Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Peja ( C- ) -- was moving well, but missed a bunch of early layups. None of the true chippee variety at least, more that he was taking fairly difficult ones and as good as his touch is from outside, he has little around the hoop. Zero rebounds first half. Passed willingly, but really kind of the forgotten man out there offensively with the starters. In order for him to get some shots off, we left him in there to give the bench a goto guy for a few minutes after we took out the rest of the starters.
Reef ( B- ) -- struggled off the block. Just didn't seem to be able to get anything going. Missed his shots, fumbled balls, got into quick foul trouble. Looked better after returning in the second quarter, but again managed to avoid grabbing a single first half rebound in 15 min. Major part of our early third quarter flurry as he woke up with the offense and got on the glass. Some sort of A in third, D in the first.
Miller ( B+ ) -- not much impact early and just sort of going through the motions. Really picked up energy and hustle immensely in the third and may have been the key guy in the quarter as we looked good and pulled away. Like several of the starters, tale of two halves.
Bonzi ( A- ) -- got off to a very encouraging start to this one. Was active and constantly around the hoop at both ends of the court. Best rebounder for us on the night. Was only on Cat for stretches of Cat's early explosion -- was more often checking Maggette for the better athletic matchup.
Bibby ( B ) -- looked fine first half, directed the offense decently and scored well, but nothing really eye-catching. Played well in the third as the team cranked it up.
Skinner ( B+ ) -- active throughout, not showing much of any touch on offense, but teamed with Hart to thankfully turn up the defensive pressure and get scrappy. Cynic would note that his appearance and success came against the Clippers super camp scrubs while we were still playing major NBAers, but still nice to see.
Thomas ( D+ ) -- indifferent stint for him in the first half, and struggled after returning in the third. Grabbed a few boards, but otherwise seemed to be constantly out of rhythm and struggling with turnovers.
Martin ( B ) -- nice full speed drive and the foul early, showed a lot of speed and made some solid contributions in most areas, but nothing spectacular. Definitely bigger than last year. Still on the skinny side, but body looks more like that of a man than a boy this year. Biggest thing would jsut be that still needs to find some way to make an impact on the game -- looked solid and for the most part made good decisions, but never really asserted his will on the game.
Garcia ( C+ ) -- hit an early three, but on the other end of the court the Clippers went right at him repeatedly, and he picked up 4 fouls in near record time -- 4 fouls in 4 minutes. Defense didn't look awful, but Clips certainly tested him and he picked up rookie fouls nearly everytime he was challenged. Things got a better after returning in the 4th. Still forced some quick threes, picked up another foul. But also scored on a series of layups inside working the Princeton cuts, and hit a rhythm three. Tough outing early, but redeemed by garbagetime scoring flurry. Nice couple of minutes, but that was really all he did though -- no boards, assists, defense was just fouls. Needs to let game come to him rather than forcing shots, and looks like having his feet set is key for him on his jumper. Did enough good things to show potential in our system though.
Hart ( A- ) -- really liked what I saw here -- rock solid, nice hustle, solid ballhandling, nose for the ball and harrassing on defense. Not spectacular, but very steady on both ends. Amazingly may have earned my trust in only 1 game. Rick seemed to trust him as a stabilizing force too. Not going to be the impact player Bobby was, but knows what he's doing out there.
Williamson ( B- ) -- was able to play at his natural SF position after Garcia sat with fouls in the first half, and just played his power game inside. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much.
Price ( D ) -- came in for the first time in the 3rd quarter after game looked largely decided. Looked solid with the ball, but missed shots and did nothing else, seemed a little confused, and during his brief stint almost the entire lead evaporated.
Adelman ( -- ) -- No grade as I don't really think there is much of a good or bad in coaching the preseason -- victory really isn't that important. I did not get to see the first game where the defensive numbers looked awful, but in this one the defense was not as bad early as the score indicaed. What it really was was Cat sending a message to his old team in a big way. Second quarter the bench brought defense and hustle while the Clippers brought guys who belong in the NBDL. Most impressive stretch was the early 3rd quarter when the starters finally began to click. Disappointing that the camp invites are getting no time at all right now -- guess the coaching staff will have a chance to evaluate them in practice, but we may never get to see most of these guys on the court before they are gone. With us struggling in the 4th, Rick made a telltale move showing that winning this one was more important ot him that maybe it was to the Clipeprs -- after only three minutes he pulled the ineffective Ronnie Price and reinserted Jason Hart to settle the team down and run us down the stretch. Wanted to win it more than look at our camp scrubbies.
Reef ( B- ) -- struggled off the block. Just didn't seem to be able to get anything going. Missed his shots, fumbled balls, got into quick foul trouble. Looked better after returning in the second quarter, but again managed to avoid grabbing a single first half rebound in 15 min. Major part of our early third quarter flurry as he woke up with the offense and got on the glass. Some sort of A in third, D in the first.
Miller ( B+ ) -- not much impact early and just sort of going through the motions. Really picked up energy and hustle immensely in the third and may have been the key guy in the quarter as we looked good and pulled away. Like several of the starters, tale of two halves.
Bonzi ( A- ) -- got off to a very encouraging start to this one. Was active and constantly around the hoop at both ends of the court. Best rebounder for us on the night. Was only on Cat for stretches of Cat's early explosion -- was more often checking Maggette for the better athletic matchup.
Bibby ( B ) -- looked fine first half, directed the offense decently and scored well, but nothing really eye-catching. Played well in the third as the team cranked it up.
Skinner ( B+ ) -- active throughout, not showing much of any touch on offense, but teamed with Hart to thankfully turn up the defensive pressure and get scrappy. Cynic would note that his appearance and success came against the Clippers super camp scrubs while we were still playing major NBAers, but still nice to see.
Thomas ( D+ ) -- indifferent stint for him in the first half, and struggled after returning in the third. Grabbed a few boards, but otherwise seemed to be constantly out of rhythm and struggling with turnovers.
Martin ( B ) -- nice full speed drive and the foul early, showed a lot of speed and made some solid contributions in most areas, but nothing spectacular. Definitely bigger than last year. Still on the skinny side, but body looks more like that of a man than a boy this year. Biggest thing would jsut be that still needs to find some way to make an impact on the game -- looked solid and for the most part made good decisions, but never really asserted his will on the game.
Garcia ( C+ ) -- hit an early three, but on the other end of the court the Clippers went right at him repeatedly, and he picked up 4 fouls in near record time -- 4 fouls in 4 minutes. Defense didn't look awful, but Clips certainly tested him and he picked up rookie fouls nearly everytime he was challenged. Things got a better after returning in the 4th. Still forced some quick threes, picked up another foul. But also scored on a series of layups inside working the Princeton cuts, and hit a rhythm three. Tough outing early, but redeemed by garbagetime scoring flurry. Nice couple of minutes, but that was really all he did though -- no boards, assists, defense was just fouls. Needs to let game come to him rather than forcing shots, and looks like having his feet set is key for him on his jumper. Did enough good things to show potential in our system though.
Hart ( A- ) -- really liked what I saw here -- rock solid, nice hustle, solid ballhandling, nose for the ball and harrassing on defense. Not spectacular, but very steady on both ends. Amazingly may have earned my trust in only 1 game. Rick seemed to trust him as a stabilizing force too. Not going to be the impact player Bobby was, but knows what he's doing out there.
Williamson ( B- ) -- was able to play at his natural SF position after Garcia sat with fouls in the first half, and just played his power game inside. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much.
Price ( D ) -- came in for the first time in the 3rd quarter after game looked largely decided. Looked solid with the ball, but missed shots and did nothing else, seemed a little confused, and during his brief stint almost the entire lead evaporated.
Adelman ( -- ) -- No grade as I don't really think there is much of a good or bad in coaching the preseason -- victory really isn't that important. I did not get to see the first game where the defensive numbers looked awful, but in this one the defense was not as bad early as the score indicaed. What it really was was Cat sending a message to his old team in a big way. Second quarter the bench brought defense and hustle while the Clippers brought guys who belong in the NBDL. Most impressive stretch was the early 3rd quarter when the starters finally began to click. Disappointing that the camp invites are getting no time at all right now -- guess the coaching staff will have a chance to evaluate them in practice, but we may never get to see most of these guys on the court before they are gone. With us struggling in the 4th, Rick made a telltale move showing that winning this one was more important ot him that maybe it was to the Clipeprs -- after only three minutes he pulled the ineffective Ronnie Price and reinserted Jason Hart to settle the team down and run us down the stretch. Wanted to win it more than look at our camp scrubbies.
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