[Grades] Grades v. Clippers -- 10/28/2015 OPENING NIGHT

[twslam07]

We'll have to give the Rondo experiment a little more time before making a decision, but I'll call out again that I wasn't in favor of the signing. I do like the idea of Rondo getting back to an all-star level (or at least near it), but I never thought his game fit well with our roster. When you have guys like Cousins and Gay on your team, you need a PG who can not only get them the ball in decent spots but can also space the floor for them. Collison proved he could do that last year.

I really wanted to see us go after Joseph, Lin, or Beverley to shore up our PG spot. All are solid PGs that would complement our core players. Looking at the contracts that each of them got (Beverley - $5.8 mil/year, Lin - $2.2 mil/year, & Joseph - $7.5 mil/year), I would have pushed hard for Lin. We could have easily beat his offer and offered him something like $4/5 mil over 3 years. Our roster makeup could have looked like this:

PG - Collison/Lin/Curry
SG - McLemore/Belinelli/Anderson
SF - Gay/Casspi/Butler
PF - Cauley-Stein/Moreland/Acy/Dukan
C - Cousins/Koufos

That rotation gives us 3pt shooting from every single PG, SG, & SF that we have on our roster. The floor would be spaced much better for Cousins and Gay. Not to mention between Collison, Lin, Belinelli, Gay, & Cousins we would have enough playmaking to where we don't need a ball dominant PG like Rondo.

McLemore would still be the only question mark in the rotation, but if he doesn't show improvement as a 3 and D player this year, we would have about $16 mil in cap space next year to try and bring C. Lee or Bazemore here. I would then try and swing McLemore for a stretch big (like Nemanja Bjelica) to round out our big man rotation.

PG - Collison/Lin/Curry
SG - Lee/Belinelli/Anderson
SF - Gay/Casspi/Butler
PF - Cauley-Stein/Bjelica/Moreland/Acy
C - Cousins/Koufos

That's really the direction I would have liked to see us take. That's a much more balanced team that tailors to our two best players. The good news is if Rondo doesn't seem to be a good fit, we could still sign Lin & Lee/Bazemore next year (Lin has a player option).

Again, I wasn't in favor of the Rondo signing, but I do think he has a good chance at getting back to a high level. However, even if he does return to a high level, I still don't think his game fits well with Cousins and Gay. Collison was a great compliment last year. I'd really just like to acquire a scoring/combo PG who can dish and knock down some threes. A bench of Lin, Belinelli, Butler, Casspi, & Koufos would still be an excellent bench who could put up points in a hurry while still having a defensive anchor in there to clean-up mistakes and clean the boards.

I know this is kind of pointless with the offseason being over, but I still am hopeful that we could assemble that lineup before going into next year. I'll be rooting for Rondo and I hope I'm missing something that allows him to be a great fit with our team, but right now, I'm still skeptical. Prove me wrong!

 

[Bricklayer]

The missing factor is: experience.

A young guy who hasn't been there is garbage for us at this point. We're 10 years in with the worst, losingest culture in the NBA. We eat young guys for lunch. Us turning it isn't about talent so much as it is about guys who have been to the mountaintop, and so many of them acquired that we turn this thing around just by sheer weight of knowing how to play at that level.

 

[Kingster]

I've seen this theory bandied about fairly often but that's not actually what's happening on the court.

http://on.nba.com/1WkGHvG

Here are all of Cousins' FGA from last night. There are two instances when he drives to the rim from three point range. Once he gets all the way to the rim and misses the floater. The other time (arguable this is him driving from 3, he catches it from three point range but defender sags off) he attacks Griffin and finishes an And-1. In contrast, he was completely ineffective from midrange, missing both of his jumpers, and trying to drive on DeAndre Jordan and being unable to finish around him.

http://on.nba.com/1kW713R

And here are all of his turnovers. You'll notice one Magic Cousins turnover, a handful of bad passes from the post, some illegal screens. Notice all of the turnovers trying to drive from midrange. An offensive foul drawn by DeAndre Jordan, a couple of bad passes. But not a single instance of Cousins driving from three point range and turning it over. It just didn't happen.

Any other instance of Boogie driving from three point range resulted in a foul on the defense, but unfortunately there isn't a fouls drawn section on NBA.com so we don't know what they look like.

The truth of the matter is that the threat of Cousins from three point range stretches out a defense further and gives more space for Cousins to drive. Closing out on a midrange shooter is far easier and usually Cousins isn't able to completely clear the first defender since their momentum isn't built up traveling so far of a distance. A defender can close out and still harass a midrange shooter's drive. The threat of the three can take that first defender out of position enough (again, because of the distance the defender has to go to close out all the way to the three point line) to give Cousins some space to get into the paint.

There is zero reason to keep the midrange game if Cousins has the three point game. Its a far more efficient shot, takes rim protectors out of the paint for teammates, and gives him a bigger driving lane to get to the rim. And that's exactly what happened last night. Cousins' midrange jumpers were both horrible shots, and one of them came late that basically ended any hope the Kings had of winning. But Cousins took five three pointers, and SportsVU rated all of those shots as "wide open" (meaning there was no defender within six feet of him).

So we're basing the success or failure of the Cousins 3 point strategy on one game, and a loss no less? Give me 20 games and then we'll have a barometer. If Cousins was a great passer, I'd be much more sanguine about having him out there in three point land - Bill Walton with a 3 point shot; high post offense; cutters galore, and fun, fun, fun. But Cousins has shown himself for years now to be a poor decision maker with the ball. Standing still he's a mediocre passer with the ball at the 3 point line; once he puts the ball on the floor he's a turnover machine. To my mind, when Cousins is at the 3 point line he's got two options: shoot or don't shoot. If he were truly Magic Cousins with a 3 point shot he'd have the following options: shoot, don't shoot, pass, or dribble and then shoot or pass. That's a limiting factor on the offense when it's coming from your #1 option. All that said, Karl's basketball knowledge is >>>>> Kingster's, so I'm waiting to see how Karl's vision manifests itself over the next 19 games and see what Karl is seeing that I don't see.

 

[lawlman91]

Did it? Most his TO''s came from the post and forcing around the rim I thought.

TO came as a result of passing out of drives and passing out of double teams.