And you're not getting my point, Dalembert didn't effect it all that much either.
Yeah, he did, when paired with bigger PFs at his side. Dalebmert was always helping a lot and chasing blocks (often leading to goaltending calls and leaving his man open), because the early Cousins and Landry were often beaten by their man, along with penetration. Dally did provide help defense a lot for perimeter penetrators throughout the season. At the end of the season, Cousins's defense improved and Landry was gone, leaving a bigger frontline pair, and Dalebmert didn't have to worry as much about frontline players, and was even more effective because of the overall size of the frontline.
They still ended up 29th in points in the paint against.You go find the stats
There is no way for me to find points in the paint for only part of a season. Your stats don't make your point. One shot blocker isn't going to prevent a red carpet lane, he's going to help lessen the damage of one. But, when you pair that shot blocker with big bodies and decent defenders up front, his impact will be significantly higher, which is what we are missing now. My point is more regarding the entire frontline with him (size, PF/C combinations, etc) than without him. I'm not just talking about what he alone does, but how he fits into the mix, and how that overall mix is vastly better with him in it than without it. It is about the team, and how they look as a whole with the aspects of the game he provides.
I don't know what you mean by smaller, I doubt he's going to role with too many super undersized lineups, Hayes and Cousins isn't that undersized. The only real area that this team dominated in last year was rebounding, but as I brought up before, it was at the expense of subtle things like spacing and a controlled offense.
You don't know what I mean by smaller? Ok: it's about last season's PF's becoming our C's, and playing thinner, shorter players at PF instead. It's a total shift. Cousins and JT played spot minutes at C (mostly Cousins in place of Dalembert with JT at PF), and now they are moving over to C to make room for Hayes and JJ at PF. JT will probably be the backup 5 now. That's a big downgrade in overall size. And because nobody on the frontline is a shot blocker, and they don't have a size advantage, they are going to get abused even more by the frontline opposition. They will get out rebounded, they will lose second chance opportunities, and they will not be able to defend the rim once somebody gets beaten.
Worse without him? Not in every way, at least not in the long run. You're not looking at the whole picture, offensively this team should be much better without him
Offense was never the issue. This team has even more weapons this season than last, and putting the ball in the hoop is not a concern. Once they got Thornton, they averaged 111 PPG last season.
If Hayes comes back with his passing and team play that should increase as well.
As if Hayes will ever have an offense run through his hands. Have you ever even seen the guy play? Have you seen the kings play? They have enough trouble getting it to an open offensive weapon, let alone Hayes. But that's beside the point. Offensive production is irrelevant, as I have already pointed out. Frontline defense and rebounding is the point.
All I'm saying is you have to separate the person from some of the aspects of the game he can provide. And if you or anyone else thinks that tonights rebounding effort is going to be a consistent theme, well, go ahead, I'll stand by historical perspective and say that Jason Thompson isn't going to get you 2 rebounds a night in 30 minutes
. Dalemberts biggest asset to the team was his rebounding, this team should be fine in that area with the pieces they have.
You are totally missing the point. It's not just about Dalembert, but what the whole group looks like with and without him. With him, this seasons centers become PF's, leading to a size advantage, a clogged paint, better rebounding, and gives the team shot blocking capabilities. Without him, PF's move to C, the team runs a smaller lineup, most of the work has to be done on the floor, they lose their size advantage, they can't clog the paint with monster bodies, they lose rebounding opportunities and second chance points.
A frontline with Cousins and JT at PF, with Dally at C and Hayes rotating in at PF and Cousins or JT playing spot minutes at C is a much, much better rotation than Cousins/JT at the 5, with Hayes/JJ at the 4.