Kings Vs. Warriors Grades

[HndsmCelt]

I was going to call my exwife up but then realized that it would be less abusive to just post grades again. Ok seriously I just miss them when Brick does not do them. I tried to raise the bar a bit but when the Kings blow out their opponents it's jsut hard to be all that critical. Here goes:


Sharif Abdur-Rahim C+ I just expect better than one rb and 8 points out of this guy even when he only plays 20 or so min. 5 Assists gives him the plus. The small line up with SAR at the 5 wored well for every one EXCEPT SAR. I hate seeing it but I suppose thes small fast line ups have their function.


Mike Bibby C 3 for 7 shooting and no assists is problematic. Same poor D allowed Davis to shine in their match ups. The only good news was that with Hart playing well limiting Bibby’s min was actually a GOOD thing.


Eric Daniels C- Only paled 6 min so I could give an INC but when a guy takes 4 shots and misses them all his 2 rebounds will do little to help him and for that effort I give him some credit and benefit of the doubt… good hustle in limited play but honesty took UGLY dumb shots.



Luis Flores D Like Daniels his limited play could net an INC except he was so bad in it. 2 TO and a really dumb foul in 7 min with 0-2 shooting… honestly I could have given him an F but any time I see a King get a rebound it makes me a little giddy and grade happy.


Francisco Garcia A- Really stood out again making good plays. Perhaps still a little trigger happy but really only took 7 shots and most were pretty good. Nice job on boards with 4 and got a couple assets… I look forward to watching this guy mature through out the season.


Jason Hart B Nice strong performance in 14 min. Shot better than expected for a play maker defensive guy but also got in Davis grill nicely. Defensive tenacity makes him foul prone but hey he is not a starter so who cares? Would like to see him get a board or two but over all nice job.




Kevin Martin B+ Nice rounded game with 6 boards and 2 assists the turn over are problematic and he still rushes and forces play but his dunk, and some sweet cuts are nice. Led the team in points and that ain’t bad.


Brad Miller C+ Practically had the night off so it’s hard to grade him. Was perfect 2-2 from the field and got a couple boards in under 10 min. Nothing wrong here just nothing great here either. His left handed face up jumper was nice to see so I gave him the plus.



Rickey Paulding DNP


Ronnie Price D Did almost nothing in 6 min. Saved from an F by not doing anything horrible either.


Jamal Sampson DNP


Eric Sandrin C+ Not bad really. One shot that went, got up and challenged some shots and got a board in 9 min. Not sure he will make the cut but I’d like to see more of him


Brian Skinner A- Solid game by Skinner. Scoring well, and playing well with in the system. 7 boards and a blocked shot reminded me of the optimism I had for the Kings D last year after the trade. Made 3 of 4 FT and for Brian that is awesome!


Peja Stojakovic A- Pedja got his groove back! Three assists, great passing, moving well with out the ball and a very nice steal. Now if would only get a rebound or two…


Kenny Thomas A- Much better game from Kenny. Led the team in rebounds, and got a couple nice assists. He really benefited from the smaller line up playing back in his comfort zone.


Bonzi Wells B+ Really nice job, a rebounding guard nice to have but when one of your forwards is allergic to rebounds he simply evens the team out. Fearless in the paint as usual opening up the floor for the bigs. Really made Kenny’s game that much better.


Corliss Williamson B+ Plying well down low as a third post player (YIKES) and got his own boards and a couple assists Did everything you expect him to do.



Luke Schenscher D Six min of garbage time in which Napoleon Dynamite did noting to justify staying except being 7’2”… Developmental League?

 

[SacTownKid]

A little harsh with the grades tonight, eh?

I thought they played very well, even with Bibby being ineffective with his passing (offense was still as good as could be), and Reef not getting any boards (we weren't killed on the boards), we still looked pretty close to ready for the regular season. Garcia looked great, and our D looked pretty good too.

Lets just hope they can keep the momentum going and improve where they need to improve.

 

[VF21]

Sharif Abdur-Rahim C+ Agree

Mike Bibby C Agree
Eric Daniels C- D- (And that's only because I don't like to give F) He didn't do diddily squat and should most likely be heading home if any cuts are made tomorrow.

Luis Flores D D- (Same comment as above)

Francisco Garcia A- B+ (Nobody should get an A unless they were flawless. Leaves no room for improvement)

Jason Hart B B+ (Loved how he had Baron Davis talking to himself)

Kevin Martin B+ Agree

Brad Miller C+ INC (He did pretty good in there, but just wasn't in long enough for me to feel he really earned a grade)

Rickey Paulding DNP
Ronnie Price D Agree

Jamal Sampson DNP
Eric Sandrin C+ C- (Showed a little something. And he's nice looking)

Brian Skinner A- B+ (Simply on the not-giving A basis. Good to see him back in anything even close to the form we first got to know)

Peja Stojakovic A- B- (While it was great to see him not totally suck, he's a long way from an A. He should have been able to have his way with the Warriors. And he DOES need to grab a board once in a while.)

Kenny Thomas A- B+ (I'd actually score him higher than Peja because KT at least grabbed some boards)

Bonzi Wells B+ Agree

Corliss Williamson B+ B- (Not quite as generous, but he was a contributor)

Luke Schenscher D I agree with the grade and the comment about the developmental league

Thanks, Celt! I was hoping someone would do this. I started to, but found myself wanting to just give blanket B across the board because it was a fun game to watch with a lot of positives.

By having you put yours up first, then I can have something to debate.

 

[Bricklayer]

Better late than never -- do not have the Dish, and am not going to constantly invade somebody else's living room just for preseason ball. Will however have them record it and leave it at the door for me.


Peja ( B+ ) -- finally arrived this preseason -- MUCH more active than he was last game in the early going of this one. Had a good matchup with either Dunleavy or Murphy, and opened with a flurry against them. Shot began to rim out in the second half though, and never was much of a factor in any other area. Had 11 points in the first six minutes, and afterwards only 4, two of which came by shooting technical FTs. Also was another zero rebound game, which brings his preseason total to 4 rebounds in 75 minutes. Threw in a couple of nice passes in the 3rd. Looked loose and involved both on and off the court.
Thomas ( A- ) -- got the start in the experimental smallball lineup, and was active early trying to take Foyle off the dribble to the hoop with quickness. Was aggressive, but in rhythm aggressive and playing a nice game. Our best rebounder, although size did cost him on the defensive glass against Troy Murphy on several occasions. Got knocked into the stands on a play in the 3rd and was a bit slow to get up, but turned out to be the first King in years to hit the floor hard and not end up mortally wounded.
Abdur-Rahim ( B- ) -- while Peja, Thomas and Wells started off the game quickly, Shareef was mostly a decoy. Showed good, and surprising, unselfishness. But other than one early drive was mostly a spectator as we got off to the fast start. More aggressive upon his return in the third and scored several hoops. Again did not board at all for us -- he and Peja combined for 1 rebound between them.
Wells ( A- ) -- started off impressive once again, attacking inside aggressively and also showing some good passing ability. Generally dominated Mikael Pietrus, who is sometimes touted as a future defensive stopper. In the 3rd, really clobbered Pietrus on a drive and almost took his head off, which I THINK was accidental, but with Bonzi its always possible it was not. Waded into the paint a few times to provide rebounding support.
Bibby ( C- ) -- got posted up early by Baron, and that kind of set the tone. Baron ate him up an seemed to be able to take him to the rim at will, and Mike was quiet on the offensive end of he floor. Certain irony that Bibby might be a Top 5 PG, and yet is likely no better than 3rd in our own division. Did do a nice job on Dunleavy on one play defensively, but no luck at all containing the man who makes the Warriors go, and unable to counterpunch on the other end. Its preseason though, so you never know whether a particular guy really considers it important to answer back in a meaningless game.
Hart ( B ) -- not quite as steady as last game, but still another nice aggressive outing. Wasn't able to truly contain Baron, but certainly competed against him well. Result was a flurry of fouls, but didn't back down. Definite burst of energy, although in this game most of teammates shared it.
Miller ( B- ) -- came off the bench and actually provided some uncommonly inside-oriented first half minutes on both ends of the court. Scored on a semi-post move, blocked a shot. Kinda almost looked like a center. Not a huge impact, but a pretty good little outing helping to organize the bench guys while Rick experimented with lineups.
Martin ( B+ ) -- nice all around outing again, and this time scored aggressively enough to make that impact that was missing last game. In the first half was not hitting jumpers, and his one made shot in the half was a nice ally oop from Garcia. In the second the jumper started to fall and his drives and cuts became more frequent, but he also fell victim to his old overpenetration problem on several occasions, resulting in another rash of offensive fouls and turnovers. Played strong defense on Derek Fisher in the first half, and while Fisher is no offensive stud it still underscores something that Kevin can add at times -- has the quickness and length to harass PGs.
Garcia ( A ) -- impressive outing -- this time his shooting and scoring was pretty much all in the flow. Hit one impressive long range three reminiscient of Peja. And also showed much more of that Doug-like versatility -- passed, brought the ball up as a PG a few times. Major improvement on his relatively one note performace the other night and displayed the headiness and shooting that may earn him some minutes this season.
Williamson ( B+ ) -- Corliss was once again Corliss, good energy and playing his game as he always does. There is never any identity crisis with him. Scored effectively against Warriors backups, but did miss several driving layups.
Skinner ( A ) -- last of the 11 guaranteeds to get into the game this time. Came in with as much energy as everybody else had, and repeatedly attacked the slower Warriors bigs with quickness to the hoop. Comically missed first free throw so badly he banked it in. But overall looked like a man against boys and generally dominated interior action during his minutes.
Flores ( C- ) -- got his first action of the preseason at the end of the third, and wasn't much more effective than Ronnie Price was last game. Showed some ability to get his own shot, but not much to create shots for others. Not a disaster, but neither guy making much of a case as PG #3 right now.
Schenscher ( C- ) -- garbagetime, made one decent pass, otherwise did little other than manage to run up and down the court without incident. Well except for the time he tripped over somebody's legs and fell down with Daniels into a dogpile.
Sandrin ( B- ) --garbagetime, showed some ability to get up on defense and challenge a shot. Not much impact though.
Daniels ( D+ ) -- garbagetime, didn't do much, still can't shoot. Same ole Erik.
Price ( C- ) -- came back in in our own little race to the bottom PG battle, and once again did not do much. Was a little steadier than his first game I guess. Truthfully though, if I had walked out of the room just before he subbed in, when I returned I might not have noticed that he was in and Flores was out. Similar size, and neither guy did much of anything.


Adelman ( -- ) -- very encouraging overall outing. Just about everybody played well, with the exception of Bibby and the scrubbies. Was not amused to see us resort to smallball all of three games into the preseason, but the results were good if you assume there was any relationship between our extra energy and the lineup switch. Peja got ontrack for a burst, which was good to see. But he and SAR have to really pick it up though on the glass if they have designs on being our starting forward combo. SAR played badly out of position at center, but still, our putative starting forwards combined for 1 rebound in 45min! Ugh. Garcia had a real coming out game -- the problem with his effort last time was that he was just chucking away and scoring by basically throwing so many balls at the hoop he couldn't avoid it. This time played much more in rhythm, and made contributions with his all around floor game and passing, which I know will endear him to the powers that be in Kingsland. We finally got a real look at our camp scrubbies, and now that that's out of the way maybe I know why we didn't bother last game. Not fair to judge them all on half of one quarter, but none impressed and if any of them end up being cut in the next few days thay gave no reason for there to be much of an outcry.

Andris Biedrins ( A+ ) -- just for the comic value. Guy has one of the ugliest forms on his FT I have ever seen. Combines a twist to the side of his head with what looks like a last minute lookaway. A first -- the no look FT!
Baron Davis ( A- ) -- deserves mention simply because for those who did not get to watch, this guy really impressed again in superstar fashion. He WAS the Warriors and was really a tough aggressive little beast all night long while throwing up all sorts of crazy spinning reverse layups and whatnot. Built more like a linebacker than a PG, but cat quick as well. This isn't news of course, but if he stays healthy, could elevate the Warriors and make the Pacific interesting.

 

[Rockin' in the Free World]

Thanks to both for the effort, you guys rock.

Brick, I too was impressed with Miller's inside game tonight, even if it was fleeting. Gives me hope he can at least become a competant scorer inside and not the most easily rejected 7-footer in the NBA. What a development that would be for us! Defensively I think he just needs to remember that he has a pair. I'm going to be looking for this to develop since Brad has supposedly been working on his inside stuff, could be a fun thing to watch develop.

 

[ParniValjak]

I thought I would get in before piksi.

Everyone gets an A for getting through the game without injuries.

Next

 

[ParniValjak]

Baron Davis ( A- ) -- deserves mention simply because for those who did not get to watch, this guy really impressed again in superstar fashion. He WAS the Warriors and was really a tough aggressive little beast all night long and throwing up all sorts of crazy spinning reverse layups and whatnot. Built more like a linebacker than a PG, but cat quick as well. This isn't news of course, but if he stays healthy, could elevate the Warriors and make the Pacific interesting.

I have been a long time fan of the man. IMHO, he is the most complete PG in the NBA. He is SO versatile. He can score with the best of them. He can create for others with the best of them. He can drive to the hoop as good an anybody and he can just as easily step outside and hit 3s.

If I was starting a team from the scratch, Baron would be my first choice PG. Exceptional player.

 

[tyrant]

looks like martin had a heck of a night. good job. there's nothing i like seeing more than a poster

also i noticed that rahim showed great passing ability. finishing the game with 5 assists. vintage chris webber. it worries me that he had only 1 rebound. kenny hit the boards hard.

 

[tyrant]

couldn't get the game ofcourse, but you can sum up alot of things just by watching the highlights. looks like their all getting more comfortable with eachother. i saw a lot of ball movement and unselfish play. why did brad miller only play 9 minutes and not start? skinner had 2 blocks in 1 warriors possession. that's more than brad miller in 1 game.

 

[Ryle]

My .02 cents. Skinner and Hart are going to combine to make this a really nice defensive second team that we have. Also, Bibby's defense is still horrible and he steal seems to not really give a damn about it. Constantly backpedaling and falling all over himself while Davis goes right by him. Garcia has a nice stoke on the ball and hit about a 30 foot 3 points shot pretty much right when he got in the game. Peja is still reluctant to go after loose balls but he did get some semblance of his shot back tonight. Miller seems to be on cruise control this whole preseason. I still would like to see some off the other guys on the bench get a little time to see what they can do(if anything).

 

[KingKong]

Wow, it seems like the new guys (including KT, CW & Skinner) are really bringing it. Just wait till the Veterans decide to show up.

 

[quick dog]

Does anyone else think Bibby's star is falling? I would not be surprised if Bibby spends a lot more time on the bench this year. We now have some young guards that can defend, shoot, and take it to the hoop.

 

[tyrant]

Does anyone else think Bibby's star is falling? I would not be surprised if Bibby spends a lot more time on the bench this year. We now have some young guards that can defend, shoot, and take it to the hoop.

you make a good point; and those guys will do a wonderful job for us comming off then bench. bibby is still the most poised player on this team. maybe he's just strolling through the preseason. hopefully we'll see the clutch bibby when the season starts

 

[nbrans]

Thanks for the analysis, everyone. Without it I wouldn't have known what really happened and who really played well the last few games. That is, until League Pass finally gets its act together. Ugh.

 

[HndsmCelt]

Does anyone else think Bibby's star is falling? I would not be surprised if Bibby spends a lot more time on the bench this year. We now have some young guards that can defend, shoot, and take it to the hoop.

I really do not worry about Bibby. He is young and very tallented. He is one of the smartest (if not the smartest) PG's in the game. He is getting used to the new team and yes his assist numbers will drop back down to probably 2003 levels as he is now playing with a better passing team than last years squad. I also suspect his min will be down as he now not only has a more durable back up in Hart but a guy that could lead a second squad that plays D. Again this might translate into reduced stats, but should also allow Biby to paly with greater energy when on the court and might even inspire him to play a little D himself. The bottom line is that Bibby is a consumate profesional, he is the one player that clearly is hungry for a championship, takes the responsablity to be the leader, and is never afraid to take the big shot. This is the one guy on the squad I would never worry about in the preseason.

 

[whozit]

Thanks for the analysis, everyone. Without it I wouldn't have known what really happened and who really played well the last few games. That is, until League Pass finally gets its act together. Ugh.

Not sure who your provider is, but I have Dish and have received every King's preseason game so far. Missed half of the first one by assuming that it wouldn't be shown. I hope your not making the same mistake as I initally did.

 

[SCKingsfan]

Not sure who your provider is, but I have Dish and have received every King's preseason game so far. Missed half of the first one by assuming that it wouldn't be shown. I hope your not making the same mistake as I initally did.

I've been watching the preseason games on League Pass, too. It's nice b/c CSN is blacked out in my area.

 

[mr. moustache]

I really do not worry about Bibby. He is young and very tallented. He is one of the smartest (if not the smartest) PG's in the game. He is getting used to the new team and yes his assist numbers will drop back down to probably 2003 levels as he is now playing with a better passing team than last years squad. I also suspect his min will be down as he now not only has a more durable back up in Hart but a guy that could lead a second squad that plays D. Again this might translate into reduced stats, but should also allow Biby to paly with greater energy when on the court and might even inspire him to play a little D himself. The bottom line is that Bibby is a consumate profesional, he is the one player that clearly is hungry for a championship, takes the responsablity to be the leader, and is never afraid to take the big shot. This is the one guy on the squad I would never worry about in the preseason.

Agreed. I hope Rick will bench Bibby in favor of Hart if Hart's playing good defense. Bibby could use some competition for minutes. I don't want him getting his 35min on reputation and skill, I'd rather he earn them.

Obviously this only makes sense if Hart is making a case for himself on the floor. I imagine we'd see both of them out there at times as well.

 

[VF21]

If anything, knowing Hart is there will make it easier on Bibby, who won't be doing all the PG work the whole time.

The idea that Adelman would BENCH Bibby is ludicrous, IMHO. Hart brings something a little different to the court, but he's not the PG Bibby is.

Mike is still a premiere PG. He's already EARNED his minutes, time after time after time. I don't think there's any doubt that he'll continue to do so. Hart is here to compliment Bibby; not to replace him.

 

[kingsfan916]

Man i love Hart's D. I am gonna get his jersey
NOT GOLD!

 

[thesanityannex]

looks like martin had a heck of a night. good job. there's nothing i like seeing more than a poster

also i noticed that rahim showed great passing ability. finishing the game with 5 assists. vintage chris webber. it worries me that he had only 1 rebound. kenny hit the boards hard.

is this the same Martin you said couldn't score more than 4 points???

 

[GoGoGadget]

I really do not worry about Bibby. He is young and very tallented. He is one of the smartest (if not the smartest) PG's in the game. He is getting used to the new team and yes his assist numbers will drop back down to probably 2003 levels as he is now playing with a better passing team than last years squad. I also suspect his min will be down as he now not only has a more durable back up in Hart but a guy that could lead a second squad that plays D. Again this might translate into reduced stats, but should also allow Biby to paly with greater energy when on the court and might even inspire him to play a little D himself. The bottom line is that Bibby is a consumate profesional, he is the one player that clearly is hungry for a championship, takes the responsablity to be the leader, and is never afraid to take the big shot. This is the one guy on the squad I would never worry about in the preseason.

Ditto.