Early 2014/15 team stats: Are we the physical & selfish team that stats suggest?

Ron

Ron

Starter
In the wake of a very promising 8-game start by the Kings (Especially the impressive 5-win streak in games #2-#6), the team stats now put us at the very extreme of the charts in 2 aspects:

I'm not sure yet if this has to do, at least partly, with coincidence, schedule & small sample size, or is it, in fact, WHO WE ARE, in our team's DNA?

What say you?

And if it IS who we really are - is that a good or a bad thing?

Should we try to change this? How?

Figure 1
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Figure 2
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Or looked at another way, we get plenty of opportunities, turnover a lot, and do a poor job of sharing the ball.
I like to watch the Kings playing away from the ball. Standing around has been a problem for this team for a long time. During the streak they moved more.
Defense will continue to be the issue.
 
To put it kindly, the motion offense that we heard so much about is a work in progress. We'll see how it looks in another month or so.
 
A lot of the Kings' offense runs around getting Boogie, Gay, and Landry (typically Boogie) in good position and then making a pass to them. Sometimes, that necessitates ball movement, which typically comes in the form of swing passes from wing to wing. But no one picks up the assist, because Boogie, Gay, and Landry require some time to take advantage of good position. However, I see a development in the offense: assists to outside shooters (Ben McLemore). As far as I know, shooters aren't encouraged to take their time unlike post people down low. That means that the passer to the shooter will usually get an assist. As our shooters develop, we will only see an upside in our assist numbers. There's nowhere else to go but up!
 
Flopi said:
Another stat to consider : Kings are, by far, the team attempting the most free throws in the NBA (thanks to DMC and Rudy).
And there are no assist when you shoot/make free throws...
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Indeed, Kings are second to last in FG Made.
So, if you look at AST/FGM ratio, things are a little bit better : Kings are 25th.

Team FGM AST AST %
Atlanta Hawks 36,4 23,9 65,66%
Miami Heat 36 23,1 64,17%
Los Angeles Clippers 36,1 23,1 63,99%
Washington Wizards 37,1 23,6 63,61%
Philadelphia 76ers 34,7 22 63,40%
New York Knicks 36,2 22,3 61,60%
Boston Celtics 41,3 25,4 61,50%
Portland Trail Blazers 39,2 24 61,22%
Golden State Warriors 38,3 23,3 60,84%
Milwaukee Bucks 36 21,9 60,83%
Chicago Bulls 37,5 22,6 60,27%
New Orleans Pelicans 38,9 23,4 60,15%
San Antonio Spurs 35,1 21,1 60,11%
Houston Rockets 34,6 20,6 59,54%
Charlotte Hornets 36,3 21,5 59,23%
Utah Jazz 36,4 21,3 58,52%
Oklahoma City Thunder 34 19,2 56,47%
Memphis Grizzlies 35,3 19,8 56,09%
Minnesota Timberwolves 37,4 20,7 55,35%
Denver Nuggets 36,1 19,9 55,12%
Orlando Magic 37,9 20,8 54,88%
Los Angeles Lakers 37,6 20,3 53,99%
Cleveland Cavaliers 35,7 19,2 53,78%
Dallas Mavericks 40,4 21,6 53,47%
Sacramento Kings 34,4 18,3 53,20%
Detroit Pistons 34,8 18,5 53,16%
Indiana Pacers 34,6 17,8 51,45%
Toronto Raptors 36,8 18,6 50,54%
Brooklyn Nets 39,1 19,7 50,38%
Phoenix Suns 38 19 50,00%
 
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despite back-to-back losses, there is good news here. yes, the offense needs work, but the effort we've seen on defense, the effort we've seen on the boards, and the physicality that's been on display are all sustainable factors. it will require that this team continues to buy in to the coaching staff's gameplan, but the kings didn't jump out to an early winning record because they were on a hot streak. they've won tough games against stiff competition in spite of their offensive struggles. that's a positive sign to me. even in their losses to OKC and dallas, the kings remained a difficult team to put away. that's important when you're attempting to become a winner...

ball movement and movement away from the ball remain sticking points, but the "eye test" has thus far shown me that this team is willing to play unselfish basketball. note: isolation basketball is not necessarily selfish basketball. when the gameplan necessitates an isolation play from either demarcus cousins or rudy gay, then it is the team's job to execute, to get the ball to demarcus or rudy where they are most effective. and when the gameplan necessitates more ball movement than that, it is the team's job to execute, to move off the ball, to create space for each other. the kings have some bad habits to break still, but clearly the culture is shifting away from one of selfish individualism. even in a couple of tough losses, this team rallies around each other. they go to bat for each other. they cheer. they care. again, these are important and sustainable factors to keep in mind while some of the more glaring offensive struggles work themselves out...
 
We are 5-3 and aside from the first game, we havent been blown out. We are going to lose road games, but we are competing every night thus far. I think the key for us is to first establish our home court, survive the rest of this month. The west is tough, but that also means you wont see many huge win streaks this year, teams are going to best up on each other. The key is to stick to the plan, dont lose your composure because of 1 bad night on the road in Dallas(which would be chalked up as a loss, but looks bad because wr had them where we wanted them and we let them off the hook, "The Mavs are who we thought they were!"). We will probably lose again today, but just survive this first month and we could get rolling in December. Just stop getting in foul trouble Cousins!
 
jcwkings said:
We are 5-3 and aside from the first game, we havent been blown out. We are going to lose road games, but we are competing every night thus far. I think the key for us is to first establish our home court, survive the rest of this month. The west is tough, but that also means you wont see many huge win streaks this year, teams are going to best up on each other. The key is to stick to the plan, dont lose your composure because of 1 bad night on the road in Dallas(which would be chalked up as a loss, but looks bad because wr had them where we wanted them and we let them off the hook, "The Mavs are who we thought they were!"). We will probably lose again today, but just survive this first month and we could get rolling in December. Just stop getting in foul trouble Cousins!
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And we indeed let them off the hook
 
The physical isn't truly an illusion, although the boardwork is primarily Cuz and Reggie. But our two (and three if you count Landry) best scorers are all postup guys as well.

The passing -- there are some stylistic restrictions on our assists, and flat talent/lack of backcourt creativity issues long before we get to flat selfishness.
 
lawlman91 said:
A lot of the Kings' offense runs around getting Boogie, Gay, and Landry (typically Boogie) in good position and then making a pass to them. Sometimes, that necessitates ball movement, which typically comes in the form of swing passes from wing to wing. But no one picks up the assist, because Boogie, Gay, and Landry require some time to take advantage of good position. However, I see a development in the offense: assists to outside shooters (Ben McLemore). As far as I know, shooters aren't encouraged to take their time unlike post people down low. That means that the passer to the shooter will usually get an assist. As our shooters develop, we will only see an upside in our assist numbers. There's nowhere else to go but up!
Click to expand...

Bingo!
 
Padrino said:
despite back-to-back losses, there is good news here. yes, the offense needs work, but the effort we've seen on defense, the effort we've seen on the boards, and the physicality that's been on display are all sustainable factors. it will require that this team continues to buy in to the coaching staff's gameplan, but the kings didn't jump out to an early winning record because they were on a hot streak. they've won tough games against stiff competition in spite of their offensive struggles. that's a positive sign to me. even in their losses to OKC and dallas, the kings remained a difficult team to put away. that's important when you're attempting to become a winner...

ball movement and movement away from the ball remain sticking points, but the "eye test" has thus far shown me that this team is willing to play unselfish basketball. note: isolation basketball is not necessarily selfish basketball. when the gameplan necessitates an isolation play from either demarcus cousins or rudy gay, then it is the team's job to execute, to get the ball to demarcus or rudy where they are most effective. and when the gameplan necessitates more ball movement than that, it is the team's job to execute, to move off the ball, to create space for each other. the kings have some bad habits to break still, but clearly the culture is shifting away from one of selfish individualism. even in a couple of tough losses, this team rallies around each other. they go to bat for each other. they cheer. they care. again, these are important and sustainable factors to keep in mind while some of the more glaring offensive struggles work themselves out...
Click to expand...


Bingo pt 2
 
There is certainly a lot of ISO ball happening, mostly Rudy, you have to consider the fact that our best player usually scores in the post without an assist. I would say the ball movement is definitely better than it has been in the past. But it can definitely improve
 
jcwkings said:
We are 5-3 and aside from the first game, we havent been blown out. We are going to lose road games, but we are competing every night thus far. I think the key for us is to first establish our home court, survive the rest of this month. The west is tough, but that also means you wont see many huge win streaks this year, teams are going to best up on each other. The key is to stick to the plan, dont lose your composure because of 1 bad night on the road in Dallas(which would be chalked up as a loss, but looks bad because wr had them where we wanted them and we let them off the hook, "The Mavs are who we thought they were!"). We will probably lose again today, but just survive this first month and we could get rolling in December. Just stop getting in foul trouble Cousins!
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Agreed December is very favorable we shouldn't lose more than 4 games if we play like we have been.
 
well considering we have two ball dominant players...I can expect that. Do the Thunder average a lot of assists with Durant and Westbrook? I'm curious....
 
kingsboi said:
well considering we have two ball dominant players...I can expect that. Do the Thunder average a lot of assists with Durant and Westbrook? I'm curious....
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I would rather see the Kings stats compared with the previous Lakers team of Shaq/Kobe or that Houston team of Olajuwon/Drexler.

How did that Lakers team win it 3 times in a row and Houston 2 times in a row?

Is there a lesson on those old "glorious teams" we can use to improve this Kings team?
 
Prince_XY said:
I would rather see the Kings stats compared with the previous Lakers team of Shaq/Kobe or that Houston team of Olajuwon/Drexler.

How did that Lakers team win it 3 times in a row and Houston 2 times in a row?

Is there a lesson on those old "glorious teams" we can use to improve this Kings team?
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I think a whole heck of a lot of the problems go away with adequate bigs off the bench. you know, tall guys. Christ, call up Aaron Gray. Ok, not Gray. This shouldn't be that hard. But someone has to guard the paint when Cousins is out.

The good thing is, of course, the fixes SEEM fairly obvious. I'm just worried no one in the King's front office seems to see that going with one center just makes things way more difficult than things need to be. And they waste their time on a stiff like Sim and stick Moreland in the hell that is Reno where they play a style of ball absolutely not relevant to the Kings with Demarcus Cousins.

I mean, they play Hollins almost zero time and he won the game cause he was tall and tipped the ball. Earth to PDA? Come in PDA. How's about one of those tall guys that every other team seems to have?
 
Multiple issues:

1) we clearly need a couple of pieces, a reserve rim protector and a reserve PG. Those huge +/- numbers with Cuz and Collison are in part because they have no adequate replacements. Get decent backups and it smooths out the time when they are out.

2) BUT our frontcourt structure makes adding a rim protector difficult because the guys we have have roles. Hollins has no trade value, Cuz is the franchise, Reggie is Cuz's mentor and spiritual leader, and Landry is key as the 6th man scorer/points off the bench.

3) that again leaves poor JT as the likely man out/who can be replaced

4) but of course if you replace JT you aren't getting any bigger, although you can get a guy who is more team defender/rim protector compared to JT's man defense

5) regardless, in order to balance out the minutes/keep the rim closed, you basically need to take one of the 6'8" PFs, either Reggie or Landry, and make them a starter. Because Landry is THE scorer off the bench, the better choice to me seems to be Reggie. And normally I don't even think that's as big a problem as some do. Worth noting though that Memphis actually DID take advantage of his presence in the second half to start doubling the ball and ignoring him. He actually hurt us offensively.

6) so if that's the idea, we could accomplish it internally by merely swapping Reggie and JT. But JT is hardly a rim protector, even if he is big, and it hurts our starting defense.

7) or...you look at who might be available out there, overpaid, on a struggling team, and you look at a guy like Dalmebert or Javale McGee. Problem is that Daly looks just about done. McGee is oft mocked, but the thing is that awful contract? Not so awful in comparison to JT's anymore. Yes, $12mil for what you are proposing as a backup big man. But its over next year, while JT's lasts 2 more years. And he's mobile enough to play next to Cousins at times.
 
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Bricklayer said:
Multiple issues:

1) we clearly need a couple of pieces, a reserve rim protector and a reserve PG. Those huge +/- numbers with Cuz and Collison are in part because they have no adequate replacements. Get decent backups and it smooths out the time when they are out.

2) BUT our frontcourt structure makes adding a rim protector difficult because the guys we have have roles. Hollins has no trade value, Cuz is the franchise, Reggie is Cuz's mentor and spiritual leader, and Landry is key as the 6th man scorer/points off the bench.

3) that again leaves poor JT as the likely man out/who can be replaced

4) but of course if you replace JT you aren't getting any bigger, although you can get a guy who is more team defender/rim protector compared to JT's man defense

5) regardless, in order to balance out the minutes/keep the rim closed, you basically need to take one of the 6'8" PFs, either Reggie or Landry, and make them a starter. Because Landry is THE scorer off the bench, the better choice to me seems to be Reggie. And normally I don't even think that's as big a problem as some do. Worth noting though that Memphis actually DID take advantage of his presence in the second half to start doubling the ball and ignoring him. He actually hurt us offensively.

6) so if that's the idea, we could accomplish it internally by merely swapping Reggie and JT. But JT is hardly a rim protector, even if he is big, and it hurts our starting defense.

7) or...you look at who might be available out there, overpaid, on a struggling team, and you look at a guy like Dalmebert or Javale McGee. Problem is that Daly looks just about done. McGee is oft mocked, but the thing is that awful contract? Not so awful in comparison to JT's anymore. Yes, $12mil for what you are prosing as a backup big man. But its over next year, while JT's lasts 2 more years. And he's mobile enough to play next to Cousins at times.
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All great points we can't trade Evans/Landry that leaves only JT and we don't have a pick to throw in so we have to give Nik up too if we want an upgrade to JT. I'm with you on McGee Karl was able to reel him in and I belive malone can too.
It would probably come down to is vs cavs for McGee and they have waiters/Memphis 1st/ hayword a expiring.
 
Bricklayer said:
7) or...you look at who might be available out there, overpaid, on a struggling team, and you look at a guy like Dalmebert or Javale McGee. Problem is that Daly looks just about done. McGee is oft mocked, but the thing is that awful contract? Not so awful in comparison to JT's anymore. Yes, $12mil for what you are proposing as a backup big man. But its over next year, while JT's lasts 2 more years. And he's mobile enough to play next to Cousins at times.
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Good proposal and it shows you prefer a shot blocker more than a man-to-man defender for this current Kings roster. I like it.

Somehow though, it looks a little iffy to me. Just a little bit iffy.

So, we're trading Jeff Daniels for Jim Carrey?:D
 
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According to league stats, the Kings are ranked #8 in RPI, an index that uses strength of schedule as determinings factor in overal performance ranking. And next opponent however, the Spurs, are ranked #2!

The bigger need is backup center who can hold own at both ends. Maybe time to put JT on bench as backup 5 to Cuz and start Landry at the 4 with Casspi his backup and Evans as needed.
 
CruzDude said:
According to league stats, the Kings are ranked #8 in RPI, an index that uses strength of schedule as determinings factor in overal performance ranking. And next opponent however, the Spurs, are ranked #2!

The bigger need is backup center who can hold own at both ends. Maybe time to put JT on bench as backup 5 to Cuz and start Landry at the 4 with Casspi his backup and Evans as needed.
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JT must be playing the defense the coach wants.
 
CruzDude said:
According to league stats, the Kings are ranked #8 in RPI, an index that uses strength of schedule as determinings factor in overal performance ranking. And next opponent however, the Spurs, are ranked #2!

The bigger need is backup center who can hold own at both ends. Maybe time to put JT on bench as backup 5 to Cuz and start Landry at the 4 with Casspi his backup and Evans as needed.
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Landry is wasted as a starter between Cuz and Gay. Needed as a reserve scorer for a punchless bench. You could start Reggie however.
 
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