[Grades] Grade v. Pistons 03/14/12

[Bricklayer]

Get this. Kings defense since Keith Smart chucked it all away and went full-Nellie 14 games ago:

107.7ppg allowed

2nd worst defensive team in entire league this year?

Washington 102.3ppg

We are not only the worst defensive team in the league playing this way, its not even remotely close, and it gives us no hope of winning most nights. Miami scores 102.5ppg. Give them our 107.7ppg smallball defense and they'd be 10 games under .500.

Boxscore

Evans ( B+ ) -- off to the fast aggressive start, drainign his first two jumpers and then getting out on the break. Was';t all falling, but played the game fast and aggressivce. And active on defense as well as he held Stuckey to 2pts in the first quarter and notched 2 steals. This BTW is the same Stuckey who would have 33 by the end of the third (a lot of it against others). Snatched a strong board on a missed FT in an all around physical push in the early going. Then in one of those questionable subbing patterns again, got frozen by his own coach until less than 3 minutes were left in the half. Made another little push going into half, but by that point Stuckey had gottne going against the bench and wasn't slowing down the other way. Starting settling for jumpers in the third as this thing began to slip away. Of course Pistons were daring him to take it. Got back in in the mid 4th and tried to carry us back into it with a quick 7pt burst in 3 minutes to cut the Pistons lead from 17 to 11, but then we added injury to insult as Reke went down the lane, took an awkward step and completely rolled the ankle again and had to leave the game. It was a pretty ugly one too. But thing with sprains is the more you do it, the looser the ligament becomes, so that it gets easier and easier to re-sprain them, but the injuries also become less severe. Reke was helped of the court, but near the bench said something to one of the guy and was able to hobble a bit without support, so maybe there's hope. 23 pts in 27min of acting as the Pistons had nobody who could stay in front of him.

Kings fans reaction to watching our defense #1

Thompson ( A ) -- got off to such a strong active start I was surprised he did not get benched for it. Had a double double by the early 2nd quarter as Maxiel's Hayes-like height finally caught up to him and Jaosn was just converting on the perfet roleplayer offense. Floows of misses, moving wihtotu the ball and tkaing passes for layups etc. Finally slowed a bit as the half wore on and he probably got tired. Was making those little finishes around the rim for once and extreemly efficient all night on his way to a 10-12 shooting night. Not able to slow Monroe anymore than anybody else when he was switched onto him, but did largely counter his big game with 21pts 15reb and even 4ast of his own. Easily his best game of the season bouncing back from a bad month so far.

Kings fans reaction to watching our defense #2

Cousins ( C ) -- suprisingly quiet in the early going given how badly he dominated this matchup last time. Setting people up as a passer more than shooting himself, incluing a nifty no look shovel pass to JT for the layup, and just not looking to be in aggressive butt kicking mode. IN fact looked kind of out of sorts and slouchy from the beginning, and given that at this point I feel that generally DeMarcus reflects exaclty how he is feeling in his play on the court, maybe tired on the back to back, or unhappy abot how things have spiraled. Maybe. Supporting the mighta been tired theory was the fact that he again was nothing special on the glass. In any case it was his old nemesis which again shut him down and put a big dent in our chances to win this one. An I don't mean Greg Monroe. Picked up a series of quick fouls inthe late 2nd quarter and early third that quickly had him pinned ot the bench as Monroe ran roughshod over us. After he immediately picked up his 4th in the early third we got in trouble. Not able to have a major impact after his return, although threatened to make a big splash late on a pair of plays summing up all of his brilliance and frustration, as he hit the jumper with 1:20 to go to make it 9, and then almost made a play to open the door on an unlikely comeback, jumping a lane to nab a steal in the open court, but then again making the selfiosh error of trying to go all the way in himself rather than kicking it out tohis open guards for a three to cut the elad to 6. Missed the layup against traffic inside, and we were done.

Kings fans reaction to watching our defense #3

 

[Bricklayer]

Thornton ( C- ) -- A highly odd outing. Not shooting in the early going, but rather racking up assists? Somebody say something to him? Just invisible in the first half. Stuck guarding Prince as Reke took Stuckey, and was just overwhelmed inside and shot over at will all night long. By both Prince and Stuckey BTW. Odd thing wiht Marcus who i a strong and atheltic 6'4" guy is that even when he is right there and trying to play good defense he still seems to get scored over. Hit two threes early int he thrid and thought he might be waking up, but never did get the offense going amongst our over-offensed starting crew and instead was almost playing PG, allowing IT to embrace his scoring instincts,. End result was that Marcus Thornton, in fairly big minutes (34) actually finished last amongst the starters in FGA and points, while finishing first in assists. Go figure. I don't know what to do with that gradewise, but getting exterminated like a bug on defense is the tipper, even if it is rampantly unfair to ask him to guard a guy half a foot taller than him,

Kings fans reaction to watching our defense #4

Thomas ( B ) -- looked comfortable again facing fellow rook Knight, immediately starting the game off with a drive and score, and racking up 8 pts over the course of the quarter. Was passing early on to, and it was when we were at our best. Of course neither he nor we could stop anybody back the other way, but these appear to be irrelevancies in Kingsland nowadays and oddly that is deemed acceptable. Hit a big three in the mid 4th after we finally got our starters back in. His only hit from distance on the night. But that started an unfortunate selfish streak where he took it upon himself to save us, and just...he better watch it or DeMarcus is going to smack him one of these days. Feeding the big man >5'9" guys gunning up long jumpers. Padded these numbers up in he last couple of minutes of garbagetime. Still a better game for IT then he's been playing. If we could just match him against fellow rookie PGs every night we'd be in good shape.

Kings fans reaction to watching our defense #5

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bench

Hayes ( D+ ) -- completely ineffective in there in place of either Cousins or Thompson., No idea at all why he as a 6 yr vet or whatever continues to think its productive to suddenly go 1 on 3 and throw up some completely random hopeless flip. Scored twice on what he should be concentrating on, moving, catchng and quickly laying it up. Did not rebound at all again and I guess the shoulder has completely neutered him in that aspect. I guess. Did not slow Monroe either. Not getting our $5mil's worth.

Kings fans reaction to watching our defense #6

Salmons ( C ) -- hey, we lost in embarrassing fashion, but we got a bunch of assists, so that is the big everything right? Er... Thing is in this game maybe the two most selfish players on our roster led us with 6 (Thronton) and 5 (Salmons) assists. A good sign under different circumstances. Missing his threes, and in particular people made a mistake of drawing and kicking it to him, and he just isn't going to hit a nice draw and kick three. Ineffective on defense this time, as was bascially everybody. Started fumbling it all over the gym in the 4th, thus earning him a promotion to PF in place of our most productive player on the nght (JT) for a chunk of the stretch run.

Kings fans reaction to watching our defense #7

 

[Bricklayer]

Garcia ( B ) -- again our best bencher as after he finally woke up he's turned into a useful roleplayer...juat in serarch of an organized team needing one. Came in the game and immediately hit a three, forcing a Pistons timeout. Had a nice help block inside again, and hit another three late in the 3rd to briefly staunch the bleeding. But got challenged and threw one off the backboard to start the 4th and despite solid play here and a couple of good momentum shots was never playing at a level to change the course of things.

Kings fans reaction to watching our defense #8

Fredette ( D ) -- ineffective in his stint. Did not play at all before half and given that he was not traded it jsut had to have been because of the defensive slaughter against Golden State. Once he got in decided the way to help was to chuck up a 30 foot brick in the early 4th. Then got stripped up around halfcourt. Good news is that as badly as everybody else was getting whipped on defense, Jimmer did not stand out in that respect.

Kings fans reaction to watching our defense #9

 

[ElRey]

yeah, you might get better offense with small ball but you also give up a lot of points. That's why they say small ball don't succeed in the playoffs. Put Tyreke back at PG!

 

[rainmaker]

Anyone hear the postgame? Is it true Smart basically said we're poor defensively, and he's not sure we'll get better. Also said we didn't have players who could guard Prince?

If true, as I haven't heard it yet, it would be inexcusable. No Donte? MT on Prince? 3-4 guards at all times? Salmons instead of 20/10 JT in 4th? And you don't know why we're not good on that end?

 

[Padrino]

Anyone hear the postgame? Is it true Smart basically said we're poor defensively, and he's not sure we'll get better. Also said we didn't have players who could guard Prince?

If true, as I haven't heard it yet, it would be inexcusable. No Donte? MT on Prince? 3-4 guards at all times? Salmons instead of 20/10 JT in 4th? And you don't know why we're not good on that end?

it doesn't really matter if what he said is true. actions speak louder, and all that. the guy appears so fixated on small ball that he is absolutely unwilling to aid the kings' defensive problems by matching up with opposing offenses accordingly. i mean, for a few games its an "experiment." but after 15 games its more like a flat-out refusal, and for the remainder of the season its sabotage. outside of cousins/evans/thornton, the kings are not terribly talented. but you still attempt to matchup defensively on any given night. otherwise, what the hell are you doing? what are you playing for? you're certainly not playing to win. are you playing for the draft pick, then? after several seasons of doing so? are the kings ever going to try to be more than a lottery-bound basement-dweller year-in and year-out? its pathetic. i'm a big time supporter of the rebuild, but it feels as if ownership, management, and coaching have formed like voltron to construct the slowest and most counter-intuitive rebuild of all time. its maddening. truly maddening...

 

[LWP777]

I can't watch this **** anymore. I'm praying that we make a blockbuster trade tomorrow just to keep me interested....

 

[PurpleHaze]

I can't watch this **** anymore. I'm praying that we make a blockbuster trade tomorrow just to keep me interested....

It's now to depressing for me to watch all 4 Q's - I just walk away from the tube, check in from time-to-time, maybe listen to the radio call intermitent. Thank goodness for Final Four starting tomorrow, as it will be my big excitment fix for couple weeks up against a so far mostly miserable Kings homestand. NBA trade deadline 12:15 PM tomorrow.

 

[kingsnation]

Anyone hear the postgame? Is it true Smart basically said we're poor defensively, and he's not sure we'll get better. Also said we didn't have players who could guard Prince?

Someone asked Smart why he didn't try Hickson, Greene or Outlaw on Prince. Smart responded by stumbling over his words and saying that he didn't believe Hickson was ready to play yet. He didn't even address Greene or Outlaw.

 

[slugking50]

Get this. Kings defense since Keith Smart chucked it all away and went full-Nellie 14 games ago:

107.7ppg allowed

2nd worst defensive team in entire league this year?

Washington 102.3ppg

We are not only the worst defensive team in the league playing this way, its not even remotely close, and it gives us no hope of winning most nights. Miami scores 102.5ppg. Give them our 107.7ppg smallball defense and they'd be 10 games under .500.

Boxscore

placeholder....

So thats what Brick does on his "off" time.... Just TMI... TMI.

 

[ElRey]

Someone asked Smart why he didn't try Hickson, Greene or Outlaw on Prince. Smart responded by stumbling over his words and saying that he didn't believe Hickson was ready to play yet. He didn't even address Greene or Outlaw.

Those Guys might have been held out because they are on the trading block so...

 

[slugking50]

Someone asked Smart why he didn't try Hickson, Greene or Outlaw on Prince. Smart responded by stumbling over his words and saying that he didn't believe Hickson was ready to play yet. He didn't even address Greene or Outlaw.

Outlaws behind should be super glued to his seat.

 

[Bricklayer]

Someone asked Smart why he didn't try Hickson, Greene or Outlaw on Prince. Smart responded by stumbling over his words and saying that he didn't believe Hickson was ready to play yet. He didn't even address Greene or Outlaw.

Green and Outlaw are PFs you silly goose. And hence cannot ever be played at a smaller position. Because the 'flexiblity" of Nellieball only works in one direction, and if you can't make a small, weak, flashy substitution to impress tourists and stat hounds, why make one at all?

 

[IfAt1st]

As I said in the game thread before it started:

Doesn't look like too many people are excited for this game.

Laying a ****ing egg against the Warriors will dispirit a fanbase just like that 4th quarter showed the Kings team was dispirited.

If the Kings lay an egg tonight, there is going to be a lynchmob waiting for the whole organization - or worse, there may be just a large silence as the vast majority of the Kings fanbase turns off their light for the season.

Prophetic words.

The Kings fanbase has HAD it with this BS.
Too many years of losing - scratch that - being embarrassed to say in NBA circles "we're from Sacramento" will do that.

 

[matthew76]

Interesting. Went to my first Kings game tonight, but What an experience! Not all good however. My notes: Cousins looked flat-out bored/tired. Did not do ANYTHING except pick up fouls. Thornton looked BAD, got caught on so many screens. Only Evans and Thompson came to play. Thomas was good but had some selfish play at times.

 

[matthew76]

Also: There was that ******* horrible stretch where there was IT, THornton, Evans, and Stinky fish with THompson as lone big man. What is that!!!!!! 4 guard lineup?

 

[Bricklayer]

Also: There was that ******* horrible stretch where there was IT, THornton, Evans, and Stinky fish with THompson as lone big man. What is that!!!!!! 4 guard lineup?

Don't be silly. One guard, one SG/SF, one SF/PF, and one PG/SF/PF. And then JT who is a monstrously big center. By our new standards.

 

[IfAt1st]

Interesting. Went to my first Kings game tonight, but What an experience! Not all good however. My notes: Cousins looked flat-out bored/tired. Did not do ANYTHING except pick up fouls.

You should watch the game closer next time.

Cousins had to literally put his shirt in his mouth to stop from screaming, he was so pissed off and angry at the way the game was going. He got 3 cheapy fouls at the end of the 2nd half into the beginning of the 3rd. He sat down on the bench, and the game was OVER within minutes.

That might be a surprise, except I literally told my two sons on the couch with me that was going to happen the second he picked up his 4th - I said "Game is over".

This team has quit on their coach, it's obvious to anyone who's watching. As a team, they are so obviously playing solely for their stats, it's ridiculous.
Why the hell did the Kings' FO pick up Smart's option for next year so prematurely?! I mean, Christ - give the guy 2 months to prove himself, at least before committing so much of the organization's future to him.

And again, that would be surprising that he didn't work out if I hadn't literally screamed NOOOOOO! in a post the instant it was announced they'd picked it up.

 

[kennadog]

Why the hell did the Kings' FO pick up Smart's option for next year so prematurely?! I mean, Christ - give the guy 2 months to prove himself, at least before committing so much of the organization's future to him.

That's what I didn't get. Why not wait until the season's over. See how he's done and see who else might be available. Not that I have much faith in the Maloofs hiring decisions when it comes to coaches.

 

[kingsfan101]

Unfortunately, we have three small guards in active rotation; MT, IT and Jimmer. Neither is a great defender. Teams are often going after these guys; Warriors went after Jimmer, Dallas (Marion specifically), went after MT. Didn't see today's game, but by most accounts, Prince went after MT again. IT is too small to bother anyone much, though his speed can help, and he at least tries.

We of course compound the problem by going uber small. The trouble is more than just losing games. It shall become the culture, turn off the fan base when some positive news has started trickling in, and shall frustrate guys who work hard on both ends.

I personally think it shall be good to start both Cisco and Donte, moving Reke back to PG. We shall be big at every position. Cisco has been inconsistent, but has had more good games than bad recently; hustles on defense, plays solid help defense, doesn't need too many shots unlike MT, and can hit the outside shot. Plus, MT has been playing extremely selfishly (not entirely bad in his case, but he needs to learn to pass some of the times at least), and gambles too much on defense.

I understand that benching our major off-season move, leading scorer, part of the future, and a lot of money won't be easy. Plus, given the small ball fantasies of our coach, we shall likely go the other way. I can hope though, that he shall at least try this option some time. Even if they don't start, have them on the floor at the same time, and see how they perform.

 

[matthew76]

You should watch the game closer next time.

Cousins had to literally put his shirt in his mouth to stop from screaming, he was so pissed off and angry at the way the game was going. He got 3 cheapy fouls at the end of the 2nd half into the beginning of the 3rd. He sat down on the bench, and the game was OVER within minutes.

That might be a surprise, except I literally told my two sons on the couch with me that was going to happen the second he picked up his 4th - I said "Game is over".

This team has quit on their coach, it's obvious to anyone who's watching. As a team, they are so obviously playing solely for their stats, it's ridiculous.
Why the hell did the Kings' FO pick up Smart's option for next year so prematurely?! I mean, Christ - give the guy 2 months to prove himself, at least before committing so much of the organization's future to him.

And again, that would be surprising that he didn't work out if I hadn't literally screamed NOOOOOO! in a post the instant it was announced they'd picked it up.

Sorry, I failed to clarify myself. I know he was angry at the fouls. But during the flow of the game he was kinda passive in the way he played.

 

[kingsfan101]

That's what I didn't get. Why not wait until the season's over. See how he's done and see who else might be available. Not that I have much faith in the Maloofs hiring decisions when it comes to coaches.

Yes. In hindsight in particular, it seems very premature.

The only reasons I can think of are, that he seemed to be reaching out to players, particularly Cousins, which was critical after the PW fiasco. Having a lame duck status might have impacted the way players see him, or the way he is able to build trust with them.

At the end though, the only thing that shall matter is winning games. If he keeps small balling us to atrocious defense, all people skills will mean nothing as players shall tune him out.

 

[Padrino]

That's what I didn't get. Why not wait until the season's over. See how he's done and see who else might be available. Not that I have much faith in the Maloofs hiring decisions when it comes to coaches.

the maloofs are perhaps the most reactionary owners in the league. keith smart said a few of the right things early on in his head coaching tenure, had a productive dinner with demarcus cousins, and appeared to get through to some of the kings' young talent. so, instead of doing the prudent thing--waiting to see if the kings could establish consistency and forward momentum under keith smart--the maloofs decided to lunge at the shiny new toy and offer it a contract extension...

as owners, the maloofs have always been a double-edged sword. on the one hand, their passionate, reactionary attitudes had tremendous influence on keeping chris webber in sacramento. on the other hand, their passionate, reactionary attitudes had tremendous influence on running rick adelman outta town. and wouldn't a head coach like that--had he been able to survive the rebuild to this point, however unlikely a prospect that is--be an incredible asset to a young team like the kings?

point is, when you win with the maloofs, you WIN, because they're all-in. but when you lose with the maloofs, you LOSE, because they have less reason to be all-in, particularly with the state of their books being what it is...

 

[swisshh]

Can we get pictures of delicious pie? I like my food.

 

[SacTownKid]

My goodness the Kings turned into the Warriors!! What happened?

 

[itzcoatl]

I don't get how we keep getting stuck with such horrible coaches. Who is making these decisions???!!!

 

[VF21]

As I said in the game thread before it started:


Prophetic words.

The Kings fanbase has HAD it with this BS.
Too many years of losing - scratch that - being embarrassed to say in NBA circles "we're from Sacramento" will do that.

Really dude? At what point are you going to realize that nobody cares if you repeatedly quote yourself to pat yourself on the back with questionable statements about the Kings fanbase in general.

Speak for yourself. It's obvious you're not happy. Big freaking deal. For the record, I have NEVER been embarrassed to say I'm from Sacramento. Maybe you should consider being a Laker fan.

 

[IfAt1st]

For the record, I have NEVER been embarrassed to say I'm from Sacramento. Maybe you should consider being a Laker fan.

I don't care if you're a moderator.

Don't tell me to become a fan of another team.

You have no right to question my fandom.

 

[mac]

I don't care if you're a moderator.

Don't tell me to become a fan of another team.

You have no right to question my fandom.

You do quote yourself an awful lot and seem to have this "I Told you so. See everyone, I was right" thing going on. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just saying. A little weird coming from an adult with kids.

 

[IfAt1st]

You do quote yourself an awful lot and seem to have this "I Told you so. See everyone, I was right" thing going on.

Yep, I do - (except it might be 3 times out of 569 now)

why should I expect anyone to remember what I posted in another thread?

Cripes - you'd think it was uncommon for people at a bar to yell out "I called that! I totally said that was gonna happen!" when it happens in the game or something.

This isn't charm school. It's an internet fan forum.