Clippers vs Kings 10/18 final preseason game

We are a couple of games away from having to trade Rudy for peanuts if he can't play focused in Sacramento. I'm hoping he can get with the program

Ben, he just straddles the line of wanting to hang on and wanting him gone, always. He is filling up the rest is f the box score more consistently it seems at least..

Temple at PG is fail

WCS, he lacks motor/aggression but of course has the natural frame/agility. Bricklayer, I think questioned if innate toughness lacked can somebody be taught to be a presence with Papa, and that's where I am with WCS. It's going to take some time, but he has a good body, we'll see. It will be close

I'm very concerned that the Ty situation is creeping into morale. If he in any way crossed the line he should've been cut as far as I'm concerned (if he did)

Clippers are good. Still a top 2/3 team in the west. Sometimes have to acknowledge the opponent
 
Whats with all the overreactions tonight?

So Gay isn't a #2 anymore based on tonight's preseason game.

We need better 3 point shooters based on tonight's preseason game.

Omri Casspi sucks based on tonight's preseason game.

Garrett Temple sucks based on tonight's preseason game.

Dave Joerger is planning on playing Lawson and Collison together all season based on tonight's preseason game.

Cousins is going to melt down this year based on tonight's preseason game.

Is there anything we can exaggerate based on tonight's preseason game?
 
Whats with all the overreactions tonight?

So Gay isn't a #2 anymore based on tonight's preseason game.

We need better 3 point shooters based on tonight's preseason game.

Omri Casspi sucks based on tonight's preseason game.

Garrett Temple sucks based on tonight's preseason game.

Dave Joerger is planning on playing Lawson and Collison together all season based on tonight's preseason game.

Cousins is going to melt down this year based on tonight's preseason game.

Is there anything we can exaggerate based on tonight's preseason game?

well by the looks of it, the Kings still can't defend anyone so there is that at least? :rolleyes:
 
Really hope we swing this Rudy for Dragic trade with Miami that has been rumored. That would be huge for us.

Edit: saw they want Collision as well. So nevermind! Might as well treat doody Rudy as an expiring. Nobody is gonna want that softie on talent.

I'm just happy we are holding teams under 110ppg haha
 
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Strange how everyone is focusing on Ben at this point. Outside of the open threes he missed, he had a very good game from my point of view. It was obvious, that he has got a pretty good grip on Joergers system right now - he was setting people up nicely, he was using his athleticism to impact the game, he did ok on D and he never ball hogged.
And at this point it's really all about the ball hogging again. Every coach during all those years preached ball movement, but we still do a poor job in that area. I never coached on a professional level, but when I'm forced to watch our players taking their time, when they catch the ball to size up, jabstep, reading the court or whatever I find myself screaming at my TV. What are we trying to accomplish with that? When you don't want to win with lot's of isolation or post up plays, this "take my time" approach really makes things easy for the defense.
You catch the ball and you attack, move it to the next man or shoot....period. Guys like Tolliver, Temple and Ben do a good job with that. But Gay completely hinders the flow of our offense. I don't care, if he is a great isolation scorer, he certainly is, but a turn around jumpshot over an outstretched arm will never be a more efficient shot, than an open 3 for a solid NBA player or a straight drive finished with a layup with the defense playing catchup.
The Clippers crushed us during a stretch with great ball movement and open 3's off of our TO's. Same like last season. I'm sick of it.

What's positive is that Boogie is once again really trying to fit in. After a myriad of coaches and as an established star player in this league, this guy is still doing his best to be coachable. He should get way more respect from Kings fans for this.
 
Kings with Afflalo in the lineup >>>> Kings with Ben in the lineup

Ben in the lineup = open jump shots and 3's for the other teams SG.
 
Kings with Afflalo in the lineup >>>> Kings with Ben in the lineup

Ben in the lineup = open jump shots and 3's for the other teams SG.

Depends on which Afflalo shows up over the whole season. There is a reason he wasn't resigned by Portland and is on his second short term deal in a row.
But the open jump shots and 3's for the opposing SG aren't necessarily Bens fault. The Clippers run this kind of offense with Reddick for years and with all those screens it's more of a team effort to run Reddick down, than the responsibility of Ben alone.
What's Ben gotta do, when KK and Boogie sit back in the lane? I get it versus Curry or Walker, who will abuse them with a dribble once they commited to a close out, but not versus Reddick, who pretty much wants to take the jumpshot every time, because that's his specialty.Why don't we run him off the 3 point line at all costs and force him to beat us with a drive?
Ben is prone to relax for a millisecond on D only to see his man taking advantage of it. That's whats keeping him from becoming an above average defender. But he isn't a bad defender per se.
Actually having some kind of competition at the SG spot is a blessing.
 
Depends on which Afflalo shows up over the whole season. There is a reason he wasn't resigned by Portland and is on his second short term deal in a row.
But the open jump shots and 3's for the opposing SG aren't necessarily Bens fault. The Clippers run this kind of offense with Reddick for years and with all those screens it's more of a team effort to run Reddick down, than the responsibility of Ben alone.
What's Ben gotta do, when KK and Boogie sit back in the lane? I get it versus Curry or Walker, who will abuse them with a dribble once they commited to a close out, but not versus Reddick, who pretty much wants to take the jumpshot every time, because that's his specialty.Why don't we run him off the 3 point line at all costs and force him to beat us with a drive?
Ben is prone to relax for a millisecond on D only to see his man taking advantage of it. That's whats keeping him from becoming an above average defender. But he isn't a bad defender per se.
Actually having some kind of competition at the SG spot is a blessing.
There is no competition though is there? No matter what people want to say about Afflalo and his level of production, the guy is better than Ben.
 
My suggestions from last season still appl. Replace Ben in the starting lineup and don't start Willie. I'm looking forward to Joerger following my advice to start the season.
 
The whole obsession with Ben is weird. It's like people with depression who get stuck on a negative thought and are not able to move on from it.
 
There is no competition though is there? No matter what people want to say about Afflalo and his level of production, the guy is better than Ben.

He is certainly more seasoned and I expect him to make fewer mistakes and be more steady under pressure. At the same time I hope, that Ben somehow gets back on track to becoming a 10-15ppg SG with solid D. Those players with the athletic ability of Ben are hard to get.
 
I really have no idea how these rotations are going to shakeout. Afflalo, Barnes, Casspi, Cauley-Stein, Collison, Cousins, Gay, Koufos, Lawson, McLemore, Temple, & Tolliver combined for 314 minutes per game last year. That's 74 minutes more than what can be played in a game (across 5 positions). It'll be interesting to see what the coach decides and how he's going to manage players that aren't getting as many minutes as they are used to getting.

EDIT: You could potentially just cut the kids out of the equation and go with an all veteran rotation, but I would be very concerned with Cauley-Stein riding the bench all year (considering you're hurting that investment). Every time, I come back to wanting to cut out McLemore & Koufos from the rotation. Koufos doesn't really provide anything different at C than Cousins. Cauley-Stein (at backup C) at least provides a different skillset (while also finding time for him to develop). And Afflalo & Temple are steady vets. One provides great shooting & decent scoring while the other provides great defense, decent shooting, and decent playmaking.

PG - Collison (28 min) / Lawson (20 min)
SG - Temple (20 min) / Afflalo (26 min) / Barnes (2 min)
SF - Gay (30 min) / Barnes (18 min)
PF - Tolliver (18 min) / Casspi (24 min) / Cauley-Stein (6 min)
C - Cousins (34 min) / Cauley-Stein (14 min)

Cousins - 34 min
Gay - 30 min
Collison - 28 min
Afflalo - 26 min
Casspi - 24 min
Lawson - 20 min
Temple - 20 min
Barnes - 20 min
Cauley-Stein - 20 min
Tolliver - 18 min

Even then, it's a very tight minute distribution, but if you're able to move McLemore & Koufos for future pieces (& a rental 3rd C), it makes the rotation a lot easier to work with this season (hopefully avoiding players getting upset with low minutes or inconsistent minutes thus keeping morale high) while helping us in the future. We'll still have plenty of depth...

If a PG goes down, you have Collison, Lawson, Temple, & even Farmar who could pickup more minutes .
If a SG/SF goes down, Gay, Afflalo, Casspi, Temple, and/or Barnes are more than used to getting more minutes.
If a PF goes down, you have Cauley-Stein, Tolliver, Casspi, Barnes, & Gay who can pick-up more minutes.
If a C goes down, you are either using Cauley-Stein or Cousins (depending on which one got hurt) and the rental 3rd C to log all of the minutes at C (Papagiannis doesn't look ready).
 
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I really have no idea how these rotations are going to shakeout. Afflalo, Barnes, Casspi, Cauley-Stein, Collison, Cousins, Gay, Koufos, Lawson, McLemore, Temple, & Tolliver combined for 314 minutes per game last year. That's 74 minutes more than what can be played in a game (across 5 positions). It'll be interesting to see what the coach decides and how he's going to manage players that aren't getting as many minutes as they are used to getting.

EDIT: You could potentially just cut the kids out of the equation and go with an all veteran rotation, but I would be very concerned with Cauley-Stein riding the bench all year (considering you're hurting that investment). Every time, I come back to wanting to cut out McLemore & Koufos from the rotation. Koufos doesn't really provide anything different at C than Cousins. Cauley-Stein (at backup C) at least provides a different skillset (while also finding time for him to develop). And Afflalo & Temple are steady vets. One provides great shooting & decent scoring while the other provides great defense, decent shooting, and decent playmaking.

PG - Collison (28 min) / Lawson (20 min)
SG - Temple (20 min) / Afflalo (26 min) / Barnes (2 min)
SF - Gay (30 min) / Barnes (18 min)
PF - Tolliver (18 min) / Casspi (24 min) / Cauley-Stein (6 min)
C - Cousins (34 min) / Cauley-Stein (14 min)

Cousins - 34 min
Gay - 30 min
Collison - 28 min
Afflalo - 26 min
Casspi - 24 min
Lawson - 20 min
Temple - 20 min
Barnes - 20 min
Cauley-Stein - 20 min
Tolliver - 18 min

Even then, it's a very tight minute distribution, but if you're able to move McLemore & Koufos for future pieces (& a rental 3rd C), it makes the rotation a lot easier to work with this season (hopefully avoiding players getting upset with low minutes or inconsistent minutes thus keeping morale high) while helping us in the future. We'll still have plenty of depth...

If a PG goes down, you have Collison, Lawson, Temple, & even Farmar who could pickup more minutes .
If a SG/SF goes down, Gay, Afflalo, Casspi, Temple, and/or Barnes are more than used to getting more minutes.
If a PF goes down, you have Cauley-Stein, Tolliver, Casspi, Barnes, & Gay who can pick-up more minutes.
If a C goes down, you are either using Cauley-Stein or Cousins (depending on which one got hurt) and the rental 3rd C to log all of the minutes at C (Papagiannis doesn't look ready).

The Koufos/McLemore thing is getting repetitive. If your just reiterating your opinion, ok, but your posts come across as making definitive statements that involve the team, and you know others have voiced differing opinions about the topic

Ben is an assett and has always been. He's improved a lot from last year. He doesn't need to crack the rotation but I'd hold onto his rights if he keeps making the progress he has. If the team gets real value for him that negates his possible solid future as a 3/D it can be discussed. But that's always been the case

Koufos is really the only player I feel comfortable with starting at center if Cousins goes down, and I feel we have many more options with smaller bigs. But then I feel as if WCS is currently a negative on the floor and needs to earn what minutes he gets, which may just be a philosophical difference as well as a personal difference in how I view Willie. I personally want to see the best team in the court, whoever it is, but I know others disagree.

We do have a lot of options in terms of minutes, and it will be interesting to see how it shakes out.
 
The whole obsession with Ben is weird. It's like people with depression who get stuck on a negative thought and are not able to move on from it.
Ben is now a bench player and we have many options to choose from if he's not doing well. He's not the issue.

Ben started last night and has played too many minutes to say he is not a problem. He s not a problem if you are content with a .400 season.
 
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