Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Peja ( B+ ) -- very encouraging performance despite the overall shooting numbers. Started the game really struggling with his shot, but for the first time this season we saw some passion from him. Started aggressively attacking the rim, and was playing some excellent defense from the very beginning of the game. Made some huge plays on Mcgrady down the stretch. Rebounding sucked -- 6'9" guy plays 48min and grabs 2 rebs?? But postives far outweighed the negatives tonight.
Webb ( B ) -- set aside the shooting for a moment, and this was a very strong performance. Legs looked positively lively, and showed unusual mobility on defense and hustle around the boards. Shots he took weren't bad either. Just could not get them to fall. Most of the misses were open jumpers in the offense. Got smart as the game went along and started to pass up the J, even if open, to dump it to Bibby and Peja. Became more of a distributor. Some exciting swoops to the basket -- inside game is looking good. Might have forced a few late trying to carry us, but kept on spotting in hits, grabbed some big boards, stayed with it. Missed the one to tie it in the last 24, fought for the board and missed the tip. Good attempt. No go.
Miller ( B- ) -- not a huge game, but played well within what we were trying to do. Still having some rebounding issues -- not sure what it is right now but he's just not snatching the ball and a lot of them are getting away from him. Having his problems in there against Ming -- battled him, but could not stop him. Hit the open jumpers, was battling white man's disease when he got near the rim.
Christie ( B- ) -- helped get us off on the right foot -- haha get it! foot! -- oh, anyway. Some good energy and got on the boards for us. While Bobby was solid tonight, I thought we could have used a little more Doug late rather than the two PG lineup.
Bibby ( A ) -- great great game by Mike. Kept up the scorching shooting from the Spurs agme. But more than that, rebounded, played respectable defense, hustled, and made smart plays throughout. No "+" because we lost, and there were jsut too many people popping open for threes on the perimeter int he second half.
BJax ( B- ) -- much calmer effort by Bobby. Still took a few ill-advised shots, but hey, that's Bobby. Nowhere near his best -- not a huge impact game. But a solid contributor tonight and his usual hustle -- stole the tip to start OT.
Barnes ( B- ) -- came in a little wild -- could see the lack of polish. But hustled and provided a nice defensive boost from the beginning, and settled in as a dependable force for the rest of the game. Just well suited to our system -- can play a complete game AND hustle. Think we have a real find, even when he isn't providing huge numbers. Could see in the early 4th quarter the potential for Bobby/Tag/Barnes to provide a hustling.
Ostertag ( C+ ) -- not hugely effective, but hustled around, set some big picks. Nothing to write home about, but starting to show some of the areas he can contribute in.
Songaila ( C+ ) -- didn't hurt us, but really barely noticed him. Grabbed a few boards, but not really involved offensively. Was skipped over in the rotation in the second half as we went with a Webb/Brad/Tag trio.
Adelman ( B- ) -- you know, if there is such a thing as a "good loss" this might be it. We should NOT have lost it -- nto with a 15pt 3rd quarter lead. But we did so many things so much better in this game -- rebounded, defended, were more patient on offesne, played together -- that I am ok. Good building block for the rest of the season. Only real complaints with Rick were 1) where was Doug late? 2) we really needed to make an adjustment to stop those three point bombs. Won the game for Houston. Solid rotations though. good game plan. And the team was ready to play. Just poor shooting nights again by its two biggest stars. But we played the game right. Earned a win tonight. Just did not get it.
Webb ( B ) -- set aside the shooting for a moment, and this was a very strong performance. Legs looked positively lively, and showed unusual mobility on defense and hustle around the boards. Shots he took weren't bad either. Just could not get them to fall. Most of the misses were open jumpers in the offense. Got smart as the game went along and started to pass up the J, even if open, to dump it to Bibby and Peja. Became more of a distributor. Some exciting swoops to the basket -- inside game is looking good. Might have forced a few late trying to carry us, but kept on spotting in hits, grabbed some big boards, stayed with it. Missed the one to tie it in the last 24, fought for the board and missed the tip. Good attempt. No go.
Miller ( B- ) -- not a huge game, but played well within what we were trying to do. Still having some rebounding issues -- not sure what it is right now but he's just not snatching the ball and a lot of them are getting away from him. Having his problems in there against Ming -- battled him, but could not stop him. Hit the open jumpers, was battling white man's disease when he got near the rim.
Christie ( B- ) -- helped get us off on the right foot -- haha get it! foot! -- oh, anyway. Some good energy and got on the boards for us. While Bobby was solid tonight, I thought we could have used a little more Doug late rather than the two PG lineup.
Bibby ( A ) -- great great game by Mike. Kept up the scorching shooting from the Spurs agme. But more than that, rebounded, played respectable defense, hustled, and made smart plays throughout. No "+" because we lost, and there were jsut too many people popping open for threes on the perimeter int he second half.
BJax ( B- ) -- much calmer effort by Bobby. Still took a few ill-advised shots, but hey, that's Bobby. Nowhere near his best -- not a huge impact game. But a solid contributor tonight and his usual hustle -- stole the tip to start OT.
Barnes ( B- ) -- came in a little wild -- could see the lack of polish. But hustled and provided a nice defensive boost from the beginning, and settled in as a dependable force for the rest of the game. Just well suited to our system -- can play a complete game AND hustle. Think we have a real find, even when he isn't providing huge numbers. Could see in the early 4th quarter the potential for Bobby/Tag/Barnes to provide a hustling.
Ostertag ( C+ ) -- not hugely effective, but hustled around, set some big picks. Nothing to write home about, but starting to show some of the areas he can contribute in.
Songaila ( C+ ) -- didn't hurt us, but really barely noticed him. Grabbed a few boards, but not really involved offensively. Was skipped over in the rotation in the second half as we went with a Webb/Brad/Tag trio.
Adelman ( B- ) -- you know, if there is such a thing as a "good loss" this might be it. We should NOT have lost it -- nto with a 15pt 3rd quarter lead. But we did so many things so much better in this game -- rebounded, defended, were more patient on offesne, played together -- that I am ok. Good building block for the rest of the season. Only real complaints with Rick were 1) where was Doug late? 2) we really needed to make an adjustment to stop those three point bombs. Won the game for Houston. Solid rotations though. good game plan. And the team was ready to play. Just poor shooting nights again by its two biggest stars. But we played the game right. Earned a win tonight. Just did not get it.
,but Kings need teamwork
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