Boxscore
Stats: 39min 25pts (10-14, 1-2, 4-5) 6reb 3ast 1stl 0blk 2TO
Summary: Had a "Rudiculous" first half taking, and making, tough tough shots so smoothly. Faded a bit after half.
Gay ( A- ) -- finally finally broke through with a big Rudy offensive game in which he and Cuz in particular dominated the first quarter and insured the Kings jumped out to the big start. As it can be when Rudy is having one of thee games, he was hitting tough shots, long ontested midranger jumper, iso postups, shots that stats will tell you most guys make in the low 30th percentile, if that. But when Rudy gets going, they are silky smooth and everything was wet and barely rippled the twine on the way through. You could tell he was feeling it too as he got more and more aggressive about pulling up for shots where you are going well that wasn't a good sh...oh, ok, guess it was. Was 5-5 before his first "miss", and that only missed because of a good block by Ilyasova I think it was. Along the way added in a good job leading the break and hitting a dumpoff pass to Omri for a layup. The Pistons were pretty determined he not go off again after half, but his going quiet still seemed a little strange given that whenever he did shoot, everything still looked impossibly wet. Probably his most important play of the second half was not an offensive one, but a defensive one, when Rudy Gay, oft tasked for his defense, stepped in to take a key charge at the 5:15 mark after the Pistons had blocked Cuz at the other end and were coming down with numbers in an 8pt game. Not that rudy's overall D was terribly impressive. indeed some shakiness there was what let me make it down to an A- here. It stood out, along with Belinelli's, al the more because on the whole this was our toughest most disciplined defensive effort so far this season, and Rudy I think got confused or lost contact with his guy more than anyone. Nonetheless, the overall effect was obviously a huge positive, and a great sign for us to finally get our #2 weapon back on track. --Brick
Stats: 16min 4pts (2-3, 0-0, 0-0) 5reb 0ast 1stl 1blk 1TO
Summary: played less than it felt like he deserved, but Karl was taking no chances tonight and rode his main vets for big minutes.
Cauley Stein ( ) -- --Baja
Stats: 38min 33pts (11-21, 4-5, 7-11) 9reb 1ast 0stl 1blk 4TO
Summary: Seemed muted at times, but played smart defense and fullcourt offense to outflank Drummond.
Cousins ( ) -- --Baja
Stats: 17min 3pts (1-3, 1-2, 0-0) 1reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 2TO
Summary: Does so little positive, but tried to defend and stay out of the way. Its a living.
Anderson ( C- ) -- just filling a jersey in the early going again, but part of a good defensive performance, and helped keep Jackson from becoming a factor until late in the game. The complete lack of offense eventually became a factor though, going from staying out of the way to actually damaging. Kept refusing to shoot the three ball on kickouts, causing problems. Then finally decided he was going to take a shot, and just suddenly circled in and forced a drive into the teeth of the defense and picked up an offensive foul. Made a defensive mistake late in his minutes too, fouling Morris on a jumper as the Pistons chipped back into the game. He did finally hit a corner three from Rondo to avoid the complete blank boxscore, but to say this was a game of subtle upside would be an understatement. He did the roleplayer thing, and that was what we needed. But that's not to say he did it terribly well. --Brick
Stats: 48min 14pts (6-16, 1-2, 1-2) 11reb 15ast 3stl 0blk 5TO
Summary: And there it was. Why we brought him here. A third star and floor general to control the game.
Rondo ( A+ ) -- I should leave it right there. Just one brilliant display of skill. Second triple-double within a week!!! Rajon was playing his second consecutive 48 minute game and you just could not see any sign of stress on his face. I liked his overall demeanor displaying ice cold reading of the situation all the way down. Rajon is simply a world class passer. His 5 TO's are actually not his fault. He just passes the ball so cleverly that his teammates are not alert enough to catch them. In the second quarter, Rudy missed an alley-oop pass that would have made it a top highlite-reeler. Rajon makes a lot of bounce, no-look and behind the back passes that requires the players to be in focus every second. One of the behind the back passes, to WCS, was lost because of Rajon, because a Pistons player (Drummond, I believe) got his hands in between. Omri missed an easy layup when he was sure that Rajon is going to score (the one that would have given him the double-double). DMC and WCS are getting the grip of it and Willie tipped in a real beauty in the beginning of the game. Kosta Koufos is still the odd man out and needs the ball straight into his lap to catch it. He can't deal with Rondo's bounce passes, pity. Rajon's court view and understanding of the game situation are fantastic. So, passing is definitively his bread and butter. However, he seems to be able to penetrate to the hoop at will and score without being deflected. His acceleration just opens the defense so easily. His not a great shooter, but he does hit the 3-pointer. The unsung story, however, is his rebounding. He is short and not atletic, but seems to always anticipate the point where he grabs the rebound. In a team with DMC and Kosta, he and Omri shared the top rebound score (11)! Rajon had a major part in this win and I believe that he will be the one to get all the Kings involved. --Kingston
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