Peja ( F ) -- really rough night at the office. Was guarded by 6'4" Derek Anderson early, and as usual, the smaller player was bothering him and keeping him out of rhythm. And then of course a few minutes later Yao gets switched off against him and he sticks a three in Yao's face. Then is matched against 6'1" David Wesley, and struggles again. Such a strange player -- the smaller you are, the more problems you cause against him. He might never score a hoop against Earl Boykins. Struggles continued right through the third. Lost control of TMac in the 4th, necessitating the return of Bonzi to try to D him back up. Picked up several offensive fouls in the 4th to end his nightmare evening early. And frankly, no big loss given the way he was playing. Hate giving out Fs because that leaves no real wiggle room -- means there is no real worse game you can play. So always look for reasons not to do so. Did not really find one here. Made a couple of passes, but played 36min, did not shoot, score, rebound, nor really defend well. Just an ugly night.
Reef ( B+ ) -- not very effective in the first quarter while Brad was putting on a show, but came up with an impressive burst of scoring just before halftime. And after that his impact increased as the game wore on, and in the third was really the only King consistently hitting. Used his normal array of spins and post moves, but this time also fought pretty well inside on the glass, at least on offense. Began to really assert himself when the Rockets tried to put lesser defenders on him -- our first sign of the mismatch goto guy that he hopefully can become. He was the third of the three amigos to show up tonight, and while a little tardy, played a major part in keeping us close despite widespread struggles up and down our lineup.
Miller ( A- ) -- started off looking tremendous in the first quarter -- back to last year's Brad where good offense outweighed shaky defense. Outsmarted the not-quite-rocket-scientist Stromile Swift a few times in the first quarter on fakes, leading to uncontested gallops to the hoop. More than anything else it was his decisionmaking which was outstanding early. Made all the right calls. Set people up. Shot when he should shoot, drove when he should drive. Engulfed by Yao at times on the other end who treats him like a 6-footer (Yao went for 22 and 10 in 25min). Got quiet scoring after the first quarter -- 15pt first, 6 pt for the rest of the game, and slowed down in the third while struggling against Deke when the old man was brought in due to Yao's foul trouble. But stuck with it and was still was making the best decisions on the team when he had the ball. While Bonzi provided the hustle, Brad was unquestionably the brains of the operation tonight. He at least responded to the embarrassment in Oklahoma.
Bonzi ( A ) -- drew the early assignment guarding TMac and did a nice job of it. But more spectacularly had a ferocious game rebounding the ball for a 6'5" off guard, grabbing 7 of them in the first quarter on his way to an amazing 18 in the game. Was fiddling with the minus here because there was a darkside -- Bonzi was having all kinds of ballhandling issues and notched 7 turnovers. But he hustled and defended all night, led the team in scoring, grabbed more boards than our center and power forward combined, and you may not see another 18 rebound game from a guard all season. All of which adds up to "A" in my book. Not a perfect game, but a very impressive one. Guy has been in desperate need of a beatdown for much of his career, but if he keeps on battling like he did tonight, might become my favorite King.
Bibby ( D- ) -- solid, if fairly quiet start with Mike. Hit a couple of shots, was patient. And Rafer was mercifully not doing anything to us on the other end. But just did nothing thereafter, and things just got worse and worse for the second night in a row. Not only is his shot just gone, but he just looks dazed out there. Has no control of the game, and doesn't look like he has any idea what he wants to do. Now remember my comment in the Peja grade -- I'm always looking at ways to avoid the F so as to allow for even worse performances, and here it was tonight -- yesterday in Oklahoma City Mike shot just as poorly, looked just as dazed, but compounded it by getting lit up by the Hornet's PGs. Meanwhile tonight he could not shoot, looked dazed, but the Rockets PGs did not explode against him. Now the truth is I think its very debatable how much of that was Mike's doing, but this is how D minuses are born when they could well be Fs.
Thomas ( C+ ) -- a second straight quiet outing for KT. Came in and was immediately victimized by great move by Stromile Swift along baseline, grabbed one aggressive board, but did nothing else at all in the first half. Stuck a jumper after returning in the 2nd half, and had a more effective stint grabbing a few boards and making some hustle plays. Nonetheless, very modest numbers, and very modest impact. Did not hurt us in the second half, but the bench is punchless right now and KT is not doing much to help.
Martin ( C+ ) -- in the first half moved his feet well on defense, but was a half step slow on several occasions leading to him picking up fouls. Good effort but did nothing else first half. Repeatedly victimized by the saaviness of Jon Barry in the 4th, and did little beyond grab a few boards. Opportunity knocked when Peja fouled out late, and Rick showed confidence in Kevin and inserted him for what have been the first meaningful late game minutes of his career. Kevin did not embarrass himself, got a nice putback jumper off of a SAR hustle play, but did not have much overall impact. Maybe played just well enough tonight to avoid Rick actually losing confidence in him, but certainly nothing to create confidence where there was none before.
Garcia ( INC ) -- Came in during early 2nd and while he did not stand out...he also did not stand out in the other way he has been doing. Did not earn any second half minutes.
Skinner ( INC ) -- battled, but too small to guard Yao again, in case we had forgotten
Hart ( D ) -- still just not playing effectively, hasn't been the same since the injury, and is getting very little accomplished out there. Not only is he punchless, but so is the reserve lineup he directs. And the defense he showed in preseason has been nowhere close so far in these first two games. Just kind of out there.
Adelman ( C+ ) -- well, better tonight. Got beat, and the other team wasn't exactly playing great in so doing, but we didn't get KILLED, and we had multiple individuals show up to play this time. We moved the ball better in spurts, which was good to see. But our success tonight was still more based upon certain individuals stepping forward and bringing their games. Better, but not close to where we have to be. Rick continues to get nothing out of his bench, but tonight preseason was over, and not only did he stay away form having all 5 benchers out on the floor, but when they were ineffective he quickly pulled them and really shortened it to 8 guys. We played some matchup ball there in the second half, matching bigs against bigs. Liked the way we used SAR to attack their weaker defenders (Bowen and Howard), and Bonzi to attack their smaller guards. Don't know what else to say other than this was a step forward, a step closer to playing as a team and being competitive. Rick's doing? Maybe not except in the abstract. But it is what he preaches, and he did nothing to really hurt us either other than maybe stick with Mike and Peja too long. And given the glaring bench weakness right now, not as if there are more attractive options lying around. As is sometimes the case when the coach neither wins nor loses, this grade is heavily influenced by the team grade. Team looked better, coach tried a few things and did nothing really wrong. But we still lost and are 0-2, but at least going to face a team that should let us score more easily in Phoenix. So...C+.
Reef ( B+ ) -- not very effective in the first quarter while Brad was putting on a show, but came up with an impressive burst of scoring just before halftime. And after that his impact increased as the game wore on, and in the third was really the only King consistently hitting. Used his normal array of spins and post moves, but this time also fought pretty well inside on the glass, at least on offense. Began to really assert himself when the Rockets tried to put lesser defenders on him -- our first sign of the mismatch goto guy that he hopefully can become. He was the third of the three amigos to show up tonight, and while a little tardy, played a major part in keeping us close despite widespread struggles up and down our lineup.
Miller ( A- ) -- started off looking tremendous in the first quarter -- back to last year's Brad where good offense outweighed shaky defense. Outsmarted the not-quite-rocket-scientist Stromile Swift a few times in the first quarter on fakes, leading to uncontested gallops to the hoop. More than anything else it was his decisionmaking which was outstanding early. Made all the right calls. Set people up. Shot when he should shoot, drove when he should drive. Engulfed by Yao at times on the other end who treats him like a 6-footer (Yao went for 22 and 10 in 25min). Got quiet scoring after the first quarter -- 15pt first, 6 pt for the rest of the game, and slowed down in the third while struggling against Deke when the old man was brought in due to Yao's foul trouble. But stuck with it and was still was making the best decisions on the team when he had the ball. While Bonzi provided the hustle, Brad was unquestionably the brains of the operation tonight. He at least responded to the embarrassment in Oklahoma.
Bonzi ( A ) -- drew the early assignment guarding TMac and did a nice job of it. But more spectacularly had a ferocious game rebounding the ball for a 6'5" off guard, grabbing 7 of them in the first quarter on his way to an amazing 18 in the game. Was fiddling with the minus here because there was a darkside -- Bonzi was having all kinds of ballhandling issues and notched 7 turnovers. But he hustled and defended all night, led the team in scoring, grabbed more boards than our center and power forward combined, and you may not see another 18 rebound game from a guard all season. All of which adds up to "A" in my book. Not a perfect game, but a very impressive one. Guy has been in desperate need of a beatdown for much of his career, but if he keeps on battling like he did tonight, might become my favorite King.
Bibby ( D- ) -- solid, if fairly quiet start with Mike. Hit a couple of shots, was patient. And Rafer was mercifully not doing anything to us on the other end. But just did nothing thereafter, and things just got worse and worse for the second night in a row. Not only is his shot just gone, but he just looks dazed out there. Has no control of the game, and doesn't look like he has any idea what he wants to do. Now remember my comment in the Peja grade -- I'm always looking at ways to avoid the F so as to allow for even worse performances, and here it was tonight -- yesterday in Oklahoma City Mike shot just as poorly, looked just as dazed, but compounded it by getting lit up by the Hornet's PGs. Meanwhile tonight he could not shoot, looked dazed, but the Rockets PGs did not explode against him. Now the truth is I think its very debatable how much of that was Mike's doing, but this is how D minuses are born when they could well be Fs.
Thomas ( C+ ) -- a second straight quiet outing for KT. Came in and was immediately victimized by great move by Stromile Swift along baseline, grabbed one aggressive board, but did nothing else at all in the first half. Stuck a jumper after returning in the 2nd half, and had a more effective stint grabbing a few boards and making some hustle plays. Nonetheless, very modest numbers, and very modest impact. Did not hurt us in the second half, but the bench is punchless right now and KT is not doing much to help.
Martin ( C+ ) -- in the first half moved his feet well on defense, but was a half step slow on several occasions leading to him picking up fouls. Good effort but did nothing else first half. Repeatedly victimized by the saaviness of Jon Barry in the 4th, and did little beyond grab a few boards. Opportunity knocked when Peja fouled out late, and Rick showed confidence in Kevin and inserted him for what have been the first meaningful late game minutes of his career. Kevin did not embarrass himself, got a nice putback jumper off of a SAR hustle play, but did not have much overall impact. Maybe played just well enough tonight to avoid Rick actually losing confidence in him, but certainly nothing to create confidence where there was none before.
Garcia ( INC ) -- Came in during early 2nd and while he did not stand out...he also did not stand out in the other way he has been doing. Did not earn any second half minutes.
Skinner ( INC ) -- battled, but too small to guard Yao again, in case we had forgotten
Hart ( D ) -- still just not playing effectively, hasn't been the same since the injury, and is getting very little accomplished out there. Not only is he punchless, but so is the reserve lineup he directs. And the defense he showed in preseason has been nowhere close so far in these first two games. Just kind of out there.
Adelman ( C+ ) -- well, better tonight. Got beat, and the other team wasn't exactly playing great in so doing, but we didn't get KILLED, and we had multiple individuals show up to play this time. We moved the ball better in spurts, which was good to see. But our success tonight was still more based upon certain individuals stepping forward and bringing their games. Better, but not close to where we have to be. Rick continues to get nothing out of his bench, but tonight preseason was over, and not only did he stay away form having all 5 benchers out on the floor, but when they were ineffective he quickly pulled them and really shortened it to 8 guys. We played some matchup ball there in the second half, matching bigs against bigs. Liked the way we used SAR to attack their weaker defenders (Bowen and Howard), and Bonzi to attack their smaller guards. Don't know what else to say other than this was a step forward, a step closer to playing as a team and being competitive. Rick's doing? Maybe not except in the abstract. But it is what he preaches, and he did nothing to really hurt us either other than maybe stick with Mike and Peja too long. And given the glaring bench weakness right now, not as if there are more attractive options lying around. As is sometimes the case when the coach neither wins nor loses, this grade is heavily influenced by the team grade. Team looked better, coach tried a few things and did nothing really wrong. But we still lost and are 0-2, but at least going to face a team that should let us score more easily in Phoenix. So...C+.
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