Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Artest ( A ) -- After a crappy roadtrip Ron came back to Arco and completely carried us tonight. And while the last thing we need is another home hero/road weenie, we needed everything he gave us this time out. Exploded offensively in the second quarter, hitting a three and then going to work down inside again and again. Got some help from the refs too who were calling a lot of touch fouls. And if Artest is attacking and the refs are calling touch fouls, he's damn near unguardable as he goes charging in there. On the other end Lewis was actually able to get past Ron fairly consistently with an up fake and quick drive, but Ron was still making a lot of big plays, getting his hands on balls of course, the "usual" greatness that you just take for granted after a while. Hit a big three to close the third quarter and put us back up 6, and in a relative rarity or him, maintained his offensive presence through most of the game rather than having a big spurt or two and then drifting off. I ALMOST gave Ron another A+ tonight, and likely would have if in the final minute he had not choked 2 FTs and a shot, any of which would have given him a new career high. Not that I docked him for garbagetime play so much as a significant career high is often an automatic "+". In any case, nice little tuneup for the big rematch tommorow.
Thomas ( B ) -- completely ineffective first half -- was badly outplayed by Chris Wilcox and joined the rest of the Kings bigs in being completely ineffective shutting down the lane in transition. But then came out to start the second half a completely different player, running the floor, rebounding, cutting to the hoop, came up with a huge blocked shot on Petro. Was really our best player during that decisive period and helped us stake a lead by the end of the quarter. Then went quiet down the stretch again -- had something like 4pts 3rebs at half, 7pts 8rebs in the 3rd, and 0pts 0rebs in the 4th. At least in the final period was helping with our much improved defensive effort with quick rotations and seals against baseline cutters. In any case, one A+ quarter surrrouonded by a whole lot of blah. So...B.
Miller ( C+ ) -- How can Brad Miller grab 14 rebounds and still only get a C+? Well, you would have to have seen his game. Just looked uncomfortable throughout, could not hit a shot, wasn't making anybody else better, got outplayed by Robert Swift and just in general a subpar outing in every way EXCEPT rebounding. Almost like Kenny's last outing. Was at least rebounding early (although truth be told the Sonics were very much on the offensive glass while he was in there), but really nothing else. And the Sonics were killing us in transition and were beating Brad down the floor nearly every time. Came out to start the fourth and gave us a big welcome boost on the defensive glass but never able to get anything else consistently going. How Brad managed to earn 40 min in a game like this I don't know.
Martin ( C+ ) -- Somehwat better performance than the numbers show. Was off target from three early, got in foul trouble, and then picked up his 4th foul 30 seconds into the 2nd half and went to the bench. Was at least pretty aggressive offensively while he WAS on the court, but just could not hit anything. Pretty moves, ugly moves, did not matter -- just would not fall. Still came back to get the bulk of the 4th quarter minutes, and earned them not with his non-existent offense, but by dialing in and significantly harassing Ray Allen on the other side of the ball. Hard to justify the C+ on a 2-10, but they were good shots for the most part, and the late defense on Allen was important for our victory.
Bibby ( A ) -- Really embarrassed Ridnour this time out. Was doing most of our early scoring, and while he wasn't incredibly efficient, he was a presence throughout. Knocked down some big open threes in the third to help us build a smal lead, and hit several shots down the stretch to help ice it. Not as good as Ron, and once I backed Ron off the "+" I could have dropped Mike to the "-" on principal. But not only did he produce big numbers offensively, but his opposite number really was rendered ineffective this time out. When you outscore your guy 30-6 you're doing pretty well.
Bonzi ( C+ ) -- another banging crashing effort, and a sloppy one again. Put up nice scoring and reboiunding numbers, but did it on a lot of shots, with some loose TOs and fouls. Rotation pattern was differnet in this one as Bonzi got in almost immediately in the third with Kevin in foul trouble and began to bang around much more effectively than he had in the first half. And this time out it was Kevin getting the minutes down the stretch wiht good defense on Allen.
Reef ( D ) -- had an apparent advantage in there against Robert Swift, but was actually getting the worse of the matchup. Completely invisible as an interior defender. No boardwork. Did make a few nice passes. Not a great effort.
Garcia ( C ) -- decent return to action, played a little point, actually got some minutes in the second half at OG after BOTH Kevin and Bonzi picked up their 4th fouls in the third. Missed an open three, then forced a second shot up to prove he could and made it. Not much else. Definitely not a spark, but first game back may have been a bit much to ask.
Hart ( INC ) -- found himself called upon in emergency with Bibby with 4 fouls to start the 4th. And performed much like Jason Hart before being replaced.
Adelman ( B- ) -- well...not a terribly impressive outing, but a needed victory. We seem to be struggling along a bit all of a sudden with new holes opening up every game. First it was the blown layups, then the turnovers, and then in this one lousy interior/transition defense. Almost have to wonder if this game had been on the road would we have pulled it out? Or would we have continued to struggle in the second half and dropped a third straight in a third different fashion? Less than 24 hours to shake off the malaise here and go down and beat the Kobes again. Considerable foul trouble actually broke up the normal rotations somewhat -- by the end of the third Kevin, Bonzi AND Mike all had 4 fouls. And so both Cisco and then Hart found themselves logging fill in minutes. We still managed to run our new "big three" (Artest, Bibby, Miller) 40 min each. And you have to hope that those minutes don't come back to bite us tommorow. Ron and Mike at least justified it with their play. Brad...? Maybe Reef justifiied it with his indifferent play, not sure. In any case, we started this one off inattentive on defense and with the Sonics executing a definite gameplan to run out at us at every opportunity and beat us downfloor with their bigs. Killed us in transition in the first half. But we made some adjustments of our own at half, and largely took that away from them. And then it was largely just about Ron and Mike being better than Ray and Rashard late. Not a great win, but a win. Started off weak and mentally sloppy, but dialed in and competed better as the game went on. Now hopefully we have enough energy remaining to pick up right where we left off in L.A. tommorow.
Thomas ( B ) -- completely ineffective first half -- was badly outplayed by Chris Wilcox and joined the rest of the Kings bigs in being completely ineffective shutting down the lane in transition. But then came out to start the second half a completely different player, running the floor, rebounding, cutting to the hoop, came up with a huge blocked shot on Petro. Was really our best player during that decisive period and helped us stake a lead by the end of the quarter. Then went quiet down the stretch again -- had something like 4pts 3rebs at half, 7pts 8rebs in the 3rd, and 0pts 0rebs in the 4th. At least in the final period was helping with our much improved defensive effort with quick rotations and seals against baseline cutters. In any case, one A+ quarter surrrouonded by a whole lot of blah. So...B.
Miller ( C+ ) -- How can Brad Miller grab 14 rebounds and still only get a C+? Well, you would have to have seen his game. Just looked uncomfortable throughout, could not hit a shot, wasn't making anybody else better, got outplayed by Robert Swift and just in general a subpar outing in every way EXCEPT rebounding. Almost like Kenny's last outing. Was at least rebounding early (although truth be told the Sonics were very much on the offensive glass while he was in there), but really nothing else. And the Sonics were killing us in transition and were beating Brad down the floor nearly every time. Came out to start the fourth and gave us a big welcome boost on the defensive glass but never able to get anything else consistently going. How Brad managed to earn 40 min in a game like this I don't know.
Martin ( C+ ) -- Somehwat better performance than the numbers show. Was off target from three early, got in foul trouble, and then picked up his 4th foul 30 seconds into the 2nd half and went to the bench. Was at least pretty aggressive offensively while he WAS on the court, but just could not hit anything. Pretty moves, ugly moves, did not matter -- just would not fall. Still came back to get the bulk of the 4th quarter minutes, and earned them not with his non-existent offense, but by dialing in and significantly harassing Ray Allen on the other side of the ball. Hard to justify the C+ on a 2-10, but they were good shots for the most part, and the late defense on Allen was important for our victory.
Bibby ( A ) -- Really embarrassed Ridnour this time out. Was doing most of our early scoring, and while he wasn't incredibly efficient, he was a presence throughout. Knocked down some big open threes in the third to help us build a smal lead, and hit several shots down the stretch to help ice it. Not as good as Ron, and once I backed Ron off the "+" I could have dropped Mike to the "-" on principal. But not only did he produce big numbers offensively, but his opposite number really was rendered ineffective this time out. When you outscore your guy 30-6 you're doing pretty well.
Bonzi ( C+ ) -- another banging crashing effort, and a sloppy one again. Put up nice scoring and reboiunding numbers, but did it on a lot of shots, with some loose TOs and fouls. Rotation pattern was differnet in this one as Bonzi got in almost immediately in the third with Kevin in foul trouble and began to bang around much more effectively than he had in the first half. And this time out it was Kevin getting the minutes down the stretch wiht good defense on Allen.
Reef ( D ) -- had an apparent advantage in there against Robert Swift, but was actually getting the worse of the matchup. Completely invisible as an interior defender. No boardwork. Did make a few nice passes. Not a great effort.
Garcia ( C ) -- decent return to action, played a little point, actually got some minutes in the second half at OG after BOTH Kevin and Bonzi picked up their 4th fouls in the third. Missed an open three, then forced a second shot up to prove he could and made it. Not much else. Definitely not a spark, but first game back may have been a bit much to ask.
Hart ( INC ) -- found himself called upon in emergency with Bibby with 4 fouls to start the 4th. And performed much like Jason Hart before being replaced.
Adelman ( B- ) -- well...not a terribly impressive outing, but a needed victory. We seem to be struggling along a bit all of a sudden with new holes opening up every game. First it was the blown layups, then the turnovers, and then in this one lousy interior/transition defense. Almost have to wonder if this game had been on the road would we have pulled it out? Or would we have continued to struggle in the second half and dropped a third straight in a third different fashion? Less than 24 hours to shake off the malaise here and go down and beat the Kobes again. Considerable foul trouble actually broke up the normal rotations somewhat -- by the end of the third Kevin, Bonzi AND Mike all had 4 fouls. And so both Cisco and then Hart found themselves logging fill in minutes. We still managed to run our new "big three" (Artest, Bibby, Miller) 40 min each. And you have to hope that those minutes don't come back to bite us tommorow. Ron and Mike at least justified it with their play. Brad...? Maybe Reef justifiied it with his indifferent play, not sure. In any case, we started this one off inattentive on defense and with the Sonics executing a definite gameplan to run out at us at every opportunity and beat us downfloor with their bigs. Killed us in transition in the first half. But we made some adjustments of our own at half, and largely took that away from them. And then it was largely just about Ron and Mike being better than Ray and Rashard late. Not a great win, but a win. Started off weak and mentally sloppy, but dialed in and competed better as the game went on. Now hopefully we have enough energy remaining to pick up right where we left off in L.A. tommorow.
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