Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Artest ( D- ) – Been holding off on the F for Ron, holding off...and will hold off one more time. By virtue of a late three pointer that tied the game with a minute and a half to go, and defense on Richardson that just had to be the cause of at least some of JRich's struggles (although he also beat Ron cleanly on a few memorable occasions), he squeaks in with the exciting D-. But Ron is just piling up these subpar games now, and its a little scary. Has he hit some kind of wall? Indiana seems to have broken him. Nothing early...EXCEPT two three pointers. But that was just about the last we heard from him on offense. One of those perimeter games, and that was while being guarded by 90lb weakling Mike Dunleavy. Then stepped up and hit the huge tying three with a minute and a half to go. Just looked tired. A common theme for the Kings tonight. And entirely beyond having played in Utah last night just have to be worried if the big minutes are coming back to bite us now.
Thomas ( B-) – began the game really struggling again, Eventually worked his way into an ok night, but Kenny too has really fallen off in the last 10 days. Came up with a little burst of boardwork energy in the third to give us a desperately needed shot in the arm, but you could just see him forcing it and having to think, to make himself do everything. His energy began to flag in the 4th, and with Reef having the monster game, lost his late minutes to the Reef and Miller combo.
Miller ( F ) -- Brad has had a longstanding tradition of taking the last ¼ of the season off every year with a variety of mid to late season injuries. Well, Brad’s injury this year turned out to be a measly broken tip of the thumb that was good to go in a week, but he is once again disappearing for us when we need him the most. Gave us almost nothing on offense, a little boardwork, mostly confined to the first 8 minutes of the game. But really earns his F here for once again creating another legendary center -- I'm thinking maybe Adonal "The Cream" Olajuwoyle. Once again the famed ebony Adonis got off to a ridiculously fast offensive start – inspiring the need for a new nickname for the pride of mighty Colgate. Brad giving us 5pts is one thing. But giving up a season high 17 to Adonal is quite another. Got his hands on several balls on defense down the stretch to make me briefly ponder raising this. But frankly I'm disgusted. And our two time All-Star center was completely worthless out there for us this time on both sides of the court.
Bonzi ( INC ) – <sigh> There was a LOT of Bonzi early in this one. In every possible way, good and bad. Turnovers, inside offense, steals, fouls, technicals, boards – you name it. But then disaster struck as he abruptly got ejected by Joe Crawford at the 3:50 mark of the first quarter after bouncing a ball about 4-5 rows into the stands out of disgust. A VERY minor infraction, if there is one. But apparently an automatic ejection anymore. And with Kevin already out, left us in critical condition at OG with Cisco still working his way back from injury and Hart still working his way back from incompetence as our only options.
Bibby ( B- ) – very slow and out of rhythm start, but woke up in the second after an airballed three, coming back to hit two of them in quick fashion, and generally close out the half looking more like the all offense, only do the rest in extremis PG we’re used to seeing. Slumped away again as the Warriors opened up what appeared to be an insurmountable lead in the 3rd, but seemed to respond to Reef's energy and reached down to pull out a handful of big big shots down the stretch. But just not quite enough. Mike is looking very tired now, and you could see him struggle with his shots falling short, and with Mike settling for three after three after three – 12 of them in fact! The clutch play as Mike and Reef led our desperation charge elevates an otherwise tired outing where Mike largely just chucked up threes on one end, and watched Fisher return the favor on the other.
Garcia ( B- ) – for the first time since his "return" we saw Cisco actually RETURN with a nice little burst of athleticism and energy in the 2nd quarter. Not really sure if he is 100% physically though -- does not seem to be flowing, and looks even more eternally unhappy than usual. But nonetheless able to spot in nice plays in the second half as well. Not the sort of prolific offensive effort we would have needed from our OG to pull this one out, but much closer to the hustling roleplayer game Cisco was giving us before the injury.
Reef ( A+ ) – after the weak effort last night, Reef bounced back in a big way to prove he could still matter. Following a strong first stint which may have been cut too short by Rick, Reef resumed his strong play as soon as he was reinserted in the 3rd, Was so hot, and we were so desperate for offense, that we started trying to force it to him on nearly every trip. Which began to result in a lot of scrappy turnovers and near turnovers, but was still just about our best option. Poured it on down the stretch as well. We lost this one -- story of Reef's career. But think he deserves the "+" in this one anyway as the ONLY reason the Kings had a prayer tonight. Warriors just had no one to guard him, and Reef came out incredibly aggressive from the start. Too bad this cannot be bottled.
Hart ( B+ ) – and this grade of course is because its Jason Hart, but gave us an actual boost tonight. Came in in the second and did a nice job pressing the pace and coming up with steals. And ended up playing the whole way down the stretch as he was providing solid defense, and Rick was limiting Cisco's minutes (which were never supposed to be this long if Bonzi had stayed on the court). Just in general a nice effort, and one of the few Kings with lively legs this time out.
Adelman ( C ) – welcome to the Vancover Kings, as it was the Bibby/Reef show once again, and just like those halcyon days, those guys didn’t get any help. We just looked exhausted out there. Many different problems, but the underlying factor everywhere -- fatigue. We mounted a furious comeback in the 4th behind the inspired play of one man -- Reef. But as is so often the case with furious comebacks, you have to be just perfect, and when you are not, they fall short. Frankly we did not deserve to win this one anyway. Suppose that's the silver lining -- we are in games and sneaking wins out that we should not. Of course the overall thundercloud may be that we just aren't that good in the first place and just got hot there for a while. Had a few quibbles with Rick's substitutions this time out. The Bonzi ejection of course threw us for a loop. But that was actually handled adequately. Garcia looked more himself, and while I think Rick was limiting Cisco's minutes as he comes back, he got some surprisingly effective play out of Jason Hart in his stead. But on the other hand in the first half thought Rick's handling of the frontcourt was a bit odd, and taking Reef out of the game after only 8 first half minutes with him playing so well and neither KT nor Brad giving us much was questionable. And of course another item that is becoming a major concern -- Ron was flat, and not good tonight. But he still racked up another exhausitng 44min. Just too much Ron – was playing defense on Richardson, but doing nothing else. Is he hitting a wall? Tired from minutes? Not sure. But tonight we finally limited Brad's minutes on an invisible evernng, but Ron is still racking them up. We need to find some way to get Mike and Ron some rest, somehow, someway, or we will be in danger of more of these type outings I fear.
Thomas ( B-) – began the game really struggling again, Eventually worked his way into an ok night, but Kenny too has really fallen off in the last 10 days. Came up with a little burst of boardwork energy in the third to give us a desperately needed shot in the arm, but you could just see him forcing it and having to think, to make himself do everything. His energy began to flag in the 4th, and with Reef having the monster game, lost his late minutes to the Reef and Miller combo.
Miller ( F ) -- Brad has had a longstanding tradition of taking the last ¼ of the season off every year with a variety of mid to late season injuries. Well, Brad’s injury this year turned out to be a measly broken tip of the thumb that was good to go in a week, but he is once again disappearing for us when we need him the most. Gave us almost nothing on offense, a little boardwork, mostly confined to the first 8 minutes of the game. But really earns his F here for once again creating another legendary center -- I'm thinking maybe Adonal "The Cream" Olajuwoyle. Once again the famed ebony Adonis got off to a ridiculously fast offensive start – inspiring the need for a new nickname for the pride of mighty Colgate. Brad giving us 5pts is one thing. But giving up a season high 17 to Adonal is quite another. Got his hands on several balls on defense down the stretch to make me briefly ponder raising this. But frankly I'm disgusted. And our two time All-Star center was completely worthless out there for us this time on both sides of the court.
Bonzi ( INC ) – <sigh> There was a LOT of Bonzi early in this one. In every possible way, good and bad. Turnovers, inside offense, steals, fouls, technicals, boards – you name it. But then disaster struck as he abruptly got ejected by Joe Crawford at the 3:50 mark of the first quarter after bouncing a ball about 4-5 rows into the stands out of disgust. A VERY minor infraction, if there is one. But apparently an automatic ejection anymore. And with Kevin already out, left us in critical condition at OG with Cisco still working his way back from injury and Hart still working his way back from incompetence as our only options.
Bibby ( B- ) – very slow and out of rhythm start, but woke up in the second after an airballed three, coming back to hit two of them in quick fashion, and generally close out the half looking more like the all offense, only do the rest in extremis PG we’re used to seeing. Slumped away again as the Warriors opened up what appeared to be an insurmountable lead in the 3rd, but seemed to respond to Reef's energy and reached down to pull out a handful of big big shots down the stretch. But just not quite enough. Mike is looking very tired now, and you could see him struggle with his shots falling short, and with Mike settling for three after three after three – 12 of them in fact! The clutch play as Mike and Reef led our desperation charge elevates an otherwise tired outing where Mike largely just chucked up threes on one end, and watched Fisher return the favor on the other.
Garcia ( B- ) – for the first time since his "return" we saw Cisco actually RETURN with a nice little burst of athleticism and energy in the 2nd quarter. Not really sure if he is 100% physically though -- does not seem to be flowing, and looks even more eternally unhappy than usual. But nonetheless able to spot in nice plays in the second half as well. Not the sort of prolific offensive effort we would have needed from our OG to pull this one out, but much closer to the hustling roleplayer game Cisco was giving us before the injury.
Reef ( A+ ) – after the weak effort last night, Reef bounced back in a big way to prove he could still matter. Following a strong first stint which may have been cut too short by Rick, Reef resumed his strong play as soon as he was reinserted in the 3rd, Was so hot, and we were so desperate for offense, that we started trying to force it to him on nearly every trip. Which began to result in a lot of scrappy turnovers and near turnovers, but was still just about our best option. Poured it on down the stretch as well. We lost this one -- story of Reef's career. But think he deserves the "+" in this one anyway as the ONLY reason the Kings had a prayer tonight. Warriors just had no one to guard him, and Reef came out incredibly aggressive from the start. Too bad this cannot be bottled.
Hart ( B+ ) – and this grade of course is because its Jason Hart, but gave us an actual boost tonight. Came in in the second and did a nice job pressing the pace and coming up with steals. And ended up playing the whole way down the stretch as he was providing solid defense, and Rick was limiting Cisco's minutes (which were never supposed to be this long if Bonzi had stayed on the court). Just in general a nice effort, and one of the few Kings with lively legs this time out.
Adelman ( C ) – welcome to the Vancover Kings, as it was the Bibby/Reef show once again, and just like those halcyon days, those guys didn’t get any help. We just looked exhausted out there. Many different problems, but the underlying factor everywhere -- fatigue. We mounted a furious comeback in the 4th behind the inspired play of one man -- Reef. But as is so often the case with furious comebacks, you have to be just perfect, and when you are not, they fall short. Frankly we did not deserve to win this one anyway. Suppose that's the silver lining -- we are in games and sneaking wins out that we should not. Of course the overall thundercloud may be that we just aren't that good in the first place and just got hot there for a while. Had a few quibbles with Rick's substitutions this time out. The Bonzi ejection of course threw us for a loop. But that was actually handled adequately. Garcia looked more himself, and while I think Rick was limiting Cisco's minutes as he comes back, he got some surprisingly effective play out of Jason Hart in his stead. But on the other hand in the first half thought Rick's handling of the frontcourt was a bit odd, and taking Reef out of the game after only 8 first half minutes with him playing so well and neither KT nor Brad giving us much was questionable. And of course another item that is becoming a major concern -- Ron was flat, and not good tonight. But he still racked up another exhausitng 44min. Just too much Ron – was playing defense on Richardson, but doing nothing else. Is he hitting a wall? Tired from minutes? Not sure. But tonight we finally limited Brad's minutes on an invisible evernng, but Ron is still racking them up. We need to find some way to get Mike and Ron some rest, somehow, someway, or we will be in danger of more of these type outings I fear.
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), had a pretty good game. I think the overall long minutes have effected him in 2 or 3 games though.
