Kings vs. Lakers Preseason Game 5
- Thread starter HereWeBoogie
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I don't know that it's that simple. MT is basically allowed to just try and score. He is great at it and his role is pretty clear. Evans isn't supposed to play to his strengths but to play off the ball and I don't think that's his natural skill set nor is the offense set up to make him a part of it.
Evans is a better defender than MT. That doesn't mean he's a stopper yet but again two different standards. MT just needs to try hard, even if he constantly gambles, is overmatched in size and doesn't always rotate effectively. But that's ok. Evans on the other hand, needs to be capable of stopping 3 different positions.
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When Evans is allowed to play his role the momentum comes to a grinding halt. I saw this in college with him, and his first 3 years playing PG for the Kings. I never though he was a PG. He needs to learn to play off the ball or the Kings need to trade him.
If we allow Evans to play to his strengths then we are not playing to the strengths of Cousins, or MT. So either Evans gets his and Cousins and MT suffer or we get everyone involved and leave Evans with the second team where he can control the ball.
If we allow Evans to play to his strengths then we are not playing to the strengths of Cousins, or MT. So either Evans gets his and Cousins and MT suffer or we get everyone involved and leave Evans with the second team where he can control the ball.
I don't believe a Cousin's/MT core is good enough to compete in today's league. A Cousins/Evans one could be. Now if we had ever tried to put Cousins and Evans in a position to succeed (with the right coaching, complimentary players, defined roles and offensive system) and it hadn't, I'd understand the readiness to minimize Evan's role. But we haven't and as a fan of the team, I'm going to be dissapointed if that lack of effort leads to running a potential young stud out of town.
I've only watched the first quarter so far but nothing ever changes at Staples does it, how many no calls were there in the first. I counted 4 very blatant fouls 2 were on Howard, which would have put him to the bench. The foul on Thompson by Howard was absolutely ridiculous and Smart picked up a tech in the aftermath.
This laker team will win a lot of games, simply because they get ALL the calls.
This laker team will win a lot of games, simply because they get ALL the calls.
We don't seem to disagree. Yes, Tyreke is a better defender than Thornton. Yes, Tyreke needs to be capable of stopping 3 different positions. The issue with Tyreke is that while Tyreke is somewhat better defender than Thornton, he's not nearly effective on offense with this team as Thornton. The issue also is that while he "needs" to be a stopper, he isn't a stopper right now. Thornton seems to be realizing his potential while Tyreke isn't. What Tyreke needs to do is put his defense into another higher gear. He should be denying guys the ball; making them work to even get the ball. He should be all over guys, digging balls out, making hard double teams, playing physically with his man off the ball, pressing guys up the floor. He's not doing that.
Just finished rewatching the game. All in all, Tyreke's defense was just OK at best. On at least three occasions he got caught in switches and the Kings ended up with two players (one being Tyreke) guarding the same man. Naturally in two of those occasions, the man Tyreke should have been guarding scored, and on the other occasion he was fouled by Cousins. Out on the wing he was fine, but lost sight of Kobe a couple of times. I'm not trying to single him out because mistakes were made by others as well, but the point is, his defense was far from being good. I'm not going to pass judgement on his offense, because just about everyone had their bad moments. Let me just say this. If I had to choose between Thornton and Tyreke based solely on pre-season, the choice was be an easy one. Thornton would win hands down. But thats not the choice, and nor should it be. Lets see what happens when they start playing for real.
Speaking of for real. The second half of last nights game, and especially the last 7 or 8 minutes of it, sure seemed real. I don't think there's a doubt that the Lakers wanted to win that game. So kudo's to the Kings. They earned the win. It wasn't pretty, but in the end, they out hustled the Lakers, and the major difference was the turnovers and second chance points. The Kings came out ahead on both those counts. If James Johnson doesn't get the nod as the starting SF its a travesty. JT is still the superior PF between him and T Robb, but I don't think T. Robb is that far behind. T Robb is without a doubt the superior athlete. That follow up dunk over Howard was impressive. His shoulder was almost level with the rim.
At PG, flip a coin. If Brooks can continue to shoot the ball like he did last night, and play defense the way he did in the second half, you could certainly make a case for him being the starter. I though Fredette has some good moments and a few bad moments. But overall, his defense was fine. He had a couple of nice assists that he created with penetration, and a couple more he could have had. Not great, but he wasn't a detriment either. Outlaw was, well, Outlaw. Cisco was, well, Cisco, and thats the name of that tune. Cuz was effective for the most part. He still has the bad habit of reaching in while defending the post at times. He tried a couple of passes that were ill advised, and forced up a couple of shots in a crowd. But it is pre-season and a time when players tend to try out new things.
Overall I think our team defense has improved. Maybe enough to move up closer to the middle of the pack. Our offense looked very scattered to me at times, and seemed to break down when our first option didn't work. Not surprising with a new offense. However both Brooks and Thornton were able to save the day everytime we seemed to need a basket. I thought everyone played hard for the most part, and in the end, we got the win and thats what matters.
Speaking of for real. The second half of last nights game, and especially the last 7 or 8 minutes of it, sure seemed real. I don't think there's a doubt that the Lakers wanted to win that game. So kudo's to the Kings. They earned the win. It wasn't pretty, but in the end, they out hustled the Lakers, and the major difference was the turnovers and second chance points. The Kings came out ahead on both those counts. If James Johnson doesn't get the nod as the starting SF its a travesty. JT is still the superior PF between him and T Robb, but I don't think T. Robb is that far behind. T Robb is without a doubt the superior athlete. That follow up dunk over Howard was impressive. His shoulder was almost level with the rim.
At PG, flip a coin. If Brooks can continue to shoot the ball like he did last night, and play defense the way he did in the second half, you could certainly make a case for him being the starter. I though Fredette has some good moments and a few bad moments. But overall, his defense was fine. He had a couple of nice assists that he created with penetration, and a couple more he could have had. Not great, but he wasn't a detriment either. Outlaw was, well, Outlaw. Cisco was, well, Cisco, and thats the name of that tune. Cuz was effective for the most part. He still has the bad habit of reaching in while defending the post at times. He tried a couple of passes that were ill advised, and forced up a couple of shots in a crowd. But it is pre-season and a time when players tend to try out new things.
Overall I think our team defense has improved. Maybe enough to move up closer to the middle of the pack. Our offense looked very scattered to me at times, and seemed to break down when our first option didn't work. Not surprising with a new offense. However both Brooks and Thornton were able to save the day everytime we seemed to need a basket. I thought everyone played hard for the most part, and in the end, we got the win and thats what matters.
After reviewing the last game, I think Tyreke had a less than ok defensive game. So my opinion seems similar to yours.
I like the new talent - Robinson, Brooks, Johnson. I agree about Johnson: just put him at the 3 and forget about it. With this team, it's all about what kind of brains they play with. They have as much physicallity as any team in the league. They just have to figure out how to use it.
I like the new talent - Robinson, Brooks, Johnson. I agree about Johnson: just put him at the 3 and forget about it. With this team, it's all about what kind of brains they play with. They have as much physicallity as any team in the league. They just have to figure out how to use it.
Well if it's PG then it's not going to work, and I will go back to the "Evans is not a PG" mindset. A good coach cannot make that work unless he basically tore his game down and then rebuilt it. Even then it probably wouldn't work because he does not have the court vision to get others involved consistently you you are hurting the other players on the floor and they end up standing around. I would rather one of the players be a disappointment than four of them. The way this team is built is an "up tempo" type team, and Evans is neither a PG or an up tempo type player.
This team couldn't be built more opposite of an "up tempo" team. That's one of the reasons they ditched the run and gun last year and Smart admitted it didn't work. Now, I'm not sure if he's given up that ghost but you have a near 300 pound center and you are oversized at more than a few spots and with players that seem to be more comfortable creating their own offense, that screams half court team to me.
I'll analyze Cousins' defense just as much in his 4th year as Tyreke in his. I'm not going to be doing an analysis of Cousins defense in his 3rd year as I am with Tyreke. (I don't have the time, for one thing). To me, you have absolutely no excuse in your 4th year to not be a very good defensive player if you have the potential of Tyreke. And Cousins, though not having the defensive potential of Tyreke, should be a good defensive player in his 4th year and on his way to that in his 3rd year. Also, his silly fouls should be dramatically reduced in his 3rd year and virtually non-existent his 4th year.
Agree on FG%, but the even bigger issue with us is defense and too much open court play hurts you on the other end of the court, which is our true weakness. There has to be a balance for us. We can't just go all offense like Smart went last year. We need to keep control of the game, not scramble it.
So we agree. This team needs to play with a lot more brains that it has over the past few years. Judgement has been lacking with this team. The "they're young" excuse doesn't hold any water for me anymore (except for the rookie Robinson). If they play with some brains, they win; if they don't, they don't.
Exactly, and you don't build a style built around all the players you mentioned Kingster, you know, all the ones that AREN'T you're top 3 players?
Every team runs to a degree but playing the way Smart tried to when he first took over wasn't right then, isn't right now. Just like the insistence on making this a pick and roll team. Just not geared for the pick and roll. They can run it, every team does, but not as the backbone, no way.