it means throwing him the ball in the lowpost or highpost, letting him draw attention, letting him make decisions. having other players cut at the right time, spot up in the right place, come off screens correctly, so that Cuz can find them when defenders are too preocupied worrying about what he's going to do. let him go to work and have others play off him, essentially.
Depends on how much offensive firepower we have. For instance, I think
Vasquez
McLemore
Mbah A Moute
Thompson
Cousins
Will have a very hard time putting points up on the board, on the flip side -
Vasquez
Thornton
Mbah A Moute
Patterson
Cousins
Is a much more balanced offensive/defensive lineup with passing and floor spacing. It also lets JT play backup center so we can avoid Landry/Patterson backup combo, which would struggle hard on the glass.
How likely is that, though? would we burry McLemore on the bench this early? It depends how serious we are in terms of winning vs. development. That team could get to 30-35 Wins if the coaching and culture is there, and Cousins makes a leap. Now, AK47 is still out there and without a team. If we could dump some players and get him, start Thornton over McLemore etc ... how many wins does that roster get?
It largely depends on just how big a deal the distractions and coaching issues were last year. It's entirely possible every single player is a fair amount better this season just because of stability and good coaching, IF Malone is a good coach. We still don't know that.
Vasquez
McLemore
Mbah A Moute
Thompson
Cousins
Will have a very hard time putting points up on the board, on the flip side -
Vasquez
Thornton
Mbah A Moute
Patterson
Cousins
Is a much more balanced offensive/defensive lineup with passing and floor spacing. It also lets JT play backup center so we can avoid Landry/Patterson backup combo, which would struggle hard on the glass.
How likely is that, though? would we burry McLemore on the bench this early? It depends how serious we are in terms of winning vs. development. That team could get to 30-35 Wins if the coaching and culture is there, and Cousins makes a leap. Now, AK47 is still out there and without a team. If we could dump some players and get him, start Thornton over McLemore etc ... how many wins does that roster get?
It largely depends on just how big a deal the distractions and coaching issues were last year. It's entirely possible every single player is a fair amount better this season just because of stability and good coaching, IF Malone is a good coach. We still don't know that.
you might've misunderstood me there. what I said was that he might not look as good in an offense that features Cuz heavily, as he has yet to prove himself in a system where he doesn't have the ball in his hands all the time. at no point was I inferring he should never run plays or anything that inference is yours. he just won't have the same freedom he had in New Orleans.
Plenty of great teams have defensive specialists in the starting line-up who never get plays called for them and only end up with garbage points (not to say meaningless points, but stuff like put-backs and open looks when the defense loses track of them around the basket). They key is to have an offensive with other legit threats who can carry the load, and to also get the player involved enough on high-efficiency shots when they present themselves in order to keep the defense honest.
Its basically what I just said. He CAN be on the floor as a starter IF he becomes a good enough catch and shoot guy. He doesn't need and won't get plays called for him, that we agree. But if he is to be an effective player on BOTH ends of the floor, he needs to become a good shooter. You saw how Danny Green and Kawhi were able to change the game even offensively by being good catch and shoot guys.
We shouldn't shoot to be a just ok or mediocre team again. LRMAM is just not good enough as a full time starter. If he can't knock down 3s and open jumpers at a high rate, the other teams won't think twice doubling our stars off his man.
I think there's a pretty big distinction between Jon Brockman (1 year, 52 games, 654 minutes, 213 total rebounds) and Jabari Smith (1.5 years, 21 games, 137 minutes, 22 total rebounds) in what they gave us. (Edit: note that these numbers are for Jabari's first stint. I forgot he actually came back as a free agent.)
Sure, Jon wasn't as successful as IT, but he was pretty good and Jabari was not nearly in his league.
Sure, Jon wasn't as successful as IT, but he was pretty good and Jabari was not nearly in his league.
Who dares sully the name of the great Jabari Smith?!
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040517/A_SPORTS/305179937
I was at that game, and it was awesome.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040517/A_SPORTS/305179937
I was at that game, and it was awesome.
The point I was trying to make was that neither player was worth a damn at all in the grand scheme of things. With Sacramento's history of horrible 2nd round picks, I don't mind trading them away for proven players because chances are we are going to get nothing out of our 2nd rounders. Like people are penciling McCallum in as the 3rd PG off the bench. Chances are he'll be playing in the D-League rather than sitting on the bench.
Well we're saying something sort of similar- he needs to be efficient while used sparingly on offense. I just don't think he needs to be a spot-up shooter per se but could just as easily get his buckets in the paint and do just fine. At 6'8" he'd be fine in that role, esp. if we get a stretch 4. I doubt he'll ever turn into Danny Green or Bruce Bowen but if he lives around the rim that won't be his job.
One of the main differences between the Kings and the Bucks is that the Bucks got almost no scoring from their big men. They were a team that scored with their guards and the only other players they had that could score consistently played SF. That shouldn't be a problem with the Kings and should allow for him to stay on the court longer.
Mbah A Moute is only slightly less talented offensively than Tony Allen but that shouldn't matter on a well-balanced team. Whichever reporter said Salmons will still be the starter has got to be crazy -- he's the poster child for everything that went wrong with this team the past 2 years. With a guy like Mbah A Moute, anything he gives you on offense is gravy. He's there to check the other team's best wing for as long as he's effective and if it's working than he's more than earned his role as the starter. Scanning a box score and looking in the points-scored column to determine a player's credentials is a very narrow-minded way of viewing the game of basketball and hopefully that type of thinking has left this team for good.
There really REALLY are no minutes for him, or anyone else, at PF until/unless there is a major clearout there. Which may indeed eventually come, but hasn't yet.
But he hardly needs to do that, we have NOBODY else who deserves even 1 minute at SF, so Luc can eat absolutely as many of those minutes as he wans/can handle with no pressure. If he's so bad that Salmons or Outlaw are stealing his minutes, or we are trying to force one of our undersized SGs to swing up there, well, we have a problem.
But he hardly needs to do that, we have NOBODY else who deserves even 1 minute at SF, so Luc can eat absolutely as many of those minutes as he wans/can handle with no pressure. If he's so bad that Salmons or Outlaw are stealing his minutes, or we are trying to force one of our undersized SGs to swing up there, well, we have a problem.
Luc from day 1 is the best defender this team has at PF besides Hayes. I think he'll win minutes there. This team needs a major clearout at PG and PF regardless, if not, there will be a lot of overpaid bench warmers. Hopefully they don't try and run a 12 man rotation like Smart did. Just doesn't work at this level.
Sorry but with Landry, JT, Patterson and Hayes, there is no way Mbah a Moute should see any minutes at PF. We are going to struggle to get those guys minutes as it is, unless we trade away a couple of those players. We have absolutely no one at SF other than Salmons and Outlaw which is to say we really have no one at SF other than Mbah a Moute.
Did the amnesty deadline pass? I've heard mixed reports on when the deadline actually is. Some say it's the 10th, others 17th of july.
Did the amnesty deadline pass? I've heard mixed reports on when the deadline actually is. Some say it's the 10th, others 17th of july.
I can see going inside more with Cousins. More touches? I can't imagine he gets many more touches. He got a TON of touches last year in the high post. The issue with Cousins isn't getting more touches, it's where and how he gets those touches. That's where Vasquez is going to make his money (and Cousins and Malone).
I agree, it cant be give the ball to cuz at the high or low post and watch. I imagine malone will get cousins rolling to the hoop more off of PnRs so he can have some space to create or dish like the spurs do with splitter and duncan, with zone defenses you really cant expect a center to play back to the basket or go 1v1 all game like you use too.