[Game] Clippers @ Kings - 10/28 - 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET

#62
Karl better not do the same with Cuz. It's a disease in the modern NBA. On one hand, there is a lack of post players compared to previous eras, on the other hand, there's a lack of modern coaches who know how to utilize the post players that are in the league.
The funny thing is that I think if Karl had Anthony Davis he'd view him as an ideal 5 man in the Dribble Drive, making his living on the offensive end off of dump offs from penetration.

But yeah, we need Cuz to be a bully down low much of the time. The reason Golden State can get away with a 6'6" guy like Draymond Green is because there aren't enough full sized bigs with real post up skills anymore. Green is a great defender. He's got quick hands, takes great position, has very good lower body strength and a very high defensive awareness. But if the Warriors had matched up with the 86 Celtics McHale or Parish would've taken him in the blocks every possession and lived with him shooting outside jumpers.

In Cousins Kings have a weapon that can either get two points down low or draw in the defense and use his passing for open outside looks. So I see him playing a game tonight similar to AD's last night (even if he shoots a higher percentage on his jumpers) I'm going to be mad.
 
K

KingMilz

Guest
#64
But that's the thing. AD doesn't "get in a zone down low". He's an amazing player but (1) he's not a polished/skilled or powerful low post player and (2) not a go-to scorer. In a lot of ways Davis reminds me of a bigger, even more skilled but less intense Kevin Garnett. He can do a lot of things very well - rebound, block shots, anchor the defense, handle the ball, shoot midrange jumpers (and he's been extending his effective range), run the floor etc but he's still not a guy who I would want to say "here's the ball in a crucial moment, go get us two points".

What Draymond Green did was use his very strong lower body to not allow AD post position and live with him shooting jumpers. There will be some nights where Davis hits enough jumpers to do real damage but most teams will live with him trying to beat them with 15 to 20 footers.
KG was one of the best playmaking big men (amazing passer) in NBA history I don't see how Davis is "more skilled" at this point in time.
 
#65
Refused might be a bit strong of a word.

Remember: new coach. And new coach is a small balling idiot who's made the playoffs 2x in 12 years of coaching (some of those part years since teams keep firing him, go figure). And my consistent A.D. complaint has been his inability to create his own shot. His play "in the paint" is diving in for alley oops or off of pick and rolls. plays where the guy scoring isn't doing all, or in some cases even most of the work, and the quality of the passer on the other end and his chemistry with the dunker/finisher is key. In short A.D. to me has always looked dependent on others, and that's a weakness. It means that in order to stop A.D., maybe all you have to do is stop the guys feeding him, or as was the case last night, just have them all out with injury. Cuz doesn't care or need that stuff. He can start racking up 30-20 games with a 3rd string kid and a 39year old grandpa as his PGs. He creates himself. A.D....the very reason for his vaunted efficiency is that he does not. Most of the dangerous and difficult work of creating those opportunities is being taken care of by guards. When the guard play is better, so is A.D.
Anthony Davis is an analytics monster in an age when the nerds have taken over basketball. The fact remains hes a guy that still gets easily pushed around down low and doesnt have a go to move in the post, in fact looks no bettet than someone like Jason Thompson on the block, very rudamentary.
Most importantly hes a guy that doesnt command a double team. You will be happy to play Davis straight up and make him beat you off of isolations. Ive never heard of a NBA superstar, a guy the media wants to crown as the best in the world not command a double team or be able to create his own offense. This is not even getting into his defense which gets severly overrated because of block numbers. Hes a great shot blocker not a great defender. You could argue hes a very average defender right noe really.
 
#66
KG was one of the best playmaking big men (amazing passer) in NBA history I don't see how Davis is "more skilled" at this point in time.
You're right. Garnett was better passer at the same age so "skillful" was not the right word. Impactful is the word I should have used.

Davis entered the NBA 2 months older than Garnett was when he came in as a rookie. And looking at either their third season individually or their first three seasons cumulatively Davis has averaged more points, more rebounds, more blocks, had a higher FG%, FT%, TS%, higher PER, higher ORtg, lower ORtg and fewer turnovers per game. Apg is about the only stat that Garnett had over Davis at the same point in their careers.

Still I do see them as similar players. I'm surprised that people think Davis is a potential MVP candidate or that ESPN ranks him as the second best player in the NBA when he's not a go-to guy.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#67
You're right. Garnett was better passer at the same age so "skillful" was not the right word. Impactful is the word I should have used.

Davis entered the NBA 2 months older than Garnett was when he came in as a rookie. And looking at either their third season individually or their first three seasons cumulatively Davis has averaged more points, more rebounds, more blocks, had a higher FG%, FT%, TS%, higher PER, higher ORtg, lower ORtg and fewer turnovers per game. Apg is about the only stat that Garnett had over Davis at the same point in their careers.

Still I do see them as similar players. I'm surprised that people think Davis is a potential MVP candidate or that ESPN ranks him as the second best player in the NBA when he's not a go-to guy.
Well technically KG wasn't quite a true goto guy either. At least not a very good one.

Davis for me is very much of a KG/Robinson type of figure, except in his extreme pure finsherness he also has some Amare about him. As a guy who is heavily pick and roll reliant, there is some similarity to Karl Malone, who merely was the second greatest scorer of all time, but who actually struggled a bit in the playoffs in part because he wasn't a one on one type guy when defenses squeezed their bread and butter. So no, I'm not 100% convinced yet that this is a Top 10 all timer or whatnot, but look at the names I threw around there. 3 MVPs and Amare. If he's not top 10 he's still going to, health permitting, put up numbers at a level of the top 30 guys at least.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
#69
Anthony Davis is an analytics monster in an age when the nerds have taken over basketball. The fact remains hes a guy that still gets easily pushed around down low and doesnt have a go to move in the post, in fact looks no bettet than someone like Jason Thompson on the block, very rudamentary.
Hell, you could make the argument that Thompson is better on the block than Davis.
 
#72
Anthony Davis is an analytics monster in an age when the nerds have taken over basketball. The fact remains hes a guy that still gets easily pushed around down low and doesnt have a go to move in the post, in fact looks no bettet than someone like Jason Thompson on the block, very rudamentary.
Most importantly hes a guy that doesnt command a double team. You will be happy to play Davis straight up and make him beat you off of isolations. Ive never heard of a NBA superstar, a guy the media wants to crown as the best in the world not command a double team or be able to create his own offense. This is not even getting into his defense which gets severly overrated because of block numbers. Hes a great shot blocker not a great defender. You could argue hes a very average defender right noe really.
When you got guys like Reke and jrue holiday spoon feeding him buckets his offense seems a lot better than it really is
 
#74
Well technically KG wasn't quite a true goto guy either. At least not a very good one.

Davis for me is very much of a KG/Robinson type of figure, except in his extreme pure finsherness he also has some Amare about him. As a guy who is heavily pick and roll reliant, there is some similarity to Karl Malone, who merely was the second greatest scorer of all time, but who actually struggled a bit in the playoffs in part because he wasn't a one on one type guy when defenses squeezed their bread and butter. So no, I'm not 100% convinced yet that this is a Top 10 all timer or whatnot, but look at the names I threw around there. 3 MVPs and Amare. If he's not top 10 he's still going to, health permitting, put up numbers at a level of the top 30 guys at least.
That was definitely my point. Traditionally the guys that you'd say are the top 2 or 3 in the entire league are also the guys that you just throw the ball to and let them work when you need a basket. That wasn't Garnett. That wasn't Scottie Pippen. And right now that's not Anthony Davis. Or Dwight Howard for that matter, another guy touted as the next great player and best center in the NBA.

Not being able to create your own offense and/or be a go-to scorer obviously doesn't preclude a guy from being a great player, even a hall of famer. But it does impact how far he can carry his team as their superstar. Because it means when games get tight (or when playoffs roll around and easy buckets are more rare) then Davis needs to rely on his teammates to provide those tough hoops unlike LeBron, Curry, Harden, or Durant. We can argue over who is the better overall player, but Cousins can do that.

David Robinson is actually a really good comparison. Their numbers in their 3rd season are freakishly similar. Given, Robinson was 4 1/2 years older because he played four years and then served in the Navy but both guys had late growth spurts and were remarkably athletic and fluid for their size. And both also impacted the game in a lot of ways but weren't go-to scorers. The Admiral didn't win a title until Duncan came around to be that go-to option.
 
#75
Pretty sure Rudy is playing. On the Kings Facebook page, there is a sign above Rudy's baby that says "David's first wish: beat the Clippers! Go Kings!"

Kind of awesome. Bring us luck baby David!

Edit: the baby wasn't identified as Rudy's baby, so I jumped the gun.
 
#79
It is going to be 4:00 am here when the game starts but it is definitely worth it, I am so excited and eagerly waiting for the game to begin, I am confident about our squad, I hope Rudy will play, but if he doesn't it means more playing time for Omri Casspi anyways it's a win-win situation for me.
We are going to play against the "mighty" Clippers but I believe that the Kings should be able to grab the W in our home.
It will be interesting to see how both Cousins and Kofous will fare with Jordan and Griffin and it is always interesting to watch a great point guard battle with Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo.
I hope our bench will step up for us when needed in crucial moments, I expect to see Belinelli in a good shooting shape and I hope to see Collison and Casspi contributing as much as they can in order to be a factor in the team struggle to win this one.

Let's go Kings!
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#80
It is going to be 4:00 am here when the game starts but it is definitely worth it, I am so excited and eagerly waiting for the game to begin, I am confident about our squad, I hope Rudy will play, but if he doesn't it means more playing time for Omri Casspi anyways it's a win-win situation for me.
We are going to play against the "mighty" Clippers but I believe that the Kings should be able to grab the W in our home.
It will be interesting to see how both Cousins and Kofous will fare with Jordan and Griffin and it is always interesting to watch a great point guard battle with Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo.
I hope our bench will step up for us when needed in crucial moments, I expect to see Belinelli in a good shooting shape and I hope to see Collison and Casspi contributing as much as they can in order to be a factor in the team struggle to win this one.

Let's go Kings!
Love gungho international fans. :)

Now Kings, live up to the hype.
 
#88
Anderson is not even a rotation guy with this roster nor should he be. SGs are Ben/DC/Bellinelli.

Ben has a legit chance to be a decent starting 2. He's still 22. Wasting minutes on Anderson makes little sense to me. He has no long term potential except as injury filler. He's a step sideways at best. He's simply not one of the top 4 guards on the roster.