Demarcus

[bajaden]

fair enough. He is a product of his enviroment which is exactly why I feel they way I do.

This is why I don't respect you and is why this is the last time I'll ever respond to you. I spent a lot of time responding to you. I gave you facts and personal reasons why your opinion was ill concieved. You paid no attention to anything I posted, and thats because you had no intention of paying any attention to what I posted. You don't care about whats true or not true. You only care about provoking. This is the definition of a troll and thats what you are. Adios!!

 

[bajaden]

Yeah I hope Cousins can improve as well. After last nights performance, I'm not too pleased with him thus far. He's always turning the ball over. I swear it seemed like he turned the ball over against the Hornets ATLEAST 7 times. It seemed like almost every other time he had the ball he was either dishing it off to the other team, or forcing the most ridiculous Michael Jordan like shots... I get mad when I see Dalembert going to the bench... I want that to change!

When you watch the game, you might want to pay attention instead of just drawing conclusions. Cousins had 2 turnovers in the game. I will add that its surprising he didn't have more since he was one of the more aggressive players on the Kings team. While I admire his aggressiveness, he's a better player when he's patient. At the same time its hard for a big to be patient on this team. His Kentucky team did a better job of getting him the ball in the post. For those paying attention, let me ask you. How many times in the game did the Kings guards get Cousins the ball in the low post. Not the high post or out at the top of the key after setting a screen. But the low post. The answer is once. Once in the entire game. Inexcusable! If were going to criticize him for not going to work in the low post, it might help if we got him the ball there instead of at the top of the key where the defense has time to react to whatever he does..

 

[bajaden]

Not going to disagree (too bad). This is stuff I'm sure Westphal and his staff sees, and no doubt are pointing it out to the players. I've been seeing improvement over the last three games. At least the ball isn't being dribbled nearly as much, with a few cases the ball never even touched the floor (my oh my). Hopefully, by the All-Star break they will get some of these obvious indadequacies remedied. They won't be scoring 120 points per game anytime soon, but they should slowly crawl to be a better offensive team.

I think you mentioned the big elephant in the room - Tyreke's outside shot. That's going to be a pretty big albatross around the neck of this offense until he gets it down. It's hard to run a great pick and roll if the guy running it is no threat to pull up with the jumper after using the screen. Have you ever seen Tyreke do a pull up jumper off the pick and roll? (Not a rhetorical question).

My biggest frustration with this team by far has not been what's gone on during the season so far. It's what went on during the off-season. I am very unhappy with what went on during the offseason. Players coming in out of shape. Tyreke hiring himself as his own shooting coach and having this stupid leg-kick on his shooting form. (I wonder why when he shoots he comes up short so often?) Garcia, the veteran, doing the same dumbass move on his shooting form. (What was he thinking - that he was going to get style points?) We're seeing the results of that "work" during the offseason right before our very eyes. THAT's what irks me.

I can't disagree with any of your points. I can't remember one time where Tyreke came off a pick and roll and shot the ball. Obviously he doesn't have confidence in doing that, and if so, your right, it takes away the effectiveness of the pick and roll. Having said that, there's no reason the coaching staff can't have the team run a double screen starting with Tyreke and Greene with Greene being the designated shooter on the play. It might keep the defense honest and allow the roller to get some easy baskets. Of course this would require getting into the offense sooner. The only player that pushed the ball up the court in the game was Jetter. The fact that Jetter had 4 assists in a very limited time speaks volumes about this offense. Jetter had only one thing in mind. Setting someone up for a basket. I can't say thats true for either Tyreke or Beno.

 

[LWP777]

This is why I don't respect you and is why this is the last time I'll ever respond to you. I spent a lot of time responding to you. I gave you facts and personal reasons why your opinion was ill concieved. You paid no attention to anything I posted, and thats because you had no intention of paying any attention to what I posted. You don't care about whats true or not true. You only care about provoking. This is the definition of a troll and thats what you are. Adios!!

So you won't respond to him ever again because his opinion is that DeMarcus is a knucklehead? This is pretty much the same opinion that every member of the media and coach in the NBA has (outside the Kings organization of course). I know you love to stick up for the Kings and keep things positive but sometimes the truth needs to be spoken. While I really hope that DeMarcus proves the world wrong, I think the oddsmakers would bet that he will eventually be Zach Randolph II.

 

[Kingster]

I can't disagree with any of your points. I can't remember one time where Tyreke came off a pick and roll and shot the ball. Obviously he doesn't have confidence in doing that, and if so, your right, it takes away the effectiveness of the pick and roll. Having said that, there's no reason the coaching staff can't have the team run a double screen starting with Tyreke and Greene with Greene being the designated shooter on the play. It might keep the defense honest and allow the roller to get some easy baskets. Of course this would require getting into the offense sooner. The only player that pushed the ball up the court in the game was Jetter. The fact that Jetter had 4 assists in a very limited time speaks volumes about this offense. Jetter had only one thing in mind. Setting someone up for a basket. I can't say thats true for either Tyreke or Beno.

We're agreeing far too much. We need conflict for the "show".

Getting into the offense sooner is also a pet peeve of mine...

I don't think I've questioned Westphal's substitutions so far this year, but I must say that in retrospect I wonder about Westphal's move of having Beno in with the second unit against Utah. (That's when they got creamed). Beno was obviously overwhelmed by the quickness factor of the Utah guards. I really would have liked Pooh to have been given a chance (much earlier) in place of Beno. He could have broken down that pressure with relative ease, and the whole offense would have benefited. It will be interesting to see if in the future Westphal does substitute Pooh for Beno if faced with a lot of backcourt quickness.

 

[UK_King]

Demarcus is just clearly the kind of kid who wants to prove he's the best every time he touches the ball.... It's not a bad thing because it means he's driven, but it won't work unless you're supremely talented in all aspects of the game.

he just needs to settle and play his role, and he'll come good.

 

[nbaFan]

So you won't respond to him ever again because his opinion is that DeMarcus is a knucklehead? This is pretty much the same opinion that every member of the media and coach in the NBA has (outside the Kings organization of course). I know you love to stick up for the Kings and keep things positive but sometimes the truth needs to be spoken. While I really hope that DeMarcus proves the world wrong, I think the oddsmakers would bet that he will eventually be Zach Randolph II.

Thanks LWP, I hope DMC turns into a stud we can rely on, I really do.

 

[IfAt1st]

I don't think I've questioned Westphal's substitutions so far this year, but I must say that in retrospect I wonder about Westphal's move of having Beno in with the second unit against Utah. (That's when they got creamed). Beno was obviously overwhelmed by the quickness factor of the Utah guards. I really would have liked Pooh to have been given a chance (much earlier) in place of Beno.

aaaaaaaaand the "it's Beno's fault" fallacy rears its head.

Beno's defense was fine against the Jazz - no worse than the average King. I took detailed notes during the 2nd quarter plays when the Kings lost the game. Beno's defense didn't cost them any points that I noted in the 2nd qtr.
To ape this inaccurate slander is absurd.

 

[Kingster]

aaaaaaaaand the "it's Beno's fault" fallacy rears its head.

Beno's defense was fine against the Jazz - no worse than the average King. I took detailed notes during the 2nd quarter plays when the Kings lost the game. Beno's defense didn't cost them any points that I noted in the 2nd qtr.
To ape this inaccurate slander is absurd.

You've got to first read the post, then comment on it.

I wasn't talking about Beno's defense. I was referring to his offense, which was impeded greatly by the quickness of the Utah guards. Hence, the insertion of the much quicker Pooh might have helped the Kings get into their offense.

 

[IfAt1st]

LOL - 99% of the time, "quickness of opposition guards" refers to trying to guard THEM.

OK - so it's about Beno's offense, then?
OK - you watched the game, right? How would Pooh have set up his teammates better than Beno in the Jazz game?
Beno subbed in the 2nd qtr, and immediately broke down the Jazz defense, passed to a WIDE OPEN DMC, who missed the 12 ft shot.
Beno penetrated the next 2 times, and the Jazz defense hacked at his arms (a foul half the time) and caused 2 TO's.
Beno penetrated again, this time taking THREE Jazz defenders with him, and handed it off to JT for the stuff. Problem is, JT inexplicably took another step towards the basket (so that he was almost underneath it) and the hand-off bounced off JT's hands for the TO.
Next time Beno drove, he overpenetrated into 4 Jazz defenders and tried to make the layup, which got stuffed (3 reach-ins not called on the play). Maybe he was frustrated that his teammates were blowing easy set-ups, or maybe he was told to drive and shoot?
Next time Beno drove, he penetrated the defense and setup Cousins for a shot/drive, and Cousins lost the ball.

2 questions-
What do you think Beno should have done better (other than make the open 3's he missed during that time)?
What do you think Pooh would have done better against a Jazz defense that was able to reach-in and slap the ballhandlers arms and hands with impunity?

 

[Kingster]

LOL - 99% of the time, "quickness of opposition guards" refers to trying to guard THEM.

OK - so it's about Beno's offense, then?
OK - you watched the game, right? How would Pooh have set up his teammates better than Beno in the Jazz game?
Beno subbed in the 2nd qtr, and immediately broke down the Jazz defense, passed to a WIDE OPEN DMC, who missed the 12 ft shot.
Beno penetrated the next 2 times, and the Jazz defense hacked at his arms (a foul half the time) and caused 2 TO's.
Beno penetrated again, this time taking THREE Jazz defenders with him, and handed it off to JT for the stuff. Problem is, JT inexplicably took another step towards the basket (so that he was almost underneath it) and the hand-off bounced off JT's hands for the TO.
Next time Beno drove, he overpenetrated into 4 Jazz defenders and tried to make the layup, which got stuffed (3 reach-ins not called on the play). Maybe he was frustrated that his teammates were blowing easy set-ups, or maybe he was told to drive and shoot?
Next time Beno drove, he penetrated the defense and setup Cousins for a shot/drive, and Cousins lost the ball.

2 questions-
What do you think Beno should have done better (other than make the open 3's he missed during that time)?
What do you think Pooh would have done better against a Jazz defense that was able to reach-in and slap the ballhandlers arms and hands with impunity?

I think if you read my post *again* you would see that I believe that Pooh could have more easily broken the defensive pressure of the Utah guards than Beno. Beno stuggled mightily when he was put into the game, with his shot, and with getting into the offense sooner. He was struggling just to get the ball up the floor, and Grant and Reynolds commented on the fact.

As far as what Beno could better, I would say he did as much as his God-given ability allowed him to do. Unfortunately, Beno is not in the upper tier of quickness in the NBA, so when goes against quick guards his shooting and playmaking ability get dimished significantly. Against guards that have mediocre quickness, he does just fine usually (on offense).

 

[Sptsjunkie]

When you watch the game, you might want to pay attention instead of just drawing conclusions. Cousins had 2 turnovers in the game. I will add that its surprising he didn't have more since he was one of the more aggressive players on the Kings team. While I admire his aggressiveness, he's a better player when he's patient. At the same time its hard for a big to be patient on this team. His Kentucky team did a better job of getting him the ball in the post. For those paying attention, let me ask you. How many times in the game did the Kings guards get Cousins the ball in the low post. Not the high post or out at the top of the key after setting a screen. But the low post. The answer is once. Once in the entire game. Inexcusable! If were going to criticize him for not going to work in the low post, it might help if we got him the ball there instead of at the top of the key where the defense has time to react to whatever he does..

Fully agree with you. Cousins is also a 20 year old rookie who is being allowed to create with the ball. Most rookie bigs get all of their shots on put backs or dunks/shots set up by teammates. Right now he is taking his lumps in the short term, but this will benefit him in the long term. Watching the games, most of his turnovers are from:

1 - Dribbing into too much traffic. He is very confident, but will get himself into trouble because of it driving into the lane when there are 3 bodies there and trying to do too much with the ball.

2 - Adjusting too the size/athleticism of the NBA. Passes that went through in college, aren't making it through in the pros. Something all collegiate players have to adjust to.

3 - Not yet being in synch with his teammates. Counsins has nice touch and is a very willing passer, but there have been a number of times he has been posting and tried to throw the ball to a cutter but was just off by a bit or thought he was cutting in another direction.

The nice thing is watching Cousins, you can tell he has talent and generally knows what he is doing with the ball. Yes, he needs to settle down and force the issue less, but he doesn't look lost like a lot of young bigs, he's just learning.

I can tell you, the number of 20 year old bigs who have dominated is a very, very small list. Most of the good bigs in the leauge from the last decade were either struggling in the NBA (J O'Neal, Bynum, Nowitzki) or were still in college/overseas (Shaq, Duncan, Gasol). The occasional KG or Dwight Howard is the exception, not the rule. That's not to say Cousins will be as good as most of the players on those lists, but have some patience and let him learn. Trying to make a summation of his career off of the first 4 weeks of his 20 year old, rookie season would be very unwise.

 

[Kingsguy881]

Fully agree with you. Cousins is also a 20 year old rookie who is being allowed to create with the ball. Most rookie bigs get all of their shots on put backs or dunks/shots set up by teammates. Right now he is taking his lumps in the short term, but this will benefit him in the long term. Watching the games, most of his turnovers are from:

1 - Dribbing into too much traffic. He is very confident, but will get himself into trouble because of it driving into the lane when there are 3 bodies there and trying to do too much with the ball.

2 - Adjusting too the size/athleticism of the NBA. Passes that went through in college, aren't making it through in the pros. Something all collegiate players have to adjust to.

3 - Not yet being in synch with his teammates. Counsins has nice touch and is a very willing passer, but there have been a number of times he has been posting and tried to throw the ball to a cutter but was just off by a bit or thought he was cutting in another direction.

The nice thing is watching Cousins, you can tell he has talent and generally knows what he is doing with the ball. Yes, he needs to settle down and force the issue less, but he doesn't look lost like a lot of young bigs, he's just learning.

I can tell you, the number of 20 year old bigs who have dominated is a very, very small list. Most of the good bigs in the leauge from the last decade were either struggling in the NBA (J O'Neal, Bynum, Nowitzki) or were still in college/overseas (Shaq, Duncan, Gasol). The occasional KG or Dwight Howard is the exception, not the rule. That's not to say Cousins will be as good as most of the players on those lists, but have some patience and let him learn. Trying to make a summation of his career off of the first 4 weeks of his 20 year old, rookie season would be very unwise.

Good post.

 

[bajaden]

Fully agree with you. Cousins is also a 20 year old rookie who is being allowed to create with the ball. Most rookie bigs get all of their shots on put backs or dunks/shots set up by teammates. Right now he is taking his lumps in the short term, but this will benefit him in the long term. Watching the games, most of his turnovers are from:

1 - Dribbing into too much traffic. He is very confident, but will get himself into trouble because of it driving into the lane when there are 3 bodies there and trying to do too much with the ball.

2 - Adjusting too the size/athleticism of the NBA. Passes that went through in college, aren't making it through in the pros. Something all collegiate players have to adjust to.

3 - Not yet being in synch with his teammates. Counsins has nice touch and is a very willing passer, but there have been a number of times he has been posting and tried to throw the ball to a cutter but was just off by a bit or thought he was cutting in another direction.

The nice thing is watching Cousins, you can tell he has talent and generally knows what he is doing with the ball. Yes, he needs to settle down and force the issue less, but he doesn't look lost like a lot of young bigs, he's just learning.

I can tell you, the number of 20 year old bigs who have dominated is a very, very small list. Most of the good bigs in the leauge from the last decade were either struggling in the NBA (J O'Neal, Bynum, Nowitzki) or were still in college/overseas (Shaq, Duncan, Gasol). The occasional KG or Dwight Howard is the exception, not the rule. That's not to say Cousins will be as good as most of the players on those lists, but have some patience and let him learn. Trying to make a summation of his career off of the first 4 weeks of his 20 year old, rookie season would be very unwise.

Good post! One good thing about Cousins turnovers at this point, if there's ever a good thing about turnovers, is that they really seldom come from passing the ball. Most of his turnovers come from, as you stated, putting the ball on the floor and dribbling into traffic when there isn't anything there, bringing the ball down to his waist and letting the guards knock it away, or forcing up a shot through a double team. And I think a percentage of those come out of frustration.

I know that people like to compare players like Cousins to players like Duncan, Ewing, David Robinson, Etc. But all those guys played four years of college baskeball before lacing them up on an NBA court. They came into the league for more prepared than Cousins. So thats the downside with a young talented player. Lack of experience and some basic fundamentals. The upside is that if he had stayed in college for even a couple of more years he would have most likely been the 1st pick in the draft and we wouldn't have gotten him. So we just have to take our lumps along with him and be patient.

 

[bloom]

I'd still like to see Demarcus pass out more. I've seen him force some ugly shots up - especially when he has open guys out on the wing. But he's a rookie and he's learning (I just hope Coach is showing him some video).

Kinda off topic but sometimes we stand around when Demarcus has the ball, we really should be moving and that hopefully should lead to a assist or a way for Demarcus to get to the basket quicker.

Yeah, you're either a troll, or an idiot.

....or both.

 

[Bricklayer]

I'd still like to see Demarcus pass out more. I've seen him force some ugly shots up - especially when he has open guys out on the wing. But he's a rookie and he's learning (I just hope Coach is showing him some video).

Kinda off topic but sometimes we stand around when Demarcus has the ball, we really should be moving and that hopefully should lead to a assist or a way for Demarcus to get to the basket quicker.



....or both.

After seeing how willing, indeed eager, DeMarcus was to pass in summer league, could it be coincidence that he, like virtually every other King, magically seems to have grown selfish/not be able to find anybody in our offense? Passing was always going to be a problem for us as a team, but even our guys who should be able to pass just cant find anybody out there.

I don't know what it is about this offense that attracts Westphal, but he needs to let it go. Here I do miss Adelman, who once famously told his Artest Kings that he knew every offense that had ever been run in the NBA, and if thye didn't ant o run our Princeton, he could swap in another one. May have been hyperbole of course, but Rick's teams always could score, and he asn't a Princeton guy until he got here. I would love to see some of that kind of encyclopedic knowledge and flexibility show up in Westphal.

 

[UK_King]

It must have been horrible for him to watch the obvious rookie of the year destroy us last night.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

It must have been horrible for him to watch the obvious rookie of the year destroy us last night.

I wouldn't be so quick to crown Griffin ROY. Wall is averaging 18 points, 9 assists, and 3 steals, which for a PG, is pretty much on par with Griffin's 18 points and 11 rebounds as a PF. Plus the way Griffin plays, just looks like an injury waiting to happen.

 

[UK_King]

obviously if he stays injury free i just see the sympathy vote with him having missed the year and then coming out like this.

he has a lot of talent. Just watching him blow by our players on the 'highlights' and then standing there in their face. Wow this is a rookie... embarrassing.

 

[mac]

So what is it about Cousins that has made him pale in comparison to Blake, Wall and even Favors? Read something on nba.com recently where they asked coaches(?)around the league who'd they take out of Griffin, Favors and Cousins. Hardly anyone chose to take Cousins.

A few things have bugged me about DeMarcus so far.
1. He's out of shape. If you want to aim for ROY, come from a winning background and want to prove everyone wrong, the obvious thing to do would be to come in prepared, ready to learn and in shape. Obviously you can't compare his athleticism to DeAndre Jordan and Griffin, but on a couple of plays where the Clippers were running on the break, both Griffin and Jordan ran down behind their guards and got the offensive putback. Our bigs were no where to be seen in the screen. If you're young and on a bad team, you damn right better be busting your *** on every single play.

2. He gets too frustrated. I'm all for his drive and motor, but getting that upset and emotional on the court just isn't going to help your game IMO. You get frustrated, you start forcing things, start trying to do too much instead of letting the game come to you.

3. This one's not so much on him more so than it is on PW/guards. We're not playing him inside enough. If we got DMC just to shoot outside jumpshots on a consistent basis off pick and rolls then err ... I question the intelligence of the coaching staff. And that was basically what was happening in the Clippers game.

I'm beginning to think the team really needs either better coaches or more quality vets. Garcia does not cut it, we need someone who has been on a winning team, who really plays the game like a vet and can teach the guys while playing a significant role on the court as well. It's good that we have sammy to hopefully teach Cousins to improve his D, but at the same time, despite how talented Cousins is, I still think that he needs someone to guide him offensively. Our young bigs (minus Landry) all (ok actually it's just JT and Cousins now, but Hawes as well previously) struggle to finish inside and lack patience when they get the ball in the paint. Now this is also largely due to them not getting much experience with the ball in the paint too. I mean, look at Hawes. He had the potential to have a sick post game (honestly I feel that Hawes footwork and post moves, even in his rookie year were better than Cousins' at the moment. Cousins has more strength and size and rebounds way better, but offensively speaking Hawes was more complete IMO). But what happened? We didn't play him inside, used him as a jumpshooting ninny and all our hopes of a great post scorer were traded away to Philly. I worry that without a good coaching staff and mentoring big man the same may happen with Cousins.

 

[UK_King]

I just don't see the need for the head down sulk after a lot of his fouls. Yes, the refs get it wrong, its annoying sometimes, you want to be on the floor.

he takes up quite wide positions in the post as well which force him to have to use a really good post move or spin for a turn around J. And he isn't Dirk so he's not going to use that fadeaway move.

when shaq used to be dominant he would take up that real deep position where all he had to do was pivot and he'd be under the basket; You see Howard do that a lot as well he forces the defensive position with his power... clearly Demarcus isn't at that level yet.

he knew he was coming to a bad team so losing is part and parcel of that im afraid.

 

[mac]

I just don't see the need for the head down sulk after a lot of his fouls. Yes, the refs get it wrong, its annoying sometimes, you want to be on the floor.

he takes up quite wide positions in the post as well which force him to have to use a really good post move or spin for a turn around J. And he isn't Dirk so he's not going to use that fadeaway move.

when shaq used to be dominant he would take up that real deep position where all he had to do was pivot and he'd be under the basket; You see Howard do that a lot as well he forces the defensive position with his power... clearly Demarcus isn't at that level yet.

he knew he was coming to a bad team so losing is part and parcel of that im afraid.

Shaq could and Dwight can also go up strong once they get position inside, even if they have 3 defenders jumping all over them. Cousins doesn't have this kind of explosiveness and it'll be interesting to see how he develops in that aspect of finishing in a crowd

 

[Warhawk]

After seeing how willing, indeed eager, DeMarcus was to pass in summer league, could it be coincidence that he, like virtually every other King, magically seems to have grown selfish/not be able to find anybody in our offense? Passing was always going to be a problem for us as a team, but even our guys who should be able to pass just cant find anybody out there.

I don't know what it is about this offense that attracts Westphal, but he needs to let it go. Here I do miss Adelman, who once famously told his Artest Kings that he knew every offense that had ever been run in the NBA, and if thye didn't ant o run our Princeton, he could swap in another one. May have been hyperbole of course, but Rick's teams always could score, and he asn't a Princeton guy until he got here. I would love to see some of that kind of encyclopedic knowledge and flexibility show up in Westphal.

I think I remember reading that he would also sometimes run the other team's main offensive set once in a game just to show them that "we could do that too if we wanted to."

 

[bloom]

After seeing how willing, indeed eager, DeMarcus was to pass in summer league, could it be coincidence that he, like virtually every other King, magically seems to have grown selfish/not be able to find anybody in our offense? Passing was always going to be a problem for us as a team, but even our guys who should be able to pass just cant find anybody out there.

I don't know what it is about this offense that attracts Westphal, but he needs to let it go. Here I do miss Adelman, who once famously told his Artest Kings that he knew every offense that had ever been run in the NBA, and if thye didn't ant o run our Princeton, he could swap in another one. May have been hyperbole of course, but Rick's teams always could score, and he asn't a Princeton guy until he got here. I would love to see some of that kind of encyclopedic knowledge and flexibility show up in Westphal.

That’s kinda what has me scratching my head a little bit. He knows how to pass and that’s something that a lot of people were surprised by and it made a lot of people excited about his versatility (going to the basket and his ability to find his teammates on some beautiful passes).

We really need to get back to team basketball really soon or it will do way more damage than good...and I'm talking about player mentality and growth (especially since most of our team is young).

 

[iowamcnabb]

Coaches aren't putting him in a position to succeed in my opinion. Last nights game he would get the ball in the high post and almost immediately take the jumper and he missed at least 4 of 5 of those. His second option seems to be driving into the lane and either missing wildly or getting called for the offensive foul. Shouldn't coach be giving direction here? Shouldn't he look for a cutter, pass the ball around the perimeter or as a last option take the jumper? How many times did he receive the ball in the post? If he is going to shoot 38 percent from the field at least let it be while he is working on his post game. Do the coaches not show them game tape so they can see how awful they look? I don't understand it. He is such a talented player but let him make his mistakes in the post.

 

[Kingster]

After seeing how willing, indeed eager, DeMarcus was to pass in summer league, could it be coincidence that he, like virtually every other King, magically seems to have grown selfish/not be able to find anybody in our offense? Passing was always going to be a problem for us as a team, but even our guys who should be able to pass just cant find anybody out there.

I don't know what it is about this offense that attracts Westphal, but he needs to let it go. Here I do miss Adelman, who once famously told his Artest Kings that he knew every offense that had ever been run in the NBA, and if thye didn't ant o run our Princeton, he could swap in another one. May have been hyperbole of course, but Rick's teams always could score, and he asn't a Princeton guy until he got here. I would love to see some of that kind of encyclopedic knowledge and flexibility show up in Westphal.

Yeah, Adelman made that comment in frustration because the Kings were in wallowing in offensive sucktitude at the time. So no, Adelman's teams couldn't always score. You have to have guys who can score to score the ball. Please tell me about the offensive scoring machines on this team. Landry? That's about it. Tyreke can't hit an outside shot if his life depends on it. Cisco went to the same shooting coach as Tyreke during the offseason apparently. Dalembert hasn't hit a shot in who knows how long. Greene is an aberrant scorer at best. Beno can't get his own shot. Cousins is a rookie with a lot to learn on offense with a large cost on the defensive side of the ball. Thompson is a stupid foul or whacky turnaround jumper waiting to happen. Casspi? On again, off again, no defense again.

This team has a long ways to go before an coach can make them offensively palatible without at the same time being incredibly porous on the defensive end of the floor. Of course, we can alway ask for Martin and Hawes back in order to regain some scoring punch, but I tend to think most don't want to do a U turn anytime soon.

 

[SCKingsfan]

Yeah, Adelman made that comment in frustration because the Kings were in wallowing in offensive sucktitude at the time. So no, Adelman's teams couldn't always score. You have to have guys who can score to score the ball. Please tell me about the offensive scoring machines on this team. Landry? That's about it. Tyreke can't hit an outside shot if his life depends on it. Cisco went to the same shooting coach as Tyreke during the offseason apparently. Dalembert hasn't hit a shot in who knows how long. Greene is an aberrant scorer at best. Beno can't get his own shot. Cousins is a rookie with a lot to learn on offense with a large cost on the defensive side of the ball. Thompson is a stupid foul or whacky turnaround jumper waiting to happen. Casspi? On again, off again, no defense again.

This team has a long ways to go before an coach can make them offensively palatible without at the same time being incredibly porous on the defensive end of the floor. Of course, we can alway ask for Martin and Hawes back in order to regain some scoring punch, but I tend to think most don't want to do a U turn anytime soon.

All you are mentioning is ability to shoot and score as individuals. Have you noticed we have no consistent or effective offensive set? If people aren't pasing the ball to set up shots, and moving well without the ball with some feeling they'll get it where they can be effective, then offense efficiency will be low, unless you are stocked with all stars. How well individuals are able to score is an explanation for good b-ball at the Y, not at this level.

 

[kingsboi]

DeMarcus really has a short fuse. He gets frustrated over the littlest things and that clearly affects the way he performs on the court. He needs to seriously have a good person that can guide him and calm him down, teach him the ways and how the game is not supposed to be forced. Play within yourself and take what the defenses give you. It also does not help that Coach Westphal is not utilizing him to the best of his abilities. Which is in the low block. He needs to get 8-10 touches per game down there and just get a good feel of what he can do and what he cannot do. You can only learn by doing something so often. I don't like him taking so many outside jumpers. I don't blame him though, he is open so I can understand if he takes 2-3 a game, that's fine. But, not all game long. Like I mentioned, a good tutor would do him wonders, calm him down and just teach.

 

[RookieOfTheDay]

He needs to seriously have a good person that can guide him and calm him down, teach him the ways and how the game is not supposed to be forced.

Isn't that what they hired his old high scholl coach for?

 

[kingsboi]

Isn't that what they hired his old high scholl coach for?

Apparently it's not working, so somethings gotta give.