Great offensive night, and I'm willing to overlook the rest. Mikki Moore is the team's best post defender (a problem to begin with), and he played 23 minutes due to foul trouble. When Spencer Hawes and Shelden Williams are your big minutes bigs, 140 points is about right. No offense to either guy; they just cannot defend that well straight up at this point.
Speaking of Hawes, his legs look dead. Many of those Golden State offensive rebounds came with Hawes in good position ... but not much oomph to get them. Andris Biedrins, especially, went right around or over Hawes a few times, and Beans isn't much longer than Shock.
Shelden drew some commentary in the game thread, and I'd have to say I'm about on board with what everyone else says: He's a bench player at this point and likely in the future. His post skills are remarkably unpolished, his defense is questionable, and his size might keep him from being an elite rebounder (which needs to be his calling card).
Kevin Martin: 29 points on 12 shots, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and just 1 turnover. The definition of efficiency. Outside of Martin, the most encouraging things from the Kings perspective:
- Francisco Garcia: 35 minutes, 18 FGAs, 0 turnovers. If he can be mistake-free, he's a huge asset and a potential Sixth Man of the Year candidate.
- Quincy Douby hit his shots, played aggressive basketball, and made no mistakes. Great stint.
- Beno Udrih got knocked down three or four times, and got right back up every time.
- Anyone feel like the 'John Salmons can't play off the bench' thing might actually be a 'John Salmons plays better with Kevin Martin' thing? 22 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 turnovers with efficient shooting and passable defense (he shut down Monta Ellis in the fourth).