Grades v. Mavericks 12/01

[SacTownKid]

Running Kevin off screens wasn't the answer, he needs to attack more. He had a great matchup and was taking Harris off the dribble every time. They didn't utilize that matchup problem to it's potential. But beyond that, the game was over after the first quarter. You can't let a team shoot that many wide open 3's. NBA teams will just keep on rolling if you do that. The suck into the paint strategy didn't work last year, and it's not miraculously going to work this year.

When are the head honcho's of this team going to realize that our paint D is what get's us in trouble 96% of the time. I mean, almost every national TV game the broadcasters mention it. I think if even they could recognize it that the GM of the Kings would as well.

I don't get it. I'm starting to think that it really is that simple. This teams needs shotblocking.

 

[Packt]

The team seems intent on playing uptempo, but they need to come to grips with the fact they are not an uptempo team; our offense is nowhere near good enough. It couldn't have been more apparent than this game. I want to blame the PG(s) but the coaching staff has got to accept this fact and make the change, and reel in the players.

I feel like Muss is trying to correct previous wrongs and is giving his starters way too long a leash, and too much freedom.

And, shotblocker Geoff, get to it. Even if you're playing four on five offensively, who cares. Defensively you're forced to play 4 on 1 and stopping no one.

 

[SacKings384]

Really? I thought of it the other way. Looks like no matter if there is a make or miss the Kings seem to walk it up the court and set up a halfcourt offense. It works if you have a go-to guy... But the Kings don't...

 

[BawLa]

I'm sorry but there is not a single coach in the league that will make -- Kenny Thomas, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Brad Miller, Corliss Williamson and every other pathetically undersized PF/C on our team -- bigger and tougher than they actually are. So stop blaming him. Our frontcourt is seriously undersized and as a result they need help defending. And NONE of them could step up and help seal off the paint. I'd wager Muss has covered that with the guys. They just suck at defense and they are making our team suck. Ron Artest can see it and I'm afraid if we don't make a trade for a decent big soon, that he might not resign with us.

And I also noticed how our backcourt was trying to help rebound which resulted in ZERO fastbreaks.

We've seen some signs of defense with our guys. It just so happens that we only see it against garbage teams. We simply got outclassed by the Mavs, was it surprising? So I would appreciate it if people would lay off Muss a little bit.

And maybe our guys had a hard time getting the ball to Kevin because Dallas did a good job denying the pass.

 

[slugking50]

Artest ( B ) -- did not start for some reason, but came in after we were already down double digits and I briefly had hope that he was going to turn things around with much stronger defense on Josh Howard, who had been killing us up to that point. But it didn't last, and after a brief period of stabalization, the rout was on. Most of Ron's offense was of the one on one variety, but hey, it went in, and we needed whatever we could get. Played a lot of minutes after this one was effectively over, but I guess that comes with a bench role tonight. In any case, unless he's hurt, start him Muss

Artest didn't participate in shootaround and Muss wont let you start if you dont parcipate in shootaround or practice.

 

[blitzology]

The mavs just simply showed why they're the best team in the NBA. Taking care of business against a Mediocre Playoff team at home...

Hopefully the Kings can bounce back and steal one in SA like they did last lear.

 

[LMM]

Artest didn't participate in shootaround and Muss wont let you start if you dont parcipate in shootaround or practice.

Did he not participate because of back spasms?

Reading brick's assessment, it sounds like Artest did something wrong.

I thought all the while that Artest didn't start because of back spasms; ESPN even said the same thing.

 

[uopmatt]

Comon Petrie....

You can say all you want about the offense but if we continue to give up so many easy shots around the basket each game it won't matter how many points we score. What's wrong with going out and getting a guy like "Keon Clark" (is he playing for anyone right now?) to come in and scare people from driving to the hoop so much. This has been a glaring need for years, and yet management continues to act like it is no big deal based on how they have dealt with this situation. You have to admit that the Kings have one of the worst interior defenses in the league. I'd like to see a stat on how many lay-ups or dunks we give up per game vesus other teams in the league.

 

[nbrans]

I know it's become a routine to cry about how we don't have a shotblocker after every loss (and then, of course, blame Petrie), but that actually wasn't the problem last night. Or at least it wasn't the most glaring problem. I don't see how a shotblocker would stop Dallas from raining down threes.

 

[nbrans]

You can say all you want about the offense but if we continue to give up so many easy shots around the basket each game it won't matter how many points we score. What's wrong with going out and getting a guy like "Keon Clark" (is he playing for anyone right now?) to come in and scare people from driving to the hoop so much. This has been a glaring need for years, and yet management continues to act like it is no big deal based on how they have dealt with this situation. You have to admit that the Kings have one of the worst interior defenses in the league. I'd like to see a stat on how many lay-ups or dunks we give up per game vesus other teams in the league.

Actually, this stat exists. Sort of. 82games.com breaks down opponent shots by jump shot, close, dunks and tips. I think you have to take it with a grain of slat since there's a certain degree of subjectivity between what is a jump shot and what's "close," but it's a rough guide. Kings opponents shoot 71% jump shots, 24% close, 4% dunks, 2% tips. How does that compare to other teams?

Let's look just at jump shots, since they're the lowest percentage shot. The more jump shots an opposing team is taking the fewer close shots, layups and dunks the other team is getting.

Kings: 71%
Houston: 70%
New Jersey: 69%
New Orleans: 68%
New York: 68%
Washington: 68%
Phoenix: 67%
San Antonio: 67%
Denver: 66%
Golden State: 66%
Memphis: 66%
Miami: 66%
Milwaukee: 66%
Orlando: 65%
Chicago: 64%
Cleveland: 64%
Dallas: 64%
Portland: 63%
Indiana: 63%
Clippers: 63%
Lakers: 63%
Utah: 63%
Minnesota: 62%
Philadelphia: 62%
Toronto: 62%
Seattle: 62%
Atlanta: 61%
Charlotte: 60%
Boston: 58%
Detroit: 58%

So, far from allowing a layup drill, the Kings are LEADING THE LEAGUE in forcing other teams to take jump shots. This makes sense since the straetgy on defense is to go under screens and stop guys from getting into the paint. The drawback to this strategy is that good jumpshotting teams, like say, Dallas, Golden State and Milwaukee, can make the Kings pay by shooting from outside. Now, I suppose you could make the connection that the Kings have to sag off on the outside because they don't have a shotblocker inside. I'd say that's a tenuous connection. Better to keep teams shooting jump shots than getting into the paint.

We all know the Kings need a shotblocker. But it's not the panacea that people make it out to be. It's not the sole reason why the Kings are losing.

 

[Bricklayer]

I know it's become a routine to cry about how we don't have a shotblocker after every loss (and then, of course, blame Petrie), but that actually wasn't the problem last night. Or at least it wasn't the most glaring problem. I don't see how a shotblocker would stop Dallas from raining down threes.

While I agree it wasn't the layup drill we've seen vs. Utah or whatever, actually shotblocking still might help, at least to some degree -- one of the reasons why shotblocking is almost universally helpful. If you've got a shotblocker, then people can afford to guard their guys on the perimeter closer, and maybe you can depend on him for help defense inside rather than collapsing perimeter guys down or doubling. He's not going to block Josh Howard's three, but maybe with him back there ouor smalls can do their job out top and depend on the shotblocker to clean up anythign that gets by to the middle.

 

[piksi]

We will play Magic soon enough and it will be a great opportunity to see how much it makes a difference having not one but 2 very good shotblocker in the game at the same time.

 

[nbrans]

While I agree it wasn't the layup drill we've seen vs. Utah or whatever, actually shotblocking still might help, at least to some degree -- one of the reasons why shotblocking is almost universally helpful. If you've got a shotblocker, then people can afford to guard their guys on the perimeter closer, and maybe you can depend on him for help defense inside rather than collapsing perimeter guys down or doubling. He's not going to block Josh Howard's three, but maybe with him back there ouor smalls can do their job out top and depend on the shotblocker to clean up anythign that gets by to the middle.

I do agree there's something to this, especially given how guys like Salmons kept sagging off their guys to help out inside.

 

[uopmatt]

Good point.....

The drawback to this strategy is that good jumpshotting teams, like say, Dallas, Golden State and Milwaukee, can make the Kings pay by shooting from outside. Now, I suppose you could make the connection that the Kings have to sag off on the outside because they don't have a shotblocker inside. I'd say that's a tenuous connection. Better to keep teams shooting jump shots than getting into the paint.

I agree with what you are saying but 2 of the teams that we would have to get past include pheonix and dallas. The fact that we have to sag off the outside on these teams because we lack the iterior shot blocker will not allow us to get by these teams in the playoffs which is all that really matters.