Are We Really Better Defensively .... Overall ???

[Folsom Al]

With work and practice ... YES WE ARE .... but;

Without Miller, it's gonna be tuff ....

Going against teams with BIGGER MATCH-UPS, it's gonna be tuff ...

Perimeter defense has to get better - with improved defense in the paint, can't just give opponents that outside shot ...

Improvements must be made recognizing/defending the pick-n-roll ...

Can someone give Bibby help in working thru them perimeter picks/screens ??? House does a good job whenever a pick/screen is set on him.

*****

Did anybody catch what Bobby Knight said after Texas Tech won their last game ??? If you missed it, here it is: ... "I do not want to see them get one offensive rebound the rest of the game, or I'll shoot you .... I guess they listened to me, I didn't have to shoot anybody".

 

[Diehard Jim]

One of the problems Defensively is Peja is getting an average of 4 rebounds a game, this is for a guy who is 6'-10"

This is a big defensive issue! Peja Should be averageing at least 6 rebounds a game. those extra 2 rebounds a game are the difference between wins and losses.

The same with Darius, he needs to grab at least 1 more board a game.

Shoot the Kings starting guards are grabbing more rebounds than our starting small forward.

I know someone is going to say that this is not a major issue but it is! Think about how many times the other team has gotten an offensive rebound and then another and another! And it seems that whenever the other team gets the offensive rebound they score around 75% of the time.

If the kings can grab just 2-3 more boards a game this will get them a couple of more wins the rest of this season. There would have not been a chance for any missed goal tending calls.

The kings play a very good first shot defense but they do not have the ball hawks on the boards. Teams know this and crash the offensive boards and get rewarded.

I think with Mikes D he needs to try and stay in front of his defensive assignment more, he tends to have guys blow by him.

Some of the missed Defensive assignments have lately been because the team is still only playing it's 10th game together.

 

[Bricklayer]

In no particular order, I would say that ALL of the following are defenisve issues for the Kings:

1) Bibby too slow/poor defender at PG
2) Mobley undersized/at best average defender at OG
3) Peja solid man on man, but unathletic and no help on help defense
4) Darius undersized and can't jump, no shot blocks/interior presence
5) Brad slow footed and can't jump, no shot blocks/interior presence
6) Thomas really undersized at PF, no shotblocks/interior presence
7) Skinner undersized at C (good size for PF if he can ever play there)
8) Corliss undersized at PF, underquick at SF
9) Peja weak rebounder for any position
10) Mobley weak rebounder for OG
11) Darius weak rebounder for PF
12) Corliss weak rebounder at PF, few minutes available at SF
12) None of these guys know each other, cohesiveness not there.
13) Transition defense remains inexplicably terrible -- we are a jumpshooting team, how can you not get back??
13) Best defenders all riding pine for various reasons (Evans/Tag/Bobby) except for Skinner, who is playing out of position.
14) None of those good defenders is a stopper, and Bobby appeared to be slipping defenisvely even before yet another injury.

End results: weak undersized defenders who don't conistently rotate and are backed up by a small flat-footed frontcourt that can be shot over and can't cover the rim. Then if we get the stop, offensive rebounds galore lead to multiple second chance opportunities. Finally, we give up half a dozen breakaway layups/dunks a game by failing to get back. Maybe more understandable for our new frontcourt people since they crash the o-glass, but how Mike/Cutino/Peja don't get back either is beyond me.

Other than that, its a rosy picture.

 

[HndsmCelt]

Aganist smaller teams with Miller and Cat out... a little. But lets be honest most ofthe folks that are hammering the idea that the Kings got better defensively with the trade are either whistling in the dark or justifing dumping a player they disliked for waht ever reason they disliked him.

 

[HndsmCelt]

In no particular order, I would say that ALL of the following are defenisve issues for the Kings:

1) Bibby too slow/poor defender at PG
2) Mobley undersized/at best average defender at OG
3) Peja solid man on man, but unathletic and no help on help defense
4) Darius undersized and can't jump, no shot blocks/interior presence
5) Brad slow footed and can't jump, no shot blocks/interior presence
6) Thomas undersized at PF, no shotblocks/interior presence
7) Skinner undersized at C (good size for PF if he can ever play there)
8) Corliss undersized at PF, underquick at SF
9) Peja weak rebounder for any position
10) Mobley weak rebounder for OG
11) Darius weak rebounder for PF
12) Corliss weak rebounder at PF, few minutes available at SF
12) None of these guys know each other, cohesiveness not there.
13) Transition defense remains inexplicably terrible -- we are a jumpshooting team, how can you not get back??
13) Best defenders all riding pine for various reasons (Evans/Tag/Bobby) except for Skinner, who is playing out of position.
14) None of those good defenders is a stopper, and Bobby appeared to be slipping defenisvely even before yet another injury.

End results: weak undersized defenders who don't conistently rotate and are backed up by a small flat-footed frontcourt that can be shot over and can't cover the rim. Then if we get the stop, offensive rebounds galore lead to multiple second chance opportunities. Finally, we give up half a dozen breakaway layups/dunks a game by failing to get back. Maybe more understandable for our new frontcourt people since they crash the o-glass, but how Mike/Cutino/Peja don't get back either is beyond me.

Other than that, its a rosy picture.

Dude could you at lest wait untill 10 am West Coasttime to post like this... I just want to pour my coffee out and go back to bed and pull the covers over my head untill June.

 

[Bricklayer]

Dude could you at lest wait untill 10 am West Coasttime to post like this... I just want to pour my coffee out and go back to bed and pull the covers over my head untill June.

Well, I did try to end it on a hopeful note.

 

[Diehard Jim]

Iknow there are people who do not want to hear this but we have a decent defensive center riding the pine.

Tag is not the answer to all of the teams defensive needs. but this guy puts up defensive numbers, when he plays.

if you look at the per 48 numbers which are a good indicator of what a player can doo over time. Tag is the 2nd best rebounder and shot blocker (skinner #1) this includes webbers numbers and miller.

I have heard many people say he is not the key to the kings but I think he at least needs to get a chance. I don't want him starting but I think he should be playing at least 20 mins, this would definately get him into good shape.

Heck why not have him start and have skinner start at power forward? No one would want to come into the lane and get their shot blocked.

The kings have plently of scoring power. this is why christie was so good in our offense because he could lead the offense and was not needed to score.

In the time Tag is getting right now he is 3rd best on the team in blocks and is grabbing almost 3 rebounds and this is in under 10 mins a game.

I am not saying that Tag is the savior of the Kings, but heck It cannot hurt to have him in there and his 6 fouls!

 

[Bricklayer]

Heck why not have him start and have skinner start at power forward? No one would want to come into the lane and get their shot blocked.

You know, if I was a coach and had to watch a layup drill every night that might be exactly what I'd do. Probably get me fired, but it would be a wonderful "eat this" response. All three of our main offensive weapons still out there, and all of a sudden a big intimidating shotblocking frontline. Ha! Like the idea! Let's give Rick a call.

 

[HndsmCelt]

Iknow there are people who do not want to hear this but we have a decent defensive center riding the pine.

Tag is not the answer to all of the teams defensive needs. but this guy puts up defensive numbers, when he plays.

if you look at the per 48 numbers which are a good indicator of what a player can doo over time. Tag is the 2nd best rebounder and shot blocker (skinner #1) this includes webbers numbers and miller.

I have heard many people say he is not the key to the kings but I think he at least needs to get a chance. I don't want him starting but I think he should be playing at least 20 mins, this would definately get him into good shape.

Heck why not have him start and have skinner start at power forward? No one would want to come into the lane and get their shot blocked.

The kings have plently of scoring power. this is why christie was so good in our offense because he could lead the offense and was not needed to score.

In the time Tag is getting right now he is 3rd best on the team in blocks and is grabbing almost 3 rebounds and this is in under 10 mins a game.

I am not saying that Tag is the savior of the Kings, but heck It cannot hurt to have him in there and his 6 fouls!

Hey you are preaching to the converted here, I am just perplexed by Adelmans refusal to paly Tag for more than 5 min, and from his coment's Brick seems to be as well. But as a realist I have to accept that If RA will not play Tag in a short handed situation against Shaq or Yao, he is not likely to play him at all. I just don't expect to see Tag play any significant min in a Kings jersy and would not be supprised if Petrie packages him in the offseason... Don't think it's wise but then again I'm not an NBA coach or GM.

 

[Folsom Al]

Depending Upon the Match-Up ...

I agree, G-Tag can help ....

Another thing is this, you bring up some very good and solid point Brick. Individually, our King's are weak defensively .... so are a majority of the remaining teams in the NBA. But, AS A TEAM ... with the concept "Let's play defense in numbers" .... they can help themselves playing defense tremendously as a TEAM. Playing "zone" has shown signs of improvement .... I'd like to see more of that. A structured ZONE-TYPE DEFENSE has proven to be beneficial to the team that has "weak individual" defensive short-comings.

BTW - I've had my coffee .... good breakdown Brick !!!

That's funny Hndsmclt .... if it's first thing in the AM, I'll glance thru a thread and if I see something like what Brick did .... the first thing I say is "Gawd - I can't handle this yet ... I need some BRAIN-CELL BOOSTER ABSORBTION JUICE !!!".

 

[Diehard Jim]

Gone are the days when the Kings could just outscore teams.

I was really suprised to see the Kings sign Tag in the offseason, BUT I have been more suprised to see him not play this season!

As Celt said when Adleman decided to not use Tag against Shaq and Yao, He must hate Tag.

One thing is for sure you would not have seen yao turning around and faceing up on Tag like he was on Skinner. Don't get me wrong Skinner did a great job, but come on he is almost a FOOT shorter than Yao.

 

[Evenstar]

i though we would be, but looking at some of the shooting % other teams are having against the kings, nope.

it is nice seeing the shot blocking out of skinner. he is too undersized to be a center in the west though. he should be starting at PF ( then theres duncan and KG... boy we just can't win....) with brad at center.

 

[skeletor8]

I guess I am in the minority but I just don't see Tag having much positive influence on the game when I is in there. You *might* be able to get away with playing him for a couple minutes here and there like the Mavs use Bradley, but any more than that is mostly going to end up in wasted minutes. Other than yesterday's game where he has a clear matchup or two (Yao and Dikembe) and when we play the Heat (Shaq), who exactly are we matching him up against? There aren't many other centers that are a scoring threat, so that probably creates and extra defensive liability by adding another slow-footed defender that can't rotate. Maybe I am Tag-biased...or maybe I saw years of Vlade and Webber and *many* others schooling him time and time again to the point that giving him significant run is laughable to me. I don't know.

Fouls would be another of our occasional defensive shortcomings, especially after the trade. Corliss comitts an awful lot of stupid fouls. Playing Tag a lot would greatly increase the silly foul quotient (and probably the whining at the refs and technical quotient as well...he's good for about .5 techs per game now I think). Sometimes, that's not all bad...until you put the other team in the bonus for 5 minutes of every quarter.

 

[gilly420]

Adelman needs to relize that Tag is worth playing. The small ball line-ups he was playing yesterday were gross. Corlis at center??? Are you crazy! Jeez, the guy is an average rebounder at the three. We cannot expect to do squat in the playoffs with an undersized squad.

 

[iheartBrad]

>Did anybody catch what Bobby Knight said after Texas Tech won their last game ??? If you missed it, here it is: ... "I do not want to see them get one offensive rebound the rest of the game, or I'll shoot you .... I guess they listened to me, I didn't have to shoot anybody".

maybe RA should try that approach...maybe if Pete Carrill says it they'll actually take it seriously lol

 

[SacTownKid]

Gone are the days when the Kings could just outscore teams.

I was really suprised to see the Kings sign Tag in the offseason, BUT I have been more suprised to see him not play this season!

As Celt said when Adleman decided to not use Tag against Shaq and Yao, He must hate Tag.

One thing is for sure you would not have seen yao turning around and faceing up on Tag like he was on Skinner. Don't get me wrong Skinner did a great job, but come on he is almost a FOOT shorter than Yao.

Gone are the "outscoring days" and I am sooo glad!!! It didn't work then and it wouldn't work now.

 

[swisshh]

We're inconsistent in all facets of the game right now, including defense. What I don't understand is the horrid transition defense. I thought that would greatly improve without Webber in the lineup, but the team has just looked lazy in that regard.

 

[KP]

We're inconsistent in all facets of the game right now, including defense. What I don't understand is the horrid transition defense. I thought that would greatly improve without Webber in the lineup, but the team has just looked lazy in that regard.

Very true.^ Are we a better Defensive team? Hmm... well we've def added some shotblocking with Skinner but overall I'd have to say no, or at the very least it's still a toss up, we've given up a lot of points lately. Of the 9 games we've played since the trade we've been outscored in the paint 6 of those, and outrebounded 6 of those. Our offense is definately worse for wear though thats for sure. Injuries haven't helped with any of this either, but we've had injuries all year so it's not really a good reason. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Rockmeister]

>Did anybody catch what Bobby Knight said after Texas Tech won their last game ??? If you missed it, here it is: ... "I do not want to see them get one offensive rebound the rest of the game, or I'll shoot you .... I guess they listened to me, I didn't have to shoot anybody".

maybe RA should try that approach...maybe if Pete Carrill says it they'll actually take it seriously lol

You shouldn't put RA and Bobby Knight in the same sentence. They are 2 different style of coaching.

 

[KP]

You shouldn't put RA and Bobby Knight in the same sentence. They are 2 different style of coaching.

Why, cuz RA doesn't use an actual whip on his players?

 

[Rockmeister]

Why, cuz RA doesn't use an actual whip on his players?

Huh? I said "shouldn't" not should.

 

[KP]

Huh? I said "shouldn't" not should.

I don't think you got my joke.

 

[Bartking]

I wonder what it is about Ostertag that Adelman didn't know before we got him. He's been out of shape his whole career, and very streaky. So now, when we play Yao and Shaq, he hardly sees the floor. Does that mean that GP and Rick don't talk about player acquisitions? What's the point of getting these guys to ride the pine?