Williamson ( C+ ) -- fierce, but not smart game. Played a strong first quarter working his inside game, but after that mostly just committed dumb fouls. Not much help on the glass tonight either, and picked up a technical foul we did not need in the 4th in a tight game. Kind of the flip side of Corliss where his aggressiveness can acutally hurt him, and he has problems really making an impact against teams with a lot of length.
Songaila ( C ) -- another very quiet game as a starter + looked physically overmatched by Kwame Brown down in the post. Hit a couple of shots, but was invisible on the galss and started rackng up fouls. Then had to exit the game with a knee injury of some sort. Hope its minor, but if he misses even one game with it, given the way these first couple have gone with the new guys, have a feeling that he may lose his starting spot to Thomas jsut that fast.
Miller ( B- ) -- I was going to post a note to Brad -- PLEASE shoot the damn ball! Pretty Please! With sugar on top? And then he finaly did in the final minute, and it wasn't pretty. Had a pair of nice first half blocks that briefly create the false hope that we were going to be knuckling down on defense -- pattern we've seen before several times from Brad. Couple of early blocks, and then not much. Managed to singlehandedly revive the Wiz in the final minutes of the second quarter with a series of turnovers and sloppy play. Overall rather than stepping forward as our new big man of note, seems to be settling back here into his more comfortable role of "just one of the guys". Finsihed up with a quiet 12 and 10 night -- modestly effective, but emphasis on modestly. Just ok.
Mobley ( C ) -- for the second night in a row another struggle for the whole game for Cat, and for the second night in a row he steps up bigtime in the clutch and makes the plays to win the game for us. These things are really hard to grade. Gave us a shot in the arm on the glass (where he and Bibby kept us in it despite only getting three rebounds out of our SFs), but got toasted by Arenas whenever he was guarding him, and missed most everything until it mattered. This time it was not a jumper and free throws in the clutch, but a hustling offensive board and lay in ,and then free throws to pull it out. That latter play was interesting, and not sure how I feel about it -- Cat clearly wanted the shot. GREAT trait and one I am loathe to criticize. But in order to set up his post of Arenas he actually pulled the ball back away from Bibby to make sure he got the shot. That was fine with Webb, who had earned that right and was hitting everything this year, and maybe its ok with Cat too given that he's made clutch shots for us too. But I still think Mike's the mega-clutch guy and not sure if a struggling Mobley has earned the stripes to keep the ball from him to amke sure he gets the last shot himself.
Bibby ( A+ ) -- and Mike continues to step forward as this new team's unquestioned leader. Game at times resembled another one on one duel with a former Arizona Wildcat -- point guard U. This all started sometime after Mobley arrived -- Mike has been one of the Top 10 scorers in the league for the past month. The fact that we haven't done well over that span may be a bit of a cautionary tale, but its certainly not because Mike isn't giving it his best. When he did this a couple of times vs. Marbury and Stoudamire last month I didn't give him the "+" becuase his stinky defense was a major cause of those players going off in return. But today Arenas was just brilliant no matter who he was facing (although he also forced a lot of shots of course), and the guy is one of Top 10 scorers in the league. Didn't feel like Mike was letting him score, and Cat was on him at least as often. Of course on the other hand, the other guy Mike was susposed to be guarding, Steve Blake, only went off and had what was probably a career game (and actually had a good look to win it at the buzzer). Still going with the "+" -- in between singlehandedly carrying the team offensively (if Mike is off and only gets his average we are blown out by 20) Mike also found time to toss in 6rebs 7ast and 4stls (also 5TOs). Ho hum.
House ( B- ) -- nice steady little stint for House again. Coming in and consistently contributing as a backup guard at this point. Hitting his shots, and seems to be taking fewer shots entirely out of the offense -- extra practice and familiarity may be helping.
Thomas ( B+ ) -- did a great job on the glass tonight, but very quiet on offense on a night when it was pretty much just Bibby and Bibby and a little Cat late. Came into the game and immediately made a great play grabbing a defensive board and tunring and firing a 3/4 court pass to Mobley for an open three. Made several other good passes as well. Began to turn the ball over as the game went along, and rebounding fell off as well -- not sure if he had any in the 4th. With Corliss and Mo both in foul trouble, swung over to SF for a few minutes and was ntoiceably less effective. Not sure why exactly -- has the size and quickness of a SF, seems like it would be smoother for him. Anyway, still a solid performance despite the lack of scoring, and if Darius has to be miss any time with the knee I think its fairly safe to introduce Kenny Thomas as your new Sacramento Kings starting power forward.
Skinner ( A- ) -- nice short stints for us. Played physically, and also showed some nice touch in the post.
Evans ( A- ) -- after Nasty's last stand, came into the game and gave us a real shot in the arm in the 4th with athletic drives and a couple of big 3ptrs.
Jamison ( A+ ) -- at least as valuable to us as Bibby tonight was the play of Antawn Jamison, who was at the All Star game on Sunday and showed why tonight with a beautiful 7pts (3-15FG) and 6TO game which is probably going to result in a lawsuit from Arenas for non-support. Would rather not think of how many points the Wiz would have dropped on us if Jamison hadn't been sniffing glue during the timeouts. Bizarrely ineffective game for him.
Adelman ( B+ ) -- well, offense looked better tonight, although it was clearly the Mike Bibby show. We got beat on the boards again for the second night in a row, but again held it close. And we again got into a shootout, scored 110 an only won by two on some last second clutch plays. Same ole same ole eh? Story of the season. If nothing else comes of this year, at least we've been treated to the welcome sight of numerous Kings stepping up to hit big shots for us. For a franchise long accused of not having those sorts of players, with Webb, Bibby, Mobley, we may have won more close games at the buzzer than any other team in the legaue this year. Rick again played the new guys a lot of minutes, and already seems to have reached a comfrot zone with Darius as a spot starter in name only, Thomas getting the bulk of the minutes off the bench as a PF, Corliss starting at SF, and Skinner as a backup C. Rick has never gotten enough credit for his ability to adjust on the fly with new personnel, injuries etc. Of course more disruption is coming, with Darius possibly hurt, and Peja on the way back, which figures to really squeeze Big Nasty and Mo. Hard to say about the defense yet -- we're still giving up a lot of points and a lot of rebounds (especially off of missed FTs -- that just kills me!), but there is a definite increase in intensity. Will have to see how it all plays out after everybody settles in.
Songaila ( C ) -- another very quiet game as a starter + looked physically overmatched by Kwame Brown down in the post. Hit a couple of shots, but was invisible on the galss and started rackng up fouls. Then had to exit the game with a knee injury of some sort. Hope its minor, but if he misses even one game with it, given the way these first couple have gone with the new guys, have a feeling that he may lose his starting spot to Thomas jsut that fast.
Miller ( B- ) -- I was going to post a note to Brad -- PLEASE shoot the damn ball! Pretty Please! With sugar on top? And then he finaly did in the final minute, and it wasn't pretty. Had a pair of nice first half blocks that briefly create the false hope that we were going to be knuckling down on defense -- pattern we've seen before several times from Brad. Couple of early blocks, and then not much. Managed to singlehandedly revive the Wiz in the final minutes of the second quarter with a series of turnovers and sloppy play. Overall rather than stepping forward as our new big man of note, seems to be settling back here into his more comfortable role of "just one of the guys". Finsihed up with a quiet 12 and 10 night -- modestly effective, but emphasis on modestly. Just ok.
Mobley ( C ) -- for the second night in a row another struggle for the whole game for Cat, and for the second night in a row he steps up bigtime in the clutch and makes the plays to win the game for us. These things are really hard to grade. Gave us a shot in the arm on the glass (where he and Bibby kept us in it despite only getting three rebounds out of our SFs), but got toasted by Arenas whenever he was guarding him, and missed most everything until it mattered. This time it was not a jumper and free throws in the clutch, but a hustling offensive board and lay in ,and then free throws to pull it out. That latter play was interesting, and not sure how I feel about it -- Cat clearly wanted the shot. GREAT trait and one I am loathe to criticize. But in order to set up his post of Arenas he actually pulled the ball back away from Bibby to make sure he got the shot. That was fine with Webb, who had earned that right and was hitting everything this year, and maybe its ok with Cat too given that he's made clutch shots for us too. But I still think Mike's the mega-clutch guy and not sure if a struggling Mobley has earned the stripes to keep the ball from him to amke sure he gets the last shot himself.
Bibby ( A+ ) -- and Mike continues to step forward as this new team's unquestioned leader. Game at times resembled another one on one duel with a former Arizona Wildcat -- point guard U. This all started sometime after Mobley arrived -- Mike has been one of the Top 10 scorers in the league for the past month. The fact that we haven't done well over that span may be a bit of a cautionary tale, but its certainly not because Mike isn't giving it his best. When he did this a couple of times vs. Marbury and Stoudamire last month I didn't give him the "+" becuase his stinky defense was a major cause of those players going off in return. But today Arenas was just brilliant no matter who he was facing (although he also forced a lot of shots of course), and the guy is one of Top 10 scorers in the league. Didn't feel like Mike was letting him score, and Cat was on him at least as often. Of course on the other hand, the other guy Mike was susposed to be guarding, Steve Blake, only went off and had what was probably a career game (and actually had a good look to win it at the buzzer). Still going with the "+" -- in between singlehandedly carrying the team offensively (if Mike is off and only gets his average we are blown out by 20) Mike also found time to toss in 6rebs 7ast and 4stls (also 5TOs). Ho hum.
House ( B- ) -- nice steady little stint for House again. Coming in and consistently contributing as a backup guard at this point. Hitting his shots, and seems to be taking fewer shots entirely out of the offense -- extra practice and familiarity may be helping.
Thomas ( B+ ) -- did a great job on the glass tonight, but very quiet on offense on a night when it was pretty much just Bibby and Bibby and a little Cat late. Came into the game and immediately made a great play grabbing a defensive board and tunring and firing a 3/4 court pass to Mobley for an open three. Made several other good passes as well. Began to turn the ball over as the game went along, and rebounding fell off as well -- not sure if he had any in the 4th. With Corliss and Mo both in foul trouble, swung over to SF for a few minutes and was ntoiceably less effective. Not sure why exactly -- has the size and quickness of a SF, seems like it would be smoother for him. Anyway, still a solid performance despite the lack of scoring, and if Darius has to be miss any time with the knee I think its fairly safe to introduce Kenny Thomas as your new Sacramento Kings starting power forward.
Skinner ( A- ) -- nice short stints for us. Played physically, and also showed some nice touch in the post.
Evans ( A- ) -- after Nasty's last stand, came into the game and gave us a real shot in the arm in the 4th with athletic drives and a couple of big 3ptrs.
Jamison ( A+ ) -- at least as valuable to us as Bibby tonight was the play of Antawn Jamison, who was at the All Star game on Sunday and showed why tonight with a beautiful 7pts (3-15FG) and 6TO game which is probably going to result in a lawsuit from Arenas for non-support. Would rather not think of how many points the Wiz would have dropped on us if Jamison hadn't been sniffing glue during the timeouts. Bizarrely ineffective game for him.
Adelman ( B+ ) -- well, offense looked better tonight, although it was clearly the Mike Bibby show. We got beat on the boards again for the second night in a row, but again held it close. And we again got into a shootout, scored 110 an only won by two on some last second clutch plays. Same ole same ole eh? Story of the season. If nothing else comes of this year, at least we've been treated to the welcome sight of numerous Kings stepping up to hit big shots for us. For a franchise long accused of not having those sorts of players, with Webb, Bibby, Mobley, we may have won more close games at the buzzer than any other team in the legaue this year. Rick again played the new guys a lot of minutes, and already seems to have reached a comfrot zone with Darius as a spot starter in name only, Thomas getting the bulk of the minutes off the bench as a PF, Corliss starting at SF, and Skinner as a backup C. Rick has never gotten enough credit for his ability to adjust on the fly with new personnel, injuries etc. Of course more disruption is coming, with Darius possibly hurt, and Peja on the way back, which figures to really squeeze Big Nasty and Mo. Hard to say about the defense yet -- we're still giving up a lot of points and a lot of rebounds (especially off of missed FTs -- that just kills me!), but there is a definite increase in intensity. Will have to see how it all plays out after everybody settles in.
