Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Artest ( A+ ) -- bigtime start doing all the things you would have hoped he would do. Scored, rebounded, defended. Great response to the suspension. Combined with Bonzi to maul the Spurs on the glass in the first half: Ron/Bonzi 17rebs, Spurs 18rebs. Might have gotten banged up again at the end of the third quarter after taking a knee from Horry on a drive, but as usual, did little to slow him down. Scored big clutch hoops in the final two minutes as he carried us until the miracle finish. Witht he miracle win, changed my mind and went with the plus here on the narrow call -- offensively strong, strong on the glass, dominated Manu on defense.
Thomas ( C- ) -- nothing early, but at least it took Duncan awhile to get it rolling. Surprisingly lost the bulk of his first half minutes as Rick broke out the mini-Bibby, Martin, Bonzi, Ron lienup for much of the half. Did what he could against a resurgent Duncan in the scond half, but was frequently overwhelmed, and had nothing left on the glass. Fouled out late in the 4th with an anemic 4pt 2reb night, but gets bumped on the grade a bit just for standing in there and battling Duncan for as long as he could.
Miller ( C+ ) -- showed up, and as one of the halftime boobs said, at least showed a pulse. Started off the game struggling again, and the crowd knew it. There was a huge sigh of relief by both Brad and the crowd when he finally hit one. And thereafter he was modestly effective not with jumpers, but with scrappy little finishes around the hoop, just moving that big body toward the rim. Did little else of note, and certainly not a vintage game. But was at least alive and contributed at a lower level.
Wells ( A ) -- a little sloppy early, but began to have major impact with the power game as the game wore on, and combined with Ron to simply overpower the Spurs inside. Got his hands on a bunch of balls that did not go into his own steals column. Bonzi's importance might have been underscored when we took him out in the mid-third -- our commanding lead just evaporated in the space of about 4 minutes. Slowed down after half, but was very active down the stretch, both good and bad. Was crashing inside again and again, sometimes converting, but also sometimes running into a wall of Spurs shotblockers. But even when he was blocked, collected 10 offensive rebounds as an OG (and in the rotations we were running, sometimes SF/PF). Just emerging once again as a stubby heart and soul hardhat guy, and he's really posing the Spurs all kinds of problems. Though about the minus as he probably missed too many shots in the interior wars, and before we got the miracle, it was Bonzi's man (Finley) who canned the wannabe game-winning three (although I have doubts how much that was Bonzi's fault since Finley was WAY beyond the line when he hit it). But really now...Bonzi's fight and spirit is causing havoc for the Spurs and driving the Kings, so going to ignore the flaws and focus on the guard who has combined for 47pts 26rebs in the last 2 games.
Bibby ( B+ ) -- was only 2-9 in the first half, but still managed to have an effective half. Got off to a good start, not only shooting, but being active with his passing, and yes, defense. Maybe pride there, but was pretty effective at staying in front of Parker While he did a nice job running the offense, he also had a whole stack of simply awful turnovers -- just throwing passes right ot the Spurs. Nad unfortunately spent a lot of time foolishly trying to draw fouls with flops and Reggie Milleresque kicks, rather than just making his shots. Bumped this grade a half notch though wiht THE play -- the miracle finsih was set up by Mike's defensive redemption, as he stole the ball from an out of control Manu, adn three a perferect setup pass to Kevin on the break.
Reef ( D ) -- very very quiet followup game to the big night in San Antonio unable to get anything going in the first half, and quickly got himself in major foul trouble. Ended up playing only 6 minutes before having to sit the rest of the half out. And after retunring int he second half, just wasn't effective, on either side of the court really. The real Tim Duncan reappeared for this one, and all of a sudden neither Reef's offense nor defense posed much of a problem for TD.
Martin ( B ) -- slow start, but had a nice little burst in the second quarter, stealing a lazy inbounds pass for the breakaway, and coming back with the hustle play a few seconds later. Racked up a lot of minutes this time out as Rick resorted to playing much of the game small. Got the real surprise call in the final 4 minutes as Kenny fouled out trying to guard Duncan, and rather than bringing in Reef, we instead turned to Kevin as we went back mini lineup again. Looked like the wrong call as the game was ready to slip away from us, but suddenly we got our miracle finish as Mike stole the ball, and hit Kevin in stride on the dead run for a tough finish over Duncan. Dramatic finishing play enlived an otherwise decent but unexceptional outing.
Garcia ( INC ) -- got some rotation minutes in the second quarter, and at one point forced Bowen ino a near turnover. Got another couple of minutes to start the 4th, but did little else of note.
Adelman ( A- ) -- Of course any analysis here is goig to be largely overshadowed by the play to end things, but for what its worth...We got the lucky win back tonight. Tit for tat. Almost an Odom Pt II play wiht Manu simply absolutely blowing what should have been a near sure thing for the Spurs wiht a boneheaded play. Instead Mike makes the huge steal, and passes it ahead to Kevin for the huge finish. But now reaching that point -- that was mostly the work of the Ron/Bonzi duo who were everything opponents feared they might be when they appeared on the same roster -- simply the toughest, storngest, nastiest swingman combo in the NBA. And they dominated play for us tonight, and champions or not, were a nightmare for the Spurs to try to defend. But the surprise fo the game for Rick was how he went about keeping those guys on the floor for almsot the whole game (and he DID keep Mike out there the whole way). Rick took one look at the steaming pile of dung that was our frontcourt tonight, and he did the moderately unthinkable against the Spurs -- he spent long stretches of the game tonight in a mega-smallball lineup that largely baffled Pop and the Spurs. Bibby, Martin, Bonzi, Ron + 1 big. And it worked, because Bonzi grabbed 14 boards, and Ron 12 more (for comparison Brad, Kenny and Reef COMBINED for 10). Duncan of course had a field day inside, but we stopped the barrage from the other guys. Ron dominated his matchup, and even Mike contained Parker. And so here we are celebrating a win and a strategy that absolutely would have been under tremendous scrutiny but for one miracle play late. We played small ball against the World Champs. And we won. And won because our "smalls" played bigger than their, or our, bigs. Wacky. Are we back in the series now? Eh..tell you more about that Sunday. But until they find a way to solve the Bonzi riddle in particular, we're a threat. And I'm not sure they have that answer on their roster. Meanwhile, we are continuing to lay a good groundwork for next season, no matter what happens in this series.
Thomas ( C- ) -- nothing early, but at least it took Duncan awhile to get it rolling. Surprisingly lost the bulk of his first half minutes as Rick broke out the mini-Bibby, Martin, Bonzi, Ron lienup for much of the half. Did what he could against a resurgent Duncan in the scond half, but was frequently overwhelmed, and had nothing left on the glass. Fouled out late in the 4th with an anemic 4pt 2reb night, but gets bumped on the grade a bit just for standing in there and battling Duncan for as long as he could.
Miller ( C+ ) -- showed up, and as one of the halftime boobs said, at least showed a pulse. Started off the game struggling again, and the crowd knew it. There was a huge sigh of relief by both Brad and the crowd when he finally hit one. And thereafter he was modestly effective not with jumpers, but with scrappy little finishes around the hoop, just moving that big body toward the rim. Did little else of note, and certainly not a vintage game. But was at least alive and contributed at a lower level.
Wells ( A ) -- a little sloppy early, but began to have major impact with the power game as the game wore on, and combined with Ron to simply overpower the Spurs inside. Got his hands on a bunch of balls that did not go into his own steals column. Bonzi's importance might have been underscored when we took him out in the mid-third -- our commanding lead just evaporated in the space of about 4 minutes. Slowed down after half, but was very active down the stretch, both good and bad. Was crashing inside again and again, sometimes converting, but also sometimes running into a wall of Spurs shotblockers. But even when he was blocked, collected 10 offensive rebounds as an OG (and in the rotations we were running, sometimes SF/PF). Just emerging once again as a stubby heart and soul hardhat guy, and he's really posing the Spurs all kinds of problems. Though about the minus as he probably missed too many shots in the interior wars, and before we got the miracle, it was Bonzi's man (Finley) who canned the wannabe game-winning three (although I have doubts how much that was Bonzi's fault since Finley was WAY beyond the line when he hit it). But really now...Bonzi's fight and spirit is causing havoc for the Spurs and driving the Kings, so going to ignore the flaws and focus on the guard who has combined for 47pts 26rebs in the last 2 games.
Bibby ( B+ ) -- was only 2-9 in the first half, but still managed to have an effective half. Got off to a good start, not only shooting, but being active with his passing, and yes, defense. Maybe pride there, but was pretty effective at staying in front of Parker While he did a nice job running the offense, he also had a whole stack of simply awful turnovers -- just throwing passes right ot the Spurs. Nad unfortunately spent a lot of time foolishly trying to draw fouls with flops and Reggie Milleresque kicks, rather than just making his shots. Bumped this grade a half notch though wiht THE play -- the miracle finsih was set up by Mike's defensive redemption, as he stole the ball from an out of control Manu, adn three a perferect setup pass to Kevin on the break.
Reef ( D ) -- very very quiet followup game to the big night in San Antonio unable to get anything going in the first half, and quickly got himself in major foul trouble. Ended up playing only 6 minutes before having to sit the rest of the half out. And after retunring int he second half, just wasn't effective, on either side of the court really. The real Tim Duncan reappeared for this one, and all of a sudden neither Reef's offense nor defense posed much of a problem for TD.
Martin ( B ) -- slow start, but had a nice little burst in the second quarter, stealing a lazy inbounds pass for the breakaway, and coming back with the hustle play a few seconds later. Racked up a lot of minutes this time out as Rick resorted to playing much of the game small. Got the real surprise call in the final 4 minutes as Kenny fouled out trying to guard Duncan, and rather than bringing in Reef, we instead turned to Kevin as we went back mini lineup again. Looked like the wrong call as the game was ready to slip away from us, but suddenly we got our miracle finish as Mike stole the ball, and hit Kevin in stride on the dead run for a tough finish over Duncan. Dramatic finishing play enlived an otherwise decent but unexceptional outing.
Garcia ( INC ) -- got some rotation minutes in the second quarter, and at one point forced Bowen ino a near turnover. Got another couple of minutes to start the 4th, but did little else of note.
Adelman ( A- ) -- Of course any analysis here is goig to be largely overshadowed by the play to end things, but for what its worth...We got the lucky win back tonight. Tit for tat. Almost an Odom Pt II play wiht Manu simply absolutely blowing what should have been a near sure thing for the Spurs wiht a boneheaded play. Instead Mike makes the huge steal, and passes it ahead to Kevin for the huge finish. But now reaching that point -- that was mostly the work of the Ron/Bonzi duo who were everything opponents feared they might be when they appeared on the same roster -- simply the toughest, storngest, nastiest swingman combo in the NBA. And they dominated play for us tonight, and champions or not, were a nightmare for the Spurs to try to defend. But the surprise fo the game for Rick was how he went about keeping those guys on the floor for almsot the whole game (and he DID keep Mike out there the whole way). Rick took one look at the steaming pile of dung that was our frontcourt tonight, and he did the moderately unthinkable against the Spurs -- he spent long stretches of the game tonight in a mega-smallball lineup that largely baffled Pop and the Spurs. Bibby, Martin, Bonzi, Ron + 1 big. And it worked, because Bonzi grabbed 14 boards, and Ron 12 more (for comparison Brad, Kenny and Reef COMBINED for 10). Duncan of course had a field day inside, but we stopped the barrage from the other guys. Ron dominated his matchup, and even Mike contained Parker. And so here we are celebrating a win and a strategy that absolutely would have been under tremendous scrutiny but for one miracle play late. We played small ball against the World Champs. And we won. And won because our "smalls" played bigger than their, or our, bigs. Wacky. Are we back in the series now? Eh..tell you more about that Sunday. But until they find a way to solve the Bonzi riddle in particular, we're a threat. And I'm not sure they have that answer on their roster. Meanwhile, we are continuing to lay a good groundwork for next season, no matter what happens in this series.
Last edited: