Very encouraging way to ring in the new year. (and geesh -- is it 2005 already??? I'm getting old).
Peja ( A+ ) -- wow -- exorcised his Bowen demons in a big big way tonight. Not only a huge scoring night against the toughest defense in the league, and the man who has tortured him over the years, but a great hustle game from him where you could actually see him hungry. Waded in and fought on the boards from the very start of the game. Got a lot of help from his teammates tonight with all sorts of screens, but Peja came locked and loaded this time. No weak sister tonight.
Webber ( B+ ) -- wow, how to grade this one. First the good -- Chris Webber played like a MAN in there tonight. Played some of the best post defense I have seen ANYBODY play against Tim Duncan, just totally frustrating him for long stretches. Led the teamwide focus on the boards from the start of the game. Lot of big tough rebounds in traffic. And just hustled his *** off all night long. Hungry performance, and came up big down the stretch with shots, free throws, assists. Now for the negative -- offense was pretty much just a long series of jumpers, perhaps necessary against the Spurs' length, but only sporadically effective. And man Webb was just sloppy with the ball -- seven turnovers in a big game. A few of them weren't his fault, but some of them were just really poor. Still, in the end while he had me slapping my head at times, when your power forward stands tall in there and faces down Tim Duncan, that's a heck of a night.
Miller ( B+ ) -- Numbers don't look that special, but really came to play with inspired play in the second half. Traded off with Webber on Duncan and did a respectable job with double help. Also grabbed some big burly boards for us, and gave us a real boost with an uncharacteristic string of blocked shots in the second half. Hit a big shot off a scramble play in the last couple of minutes.
Christie ( C+ ) -- started off the game aggressively, and was of course part of our excellent defensive effort tonight. But kind of settled back therafter, and was mostly just a spectator as the rest of the team kicked it into high gear. Wasn't even our best OG of the night.
Bibby ( B ) -- bit of an erratic effort with some bad turnovers scattered throughout. But really impressed with strong defensive focus from the start of the game -- see he CAN do it when he puts his mind to it. And in the 4th quarter, when it looked like we might be faltering after playing the great game, Mike stepped up and hit a number of big shots for us. Stepped up when it mattered most.
Ostertag ( B- ) -- Looking at the boxscore was a bit surprised at the stats, or lack thereof -- no rebounds, no blocks? Stood tall in there tonight as he is wont to do. Spurs were definitely aware of him, and he altered a number of shots. Of course the rarity was that tonight, he wasn't the only one doing that. All of our big men were locked in on defense.
Evans ( B ) -- gave us an energetic first half where he used his athleticism to battle on the boards. But lost his minutes tonight to Peja, who was great, and Martin, who was just as good. Helped us with a nifty pass in the first half when we were briefly in an unconventional non-passing lineup.
Songaila ( C ) -- our lone foil tonight. Hustled hard, but looked overmatched. Made Robert Horry look like a Hall of Famer in the first half, then switched over on Duncan. Which wasn't good. Thought Rick made a mistake leaving him in while taking Tag out in the second quarter.
Martin ( A+ ) -- if last game was Martin's coming out party, this was the one that just instantly cemented him into the rotation. I was impressed and surprised that Rick would even risk playing him in such a big game. But Kevin quickly eliminated any and all doubts that he belonged out there. Just a special performance by the kid -- absolutely did it all and made a couple of tremendous up out of your seat plays, including a coast to coast dunk to end the first half. Gave us excellent energy on the glass, and at times was running a bit of PG. Threw a nifty very Kingsesque behind the back, between the defender's legs pass to Darius in the second half. Fit right in.
Adelman ( A ) -- impressive display tonight. Team came out in playoff mode and was focused from the start for the game. Work on defense and the boards was great all night. Really surprised me by going deep into the bench for the second straight night. Had assumed he might shorten back up against the elite opponent. But he went to the bench, and remained committed to it throughout. Found Martin playing a great game, and rode him for long stretches even deep into the 4th quarter. Thought he made a little mistake favoring Darius over Tag, but other than that, made everything work. Even the worst passing Kings team I have seen on the floor in years -- Miller, Darius, Peja, Evans and Martin, bought us some minutes. Also perfectly timed his timeouts -- calling them just in time to break San Antonio momentum in the third and then critically, at the 4:30 minute mark to settle the team in a tie game as we headed into that stretch period where we've crumbled several times this year.
Peja ( A+ ) -- wow -- exorcised his Bowen demons in a big big way tonight. Not only a huge scoring night against the toughest defense in the league, and the man who has tortured him over the years, but a great hustle game from him where you could actually see him hungry. Waded in and fought on the boards from the very start of the game. Got a lot of help from his teammates tonight with all sorts of screens, but Peja came locked and loaded this time. No weak sister tonight.
Webber ( B+ ) -- wow, how to grade this one. First the good -- Chris Webber played like a MAN in there tonight. Played some of the best post defense I have seen ANYBODY play against Tim Duncan, just totally frustrating him for long stretches. Led the teamwide focus on the boards from the start of the game. Lot of big tough rebounds in traffic. And just hustled his *** off all night long. Hungry performance, and came up big down the stretch with shots, free throws, assists. Now for the negative -- offense was pretty much just a long series of jumpers, perhaps necessary against the Spurs' length, but only sporadically effective. And man Webb was just sloppy with the ball -- seven turnovers in a big game. A few of them weren't his fault, but some of them were just really poor. Still, in the end while he had me slapping my head at times, when your power forward stands tall in there and faces down Tim Duncan, that's a heck of a night.
Miller ( B+ ) -- Numbers don't look that special, but really came to play with inspired play in the second half. Traded off with Webber on Duncan and did a respectable job with double help. Also grabbed some big burly boards for us, and gave us a real boost with an uncharacteristic string of blocked shots in the second half. Hit a big shot off a scramble play in the last couple of minutes.
Christie ( C+ ) -- started off the game aggressively, and was of course part of our excellent defensive effort tonight. But kind of settled back therafter, and was mostly just a spectator as the rest of the team kicked it into high gear. Wasn't even our best OG of the night.
Bibby ( B ) -- bit of an erratic effort with some bad turnovers scattered throughout. But really impressed with strong defensive focus from the start of the game -- see he CAN do it when he puts his mind to it. And in the 4th quarter, when it looked like we might be faltering after playing the great game, Mike stepped up and hit a number of big shots for us. Stepped up when it mattered most.
Ostertag ( B- ) -- Looking at the boxscore was a bit surprised at the stats, or lack thereof -- no rebounds, no blocks? Stood tall in there tonight as he is wont to do. Spurs were definitely aware of him, and he altered a number of shots. Of course the rarity was that tonight, he wasn't the only one doing that. All of our big men were locked in on defense.
Evans ( B ) -- gave us an energetic first half where he used his athleticism to battle on the boards. But lost his minutes tonight to Peja, who was great, and Martin, who was just as good. Helped us with a nifty pass in the first half when we were briefly in an unconventional non-passing lineup.
Songaila ( C ) -- our lone foil tonight. Hustled hard, but looked overmatched. Made Robert Horry look like a Hall of Famer in the first half, then switched over on Duncan. Which wasn't good. Thought Rick made a mistake leaving him in while taking Tag out in the second quarter.
Martin ( A+ ) -- if last game was Martin's coming out party, this was the one that just instantly cemented him into the rotation. I was impressed and surprised that Rick would even risk playing him in such a big game. But Kevin quickly eliminated any and all doubts that he belonged out there. Just a special performance by the kid -- absolutely did it all and made a couple of tremendous up out of your seat plays, including a coast to coast dunk to end the first half. Gave us excellent energy on the glass, and at times was running a bit of PG. Threw a nifty very Kingsesque behind the back, between the defender's legs pass to Darius in the second half. Fit right in.
Adelman ( A ) -- impressive display tonight. Team came out in playoff mode and was focused from the start for the game. Work on defense and the boards was great all night. Really surprised me by going deep into the bench for the second straight night. Had assumed he might shorten back up against the elite opponent. But he went to the bench, and remained committed to it throughout. Found Martin playing a great game, and rode him for long stretches even deep into the 4th quarter. Thought he made a little mistake favoring Darius over Tag, but other than that, made everything work. Even the worst passing Kings team I have seen on the floor in years -- Miller, Darius, Peja, Evans and Martin, bought us some minutes. Also perfectly timed his timeouts -- calling them just in time to break San Antonio momentum in the third and then critically, at the 4:30 minute mark to settle the team in a tie game as we headed into that stretch period where we've crumbled several times this year.
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