Grades: Kings Summer League GAME 3 7/10/17

Summer League MVP


  • Total voters
    23

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#1
Another game, another loss. Another chance for our fanbase to grow increasingly more panicked as that seven-thousand dollar bet they made that the Kings make the playoffs this season looks increasingly like a lost cause.

Tonight, again, there were flashes. While Skal and Papa continue to struggle with being asked to run some semblance;ance of a high post offense in the free-for-all atmosphere of the Vegas Summer League, De'Aaron continued his solid play as a rookie (albeit getting battered by presumed extra from a Hollywood movie about neighborhood affairs, Alex Caruso, on the other end), Jackson looked alright for stretches, Buddy sucked for most of the game before suddenly turning into Kobe (both clutch and unclench) in the last three minutes, and Frank Mason reminded everyone that he too was a former National Player of the Year. Frank Cooley saw his MVP chances fade with a unremarkable stint though so there's that unfortunate nugget.

Now winless going into tournament play, all does not seemed lost for the young squad, no matter how much it seems like it is.

Justin Jackson (B-):
After an absolute humdinger of a performance last night, I though Justin came out largely the same. The big difference tonight was largely just that his shot was falling whereas last night he had the touch of a blind man playing pin the tail on the donkey while everyone else plays Hungry Hungry Hippos. He did miss another open three in crunch time though so it wasn't all good. Along with Frank Mason, provided most of the offense for our run in the second half but still had his struggles on the defensive end, both strength-wise and in regards to rotation reads. Despite all this, I thought all three of our rookies were net positives on the night.

Skal Labissiere (D):

Doing nothing to defuse Kings fans anxiety about him, Skal had another ho-hum game. Moreso than the lack of points or stats, the most concerning thing about the Haitan's Summer League showing has been his general lack of effort. While Papa has been visibly struggling, he's at least been trying. Skal, on the other hand, has largely spent his week in Vegas staying out of the way of both friend and foe, largely not boxing out, calling for the ball, or playing defense. He was even scoreless here until a putback late in the fourth quarter turned the zero-burger into a two point performance. Had a nice block in the first but then failed to corral the ball and the dude he rejected ultimately wound up scoring a basket anyways because Skal lost defensive focus in the three seconds the ball was free. I love the man's potential but he's been showing the fire in the belly of a sixty-four year old office worker counting down the days until his pension kicks in.

Georgios Papagiannis (D):
Papa, like Skal, has struggled in Summer League play. Unlike Skal, however, his struggles are largely stemming from trying too hard and not just letting the game come to him. While some of this may be coach mandated game expansion, the needless movements of the ball (when you get an offensive board, just go back up with it) and rushed shots (you're 7'3", no one's really gonna get in your way) are indicators of a guy trying to make things happen rather than letting the game come to him. Has he been slow-footed? Yes. Has he been great? No. Is he a total waste of space? Probably not. Ten years ago, he'd be younger than most draft picks in the NBA. Even now he's one of the youngest second year players in the league. Let's give him some time and be patient. God knows he's trying.

Buddy Hield (Last three minutes A, rest of game D-):

This was a tale of two games for Buddy. One lasted 37 minutes and sucked really really badly. The second one lasted three minutes and was insane except for one final airball that sealed the win for the hated Lakurz. Buddy started the game off well enough, drilling two threes (one off a nice behind the back set-up by Fox) to set the tempo for the young Kings. Unfortunately he followed that up with a nice display of what-not-to-do-as-a-two-guard, taking and missing a bunch of bad forced shots, really neglecting his defensive rotations, and generally not seeming to care too much about the outcome of the night. Once Frank almost single-handedly fought the team back into the game though, it was a different story as Buddy Buckets laced up his magic shoes and put on an absolutely ridiculous shooting display, all of his forced shots suddenly turning into brilliant swishes that would have crushed the spirits and chances of any team not playing against the 2017 Vegas Summer League Kings. He even tried playing some D in crunch time, not that he was particularly awesome at it. Still, that last span gives me hope for the season. Still not Steph Curry though.

De'Aaron Fox (C):
After starting the day off with a quickly deleted tweet regarding Lonzo's apparent chickening out, Fox was seemingly caught off guard by the sudden outburst from Alex Caruso, continuously getting beat off the drive by a guy who he was clearly faster than. On offense, tried to set up his guys early but then got increasingly selfish as the game went on. Was alright in the third but then apparently tweaked something and sat out the rest of the night and gave Frank the Tank the chance to shine. Overall, I thought it was a meh game from De'Aaron but he still put up 12 points and, I thought, shot better than he did any other time in this short summer season. If this is his meh game, he should be in good shape.

Frank Mason (A):
And of course since this is summer league, Frank Mason goes off the night after I say that he's had a subpar summer. He had an okay first stint on the night but single-handedly changed the game for us when the coaching staff reinserted him back in with the team down a good twenty-something points midway through the third. While there was a certain element of Isaiah Thomas-esque heroball involved in it, Mason played gritty defense against apparent Summer League Superstar Alex Caruso, finished strong in the paint, hit his jumpers, made smart (if not spectacular) passes, and generally was the floor general for the last fifteen minutes of the game. Kinda sorta disappeared in the last couple of minutes as Buddy took over but it's hard to fault him when Buddy was both superhot and apparently had stickum on his hands. If this is the Frank Mason we get in actual games that matter, the Kings point guard situation is solved for the next decade. But it's summer league and Donte Greene once scored 40 points here so it's hard to get too excited.

JaKarr Sampson (B-):
I'll give JaKarr this much credit, he seems to know who he is in the NBA, that is to say a role player who does the little things. In tonight's game, he scored and rebound and contributed an assist, a steal, and a block, and was unspectacularly solid once again as our back up small forward and de facto power forward down the stretch. I said that we should give him a two-way contract in the last grade thread and nothing I saw in his performance against the Lakers really changes that opinion. Solid role player at the three spot, which is really where we need that depth guy.

Jack Cooley (D):
And thus ended the mighty reign of Jack Cooley as the hustle guy of Kings fans' dreams. I don't know if it was because he was tired or if the other team was more athletic than him but Cooley seemed lethargic out on the court tonight. Rebounded best he could but in the end just didn't have much to give. You might say he really cooled off. I'll show myself out.

Luis Montero (C):
Rebounded well in extended minutes as all of the bigs in front of him either failed to produce and/or were feeling the effects of the second night of a back-to-back. Still not good enough to really be an NBA player but that's not really his fault. For the most part played within himself and gave a good effort to help our run in the third quarter.

Naz Montero-Long (D):
Apparently this guy was also on our Summer League roster and, suddenly finding himself on the floor, wanted everyone to know it, launching up a wide variety of missed threes that would surely endear him to basketball fans everywhere. Every roster has to have at least 12 dudes and with two of our guys resting their legs and De'Aaron sitting out a lot of the second half to protect his own, some those random dudes at the bottom of the ladder will find themselves in action. I don't imagine seeing much more of him beyond the possible Reno bench gig.
 
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#5
Nice comeback led by Frank Mason made the final score respectable.

I think I saw Judd Buechler tell Ball and Kuzma to stop woofing it up during the Laker run. Probably said something like "we play these guys 4 times a year. Don't give them bulletin board material."
 
#6
Buddy was terrible outside of the last 3mins of the game. What a rough SL series for him this year. Handles are poor, and his passing is non-existent. I'd give him a D+ just because of the last few shots he made. He also struggled on D today too.

Skal continuing to look invisible out there when he's not making shots. Did have 1 nice block though. Doesn't look effective on the floor at all, and doesn't box out. D

Fox was good on offense, but poor on defense. Did not guard for the 3 ball at all, and several guards lit him up from 3. His worst game of SL purely due to those 3s. C-

Papagiannis came out the gates looking terrible, and finished look bad. There's really not much to say about him in SL this year. Didn't bring much to the table. D-

Jackson was getting beat constantly on defense, but his offense showed a lot of life. Played aggressive today and didn't shy away with taking shots, and started making them. C+

Mason Jr was our biggest bright spot. He single-handily led a comeback against the Lakers. He was able to rally everyone up through his play and intensity. A+

Cooley didn't do anything today. Wasn't bad, wasn't terrible. D+

Samspon brought a lot of energy with his slashing and bouncing around. Thought he did a good job bringing something different off the bench along with Mason. B-
 
#10
Papa G is not showing any quickness to the ball. His improved conditioning is not translating into better reaction time. He's still slow to everything. I expected more. And how many times is he getting his hands on rebound attempts but not securing the ball? It has been three games and I know his chances are limited but he has still yet to score on one post move. The only saving grace is Willie shot 26% in Summer League last season and then he was able to show some promise after Boogie was traded. So the Summer League is not a showcase for most bigs. But you need to do more than being a total negative on the floor.

GRADE = F
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#12
Papa G is not showing any quickness to the ball. His improved conditioning is not translating into better reaction time. He's still slow to everything. I expected more. And how many times is he getting his hands on rebound attempts but not securing the ball? It has been three games and I know his chances are limited but he has still yet to score on one post move. The only saving grace is Willie shot 26% in Summer League last season and then he was able to show some promise after Boogie was traded. So the Summer League is not a showcase for most bigs. But you need to do more than being a total negative on the floor.

GRADE = F
It's a good thing the team didn't trade away Kosta. Papa needs to spend another year in the G-League.
 
#13
This may only be summer league, but this was disappointing. For all but Mason and maybe Jackson. WTF.
But then Mason and Jackson were largely responsible for the second loss. Literally all players are leaving some type of aftertaste for me in this tournament

Fox, for the hand slap emoji earlier, what was he going to do with Ball playing like he was tonight? I still think we got a quality player with the fifth pick, but he has a ways to go too
 

gunks

Hall of Famer
#17
I hope some fans can endure this long, painful season ahead. Have to think about the long term outlook and hope the coaching staff can mold us into a weapon. I think they will, but it's going to take time.
We're going to be awful. I expect more flashes from the kids though, playing in a structured offense with vets and Joerger coaching will help a lot.

This roster is full blown rebuild, not our usual Cuz lead treadmill. I wouldn't be surprised if we're bottom 5 next year.

I'm just hoping Joerger can get these kids coached up enough to make their development fun to watch. I think he will.
 
#18
Well look on the bright side. Dave joerger>>>Jason march. Im betting we don't go winless in the regular season.
I prepared myself as soon as I saw we had traded Cousins. That's why , although the losses in SL suck, they won't dissuade me from having faith in the outcome a few years down the line.

I was going to post something about the coaching choice in the game thread but opted not to. What I was going to say was,I am sure this has been a bit of growing pains for Jason March as well.
 
#19
Been an interesting SL so far. Some flashes of brilliance from Fox and Jackson (considering they are rookies). Disappointments from Skal, Hield, and Papa, but it's early and it's SL. Lots of room for growth, it's a process.
 
#20
This team does not give up and is capable of playing some good quarters. There were times when the defense was atrocious, especially in transition. Defensive rebounding was lackluster. Those two things cost teams a lot of games. The Kings gave up 58 points if I remember right, in the 20 minute half. That has got to change. The offense was a lot of shake and bake 1on1 and 3 chucking. Not good. Some of the bloom is off the rose already. The Summer League players are going to learn some discipline in a hurry once regular practice starts with the veterans. The guards are going to be the best in a long time. The 3 position looks pretty good. Except for Willie and KK, the 4 and 5 have a long way to go.
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#24
Are there more summer league games for us? I don't see any scheduled
Playoff seeding won't be established until late Tuesday night.

We will have two more games for certain. Let me sketch this out:

Wednesday (L) ------> Friday (last game W/L)

Wednesday (W) ------> Thursday (L) ------> Friday (last game W/L)

Wednesday (W) ------> Thursday (W) ------> Saturday (Win or go home) -----> Sunday (Win or go home) -----> Monday (Championship)
 
#26
Playoff seeding won't be established until late Tuesday night.

We will have two more games for certain. Let me sketch this out:

Wednesday (L) ------> Friday (last game W/L)

Wednesday (W) ------> Thursday (L) ------> Friday (last game W/L)

Wednesday (W) ------> Thursday (W) ------> Saturday (Win or go home) -----> Sunday (Win or go home) -----> Monday (Championship)
Well, the good news is, even though we are 0-3, we actually have 6.5 points in the summer league standings.

I'm not sure how that equates to seeding, but it looks like we are actually on the upper half of the standings, points wise.

I think the Summer League goes by quarters won and loss, for their point system, but I am not sure.

So, if we are able to get our act together, we may be able to still win the Summer League Championship! :D
 
#27
I'm more critical than anyone else of our SL performance, but I think one thing to remember is that most of the guys on our SL team is already guaranteed a roster spot. When we play against other teams, those guys are fighting for roster spots. They play with an edge that the Kings don't have. I wish we didn't treat SL like SL, but then again, it is just SL. Effort has been the most disappointing point, but I think once the NBA season rolls in, our players should be playing harder than they are now. So that's the lone bright-spot aside from Fox.
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#28
Well, the good news is, even though we are 0-3, we actually have 6.5 points in the summer league standings.

I'm not sure how that equates to seeding, but it looks like we are actually on the upper half of the standings, points wise.

I think the Summer League goes by quarters won and loss, for their point system, but I am not sure.

So, if we are able to get our act together, we may be able to still win the Summer League Championship! :D
We need to win five consecutive games to be the Summer League champs, no other way to do it! :)

I believe that seeding goes on record first and then points second. While we are likely to be the best 0-3 team, that still leaves us at the #19 seed at best, playing the #14 seed (because Chicago is playing Washington today, somebody has to win).

The funny thing is, we are kind of close to being in the range to be matched up with the Lakers again (it appears the Lakers could get the #14 seed with the right set of outcomes). If that happens, I wonder if they will jigger the schedule to get us to play somebody new, or if they will just go with the rematch.
 
#29
I'm not worried about any player on the roster. They have all showed something. Young guys with talent. I will take that.

I get it, being a Kings fan can suck. We have been terrible for over a decade and all we had to show for it was Cousins. But even Cousins took a few years to develop. He got better every year.

This board was enamored with Otto Porter yet a lot of folks here ignore that he looked terrible for his first 2 years in the league. Sometimes it just takes time for players to start putting it together. Not everyone is Lebron James.

It's hard to show patience when we have sucked for over a decade. Unfortunately we are going to have with all of these guys. We wont know what we have until 2020.


Instead of Grading the Summer League I will my grade the NBA players on our roster who have a real shot at success in the NBA.

FOX: PG Incredible quickness and control of the ball. Flashes of play making and a developing mid range game. Good defensive instincts and tools. Needs to get better everywhere but has all the tools.

Talent Grade: A

Buddy: SG NBA Shooting talent. Guy can shoot the rock. Also an interesting in between game with that 1 foot fade away. Needs to get better handling the ball, decision making with the ball, play making, defense. Limited Athletic tools limit his upside.

Talent Grade: B

Skal:
PF Unicorn talent that doesn't know how to play basketball yet. Smooth jump shot, soft touch with both hands, elite athletic tools. a tantalizing talent I have high hopes for him. Needs to improve everywhere. Lacks organized basketball experience and it shows. I hope he puts it together this fan base needs it.

Talent: A-

WCS: C Athletic specimen with flashes of court vision. Touch leaves something to be desired. Like Skal started basketball late so the upside is still there. Needs to improve everything.

Talent: B+

Harry Giles:
C Too early to put this guy here. But I have to because I remember this kid in AAU. What a beast. If he reaches even 75% of his potential the Kings will be in good shape for the next decade. This guy can wreck the league. He has that kind of potential.

Talent: A
 
#30
We need to win five consecutive games to be the Summer League champs, no other way to do it! :)

I believe that seeding goes on record first and then points second. While we are likely to be the best 0-3 team, that still leaves us at the #19 seed at best, playing the #14 seed (because Chicago is playing Washington today, somebody has to win).

The funny thing is, we are kind of close to being in the range to be matched up with the Lakers again (it appears the Lakers could get the #14 seed with the right set of outcomes). If that happens, I wonder if they will jigger the schedule to get us to play somebody new, or if they will just go with the rematch.
I won't be watching, so I hope it goes better than it has been

I'm waiting for D'Aaron to not only flash his natural talents, but be able to control tempo/momentum and lead to victory