[Grades] Grades v. Bucks 2/1/2016

[Bricklayer]

Cuz out? Check.
Ben out? Check.
Rondo again passing to more of the other team than ours? Check.
Koufos getting worked in the post by Moose? Check.
Marco & Omri going 0 for-everything from beyond the arc for 42 minutes? Check.
.
.
.
.
.
Kings win? Of course!

One of my favorite movies is Last of the Mohicans, and for some reason one of the lines from it that has always stayed with me was our hero reciting some advice he'd gotten from his surrogate father about Europeans "They are a breed apart and they make no sense." That would aptly describe us.

So how did it go down?
Koufos and Willie and Acy did not stop Moose, but they cleaned up the boards, and we dominated the Bucks there.
Rondo abruptly cannot pass, so instead he hit 4 of 4 corner threes as our designated shooter(!) on the night.
Marco still couldn't shoot, but made a lot of saavy passes, and was more of a PG at times than Rajon.
Rudy stepped up this time, and remember in our previous 1-7 without Cuz, Milwaulkee was the one team he rose up against before.
Mostly, we did something unthinkable and kind of dug in on defense after half.

Look, it was not inspiring. I doubt anybody is predicting we run off 10 in a row after this. But we scrapped out a win without Cuz. That's so rare it almost deserves a parade of its own.



Boxscore

Stats: 38min 32pts (13-20, 1-3, 5-6) 9reb 6ast 2stl 0blk 1TO
Summary: we've won exactly 2 games without Cuz, and in both of them Rudy has stepped up in a big way aginst these Bucks. Giannis who?
Gay ( ) --

Stats: 29min 4pts (2-4, 0-0, 0-0) 10reb 0ast 0stl 2blk 3TO
Summary: had one 3pt shooter misadventure, otherwise activity on the glass and helped us shut them down after half
Cauley Stein ( ) --

Stats: 30min 7pts (3-9, 0-0, 1-2) 11reb 0ast 1stl 1blk 2TO
Summary: got worked in the old school traditional big on big matchup with Monroe, missed his hooks, but did bang the boards
Koufos ( ) --

Stats: 36min 18pts (5-15, 2-9, 6-7) 3reb 6ast 1stl 0blk 2TO
Summary: the bizarre shooting slump continued, but made a major passing contribution, and gave us a little burst late to help seal it
Belinelli ( ) --

Stats: 35min 19pts (6-10, 4-4, 3-4) 2reb 7ast 3stl 0blk 6TO
Summary: for the second game in a row looked uncomfortable passing the ball, so instead spotted up in the corners and knocked down threes
Rondo ( ) --

placeholder...

 

[Bricklayer]

Bench

Stats: 18min 4pts (2-7, 0-1, 0-0) 8reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Acy ( ) --

Stats: 25min 13pts (3-9, 1-4, 6-7) 5reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Casspi ( ) --

Stats: 22min 14pts (5-11, 1-4, 3-4) 3reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 2TO
Collison ( ) --

Stats: 9min 0pts (0-1, 0-1, 0-0) 2reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Anderson ( ) --



placeholder 2...

 

[jcassio]

... scratching my head...

 

[Tetsujin]

Well, after years of not having that guy, Willie Caulie-Stein is officially the defensive big we've been looking for.

 

[Luweegee]

Move marco to PG and Rondo to SG (joking).

 

[CruzDude]

Nice to see actual defense in the 3rd and 4th quarters and the benefits it brings. Fingers crossed that Bell is finally shooting his way out of a giant slump. Now hope is to see Acy and Willie shoot more and not pass up any more open mid-range shots. Strange win for sure.

 

[Larry89]

Rondo has played very sloppy these past few games and just as Ben was starting to emerge, he got injured

 

[IfAt1st]

I'm finding it real hard to trust a 5-15 shooting night as "Marco is out of his slump".
Dude was 3-11 before 2 shots just happened to fall.
It's actually pretty telling how big it is for Marco to go 2 for 4 at the end of a horrible shooting game and that's considered a good shooting game for him.

 

[HndsmCelt]

Great 1/2 a game... not sure if it means much beyond the same fact many of us have seen; these guys have the ability to play good ball, hustle for boards and play scrappy defense. The problem remains how do you get it out of them 4 quarters a night, night after night?

 

[King Baller]

Marco had a +/- of +9, he was player of the game! Well along with Koufos who had 11 rebounds and also had a +/- of +9

 

[King Baller]

Kings were up on rebounds by 53 to 37. Plus the Kings were 24 for 30 on free throws, while the Bucks were 12 for 17. Willie made a key block in crunch time and Omri and Marco decided to make their threes at the end of the game. This is how a HOF Coach wins a game with the Leagues highest usage All Star on the bench with injury. Karl won with mirrors

 

[King Baller]

Rudy Gay was superb pouring in 32 points on a night he was needed. +8 baby

 

[King Baller]

Rondo 4 threes on 4 attempts!!! Kidd was like

 

[pshn80]

Nice win. Good for the guys on the floor. Confidence they can win without Cuz. Hasn't happened that much so a real plus for them. Now if we can coordinate a good game from them with a good game from Cuz then I think we have it made.

 

[kingsboi]

Too bad the Kings don't play Milwaukee any more.

 

[biltalent]

Highlight of the game: at about the 3:30 mark Karl subs out Koufos for Collison so the lineup is Rondo-Collison-Casspi-Gay-Acy. The camera shows Demarcus and he knits his brows and it looks like he says "what?!"

 

[pshn80]

Highlight of the game: at about the 3:30 mark Karl subs out Koufos for Collison so the lineup is Rondo-Collison-Casspi-Gay-Acy. The camera shows Demarcus and he knits his brows and it looks like he says "what?!"

How did that move work out?

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

How did that move work out?

Play-by-play indicates that we were outscored 11-2 with that lineup.

 

[pshn80]

Play-by-play indicates that we were outscored 11-2 with that lineup.

Thanks. I didn't think Cuz's facial response was the answer for me.

 

[Blob]

The Kings 4th quarter of 37 points doesn't happen with Boogie on the floor because we become predictable instead of "sharing is caring" team. And likely there would be 1-2 forces in there by Boogie (foul?!?!) that would wreck our flow.

When did Koufos become such a cringe worthy player?

He has oven mitts for hands and he completely lost his touch on his half-hook. He has the same touch from the paint as Marco from three. I appreciate his interior defense and ability to defend without fouling though he got torched by Greg Monroe (a legitimate and skilled low post player unlike Boogie ) but he shoots like he just had a shot of whiskey instead of gatorade.

The sands of the hourglass is running out on Karl. To get the most out of Boogie we need Thibs and Thibs may need (and want) us. Thibs was on the BS podcast with Bill Simmons and spoke highly of Boogie as the one player who surprised him most on Team USA. Boogie also loves Thibs. Thibs would demand more out of Boogie defensively instead of letting him coast as he has in recent 4 game losing streak.

Thibs is also the leader we need instead of the rudderless ship that reflects a 21-26 team.

Thibs spoke highly of Rondo and said something interesting re: that 2008 team with KG. When Rondo would penetrate the lane KG would rotate back to cover in transition. Thibs implied this was a turning point for them defensively. Instead of sending KG to the boards to offensive rebound KG would get back to defend the opponent fast break. With his length and gazzelle like strides he could disrupt easy dunks and lay-ups.

Do we have our own version of KG?!?!? Hmmmmm....why yes we do!!!! Thibs was basically giving free coaching advice to Karl!!!! Willie can play the role of KG.

Rondo on Celts was less responsible to get back in transition with KG covering for him. Instead Rondo is responsible for pressuring inbound pass or man who receives the outlet pass or rebounder to slow opponent transition since he is in this general vicinity off of dribble penetration. I think Rondo tries to do this but not with consistent intent as he did with Cs.

So Willie can (should) play the role of KG....to rotate back when Rondo goes to the rim and spend less time crashing the boards. I was watching to see if Kings have a man set to rotate back off of Rondo penetration and it did not look like it which of course does not prevent Karl from bemoaning his transition defense

There was another interesting part of conversation regarding having two non-shooters on the floor at the same time (Rondo, Willie) and how this is a losing formula in today's NBA. This was my biggest question about our starting five entering the season. Rondo draining threes and being a decent perimeter shooter has made this less of an issue but going forward Willie needs to be a more respectable scoring threat.

Thibs will have a lot of team vying for his services and he will want to go somewhere where the team can be elite. His best options are:

Minnesota: KAT, Wiggins, high 2016 pick
Houston: Bickerstaff is out for sure; Harden Dwight.
Sacramento: Boogie, Rondo, Willie (the new KG!)

Probably another team out there I am missing but these are the teams that come to mind with talent and replaceable head coach. I hear fans in Phoenix or Brooklyn crowing for Thibs but this is ridiculous. This would have been like Steve Kerr going to New York instead of Golden State. Coaches in high demand go where they can best succeed and money is right and for Thibs that may be Sacramento.....assuming we don't land Callipari

 

[EIM86]

From this game I feel like we gotta put Gay in as a 6th man sometimes(when Cousins comes back). Our 2nd unit would get a boost and Gay would get to keep the ball in his hands more. He was in way more of a groove since he got to touch the ball more

 

[kingsboi]

The Kings 4th quarter of 37 points doesn't happen with Boogie on the floor because we become predictable instead of "sharing is caring" team. And likely there would be 1-2 forces in there by Boogie (foul?!?!) that would wreck our flow.

When did Koufos become such a cringe worthy player?

He has oven mitts for hands and he completely lost his touch on his half-hook. He has the same touch from the paint as Marco from three. I appreciate his interior defense and ability to defend without fouling though he got torched by Greg Monroe (a legitimate and skilled low post player unlike Boogie ) but he shoots like he just had a shot of whiskey instead of gatorade.

The sands of the hourglass is running out on Karl. To get the most out of Boogie we need Thibs and Thibs may need (and want) us. Thibs was on the BS podcast with Bill Simmons and spoke highly of Boogie as the one player who surprised him most on Team USA. Boogie also loves Thibs. Thibs would demand more out of Boogie defensively instead of letting him coast as he has in recent 4 game losing streak.

Thibs is also the leader we need instead of the rudderless ship that reflects a 21-26 team.

Thibs spoke highly of Rondo and said something interesting re: that 2008 team with KG. When Rondo would penetrate the lane KG would rotate back to cover in transition. Thibs implied this was a turning point for them defensively. Instead of sending KG to the boards to offensive rebound KG would get back to defend the opponent fast break. With his length and gazzelle like strides he could disrupt easy dunks and lay-ups.

Do we have our own version of KG?!?!? Hmmmmm....why yes we do!!!! Thibs was basically giving free coaching advice to Karl!!!! Willie can play the role of KG.

Rondo on Celts was less responsible to get back in transition with KG covering for him. Instead Rondo is responsible for pressuring inbound pass or man who receives the outlet pass or rebounder to slow opponent transition since he is in this general vicinity off of dribble penetration. I think Rondo tries to do this but not with consistent intent as he did with Cs.

So Willie can (should) play the role of KG....to rotate back when Rondo goes to the rim and spend less time crashing the boards. I was watching to see if Kings have a man set to rotate back off of Rondo penetration and it did not look like it which of course does not prevent Karl from bemoaning his transition defense

There was another interesting part of conversation regarding having two non-shooters on the floor at the same time (Rondo, Willie) and how this is a losing formula in today's NBA. This was my biggest question about our starting five entering the season. Rondo draining threes and being a decent perimeter shooter has made this less of an issue but going forward Willie needs to be a more respectable scoring threat.

Thibs will have a lot of team vying for his services and he will want to go somewhere where the team can be elite. His best options are:

Minnesota: KAT, Wiggins, high 2016 pick
Houston: Bickerstaff is out for sure; Harden Dwight.
Sacramento: Boogie, Rondo, Willie (the new KG!)

Probably another team out there I am missing but these are the teams that come to mind with talent and replaceable head coach. I hear fans in Phoenix or Brooklyn crowing for Thibs but this is ridiculous. This would have been like Steve Kerr going to New York instead of Golden State. Coaches in high demand go where they can best succeed and money is right and for Thibs that may be Sacramento.....assuming we don't land Callipari

I was wondering the same exact thing to myself the other night. Before he signed here, he was being praised as a solid defender and a banger. I haven't seen any of that. He misses so many bunny shots around the rim too and is slow footed. I'd trade him for an athletic big instead if the opportunity presents itself.

 

[Rose2Thomas]

Thibs is also the leader we need instead of the rudderless ship that reflects a 21-26 team.

I would love to have Thibs on the Kings, but I feel like Thibs would have his pick of teams, and Kings probably wouldn't be on top of that list.

Thibs would not be interested in a meddling front office/ownership which regardless of whether they still are or not with Vlade at the helm now, they still have a reputation for.

Thibs does not care too much about offense, which Vivek would not be interested in. Although this would allow Rondo to do what he wants.

 

[Merdiesel]

I was wondering the same exact thing to myself the other night. Before he signed here, he was being praised as a solid defender and a banger. I haven't seen any of that. He misses so many bunny shots around the rim too and is slow footed. I'd trade him for an athletic big instead if the opportunity presents itself.

Not to mention how stiff he is out there...
If there's a loose ball around his feet, there is zero chance of him getting a finger on it.

 

[Blob]

I would love to have Thibs on the Kings, but I feel like Thibs would have his pick of teams, and Kings probably wouldn't be on top of that list.

Maybe but Thibs did seem to take special interest in coaching Boogie last summer. And I would think ushering in a brand new arena would have some sort of appeal. Shiny new objects and all.

I think the ownership track record with coaches and high turnover will be an impediment to attracting guy like Thibs so money and years will have to compensate for impulsive habit of hiring and firing.

 

[Blob]

I was wondering the same exact thing to myself the other night. Before he signed here, he was being praised as a solid defender and a banger. I haven't seen any of that. He misses so many bunny shots around the rim too and is slow footed. I'd trade him for an athletic big instead if the opportunity presents itself.

He is the worst 52% FG shooter in the history of the Kings. Perhaps I am setting expectations too high but I think with the quality of shots he gets he should make 58% to 60% FGs.

His defense is underrated though. He is almost always in the right spot and does a good job on help defense. I think all the bunnies he is missing lately have him thinking too much... just like Marco.

 

[SacKings384]

I was wondering the same exact thing to myself the other night. Before he signed here, he was being praised as a solid defender and a banger. I haven't seen any of that. He misses so many bunny shots around the rim too and is slow footed. I'd trade him for an athletic big instead if the opportunity presents itself.

Yeah I liked Koufos with Memphis. But keep in mind he was playing with Z-Bo and Gasol, and in a very very very slow paced offense.

 

[KingsFanGER]

He is the worst 52% FG shooter in the history of the Kings. Perhaps I am setting expectations too high but I think with the quality of shots he gets he should make 58% to 60% FGs.

His defense is underrated though. He is almost always in the right spot and does a good job on help defense. I think all the bunnies he is missing lately have him thinking too much... just like Marco.

Koufos always played like that. He never learned when to take his time and when to put the shot up quick. That's why he is a role player in this league. And that's why some Grizzlies fans were happy to see him go.
He is excactly what we expected him to be. A solid guy, who can clog the paint, is a great rim defender and will rebound the ball and score occasionally. Given minutes KK will give you a double double every night.
It's actually pretty difficult to find a better backup center, who can bang with the big guys - Baynes? Asik? He is right on par with these guys or even a bit ahead.

 

[ESP47]

He is the worst 52% FG shooter in the history of the Kings. Perhaps I am setting expectations too high but I think with the quality of shots he gets he should make 58% to 60% FGs.

His defense is underrated though. He is almost always in the right spot and does a good job on help defense. I think all the bunnies he is missing lately have him thinking too much... just like Marco.

The guys that shoot 60% don't normally do anything other than dunks and putbacks. Koufos' main arsenal is his half hook so his FG% is right where it should be.

He's just going through a bad couple weeks. All players go through slumps.

 

[Glenn]

Yeah I liked Koufos with Memphis. But keep in mind he was playing with Z-Bo and Gasol, and in a very very very slow paced offense.

Perhaps the day will come when our pace slows down. Clearly Vlade had that in mind.