Cousins is Regressing Under Corbin

rainmaker

rainmaker

Hall of Famer
Good article over at STR looking into the situation a number here have noticed based around the poor usage of Cuz in this new system. Now there's numbers backing up what we're noticing.

http://www.sactownroyalty.com/2015/...cus-cousins-is-regressing-under-tyrone-corbin

Most notable aspect is the sharp increase in jumpers, fewer shots within 5ft and the plummeting FG% on jumpers compared to when Malone was here. What's shocking is Cuz's overall FG% has dropped from .512 under Malone to .437 under Corbin. That's falling off a cliff.

It's not just offense either. As alluded to yesterday, his defense has also fallen off under Corbin. The numbers here tell me it's the defensive scheme employed by Corbin. Cuz actually has better numbers close to the rim but isn't guarding the jumper anywhere near as well as he was under Malone. Cuz was previously able to get out and contest jumpers because the help and rotations under Malone allowed his teammates to cover for him, basically boiling down to the defensive unit being on the same page and covering/rotating together. Under Ty, Cuz is packing the paint and covering the rim yet his teammates aren't rotating out and covering the shooters, which is a systematic problem. Also likely related to JT's mins decreasing and being replaced by DWill. This goes back to attention to detail and what the coaching staff does or does not make a priority and any team where defense is a priority has a better scheme than we're seeing, as it's collective.

Folks, this is incompetence on a massive scale. This is a situation where Malone actually walked the FO through and point blank showed them how best to use the HOF talent we have, where Cuz was playing the best and most efficient ball of his career, and now and likely at the direction of PDA, the use of Cuz has been altered to the extent his talent is being wasted. Completely wasted and it's hurting us on both ends. It's not a situation where PDA/Corbin can claim they didn't previously know how best to use him, Malone just showed them both how best to use Cuz and here we are attempting to turn him into a stretch-5, predominantly a jump shooter who has to attack and create his own off the dribble from outside as his efficiency has plummeted and a guy who under this new defensive or non-defensive scheme is getting far less help from his teammates on that end.

Vivek's next book might as well be titled "The Ruining of a Superstar" as what we're seeing is an organization who doesn't know how to use the best post-big on the planet.
 
Haven't got a chance to look at the numbers, but it confirms what I have been seeing.






One of the absolute worst things about this coaching change.
 
Seeing those numbers, it's amusing some people have argued the corbin #WeaselBall offense leads to better passing and ball distribution and less ISO heavy, when the opposite is actually true.

Fewer assisted buckets for Boogie, not the other way around.
 
This can be seen with the naked eye, we don't need statistics to show us that. I mentioned in one of the grade threads that he is reverting back to shooting jump shots and not being able to finish inside, he just throws shots up looking to get a foul called on him rather than making a strong, solid post move in order to make the basket and worry about contact second. He clearly does not buy in and it shows, I don't blame him one bit. This is what we will be seeing until we bring in some stability in the head coaching department and hopefully see Vivek own up to what he has done and Pete's head being on a stake.
 
The naked eye tells me he has regressed. That is a heavy burden for the team to carry. I think Ranadive needs to turn the team over to the coach on style of play and players used. Time for hands off.
 
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kingsboi said:
This can be seen with the naked eye, we don't need statistics to show us that. I mentioned in one of the grade threads that he is reverting back to shooting jump shots and not being able to finish inside, he just throws shots up looking to get a foul called on him rather than making a strong, solid post move in order to make the basket and worry about contact second. He clearly does not buy in and it shows, I don't blame him one bit. This is what we will be seeing until we bring in some stability in the head coaching department and hopefully see Vivek own up to what he has done and Pete's head being on a stake.
Click to expand...

Vivek doesn't have enough basketball knowledge to know he fk'd up. If you're waiting for him to recognize the fail, you're gonna be waiting a long time.
 
rhythmless said:
Vivek doesn't have enough basketball knowledge to know he fk'd up. If you're waiting for him to recognize the fail, you're gonna be waiting a long time.
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let's give it a offseason and make further judgement from there...what say you?
 
I pointed this out weeks ago. Cousins isn't giving 100% out there. At least not in my opinion. Several users above and all over the board are pointing out Cousins shouldn't be trying under an inept management or it's good that he's given up under an inept management. Well, I disagree heavily.

Cousins is getting paid over 14million a year to play the sport he loves. Just because the FO fired the coach doesn't mean he should stop everything he's doing and play at a terrible level. I don't think there should be an excuse for Cousins playing terrible, just like there's no excuse for Rudy playing terrible.

What if I told you, the Kings could still be around .500 if the guys ALL put in the work and effort like they did under Malone? You don't go whine and quit because life doesn't go your way.. put that in a basketball context.

Defense is 75% heart and effort. 75%. This is a pathetic group of player with a pathetic group of management.

We all know Cousins can play at an all star level, but it's hard to argue he's playing at it right now.
I still believe Cousins is better than AD, but he needs to get his head in the game right now. Carry and lead this team to 40 wins, and it'll be a successful season in my eyes.

It's still not to late for Cuz or the Kings. This is an all around terrible Kings right now.

This is damn terrible when I'm more excited about signing day today(NCAAF) than I am about the Kings rest of the season...
 
Playing 40 plus minutes in blowouts will cause a player of Cousins size to revert to lazy jumpers and not contesting shots 100% of the time. (In addition to a totally mismatched system.)

In Corbin and PDA's desperate attempt to squeeze out a win here n there they are running the "Big 4" into the ground. I wont be surprised if an injury pops up if this continues.

Malone had it right, you must have a competent bench in this NBA and limit the starters to 30-35 (outside of the occasional outlier) for them to be good on both ends. Simply too much talent and speed in the league for guys to be hovering around 40 mins while still being effective enough on both ends in order to win.

As we are seeing now the bench does not have any nba caliber players on it(maybe landry on some nights) and Malone was performing miricle work for them to be semi competent. Give Malone 3 NBA bench players along with a carefully used starting 5 and we have a playoff team.

Thats what makes all of this so frustrating, many on this board were in agreement that with a solid bench this was a playoff squad under Malone.
 
gman23 said:
I can't blame a coach for a players regression. If a player is top caliber he would always post great numbers, not decide oh! I have another coach so let me play bad.
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That's ridiculous. There's a long and glorious history of great players not being used correctly and suffering for it. I remember Magic revolting against Paul Westhead. Hakeem struggling for years as he was misused to the point he wanted out. Don Nelson's work with Webber, or his forgotten attempt to take over Pat Riley's Knicks. Phil Jackson couldn't do much with Gary Payton because his system hates PGs. D'Antoni had no idea what to do with Pau, and stop if this sounds familiar, stuck him outside facing the hoop. And those are all great coaches. That's before we get into all the failed nobodies out there. It makes a huge difference. It shouldn't ever come to that. A mature professional organization is supposed to recognize its franchise talent and build the system around him, not the other way around. But hey, its us. The league's new Clippers.

You have a 6'11" 270lb center who's the most imposing post force in the league. You waste his time spotting him up facing the basket and that's on you. Its the exact same way Keith Smart held back Cuz early in his career. No knowledge of nor balls for a physical post game.
 
Now BTW, I'm not entirely sure I agree with the entirety of those findings because of this:

1) Boogie's jumper has flat been off. Its not just that he is taking a lot of them, its that they have not been falling, at all. And maybe you say fatigued legs? Possible. You can also note that the idiot coach doesn't realize Cousins' sweet spot jumper is top of the key, been a lot of jumpers from the wing. Nonetheless, if Boogie wasn't slumping with that shot the numbers wouldn't look quite as stark.

2) The not challenging jumpers thing is teamwide, and I just have to believe because of that that its a defensive scheme/decision. Now you might say its a very stupid one given the results, but NOBODY, starter or bench, shows hard behind screens. Everybody sags. of course there's a double temptation there for Cuz as the team's sole rim protector, but its going on every night with everybody. So I think that may be a strategic choice.
 
206Fan said:
What if I told you, the Kings could still be around .500 if the guys ALL put in the work and effort like they did under Malone? You don't go whine and quit because life doesn't go your way.. put that in a basketball context.

Defense is 75% heart and effort. 75%. This is a pathetic group of player with a pathetic group of management.
Click to expand...
No, it's not and well, you'd be wrong. That's what someone sitting on their couch who's never been in a team environment would say, with all due respect. Scouting, system, preparation, film study, philosophy and emphasis on what the team will collectively try to take away plays a large part. It's not just a lack of effort when Cuz is still doing his job near the rim, likely been instructed to stay in the paint and protect the rim with the numbers prove it. It's a systematic issue when teammates aren't rotating out to cover the shooter.

Your constant bemoaning of players' effort while ignoring the role of coaching and preparation is getting tiresome. Know what makes SA so great defensively? They scout opponents to the point they know their entire systems and exactly where they want to go off various options and collectively, as a team prepare to cut those options off and force opponents to do exactly what they don't want to do. Sure effort/heart plays a part but going by your premise, there doesn't need to be a coach at all. Hell, just pull five guys off the street with max effort/heart and they'd be a top NBA defensive team. But a team like SA or Memphis or even GS aren't where they are defensively simply due to more heart/effort than everyone else. That's nonsense. Think SA could fire Pop tomorrow, replace him with Keith Smart and we'd see the same defensive results? That's exactly what you're implying.

Of course, at times a lack of effort can follow when an entire team knows the FO and coaching staff hasn't got a clue and isn't preparing them well enough to have success. That's why having a good coach is so important.
 
Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year.Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year.Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year.Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year. Next year.

...I'm so tired of this ****.
 
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rainmaker said:
No, it's not and well, you'd be wrong. That's what someone sitting on their couch who's never been in a team environment would say, with all due respect. Scouting, system, preparation, film study, philosophy and emphasis on what the team will collectively try to take away plays a large part. It's not just a lack of effort when Cuz is still doing his job near the rim, likely been instructed to stay in the paint and protect the rim with the numbers prove it. It's a systematic issue when teammates aren't rotating out to cover the shooter.

Your constant bemoaning of players' effort while ignoring the role of coaching and preparation is getting tiresome. Know what makes SA so great defensively? They scout opponents to the point they know their entire systems and exactly where they want to go off various options and collectively, as a team prepare to cut those options off and force opponents to do exactly what they don't want to do. Sure effort/heart plays a part but going by your premise, there doesn't need to be a coach at all. Hell, just pull five guys off the street with max effort/heart and they'd be a top NBA defensive team. But a team like SA or Memphis or even GS aren't where they are defensively simply due to more heart/effort than everyone else. That's nonsense. Think SA could fire Pop tomorrow, replace him with Keith Smart and we'd see the same defensive results? That's exactly what you're implying.

Of course, at times a lack of effort can follow when an entire team knows the FO and coaching staff hasn't got a clue and isn't preparing them well enough to have success. That's why having a good coach is so important.
Click to expand...
I see what you're saying, but I have to disagree with some of it.

There's been a lot of plays this season where we've seen Cousins just stand there and keep watch while the opposing team's offense scores. We've seen it too many times where Rudy sags off of his guy or gives him a ton of space to create and shoot.

I'm talking about the plays where our players fail to even put a hand in their face to shoot. Or times where they decide it isn't even worth contesting the shot at all. Cousin's best defensive attribute is his quick hands believe it or not.. Cousins is an improved shot blocker, but he's far from good. A lot of his reach in fouls are BS because refs don't expect big men to be able to steal the ball.

I've played a lot of basketball in highschool(not even comparable to the NBA), but a lot of defense is actually effort. Nik is a player who brings in all effort on defense, but he struggles because he's not physical nor strong enough yet. If everyone gave the type of effort Nik gives on defense, we'd have a decent defense. A lot of our terrible defense is because players decide to give up after getting beat or screened. I know how it feels when you think that the guy already had you.. you just give up and try to come back on offense. That's what the Kings do a lot of.

Scheme is what hides the struggles on defense.

GSW's defense succeeded last night vs the Kings because all they had to do was double team Cousins and Gay. They can do this knowing that both players are iso players who don't pass very often. Even when they do pass, it'll always be a second too late because they aren't good passers.
 
Mr. S£im Citrus said:
You think that Cousins started taking more perimeter jumpers and fewer shots around the rim, because he 'decided' to play bad?
Click to expand...

I won't speak for the person you quoted, but for my own part I suspect that Cousins has been taking more jumpers at the expense of shots around the rim because 1) he's had a bit of a balky ankle the last few games and 2) he probably isn't nearly full-strength in his recovery from viral meningitis yet and may not have the stamina to bang down in the post for the entire game.

It's fair to keep in mind when breaking DMC's performance down by coach that Malone had a 100% healthy Cousins for all games and Corbin has not had a 100% healthy Cousins for any games. Not that I'm stumping for Corbin - I certainly expect him to be gone at the end of the year and for good reason - but not everything is necessarily the coach's fault, especially when there are definite extenuating circumstances that can be pointed to.
 
He seemed to be playing well in the first few weeks under Corbin. He was looking like an MVP candidate in some of the games. Lately, not so much.
 
Capt. Factorial said:
I won't speak for the person you quoted, but for my own part I suspect that Cousins has been taking more jumpers at the expense of shots around the rim because 1) he's had a bit of a balky ankle the last few games and 2) he probably isn't nearly full-strength in his recovery from viral meningitis yet and may not have the stamina to bang down in the post for the entire game.
Click to expand...
That still wouldn't explain why, as has been pointed out, he's largely stopped taking the straightaway jumpers that he can hit, in favor of elbow jumpers that he can't.
 
How the front office has Rudy & Cuz feeling these days

LL
 
I think Cousins has lost a bit of fire, and now he's just out there playing because he's competitive. He's much wilder than the beginning of the season and showing less effort on D. I don't think he sees a reason to be disciplined on the floor.
 
206Fan said:
I see what you're saying, but I have to disagree with some of it.

There's been a lot of plays this season where we've seen Cousins just stand there and keep watch while the opposing team's offense scores. We've seen it too many times where Rudy sags off of his guy or gives him a ton of space to create and shoot.

I'm talking about the plays where our players fail to even put a hand in their face to shoot. Or times where they decide it isn't even worth contesting the shot at all. Cousin's best defensive attribute is his quick hands believe it or not.. Cousins is an improved shot blocker, but he's far from good. A lot of his reach in fouls are BS because refs don't expect big men to be able to steal the ball.

I've played a lot of basketball in highschool(not even comparable to the NBA), but a lot of defense is actually effort. Nik is a player who brings in all effort on defense, but he struggles because he's not physical nor strong enough yet. If everyone gave the type of effort Nik gives on defense, we'd have a decent defense. A lot of our terrible defense is because players decide to give up after getting beat or screened. I know how it feels when you think that the guy already had you.. you just give up and try to come back on offense. That's what the Kings do a lot of.
Click to expand...
You're disregarding the fact that it takes a lot longer to develop bad habits than good ones. Malone was on track to instilling good habits in the players, but it takes longer than he was given. And when the person who was instilling good habits is removed before the good habits have fully taken root, then those good habits quickly become replaced by bad habits.
 
Mr. S£im Citrus said:
That still wouldn't explain why, as has been pointed out, he's largely stopped taking the straightaway jumpers that he can hit, in favor of elbow jumpers that he can't.
Click to expand...

By my eye, I haven't seen a difference in the number of straightaway vs. elbow jumpers. I figure one can probably get the NBA.com stats to break that down but I don't have the time right now.

But that said, this year Cousins has actually been better on elbow jumpers than on straightaway jumpers: http://on.nba.com/1wvv4Zp
 
rhythmless said:
Vivek doesn't have enough basketball knowledge to know he fk'd up. If you're waiting for him to recognize the fail, you're gonna be waiting a long time.
Click to expand...

I think he capable of understanding what wins and losses means. Come on, he's not stupid. He knows things aren't going well. Where his lack of basketball knowledge may be affecting him, is in knowing what to do about it. It's easy to break things! It's much harder to put them back together.
 
rhythmless said:
Vivek gave Malone 24 games and then made his judgement that it wasn't good enough. One more game and it'll be 24 games after his genius coaching change. So I'll wait one more game. If he can decide 24 games is enough, 24 games it is. I wonder what our verdict will be.
Click to expand...

This is what gets me pissed. They decided that starting 11-13, and 2-8 with Cousins out, was just not acceptable and fired him.

but 6-17 with Corbin, 1-9 in the last 10, with a healthy roster, and looking flat out uncompetitive lately, is just fine i guess.


:mad:
 
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