I almost wanted to sleep on these and do them in the morning -- grades all looked so much better before our complete embarrassing collapse in the 4th quarter. Back to back fatigue? Maybe. But not THAT much fatigue, even from guys who played almost no minutes last night. 24-9?? And the rebounds...ugh.
Peja ( B+ ) -- Just could not give him the A- tonight despite Peja actually hitting the glass for a half (the first of course)! Not exactly a snarling attack in there, but picked up some loose ones, and in traffic tipped a few to other Kings while generally looking like he cared. Shot was still off early, but Rick drew up a three point play for him out of a timeout that worked well and after that he was off and running, knocking down threes from all over the court to account for almost all of his points. Was not dominant, but whenever the Nuggets were dumb enough to leave him open, it was money. Tried to force a few one on one moves, with predictable results. Did make a couple of aggressive drives down the lane, including one in the 4th where he actually drew the defense and dished out a nice wraparound to Reef -- good to see. Is it possible that Peja actually was embarrassed by his performance last night? Unfortunately spoiled some of the good by again --tired refrain -- going away in the 4th. Four points, two off FTs. No rebounds. Not sure I've ever seen such a 3rd/4th quarter differential from a player. he can help us stay close, but then when it comes time to win he just goes away time and again.
Reef ( B- ) -- pretty good start. Scoring wise, had 8pts in the first quarter, and more importantly was playing a key role by assisting on a number of threes -- looks like he may become a potent passer against teams who can't match up with him one on one and need to double (and here the Nene injury really hurt the Nuggets). And the statline looks solid, with a nice healthy 15pts 7rebs 7ast. Problems were that the scoring slowed to a trickle after the first -- just a hoop here and there, and is continuing to miss his FTs. The rebounding was never good enough as we got annihilated in there once more (by 20!). And the interior defense...just a sigh. We are last in the league in blocked shots and Reef is just not there on the challenge as guys go sailing to the rim. Fiddled with this grade a bit. Ticking it up and down. The passing was what kept it buoyed, but our interior softness is really scary right now.
Miller ( C ) -- was doing absolutely nothing until the very end of the first half, then went on a little run to close things out. Unfortunately ended the half on a pee me off note, as he once again let a missed call get into his head, and then made a stupid unforced turnover stepping across the end line with the ball because he was too distracted. Recovered after an apparent Adelman tongue lashing at halftime, and came out in the third quarter playing aggressively. Began to get to the foul line a lot on a series of calls that were, frankly, questionable. But given that they were going our way, that's fine. Lots of missed calls and extra whistles on both sides tonight. Again lost his temper late and kind of cheapshotted Marcus Camby as we were getting spanked late in the game. Fine, but Brad -- how about rebounding instead? Please. Pretty please? How about some interior defense? Maybe step in front of somebody? Not giving us what we need on the defensive side of the ball, and only marginally effective on the other end tonight. 16pts is not bad (even on 4-11 shooting -- did at least post a few guards). However 5 rebounds from your starting center as you get destroyed on the glass most certainly is.
Bonzi ( D ) -- sloppy start, picked up two early fouls and went to the bench on an offensive call
Don't know if it was the reputed asthmatic/altitude problem or what, but just did not have the spark tonight. Grabbed 6 boards, for which we may have to erect a statue of him right next to our classy Big Golden "6" with the Bud Light logo on it, but I barely noticed them. Just could get nothing going, and had a hard time finding good mismatches to exploit in the post with the constant rotatin Denver guards and forwards. Throw in foul trouble and just such a drab performance I don't think there’s really even much to talk about.
Bibby ( C+ ) -- started off hot shooting finally, and had 10pts through the end of the first. Had some good moments, some bad, defensively against Boykins. But just got strangely quiet thereafter. Made a few more plays in the third while we were still competing, but was nowhere to be found by the fourth as the Nuggets pulled away. All of a sudden what had started out as a nice breakout game, became a big nothing with Mike being largely irrelevant. Not awful. Just not important. Like Bonzi, just so very drab after the good start, and there was no super-Bibby to bail us out.
Martin ( C+ ) -- looked steadier, did still force things, but at least not passive. Got the opportunity for extended minutes with Bonzi laboring and in foul trouble. Not an impact performance, but at this point getting 8 points out of a bench player is pretty good with Kevin getting 2/3 of the bench points in this one. Just some shrug backup guard minutes. A couple of bursts of quickness, but no real impact. Not bad, but not important.
Skinner ( D ) -- came in, and one of the first plays got mixed up and allowed Kenyon Martin to go galloping down the lane uncontested for a big dunk. Picked up two quick fouls and was replaced by Thomas. Not much more effective in the second half. Just really empty minutes. I don’t get it. Looked good in preseason. And his game should not depend on offensive chemistry. But he's not rebounding, not having an impact defensively. Rick is bringing him in early now to work with the starters, and its still not helping. The top to bottom malaise on the team is frighteningly difficult to pinpoint when even your hustle guys just aren't.
Thomas ( C- ) -- strong rebounding effort in his first half stint again, but still no offense. And in the 2nd half he started missing easy ones as well. Our bench is completely anemic, and a guy who said he was coming into camp looking to start is just giving us nothing on offense. Sucks too, because we could sure us the boarding help. His grade here is continuing to sink, because as much as I appreciate the boardwork, his offensive funk is starting to get dangerous for both us and his own future with the team.
Hart ( C- ) -- came in and the Nuggets immediately brought in Boykins, played active defense, but absolutely nothing on offense at all and his complete ineffectiveness on that end is getting alarming. 5 games in and our backup PG is averaging 2pts 1ast. At least he tries on the other end.
Corliss ( D ) -- brought in at the end of the first as we *vomit* went with a new mega-mini lineup with KT at PF, and Corliss at center! Yahoo! Played no defense on "Magic" Najera at all, got called for two traveling turnovers (questionable) and really did nothing good before leaving.
Price ( INC ) -- garbagetime.
Sampson ( INC ) -- garbagetime. Grabbed a board, missed 2 FTs.
Adelman ( C ) -- Well...ok. The good. The good....er...well, our 4th quarter meltdown did not come at home, where it SURELY would have resulted in an ugly cascade of boos. And apparently Rick finally tore into the team at halftime - overdue at this point, and paid some temporary dividends as the guys actually got back in transition defense for the next quarter. The bad: pretty much everything else. Even while we were hanging with the Nuggets it seemed to be because they were playing as sloppily and with as little passion as we were. Our interior and transition defense in the first half was just embarrassing, and we made Eduardo Najera look like Magic freaking Johnson on one play as he took the ball length of the court running the middle of the break, throwing in a spin move and finishing with a no look pass. Rick did do a good thing early, calling a three point play for Peja out of a timeout that got him off and running. And he did, as mentioned, tear into the team at halftime apparently with some decent results for a quarter. Was not amused to see him experimenting with a ultra smallball lineup again in the first half (KT/Corliss as our "big men") but did like his move to try to stop the Nuggets from creaming us on the boards by inserting Skinner, Reef, and KT at small forward to try to turn the tide. Did not work. But much preferred the big to the little. Most troubling thing of all was the way that the team just basically quit in the 4th. Not a shocker when Peja disappears in the last stanza, but EVERYBODY did and we just got embarrassed 24-9, and with the Nuggets outhustling us for board after board after board. If I was still in the make excuses phase, I'd say, oh, ok, back to back games and at altitude. But I'm beyiond that with this team, full of relatively young players who did not play mega-minutes last night. And frankly, the ugliness went beyond anything that can be explianed by mere tired legs. Lack of heart is more like it, and that is the big inexcusable. Giving Rick the bumped grade for the overdue halftime tirade and a few decent ingame moves (he was more aggressive than usual with his timeouts too). But the team grade was less again. And if this keeps up I may have to lower my expectations and grading scale across the board. We might not look so awful if we're graded as a lottery team.
Peja ( B+ ) -- Just could not give him the A- tonight despite Peja actually hitting the glass for a half (the first of course)! Not exactly a snarling attack in there, but picked up some loose ones, and in traffic tipped a few to other Kings while generally looking like he cared. Shot was still off early, but Rick drew up a three point play for him out of a timeout that worked well and after that he was off and running, knocking down threes from all over the court to account for almost all of his points. Was not dominant, but whenever the Nuggets were dumb enough to leave him open, it was money. Tried to force a few one on one moves, with predictable results. Did make a couple of aggressive drives down the lane, including one in the 4th where he actually drew the defense and dished out a nice wraparound to Reef -- good to see. Is it possible that Peja actually was embarrassed by his performance last night? Unfortunately spoiled some of the good by again --tired refrain -- going away in the 4th. Four points, two off FTs. No rebounds. Not sure I've ever seen such a 3rd/4th quarter differential from a player. he can help us stay close, but then when it comes time to win he just goes away time and again.
Reef ( B- ) -- pretty good start. Scoring wise, had 8pts in the first quarter, and more importantly was playing a key role by assisting on a number of threes -- looks like he may become a potent passer against teams who can't match up with him one on one and need to double (and here the Nene injury really hurt the Nuggets). And the statline looks solid, with a nice healthy 15pts 7rebs 7ast. Problems were that the scoring slowed to a trickle after the first -- just a hoop here and there, and is continuing to miss his FTs. The rebounding was never good enough as we got annihilated in there once more (by 20!). And the interior defense...just a sigh. We are last in the league in blocked shots and Reef is just not there on the challenge as guys go sailing to the rim. Fiddled with this grade a bit. Ticking it up and down. The passing was what kept it buoyed, but our interior softness is really scary right now.
Miller ( C ) -- was doing absolutely nothing until the very end of the first half, then went on a little run to close things out. Unfortunately ended the half on a pee me off note, as he once again let a missed call get into his head, and then made a stupid unforced turnover stepping across the end line with the ball because he was too distracted. Recovered after an apparent Adelman tongue lashing at halftime, and came out in the third quarter playing aggressively. Began to get to the foul line a lot on a series of calls that were, frankly, questionable. But given that they were going our way, that's fine. Lots of missed calls and extra whistles on both sides tonight. Again lost his temper late and kind of cheapshotted Marcus Camby as we were getting spanked late in the game. Fine, but Brad -- how about rebounding instead? Please. Pretty please? How about some interior defense? Maybe step in front of somebody? Not giving us what we need on the defensive side of the ball, and only marginally effective on the other end tonight. 16pts is not bad (even on 4-11 shooting -- did at least post a few guards). However 5 rebounds from your starting center as you get destroyed on the glass most certainly is.
Bonzi ( D ) -- sloppy start, picked up two early fouls and went to the bench on an offensive call
Don't know if it was the reputed asthmatic/altitude problem or what, but just did not have the spark tonight. Grabbed 6 boards, for which we may have to erect a statue of him right next to our classy Big Golden "6" with the Bud Light logo on it, but I barely noticed them. Just could get nothing going, and had a hard time finding good mismatches to exploit in the post with the constant rotatin Denver guards and forwards. Throw in foul trouble and just such a drab performance I don't think there’s really even much to talk about.
Bibby ( C+ ) -- started off hot shooting finally, and had 10pts through the end of the first. Had some good moments, some bad, defensively against Boykins. But just got strangely quiet thereafter. Made a few more plays in the third while we were still competing, but was nowhere to be found by the fourth as the Nuggets pulled away. All of a sudden what had started out as a nice breakout game, became a big nothing with Mike being largely irrelevant. Not awful. Just not important. Like Bonzi, just so very drab after the good start, and there was no super-Bibby to bail us out.
Martin ( C+ ) -- looked steadier, did still force things, but at least not passive. Got the opportunity for extended minutes with Bonzi laboring and in foul trouble. Not an impact performance, but at this point getting 8 points out of a bench player is pretty good with Kevin getting 2/3 of the bench points in this one. Just some shrug backup guard minutes. A couple of bursts of quickness, but no real impact. Not bad, but not important.
Skinner ( D ) -- came in, and one of the first plays got mixed up and allowed Kenyon Martin to go galloping down the lane uncontested for a big dunk. Picked up two quick fouls and was replaced by Thomas. Not much more effective in the second half. Just really empty minutes. I don’t get it. Looked good in preseason. And his game should not depend on offensive chemistry. But he's not rebounding, not having an impact defensively. Rick is bringing him in early now to work with the starters, and its still not helping. The top to bottom malaise on the team is frighteningly difficult to pinpoint when even your hustle guys just aren't.
Thomas ( C- ) -- strong rebounding effort in his first half stint again, but still no offense. And in the 2nd half he started missing easy ones as well. Our bench is completely anemic, and a guy who said he was coming into camp looking to start is just giving us nothing on offense. Sucks too, because we could sure us the boarding help. His grade here is continuing to sink, because as much as I appreciate the boardwork, his offensive funk is starting to get dangerous for both us and his own future with the team.
Hart ( C- ) -- came in and the Nuggets immediately brought in Boykins, played active defense, but absolutely nothing on offense at all and his complete ineffectiveness on that end is getting alarming. 5 games in and our backup PG is averaging 2pts 1ast. At least he tries on the other end.
Corliss ( D ) -- brought in at the end of the first as we *vomit* went with a new mega-mini lineup with KT at PF, and Corliss at center! Yahoo! Played no defense on "Magic" Najera at all, got called for two traveling turnovers (questionable) and really did nothing good before leaving.
Price ( INC ) -- garbagetime.
Sampson ( INC ) -- garbagetime. Grabbed a board, missed 2 FTs.
Adelman ( C ) -- Well...ok. The good. The good....er...well, our 4th quarter meltdown did not come at home, where it SURELY would have resulted in an ugly cascade of boos. And apparently Rick finally tore into the team at halftime - overdue at this point, and paid some temporary dividends as the guys actually got back in transition defense for the next quarter. The bad: pretty much everything else. Even while we were hanging with the Nuggets it seemed to be because they were playing as sloppily and with as little passion as we were. Our interior and transition defense in the first half was just embarrassing, and we made Eduardo Najera look like Magic freaking Johnson on one play as he took the ball length of the court running the middle of the break, throwing in a spin move and finishing with a no look pass. Rick did do a good thing early, calling a three point play for Peja out of a timeout that got him off and running. And he did, as mentioned, tear into the team at halftime apparently with some decent results for a quarter. Was not amused to see him experimenting with a ultra smallball lineup again in the first half (KT/Corliss as our "big men") but did like his move to try to stop the Nuggets from creaming us on the boards by inserting Skinner, Reef, and KT at small forward to try to turn the tide. Did not work. But much preferred the big to the little. Most troubling thing of all was the way that the team just basically quit in the 4th. Not a shocker when Peja disappears in the last stanza, but EVERYBODY did and we just got embarrassed 24-9, and with the Nuggets outhustling us for board after board after board. If I was still in the make excuses phase, I'd say, oh, ok, back to back games and at altitude. But I'm beyiond that with this team, full of relatively young players who did not play mega-minutes last night. And frankly, the ugliness went beyond anything that can be explianed by mere tired legs. Lack of heart is more like it, and that is the big inexcusable. Giving Rick the bumped grade for the overdue halftime tirade and a few decent ingame moves (he was more aggressive than usual with his timeouts too). But the team grade was less again. And if this keeps up I may have to lower my expectations and grading scale across the board. We might not look so awful if we're graded as a lottery team.
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