Peja ( D+ ) -- came out in the first half and was again invisible. Really invisible. No scoring, no rebounding, no assists. Stayed in front of Lewis, but he was just a another guy, or even worse. Resumed his passive play in the third, but finally woke up late in the quarter and went on a mini-offensive run and grabbed his first rebound. Did nothing of real note therafter, but picked up a couple of more loose boards, and hit a couple of free throws. I'm taking a bit of a speculative leap with Peja's grade here -- basically to all appearances he sucked and was irrelevant for any starter, let along a theoretical star. But on the other end of the floor Rashard Lewis was very quiet as well. Now Peja did nothing obvious to cause those difficulties (no steals, no blocks, few altered shots). But he was solid and stayed in front of Lewis throughout, and so tonight Peja's grade is being saved somewhat by a) us winning; and b) a theoretical connection between Lewis' struggles and Peja's defense.
Thomas ( A- ) -- has played better at home ever since we got him, and continued the trend in a big way in the first half tonight. Didn't grow any taller in the last few days, but played a smart first half and beat the Sonics bigs with quickness and the jumper rather than trying to fight a losing battle of muscle with them. Also came out and played a very aggressive third driving the ball hard at the Sonics and taking advantage of James being drawn away from the hoop by Miller's presence. Got into foul trouble late in the third and was rarely on the floor therafter, and a nonfactor late. In general played a strong game on his terms, and made Evans ineffective by making the game about quickness and shooting rather than power, size and hustle. Boardwork was middling, but was easily the best of our bigs.
Miller ( B- ) -- made a difference with his outside presence against the limited Sonics big men. Still was doing the stupid "I-don't want-to-shoot" thing early, even while being left WIDE open, but after he was finally coaxed into taking one and hitting it, took another, then another, then a drive etc. Again gave us nothing on the glass, and was having major trouble with scrub-turned-star James once more. But was at least hurting the Sonics back the other way and his unique skillset posed problems for the Sonics and hleped open up things for the rest of the team.
Mobley ( B+ ) -- modest first half, but started out nicely aggressive on Allen on defense. After returning in the second quarter defense was not as intense, but did hit a big three to stem a big charge by the Sonics late in the half. Second half was more on than off -- hit some confident shots, but also forced a few OVER-confident shots. Never went through an extended cold streak though, and generally played within the structure of the offense rather than breaking us down with freelancing. Obviously did not slow down Allen much -- guy is having a true star series for them. But Cat competed and mitigated the damage somewhat by scoring on his own as well. Picked up a late technical for arguing for no apparent reason at all. I would suggest duct tape as the obvious solution, but I'm sure there's some charity somewhere who appreciates the constant stream of donations from Cat's mouth.
Bibby ( A ) -- we finally figured out who was going to step up and give us a star playoff performance in this series, and it was Mike Bibby. Was great for the first 18 minutes of the game, scoring aggressively, grabbing big rebounds, being pesky on defense -- huge energy effort. Got quiet late in the half though as his energy may have waned, and he was fairly quiet in the third. Stepped back up late though and finsihed with a big game in a big game. Only real complaint was that it was more about his own offense than creating for teammates tonight, but we badly needed somebody to selfishly step forward and say "I'm a star and I'm going to make sure we win this", and tonight it was Mike.
Songaila ( C- ) -- didn't do much in his stints except play physically and pick up fouls in record time. Well not quite record time. Danny Fortson was even outfouling Darius. But 5 fouls in 12 minutes meant another wasted night regardless. Can't help from the bench.
Jackson ( B ) -- energetic first half stint while we were rolling. Played strong defense on Allen. Got stuck in the middle of the much mocked three midget assualt that I will talk about in Rick's grade. Bobby was the OG. Cat the SF! Sigh. Few real impact moments until the last minute of the game when it was already decided. Grabbed a big board and hit a three to send the crowd home happy. But overall game was good but not great.
Evans ( C+ ) -- had the requisite energy in his first half stint, and grabbed a couple of boards. Nothing else though and did not return in the second half despite Peja's struggles (we decided to go with Cat as a SF instead
).
Skinner ( D ) -- his entry into the game late in the first half (back ahead of Tag in the rotation) with Brad in foul trouble coincided with our late fade in that half. Again not big enough to deal with James, and turned the ball over a couple of times on a travel and a 3 second call. Came back in for a couple of minutes as a PF in place of the foul-a-minute Darius, but was quickly replaced by Corliss and did not return. In 6 minutes only statistical contribution was 2 TOs.
Williamson ( B- ) -- came in for the first time with a few minutes to go at the end of the third quarter, even at one point teaming with Peja and three guards for the ultimate ridiculous flea lineup. Think he was intially in there just as a *bleep* you move to Danny Fortson (see grade below), but with Darius out and Rick in love with midget ball, we stuck with him as our new PF. Was active and got to the line. Was also still a stubby 6'5" who could probably pick lint out of Jerome James' belly button with his tongue. Rick tired of mite-ball reasonably quick and reinserted a semi-normal lineup for the stretch run.
Crowd ( A ) -- arguably won the game for the Kings tonight. We won this one almost purely on that intial big burst of energy to start our first home playoff game. First quarter Kings +12, last three quarters dead even.
Forston ( A+ ) -- knucklehead. Just about says it all. And we really need to get him on the payroll. Actually he already plays like he is. I'm thinking maybe just a nice targeted payment to the Spurs to sign him in the offseason or something. He can be our Trojan horse.
Adelman ( B ) -- I of course briefly had dark thoughts of flat out flunking him for his Peja/Corliss/Mobley/Bobby/Bibby experiment, which he not only used once at the end of the third quarter, but INTENTIONALLY went back to some 5 or 6 minutes later in the 4th. But overall performance was generally solid and so I will attemtp to overlook the Nelliesque-never-won-a-damn-thing-in-the-playoffs-because-small-ball-is-weak lunacy for the minute. This game was about our starters, and about our start, as in the start to the game. The opening quarter provided the margin of victory, and after that it was just one long struggle to maintain a 7-14 point lead for three quarters. Never let them really get close. Were never able to truly put them away. Were scoring enough that our defensive issues did not kill us (the Sonics scored 105 in Game 2 and beat us easily, scored 104 tonight and lose by 12). Rick did experiment with some wacky bench combinations, but at least partially because the bench didn't give us much tonight and Rick was looking for answers. Called a few good timeouts to break up Sonics runs. And tonight I think we executed the gameplan that I think Rick wanted to use in Game 2 -- concede that the Sonics are the bigger + tougher team and try to as somebody said "expose" their big men by attacking them with quickness and finesse. Strength on strength, we lose. So Rick tried to turn it into strength (Sonics) on finesse (us) and tonight finesse got the upper hand (James excepted -- we still have no answer there). If we're going to pull this series out, probably has to be the hope from here on out. Play to our strengths rather than theirs. And of course does not hurt to get a star level performance out of one of your main guys (Mike).
Thomas ( A- ) -- has played better at home ever since we got him, and continued the trend in a big way in the first half tonight. Didn't grow any taller in the last few days, but played a smart first half and beat the Sonics bigs with quickness and the jumper rather than trying to fight a losing battle of muscle with them. Also came out and played a very aggressive third driving the ball hard at the Sonics and taking advantage of James being drawn away from the hoop by Miller's presence. Got into foul trouble late in the third and was rarely on the floor therafter, and a nonfactor late. In general played a strong game on his terms, and made Evans ineffective by making the game about quickness and shooting rather than power, size and hustle. Boardwork was middling, but was easily the best of our bigs.
Miller ( B- ) -- made a difference with his outside presence against the limited Sonics big men. Still was doing the stupid "I-don't want-to-shoot" thing early, even while being left WIDE open, but after he was finally coaxed into taking one and hitting it, took another, then another, then a drive etc. Again gave us nothing on the glass, and was having major trouble with scrub-turned-star James once more. But was at least hurting the Sonics back the other way and his unique skillset posed problems for the Sonics and hleped open up things for the rest of the team.
Mobley ( B+ ) -- modest first half, but started out nicely aggressive on Allen on defense. After returning in the second quarter defense was not as intense, but did hit a big three to stem a big charge by the Sonics late in the half. Second half was more on than off -- hit some confident shots, but also forced a few OVER-confident shots. Never went through an extended cold streak though, and generally played within the structure of the offense rather than breaking us down with freelancing. Obviously did not slow down Allen much -- guy is having a true star series for them. But Cat competed and mitigated the damage somewhat by scoring on his own as well. Picked up a late technical for arguing for no apparent reason at all. I would suggest duct tape as the obvious solution, but I'm sure there's some charity somewhere who appreciates the constant stream of donations from Cat's mouth.
Bibby ( A ) -- we finally figured out who was going to step up and give us a star playoff performance in this series, and it was Mike Bibby. Was great for the first 18 minutes of the game, scoring aggressively, grabbing big rebounds, being pesky on defense -- huge energy effort. Got quiet late in the half though as his energy may have waned, and he was fairly quiet in the third. Stepped back up late though and finsihed with a big game in a big game. Only real complaint was that it was more about his own offense than creating for teammates tonight, but we badly needed somebody to selfishly step forward and say "I'm a star and I'm going to make sure we win this", and tonight it was Mike.
Songaila ( C- ) -- didn't do much in his stints except play physically and pick up fouls in record time. Well not quite record time. Danny Fortson was even outfouling Darius. But 5 fouls in 12 minutes meant another wasted night regardless. Can't help from the bench.
Jackson ( B ) -- energetic first half stint while we were rolling. Played strong defense on Allen. Got stuck in the middle of the much mocked three midget assualt that I will talk about in Rick's grade. Bobby was the OG. Cat the SF! Sigh. Few real impact moments until the last minute of the game when it was already decided. Grabbed a big board and hit a three to send the crowd home happy. But overall game was good but not great.
Evans ( C+ ) -- had the requisite energy in his first half stint, and grabbed a couple of boards. Nothing else though and did not return in the second half despite Peja's struggles (we decided to go with Cat as a SF instead
).Skinner ( D ) -- his entry into the game late in the first half (back ahead of Tag in the rotation) with Brad in foul trouble coincided with our late fade in that half. Again not big enough to deal with James, and turned the ball over a couple of times on a travel and a 3 second call. Came back in for a couple of minutes as a PF in place of the foul-a-minute Darius, but was quickly replaced by Corliss and did not return. In 6 minutes only statistical contribution was 2 TOs.
Williamson ( B- ) -- came in for the first time with a few minutes to go at the end of the third quarter, even at one point teaming with Peja and three guards for the ultimate ridiculous flea lineup. Think he was intially in there just as a *bleep* you move to Danny Fortson (see grade below), but with Darius out and Rick in love with midget ball, we stuck with him as our new PF. Was active and got to the line. Was also still a stubby 6'5" who could probably pick lint out of Jerome James' belly button with his tongue. Rick tired of mite-ball reasonably quick and reinserted a semi-normal lineup for the stretch run.
Crowd ( A ) -- arguably won the game for the Kings tonight. We won this one almost purely on that intial big burst of energy to start our first home playoff game. First quarter Kings +12, last three quarters dead even.
Forston ( A+ ) -- knucklehead. Just about says it all. And we really need to get him on the payroll. Actually he already plays like he is. I'm thinking maybe just a nice targeted payment to the Spurs to sign him in the offseason or something. He can be our Trojan horse.
Adelman ( B ) -- I of course briefly had dark thoughts of flat out flunking him for his Peja/Corliss/Mobley/Bobby/Bibby experiment, which he not only used once at the end of the third quarter, but INTENTIONALLY went back to some 5 or 6 minutes later in the 4th. But overall performance was generally solid and so I will attemtp to overlook the Nelliesque-never-won-a-damn-thing-in-the-playoffs-because-small-ball-is-weak lunacy for the minute. This game was about our starters, and about our start, as in the start to the game. The opening quarter provided the margin of victory, and after that it was just one long struggle to maintain a 7-14 point lead for three quarters. Never let them really get close. Were never able to truly put them away. Were scoring enough that our defensive issues did not kill us (the Sonics scored 105 in Game 2 and beat us easily, scored 104 tonight and lose by 12). Rick did experiment with some wacky bench combinations, but at least partially because the bench didn't give us much tonight and Rick was looking for answers. Called a few good timeouts to break up Sonics runs. And tonight I think we executed the gameplan that I think Rick wanted to use in Game 2 -- concede that the Sonics are the bigger + tougher team and try to as somebody said "expose" their big men by attacking them with quickness and finesse. Strength on strength, we lose. So Rick tried to turn it into strength (Sonics) on finesse (us) and tonight finesse got the upper hand (James excepted -- we still have no answer there). If we're going to pull this series out, probably has to be the hope from here on out. Play to our strengths rather than theirs. And of course does not hurt to get a star level performance out of one of your main guys (Mike).
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