[Grades] Grades v. Clippers 04/05/12

[Bricklayer]

Poorly coached, poorly played, DeMarcus disappoints...I hereby pronounce this game Fugly.

Let's do a Theme of Wax Celebs

Boxscore

Garcia ( C+ ) -- got the start, and if he could only shoot the damn ball any better than I can it would have been a successful one. Able to walk in along the baseline several times in the early going for layups and setting up teammates. But aside from a short first half burst when he accidentally hit a shot, and it reminded him where the hoop was for the next one, it was just another brickapoolaza. No excuses either -- Cisco plays the roleplayer better than any other King, and the shots he is missing are all set up by teammates, many of them wide open. And it was just too bad because he brought the help defense with him again today, notching 3stls and 2 help blocks and being a presence in the first half in particular. Just frustrating to watch him sink back into the same nonsense that had him benched for the first half of the season. Its a wide open shot Cisco! Just pretend its shootaround!

No word on whether the blond is wax or merely plastic.

Thompson ( A- ) -- best King on the court...right up until we suddenly decided to bench him for the final 4 minutes of the game? Some good help defense in the early going, and yet was still managing to play excellent defense on Blake, who admittedly wasn;t playing with much spark,, but still -- JT dominated him. Was all over the offensive glass early and was cleaning up all the pretty looking misses by the main guns and led the team in both scoring and rebounding in the first quarter. Badly outperformed Griffin in the early going. Grabbed more rebounds than the entire starting frontcourt of the Clippers, or all 4 other starters for us. And yet was just mysteriously taken out of the game at the 4:30 mark, similar to what Smart did to Reke the other night when he was our best player and threatenign a triple double. Just insanity. Of course what happened was DeMarcus need to come back in, and he did, but but Chuck was also playing well, and Jason hadn't rested in a long time and and...and nothing. You don't take out your best and most effective player of the night for the final 4 minutes of a very winnable game. You just don't. We were up 1 when the move was made at the 4:35 mark. We lost by 8. You do the math.

Cousins ( F ) -- you know, a lot went into this one, but I don't really care. At this point DeMarcus has got to start embracing his stardom, and that means no more kiddie efforts where you just get skunked and its ok. Its not ok. If you are going to be a star in a man's league you have to walk onto that court with an attitude and say I AM going to drop 20-10 on you every night, and if you're lucky I'll just leave it at that and not go for 25 or 30. And this time out Boogie did not have that look. Was overpenetrating and getting smothered early for turnovers, and while he made a few nice plays, in general he was getting badly outsaavied out there on his way to 4 first quarter turnovers. Added a 5th TO before half, and then compounded things by adding foul trouble as well. Then for some inexpicable reason we started him on Grffin to begin the 3rd, and predictably he got into worse foul trouble immediately. Now somebody on here was claiming that he didn't actually start on Griffin, that he just kept repeatedly switching onto him. So maybe just bad scheme, rather than terrible sideline decision. But either way, there was no way, NO way that you could possibly put a frustrated DeMarcus Cousins out there to start the third, carrying three fouls, and have him guard an athletic high scoring forward notorious for flopping. None. And if that was a coaching decision, it was just stupid. Barely played, got the expected foul, did not return until the final 4 minutes, at which time he AGAIN was put on Blake Griffin. Why we shall never know since both JT and Hayes had done a great job on Griffin. But we bring the guy who's been sitting on the sideline for half an hour out to get torched by Griffin for the last few minutes as we lose the game. Did come up with one great power finish at the 1:30 mark, but that was it, and fouled out with 6 seconds to go and us dead of self inflicted wounds.

I thought I would add a really bad one for variety. Want to take a guess who that is? The flag is a hint. And the "artist" who created this "likeness" should stick to paint dripping, because this is as bad as those old Kings bobbleheads that never looked remotely like anybody.

 

[Bricklayer]

Evans ( C+ ) -- played good defense early, and we were running a lot of offense through him early in a scheme that makes some sense -- IT ws bringing it up, then giving it to Reke to create something while he spotted up. Was doing a pretty good job unselfishly finding guys as he racked up more assists than the entire rest of our starting lineup combined. But lest anyone fear Nash had suddenly materialized in our lineup, let it be said that Reke's assists were mostly of the simple swing pass around the perimeter variety, as the Clippers did a nice job making us feel uncomfortable on offense and none of our guys were able to consistently find open passing lanes. Jumper not falling at all, and the shooting percentage tonight largely a result of Smart's take the shot anyway philosophy. Gave us a boost after returning in the late half as he an IT were the main stabilizing forces after a disastrous stint by the bench. Threw a great 3/4 touch pass off the chest to a streaking Cisco in the early 3rd and slashed to the hoop for a strong +1, but with the jumpers not falling and the ball not exactly circulating out there was never able to generate any long stretches of offensive firepower. Saw Foye hit some tough tough shots even when he smothered him on defense. Was going to come back in the 4th along with COusins at a reasonable point at the 6:00 mark, but then play continued, and then Jimmer hit a three with 4:30 to go so of course a Jimmer/IT backcourt was the better option to win a game with. When finally did get back in with 3 min to go found himslef guarding a PF. SMH at Smart. Almsot got to play the hero as was fouled slashing along he baseline at the 18 second mark, and hit the pair to make the lead 1 with 18 seconds to go. And damn near came up with the steal on the long inbounds pass on the next Clippers' possession -- stretched full out to get his fingertips on a ball being thrown over his head, but ran out of real estate and ended up out of bounds. Missed jumpers made this one too scruffy to go with the B-, but made a contribution.

While we are doing really bad ones, that is supposed to be JLo. As interpreted by your toddler via Play Doh I am assuming.

Thomas ( B- ) -- This was another game where Isaish was primarily a spot shooter, or at least that was where he was primarily effective. Paul was considerably disruptive with 5 steals and the Clippers were cutting off passing lanes all over the board, and the end resut was that IT notched all of 1 assists on the night. Was overdribbling and not seeing guys early in the clock and it slowed us down. But his outside shot was on, and that was the weapon he used to stay productive and give us a boost. Struggled on defense against Paul early but settled in and stayed with him for most of the rest of the night. Didn't do anything to make him shoot as poorly as he did, but also didn't give up bunches of easy ones to balance the shooting percentages, and that is something. Couple of nice little man rebounds skying in there as well in the early going, and showed nice hustle going to the floor for a ball early in the 3rd. Finally got his only assist of the game in the 4th quarter when he set up Hayes nicely for a layup but for some mysterious reason fouled CP3 shooting a three in the early 4th. Got shaky down the stretch, nearly turning it over on a bad drive and dish attempt at the3:20 mark, then not surprisingly losing the ball anyway on the jump bal that followed. Couple of possessions later threw up a high degree of difficulty 1 on 1 flip which we did not need, but tried to make up for the offensive misadventures by racing back the other way to draw a charge. And came up with a potentially huge steal from behind on CP3 at the 24 second mark and us down 3 -- led to the Reke breakout that got it to 1.

Believe it or not, somebody decided to do a Posh and Beck's nativity scene...complete wiht George W. Bush as one of the, ahem, three wise men...ah, if only I had discovered this in time for the bad nativity scenes theme.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bench

Fredette ( C ) -- got off to a rough start, as did basically all of the reserves exept TWill. As soon as he entered, Paul went right at him and scored. Just not able to free himself from Paul's defense and committed n offensive foul to close the first quarter pushing off. Then missed an open three and got trapped again, this time on the semi-break, and had to desperately call a timeout. Gave us a little something in the late third as he began just dribbling around in circles and hit a little runner. But got overencouraged I guess and just forced a tough one to start the 4th as he was off shooting every time again. Maybe the best thing he did throughout the game and in the 4th especially was swing the ball to IT repeatedly, with IT hot from outside. Was just about to be taken out when he finally hit a big three on the break to give us the lead with 4:30 to go, and Smart decided that was enough to give him the stretch minutes. Blown by by Paul for a big hoop at the the 1:00 mark.

Yep. Bieber. Immortalized in wax. Kinda.

Hayes ( B ) -- ineffective with the backups in that intial terrible stint for that crew -- they could not score, and of course neither can Chuck so it was a bad mix. But after Demarcus left wiht three fouls Chuck provided good hustle and defense on Griffin as the rest of the starters got us back in the game. Came back in after Whiteside was unable to replace Cousins in the 3rd and made a nice pass to a backdoor cutting Reke. Made several good plays in the early 4th with a strong board and a steal, but unfortunately was making enough contirbutions in the 4th to make Smart to mess up his rotations again, forget about his stars until there were only 4 min left when he brought Boogie back in, and to flat out bench JT, who was only our best player on the night.

Greene ( INC ) -- not out there long enough to matter. Missed a three, got fouled on a storng drive attempt and split the pair.

Wiliams ( B ) -- excellent defense from the moment he entered the game. Offense involved too much of him going one on one, but kept hitting contested pullup jumpers using his hops to clear the defense. Impact fadesd as his minutes drug on. Turnover on the inbounds pass at the 16.8 second mark trying to hit Boogie with us down 3. Killed us.

Honeycutt ( INC ) -- in randomly in the second quarter, and the lineup did not work

Whiteside ( INC ) -- ineffective stint in the early 3rd after Cousins got his 4th.

 

[Kingster]

I loved the fact Smart had Jimmer play big minutes in this game. It's going to pay dividends down the line. I was very impressed with Jimmer tonight. He had a very rough early-go, but Smart showed confidence in him by leaving him in there, and Jimmer battled through, showed a lot of fight, and you could tell that he decided he was going to play aggressively and not overthink things. This is the kind of game that he can build on. If he goes out there and plays assertive like this every night he's going to continue to improve and help this team in the future. Also, I liked very much to see Williams encourage Jimmer. And he was getting Jimmer the ball. You've got to have your teamates believe in you and pass you the ball even when you're in a slump. Too often you see guys freeze another player out, especially a young player, if they're in a slump. It's an easy way to be selfish and take more shots for themselves. Williams was just the opposite. There was major fight in this team tonight. Still very rough around the edges, but inspiring nonetheless.

 

[Bricklayer]

I loved the fact Smart had Jimmer play big minutes in this game. It's going to pay dividends down the line. I was very impressed with Jimmer tonight. He had a very rough early-go, but Smart showed confidence in him by leaving him in there, and Jimmer battled through, showed a lot of fight, and you could tell that he decided he was going to play aggressively and not overthink things. This is the kind of game that he can build on. If he goes out there and plays assertive like this every night he's going to continue to improve and help this team in the future. Also, I liked very much to see Williams encourage Jimmer. And he was getting Jimmer the ball. You've got to have your teamates believe in you and pass you the ball even when you're in a slump. Too often you see guys freeze another player out, especially a young player, if they're in a slump. It's an easy way to be selfish and take more shots for themselves. Williams was just the opposite. There was major fight in this team tonight. Still very rough around the edges, but inspiring nonetheless.

You realize you could do the same thing with Quincy Douby or any scrub really. Giving guys minutes and giving them the green light to throw up crappy shots is easy. If they're not good enough it does neither you nor they any good. Maybe helpful for draft position though. There is always that.

 

[rainmaker]

Road Jimmer too long, which led to Smart subbing out Hayes, putting Reke at PF, and putting Cuz on Blake at the end which is a terrible idea. Guess Smart values a Jimmer 3 more than Chucks defense on Blake and at least some defense from your back court, assuming Reke checks in for Jimmer which it looked like he would at the 3 min mark as both he and Cuz were about to check in. Then Jimmer hits that quick 3 and everything goes to s***.

That probably sounds anti Jimmer, but it's anti Smart. I thought Jimmer played pretty well in the 4th after a terrible first half, but coach just left him in there a little too long(and an IT/Jimmer backcourt FAR too long), which in my mind means once again he valued offense, and jump shooting offense at that over defense from Chuck on Blake and Reke in the back court. Glad to see Jimmer get some confidence back though.

Uh, and why not give IT a breather in the 2nd half? Don't think he was a little tired when you had him on CP3 at the end? Just all offense, offense, offense from this coach. Sucks, because I thought the guys even though they didn't play great, put for the effort and played well enough to win, and the loss was more about how our players were used at the end, imo. And what a crappy inbounds play btw. It's not that the first option, Cuz, was bad, but the fact that once again there is NO second option on that play. Seen that too much on inbounds plays where we don't have a 2nd option. If the first option is cut off, and of course the Clips knew we're going to Cuz as MT is out and Smart pulled Reke again at that point, you need a 2nd option. If you go back and watch that play, the middle is open and ripe for a cutter (Reke?although benched...) yet there was zero movement, Jimmer and Cisco just standing, and no other option at all for TWill to pass to.

 

[The_Jamal]

I've defended Smart more than most on this board for a variety of reasons, but there's simply no excuse for taking Hayes off of Griffin tonight. The sad thing is that Smart had the right timing of putting in Reke/Cousins as they ran to the table around the 6:10 mark of the 4th (albeit for the wrong people apparently).

The other major factor tonight was how reliant we are on Cousins and Reke to have strong performances night in and night out. Cousins HAS to stay out of foul trouble and 5 TO's in 18 minutes is flat out lack of focus on his part. Reke, I thought he actually played a pretty solid overall game. His defense was solid tonight, as Foye got most of his points when Reke wasn't guarding him, and he played the point-forward role nicely. The problem is once again that pesky jumper. 14 pts, 6 assists 3 boards, 2 blocks, 1 steal 3 TO's on 5/13 shooting wouldn't be too bad of a night for a role player. Add in the 4-5 open jumpers he missed/didn't take and all of a sudden his statline is what we need out of our star player.

 

[ArcoKings]

Tough loss. This is yet ANOTHER game that the Kings should have won BUT last year the Kings would have found themselves blown out to playoff teams for the most part. Lately they have been losing to playoff teams with close margins. A couple TOs less here, a couple FTs made there, etc. and the Kings have a dozen more wins at this point. They just can't get over the hump yet. Defense is a tad better compared to the first half of the season but still needs way more improvement. The Kings are close, very close.

Hope springs eternal.

 

[swisshh]

To me, it looked like Smart suddenly changed things at the end in an attempt to lose the game. I'm not sure if its right to accuse a coach of being a part of a tank job, but it sure looked like a tank job to me. Even playing Jimmer so much is a "play for next season" sort of thing.

 

[The Hammer]

Agree that taking Hayes off Blake is what killed us. And I could see it coming. We were up 3 with about 3 and a half to go. 2-3 quick buckets by Blake and the momentum had completely shifted, and suddenly we're down 3 with less than a minute and a half to go and they are this close to sealing it. That, and going away from the zone. And I can't figure out why. Just leave Hayes in, the zone was flustering them, and put in Reke and Cuz and go with IT, Reke, Williams, Hayes, Cuz. Still a fast enough line up to run a break and fairly beastly defensively. I had a bad feeling when we put Cuz on Blake one on one. We really should have had this game.

 

[gatoradeSD]

I dont understand where you think Jimmer was putting up junk? his shots all seemed to be high percentage shots to me

 

[Glenn]

I dont understand where you think Jimmer was putting up junk? his shots all seemed to be high percentage shots to me

Most people have not seen Jimmer play in college and so far in the NBA he hasn't approached the level of shooting that he displayed in college. Perhaps the day will come when he hits things like he did in college but until he gets to that point, his shots will look like junk. I personally think he should turn off his brain and fire away as there is nothing to be gained or lost for the rest of the season and if he gets the same confidence he had in college, that would be great and people would understand why he was drafted. The real Jimmer would be back and that's a good thing for the Kings. As it is, I think he looks very bad and that has far more to do than simply his shooting.

This is not BYU and Jimmer knows it. Some of his fans haven't figured that out yet.

 

[Kings Faithful]

This team really misses Marcus Thorton. Jimmer played like crap sans a 3 minute stretch in the 3rd. JT rocked but was taken out in the late stages of the 4th, wtf. Griffin got into Demarcus' head and got him in foul trouble early. Terrence Williams continues to be great on both ends of the court. IT played a pretty good game. The Kings can't shoot at all. Tyreke Evans was a ghost again.

Game summarized.

 

[Lockehead]

IT was matched up with Paul for most of the game, and Chris ended up shooting 4/16. Interestingly, Thomas played for 40 mins, and had a +/- of +3.

 

[steelevt]

I dont understand where you think Jimmer was putting up junk? his shots all seemed to be high percentage shots to me

There was a couple forced shots but nothing I haven't seen from any other player. Even our best players throw up junk a couple times a game.

I noticed we took the lead and confused them while playing zone (as well as hid jimmer defensively). Then smart went away from it and we lost the lead for good

 

[Lockehead]

This team really misses Marcus Thorton. Jimmer played like crap sans a 3 minute stretch in the 3rd. JT rocked but was taken out in the late stages of the 4th, wtf. Griffin got into Demarcus' head and got him in foul trouble early. Terrence Williams continues to be great on both ends of the court. IT played a pretty good game. The Kings can't shoot at all. Tyreke Evans was a ghost again.

Game summarized.

IIRC, Jimmer played his worst when he was the 3rd guard on the floor, next to IT and Reke. He seldom had the ball in his hands.

When he was in there next to IT and Williams, Williams whom had somewhat deferred to IT and Jimmer, he did a lot better, and it was then that he started making plays that kept us in the game.

It sort of reminds me of what Bill Walton had commented on during the game: Jimmer needs to find his rhythm to be effective. And i doubt his rhythm is going to be primarily as a 'stand back, spot up shooter'. He made some good things happen when he had the ball in his hands.

 

[Gary]

IT was matched up with Paul for most of the game, and Chris ended up shooting 4/16. Interestingly, Thomas played for 40 mins, and had a +/- of +3.

There in person (I was) and was watching his D very close.. He did well on both Paul and Foye when there was a switch, but the Clips looked a bit tired out there.

 

[Mass]

After watching the game, I think we really have a problem with the rotations of our players. Right now, without Salmons and Thornton, we have a very bad bench. Just T-Will is effective, all the other players are struggling. I believe Smart should understand that he can't play 5 bench players at the same time. It's not the first time our opponents go on a run at the beginning of the 2nd quarter, when we have a lineup of Jimmer, Garcia, Honeycutt, Greene and Hayes. This can't work, and it should be clear. We should have a mix of bench players and starters. For example, I believe that Reke and DeMarcus should never be on the bench at the same time. Right now these rotations are killing us, and there's no way we can stay in a game with those lineups.

 

[Kings Faithful]

IIRC, Jimmer played his worst when he was the 3rd guard on the floor, next to IT and Reke. He seldom had the ball in his hands.

When he was in there next to IT and Williams, Williams whom had somewhat deferred to IT and Jimmer, he did a lot better, and it was then that he started making plays that kept us in the game.

It sort of reminds me of what Bill Walton had commented on during the game: Jimmer needs to find his rhythm to be effective. And i doubt his rhythm is going to be primarily as a 'stand back, spot up shooter'. He made some good things happen when he had the ball in his hands.

Terrence Williams undoubtedly makes Jimmer a better player. We definitely have more ball movement when he's out there.

 

[bajaden]

I saw Jimmer get angry tonight. Something you don't see from him. Right after that, he started playing like he did at BYU. Thats the attitude he needs to keep. So far the best thing thats happened to Jimmer is T Will. The two of them play well together, and look for each other on the floor. No doubt that Jimmer has a long way to go, but tonight, I saw a glimpse of the Jimmer I knew at BYU. And enough of this Douby crap!!!!!! He's nothing like Douby. Jimmer is a shooter, and he's always been a good one. You know what shooters do? They shoot the freaking ball. Sometimes they go in, and sometimes they don't. If Thornton goes 4 for 15, nobody says a damm word, but if Jimmer misses 3 or 4 shots in a row, my god, what the hell is he doing? If IT drives into traffic and turns the ball over, thats OK, but if Jimmer does it, my god, send him to the D-league. He's a rookie folks, with a few months experience. Just what the hell did you expect? I guess JT is safe again after his performance tonight. He was on thin ice there after a couple of bad outings. Oh how quickly the worm turns?

 

[Bricklayer]

I saw Jimmer get angry tonight. Something you don't see from him. Right after that, he started playing like he did at BYU. Thats the attitude he needs to keep. So far the best thing thats happened to Jimmer is T Will. The two of them play well together, and look for each other on the floor. No doubt that Jimmer has a long way to go, but tonight, I saw a glimpse of the Jimmer I knew at BYU. And enough of this Douby crap!!!!!! He's nothing like Douby. Jimmer is a shooter, and he's always been a good one. You know what shooters do? They shoot the freaking ball. Sometimes they go in, and sometimes they don't. If Thornton goes 4 for 15, nobody says a damm word, but if Jimmer misses 3 or 4 shots in a row, my god, what the hell is he doing? If IT drives into traffic and turns the ball over, thats OK, but if Jimmer does it, my god, send him to the D-league. He's a rookie folks, with a few months experience. Just what the hell did you expect? I guess JT is safe again after his performance tonight. He was on thin ice there after a couple of bad outings. Oh how quickly the worm turns?

No, that's exactly right -- MT CAN shoot 4 of 15. Jimmer can't. Why? MT has proven himself in the NBA as a near 20ppg scorer. He's earned that 4-15 because most nights its 7-15 or 8-15 and he can flat out carry you, against NBA competition. Jimmer hasn't proven anything. College hype aside he hasn't even clearly established he'll be in the NBA after his rookie deal is up. So no, he doesn't get to shoot 4-15 or throw up 3 or 4 crap jumpers after dribbling around for 15 seconds, because he hasn't proven he's worth that sort of disruption yet. The joke is the double standard..in favor of the .378 shooting rookie! Thornton or Reke play like that, oh its all angry mutters and what cancers they are. Jimmer does it, ooh its just Jimmer being Jimmer. Well until Jimmer has proven he is worthy of carrying our other guards' jocks IN THE NBA, not against 20yr old kids on Idaho St., he doesn't get to do that. Its just bad basketball.

And that's a real problem, and has been a real probelm even before Jimmer began to stumble. In college he was a flat chucker (it worked mind you, but he still took probably at least 1/3 of his team's shots). And the very last thing this team needs is another chucker. And now with him stuggling so mightily against traps and pressure, on defense etc., you try to get value out of him by saying go play like you did in college...which is to say, go dribble around and chuck shots. Except in college he was the best guy on the team and him dribbling around and chucking was both higher percentage against college competition and still probably a better option than any of his teammates. But now in the pros he is most definitely not the best guy on the team. He's not even one of the 5 best guys. Some him running around struggling to play Jimmer ball against superior NBA players while the guys on our own team who have proven far more stand in the corner, or sit on the bench, and watch is just silly.

this has nothing to do btw with him shooting threes when guys kick it to him or whatnot -- he should shoot everyone of those he gets thrown. This is about him having to play like a primary option to be effective at all, when on a good team he might be a 10th-12th man right now.

P.S. as for the Douby compariosn BTW, these were Douby's and Jimmer's numbers as seniors in college:
Douby: 36.7min 25.4pts (.462 .401 (on 8.8attempts) .847) 4.3reb 3.1ast 1.8stl 0.8blk 2.8TO
Jimmr: 35.8min 28.9pts (.452 .396 (on 8.5attempts) .894) 3.4reb 4.3ast 1.3stl 0.0blk 3.5TO

I don't see how you can annoint one of those guys, who dribbled around dominating the ball for his college team and bombing away from 3pt land, a shooter with a green light anywhere and anytime in the NBA, and the other something else.

 

[Tetsujin]

There in person (I was) and was watching his D very close.. He did well on both Paul and Foye when there was a switch, but the Clips looked a bit tired out there.

Clips had that tough game against the other LA team the night before so it's safe to say that they probably were

 

[Tetsujin]

I'd be remiss in neglecting to mention that Hassan has at least begun to resemble an NBA player over his past couple of games. I no longer have to completely cover my eyes when he steps on the floor. (Now I watch through my fingers)

 

[Spike]

We should have had the Clippers. They were definitely tired, and we were able to make some runs throughout the game. Despite how bad DMC played, and an off(?) shooting night by Evans, we were an inbounds play away from making it a little more interesting. Evans didn't hit some jumpers? That's OK, I thought we wanted him to practice them. He did help out with 6 ast, and we almost stole an ugly one. We need to win those ugly ones.

Rotations and coaching, again, are what screwed this up. Miniball is a flat out bad idea, yet Smart seems to think he needs to keep at it. So instead of a third guard trying to figure out a new position, you have two guards trying to figure out two new positions against a pretty good Clippers team. We had a nice run to end the half, then he went with an ISO of IT against Paul...really, dude? It's clear that his preferred style is to just try and out-shoot the opposition, which is why every gets the green light to shoot, but it leads to confused roles, among other things.

Smart continues to amaze me in the way he tends to freeze out players who are having good nights...(well, except Cousins - sometimes.) Not sure what his logic is there.

 

[Kingster]

You realize you could do the same thing with Quincy Douby or any scrub really. Giving guys minutes and giving them the green light to throw up crappy shots is easy. If they're not good enough it does neither you nor they any good. Maybe helpful for draft position though. There is always that.

I don't equate Quincy Douby with Jimmer. I think eventually Jimmer is going to get his mojo back and when he does he's going to help this team. I doubt he'll be a starter, but he could add some legit firepower off the bench. Right now he's battling to keep his head above water, but he'll put in major work over the offseason and I bet he's a better player next year. This on the floor experience, combined with lots of time in the film room, is going to help him slow down the game, and that in turn is going to get his shooting back.

Overall, I like what Smart is doing with this team. This is a very tough chore - to coach such a young team with no major veteran leadership. He may be sacrificing some wins short term with his substitutions, but it is paying off in team cohesiveness, competitiveness, and developing his young players. It should bear long term fruit.

PS When we don't see teams beating the Kings down the floor for at least four consecutive games, that will be a major indication to me that the culture has been transformed. We're not there yet, but I definitely see that Smart is working on it.

 

[Kingster]

IT was matched up with Paul for most of the game, and Chris ended up shooting 4/16. Interestingly, Thomas played for 40 mins, and had a +/- of +3.

I thought IT had a very good game. Started off slowly, may have been somewhat intimidated by CP3, but he started to put more and more pressure on Paul as the game progressed. Had two bad calls go against him, both push-offs of CP3 that were called on him instead. The Kings offense was out of synch, but despite that he didn't lose his poise and made some big shots. I didn't see the previous game, but heard that he got outplayed a lot by CP3. That certainly did not happen in this game.

 

[Kingster]

No, that's exactly right -- MT CAN shoot 4 of 15. Jimmer can't. Why? MT has proven himself in the NBA as a near 20ppg scorer. He's earned that 4-15 because most nights its 7-15 or 8-15 and he can flat out carry you, against NBA competition. Jimmer hasn't proven anything. College hype aside he hasn't even clearly established he'll be in the NBA after his rookie deal is up. So no, he doesn't get to shoot 4-15 or throw up 3 or 4 crap jumpers after dribbling around for 15 seconds, because he hasn't proven he's worth that sort of disruption yet. The joke is the double standard..in favor of the .378 shooting rookie! Thornton or Reke play like that, oh its all angry mutters and what cancers they are. Jimmer does it, ooh its just Jimmer being Jimmer. Well until Jimmer has proven he is worthy of carrying our other guards' jocks IN THE NBA, not against 20yr old kids on Idaho St., he doesn't get to do that. Its just bad basketball.

And that's a real problem, and has been a real probelm even before Jimmer began to stumble. In college he was a flat chucker (it worked mind you, but he still took probably at least 1/3 of his team's shots). And the very last thing this team needs is another chucker. And now with him stuggling so mightily against traps and pressure, on defense etc., you try to get value out of him by saying go play like you did in college...which is to say, go dribble around and chuck shots. Except in college he was the best guy on the team and him dribbling around and chucking was both higher percentage against college competition and still probably a better option than any of his teammates. But now in the pros he is most definitely not the best guy on the team. He's not even one of the 5 best guys. Some him running around struggling to play Jimmer ball against superior NBA players while the guys on our own team who have proven far more stand in the corner, or sit on the bench, and watch is just silly.

this has nothing to do btw with him shooting threes when guys kick it to him or whatnot -- he should shoot everyone of those he gets thrown. This is about him having to play like a primary option to be effective at all, when on a good team he might be a 10th-12th man right now.

P.S. as for the Douby compariosn BTW, these were Douby's and Jimmer's numbers as seniors in college:
Douby: 36.7min 25.4pts (.462 .401 (on 8.8attempts) .847) 4.3reb 3.1ast 1.8stl 0.8blk 2.8TO
Jimmr: 35.8min 28.9pts (.452 .396 (on 8.5attempts) .894) 3.4reb 4.3ast 1.3stl 0.0blk 3.5TO

I don't see how you can annoint one of those guys, who dribbled around dominating the ball for his college team and bombing away from 3pt land, a shooter with a green light anywhere and anytime in the NBA, and the other something else.

Rookies get a pass. Second year guys a semi-pass. Third and fourth year guys have to show improvement and BB IQ. The expectations for Thornton and Tyreke when it comes to shot selection should be significantly higher than any rookie. They've been in the league long enough to know what is a good shot and what isn't. When Jimmer is in his 3rd year I'll expect better shot selection from him, just as I expect better shot selection from Tyreke now than in his rookie year. If Jimmer hasn't progressed when he's in his 3rd year, then safe to say, he won't be resigned. We're a long way from that point. Nobody is "annointing" anybody, we're just looking evaluating the rookies as rookies, not 3rd or 4 year vets. With Thornton out with an injury it makes total sense to give Jimmer some big minutes. He is a shooter, after all, and that's what Thornton does.

 

[gatoradeSD]

No, that's exactly right -- MT CAN shoot 4 of 15. Jimmer can't. Why? MT has proven himself in the NBA as a near 20ppg scorer. He's earned that 4-15 because most nights its 7-15 or 8-15 and he can flat out carry you, against NBA competition. Jimmer hasn't proven anything. College hype aside he hasn't even clearly established he'll be in the NBA after his rookie deal is up. So no, he doesn't get to shoot 4-15 or throw up 3 or 4 crap jumpers after dribbling around for 15 seconds, because he hasn't proven he's worth that sort of disruption yet. The joke is the double standard..in favor of the .378 shooting rookie! Thornton or Reke play like that, oh its all angry mutters and what cancers they are. Jimmer does it, ooh its just Jimmer being Jimmer. Well until Jimmer has proven he is worthy of carrying our other guards' jocks IN THE NBA, not against 20yr old kids on Idaho St., he doesn't get to do that. Its just bad basketball.

And that's a real problem, and has been a real probelm even before Jimmer began to stumble. In college he was a flat chucker (it worked mind you, but he still took probably at least 1/3 of his team's shots). And the very last thing this team needs is another chucker. And now with him stuggling so mightily against traps and pressure, on defense etc., you try to get value out of him by saying go play like you did in college...which is to say, go dribble around and chuck shots. Except in college he was the best guy on the team and him dribbling around and chucking was both higher percentage against college competition and still probably a better option than any of his teammates. But now in the pros he is most definitely not the best guy on the team. He's not even one of the 5 best guys. Some him running around struggling to play Jimmer ball against superior NBA players while the guys on our own team who have proven far more stand in the corner, or sit on the bench, and watch is just silly.

this has nothing to do btw with him shooting threes when guys kick it to him or whatnot -- he should shoot everyone of those he gets thrown. This is about him having to play like a primary option to be effective at all, when on a good team he might be a 10th-12th man right now.

P.S. as for the Douby compariosn BTW, these were Douby's and Jimmer's numbers as seniors in college:
Douby: 36.7min 25.4pts (.462 .401 (on 8.8attempts) .847) 4.3reb 3.1ast 1.8stl 0.8blk 2.8TO
Jimmr: 35.8min 28.9pts (.452 .396 (on 8.5attempts) .894) 3.4reb 4.3ast 1.3stl 0.0blk 3.5TO

I don't see how you can annoint one of those guys, who dribbled around dominating the ball for his college team and bombing away from 3pt land, a shooter with a green light anywhere and anytime in the NBA, and the other something else.

you obviosuly never saw one of his games in college. we drafted the guy to shoot threes. no other reason. what do you think they wanted him to do when he gets in the game? pass the ball? yea it's not working out like they hoped but thats what he does is shoot the longball. thats all he's ever done. and if you expected something else your sadly mistaken and its gonna take time for him to learn the other aspects of the game.

 

[Fear the Putin]

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/...-angeles-clippers-blake-griffin-actor-matchup

God, I love Boogie

Asked about the fifth foul he received for a play on Griffin with a little more than a minute left in the game, Cousins indicated he believed Griffin was faking.

"I guess the wind from my hand hit him in the eye and I guess he got fouled by the wind," Cousins said. "I'm not sure."

 

[pshn80]

I'd be remiss in neglecting to mention that Hassan has at least begun to resemble an NBA player over his past couple of games. I no longer have to completely cover my eyes when he steps on the floor. (Now I watch through my fingers)

Very well said. It is encouraging but a lot of playing time left to go before he passes probation.

 

[pshn80]

Jimmer needs to work on quickness and strength. I'm not sure you can do much to make yourself much quicker but every little bit helps. He needs to practice escapes traps either by learning to avoid or beat them.