[Grades] Grades v. Jazz 3/22/12

[The_Jamal]

Quite honestly, Cousins deserved an D- in this one with a few plays keeping him out of the F range. He let Al Jeff waltz to 26 points on 19 shots, missed 19 shots himself (19!) and just wasn't the performance we need out of our star big man. Now, it's a credit to how good he's getting to put up 22-18-3-2 in this kind of effort, but he's absolutely GOT to become more efficient on the low block for us to take the next step as a team. The jumper is already fantastic, but it doesn't do him any good if he can't make the easy ones.

 

[DesertFox]

I really like Favors, but mostly because he has what this team doesn't have. A athletic stud defender/rebounder who is efficient on offense, the perfect compliment to Cuz/JT.
I would take Cousins before Favors everytime, but if you ask me again in 5 years I have no idea. Couisins could become Derrick Coleman (actually only a bad thing in about 5 years) and Favors could become a poor man's Olajuwon.

 

[Npliam]

Then what the hell is he doing on here? And why am i talking to him. The Jazz won the game last night but they hardly looked any better than the Kings.

I am a Jimmer fan but I am also a fan of the NBA in general. I like the Kings. They are a lot like the Jazz in many ways in that they are a small market team that has a passionate fan base.

 

[ParniValjak]

I really like Favors, but mostly because he has what this team doesn't have. A athletic stud defender/rebounder who is efficient on offense, the perfect compliment to Cuz/JT.
I would take Cousins before Favors everytime, but if you ask me again in 5 years I have no idea. Couisins could become Derrick Coleman (actually only a bad thing in about 5 years) and Favors could become a poor man's Olajuwon.

I also like Favors as a potentially high quality role playing defensive big but at this point in time, the comparison between him and Cousins are just laughable. Despite his mistakes and troublesome shooting percentage for a big man, Cousins is fast becoming one of the best centers in the league. He is a double double machine and if the coaching staff were smart enough to utilize his passing ability on regular basis, he would be a triple double threat just about on a nightly basis.

The only legitimate comparison of a young up and coming big to Cousins is Monroe who is playing like a beast himself but with all due respects to Favors, who btw I always thought would be a great young big next to Cousins, it is at this stage no contest.

Ask all 3 teams in the NBA which player they would rather build around between Cousins and Favors, I am sure that majority, if not all of them would pick Cousins hand down. Imagine if we had a coach who actually appreciated quality big man. You know the likes of Riley and JVG, can you imagine just how much better Cousins would be developed and used?!

He is having a very good season and is our best player over this season but he is still being underutilized in our sets. IMHO, we would be a MUCH better team if we ran our offence through Cousins better utilizing his skills including his great passing ability for a big man.

 

[VF21]

Then what the hell is he doing on here? And why am i talking to him. The Jazz won the game last night but they hardly looked any better than the Kings.

Oddly enough, back in the day we had a number of Laker fans who managed to keep from being banned and actually posted on a regular basis. IMHO it's interesting to see a vision of our Kings from an outsider's point of view, even if as in this instance it appears to be somewhat in need of new glasses.

 

[mac]

Thornton ( C ) -- so coming off three straight huge nights Marcus comes out, lays an egg, then tries to redeem himself by once again stepping up in the clutch. Was being hawked by several pretty good defenders, but hell, last game out he dropped 31 on Tony Allen, so I doubt that was the excuse. Just did not get terribly involved, and never was in any sort of rhythm. Struggled along with DeMarcus in the early going, sat out most of the second, and returned in the third as a largely invisible man. Did have one nice pass to JT on the alley oop. Got injury added to insult when he was pulled out of the air and fouled at the 2:15 mark (and only split the pair -- JTs pair of misses 30 seconds later stand out more but if Marcus, a much better FT shooter, just hits both, we are tied at the end instead of losing by 1). Then, after after being cold all game suddenly stepped up and canned the huge three to give us the lead with 30 seconds to go. And out of the timeout with 8 seconds to go came up with a tough tough drive to take the lead back with 4 seconds to go -- by all rights it should have been the game winning play. So again, what to do with a grade? A D game for Marcu, really doing nothing, then suddenly he tries to save us in the end.

Marinoan Ice Age -- so, about that ice age. Going to get back to the Ediacaran in a second on IT's grade. But about that Marinoan Ice Age I mentioend. Coming out of it was what is generally considered the beginning of the Ediacaran Period. And it was something to come out of. Because you see we are talking about the greatest Ice Age in the history of the planet. The entire period before the Edicaran is called the Cryogenian Period. And not surprisingly that means it was COLD. The Cryogenian period lasted for about 220 million years (850mya to 630mya), during which time evidence suggests the land was repeatedly covered by sheets of Ice 1 to 2 km . Not just some of the land. The ENTIRE land. Basically the whole planet turned inot Antartica. And this happened again and again, and is the source of the "Snowball Earth" title. The last and greatest of these Ice Ages was the Marinoan And this wasn't any cute and cuddly Pixar ice age with gooffy little furry creatures running around having adventures. This was basically a worldwide superglacier that lasted for 15 million years. Hence again the importance of the Ediacaran as the first time that our world does not look like a totally inhospitable place to us, its latest inhabitants.

One problem. Pixar didn't produce Ice Age.

 

[Bricklayer]

One problem. Pixar didn't produce Ice Age.

Ah..I don't watch animation as a rule and just took a swing at it.

 

[rainmaker]

Brick, well done on the theme, learned something along with a few laughs.

 

[Npliam]

Brick, well done on the theme, learned something along with a few laughs.

Bricklayer does a fantastic job with the grades threads.

 

[Section 101]

The spirit of the post is still accurate, though: there is an enormous difference in circumstances, that cannot be overlooked. By the time Ginobili got to the NBA, he had already won multiple titles, multiple MVP's, a gold medal at the FIBA Americas tournament, and a silver medal at the FIBA World Championships. Those sort of accomplishments have a way of tempering your outlook regarding the urgency of starting. You know what else makes you less likely to be in a rush to start? Winning an NBA Championship your first time out of the gate.

When your coach asks you to come off the bench for the good of the team, it will help if your team is not losing. I would also venture to guess that, in 2012, "the good of the team" means something different in a gym in Bahia than it does in a gym in Chester. Some people, I think, undersell the values dissonance between US players and international players. If a player on a mediocre-to-bad team feels as though he should be starting, and a GM offers him a fat contract and says, we will start you, and new team is either greater than or equal to the old team, as US player will take that, probably ninety-nine times out of one hundred.

But, Jason Terry comes off the bench! Jason Terry was a starter the first eight years of his career, including the team that got to the Finals in 2006.
But, Lamar Odom comes off the bench! Odom started something like 573 out of the first 577 games of his career, including the team that got to the Finals in 2008.
But, Jamal Crawford comes off the bench! Crawford also started a substantial portion of his first eight years in the league. Crawford has also reached a point in his career where he's realized that most of his best basketball is behind him, and now, he just wants to win. Earlier in his career, wanted to start, and did so.
But, James Harden comes off he bench, and he's never started! True, but as previously stated, it helps when you are not losing. The Thunder are a team with championship aspirations. And, not for nothing but, title contenders or not, the Thunder are going to going to have to deal with this exact problem, in the same amount of time. You expect me to believe that a chance to start is not going to pose a strong temptation to Harden? He was the third overall pick: of course he wants to start! OKC will soon find that it is a question of how much does he want to start.
What about Taj Gibson? Most of the above applies to him as well, add to the fact that he has better players ahead of him in the rotation than any of these other guys.

I could see Evans coming off the bench for the rest of the year, without it adversely affecting our ability to keep him. Much longer than that, and it's a different story. If Evans is still not starting a year from now, and the Kings are not title contenders, I'd say there's better than a ninety precent chance that he's gone. His brothers will talk him into it, if nothing else.

My post was in response to Brick implying that Manu started early in his career and now is comining off the bench. When the facts show he's came off the bench as the standard and starting is the deviation. No where in this post is there any reference to Evans.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

My post was in response to Brick implying that Manu started early in his career and now is comining off the bench. When the facts show he's came off the bench as the standard and starting is the deviation. No where in this post is there any reference to Evans.

The post which you responded to was making the argument that using Ginobili as a defense for why we shouldn't have to worry about Evans leaving if he doesn't start is specious. That he got his facts wrong is unfortunate, but besides the point, in my opinion. Ginobili did, in fact, come off the bench in just under half the games in the three Spurs title runs that he was present for. And no, the Spurs did not lose Ginobili to free agency. But, those facts have no bearing on whether or not Evans continuing to come off the bench will cause us to lose him for nothing, because the circumstances are different.

No, you did not mention Evans in your post but, as you did not qualify your post by expressing that you were simply nitpicking Bricklayer's misinformation of facts, rather than the spirit of his argument, the most reasonable conclusion was that you were attempting to dismiss his entire argument, citing him dropping the ball on the facts as evidence of why the position had no merit. Otherwise, your post would have come across as, "Maybe that could happen, but you screwed the pooch on those facts," instead of "You screwed the pooch on those facts, so your post is completely invalidated."

"We don't have to worry about losing Evans because the Spurs didn't lose Ginobili" is a specious argument, at best. That Brick was, to his everlasting shame, completely and utterly wrong about how many games Ginobili started is beside the point, in my opinion. The spirit of his argument was right, which was my point.

 

[Tetsujin]

Then what the hell is he doing on here? And why am i talking to him. The Jazz won the game last night but they hardly looked any better than the Kings.

It rhymmers with Swimmer.

 

[Spike]

It rhymmers with Swimmer.

You rang?

 

[Lockehead]

It seems to be a consensus that Reke played well off the bench.

I dont think that's primarily due to Reke coming off the bench, but rather a variation of the players he was playing with.

In the starting lineup, he had to share the ball with Thomas, Thornton, and Cousins. From the bench, with a lineup of Reke/Jimmer/Cisco/Greene/Hayes, he had to share it with nobody; he WAS the #1 option. To me that means that he was given the opportunity to play at his 100% without holding himself back. I think the question is, how can we bring that to the starting lineup if he was a starter?

I want Reke and Cousins to be at their 100%. I think that would be possible if they started. The problem IMO begins when you add Thornton and/or Thomas in there. Suddenly you have Reke/Cuz/Thornton/ and/or Thomas all wanting their shots that they know they're capable of.

I think the solution is to work out a lineup where we know our main guys (Reke and Cousins for sure?) get to play at their 100%, and that means both Thornton and IT goes to the bench. Play some other PG (Jimmer) who won't interfere, and we would get the best from Reke and Cousins who are our most important players. Thornton and IT comes in off the bench, which isnt bad at all.