[Grades] Grades v. Bucks 12/18/2014

[GQ_Gabriel]

Maybe I just wasn't watching those games, but I feel like this hasn't been an often occurrence at all...

I might have exaggerated a tad bit, but I've seen enough of it to realize it just won't work. I can remember 3 games, including last night, where it happened. One that sticks out in my mind was against the Clippers last season where DeAndre Jordan just stood there and made Cousins take a bad jumpshot. He might have even gotten a piece of the ball.

 

[Swaze]

I would disagree. He's missed some chances late THIS season but Rudy Gay is a clutch scorer.

Clutch scorer? Yes sometimes and sometimes he also kills you at the end.

However whatever amount of clutch factor he has offensively, DEFENSIVELY he's one of the least clutch wing defenders in the league. Just in the last two weeks alone I don't know if I've seen a good wing player lose his man as much as Rudy does in the 4th quarter. Actually Rudy is a below average defender for most of the game anyways but come crunch time you can always count on him to get burned for a couple layups and wide open threes. I didn't see anything too egregious yesterday but in previous games he was a disaster defensively down the stretch. Clutch goes both ways.

 

[206Fan]

Because Gay was the guy I was watching, I just feel like quibbling just a bit.
Gay was matched up against Giannis for the 1st and 3rd quarters and Giannis only scored 6 points against him the entire game...so I think you could consider the above as keeping the Greek Freak in check.
Now, there was some horrible lapses in defense by Rudy (with his brain freeze to end the half by not rotating over to Knight who hit a wide open 3), but other than a couple of lapses, the D was solid.
As to the 'invisible' offense after 3 quarters...he had 9 points and was leading the team in assists with 5...so his points were down a little, but he was doing a great job getting the ball to players in position to score. (He had a lot of good passes which would have been assists had his teammates not been fouled or missed chip shots)

It's just really clear that he's happy to have Cousins back, because it takes so much pressure off of him and he can be free to just play his smooth brand of basketball.

Anyway, just a little quibble here.

Do you know who was on Dudley? I saw a few times where Gay left Dudley open, but I wasn't sure if that was his man. I was mostly looking at Cousins. I think it's a weird transition from seeing Rudy bringing the ball up, to Rudy being the 3rd option. I didn't really feel his presence the first 3 quarters. I think his stats tonight were better than his performance. BUT if he can keep his offense to this level where it feels like he's invisible, but it's actually translating to something + I think it'll be great for our team moving forward. Offense wasn't the problem for us tonight, it was all defense.

 

[GQ_Gabriel]

Clutch scorer? Yes sometimes and sometimes he also kills you at the end.

However whatever amount of clutch factor he has offensively, DEFENSIVELY he's one of the least clutch wing defenders in the league. Just in the last two weeks alone I don't know if I've seen a good wing player lose his man as much as Rudy does in the 4th quarter. Actually Rudy is a below average defender for most of the game anyways but come crunch time you can always count on him to get burned for a couple layups and wide open threes. I didn't see anything too egregious yesterday but in previous games he was a disaster defensively down the stretch. Clutch goes both ways.

Defensively, he's no stud, but I wouldn't go as far as to say that he's below average. I think people have gotten this perception of him somewhere along his career and decide to run with it when picking at his flaws or when he has a bad game. No, he'll never be a lockdown defender, but he played well last night and made key shots down the stretch. I would have given him the ball to win the game personally.

 

[FaStRmAn]

I want a credit on my electricity bill for having to watch that slow motion train wreck ! Good to see Cuz get some run. He looked good. Too bad everyone else on the team decided that defense was not necessary. That many 3's made means you you have NO PERIMETER DEFENSE. Probably because 2 of the 4 guards in your rotation are COMPLETELY INEPT at playing defense. That being Sessions and Stauskas. NBA Caliber backup PG and another 6'10 competent big before the deadline please ?!?!??!!?!

 

[pshn80]

They, the Bucks, hit threes at a better rate than in a shoot around. Most were open shots and that's on the defense. We out turnover end them significantly. Despite those factors we closed the gap and had a shot to win. Not bad for a team that hasn't played together in two or three weeks. I would have loved a win but I was encouraged by their play and ability to make a game out of it.

The Lakers game will be tough but I'm optimistic, they will put a better game together, not up to par but better.

 

[ppine]

Scoring 107 points is great, unless the other team scores 108 or more.
Losing to the Bucks at home with Cousins back and 6 players on the Bucks team in street clothes should be very disconcerting.
The defensive intensity continues to wane. Turnovers continue to be the Achilles Heel, and now the Kings are back to giving up uncontested fast breaks.
These are fundamental issues that need to be addressed as soon as reasonable. It is not complicated. It takes effort.
The Kings did too much reading during their winning streak. They are a crappy team right now and need to get with the program, or .500 ball will be a fleeting dream.

 

[Uk kings fan]

Can we have our coach back failing that can we sort out our defensive intensity!

 

[bajaden]

Why do I have a feeling that Ty Corbin and Demarcus isn't gonna work out? I was watching Corbin during the game. While Demarcus was arguing with a ref in front of him, Corbin was sitting on the bench shaking his head. Malone would've been up, backing Cousins or trying to calm him down. At the very least, he would've been standing and engaged in the interaction. From what i've seen here and from his stint on the Jazz, I honestly don't think that Tyrone has the makeup to anything more than a nice assistant in the association.
Not happy at all with our apparent return to trying to outscore the other team. Brings back some not so fond memories.
Noticed multiple instances where Rudy ignored Cousins in favor of an ISO. They had a good thing going earlier in the season. Hopeful that they can return to that.
Pretty surprising actually how much JT's shooting ability has regressed, this year. Not only that, but he seems to have lost the ability to defend or rebound without fouling.
I take Cousins over Rudy Gay for the last shot, any day of the week. Rudy has already shown multiple times this season that he is not clutch in that situation.
Definitely happy to have Boogie back. It was a pleasant surprise how effortlessly he was able to return to dominating on the offensive end. I don't think it's a coincidence that this team was suddenly able to rebound the ball again. He also provides a very nice defensive presence inside. Obviously, not surprising that he's not ready to play the full 48 yet.
McLemore has been a HUGE bright spot for this team. He continues to show progress in his ball-handling and confidence, and today he surprised me with some high-IQ plays. Sky is the limit for this man. I do have to say though that his defense seems to have fallen off a bit. Kept getting caught on screens.

I've lost a lot of confidence in the front office over this past week and i'm definitely not a fan of this new vision. Regardless, i'm not ready to check out on this team yet. Kings need to get George Karl ASAP or all of that development under Malone will have been for nothing.

Not to nit pic, but if a screen is set properly, and the opposing player uses it properly, there isn't a player in the NBA that won't get caught, or delayed by that screen. The point is, the switch needs to be made quickly by your teammate to stop the ball, and that's where we fail most of the time. As a defender, you have a choice, go under the screen, which gives your man space, and if he's shooter he's now open, or try and go over the screen, which at best, is going to slow you down. At least once last night, McLemore got caught in a back screen where his man reversed directions and Ben didn't know the screen was there. It's up to his teammates to give him a heads up.

 

[bajaden]

I actually liked a lot of what I saw. You could see how the athleticism of our players can work in a system like this. I thought MacLemore, Gay and Cousins looked good. You still have to play some defense though. We allowed the other team to hit three point shots like they where going out of style.
The play at the end was terrible. Really I thought they played pretty well considering what has gone one for the last few weeks.

I agree. The truth is, had we gotten anything out of our PF position last night, we would have won the game, and probably won it easily. The rest of our starters played well enough to win. JT was missing in action, as was Landry. It's one thing to say that JT doesn't match up well against shorter, quicker players. OK, maybe thats partially true, but that doesn't excuse him from rebounding against those same shorter players. Or posting up those same shorter players. In one sequence, JT let a pick by a 6'6"player stop him from getting out to guard Dudley, a 6'7"player, and his effort in that instance was pitiful. He made no attempt to even run at Dudley after freeing himself from the pick.

 

[kingsboi]

I remember when the Kings used to win these games where 4 out of the 5 starters had over double figures in scoring....but looks like we reverted back to our defensive ways. Sure looks good on the scoreboard, doesn't it? I'm nearly reaching a point where DeMarcus or not...if we are going to defend like we have in these last two games...we might as well accept the lottery with open arms. Oh wait...we don't have our draft pick. So what exactly are we playing for?

 

[HereWeBoogie]

I remember when the Kings used to win these games where 4 out of the 5 starters had over double figures in scoring....but looks like we reverted back to our defensive ways. Sure looks good on the scoreboard, doesn't it? I'm nearly reaching a point where DeMarcus or not...if we are going to defend like we have in these last two games...we might as well accept the lottery with open arms. Oh wait...we don't have our draft pick. So what exactly are we playing for?

i believe we do keep our draft pick if it's top 10

 

[kingsboi]

i believe we do keep our draft pick if it's top 10

Knowing how lucky the Kings get, they will get the 11th or 12th pick.