[Grades] Grades v. Knicks 12/27/2014
- Thread starter Bricklayer
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"Every game, going into the game with the mindset of being a defensive team, like we used to" -Boogie
"We have to get back to being our old team"
"We gotta get back to playing that type of basketball, as of right now we're taking steps back"
"We gotta get back to the right style of basketball, the right style for us to play"
Pete and Vivek are gonna screw around and lose a franchise player
"We have to get back to being our old team"
"We gotta get back to playing that type of basketball, as of right now we're taking steps back"
"We gotta get back to the right style of basketball, the right style for us to play"
Pete and Vivek are gonna screw around and lose a franchise player
We are 19th, not 23rd. Not really fair to pin that on Cousins, who has missed 11 games, 9 of which have been losses. With him, we are 11-8, good for a .58 winning percentage, which would put us around 12-13th in the league.
http://espn.go.com/nba/standings/_/group/1
http://espn.go.com/nba/standings/_/group/1
Everyone is suffering from a serious case of sample size bias. We haven't had enough games in ANY system at full strength this season to really make determinations whether we were legit or not. Improvements? Absolutely. But not enough to say we'd be a playoff team under Malone and now we're headed for a top 5 pick under Corbin.
And coaching change or not, 2-4 in our last 6 games against our opponents was the expected outcome anyway. PHX, OKC and GSW are all better teams than us; with or without Malone. We beat the Knicks and Lakers, two teams we're better than. The Bucks game was the only real "let-down" game we've had under Corbin, but even short-handed, they aren't a push-over team anymore.
More important to me is us staying healthy and stringing together games where we're at full strength. That's really what's limited us from taking the next step.
And coaching change or not, 2-4 in our last 6 games against our opponents was the expected outcome anyway. PHX, OKC and GSW are all better teams than us; with or without Malone. We beat the Knicks and Lakers, two teams we're better than. The Bucks game was the only real "let-down" game we've had under Corbin, but even short-handed, they aren't a push-over team anymore.
More important to me is us staying healthy and stringing together games where we're at full strength. That's really what's limited us from taking the next step.
The talk was all hell would break loose if they lost to the Knicks at home. To me, this is even worse.
We come away with an overtime win in which Boogie dominated, scoring his season high and carrying the team to victory down the stretch in OT, and in the post game interview he is absolutely dejected, demoralized and distraught. I've seen more upbeat funeral processions.
This has become a disaster and is spiraling into a screaming abyss. Vivek, stop telling us what we want and start listening to what we want. Ignore the buffoons who cost you a quality coach as a sacrifice to their own hubris. Listen to your fans, your team and your franchise player. Hire Karl (short of the impossible dream of bringing back Coach Malone); He's not perfect and not even the best coach for the star player we have and the team we want, but he's the best option out there right now. Abandon this stupid, patronizing, insulting fantasy of high-octane, run & gun, style over substance, small ball, Warriors-lite, crap. Realize how miraculous it is to have a franchise player as potentially transcendent and dominant as we currently do and design the team around his talents, strengths and weaknesses.
Bring us the bruisers, the battlers, the blood knights built around a Boogie Monster and watch the fans come out in droves.
We come away with an overtime win in which Boogie dominated, scoring his season high and carrying the team to victory down the stretch in OT, and in the post game interview he is absolutely dejected, demoralized and distraught. I've seen more upbeat funeral processions.
This has become a disaster and is spiraling into a screaming abyss. Vivek, stop telling us what we want and start listening to what we want. Ignore the buffoons who cost you a quality coach as a sacrifice to their own hubris. Listen to your fans, your team and your franchise player. Hire Karl (short of the impossible dream of bringing back Coach Malone); He's not perfect and not even the best coach for the star player we have and the team we want, but he's the best option out there right now. Abandon this stupid, patronizing, insulting fantasy of high-octane, run & gun, style over substance, small ball, Warriors-lite, crap. Realize how miraculous it is to have a franchise player as potentially transcendent and dominant as we currently do and design the team around his talents, strengths and weaknesses.
Bring us the bruisers, the battlers, the blood knights built around a Boogie Monster and watch the fans come out in droves.
It's very confusing for me that someone of your acumen could put together an argument that completely ignores the fact that we fired a head coach that was 10-5 against the #1 SOS for stylistic purposes. We were obviously pretty good. You don't just luck out 10 out of 15 times against the likes of the western conference elite.
Demarcus Cousins will not be moved. If even a hint of such a thought were to surface, the resulting fan revolt would make the nightly news on a national level...as it should.
Vivek may be wanting to try a different style but he is not a total idiot. He knows damned well one of the biggest reasons he's getting butts in the seats right now is because of #15. With the new arena on the horizon he has to make sure he keeps those butts in the seats. All the bells and whistles planned for the new place won't mean a damned thing if there isn't anyone there to enjoy them...and I can pretty much guarantee a mass exodus of fans and STH if even the remote hint of Cousins going anywhere were to surface.
That's one fear I think you can put to rest.
Vivek may be wanting to try a different style but he is not a total idiot. He knows damned well one of the biggest reasons he's getting butts in the seats right now is because of #15. With the new arena on the horizon he has to make sure he keeps those butts in the seats. All the bells and whistles planned for the new place won't mean a damned thing if there isn't anyone there to enjoy them...and I can pretty much guarantee a mass exodus of fans and STH if even the remote hint of Cousins going anywhere were to surface.
That's one fear I think you can put to rest.
Yes, DMC looked terrific BUT so did the Knicks...and that's the problem. Our "defense" made the Knicks look like playoff contenders.
When you turn your focus away from what has been working towards something you want to work, you'd better make damned sure you have the right personnel in place to do it. We don't. Period.
Corbin admitted in his first interview after Malone's departure that it was tough to get the team to change focus. We're seeing the results of that right now.
Don't let the "W" fool you. That was not a good win. It was a lucky win that maybe once upon a time we could have been satisfied with. When you've got Cousins on your team, however, and you showed early on that there was finally a defensive mindset being formed, you shake you head in disbelief at how quickly it's gone to pot. Well, let me rephrase. I'm shaking my head in disbelief. I had hope and faith...right now, I'm trying to believe but only because of what DMC said last night after the game.
When you turn your focus away from what has been working towards something you want to work, you'd better make damned sure you have the right personnel in place to do it. We don't. Period.
Corbin admitted in his first interview after Malone's departure that it was tough to get the team to change focus. We're seeing the results of that right now.
Don't let the "W" fool you. That was not a good win. It was a lucky win that maybe once upon a time we could have been satisfied with. When you've got Cousins on your team, however, and you showed early on that there was finally a defensive mindset being formed, you shake you head in disbelief at how quickly it's gone to pot. Well, let me rephrase. I'm shaking my head in disbelief. I had hope and faith...right now, I'm trying to believe but only because of what DMC said last night after the game.
Yep, for the simple reason those coaches have nothing to lose at this point. Corbin is gonna be out the door anyway, and most likely whoever comes in will bring their own staff with them.
I would love to see a united front - team and coaches - put a defensive product back on the court that wins games.
I would love to see a united front - team and coaches - put a defensive product back on the court that wins games.
What DMC AND Corbin said last night. And, yes, Cuz and the Knicks had good games last night but so did Gay and Collison and Stauskas and Corbin. And please remember that besides changing emphasis on "style" of play, we changed coaches, we played without Cuz and Cuz is not himself yet. He has not regained his stamina and it shows not on offense but on defense. He will get there but not yet and maybe not for a week or two. So it is not all on change of style which is a negative thing, change that is, until it works. So I think it is way too early to abandon ship.
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And they're betting on the average fan to look up and say, "yay, points!"
You can't have DeMarcus as your defensive anchor and offensive MVP running this style. You will wear him out and break him down. There's a reason we looked good defensively, and it was, in part, due to pacing. Yes, that means running things with a little more deliberation from time to time, but it also spares our star from having to sprint sideline to sideline. I think our offensive sets were actually better under Malone.
It's easier to get back on d when you're not pushing the pace.
You can't have DeMarcus as your defensive anchor and offensive MVP running this style. You will wear him out and break him down. There's a reason we looked good defensively, and it was, in part, due to pacing. Yes, that means running things with a little more deliberation from time to time, but it also spares our star from having to sprint sideline to sideline. I think our offensive sets were actually better under Malone.
It's easier to get back on d when you're not pushing the pace.
And I think they're underestimating the intelligence of the vast majority of Kings fans who know more about the game than just "Yay, points"... 
With Ben McLemore coming into his own we can have the best of both worlds. We can have DMC in the low post, we can have outside shooting with Ben, we have sparks off the bench if Omri and D-Will continue to impress and damn it we can and MUST have defense. The gyys have finally found out what the word means and now the FO is trying to tell them it's not that important...that running up and down like a bunch of rabid gazelles is more exciting, while listening to the stylings of Vivek's favorite jazz ensemble. Not gonna buy it...or rent it...or pull onto the lot to even kick the tires.
With Ben McLemore coming into his own we can have the best of both worlds. We can have DMC in the low post, we can have outside shooting with Ben, we have sparks off the bench if Omri and D-Will continue to impress and damn it we can and MUST have defense. The gyys have finally found out what the word means and now the FO is trying to tell them it's not that important...that running up and down like a bunch of rabid gazelles is more exciting, while listening to the stylings of Vivek's favorite jazz ensemble. Not gonna buy it...or rent it...or pull onto the lot to even kick the tires.
There was a local interview with Bruce Bowen about the Kings situation. They asked him about the NBA 3.0 concepts and Bruce said that those sort of ideas never work out. He compared it to his time in Boston where Rick Pitino came in to do what he did in college, which is full court pressure defense and transition basketball. Bowen said he was totally invested into the idea and concept. (Given his defensive style, not a surprise.) So he ran it hard, but the team tired out, couldn't finish games and ended up losing. His point was that nearly everything has been tried and that the pro game is not where extreme ideas work. Due to roster depth, skill and other factors, you can't use tactics that work elsewhere. It might work on the bottom teams in the league since their talent level is closer to college level, but the playoff teams will exploit you.
PS:
If looking to find it: Interview was with 1320. Don't know if they upload their stuff or not.
PS:
If looking to find it: Interview was with 1320. Don't know if they upload their stuff or not.
But you need the right personnel, an 0ff-season and training camp to install the system, and the right coach. You can't do it mid-season. If you want to push pace and have some semblance of defense then you need a certain type of defense.
You need a defense that extends pressure and different sort of defensive rotation from what Malone coached. You can't do Malone's defense and then play Nelly Offense. For some reason, the entire front office missed this important factor. Even George Karl knows this. His teams defended with traps and extended pressure. A different system than the Pistons/Van Gundy/Malone style.
You need a defense that extends pressure and different sort of defensive rotation from what Malone coached. You can't do Malone's defense and then play Nelly Offense. For some reason, the entire front office missed this important factor. Even George Karl knows this. His teams defended with traps and extended pressure. A different system than the Pistons/Van Gundy/Malone style.