[Grades] Grades v. Nets 11/27/2016

Who is the wickedest of the wicked tribe?

  • Rudy "the Rottweiler" Gay

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Kosta "Killer K" Koufos

    Votes: 1 3.6%
  • DeMarcus "Boogie On Your Brains" Cousins

    Votes: 14 50.0%
  • Arron "Awful" Afflalo

    Votes: 1 3.6%
  • Darren "Carnage" Collison

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Matt "Beastman" Barnes

    Votes: 11 39.3%
  • Ben "the Quiet Man" McLemore

    Votes: 1 3.6%

  • Total voters
    28
  • Poll closed .

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#1


We are apparently bad men. Very bad. Bad BAD men. And we must be punished for the safety of the innocent. Luckily we have NBA refs around to ensure that the poor dears we play won't get their makeup smudged.

So anyway, we once again started sluggish. Just cannot seem to shake it. And while the bench stabilized it, it wasn't until after halftime that we turned up the pressure and clearly established who was the better team. The refs briefly tried to make a game of it in the early 4th with a whole string of whistles, but all they could do is force us to put the starters back in to reestablish order, and we're 7-10 with a winnable game tomorrow.



Link to Boxscore

Starters

Gay ( B+ ) -- this probably deserves another tick, but the thing is I just was not very happy with Rudy to start this game. He seemed sluggish again, his shots were ill conceived and forced and it wasn't until I noticed a most unlikely column -- assists -- rising that I started to appreciate what he was doing. And then he returned in the 4th and really slammed the door hard on the Nets hopes.

Cousins ( A- ) -- looked sluggish and out of breath early in this one, and yet was doing the bulk of our scoring. Came back and actually played a very poor 2nd, still looking tired and out of sync. But really took the Nets team to the woodshed in the 3rd, and once he got rolling there was no Nets answer. BTW, is now shooting .409 from 3pt land. As a center.

Koufos ( C- ) -- its possible I should have left off the minus, but statistically there was nothing here. Basically in there to guard Lopez/match the Nets multiple bigs and...kinda did. I mean, was in there, mostly in the way, and rolled in a few of his hook things from various distances. But was not on the glass or protecting the rim. Did keep a few possessions alive making smart passes.

Featured Grade
Afflalo ( C ) -- Started off getting 2 quick baskets then Nets went on a run as AA nor others guarded anyone for awhile. Went to corner every time down court and waited for opportunities that never really came. The offensive flow just basically ignored him for the game. His defense was very good except for early lapses against 3 shooters. Hard to grade him as he just didn't show up on replays and stayed in the corners. Helped, didn't hurt the team.--Cruz

Collison ( B- ) -- another player who got off to a poor start from us, giving none of the spark as a starter he has given off the bench. But he got better with each stint, and after half finally turned the battle against Isaiah Whitehead, which is a battle which should not have needed turning.


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Bench

Lawson ( B ) -- has emerged in most unlikely fashion as the scrappy leader (well, I think Temple is the inspirer) of a scrappy bench crew. Which makes absolutely no sense at all give the rest of his career, but hey. Rediscovered his scoring touch as well, looking more smooth, and clever, than he has this season.

Barnes ( 18 to Life ) -- led the team in +/- despite kicking kicked out in the 4th for an oh so vicious hand to the face. Gave us a real boost with our passing, and his trying to passing, as he did when he missed an oop so badly that the ball went through the hoop anyway.

Featured Grade
Temple ( B+ ) -- Let me start by stating the obvious. Temple is a terrific defender. Despite shooting not shooting the ball well, and understatement, he was key to the Kings winning the game. He had three steals and poked the ball away twice. He entered the game at the 4:07 mark of the first quarter, and almost immediately deflected a pass away out of bounds. A bit later he made a beautiful bounce pass to Koufos under the basket in traffic for a layup. He then educated Yogi Ferrell by stealing the ball when he tried to go by him. He then applied his trade to Kilpatrick, who was having a terrific first half, causing a turnover. Unfortunately Garrett couldn't get anything to fall tonight. He missed a reverse layup and then a couple of corner threes. If he had made a couple of shots, he would have had an A. Still, a very good game for Temple. --Baja

Casspi ( B- ) -- has quickly worked his way back into the rotation, appearing as scheduled as part of the bench crew, and giving us a nice Omri burst as our bench righted the ship. Not effective after half however, and all of his numbers came from before the break.

McLemore ( INC ) -- given a short first half stint, and you barely noticed him. Got back in for the garbagetime at the end.

Cauley Stein ( INC ) -- just the last few min of garbagetime
 
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Larry89

Disgruntled Kings Fan
#2
Is it just me or does big cuz look a bit heavier this season? Ty Lawson looking better offensively as the season goes on
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
#9
Cousins ( A- ) -- looked sluggish and out of breath early in this one, and yet was doing the bulk of our scoring. Came back and actually played a very poor 2nd, still looking tired and out of sync. But really took the Nets team to the woodshed in the 3rd, and once he got rolling there was no Nets answer. BTW, is now shooting .409 from 3pt land. As a center.
Ruocco said during the broadcast that Cousins leads the league in post-up points, and also leads all centers in points off drives, and three-pointers.


 
#14
Is it just me or does big cuz look a bit heavier this season? Ty Lawson looking better offensively as the season goes on
Getting him more run with the 2nd unit, where he's the best offensive player, certainly helps. He's a guy who's always thrived off confidence and his ability to score. He was getting to a point where he was afraid to shoot or look for his own shot with the starters.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#17
So what happened to everyone whining about Boogie taking 3s ? :rolleyes:
That's fancy and all but at the end of the day, when it's crunch time, give me a score from the painted area which is more of an efficient shot. This Boogie shooting percentage is only based off 17 games, let's do a whole season. This same sentiment applies to all the other bigs out there shooting three's whether it's Davis, KAT, Porzingis, Turner, Marc Gasol, Embiid, etc etc etc. How many of these players, honestly, can you see winning a championship or coming close to it in the next 4-6 years while shooting the three ball at a higher clip than ever before?
 

HndsmCelt

Hall of Famer
#18
So what happened to everyone whining about Boogie taking 3s ? :rolleyes:
Not a huge fan myself, but it seems to me that recently his 3s have often been later in the possession after the other options were shut down. But in the end it is always easier to watch chucking when the shots fall.
 
#22
The rule with Cousins is his jumpers need to be catch and shoot off pick and pop or trailing. He becomes terribly inneficient when he goes off the dribble into a jumpshot or hesitates, reloads and then shoots.
 
#23
I watched the replay 20+ times that resulted in Barnes getting the Flagrant 2. I don't know what the refs were watching! He had both arms up, going for the block, but the other player's right arm blocked Barne's left arm and made it hit his face. It's the sequence that shows what really happened! But the refs allowed themselves to see some bad intent that wasn't there. Barnes is capable of bad intent, but he got poked in the eye by the refs this time.
 
#24
Is it just me or does big cuz look a bit heavier this season? Ty Lawson looking better offensively as the season goes on
I think if the Kings make any progress with this group of players, it will start with Lawson.....they need consistent scoring from one of their guards, and he is as good a candidate as any. If he can regain some of his Denver glory play with scoring, the Kings could be more competitive.
 
#27
http://www.csnbayarea.com/kings/cousins-awe-he-passes-webber-sacramento-era-points-list

Cousins will likely pass Peja within the next month and a half for second on the Sacramento era scoring list...Richmond seems unlikely unless he plays out his contract here.

From the article, other Sacramento records he holds: rebounds, double-doubles, free throw attempts, personal fouls (and technicals I would assume). He would have to play next season to break Jason Thompson's vaunted games played record.
 
#30
Perhaps this was a better road win than we thought. The NETS just beat the CLIPPERS in 2OT tonight.

The CAVS also lost to the BUCKS on the road and the MAGIC beat the SPURS in San Antonio. Both teams we lost to on the road. Makes me feel at least a little better when the elite teams lose to them too.