Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Peja ( D ) -- no other way to put it than he took the night off. Just really looked disinterested from the beginning. Really did not matter for us -- we jumped on them from the very start of the game and there was no moment where I yelled at Peja through the TV (except maybe for one incredible wussout on a baseline rebound in the second half). Probably could have done better if we needed him, but really gave us nothing tonight.
Webber ( A ) -- oh, I could quibble here. Rebounding was not huge. He was moving well on help defense, but didn't actually seem to effect any of the Pacers' shots -- they were making them right over him. But the fact of the matter is that he just flat out dominated this game from the moment he stepped on the floor, and he looked great physically while doing so. Pacers had nobody remotely on his planet skillwise on the frontline, and Chris scored inside and out more or less at will. Also went up for a couple of big slams, including an alley oop where he pulled himself all the way up + luckily did not get a T. This knee thing is odd -- looks like he was inhabiting an entirely different body than the one he was in 48 hrs ago against New Orleans. If tonight were your only evidence, you would call the surgery a rousing success and have big hope for the future.
Miller ( A ) -- like Webber, simply met with no resistance inside tonight. Was smart from the very start of the game, and drove right to the front of the rim time and again for easy conversions. Also dominated the glass. A welcome sight, albeit against an NBDL frontline. This was just a men against boys night fro Webb and Miller, and they just destroyed the Pacers frontline.
Christie ( B+ ) -- was a big part of our passing attack tonight as we carved the Pacers up, but early on was missing everything he put up. But even while struggling on offense he was checking Fred Jones on defense and simply took him out of the game. Fred has had a couple of big games since the mass suspensions, but tonight against an elite defender he looked very much like a 11th man trying to score against an All-Defensive team member. As the game went along Doug got stronger and stronger with his shot as well -- it was actually Peja who turned the tables and got Doug going this game with some good passes rather than the other way around tonight.
Bibby ( C+ ) -- played a poor first half -- not only missing his shots, but getting burned left and right by Jamaal Tinsley. Came back in the third quarter and put together a nice quarter -- Webb and Miller got him a series of open looks, and he knocked them down. Also continued his superior boardwork this year, grabbing 5 more.
BJax ( B+ ) -- came in a little wild in the second quarter and was missing his shots -- in the first half it was the frontcourt that dominated, while the entire backcourt struggled. But was all over the boards from the beginnning of the game. Really is one of the most remarkable rebounders in the league at his size. Came in for a short, strong stint in the second half before sitting down next to Bibby for the rest of the game once the lead got up to 30.
Songaila ( B ) -- functioned well as a roleplayer in the regular rotation -- got on the boards, hit easy shots. Was exposed a bit when we went with the all-deep bench for the final quarter as Darius was playing out of position as a too-small center with no interior defense, and was forced into an uncomfortable role as kind of a goto guy.
Barnes ( D ) -- game might have been too easy for us, because it looked like Matt's focus was off tonight and he fell back into his bad habits with sloppiness and turnovers. Played most of his minutes with the garbagetime guys, and had little positive impact.
Ostertag ( B ) -- came in for a short second half stint with the game already decided, and did the things he kind of does -- grabbed some boards, stood tall in the middle, displayed his bad hands, and again made a nice little assist on the interior. At this point I've pretty much come to the copnclusion that Tag is really not a bad passer at all, and it was just Sloan's system in Utah denying him passing opportunities that more than anything else kept his assist numbers so low over his career.
Evans ( B ) -- nice energetic run during garbagetime. Nothing dominant, but looked the best of all of the scrubs.
Daniels ( C ) -- mostly invisible during his garbagetime minutes. Did not make mistakes.
Martin ( C ) -- still making a lot of mistakes and pressing. Threw in a nice quick drive to the front of the rim.
Adelman ( A ) -- just such an easy game that its hard to even see how any coach could have screwed it up. But Rick had the team ready to step on the Pacers from the beginning of the game, and we came out in the third quarter and really finished them off. Strategy to attack through our dominant big men played out perfectly. And with our deep bench playing the final 8-9 minutes, you really couldn't have scripted a better, or easier, victory for us.
Webber ( A ) -- oh, I could quibble here. Rebounding was not huge. He was moving well on help defense, but didn't actually seem to effect any of the Pacers' shots -- they were making them right over him. But the fact of the matter is that he just flat out dominated this game from the moment he stepped on the floor, and he looked great physically while doing so. Pacers had nobody remotely on his planet skillwise on the frontline, and Chris scored inside and out more or less at will. Also went up for a couple of big slams, including an alley oop where he pulled himself all the way up + luckily did not get a T. This knee thing is odd -- looks like he was inhabiting an entirely different body than the one he was in 48 hrs ago against New Orleans. If tonight were your only evidence, you would call the surgery a rousing success and have big hope for the future.
Miller ( A ) -- like Webber, simply met with no resistance inside tonight. Was smart from the very start of the game, and drove right to the front of the rim time and again for easy conversions. Also dominated the glass. A welcome sight, albeit against an NBDL frontline. This was just a men against boys night fro Webb and Miller, and they just destroyed the Pacers frontline.
Christie ( B+ ) -- was a big part of our passing attack tonight as we carved the Pacers up, but early on was missing everything he put up. But even while struggling on offense he was checking Fred Jones on defense and simply took him out of the game. Fred has had a couple of big games since the mass suspensions, but tonight against an elite defender he looked very much like a 11th man trying to score against an All-Defensive team member. As the game went along Doug got stronger and stronger with his shot as well -- it was actually Peja who turned the tables and got Doug going this game with some good passes rather than the other way around tonight.
Bibby ( C+ ) -- played a poor first half -- not only missing his shots, but getting burned left and right by Jamaal Tinsley. Came back in the third quarter and put together a nice quarter -- Webb and Miller got him a series of open looks, and he knocked them down. Also continued his superior boardwork this year, grabbing 5 more.
BJax ( B+ ) -- came in a little wild in the second quarter and was missing his shots -- in the first half it was the frontcourt that dominated, while the entire backcourt struggled. But was all over the boards from the beginnning of the game. Really is one of the most remarkable rebounders in the league at his size. Came in for a short, strong stint in the second half before sitting down next to Bibby for the rest of the game once the lead got up to 30.
Songaila ( B ) -- functioned well as a roleplayer in the regular rotation -- got on the boards, hit easy shots. Was exposed a bit when we went with the all-deep bench for the final quarter as Darius was playing out of position as a too-small center with no interior defense, and was forced into an uncomfortable role as kind of a goto guy.
Barnes ( D ) -- game might have been too easy for us, because it looked like Matt's focus was off tonight and he fell back into his bad habits with sloppiness and turnovers. Played most of his minutes with the garbagetime guys, and had little positive impact.
Ostertag ( B ) -- came in for a short second half stint with the game already decided, and did the things he kind of does -- grabbed some boards, stood tall in the middle, displayed his bad hands, and again made a nice little assist on the interior. At this point I've pretty much come to the copnclusion that Tag is really not a bad passer at all, and it was just Sloan's system in Utah denying him passing opportunities that more than anything else kept his assist numbers so low over his career.
Evans ( B ) -- nice energetic run during garbagetime. Nothing dominant, but looked the best of all of the scrubs.
Daniels ( C ) -- mostly invisible during his garbagetime minutes. Did not make mistakes.
Martin ( C ) -- still making a lot of mistakes and pressing. Threw in a nice quick drive to the front of the rim.
Adelman ( A ) -- just such an easy game that its hard to even see how any coach could have screwed it up. But Rick had the team ready to step on the Pacers from the beginning of the game, and we came out in the third quarter and really finished them off. Strategy to attack through our dominant big men played out perfectly. And with our deep bench playing the final 8-9 minutes, you really couldn't have scripted a better, or easier, victory for us.
Last edited:
