Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Peja ( B ) -- the real Peja was back for this one. Was he great? No. But he was pretty good. One of FOUR 20pt scorers for us. Showed up here and there on the boards (although still dead last amongst the starters) and got his hands on some balls on defense. Started off the game shakily on offense blowing a series of point blank chippees, but stayed active and worked his way into things. Never stepped forward to dominate things, and you were never sure if the shot was going to go in or not. But never really went away either. Mixed some hard cuts with the outside bombs, which was nice to see. Soft play around the rim as usual was frustrating, but not fatal. Not our main gun, but got his shots and helped us keep up throughout.
Webber ( A ) -- Webb was not perfect, but I have absolutely no complaint with this sort of effort and leadership from Chris in a big game. Came up with his second straight triple double and was an active leader throughout the game. Missed a lot of shots, and had some spots of ragged play. But never any real extended strteches where he struggled, and remained a presence throughout. His post game late in the game provided the magic that a big post player can give you -- the Suns were forced to double, and rapid ball movement off of the double led to a couple of open threes by Cat to give us a nice lead down the stretch. Missed the hook in the paint with 8 seconds to go that would have put us up. Perfect shot, just came up a little short. Came back a few seconds later in the same spot on the floor with the chance to be the hero but did not force it, and instead saw Brad at the last sceond for what should have been the wide open game tieing dunk and...well, the rest is history. Should have been a great play to send us to OT. Not to be tonight.
Miller ( B ) -- Brad was having a solid game for us in there -- solid on the boards, mostly efficient on offense. Not our best player, or close to it, but a contributor in a big game. But then in the last 2 minutes suddenly emerged as the guy with the goat horns. Made the choke of the game when he blew a wide open fast break layup with a minute and a half to go. Brad's 7 foot, and that's a dunk. Not in Kingsland where it turns into a butter soft off balance layup that rolls off. Made a partial redemption post shot a minute later to give us the lead, but then was called upon again to hit a shot at the buzzer -- Webb set him up for a wide open dunk...and Brad again goes for the soft layup! Stoudamire comes flying over and blocks the shot -- refs blow the obvious goaltending call (it was right at/over the rim), + game over, we lose. Refs get a healthy F for blowing the call, but Brad simply plays like a 7 footer, or even an aggressive 6 footer, on either play and we win. Should also be noted that Brad was teetering on the edge of losing his cool for the entire second half and picked up yet another tiresome technical in the third. Brad's a heck of a lot bigger than me and so things might not go well, but I have a desperate overwhelming urge to just slap him silly everytime he puts on "wimp face" and starts flapping his arms and stomping arouond the court like a toddler. This was a big game. Are we going to have to worry about Brad's head all the way through the playoffs?
Mobley ( A- ) -- reversed his normal pattern, and started off scorching + then cooled off. Part of the cooling off was that he appeared to again get himself dinged up. Seems like he's been grimacing and limping for weeks now. But reemerged at a perfect time for us late in the game hitting back to back huge threes with less than 3 minutes to go. Phoenix isn't the only team out West loaded to overflowing with offensive talent. Also got in there and scrapped ont he defensive glass.
Bibby ( B+ ) -- we had such a balanced attack that I really didn't even notice that Mike was our leading scorer until a graphic flashed up late in the game. So continues his streak of big offensive games, but this time was joined by...well just about everybody actually. No less than four straight 20pt scorers. Mike also contributed in other ways as well and as usual had a big game vs. Nash. Of course Nash had a HUGE game against him. Be nice if SOME PG in the league would score less than 30 against us. But also continued his bad habit of missing big FTs, and had a LOT of very shaky passes tonight.
Songaila ( B- ) -- came in and was active, but also a step down from our two starters. Did a lot of things well, but the one he didn't help with hurt -- zero rebounds tonight.
Evans ( B ) -- ineffective in a first half stint, but got the call again in the second and provided us with a nice burst of hustle and athleticism.
House ( A- ) -- did a nice job in his short time ont he floor. Hit shots for us, but also showed more than his normal patience working with the other guys on the floor. Tried on defense, but mixed bag there.
Barnes ( B ) -- did nothing in his second quarter stint...EXCEPT come up with a couple of great steals. Was surprised he was not back in the second, but tight game throughout of course.
Adelman ( A- ) -- I have no real complaints here. Big game + we were ready. Could have perhaps worked Webb more in the post -- we were not quite as insistent with it this time as we were in Phoenix. But we still went to it a lot, and if not for a couple of unfortunate plays down the stretch, we could have won this. Last couple of shots were just what we wanted -- Webb with good looks in the post. It was all right there but...
Webber ( A ) -- Webb was not perfect, but I have absolutely no complaint with this sort of effort and leadership from Chris in a big game. Came up with his second straight triple double and was an active leader throughout the game. Missed a lot of shots, and had some spots of ragged play. But never any real extended strteches where he struggled, and remained a presence throughout. His post game late in the game provided the magic that a big post player can give you -- the Suns were forced to double, and rapid ball movement off of the double led to a couple of open threes by Cat to give us a nice lead down the stretch. Missed the hook in the paint with 8 seconds to go that would have put us up. Perfect shot, just came up a little short. Came back a few seconds later in the same spot on the floor with the chance to be the hero but did not force it, and instead saw Brad at the last sceond for what should have been the wide open game tieing dunk and...well, the rest is history. Should have been a great play to send us to OT. Not to be tonight.
Miller ( B ) -- Brad was having a solid game for us in there -- solid on the boards, mostly efficient on offense. Not our best player, or close to it, but a contributor in a big game. But then in the last 2 minutes suddenly emerged as the guy with the goat horns. Made the choke of the game when he blew a wide open fast break layup with a minute and a half to go. Brad's 7 foot, and that's a dunk. Not in Kingsland where it turns into a butter soft off balance layup that rolls off. Made a partial redemption post shot a minute later to give us the lead, but then was called upon again to hit a shot at the buzzer -- Webb set him up for a wide open dunk...and Brad again goes for the soft layup! Stoudamire comes flying over and blocks the shot -- refs blow the obvious goaltending call (it was right at/over the rim), + game over, we lose. Refs get a healthy F for blowing the call, but Brad simply plays like a 7 footer, or even an aggressive 6 footer, on either play and we win. Should also be noted that Brad was teetering on the edge of losing his cool for the entire second half and picked up yet another tiresome technical in the third. Brad's a heck of a lot bigger than me and so things might not go well, but I have a desperate overwhelming urge to just slap him silly everytime he puts on "wimp face" and starts flapping his arms and stomping arouond the court like a toddler. This was a big game. Are we going to have to worry about Brad's head all the way through the playoffs?
Mobley ( A- ) -- reversed his normal pattern, and started off scorching + then cooled off. Part of the cooling off was that he appeared to again get himself dinged up. Seems like he's been grimacing and limping for weeks now. But reemerged at a perfect time for us late in the game hitting back to back huge threes with less than 3 minutes to go. Phoenix isn't the only team out West loaded to overflowing with offensive talent. Also got in there and scrapped ont he defensive glass.
Bibby ( B+ ) -- we had such a balanced attack that I really didn't even notice that Mike was our leading scorer until a graphic flashed up late in the game. So continues his streak of big offensive games, but this time was joined by...well just about everybody actually. No less than four straight 20pt scorers. Mike also contributed in other ways as well and as usual had a big game vs. Nash. Of course Nash had a HUGE game against him. Be nice if SOME PG in the league would score less than 30 against us. But also continued his bad habit of missing big FTs, and had a LOT of very shaky passes tonight.
Songaila ( B- ) -- came in and was active, but also a step down from our two starters. Did a lot of things well, but the one he didn't help with hurt -- zero rebounds tonight.
Evans ( B ) -- ineffective in a first half stint, but got the call again in the second and provided us with a nice burst of hustle and athleticism.
House ( A- ) -- did a nice job in his short time ont he floor. Hit shots for us, but also showed more than his normal patience working with the other guys on the floor. Tried on defense, but mixed bag there.
Barnes ( B ) -- did nothing in his second quarter stint...EXCEPT come up with a couple of great steals. Was surprised he was not back in the second, but tight game throughout of course.
Adelman ( A- ) -- I have no real complaints here. Big game + we were ready. Could have perhaps worked Webb more in the post -- we were not quite as insistent with it this time as we were in Phoenix. But we still went to it a lot, and if not for a couple of unfortunate plays down the stretch, we could have won this. Last couple of shots were just what we wanted -- Webb with good looks in the post. It was all right there but...
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