Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Salmons ( A- ) -- aggressive to start, and benefitting from Miller's presence and willingness to hit guys who moved. Made a great open court defensive play that when you saw it on replay was maybe not as great as it first looked -- went up one on one and blocked a Corey Brewer breakaway attempt, but looked like Brewer had already lost the ball before John got to it. Still good hustle. Strong third helping us pull away, and got the better of the dream matchup (for him) against Mike Miller all night. Second straight game as the engine that powered the Kings. One minor issue -- is our SF now, not an OG, and 3rebs in 38min ain't cutting it.
Moore ( B+ ) -- in the early going picked right back up where he left off last game with energy on the glass and follow finishes. Ran under several people to draw fouls as well, but it should be noted that Kevin Love was unimpressed with the defense and powered through Mikki for a big first half. After half was mostly sticking jumpers, and the boardwork dried up. Got caught one time making a fool of himself, as he celebrated a made basket with all the usual chest thumping finger wagging nonsence...as the Wolves released a guy right past him for the easy fastbreak basket back the other way. Has obviously been giving hackmaster lessons to the other bigs -- as a crew our froncourt racked up a remarkable 20 fouls tonight, and Mikki didn't even lead us.
Miller ( A- ) -- made a real difference in his first game back. Early on got Love to bite badly on one of those up fakes and was looking for cutting guards per usual. Was cleaning the defensive glass against a Wolves team that starts two PFs and has nobody bigger than a tweener forward off the bench. Comtributed to getting Love in foul trouble, which was key in that he was the one T-Wolves player kicking our butt for most of the night. Did not have any real problem wiht Jefferson, who got into early foul trouble and turned in a drab performance tonight. Managed to even in a game where everything went smoothly for him, and his first game back, pick up one of his dumb drustraton fouls. Unfortunately you can clearly see the problem with having Brad Miller on this rebuilding team after only one game -- only played 26min, but took those 26min directly out of the hides of Spencer and Jason, reducing the latter to little more than garbagetime minutes. That is up to our GM to resolve. In Petrie I
Martin ( B ) -- extremely inefficient 9-23 39% shooting outing by Kevin's standards (or at least previous standards -- pretty close to his season percentages this year), but really not a terrible one. Was very determined to shoot in the early going. Some success, but began to get scruffy and the points dried up. Had a nice and one one to finish the first half though. Kept on firing after the break, but to shaky results. Racked up points, but in a role reversal was maybe the one guy who should have been taking fewer shots given how easy it was for everybody else (was the only King who shot less than .500). Didn't miss gimmes exactly, but was just challenged enough to throw him off. On the other hand was by far our leading assistman on a night when nobody else got more than three (though Spencer and Brad both passed well), and the Wolves gave him a night off on the defensive end by starting offensively inept Corey Brewere, and then trotting out Rashad McCants in one of his lightswitch off funks. I decide to go B here because Kevin played a better rounded game than is his wont to help balnce the crappy shooting, but am aware of how ridiculous it is to be tossing around A's and B's like candy on a night when our grand accomplishment was beating a terrible team at home. Right on that B/B- border.
Udrih ( B- ) -- welcome to the 2008-09 season Beno. Quiet start, got a steal, threw up an airball. Came on in the second quarter, getting his offesnive game rolling and smoothly popping for little jumpers against minimal (to be kind) defensive pressure. Had a few more hits in the second half, and took care of the ball this time out. Of course its easier to take care fo the all when you just keep it in your own hands. Moved the ball around the perimeter, but rarely attempted passes that would actually lead to points (and when he did, they did not), and finished wiht a not-quite-so-rounded-PG statline of 15pts 1reb 1ast. But hey, at least the offense was back on line. Baby steps.
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Hawes ( A- ) -- came in three point bombing again, but otherwise extremely active off the bench in the first and settled down and decided to play like a big man rather than a Peja. Was briefly paired with Brad, but quickly picked up his third foul. After returning in the second half took advantage of Minnesota's super-stubby backup bigs in the late third/early 4th and shot over them at will inside. Strong game benefitting from the Wolves really not having any centers, and only two guys who are even true PFs. Packed all of the stats of a full starter's minutes game into a 7th/8th man's minutes (22), but also limited himself with foul trouble again. They are effort fouls, which trumps Mikki's fllailing or Brad's frustration flailing, but he needs to get those under control to strengthen his should-be-starting argument.
Brown ( B ) -- basically got the backup OG minutes tongiht behind Kevin, and was more reliable this time out than Douby often is. Asked to shoot, and he loves to shoot. Quickly knowed down a three, and followed it with another hit. Hit another three, but otherwise quiet in his second half stint. Was fine defensively.
BJax ( B- ) -- pretty good minutes this time out. With the alarmingly empty early season minutes I've been struggling to find a grade scale to reflect where Bobby is at at this point in his career, so maybe this was better for him than a B-. Not sure yet. Hit a three, helped a bit on the galss, played pretty well alongside the other Bobby.
Thompson ( C+ ) -- the dark side of Brad being back and starting, and Mikki playing well? Jason doesn't get in until the 1:30 minute mark of the first quarter. Hustled off the bench of course. But would have been stuck with a grand total of 4:51 in the first half until he got lucky with us suffering maasive front line foul trouble -- Brad, Mikki AND Spencer all had to get three to get Jason back on the court. After half it was a little bizarre. Already squished by Brad/Mikki, Reggie then passed him over for Shelden in the rotation? Jason did not get back in the game until garbagetime. You knew there were goignt o be consequences when Brad returned -- another reason he has to go, like yesterday. But no way would I have expected one of the most impressive rookies thus far this season to be instantly garbagetimed because of it. What gives? The little we saw of his game itself was just ok, but hard to get much of a feel in basically three 3+ minute sints.
Williams ( B- ) -- only got in in the last couple minutes of the first half with the foul trouble and looked to be the biggest lsoer of them all with Brad's reappearance. but then suddenly Reggie jumped him ahead of Thompson in the rotation in the 2nd half and he finished the game with more minutes than our #1 pick? He looked fine out there in his minutes (fine being a way of saying they were totally nondescript), and so stubby are the Wolves backups that Shelden was comapratively a tower, but...wth?
Greene ( INC ) -- really made incredible strides in his long 1 minute 33 seconds of garbagetime action. I am thinking if we keep on giving him 1:33 every couple of weeks this kid could be an All Star by February. Scored his one hoop on a nice drive. Nothing else of note.
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Theus ( B ) -- A solid win, an entertaining win for the most part, and yet a win that leaves you feeling uneasy about the future of our young guys. Now it of course has to be said that the Wolves ain't much -- they have beaten exactly one team this year, and that was us. But we largely dominated this one, and could do pretty much whatever we wanted on offense. Shot 55% for the game, racked up 121 points. Should have been a party. Even the 109 we gave up was a tad deceptive this time -- we certainly weren't goign to scare anyone except the Timberwolves with the defense we were playing, but it was good enough that the Wolves only shot 43% and how they kept up for most if the night was a bit of a mystery. And yet there was a notable darkside to this one: Brad is back. And Brad played well. And wee played well. But nobody is interested in watching Brad play anymore. In fact barely 10,000 total showed up to watch the Kings play at all. Brad is the past. Mikki is the past. We have got all sorts of futures on the team, but all of a sudden they were thrown back to the ebnch, back to garbagetime, and we resembled the same ludicrous let's-chase-the-#8-seed-with-middling-vets crew we did last year. Spencer goes from emerging starting center to 22minute backup. As far as can be told, Jason Thompson, the #3 rookie (statistically) coming into this game, might have played a rgand toital of less thna 5 minutes had it not been for extreme frontline foul trouble, and then garbagetime at the end. And bizarrely even was dropped back behind Shelden Williams i the roation inthe second half. For what? Why? Donte Greene actually got to play more than normal. Which is to say he played 1minute 33 seconds. And all of a sudden it did not feel like a rebuild so much as the same ole same ole that has fully half of Arco's once rabid fans disguised as seats at this point. Not sure if the solution lies with Reggie, or wth Geoff -- when you get right down to it Brad played only 26 minutes last night, and yet it changed the tone entirely. Nothing short of his complete absence opens up al those frontline development minutes. And its also true that I frequently make fun of single-issue voters, and will not become one here myself. Nonetheless there is no -- NONE -- more important issue for the rebuilding Sacramento Kings than youth development -- all of our future hopes rest upon it. And while we succeeeded in securing the win, we largely failed at our primary mission tonight. So that gets reflected in this grade.
Moore ( B+ ) -- in the early going picked right back up where he left off last game with energy on the glass and follow finishes. Ran under several people to draw fouls as well, but it should be noted that Kevin Love was unimpressed with the defense and powered through Mikki for a big first half. After half was mostly sticking jumpers, and the boardwork dried up. Got caught one time making a fool of himself, as he celebrated a made basket with all the usual chest thumping finger wagging nonsence...as the Wolves released a guy right past him for the easy fastbreak basket back the other way. Has obviously been giving hackmaster lessons to the other bigs -- as a crew our froncourt racked up a remarkable 20 fouls tonight, and Mikki didn't even lead us.
Miller ( A- ) -- made a real difference in his first game back. Early on got Love to bite badly on one of those up fakes and was looking for cutting guards per usual. Was cleaning the defensive glass against a Wolves team that starts two PFs and has nobody bigger than a tweener forward off the bench. Comtributed to getting Love in foul trouble, which was key in that he was the one T-Wolves player kicking our butt for most of the night. Did not have any real problem wiht Jefferson, who got into early foul trouble and turned in a drab performance tonight. Managed to even in a game where everything went smoothly for him, and his first game back, pick up one of his dumb drustraton fouls. Unfortunately you can clearly see the problem with having Brad Miller on this rebuilding team after only one game -- only played 26min, but took those 26min directly out of the hides of Spencer and Jason, reducing the latter to little more than garbagetime minutes. That is up to our GM to resolve. In Petrie I
Martin ( B ) -- extremely inefficient 9-23 39% shooting outing by Kevin's standards (or at least previous standards -- pretty close to his season percentages this year), but really not a terrible one. Was very determined to shoot in the early going. Some success, but began to get scruffy and the points dried up. Had a nice and one one to finish the first half though. Kept on firing after the break, but to shaky results. Racked up points, but in a role reversal was maybe the one guy who should have been taking fewer shots given how easy it was for everybody else (was the only King who shot less than .500). Didn't miss gimmes exactly, but was just challenged enough to throw him off. On the other hand was by far our leading assistman on a night when nobody else got more than three (though Spencer and Brad both passed well), and the Wolves gave him a night off on the defensive end by starting offensively inept Corey Brewere, and then trotting out Rashad McCants in one of his lightswitch off funks. I decide to go B here because Kevin played a better rounded game than is his wont to help balnce the crappy shooting, but am aware of how ridiculous it is to be tossing around A's and B's like candy on a night when our grand accomplishment was beating a terrible team at home. Right on that B/B- border.
Udrih ( B- ) -- welcome to the 2008-09 season Beno. Quiet start, got a steal, threw up an airball. Came on in the second quarter, getting his offesnive game rolling and smoothly popping for little jumpers against minimal (to be kind) defensive pressure. Had a few more hits in the second half, and took care of the ball this time out. Of course its easier to take care fo the all when you just keep it in your own hands. Moved the ball around the perimeter, but rarely attempted passes that would actually lead to points (and when he did, they did not), and finished wiht a not-quite-so-rounded-PG statline of 15pts 1reb 1ast. But hey, at least the offense was back on line. Baby steps.
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Hawes ( A- ) -- came in three point bombing again, but otherwise extremely active off the bench in the first and settled down and decided to play like a big man rather than a Peja. Was briefly paired with Brad, but quickly picked up his third foul. After returning in the second half took advantage of Minnesota's super-stubby backup bigs in the late third/early 4th and shot over them at will inside. Strong game benefitting from the Wolves really not having any centers, and only two guys who are even true PFs. Packed all of the stats of a full starter's minutes game into a 7th/8th man's minutes (22), but also limited himself with foul trouble again. They are effort fouls, which trumps Mikki's fllailing or Brad's frustration flailing, but he needs to get those under control to strengthen his should-be-starting argument.
Brown ( B ) -- basically got the backup OG minutes tongiht behind Kevin, and was more reliable this time out than Douby often is. Asked to shoot, and he loves to shoot. Quickly knowed down a three, and followed it with another hit. Hit another three, but otherwise quiet in his second half stint. Was fine defensively.
BJax ( B- ) -- pretty good minutes this time out. With the alarmingly empty early season minutes I've been struggling to find a grade scale to reflect where Bobby is at at this point in his career, so maybe this was better for him than a B-. Not sure yet. Hit a three, helped a bit on the galss, played pretty well alongside the other Bobby.
Thompson ( C+ ) -- the dark side of Brad being back and starting, and Mikki playing well? Jason doesn't get in until the 1:30 minute mark of the first quarter. Hustled off the bench of course. But would have been stuck with a grand total of 4:51 in the first half until he got lucky with us suffering maasive front line foul trouble -- Brad, Mikki AND Spencer all had to get three to get Jason back on the court. After half it was a little bizarre. Already squished by Brad/Mikki, Reggie then passed him over for Shelden in the rotation? Jason did not get back in the game until garbagetime. You knew there were goignt o be consequences when Brad returned -- another reason he has to go, like yesterday. But no way would I have expected one of the most impressive rookies thus far this season to be instantly garbagetimed because of it. What gives? The little we saw of his game itself was just ok, but hard to get much of a feel in basically three 3+ minute sints.
Williams ( B- ) -- only got in in the last couple minutes of the first half with the foul trouble and looked to be the biggest lsoer of them all with Brad's reappearance. but then suddenly Reggie jumped him ahead of Thompson in the rotation in the 2nd half and he finished the game with more minutes than our #1 pick? He looked fine out there in his minutes (fine being a way of saying they were totally nondescript), and so stubby are the Wolves backups that Shelden was comapratively a tower, but...wth?
Greene ( INC ) -- really made incredible strides in his long 1 minute 33 seconds of garbagetime action. I am thinking if we keep on giving him 1:33 every couple of weeks this kid could be an All Star by February. Scored his one hoop on a nice drive. Nothing else of note.
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Theus ( B ) -- A solid win, an entertaining win for the most part, and yet a win that leaves you feeling uneasy about the future of our young guys. Now it of course has to be said that the Wolves ain't much -- they have beaten exactly one team this year, and that was us. But we largely dominated this one, and could do pretty much whatever we wanted on offense. Shot 55% for the game, racked up 121 points. Should have been a party. Even the 109 we gave up was a tad deceptive this time -- we certainly weren't goign to scare anyone except the Timberwolves with the defense we were playing, but it was good enough that the Wolves only shot 43% and how they kept up for most if the night was a bit of a mystery. And yet there was a notable darkside to this one: Brad is back. And Brad played well. And wee played well. But nobody is interested in watching Brad play anymore. In fact barely 10,000 total showed up to watch the Kings play at all. Brad is the past. Mikki is the past. We have got all sorts of futures on the team, but all of a sudden they were thrown back to the ebnch, back to garbagetime, and we resembled the same ludicrous let's-chase-the-#8-seed-with-middling-vets crew we did last year. Spencer goes from emerging starting center to 22minute backup. As far as can be told, Jason Thompson, the #3 rookie (statistically) coming into this game, might have played a rgand toital of less thna 5 minutes had it not been for extreme frontline foul trouble, and then garbagetime at the end. And bizarrely even was dropped back behind Shelden Williams i the roation inthe second half. For what? Why? Donte Greene actually got to play more than normal. Which is to say he played 1minute 33 seconds. And all of a sudden it did not feel like a rebuild so much as the same ole same ole that has fully half of Arco's once rabid fans disguised as seats at this point. Not sure if the solution lies with Reggie, or wth Geoff -- when you get right down to it Brad played only 26 minutes last night, and yet it changed the tone entirely. Nothing short of his complete absence opens up al those frontline development minutes. And its also true that I frequently make fun of single-issue voters, and will not become one here myself. Nonetheless there is no -- NONE -- more important issue for the rebuilding Sacramento Kings than youth development -- all of our future hopes rest upon it. And while we succeeeded in securing the win, we largely failed at our primary mission tonight. So that gets reflected in this grade.
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