Guy who drugged Nash and Marion's water ( A ) .
Guy who drugged Kevin's water? ( F ) .
Tonight's theme, just cuz, is: Megaselling Musicians (in new snazzy Jeopardy format)
Artest ( A ) -- The loss eliminated any question about whether to add a "+" to this grade, but I don't think I was going to anyway. It was a true Ron paradox of a first half -- simultaneously our best player...and our worst player. Big first quarter, dominating in there against lack of Suns size. But then went into bad bad Ron mode, and just started taking shot after shot after shot. Almost every shot not chucked by Douby there for a long dead stretch in the second quarter. And the offense ground to a halt with Ron having 13 shots by the mdipoint of the second quarter, and nobody else having more than 6. He started off the third the same way, and looked like he was going to kill us in the midst of trying to save us. But then he hit a big three to answer when the Suns dropped us down 17 and threatened to end it, and again was the primary force leading us back from 19 to finish the third only down 12. Big in the 4th again, and made some huge plays down the stretch, including singlehandedly breaking up a couple of Suns fastbreaks, and making a crazy 1 on 4 muscle steal to tear the ball away from Marion and a pack of Suns and give us a chance to tie or go ahead.
Tina Turner
This battered woman did not acheive true stardom until middle age, and yet has gone on to sell a staggering 180 million records worldwide, making her a feel good story as well as one of the most successful female artists of all time.
Moore ( B ) -- better than his modest numbers I think, or at least more significant. Pulled after the first 6 minutes or so of the first half, but wasn't really doing anything wrong. Just deemed too big to play in the 6'4" and under league. Took another couple of charges, and that remains the core of his, er, defense. Played big in the 4th quarter, primarily when working with Cisco on the pick and roll. did anice job of, well, setting picks, and rolling to the hoop. Also was mobile on defense, and combined with the sedatives that we dropped in Nash's water, was even abel to stay generally in front of Nash after the Sunus repeatedly got him switched onto their PG and tried to iso him.
Garth Brooks
This cowboy hat toting superstar has sold 123 million records in America alone. Of course given the popularity of his genre overseas, its likely 124 million worldwide.
Miller ( D ) -- had one fun first half full court gallop where he led the break and finsihed with the assist to Beno I think it was. But otherwise, jeesh. Use your damn size! Got frustrated in the third on calls, non calls, Brad mistakes etc. and began to do his whine, technical, frustration foul etc. spiral until Reggie finally yanked him. We tried to resinert him for the 4th, but Brad was still lost in Poutyville, and quickly fouled out.
The Rolling Stones
Coming soon to a retirment home near you. And why not, after 200 million records sold and coming off of their highest grossing tour of all time. Plenty of time to rest when you're dead.
Martin ( D+ ) -- I was thinking of trying to save this grade into the low Cs, but had to ask myself why? What did Kevin do tonight to avoid a D-ish grade? And the answer was really not much. If 15pts on 5-15 shooting sounds drab to you -- it was. If he had been dishing or boarding, or stopping Barbossa or something. If he had given us a late burst. But those things just weren't there. Got off to a surprisingly quiet start given that this type game seems made for him, and the Suns learned jsut before the game that Raja Bell was going to be out. But Kevin responded by going 1 for his first 6, and was largely a spectator to the Ron Artest show. Came up with a little burst after returning in the second, but he was never able to get any real rhythm going for any stretch after that. Of course while Bell is the better defender, one thing Barbossa does have that is critical is that he can match Kevin's quickness. But it was more than that. call it exhaustion, call it unhappiness, depression, maybe he's one of those people who don't do well in the winter because they need the sun. I don't know. All I know is he looked lifeless out there, couldn't get the shots he wanted, largely due to attentive, although hardly smothering, defense. But sometimes due to unwilling teammates. And when he did get a shot, it was normally forced and off balance. And he didn't seem to fight it very hard. Didn't do anything terrible to deserve an F, but did very few good things to deserve more than the grade he gets this time out.
Stevie Wonder
Despite more than 100 million album sales and a disability, this man's insipid insistence on singing a duet about salt and pepper can never be forgiven.
Guy who drugged Kevin's water? ( F ) .
Tonight's theme, just cuz, is: Megaselling Musicians (in new snazzy Jeopardy format)
Artest ( A ) -- The loss eliminated any question about whether to add a "+" to this grade, but I don't think I was going to anyway. It was a true Ron paradox of a first half -- simultaneously our best player...and our worst player. Big first quarter, dominating in there against lack of Suns size. But then went into bad bad Ron mode, and just started taking shot after shot after shot. Almost every shot not chucked by Douby there for a long dead stretch in the second quarter. And the offense ground to a halt with Ron having 13 shots by the mdipoint of the second quarter, and nobody else having more than 6. He started off the third the same way, and looked like he was going to kill us in the midst of trying to save us. But then he hit a big three to answer when the Suns dropped us down 17 and threatened to end it, and again was the primary force leading us back from 19 to finish the third only down 12. Big in the 4th again, and made some huge plays down the stretch, including singlehandedly breaking up a couple of Suns fastbreaks, and making a crazy 1 on 4 muscle steal to tear the ball away from Marion and a pack of Suns and give us a chance to tie or go ahead.
Tina Turner
Moore ( B ) -- better than his modest numbers I think, or at least more significant. Pulled after the first 6 minutes or so of the first half, but wasn't really doing anything wrong. Just deemed too big to play in the 6'4" and under league. Took another couple of charges, and that remains the core of his, er, defense. Played big in the 4th quarter, primarily when working with Cisco on the pick and roll. did anice job of, well, setting picks, and rolling to the hoop. Also was mobile on defense, and combined with the sedatives that we dropped in Nash's water, was even abel to stay generally in front of Nash after the Sunus repeatedly got him switched onto their PG and tried to iso him.
Garth Brooks
Miller ( D ) -- had one fun first half full court gallop where he led the break and finsihed with the assist to Beno I think it was. But otherwise, jeesh. Use your damn size! Got frustrated in the third on calls, non calls, Brad mistakes etc. and began to do his whine, technical, frustration foul etc. spiral until Reggie finally yanked him. We tried to resinert him for the 4th, but Brad was still lost in Poutyville, and quickly fouled out.
The Rolling Stones
Martin ( D+ ) -- I was thinking of trying to save this grade into the low Cs, but had to ask myself why? What did Kevin do tonight to avoid a D-ish grade? And the answer was really not much. If 15pts on 5-15 shooting sounds drab to you -- it was. If he had been dishing or boarding, or stopping Barbossa or something. If he had given us a late burst. But those things just weren't there. Got off to a surprisingly quiet start given that this type game seems made for him, and the Suns learned jsut before the game that Raja Bell was going to be out. But Kevin responded by going 1 for his first 6, and was largely a spectator to the Ron Artest show. Came up with a little burst after returning in the second, but he was never able to get any real rhythm going for any stretch after that. Of course while Bell is the better defender, one thing Barbossa does have that is critical is that he can match Kevin's quickness. But it was more than that. call it exhaustion, call it unhappiness, depression, maybe he's one of those people who don't do well in the winter because they need the sun. I don't know. All I know is he looked lifeless out there, couldn't get the shots he wanted, largely due to attentive, although hardly smothering, defense. But sometimes due to unwilling teammates. And when he did get a shot, it was normally forced and off balance. And he didn't seem to fight it very hard. Didn't do anything terrible to deserve an F, but did very few good things to deserve more than the grade he gets this time out.
Stevie Wonder
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