically terrified of putting his deep benchers into the game. So we get the absurdity, and slightly dangerous absurdity, of our main guys running up and down the floor begging to get injured in a 24 pt blowout with 4 minutes to go. Its borderline bad sportsmanship for one thing, but the larger issue is its also a completely unnecessary risk. One injury to a Ron, Brad, Mike whoever in that situation and that is IT for our season. Obviously said injury did not happen (if it does one day this grade will read "F" in big bold letters"), but that doesn;t make it the right call. And heaven forbid there ever is an injury, because playes 9-12 on our bench cannot possibly even remember what its like to step onto an NBA floor, let alone be ready to log rotation minutes. So, minus to the A. But still an A of some sort -- this was just about a clencher. And if the Lakers open the door for us, we can still sneak into #7 to meet the Suns (whether that's a good thing or not we will have to find out).
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