[Grades] Grades v. Cavaliers 1/12/14

[bajaden]

I am happiest for Coach Malone beating up on his old head coach. This has to be very gratifying for him in his path to becoming a winning head coach.

Rudy Gay is a special talent, with a complete game and so far a great attitude. He plays under control at all times and personifies "be quick but don't hurry." Coach Wooden

To any one that knows basketball, it is obvious that improving TEAM DEFENSE TAKES TIME. So much for the poll last week by forum members that indicated that 3/4 of you think that the Kings' defense will never be any good. This game is an indication of things to come. The Kings' demoralized the Cavaliers by the third quarter. This is precisely what good teams have done to the Kings for years.

I liked the comment by the coaching staff that the Kings' are still in training camp.
Several comments today that IT "was the high scorer ....but...." makes my case about how he is viewed on this forum by some.

Kingster's letter is a thing of beauty.

I'll tell you what upset me most about IT last night. I have no problem with how he played the majority of the game. I got upset at the end of the 4th quarter with around 5 or 6 minutes left in the game, when our scrubs so to speak came in, and instead of trying to set up some of these guys that don't get many minutes, he kept trying to score himself. I mean we were up by 40 points. Let the other guys have a little fun. I started screaming for Malone to please get him out of the game, which he did after he made his last basket. That's the kind of stuff that IT does that irritates me.

 

[Glenn]

Jimmer is no different than most NBA players....he needs playing time to produce! It just kills me seeing him make those stupid stupid turnovers or general bad decisions.
Not sure if coach told him to channel his inner BYU but for a team that needs production from the guard bench spot he is proving to be quite invaluable. He draws alot of attention and has shown he can run the offense as well as IT at times.
I would be dissapointed to see him go especially when you have thorton sucking it up and ben still being an enigma.

I must admit I have a certain self interest in his success as it is difficult to believe that I was so darn wrong. Perhaps I wasn't. I expected no miracles from him like people from Utah but certainly expected the shot to fall. I think at the point we drafted him, that was a particular need as if it ever isn't.

 

[Glenn]

I'll tell you what upset me most about IT last night. I have no problem with how he played the majority of the game. I got upset at the end of the 4th quarter with around 5 or 6 minutes left in the game, when our scrubs so to speak came in, and instead of trying to set up some of these guys that don't get many minutes, he kept trying to score himself. I mean we were up by 40 points. Let the other guys have a little fun. I started screaming for Malone to please get him out of the game, which he did after he made his last basket. That's the kind of stuff that IT does that irritates me.

Absolutely. He reverts to form all too willingly and team needs get pushed to the back of his mind. He is an extraordinary scorer. We get it IT. Now use judgment. I think he has improved a great deal so a slip back to the old ways isn't the worst thing in the world. I may have let a curse word slip also watching the game.

 

[treach1976]

I'll tell you what upset me most about IT last night. I have no problem with how he played the majority of the game. I got upset at the end of the 4th quarter with around 5 or 6 minutes left in the game, when our scrubs so to speak came in, and instead of trying to set up some of these guys that don't get many minutes, he kept trying to score himself. I mean we were up by 40 points. Let the other guys have a little fun. I started screaming for Malone to please get him out of the game, which he did after he made his last basket. That's the kind of stuff that IT does that irritates me.

Definitely agree with this comment. IT didn't have a lot of points prior to garbage time and was something like 3-11 and wasn't really effective (as a scorer at least). But his play in the late 3rd and 4th quarter got him enough points to make the papers as the top scorer and earn a ton of praise. Meanwhile, I saw an article on Slam that indicated that Jimmer made the best of garbage time with his 13 points.... Writer must not have watched the game as 8 of Jimmer's 13 came when we were up by a couple of points in the 2nd. We never looked back.

 

[bajaden]

Jimmer is no different than most NBA players....he needs playing time to produce! It just kills me seeing him make those stupid stupid turnovers or general bad decisions.
Not sure if coach told him to channel his inner BYU but for a team that needs production from the guard bench spot he is proving to be quite invaluable. He draws alot of attention and has shown he can run the offense as well as IT at times.
I would be dissapointed to see him go especially when you have thorton sucking it up and ben still being an enigma.

I'll say it again. If Jimmer turns the ball over or drives into traffic, it becomes the topic of conversation, not the 13 or 15 points he scored on 5 of 7 shooting. But IT has a great scoring game, no one mentions the 3 turnovers he had while making a bad pass, or driving into traffic. No one mentions the bad Pass Gay made at the beginning of the game. Jimmer has become the turnover whipping boy for some reason. And this isn't a pro Jimmer or anti IT post. I like both players and think both have their good and bad points. I just like to be fair. What's good for the goose is good for the gander as they say. I don't know Jimmers stats for last night, but in the prior game he had 3 assists and 1 turnover. Nothing wrong with that ratio.

 

[I~true]

Jimmer took the spirit away from the Cavnots more than anyone IMO.

BUT they are playing the Pacers now so we shall see from all of our players if they play tough or like cavs.

 

[Glenn]

I'll say it again. If Jimmer turns the ball over or drives into traffic, it becomes the topic of conversation, not the 13 or 15 points he scored on 5 of 7 shooting. But IT has a great scoring game, no one mentions the 3 turnovers he had while making a bad pass, or driving into traffic. No one mentions the bad Pass Gay made at the beginning of the game. Jimmer has become the turnover whipping boy for some reason. And this isn't a pro Jimmer or anti IT post. I like both players and think both have their good and bad points. I just like to be fair. What's good for the goose is good for the gander as they say. I don't know Jimmers stats for last night, but in the prior game he had 3 assists and 1 turnover. Nothing wrong with that ratio.

Only old people say that. Oh, wait ..................

 

[sqwalk]

Just a random thought...

Many here (including myself) were pretty certain that Jimmer wouldn't be around after this year, and perhaps even gone before the trade deadline. But if somehow Jimmer continues to play and progress like he has, it makes you wonder if the Kings may very well want to re-sign him in the off season - assuming he comes cheap, which I suspect he probably will be. Also, will Jimmer want to stay? This may turn out to be interesting if he continues to have many more good games.

I know a Jimmer re-signing wouldn't be a high priority for the King's (and it probably shouldn't be), but if he's not traded before the deadline and he continues to impress, maybe he will be part of the Kings's bench future after all?

 

[Glenn]

Just a random thought...

Many here (including myself) were pretty certain that Jimmer wouldn't be around after this year, and perhaps even gone before the trade deadline. But if somehow Jimmer continues to play and progress like he has, it makes you wonder if the Kings may very well want to re-sign him in the off season - assuming he comes cheap, which I suspect he probably will be. Also, will Jimmer want to stay? This may turn out to be interesting if he continues to have many more good games.

I know a Jimmer re-signing wouldn't be a high priority for the King's (and it probably shouldn't be), but if he's not traded before the deadline and he continues to impress, maybe he will be part of the Kings's bench future after all?

I've had the same thought but I'm just not up to more than one argument a day.

 

[jcwkings]

I doubt we re-sign Jimmer, unless its very cheap and he continues to improve the rest of the season. If the goal is to re-sign IT than a more conventional defensive PG would be a target at backup( Or see how McCallum develops). Or if somehow we can get a guy like Rondo by trading IT, than Jimmer becomes an option as a backup.

 

[Bosnian Diehard]

I doubt we re-sign Jimmer, unless its very cheap and he continues to improve the rest of the season. If the goal is to re-sign IT than a more conventional defensive PG would be a target at backup( Or see how McCallum develops). Or if somehow we can get a guy like Rondo by trading IT, than Jimmer becomes an option as a backup.

I don't know about that. In the last few games, he's shown he can be the second-bost scoring option off the bench and if he continues his games with around 10 points, and considering it'd be nice to have a pure 3 PT shooter off the bench, I don't see why we wouldn't resign him. Plus, he'll probably be very cheap.

 

[Bricklayer]

I don't know about that. In the last few games, he's shown he can be the second-bost scoring option off the bench and if he continues his games with around 10 points, and considering it'd be nice to have a pure 3 PT shooter off the bench, I don't see why we wouldn't resign him. Plus, he'll probably be very cheap.

Won't have a role after we get a backup PG.

The thing about the Kerr comparisons is Kerr didn't have to play PG for those Bulls. With Scottie and MJ etc. the bigger guards/forwards handled the ball. he just spotted up. I do think its an apt comparison to the way we have been using Jimmer of late, but we don't have those sort of ballhandling figures. In fact Rudy is kind of a key because he's the only SG/SF on the whole team who can handle even a little to help out.

The Jimmer plan was always be next to Reke, a 6'5" ballhandling SG type. He did well next to John Salmons, a 6'7" ballhandling SG/SF type. Rudy covers for him now as a 6'8" ballhandling type, but Jimmer is not really viable as a PG, and it puts us in real danger if IT were ever to get hurt. So then you get a real backup PG and Jimmer becomes...a very tiny SG again?

Jimmer actually needs to go to Miami or Indiana...or even to New Orleans chasing down Reke. Those are teams full of guys who can make a Kerr look good.

 

[bloom]

Great game all around…We’ve really come a long way and it hasn’t been easy but the players are coming together and it’s starting to look like a team.

I can’t wait till the Pacers game. It will be a huge test - road game on NBA TV and playing against a quality playoff team…hopefully they don’t overhype themselves. Coach is going to be key during that game, keep his team at a level head and hopefully pull off an upset.

Man I feel bad for the Cavs fans. They’ve had several key opportunities to put together a good 3-4 core group and it seems like they’re not even close to really making a good team. I’m still surprised by the Mike Brown hire…Anyway…

I’d actually love to keep Jimmer here, you can see his improvements, I think this is the first time that he’s gotten consistent minutes since being drafted (I guess I could say that it’s also the first time the rest of the team’s also gotten consistent minutes since we’ve had a string of bad coaches for the past several years). Hopefully he can continue to grow here.

1. I.T. played well
2. Jason Thompson is continuing to be solid
3. Great to see a blowout
4. Glad to see Demarcus not have to play in the 4th. Hopefully we’ll continue this trend.
5. Great Team Game
6. Happy Ray got some minutes. I do like him to go in a slightly more faster speed when he plays.

Am I the only person that’s kinda disappointed in the fans leaving early before the game was finished? We finally blowout a opponent and we’re a team that seems to finally be putting it together. On top of that, they’re going to go on the road and face the Pacers…People should have stayed and cheered like crazy when that buzzer sounded.

 

[Npliam]

Won't have a role after we get a backup PG.

The thing about the Kerr comparisons is Kerr didn't have to play PG for those Bulls. With Scottie and MJ etc. the bigger guards/forwards handled the ball. he just spotted up. I do think its an apt comparison to the way we have been using Jimmer of late, but we don't have those sort of ballhandling figures. In fact Rudy is kind of a key because he's the only SG/SF on the whole team who can handle even a little to help out.

The Jimmer plan was always be next to Reke, a 6'5" ballhandling SG type. He did well next to John Salmons, a 6'7" ballhandling SG/SF type. Rudy covers for him now as a 6'8" ballhandling type, but Jimmer is not really viable as a PG, and it puts us in real danger if IT were ever to get hurt. So then you get a real backup PG and Jimmer becomes...a very tiny SG again?

Jimmer actually needs to go to Miami or Indiana...or even to New Orleans chasing down Reke. Those are teams full of guys who can make a Kerr look good.

So what bad thing would happen if IT went down and Jimmer got moved to the starter? He would be playing with Cousins (who really does think he is a point guard), Gay , who can bring the ball up just fine, Thornton who isn't a great ball handler but can bring the ball up the court and JT. There is no way that that group of players should have a hard time bringing the ball up the court. If the other team really wants to trap Jimmer they will be giving up layups and dunks to Gay and Cousins. I just don't think it would be anywhere near as catastrophic as you are making out to be.

 

[Chubbs]

I'll tell you what upset me most about IT last night. I have no problem with how he played the majority of the game. I got upset at the end of the 4th quarter with around 5 or 6 minutes left in the game, when our scrubs so to speak came in, and instead of trying to set up some of these guys that don't get many minutes, he kept trying to score himself. I mean we were up by 40 points. Let the other guys have a little fun. I started screaming for Malone to please get him out of the game, which he did after he made his last basket. That's the kind of stuff that IT does that irritates me.

But it got him the headlines didn't it? "Kings PG leads kings with 26 points " and all that.