[Grades] Grades v. Blazers 12/27/2015

[Bricklayer]

**** it. Trade Rudy. We got a SF with talent, and something Rudy lacks...

*Hedo "ball" meme to be added later*

I think people really have to get off the bipolar roller coaster with this team. Of course the opposite of that is often sinking into apathy, but nonetheless the team is only 1 spot further out then we were yesterday, and Vlade impresses as about as far from a reactionary twitchy figure as you could get. Its just not very likely anything but complete collapse would stir him to gut the core midseason.

 

[KingsFanGER]

I don't think this is purely an effort thing.
Defending the high pick&roll and the high amount of TO's are reccuring problems for the Kings.
Force Cousins or KK to defend the pick&roll with a big able to drain jumpshots involved and you will get plenty of easy looks.
Still the Blazers won't win this game without the very special night from McCollum. Sometimes a decent player will not miss and to be honest McCollum scored 6 points in crunchtime out of a very lucky offensive rebound and two well contested, extremely difficult jumpshots, while Cousins missed wide open jumpshots and had trouble to finish inside.
crap happens and in the NBA any team can beat us. There are no winable or easy games for the Kings. We ain't the Warriors or Spurs.

 

[KingsFanGER]

The one thing I have a hard time understanding is why we never treated McCollum like the one player, that was able to beat us. We gave him the same looks coming off the high screen almost all night. Why didn't we give him the Curry treatment once it became clear, that we won't be able to stop him playing our usual defensive sets? He was running circles around our big's all night. Trap him, force him to give up the ball and force someone else to be the decision maker.
As respectable as Leonard has become, he still has trouble to put the ball on the floor. Alan Crabbe is quite similar to Ben.
The Blazers aren't the Warriors or Hawks. They have no Green or Millsap to make plays, once the ball is forced out of the hands of their lead guards.

Still the main reason for our loss are the TO's. At some point of the season we have to stop playing stupid and value every possession.

 

[Siranthony]

Team just falls apart when the game gets serious. it's embarrassing. A shot at taking the 8th seed, against a losing team with their best player out, on your home floor, and you put up 14 freakin points in the 4th quarter? sad.

and who is to blame for this tragic defensive system which we've seen since preseason not being changed at all?

Yup. Three days off and playing a team on a back to back too. Everything was aligned for us to take the 8th spot and we just choked in the 4th for some reason. It's hard to understand. Rudy had another game where he could not do anything. What is wrong with him at times? Does he not take care of himself? Cousins got his points but it wasn't "easy" for him in the 4th. We have no chance to beat Golden State on back to back. NONE! So no telling when or if we will get this opportunity again.

Also I'm not surprised Belinelli gave us almost nothing. His shot selection ans shooting style are low percentage. Really he is lucky to have a shooting percentage as high as he does.

On the positive, I love Collison. He might even be better than Rondo. I'm starting to think Rondo's stats are an illusion. It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't turn the ball over so much.

 

[Kingston Jamaica]

Casspi for player-coach. This dude just gets it, unlike most everyone else on the team.

I agree. The guy is excellent in his understanding of team ball and insights. Moreover, he has excellent relations with everybody in the team as well as with the coach. His contribution to the team goes well beyond the input on the court. The Kings is not a team with a winning mentality yet. That, I think, is one of the major reasons for these mental melt downs in the 4th quarter. I hope that Casspi and players like him (like Rondo) change the culture when we go along. I believe they will and I have no plans to sink in apathy. This is a good and a positive team on the way up.

 

[ESP47]

Rudy had a bad night. Him shooting poorly has nothing to do with not trying or not caring. Sometimes the ball just doesn't go in. Like with Cousins at the end there. Rudy didn't just have 14 rebounds land in his lap last night. He was putting in the effort. Just didn't get results.

I'd really like to see the ball in Collison and Casspi's hands more at the end of games. Collison has always been a clutch player and unlike Rondo, he can make that tough shot at the end to put you ahead when the defense clamps down. Rudy has proven he fails miserably at the end of games and Cousins is pretty unreliable based on how often he forces and turns the ball over. Would like to see the ball in a more conventional players hands who can at least get the shot up with a decent chance of going in.

 

[Im Still Ballin]

One second it's "he's playing this guy too much" next it's he should have played Acy, or this gameplan ruining Cuz!

I'll tell you what's ruining Cuz. Laziness. Out of shape. Taking 10+ seconds to walk up the half court, giving your team half the shot clock to work a set. Nobody forces the franchise star to take so many 3 pointers. Cuz gets the good looks, IF he works for them. He sleepwalked to a 36 point game. He needs to bring the energy and give his teammates a chance. He faded after a great first half. Rudy had a horrible game but at least he was showing some energy. I saw a few moments where Rondo was annoyed with Cuz.

 

[KingsFanGER]

One second it's "he's playing this guy too much" next it's he should have played Acy, or this gameplan ruining Cuz!

I'll tell you what's ruining Cuz. Laziness. Out of shape. Taking 10+ seconds to walk up the half court, giving your team half the shot clock to work a set. Nobody forces the franchise star to take so many 3 pointers. Cuz gets the good looks, IF he works for them. He sleepwalked to a 36 point game. He needs to bring the energy and give his teammates a chance. He faded after a great first half. Rudy had a horrible game but at least he was showing some energy. I saw a few moments where Rondo was annoyed with Cuz.

I like how you fight for your opinion, but we might have watched different games.
And I wonder, how you would judge the shape Drummond is in currently, or Bogut or JV (pre injury), or Sullinger ......
Just from watching some games I cannot recall a big man, that's not a pure defensive specialist, that is running the floor all the time and is not taking plays off or is sometimes slow to get back, when he was driving to the basket on offense or was trying to get an offensive rebound.
Basketball is not a bodybuilding contest.

 

[dude12]

Like McCollum said after the game, Portland sagged into the paint on Cuz, seemingly 4-5 guys. Resulted in tough shots, no room, and turnovers. Was nothing lazy there, just a coach who made an in game adjustment unlike our coach.

Our guard defense and Karl's overall defensive philosophy/lineups are this teams undoing.

 

[Im Still Ballin]

I like how you fight for your opinion, but we might have watched different games.
And I wonder, how you would judge the shape Drummond is in currently, or Bogut or JV (pre injury), or Sullinger ......
Just from watching some games I cannot recall a big man, that's not a pure defensive specialist, that is running the floor all the time and is not taking plays off or is sometimes slow to get back, when he was driving to the basket on offense or was trying to get an offensive rebound.
Basketball is not a bodybuilding contest.

No other bigman in the league walks up the court play after play like Cousins is right now. He'd be benched if he showed that effort on the Spurs. Simple fact is, if you take that long to get in the frontcourt, you've taken half the 24 seconds, and analytics show and logic tells us that this is detrimental to the team.

 

[Im Still Ballin]

I mean plays where Rondo crosses the half court at 18 seconds, and I can't even see Cousins in the screen until the 14 second mark

Good luck trying to run anything good for Cousins or the team. And we wonder why Cousins is taking so many 3's...

 

[KingsFanGER]

No other bigman in the league walks up the court play after play like Cousins is right now. He'd be benched if he showed that effort on the Spurs. Simple fact is, if you take that long to get in the frontcourt, you've taken half the 24 seconds, and analytics show and logic tells us that this is detrimental to the team.

IF you think so. I watched Drummond trailing plays countless times this season. Same with JV or Brook Lopez or even the Gasol's . When Duncan or Bogut are forced to play excessive minutes, they will slow down too.
Cousins shoulders the biggest load on offense of all those guys. Of course he will trail from time to time. Just the way it is, when you built your offense around a big guy.

 

[Larry89]

Terribly disappointing game

 

[Kingster]

23 freaking turnovers WITH two point guards on the floor. You'd expect to be hurt in the defense department with two point guards, but turnovers?

Cousins - 6 rebounds
CJ McCollum - 11 rebounds

End of story.

 

[KingsFanGER]

23 freaking turnovers WITH two point guards on the floor. You'd expect to be hurt in the defense department with two point guards, but turnovers?

Cousins - 6 rebounds
CJ McCollum - 11 rebounds

End of story.

Long shots - long rebounds.
And Cousins seems to be perfectly fine with the little guys grabbing every uncontested defensive rebound. He used to really chase every board available in the previous seasons. Now he is a bit more relaxed in that area

 

[gunks]

I think people really have to get off the bipolar roller coaster with this team. Of course the opposite of that is often sinking into apathy, but nonetheless the team is only 1 spot further out then we were yesterday, and Vlade impresses as about as far from a reactionary twitchy figure as you could get. Its just not very likely anything but complete collapse would stir him to gut the core midseason.

To be fair, i never really liked Rudy.

The talent is there, but he lacks....chutzpah

Edit: i still think the issue is coaching.

 

[Amaranth]

Omri only disappeared because he stopped getting the ball.

 

[Amaranth]

Casspi's post-game comments are all on point.

Casspi: "It's a game we should have won and we're going to feel sorry for ourselves when the time comes."
Casspi: "We’ve got to start games hungrier. We’re right there for the eighth seed and we’re playing games like we’re already in there."
Casspi: "Even the good teams, and I don’t think we’re good yet, the really good teams don’t take nights off."
More Casspi: "In a game like this we’ve got to hit them first, in our house. It’s a tough one, really."

All quotes credit to Jason Jones

Video with the full comments: http://www.abc10.com/videos/sports/...strations-following-loss-to-blazers/77963706/

 

[The_Jamal]

Casspi's post-game comments are all on point.

Casspi: "It's a game we should have won and we're going to feel sorry for ourselves when the time comes."
Casspi: "We’ve got to start games hungrier. We’re right there for the eighth seed and we’re playing games like we’re already in there."
Casspi: "Even the good teams, and I don’t think we’re good yet, the really good teams don’t take nights off."
More Casspi: "In a game like this we’ve got to hit them first, in our house. It’s a tough one, really."

All quotes credit to Jason Jones

Says the only player on our team that doesn't take games or plays off. He's 100% right. Choked away 2 wins in the past week (Washington and now Portland) because they wanted to win more than we did.

 

[kingsboi]

no Lillard, no problem. McCollum was all they needed to get the job done and just space the floor with a bunch of guards to give this team a headache on picking and choosing who to defend. Gay was a no show, what a surprise. Rondo tosses the ball around like he is playing at a recreation center. I liked the post game Casspi quotes...at least one player sees it for how it is. The fact that he mentioned this team is taking nights "off" is all I really need to see...comes right back to that loser mentality.

 

[pshn80]

Like McCollum said after the game, Portland sagged into the paint on Cuz, seemingly 4-5 guys. Resulted in tough shots, no room, and turnovers. Was nothing lazy there, just a coach who made an in game adjustment unlike our coach.

Our guard defense and Karl's overall defensive philosophy/lineups are this teams undoing.

I'm sure our coach would have loved it if Cuz and Rondo would have passed differently when the sagging occurred but, no, Cuz and too often Rondo went right into it. Give the coach the power to retroactively take people out f the game. Remember too that a lot of Cuz's and Rondo's success has come on risky pass plays or moves to the basket, so you win some and you lose some. Coach would say "keep it up and do a better job (be careful!)."

 

[pshn80]

To be fair, i never really liked Rudy.

The talent is there, but he lacks....chutzpah

Edit: i still think the issue is coaching.

Maybe a part of it, but don't forget what big contributors our players are.

 

[jcwkings]

I would strongly talk to Chicago about something like Gibson and Snell as the base for a Gay trade.

 

[kingsboi]

I think people really have to get off the bipolar roller coaster with this team. Of course the opposite of that is often sinking into apathy, but nonetheless the team is only 1 spot further out then we were yesterday, and Vlade impresses as about as far from a reactionary twitchy figure as you could get. Its just not very likely anything but complete collapse would stir him to gut the core midseason.

I understand what you are saying and all but at what point do you say enough is enough and no longer put up with this "laid back" attitude that surrounds this team?

 

[Glenn]

I think I am beginning to wish for the angry butthead Boogie to come back. He can score at will especially against weenie defenders but he still needs to battle for rebounds and I don't see the fire anymore.





Butthead???? So that's how the censor handles what I wrote.

 

[Peter_Gibbons]

I think I am beginning to wish for the angry butthead Boogie to come back. He can score at will especially against weenie defenders but he still needs to battle for rebounds and I don't see the fire anymore.





Butthead???? So that's how the censor handles what I wrote.

It makes you wonder, how much of that is due to the injuries that are piling up. Foot and back issues on a big man is very serious and it doesn't get better when his team plays the fastest pace in the league.

 

[Glenn]

It makes you wonder, how much of that is due to the injuries that are piling up. Foot and back issues on a big man is very serious and it doesn't get better when his team plays the fastest pace in the league.

That very well can be part of it as he isn't as powerful around the rim. He doesn't have that powerful lift. What I noticed yesterday was that he was smiling and, oddly enough, that worried me a little. I might be absolutely wrong as a calmer Boogie also fouls less. He played hard on one defensive series where he ended up on McCollum. I'm speculating and I'll pay attention this evening..

 

[gil renard]

Where's the game thread for tonight against the Warriors? It's only a couple hours away; have we given up already?