Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Well, pooey -- turns out I covered over my notes for the first gane with my notes for game 2. So relatively briefely and from memory, the yin and the yang:
Artest ( B+/B ) -- Game 1: got off to a great dominating start that sort of set a tone for us, and then largely stayed out of the way the rest of the game. Shot looked great. Grade: B. Game 2: good on the glass all game long, and an all around start again. Did not shoot well, but threw in two garbagetime threes which I am discouting here as irrelevant.
Thomas ( B+/--) -- Game 1: played a good game in Seattle, giving us a nice burst of roleplayer energy that the Sonics were completely lacking. Was all glasswork early, but began to chip in hustle/garbagfe boards in the third. Game 2: DNP (injured)
Williams ( INC/C ) -- Game 1: garbagetime, showed some energy on the offensive boards, but could not get anything to fall. Game 2: first career start must have been a disappointment. Started off the game with a burst of activity on the glass and help defense, but was fooled repeatedly by Wilcox, who got past him for easy scores. Barely got a chance after half as we got off to the sluggish 3rd quarter start (of course).
Reef ( B-/C+ ) -- Game 1: solid offensive start with 7 quick points. Fell off scoringwise, although moved the ball solidly to help us keep on rolling. Never did give us anything on the glass. Game 2: another pretty good offensive start, but nothing else before half -- 10pts 1reb at the break. Played the third, and tossed in a few more hoops. Again, never did give us any boardwork. And when we made our big push to get back into it, he was on the bench. We seemed to get better with the energy of our all 6'7" athlete grouping ratehr than the with the old slowfooted Bibby/Reef Vancouver duo.
Martin ( A-/B ) -- Game 1: had another big game against the Sonics back in the spot where I mentioned earlier this season he had one of his darkest moments as a pro. It was last December I beleive, and we wnet into Seattle wiht Kevin comig off the bench, and on a cold streak. He was brought in and had a disastrous stint trying to guard Ray Allen -- Ray schooled him badly, lit us up almost every time down the floor wiht Kevin guarding him, and after that game Kevin disappeared form the rotation for a long stretch until Bonzi's injury freed him. Well, no longer. Not Kevin's best shooting performance, not his best rounded game, but it never felt like the Sonics had an answer for him as he scored whenever we needed a hoop (especially not the laughable Michael Gelabale who if you only watched Kings games and his efforts to guard Kevin this year would appear to be the worst import from France since the idea of eating cooked snails). Did briefly get himself pulled in the third after Allen had a flashback and was lighting Kevin, and us, up and threatening to bring the Sonics back into the game singlehandedly. But otherwise a breezy 26. Game 2: not much of a first half as he missed his FTs early, then began missing his shots from the field as the half wore on. Started a third quarter mini-comeback by knocking down an open three out of an timeout, and had a big 4th quarter as we came rushing back with the Kevin/Salmons/Cisco trio on the court next to our burly midget Ron/Corliss frontline.
Bibby ( D/D ) -- Game 1: ugh. Just ugh. On a night when basically every other King was having a field day against the Sonics "defense", Mike was just...dead. Only time he showed any life was when he bizarrely spent the...late 2nd? Late 3rd? Forget, anyway, when I think out of frustration he just started charging into the paint flailing about repeatedly over a several minute period. Wiht no gretaer effect than he was hainv goutside. gets the D here rather than worse largely just because we dominated this game so thoroughly that his performance did not really hurt us. Game 2: another cold start and was losing Ridnour on the other end. Just standing out there chucking threes, nothing else. Sat out almost the entire 4th until there were 3:00 to go. We made the bulk of our comeback without him and had much better energy, but man, we had him compeltely iced by the time we suddenly went back to him I guess in the hopes that he could summon up some heroics to try to save us. he did not -- was quiet. And just what a back to back ugh. Coming as it did after that article in the Bee, and with the rumors flying, you have to wonder if he does not know something is up. Certianly looks like something has to give. Mike can't just keep on playing like crap and getting less than 30min.
Corliss ( B-/B ) -- Game 1: and here I miss those notes I lost. Efficient shooting, but the turnovers were a real problem, and it felt kind fo scrappy and ugly. I'm sure I had some truly brilliant observation in there too, but have forgotten what it was. Oh well. Game 2: Curious game to grade, because statistically, if you were looking at nothing but the box scores, you might have looked at Corliss's first half, seen 11pts 7rebs from Corliss Wlliamson, and thought "great half!". Er...not really. Struggled to finish inside early again, battled around on the boards, but it was ugly. More effective in the third, and teamed with Ron to provide a minature frontcourt that held down the boardwork fort while our energy lineup tried to bring us back. But this is still a game where the numbers looked considerably better to me than the underlying game. You get 20-10 out of Corliss, you just have to give a good grade, but it wasn't a great one.
Cisco ( A/C+ ) -- Game 1: Had a huge game changing game for us. We were going to kill the Sonics anyway -- they were dead in the water out there. But Cisco came in and not only brought big energy on defense, but for once supplemented it was a series of long bombs that helped break the game open. Game 2: couple of good fouls early, but not hitting his shots as he was a night earlier. Was part of the long/active all 6'7" crew which brought us back into this one in the early 4th, but it wasn'`t because of his own individual contributions this time.
Salmons ( B+/C+ ) -- Game 1: not much impact in the first half, but in the second half had one of those "on" Salmons games where he impacted the game without much of it showing up in the numbers. Was inserted in the mid-3rd quarter with Ray Allen going nuts on Kevin, and after scoring 29 pts in the first 2 1/2 quarters, Ray did not score even one from that point onward. Was not all John, but the timing was just too obvious for the change. Otherwise good all around roleplayer numbers for John -- 7pts 5reb 6ast. Game 2: Might have bothered Allen again in the second quarter, but Ray wasn't scoring on anybody else either in the early going. Otherwise, not much. Some good play during our comeback in the early 4th, some sloppy turnovers down the stretch.
Muss ( A-/C ) -- Game 1: lost my notes. But a) we won in a blowout, on the road; b) we were ready to play; c) Muss shortened the rotation even without Brad; d) subbing in Salmons on Allen in the third paid big dividends; and e) we still had a surge, but then a shaky third. Game 2: Noticed Muss was taking a lot of heat here, and yeah, sure. We were flat, lacking energy. Threatened to be chased from the game in the early third. But Muss took a critical timeout down 22 in the early third. Drew up a three pointer for Kevin which helped kickstart our rebirth. And it was also Muss who switched to a smaller all 6'7" Salmons/Kevin/Cisco/Ron/Corliss lineup in the early 4th which brought us all the way back to be within 2 pts midway through the quarter. It was also Muss who took a gamble on starting Justin Williams in the absence of Brad and Kenny. This was not all bad. On the other hand Muss also showed a marvelously quick hook on Williams even with Chris Wilcox scoring at will inside (admittedly some of that was on Justin), Muss may have stuck with the all 6'7" team too long before finally subbing in an ice cold Bibby at the 3:00 mark. And down the stretch it did not seem like we knew how we wanted to attack anymore, and the Sonics are hardly a team that's hard to attack. Got it within 2, and were just outplayed down the stretch. There was also some idiotic intentional fouling in the final minutes long after the game was over. With us down double figures the whole way, that's just trying to look like you're doing something for your bosses.
Arco ( ) -- pretty disgusting. Team has a five game winning streak, then has a bad half, and its time to boo them. They come out of the timeout and score 5 in a row, time to cheer them again. What a mess. Of course sad to say, it might be working. That's the second time the team has been getting blown out in the third, the boo birds have come out, and the team has responded with a comeback. Lucky it was not me out there. I'd probably find a particularly loud boobird and give him a little wink as I blatantly stepped out of the way of the next guy driving to the hoop. Of course on our team, you wouldn't be able to tell any difference if they did that.
Artest ( B+/B ) -- Game 1: got off to a great dominating start that sort of set a tone for us, and then largely stayed out of the way the rest of the game. Shot looked great. Grade: B. Game 2: good on the glass all game long, and an all around start again. Did not shoot well, but threw in two garbagetime threes which I am discouting here as irrelevant.
Thomas ( B+/--) -- Game 1: played a good game in Seattle, giving us a nice burst of roleplayer energy that the Sonics were completely lacking. Was all glasswork early, but began to chip in hustle/garbagfe boards in the third. Game 2: DNP (injured)
Williams ( INC/C ) -- Game 1: garbagetime, showed some energy on the offensive boards, but could not get anything to fall. Game 2: first career start must have been a disappointment. Started off the game with a burst of activity on the glass and help defense, but was fooled repeatedly by Wilcox, who got past him for easy scores. Barely got a chance after half as we got off to the sluggish 3rd quarter start (of course).
Reef ( B-/C+ ) -- Game 1: solid offensive start with 7 quick points. Fell off scoringwise, although moved the ball solidly to help us keep on rolling. Never did give us anything on the glass. Game 2: another pretty good offensive start, but nothing else before half -- 10pts 1reb at the break. Played the third, and tossed in a few more hoops. Again, never did give us any boardwork. And when we made our big push to get back into it, he was on the bench. We seemed to get better with the energy of our all 6'7" athlete grouping ratehr than the with the old slowfooted Bibby/Reef Vancouver duo.
Martin ( A-/B ) -- Game 1: had another big game against the Sonics back in the spot where I mentioned earlier this season he had one of his darkest moments as a pro. It was last December I beleive, and we wnet into Seattle wiht Kevin comig off the bench, and on a cold streak. He was brought in and had a disastrous stint trying to guard Ray Allen -- Ray schooled him badly, lit us up almost every time down the floor wiht Kevin guarding him, and after that game Kevin disappeared form the rotation for a long stretch until Bonzi's injury freed him. Well, no longer. Not Kevin's best shooting performance, not his best rounded game, but it never felt like the Sonics had an answer for him as he scored whenever we needed a hoop (especially not the laughable Michael Gelabale who if you only watched Kings games and his efforts to guard Kevin this year would appear to be the worst import from France since the idea of eating cooked snails). Did briefly get himself pulled in the third after Allen had a flashback and was lighting Kevin, and us, up and threatening to bring the Sonics back into the game singlehandedly. But otherwise a breezy 26. Game 2: not much of a first half as he missed his FTs early, then began missing his shots from the field as the half wore on. Started a third quarter mini-comeback by knocking down an open three out of an timeout, and had a big 4th quarter as we came rushing back with the Kevin/Salmons/Cisco trio on the court next to our burly midget Ron/Corliss frontline.
Bibby ( D/D ) -- Game 1: ugh. Just ugh. On a night when basically every other King was having a field day against the Sonics "defense", Mike was just...dead. Only time he showed any life was when he bizarrely spent the...late 2nd? Late 3rd? Forget, anyway, when I think out of frustration he just started charging into the paint flailing about repeatedly over a several minute period. Wiht no gretaer effect than he was hainv goutside. gets the D here rather than worse largely just because we dominated this game so thoroughly that his performance did not really hurt us. Game 2: another cold start and was losing Ridnour on the other end. Just standing out there chucking threes, nothing else. Sat out almost the entire 4th until there were 3:00 to go. We made the bulk of our comeback without him and had much better energy, but man, we had him compeltely iced by the time we suddenly went back to him I guess in the hopes that he could summon up some heroics to try to save us. he did not -- was quiet. And just what a back to back ugh. Coming as it did after that article in the Bee, and with the rumors flying, you have to wonder if he does not know something is up. Certianly looks like something has to give. Mike can't just keep on playing like crap and getting less than 30min.
Corliss ( B-/B ) -- Game 1: and here I miss those notes I lost. Efficient shooting, but the turnovers were a real problem, and it felt kind fo scrappy and ugly. I'm sure I had some truly brilliant observation in there too, but have forgotten what it was. Oh well. Game 2: Curious game to grade, because statistically, if you were looking at nothing but the box scores, you might have looked at Corliss's first half, seen 11pts 7rebs from Corliss Wlliamson, and thought "great half!". Er...not really. Struggled to finish inside early again, battled around on the boards, but it was ugly. More effective in the third, and teamed with Ron to provide a minature frontcourt that held down the boardwork fort while our energy lineup tried to bring us back. But this is still a game where the numbers looked considerably better to me than the underlying game. You get 20-10 out of Corliss, you just have to give a good grade, but it wasn't a great one.
Cisco ( A/C+ ) -- Game 1: Had a huge game changing game for us. We were going to kill the Sonics anyway -- they were dead in the water out there. But Cisco came in and not only brought big energy on defense, but for once supplemented it was a series of long bombs that helped break the game open. Game 2: couple of good fouls early, but not hitting his shots as he was a night earlier. Was part of the long/active all 6'7" crew which brought us back into this one in the early 4th, but it wasn'`t because of his own individual contributions this time.
Salmons ( B+/C+ ) -- Game 1: not much impact in the first half, but in the second half had one of those "on" Salmons games where he impacted the game without much of it showing up in the numbers. Was inserted in the mid-3rd quarter with Ray Allen going nuts on Kevin, and after scoring 29 pts in the first 2 1/2 quarters, Ray did not score even one from that point onward. Was not all John, but the timing was just too obvious for the change. Otherwise good all around roleplayer numbers for John -- 7pts 5reb 6ast. Game 2: Might have bothered Allen again in the second quarter, but Ray wasn't scoring on anybody else either in the early going. Otherwise, not much. Some good play during our comeback in the early 4th, some sloppy turnovers down the stretch.
Muss ( A-/C ) -- Game 1: lost my notes. But a) we won in a blowout, on the road; b) we were ready to play; c) Muss shortened the rotation even without Brad; d) subbing in Salmons on Allen in the third paid big dividends; and e) we still had a surge, but then a shaky third. Game 2: Noticed Muss was taking a lot of heat here, and yeah, sure. We were flat, lacking energy. Threatened to be chased from the game in the early third. But Muss took a critical timeout down 22 in the early third. Drew up a three pointer for Kevin which helped kickstart our rebirth. And it was also Muss who switched to a smaller all 6'7" Salmons/Kevin/Cisco/Ron/Corliss lineup in the early 4th which brought us all the way back to be within 2 pts midway through the quarter. It was also Muss who took a gamble on starting Justin Williams in the absence of Brad and Kenny. This was not all bad. On the other hand Muss also showed a marvelously quick hook on Williams even with Chris Wilcox scoring at will inside (admittedly some of that was on Justin), Muss may have stuck with the all 6'7" team too long before finally subbing in an ice cold Bibby at the 3:00 mark. And down the stretch it did not seem like we knew how we wanted to attack anymore, and the Sonics are hardly a team that's hard to attack. Got it within 2, and were just outplayed down the stretch. There was also some idiotic intentional fouling in the final minutes long after the game was over. With us down double figures the whole way, that's just trying to look like you're doing something for your bosses.
Arco ( ) -- pretty disgusting. Team has a five game winning streak, then has a bad half, and its time to boo them. They come out of the timeout and score 5 in a row, time to cheer them again. What a mess. Of course sad to say, it might be working. That's the second time the team has been getting blown out in the third, the boo birds have come out, and the team has responded with a comeback. Lucky it was not me out there. I'd probably find a particularly loud boobird and give him a little wink as I blatantly stepped out of the way of the next guy driving to the hoop. Of course on our team, you wouldn't be able to tell any difference if they did that.
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They almost looked about the same to me.
