[Grades] Grades v. Jazz 11/24/2012

[CruzDude]

Ah, well. Cuz. A "damned if you do, damned if you don't" player for Kings. The first "T" I give him. Then keep your mouth shut! The Tyreke-Cuz pairing is really starting to work, so is MT-Hayes and I like Salmons starting at the 3. Takes time folks. Like JT playing consistent and getting his 14 & 8 every night. Takes time for coach too. Kings@Clips coming up looks to be a real game for a change.

 

[LWP777]

Cousins was playing a very strong game until the, well, was going to call it a meltdown, except that I thought both Ts were B.S., so I'll just go with "the incident".

Both T's were B.S.? Please enlighten us. Did you hear what he said to the referee? Keep making those excuses for him!

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Cousins was playing a very strong game until the, well, was going to call it a meltdown, except that I thought both Ts were B.S., so I'll just go with "the incident".

Not only were both Ts B.S., but the personal foul was, too. Should have been on Kanter for dislodging.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Both T's were B.S.? Please enlighten us. Did you hear what he said to the referee? Keep making those excuses for him!

And you keep on hatin'!

 

[twslam07]

Both T's were B.S.? Please enlighten us. Did you hear what he said to the referee? Keep making those excuses for him!

From what I heard Cousins say to the ref, yes the T was B.S.

 

[Kingster]

Cousins was playing a very strong game until the, well, was going to call it a meltdown, except that I thought both Ts were B.S., so I'll just go with "the incident".

What Cousins doesn't realize is that Kanter kicked his ***. Kanter might have just as well drop-kicked Cousins into the stands. Kanter must have been extremely pleased with himself (and yes, he should be), that he posted up Cousins in the post, banged on him until Cousins got pissed, and then as a result Cousins gets kicked out of the game. Kanter literally took Cousins out of the game. The book on Cousins is that he's a mental and emotional weakling and that he can be taken metaphorically or even literally out of the game if you play him physically or get under his skin in another fashion. It's worrisome that this aspect of Cousins has not gotten better so far this year. He still doesn't get it.

 

[lwc]

This is the solution to the rotation problem:
Tyreke and Cousins need the most minutes, period. If possible, keep them on the floor for at least 40 minutes.

Starters:
Evans
Brooks
Salmons
JT
Cousins

6th Man guard and big
MT
Robinson (needs playing time for development)

 

[Bricklayer]

What Cousins doesn't realize is that Kanter kicked his a$$. Kanter might have just as well drop-kicked Cousins into the stands. Kanter must have been extremely pleased with himself (and yes, he should be), that he posted up Cousins in the post, banged on him until Cousins got pissed, and then as a result Cousins gets kicked out of the game. Kanter literally took Cousins out of the game.

This is generally corrent IMO, and something I figured out a long time ago. If you told me on the court you slept with my mother last night, all I would to do is smirk and ask you how was she? But I wasn't born with the realization that reacting when others want you to react is weakness. Cousins will likely figure it out some day.

Now what I disagree with is Kanter having any idea any of this was going to happen. He's just a physical guy and bangs hard with everybody. And for him to imagine DeMarcus would end up getting thrownn out for such trifles is a major stretch.

 

[twslam07]

This is generally corrent IMO, and something I figured out a long time ago. If you told me on the court you slept with my mother last night, all I would to do is smirk and ask you how was she? But I wasn't born with the realization that reacting when others want you to react is weakness. Cousins will likely figure it out some day.

Now what I disagree with is Kanter having any idea any of this was going to happen. He's just a physical guy and bangs hard with everybody. And for him to imagine DeMarcus would end up getting thrownn out for such trifles is a major stretch.

Cousins is known as an unstable guy around the league. As professional athletes, you do whatever you can to win. If you can get into Cousins head and get him overly emotional (which isn't too hard to do) then you are setting your own team up for success. I'm going to give Kanter the benefit of the doubt and say he was trying to get Cousins flustered. If I was coaching against Cousins, the last message I'm telling my team is to try and get under Cousins skin. I used to do that all the time when I came across a player who can't control himself very well. Even giving them a hard whack that gets called a foul gets into their head. They take it personally rather than realizing it is just part if the game.

 

[King Baller]

It feels like Kings screwed him mentally for the time being. Last year he was promoted as the PG of the future. He played with confidence and now IT's basically told he's an afterthought.

The League has adjusted to his game. He will have to adjust his.

KB

 

[pshn80]

Need to go back to Reke being the PG and primary ball handler. Nuff said.

Nope, it's working the way it is. Don't rock the boat. Don't screw up Evans again. Not when it's working.

 

[King Baller]

Ah, well. Cuz. A "damned if you do, damned if you don't" player for Kings. The first "T" I give him. Then keep your mouth shut! The Tyreke-Cuz pairing is really starting to work, so is MT-Hayes and I like Salmons starting at the 3. Takes time folks. Like JT playing consistent and getting his 14 & 8 every night. Takes time for coach too. Kings@Clips coming up looks to be a real game for a change.

I can agree with all of this.

On the Cousins ejection the Ref was teaching Cousins who gets the last word. Its up to Cousins to learn the lesson. If Cousins takes this lesson to heart that ref has done him a favor and Cousins will be a force to be reckoned with.

Coach Smart played the best players more last night and the Kings won. Utah did not shoot the ball as well as they had in SLC which helped also

KB

 

[Bricklayer]

Cousins is known as an unstable guy around the league. As professional athletes, you do whatever you can to win. If you can get into Cousins head and get him overly emotional (which isn't too hard to do) then you are setting your own team up for success. I'm going to give Kanter the benefit of the doubt and say he was trying to get Cousins flustered. If I was coaching against Cousins, the last message I'm telling my team is to try and get under Cousins skin. I used to do that all the time when I came across a player who can't control himself very well. Even giving them a hard whack that gets called a foul gets into their head. They take it personally rather than realizing it is just part if the game.

if you've watched Kanter play for any length of time you wouldn't think there was much to this. He was banging in there hard with Hayes too. Its just what he does. Like him a lot as a prospect. Very physical and advanced post moves. Utah is choking those guys by retaining Milsap/Big Al.

 

[LWP777]

And you keep on hatin'!

I will as long as he keeps acting like a knucklehead. Believe me, I'd love nothing more than to see him grow up and let his basketball talents flourish.

 

[mac]

From what I heard Cousins say to the ref, yes the T was B.S.

On TV it looked like he was going to say something bad to the ref, kinda half said it then stopped himself (rather obviously too) before turning away. The expression gave it away - when I saw it happening I was thinking uh oh he might get called for a T on that, and true enough he did about a second or two later.

I actually think the 1st T was bull, the 2nd was possibly warranted.

 

[King Baller]

On TV it looked like he was going to say something bad to the ref, kinda half said it then stopped himself (rather obviously too) before turning away. The expression gave it away - when I saw it happening I was thinking uh oh he might get called for a T on that, and true enough he did about a second or two later.

I actually think the 1st T was bull, the 2nd was possibly warranted.

I completely agree. 1st T was bogus. 2nd T was most likely caused by Cousins saying one of the magic words.

KB

 

[twslam07]

if you've watched Kanter play for any length of time you wouldn't think there was much to this. He was banging in there hard with Hayes too. Its just what he does. Like him a lot as a prospect. Very physical and advanced post moves. Utah is choking those guys by retaining Milsap/Big Al.

If you were actually there and saw what Kanter did directly after Cousins received his first T, you might think differently. I'm not sure if they showed it on TV, but after Cousins got the T, Kanter turned around and got about 3-4 feet away from Cousin's face and sat their clapping in it for about 5 seconds. If he wasn't using the physical play to get under his skin, I'm sure he was trying to do it there.

 

[twslam07]

On TV it looked like he was going to say something bad to the ref, kinda half said it then stopped himself (rather obviously too) before turning away. The expression gave it away - when I saw it happening I was thinking uh oh he might get called for a T on that, and true enough he did about a second or two later.

I actually think the 1st T was bull, the 2nd was possibly warranted.

This is what I saw as well. He got a little flustered at the end of the conversation with the referee and opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped himself, turned around, and walked away.

 

[KingMilz]

Regarding the Cousins thing I think it all actually began when he got whacked in the head(headband went flying) after the rebound just after he didn't do Derrick any Favours , than the next play he had Kantar banging him and lost his cool a little. But was not deserving off being tossed from the game. There was a similar situation in which Kyle Korver slapped the crap out of him after a board vs ATL and he screamed at the ref and got a tech. Hes kinda of become a mini Rasheed Wallace from Portland to the refs (not as bad) from what I've seen and he is to blame for that but at the same time sometimes the refs do go overboard