Our first game in the shiny new gold jammies. If your girlfriend has questionable taste, make a great lingerie gift for her this Christmas:
Peja ( C+ ) -- hit a couple early, and then started missing everything. Finally hit another three in the late 3rd. Kept missing jumpers into the early 4th, but did come up with an offensive rebound and put back and followed with a jumper before exiting. And the rebounding was the best part of Peja's game tonight. Not that you would confuse him with Dennis Rodman off this effort, but he was in there playing the game. Missed nearly everything, but considerably made up for it by doing the things he normally doesn't. Now if we could just get all of it at once we'd have something. Almost went with a B- here despite the shooting woes, but 5-17 is a little too extreme to ignore. Still, I might rather have this game than a 20pt 2reb effort on 50% shooting. Or at least the possibility of this game.
Reef ( B+ ) -- got off to a solid start with a couple of quick moves inside, then got quiet. Made a few good passes again. Returned in the third and finally began to impose himself a little and be an impact player with his game inside. Good to see him show us what he can do. Not dominant, or close to it. But one of the longest runs of strong play he's delivered this preseason. Interior defense was not there again.
Miller ( A- ) -- For most of the first three quarters was quiet -- made a nice pass or two, but otherwise wasn't making much noise. Did grab an offensive board over the back of Smush Parker (Lakers PG) to get a three point play at the end of the half. But in the 4th quarter in particular he was left in down the stretch to stabilize our benchers, and he did a very nice job of it. Statistically very efficient. Downside would be the defense again. Had moments of good individual defense, but not effective again as a help defender. I'm not sure I was really as happy with Brad's game, and in particular the defense, as the grade indicates. But when you put up 15pts on 5-6 shooting, add 10 rebs, 6ast with 0TO, hard to avoid some sort of A.
Wells ( B ) -- competed well against Kobe all night. Pretty good early defense, and just as importantly drew a series of early fouls on him. Nice to have somebody who can face Kobe and cause him problems as he causes problems for you. Free throw stroke was way off, and in general a scrappy effort. Never got into any real rhythm but battled all game.
Bibby ( A- ) -- shot still started off flat, but overall he looked much more involved and then all a sudden, voila!, he magically lost all of his supposed extra upper body bulk or whatever, and the shot was back. Far from a perfect game, and had his adventures. Threw away a behind the back pass ona 2 on 1 ala JWill. Began to crack under the Lakers traps and pressure in the third and then got chippy after a couple of non calls and "inadvertently" hit Sasha Vujacic (Lakers PG) in the throat. Started a sequence where Mike, obviously pissed, came back on the next play and impressively went up and tried to pack 6'11" Kwame Brown's dunk attempt. Played angry after that, but active and effective if forcing. By far the best game of his preseason. Not perfect. But he was back to being Mike.
Skinner ( B- ) -- came in early as the 6th man to help the interior defense. Good sign in my mind for him to be the first guy off the bench. Immediately altered a handful of shots inside around the rim. Of course trying on defense has its hazards: Did get beat by Kwame impressively with quickness, and Kobe posterized him on a dunk. But on whole looked quick and strong in there in the first stint. In the second half really didn't do much of anything and ended up watching Brad play down the stretch in his stead. Good strong start, quiet finish.
Garcia ( C+ ) -- got off to an utterly disastrous start with an amazing series of ballhandling miscues early trying to split double teams and work against pressure. Think he had 5 TOs in his first 5 minutes, and I am going to go out on a limb and say he would have obviously been pulled if this were a regular season game. But for the second or third time this preseason, partially redeemed himself (and I've used that phrase before with Cisco) with his play in the 4th when it really became the Kevin and Cisco show again. Hit some shots, mercifully quit handling the ball, helped on the glass, and even tried to D Kobe (with mixed results). Hit a corner three with 10 seconds to go to bring us within 1. Only preseason, but perhaps showing clutch shooting potential. Overall grade is weighed down by the F- first half, but generally left a good impression with his late game play.
Hart ( C- ) -- maybe a little rusty, but in his first stint wasn't nearly as effective as the last time we had seen him before the injury. Lakers went to full court traps against him, and he was taken out of rhythm and along with Cisco struggled to get us into anything. Looked better when he returned for us in the 4th, but still made some questionable decisions and had little impact. First down game from him for us. Hoping it was rust/maybe some lingering effects of the injury.
Martin ( A- ) -- in his first stint didn't look awful, but certainly did not help as we were struggling with the reserves again. Hit one open shot, missed another (a three), missed a drive. Tried to play a little defense, but to no great effect. Shot has straightened out a bit from last year, but still struggling with NBA three point range. But in the 4th things turned around in a big way and Kevin may actually have been the dominant figure in a late run we made at pulling the game out. Finally hit a three, and also drove repeatedly and took some major hits doing so. But kept on attacking and provided a huge hustle boost in the 4th. Box score doesn't reflect it, but really the inspirational leader down the stretch.
Thomas ( D ) -- came in during the 2nd quarter meltdown and was completely invisible on both ends. Not sure he ever touched it on offense as we were completely out of rhythm, did nothing on the other end. Remained absent right through the end of the game. Almost balked at penalizing him with a D because he didn't do much of ANYTHING, good or bad. For a guy who is normally assertive to a fault, it was a curious outing. Lineup said he was on the floor, but you would never have known it. Made one good fullcourt pass to a streaking Martin (I think). Otherwise 0pts 3rebs on 0-1 shooting?
Adleman ( ) -- wonder if these are the starters? Be good if that decision has been made. We played well early. Things really fell apart when we went to the bench in the second quarter. Disorganized and completely rattled by the Lakers' pressure. After the 2nd quarter bench meltdown, we tried to return the starters to get control again, were able to make up a few points but weren't able to get back into rhythm before half. You know things are going bad when you are getting lit up up Devean George. Second half was some good, some bad, but entertaining and competitive all the way. Some good signs in this one. Not least of all that we played like an actual team out there for long stretches. Also some bad. Notably that our new defensive focus still sees everybody not named Portland dropping 100+ on us in the preseason. Overall though, this was better. Doubt the league is trembling off of this effort, but you could see the potential there for us to beat some people now. Hopefully starting with the Hornets on Tuesday.
Peja ( C+ ) -- hit a couple early, and then started missing everything. Finally hit another three in the late 3rd. Kept missing jumpers into the early 4th, but did come up with an offensive rebound and put back and followed with a jumper before exiting. And the rebounding was the best part of Peja's game tonight. Not that you would confuse him with Dennis Rodman off this effort, but he was in there playing the game. Missed nearly everything, but considerably made up for it by doing the things he normally doesn't. Now if we could just get all of it at once we'd have something. Almost went with a B- here despite the shooting woes, but 5-17 is a little too extreme to ignore. Still, I might rather have this game than a 20pt 2reb effort on 50% shooting. Or at least the possibility of this game.
Reef ( B+ ) -- got off to a solid start with a couple of quick moves inside, then got quiet. Made a few good passes again. Returned in the third and finally began to impose himself a little and be an impact player with his game inside. Good to see him show us what he can do. Not dominant, or close to it. But one of the longest runs of strong play he's delivered this preseason. Interior defense was not there again.
Miller ( A- ) -- For most of the first three quarters was quiet -- made a nice pass or two, but otherwise wasn't making much noise. Did grab an offensive board over the back of Smush Parker (Lakers PG) to get a three point play at the end of the half. But in the 4th quarter in particular he was left in down the stretch to stabilize our benchers, and he did a very nice job of it. Statistically very efficient. Downside would be the defense again. Had moments of good individual defense, but not effective again as a help defender. I'm not sure I was really as happy with Brad's game, and in particular the defense, as the grade indicates. But when you put up 15pts on 5-6 shooting, add 10 rebs, 6ast with 0TO, hard to avoid some sort of A.
Wells ( B ) -- competed well against Kobe all night. Pretty good early defense, and just as importantly drew a series of early fouls on him. Nice to have somebody who can face Kobe and cause him problems as he causes problems for you. Free throw stroke was way off, and in general a scrappy effort. Never got into any real rhythm but battled all game.
Bibby ( A- ) -- shot still started off flat, but overall he looked much more involved and then all a sudden, voila!, he magically lost all of his supposed extra upper body bulk or whatever, and the shot was back. Far from a perfect game, and had his adventures. Threw away a behind the back pass ona 2 on 1 ala JWill. Began to crack under the Lakers traps and pressure in the third and then got chippy after a couple of non calls and "inadvertently" hit Sasha Vujacic (Lakers PG) in the throat. Started a sequence where Mike, obviously pissed, came back on the next play and impressively went up and tried to pack 6'11" Kwame Brown's dunk attempt. Played angry after that, but active and effective if forcing. By far the best game of his preseason. Not perfect. But he was back to being Mike.
Skinner ( B- ) -- came in early as the 6th man to help the interior defense. Good sign in my mind for him to be the first guy off the bench. Immediately altered a handful of shots inside around the rim. Of course trying on defense has its hazards: Did get beat by Kwame impressively with quickness, and Kobe posterized him on a dunk. But on whole looked quick and strong in there in the first stint. In the second half really didn't do much of anything and ended up watching Brad play down the stretch in his stead. Good strong start, quiet finish.
Garcia ( C+ ) -- got off to an utterly disastrous start with an amazing series of ballhandling miscues early trying to split double teams and work against pressure. Think he had 5 TOs in his first 5 minutes, and I am going to go out on a limb and say he would have obviously been pulled if this were a regular season game. But for the second or third time this preseason, partially redeemed himself (and I've used that phrase before with Cisco) with his play in the 4th when it really became the Kevin and Cisco show again. Hit some shots, mercifully quit handling the ball, helped on the glass, and even tried to D Kobe (with mixed results). Hit a corner three with 10 seconds to go to bring us within 1. Only preseason, but perhaps showing clutch shooting potential. Overall grade is weighed down by the F- first half, but generally left a good impression with his late game play.
Hart ( C- ) -- maybe a little rusty, but in his first stint wasn't nearly as effective as the last time we had seen him before the injury. Lakers went to full court traps against him, and he was taken out of rhythm and along with Cisco struggled to get us into anything. Looked better when he returned for us in the 4th, but still made some questionable decisions and had little impact. First down game from him for us. Hoping it was rust/maybe some lingering effects of the injury.
Martin ( A- ) -- in his first stint didn't look awful, but certainly did not help as we were struggling with the reserves again. Hit one open shot, missed another (a three), missed a drive. Tried to play a little defense, but to no great effect. Shot has straightened out a bit from last year, but still struggling with NBA three point range. But in the 4th things turned around in a big way and Kevin may actually have been the dominant figure in a late run we made at pulling the game out. Finally hit a three, and also drove repeatedly and took some major hits doing so. But kept on attacking and provided a huge hustle boost in the 4th. Box score doesn't reflect it, but really the inspirational leader down the stretch.
Thomas ( D ) -- came in during the 2nd quarter meltdown and was completely invisible on both ends. Not sure he ever touched it on offense as we were completely out of rhythm, did nothing on the other end. Remained absent right through the end of the game. Almost balked at penalizing him with a D because he didn't do much of ANYTHING, good or bad. For a guy who is normally assertive to a fault, it was a curious outing. Lineup said he was on the floor, but you would never have known it. Made one good fullcourt pass to a streaking Martin (I think). Otherwise 0pts 3rebs on 0-1 shooting?
Adleman ( ) -- wonder if these are the starters? Be good if that decision has been made. We played well early. Things really fell apart when we went to the bench in the second quarter. Disorganized and completely rattled by the Lakers' pressure. After the 2nd quarter bench meltdown, we tried to return the starters to get control again, were able to make up a few points but weren't able to get back into rhythm before half. You know things are going bad when you are getting lit up up Devean George. Second half was some good, some bad, but entertaining and competitive all the way. Some good signs in this one. Not least of all that we played like an actual team out there for long stretches. Also some bad. Notably that our new defensive focus still sees everybody not named Portland dropping 100+ on us in the preseason. Overall though, this was better. Doubt the league is trembling off of this effort, but you could see the potential there for us to beat some people now. Hopefully starting with the Hornets on Tuesday.
Last edited:
, but i thought that was a perfect time to throw ol' Corliss in.
