Evans ( C ) -- quiet game for Mo on a night when we could really have used his mega-athletic boost. Of course one night after I call his 3pt shooting Bruce Bowenesque (all in the corners) he comes out and hits one from the angle, and then misses the corner three -- hmmm, wonder if he reads these grades? 
But didn't do much else, and with the exception of one nice play on Stoudemire, was invisible out there as the flying circus tried to tear down the rim. Did continue the Kings SF tradition of causing Q Richardson to play terribly without actually doing anything special on defense.
Thomas ( B- ) -- played a pretty decent first half, and snatched some strong defensive boards. But was unable to match the prolific Suns frontcourt who already had 31pts at halftime. Showed a little energy in the second half, but qucikly got frustrated and was invisible once again as an interior defender. Numbers were fine, but impact was minimal. His final shot of the game really kind of summed things up, as we were falling down by 20-something in the third and he just kind of threw up an ugly off balance one on one jumper in frustration.
Skinner ( D+ ) -- did a solid job on the glass in the first half, but a fish out of water on offense. Just not prolific enough to keep up in a game where everybody on both teams was scoring everytime down the floor. And on defense totally unable to prevent a dunkfest of epic proportions -- our starting center got outscored by their starting center 38-2!!! O-U-C-H. And ti was dunk after dunk after dunk inside as we got creamed once more in the paint. Given that sort of wipeout could go lower with this grade -- certainly wasn't effective at all. But 7rebs in 22min is something, and this is still Brian Skinner we are talking about. You don't expect him to win the matchup wiht Amare. You do however expect him to at least be competitive. Not tonight.
Mobley ( D- ) -- had a very quiet first half, and at this point we've sung that tune often enough that the second half explosion was not just expected, it was demanded. And so I waited for it to happen. And waited. And waited. And by the time I quit waiting we were down by 26 and Mobley had been pulled. Thought the F might be an overreaction, and I was trying to think of one thing, ANY thing, that Cat did this game to justify a higher mark. What was the redeeming characteristic to his game tonight? No energy. No shot. No assists. And not one spark of life for the entire evening. Just watching the game you would never have known he was in there. But finally found something -- played pretty decent defense on Nash in the first half, and kept him semi-contained. But that was IT. So I'll be kind to him and save him from the F. But we still would have been far better off starting Martin or House this time ot.
Bibby ( C- ) -- came out firing, and firing, and firing...and maybe firing too much in the first half. Took 13 first half shots, which was about twice as much as the next highest player (Mobley had 7), and maybe wasn't directing the offense as well as he could. Of course given the play of his fellow starters, maybe should be suing them for criminal non-support. Thomas was really the only one with any life, and he was clearly overmatched. So Mike took a few more shots in the second half, never mattered, and was pulled along with the rest of the starters as we were just getting whipped out there.
Williamson ( C ) -- active game, but kind of messy. Think he had three shots blocked, traveled -- spirit was willing but his groundbound game was ill suited to contending with the Suns' length up front.
Martin ( B+ ) -- gave us a very nice boost in the second quarter. In fact he and Tag probably were what kept us close in the first half, and even briefly had the lead there. Came in and looked smooth on offense, and did a respectable job on Nash on the other end of the floor as well. Quieted down in the second half, but still contributed in the extended garbagetime by grabbing a number of boards. Good game for the rookie on a night when we got very little from most of the main guns.
Songaila ( B ) -- hit a couple of jumpers in his second quarter stint, but was otherwise pretty quiet. But competed well after his return in the second half. Got popped in the eye at one point, and responded by attacking the rim with abandon. Admittedly most of his work was done against the Suns scrubs, and it was a low percentage, high shot total struggle for him in there. But he showed aggression and fight, and that was something sorely lacking from much of the team tonight.
Ostertag ( A- ) -- making his bid for a postseason spot. There can be no "A"s in a game like this, but Tag was probably the player of the game for us out there tonight. Really the only guy offering any resistance to the insistent inside attack, grabbed a bunch of boards, and did a nice job pasiing the ball as well. Was active. Quieted down as the garbagetime wore on, and maybe he got tired. But while the game was still on was one of the few players giving us any hope of staying in it.
House ( A- ) -- ok first half, but scored a lot of points in his extended second half stint -- really the entire 4th quarter was garbagetime, and Eddie dominated it. Guess it was the return to his old college haunts when he was a super-prolific college scorer. Anyway, looked good. But mostly against the Suns scrubs, and got a little too one on one scorer oriented there -- more of the classic Eddie House than the guy who has been smoothly running the offense these last few weeks. So ticking him down a bit since Voskul, Outlaw, McCarty, Shirley, Barbosa isn't exactly the lineup that matters with the Suns.
Daniels ( INC ) -- I will admit to bailing out on this one -- my attention was wandering by the time he got in the game, and while I saw him doa few things, I had no real feel for his grade, nor even a feeling of how to grade him at this point. So I'll bail, and just say that he displayed a solid feel for the game and ball handling.
Adelman ( B- ) -- well...we got punked tonight. Final score is really deceptive as it was much worse than that before the Suns called off the dogs -- particularly the BIG dog (Stoudemire). The starters collectively had very little, and it was really only by a strong first half stint fromt he bench that we were even in it for as long as we were. And Rick seemed content to just let it happen for the most part, until finally taking a nice strong stand in the mid-third. Liked what he did at that point, yanking ALL of the starters before it got historically embarrassing, and putting in the much more energetic bench and sticking with them the rest of the way. It was the right move, and maybe the only move to make at that point. Earlier in the game had experimented with trying to zone up the Suns, but went away from it and seemed to lose interest in really fighting for this one as a coach as much as his players did on the court. Did like the timing of the white flag however, and that's really why the grade is what it is. Maybe sent a message, certainly saved some legs from pointless wear and tear. And kept his guys from getting their butts handed to them any longer than absolutely necessary, possibly damaging morale as we head into the playoffs. Solid recognition from a guy who far too often plays the starters right through garbagetime.
But didn't do much else, and with the exception of one nice play on Stoudemire, was invisible out there as the flying circus tried to tear down the rim. Did continue the Kings SF tradition of causing Q Richardson to play terribly without actually doing anything special on defense.Thomas ( B- ) -- played a pretty decent first half, and snatched some strong defensive boards. But was unable to match the prolific Suns frontcourt who already had 31pts at halftime. Showed a little energy in the second half, but qucikly got frustrated and was invisible once again as an interior defender. Numbers were fine, but impact was minimal. His final shot of the game really kind of summed things up, as we were falling down by 20-something in the third and he just kind of threw up an ugly off balance one on one jumper in frustration.
Skinner ( D+ ) -- did a solid job on the glass in the first half, but a fish out of water on offense. Just not prolific enough to keep up in a game where everybody on both teams was scoring everytime down the floor. And on defense totally unable to prevent a dunkfest of epic proportions -- our starting center got outscored by their starting center 38-2!!! O-U-C-H. And ti was dunk after dunk after dunk inside as we got creamed once more in the paint. Given that sort of wipeout could go lower with this grade -- certainly wasn't effective at all. But 7rebs in 22min is something, and this is still Brian Skinner we are talking about. You don't expect him to win the matchup wiht Amare. You do however expect him to at least be competitive. Not tonight.
Mobley ( D- ) -- had a very quiet first half, and at this point we've sung that tune often enough that the second half explosion was not just expected, it was demanded. And so I waited for it to happen. And waited. And waited. And by the time I quit waiting we were down by 26 and Mobley had been pulled. Thought the F might be an overreaction, and I was trying to think of one thing, ANY thing, that Cat did this game to justify a higher mark. What was the redeeming characteristic to his game tonight? No energy. No shot. No assists. And not one spark of life for the entire evening. Just watching the game you would never have known he was in there. But finally found something -- played pretty decent defense on Nash in the first half, and kept him semi-contained. But that was IT. So I'll be kind to him and save him from the F. But we still would have been far better off starting Martin or House this time ot.
Bibby ( C- ) -- came out firing, and firing, and firing...and maybe firing too much in the first half. Took 13 first half shots, which was about twice as much as the next highest player (Mobley had 7), and maybe wasn't directing the offense as well as he could. Of course given the play of his fellow starters, maybe should be suing them for criminal non-support. Thomas was really the only one with any life, and he was clearly overmatched. So Mike took a few more shots in the second half, never mattered, and was pulled along with the rest of the starters as we were just getting whipped out there.
Williamson ( C ) -- active game, but kind of messy. Think he had three shots blocked, traveled -- spirit was willing but his groundbound game was ill suited to contending with the Suns' length up front.
Martin ( B+ ) -- gave us a very nice boost in the second quarter. In fact he and Tag probably were what kept us close in the first half, and even briefly had the lead there. Came in and looked smooth on offense, and did a respectable job on Nash on the other end of the floor as well. Quieted down in the second half, but still contributed in the extended garbagetime by grabbing a number of boards. Good game for the rookie on a night when we got very little from most of the main guns.
Songaila ( B ) -- hit a couple of jumpers in his second quarter stint, but was otherwise pretty quiet. But competed well after his return in the second half. Got popped in the eye at one point, and responded by attacking the rim with abandon. Admittedly most of his work was done against the Suns scrubs, and it was a low percentage, high shot total struggle for him in there. But he showed aggression and fight, and that was something sorely lacking from much of the team tonight.
Ostertag ( A- ) -- making his bid for a postseason spot. There can be no "A"s in a game like this, but Tag was probably the player of the game for us out there tonight. Really the only guy offering any resistance to the insistent inside attack, grabbed a bunch of boards, and did a nice job pasiing the ball as well. Was active. Quieted down as the garbagetime wore on, and maybe he got tired. But while the game was still on was one of the few players giving us any hope of staying in it.
House ( A- ) -- ok first half, but scored a lot of points in his extended second half stint -- really the entire 4th quarter was garbagetime, and Eddie dominated it. Guess it was the return to his old college haunts when he was a super-prolific college scorer. Anyway, looked good. But mostly against the Suns scrubs, and got a little too one on one scorer oriented there -- more of the classic Eddie House than the guy who has been smoothly running the offense these last few weeks. So ticking him down a bit since Voskul, Outlaw, McCarty, Shirley, Barbosa isn't exactly the lineup that matters with the Suns.
Daniels ( INC ) -- I will admit to bailing out on this one -- my attention was wandering by the time he got in the game, and while I saw him doa few things, I had no real feel for his grade, nor even a feeling of how to grade him at this point. So I'll bail, and just say that he displayed a solid feel for the game and ball handling.
Adelman ( B- ) -- well...we got punked tonight. Final score is really deceptive as it was much worse than that before the Suns called off the dogs -- particularly the BIG dog (Stoudemire). The starters collectively had very little, and it was really only by a strong first half stint fromt he bench that we were even in it for as long as we were. And Rick seemed content to just let it happen for the most part, until finally taking a nice strong stand in the mid-third. Liked what he did at that point, yanking ALL of the starters before it got historically embarrassing, and putting in the much more energetic bench and sticking with them the rest of the way. It was the right move, and maybe the only move to make at that point. Earlier in the game had experimented with trying to zone up the Suns, but went away from it and seemed to lose interest in really fighting for this one as a coach as much as his players did on the court. Did like the timing of the white flag however, and that's really why the grade is what it is. Maybe sent a message, certainly saved some legs from pointless wear and tear. And kept his guys from getting their butts handed to them any longer than absolutely necessary, possibly damaging morale as we head into the playoffs. Solid recognition from a guy who far too often plays the starters right through garbagetime.
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