[Game] Game 40: Sacramento Kings vs. the- Who the hell cares anymore? 1/17/15 Whenever PM

[VF21]

Nope. Once you look at how inefficient they shot, along with Rudy's defense and their total TO's... it sucks. I think they played poorly tonight. Effort was there from everyone, but it was just a poor game by our 2 guys.

Did you read the part where Rudy attended his uncle's funeral IN CONNECTICUT today, got on a plane, flew cross-country and came straight to STA from the airport and still played? I know it won't matter to you, but your Rudy bashing is really getting old. But hey whatever...

 

[VF21]

Michael Gallagher ‏@MikeSGallagher 3m3 minutes ago
Nik Stauskas was a DNP-CD today. His shot chart over his previous 8 might have something to do with it (28.1 FG%)

 

[lawlman91]

Michael Gallagher ‏@MikeSGallagher 3m3 minutes ago
Nik Stauskas was a DNP-CD today. His shot chart over his previous 8 might have something to do with it (28.1 FG%)

He's a better player than he is playing right now. All he needs is confidence. RayMac shows that you can have confidence even without a lot of playing time

 

[206Fan]

Did you read the part where Rudy attended his uncle's funeral IN CONNECTICUT today, got on a plane, flew cross-country and came straight to STA from the airport and still played? I know it won't matter to you, but your Rudy bashing is really getting old. But hey whatever...

How am I bashing Rudy VF21? I didn't know about that till you said it right now, but what's wrong with being critical of someone's play?

There's probably a lot more offensive things on here than what I said about the guys tonight lol. Pace is the problem.. got it!

 

[mac]

Someone told me that Austin Rivers' nickname was "Sub Zero." My first thought was, why does a scrub have a nickname? But then I thought, well, Sub Zero is a pretty accurate description of his NBA productivity...

I'm not sure who's a worse PG - Ray Mac or Austin Rivers. Arguably some of the worst guards in the league getting regular minutes, but in Ray's case it's because Sessions is out and Nik is ... Nik. Ray can score, but as a PG running an offense is terrible. Rivers on the other hand has gotten consistent minutes in NO and I can never understand why. He's lucky he's playing for his dad now because he's absolutely terrible at about everything possible on a basketball court.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Rivers is worse. McCallum is not ready for prime time, but he appears to have an NBA skill or two. Also, he wasn't the tenth overall pick, so he doesn't have that going against him. One of them is a subpar point guard, and the other is a subpar point guard who is also a bust.

 

[VF21]

#1CousinsFan ‏@CousinsFan15 14m14 minutes ago
Not sure how many of you saw especially the TV people.. But DeMarcus Cousins and Chris Paul shook hands and actually talked after the game.

 

[Uncia03]

The problem is that no-one could have watched Rivers play at Duke and say 'That guy is a PG'.
He was a shooting guard through and through and looked absolutely nothing like a PG.

I mean, Jimmer showed infinitely more affinity to pass, distribute, keep the team involved in his days at BYU compared to what Rivers showed.

So I don't know how anyone could have watched him play at Duke and think that back-up PG was a position he could be put in and actually be successful.

 

[mac]

#1CousinsFan ‏@CousinsFan15 14m14 minutes ago
Not sure how many of you saw especially the TV people.. But DeMarcus Cousins and Chris Paul shook hands and actually talked after the game.

IIRC Cousins alluded to hearing about Paul's leadership when he was with team USA. I'm sure he's also heard about Paul's leadership from Collison. My guess is those things have changed Cousins' impression of Paul... I'm sure he still doesn't like him but I dare say he respects him a little more now.

 

[KingsFanGER]

He's a better player than he is playing right now. All he needs is confidence. RayMac shows that you can have confidence even without a lot of playing time

But where should the confidence come from? He rarely is involved into the offense, is not allowed to create his own shot and the moment he misses 1 or 2 shots is instantly removed from the game. He gets the rookie treatment from the refs on defense and can't defend without fouling - which he should have learned by now.
Playing Ray over Nik doesn't help. Moving forward we need to turn our first round pick into a valuable player. DMC stated that Niks works very hard. That's everything we can demand from him. Now it's time to actually teach him, how to succeed in his personal way in the NBA. If we give up and trade him I will be disappointed by the shortsighted view of our FO.

 

[lawlman91]

But where should the confidence come from? He rarely is involved into the offense, is not allowed to create his own shot and the moment he misses 1 or 2 shots is instantly removed from the game. He gets the rookie treatment from the refs on defense and can't defend without fouling - which he should have learned by now.
Playing Ray over Nik doesn't help. Moving forward we need to turn our first round pick into a valuable player. DMC stated that Niks works very hard. That's everything we can demand from him. Now it's time to actually teach him, how to succeed in his personal way in the NBA. If we give up and trade him I will be disappointed by the shortsighted view of our FO.

Maybe I'm paranoid and got an argumentative vibe from your response. BUT, I too don't want to trade Nik. He has what we don't have on this team: 3pt shooting. But he also has an intangible: the capacity to work hard. The "working hard" part is very important. We should not give up on Nik at all.

 

[VF21]

But where should the confidence come from? He rarely is involved into the offense, is not allowed to create his own shot and the moment he misses 1 or 2 shots is instantly removed from the game. He gets the rookie treatment from the refs on defense and can't defend without fouling - which he should have learned by now.
Playing Ray over Nik doesn't help. Moving forward we need to turn our first round pick into a valuable player. DMC stated that Niks works very hard. That's everything we can demand from him. Now it's time to actually teach him, how to succeed in his personal way in the NBA. If we give up and trade him I will be disappointed by the shortsighted view of our FO.

You have to accept the possibility that sometimes a first round pick doesn't turn into a valuable player. I'm not ready to give up on Nik, but I do think he could benefit from some time in the D-League to help him with his confidence in his shot.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

Michael Gallagher ‏@MikeSGallagher 3m3 minutes ago
Nik Stauskas was a DNP-CD today. His shot chart over his previous 8 might have something to do with it (28.1 FG%)

Stauskas has literally been as irrelevant this season as all of the lottery pick rookies that have been injured and haven't even played an NBA game yet.


send him to Reno ASAP

 

[KingsFanGER]

You have to accept the possibility that sometimes a first round pick doesn't turn into a valuable player. I'm not ready to give up on Nik, but I do think he could benefit from some time in the D-League to help him with his confidence in his shot.

I agree, but if said lottery pick is a workhorse I wouldn't put the blame on the player, but on the organisation, that couldn't help him, finding his way into the NBA.

 

[dude12]

I agree, but if said lottery pick is a workhorse I wouldn't put the blame on the player, but on the organisation, that couldn't help him, finding his way into the NBA.

Really? That kid has played quite a bit. He's had opportunities to perform. He's brought off the bench and not thrust into the starting role like Ben so that he can play against reserves. At some point, the player has to perform at least a little bit and this kid hasn't been very good. Brutal in fact. They should put him in Reno for about 3 games just to let him get some time where he can shoot until he can't shoot anymore.

 

[Livinthedream]

But where should the confidence come from? He rarely is involved into the offense, is not allowed to create his own shot and the moment he misses 1 or 2 shots is instantly removed from the game. He gets the rookie treatment from the refs on defense and can't defend without fouling - which he should have learned by now.
Playing Ray over Nik doesn't help. Moving forward we need to turn our first round pick into a valuable player. DMC stated that Niks works very hard. That's everything we can demand from him. Now it's time to actually teach him, how to succeed in his personal way in the NBA. If we give up and trade him I will be disappointed by the shortsighted view of our FO.

That's what the off season is for.

We don't actually know what we have in Nik right now. No one is taking shots from Nik. He's actually being encouraged to shoot when he gets the ball. As far as being frozen out of the offense, this happens to all Kings players not named Cousins or Gay.

We all know Nik can shoot and given time for the game to slow down for him, some of those shots will begin to fall. Does he have the rest of the game though? Can he defend? I know Nik knows the concepts of defending, but can he move his feet quick enough consistently to stay in front of NBA players? His fouls come not from being a rookie, but from being a half step behind the play.

We compare our two young SG and say we have to give Nik time like Ben. Here is the difference between the two, which raises my concern level with Nik. Ben's problem on defense his rookie year was over pursuing. He would often move too fast and take himself out of position. Nik trails on defense. Nik's hands are quick and he's a quick jumper, but he ends up using that as his defense. But defense is played with your feet, not your hands. The reaching and jumping while out of position is getting Nik in foul trouble. Ben's problem on offense was his issue with dribbling and rushing shots. These are things to be developed and worked on. Things that are within control and improved upon. Nik is supposed to be "polished" and ready to play. He can shoot, pass, dribble and make plays, so we're told. Now I don't really think any rookie is ready to play day one, but when we see a guy as developed, it means we are closer to his ceiling on day one. If we're close to Nik's ceiling, he may turn into a decent NBA player when his shots start to fall, but not one that you have to keep out of trade consideration.

 

[KingsFanGER]

Really? That kid has played quite a bit. He's had opportunities to perform. He's brought off the bench and not thrust into the starting role like Ben so that he can play against reserves. At some point, the player has to perform at least a little bit and this kid hasn't been very good. Brutal in fact. They should put him in Reno for about 3 games just to let him get some time where he can shoot until he can't shoot anymore.

I wasn't referring to playing time, but to practice and development. I'm fine with some D-League experience for Nik. But at some point you have to question why franchises like the Spurs are able to develop players, while we give up on first round picks or messed with Tyreke's game all the time. Nik has some tools, which any NBA time could use. It's the coaches job to teach him to use this tools and play to his strengths. All you can really ask out of a rookie is that he is willing to learn and works hard.

 

[dude12]

I wasn't referring to playing time, but to practice and development. I'm fine with some D-League experience for Nik. But at some point you have to question why franchises like the Spurs are able to develop players, while we give up on first round picks or messed with Tyreke's game all the time. Nik has some tools, which any NBA time could use. It's the coaches job to teach him to use this tools and play to his strengths. All you can really ask out of a rookie is that he is willing to learn and works hard.

It appeared to me as though Malone was developing guys. Many if not most of the players were playing the best ball of their career. And what about Ben? Is he not developing? For that matter, Cuz has developed nicely. You can't blame the current organization on the Tyreke career arc as they weren't here but quite frankly, Tyreke is what he is.

And as far as the Spurs, they put guys in roles they can handle. It does help to have guys like Duncan, Parker and Ginobili around. They have a system and they plug guys into those roles. K Leonard isn't being asked to carry the scoring load, he's being asked to defend and then score when the opportunity is there.

I think you CAN make a case for them missing on the draft. TRob was a missed pick...a guy with very little upside, but a guy who can have a role in the league. Jimmer? A complete whiff. But these were the old regime picks. Ben is the 1st pick for the new one and it was a quality pick. Stauskas remains to be seen but at where they picked, you don't go for a role player. But right now, Nik is getting his chances.