Are all the open shooters on teams the Kings are facing the result of player effort or is it because of the defensive scheme? Perhaps the scheme does not match the players abilities?
Without getting into the weeds, I think it's safe to assume that since were at the bottom of the league in defending the three, it has more to do with either personnel, or effort than anything else. We are, if I have my facts straight, talking about experienced NBA players playing defense. P&R defense is pretty basic and by the time a player has played through highschool, college, and 5 or 6 years of NBA basketball, I would think he knows all the nuances of how to play defense. However, knowing and doing are two separate things. In Belinelli's case, I think it has more to do with physical ability than it does effort. Whatever the reason, he stinks. McLemore is hot and cold, which makes him hard to judge. He'll follow a great play, with a bonehead play. He's consistently inconsistent.
We can banter back and forth about the pluses and minuses of of our backcourt, but one thing is obvious, we need a change if were going to win consistently. When your at the bottom of the league in three point defense, and the league is living and feeding on shooting the three, you have to fix the problem. I realize that it's easier said than done, but that's what Vlade is getting paid the big bucks for. All that aside, I do think that Karl has a large responsibility in this. His tendency to go with Belinelli while he's missing shot after shot, and getting burned on defense, while Ben, Anderson, and Curry ride the bench is baffling. Although of late, he has used Anderson more.
While were throwing blame around, I think Cousins has to take a little responsibility. I cut him some slack because of how hard he works on the offensive side of the ball. But of late, and particularly since Willie is back beside him, he's shown a reluctance to come out and guard big's that are capable three point shooters. He left Hawes open several times in the Hornet game, and last night he played off of Leonard and got burned. Winning is about the elimination of mistakes. Every turnover that results in a basket for the other team, every missed assignment that results in a basket, every time someone is late getting back on defense that results in a basket, are reasons we lose a game. Your never going to eliminate them, but the fewer mistakes you make, the more your winning percentage will rise.
My point is, turning the ball over 20 times a game (no we don't do that every game), and being a poor perimeter defensive team is a recipe for failure. Whether we like if or not, the league has fallen in love with the three point shot. Along with that, the league is playing at a faster pace with smaller players. I think the fact that most good three point shooters happen to be 6'7"or shorter has something to do with that. When you dip your ladle into the three pt. shooting soup, you usually come out with a smaller player. It is what it is, and you have to deal with it. Far too often of late, we've found ourselves in a shootout in the 4th quarter, trading two point baskets for three point baskets.
If were going to win those games, logic tells you that you have to match their three's, or, we have to stop them from hitting those three's. Strikes me that the easier answer of the two is to stop them, or at least reduce them. Simple math tells you that if they hit 4 out of 10 three's, you have to hit 6 out of 10 two's to match them. In other words, if thay shoot 40% from the three, you have to shoot 60% of your two pt shots just to stay even with them. Since we seldom shoot 60% the obvious answer it stop them from shooting 40%. I realize that this is a simplistic example, but the problem is very real and needs to be addressed if were going to move forward.
