[Grades] Grades v. Knicks 3/20/2016

[Bricklayer]

We played a game, and we did not embarrass ourselves. We saw most of our lead chopped away in the 2nd, but we did not collapse, and never let them take it back. We *gasp* played professional level basketball. You never do know.

BTW, its possible that was only the 3rd game in NBA history (since searchable records began in 1983) where two players had 20-20 nights in the same game.



Boxscore

Stats: 39min 17pts (8-21, 1-6, 0-0) 4reb 0ast 2stl 1blk 3TO
Summary: came out slow to compete and did not score a second hoop until the mid 2nd quarter. Eventually toughened up and had some fierce finsihes.
Gay ( ) --

Stats: 23min 3pts (1-4, 0-2, 1-1) 4reb 1ast 1stl 0blk 1TO
Summary:some hustle plays but lack of size proved problematic against the towering Porzingis
Acy ( ) --

Stats: 37min 24pts (11-23, 1-3, 1-2) 20reb 4ast 1stl 2blk 1TO
Summary: struggled to finish inside against the Knicks twin shotblocking towers, but jumper was on, and physical on the glass
Cousins ( ) --

Stats: 40min 13pts (4-13, 3-5, 2-2) 3reb 6ast 3stl 0blk 0TO
Summary:struggled to finish anywhere except the 3pt line, where he hit three. Helped with defensive hustle this time.
Collison ( ) --

Stats: 34min 2pts (1-5, 0-1, 0-0) 6reb 6ast 2stl 0blk 4TO
Summary: poor game in which he rarely had an impact aside from a few sneaky poke away steals on inbounds and outlets
Rondo ( ) --


Bench

Stats: 29min 8pts (2-8, 1-4, 3-3) 3reb 3ast 1stl 0blk 0TO
Summary:hit a couple of shot where you thought it might get him going, but no. On the other hand fought better on defense.
Belinelli( ) --

Stats: 19min 15pt (5-9, 1-4, 4-6) 5reb 0ast 1stl 0blk 1TO
Summary: not sure he even counts as a 3pt shooter anymore, but has adjusted and lots of aggressive takes to the hoop this time.
Casspi ( ) --

Stats: 17min 6pts (3-5, 0-0, 0-0) 4reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 1TO
Summary:was needed to help combat the Knicks twin towers, did solid work on both ends
Koufos ( ) --

Stats: 2min 0pts (0-0, 0-0, 0-0) 0reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Summary: just a couple of minutes, and again made a confusing defensive mistake
Anderson ( ) --



placeholder...

 

[kingsboi]

professional level basketball? both teams showed no interest in playing this game, someone had to win this by default and that so happened to be the Kings.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Disagree. Both teams played hard. Neither team wanted to be the one who lost to "that bunch of losers" on national television.

 

[kingsboi]

I don't consider NBA TV "national television" because not everyone has NBA TV.

 

[IfAt1st]

I caught some of the 4th quarter - it was pretty clear to me that both teams were just going through the motions, trying to get their numbers.

The Kings were hardly even jumping to get rebounds, and the Knicks were hardly aiming on their shots.

Don't tell me this was a hard-fought game, or that both teams were trying hard to win.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I don't consider NBA TV "national television" because not everyone has NBA TV.

Not everyone has TNT; it's still national television. If "everyone has it" is the standard, then only five channels qualify as "national television."

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Not everyone has TNT; it's still national television. If "everyone has it" is the standard, then only five channels qualify as "national television."

What about people who don't have televisions, hmm?

 

[LA King Fan II]

Bad preseason game at best.

Rudy Gay's first quarter was so disgraceful I had to shut it off til he was replace. When he got his eyelash tickled in second quarter I know he was tempted to call it a night. He is tanking.

 

[Merdiesel]

There will be massive turnover in that locker room this off season.

Nobody is untouchable. Vlade will fix this.

 

[KingMilz]

It's nice to win Casspi was great, Cousins was good (although Lopez matched his 20/20 game), Rudy and Rondo were terrible.

 

[pshn80]

We won. That is the only conclusion one can come to. I think that is all I ever roo for. Hooray!

Seriously, we won. Tha's good and and because it doesn't happen very often, that's great. Now make it two in a row.

 

[Ron]

Stats: 19min 15pt (5-9, 1-4, 4-6) 5reb 0ast 1stl 0blk 1TO
Summary: not sure he even counts as a 3pt shooter anymore, but has adjusted and lots of aggressive takes to the hoop this time.
Casspi ( ) --

Let's not get carried away with knee jerks...
He's still ranked 15th in the NBA

(and some of his shots tonight just went in&out...)

 

[King Baller]

Boogie scored 24 and pulled down 20 boards playing against two seven footers. Still the Knicks out rebounded the Kings 55 to 49 in a game where neither team shot the ball that well.

 

[kingjatt]

The Kings shot 39% from the field and 28% from 3.......and still took 25 threes!

It was so refreshing watching the Spurs pound the hell out of the Warriors down low on offense and swarm up high on defense, that's what a team with multiple post up options can do. I wonder if Vivek saw that game? Still think the only way to win in the NBA is pace pace pace? I think Malone had that type of vision for our squad and the core of Rondo,Rudy, Cuz is basically built for halfcourt bully ball. I don't buy the Rondo doesn't play defense, you cant play at that pace and expect swarming defense for 37 mins a game, no one in the league can do that! All of Karl's philosophies are mismatched for this roster and its kind of sad to think that these guys might never get a shot at proving what they can really do together.

 

[mac]

The Kings shot 39% from the field and 28% from 3.......and still took 25 threes!

It was so refreshing watching the Spurs pound the hell out of the Warriors down low on offense and swarm up high on defense, that's what a team with multiple post up options can do. I wonder if Vivek saw that game? Still think the only way to win in the NBA is pace pace pace? I think Malone had that type of vision for our squad and the core of Rondo,Rudy, Cuz is basically built for halfcourt bully ball. I don't buy the Rondo doesn't play defense, you cant play at that pace and expect swarming defense for 37 mins a game, no one in the league can do that! All of Karl's philosophies are mismatched for this roster and its kind of sad to think that these guys might never get a shot at proving what they can really do together.

Err. Hate to nitpick but the Spurs' ball movement and Malone's offense aren't even close to being in the same league. The Spurs played a style to counter the Warriors' lack of size, and they had the personnel to do so. They also had versatile defenders who could switch and play aggressive defense. It was a beautifully executed game - they had a plan to take away certain things and take them away they did.

 

[kingjatt]

Err. Hate to nitpick but the Spurs' ball movement and Malone's offense aren't even close to being in the same league. The Spurs played a style to counter the Warriors' lack of size, and they had the personnel to do so. They also had versatile defenders who could switch and play aggressive defense. It was a beautifully executed game - they had a plan to take away certain things and take them away they did.

I never said Malone's offense and the Spurs offense were in the same league, the spurs have only been doing it for 17+ years and it would be ridiculous to try to compare the two. What I was trying to do was give my opinion of Malone's vision based on the season or so he was here, and from what I saw Saturday its not crazy to think he was thinking along those same lines. Of course we don't have the IQ that the Spurs players have but honestly outside of Leonard and Green they dont have a bunch of great versatile defenders either. What they do have is a bunch of players who buy into what the coach is preaching. Who has ever seen Lemarcus switch aggressively onto a guard like that(the best guard in the league!) and be willing to dance with him on an island risking an embarrassing moment on national TV, (Heck even Duncan did it!) ? Boris and Tony (never known for ferocious defense) did a lot of switching onto far superior players and held there own because they fought for their coach. After giving his guys the blueprint all Pop had to do was make sure his guys had fresh legs to keep it up all game.

The Kings have the single best answer in the league to punish the warriors small ball, his name is Demarcus Cousins. Not to mention a viable post up option in Rudy, you start from there and build around it. But yeah Vivek saw the pretty Warriors and became determined to recreate them from completely mismatched personnel.

 

[KingsFanGER]

I never said Malone's offense and the Spurs offense were in the same league, the spurs have only been doing it for 17+ years and it would be ridiculous to try to compare the two. What I was trying to do was give my opinion of Malone's vision based on the season or so he was here, and from what I saw Saturday its not crazy to think he was thinking along those same lines. Of course we don't have the IQ that the Spurs players have but honestly outside of Leonard and Green they dont have a bunch of great versatile defenders either. What they do have is a bunch of players who buy into what the coach is preaching. Who has ever seen Lemarcus switch aggressively onto a guard like that(the best guard in the league!) and be willing to dance with him on an island risking an embarrassing moment on national TV, (Heck even Duncan did it!) ? Boris and Tony (never known for ferocious defense) did a lot of switching onto far superior players and held there own because they fought for their coach. After giving his guys the blueprint all Pop had to do was make sure his guys had fresh legs to keep it up all game.

The Kings have the single best answer in the league to punish the warriors small ball, his name is Demarcus Cousins. Not to mention a viable post up option in Rudy, you start from there and build around it. But yeah Vivek saw the pretty Warriors and became determined to recreate them from completely mismatched personnel.

Well I remember Boris Diaw defending Lebron during the finals and doing a pretty good job on him. He doesn't look like it, but I think he is a very decent defender. Patty Mills is quick enough to really get into the opposing guards shirt. Marjanovic is just a huge brick wall in the paint. Kyle Anderson, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard and Jonathan Simmons can defend nearly every position on the floor, allowing lots of switching without getting punished too badly.
I understand where you are coming from, but to me the Spurs look like a heck of a defensive team.
What Pop did take away from the defeats versus the Warriors was, that he couldn't beat them playing big. He couldn't force the Warriors to adjust to him. So he did the smart thing and adjusted to them by limiting Duncan's and West's minutes.
It was the same he did versus the Heat. Splitter wasn't mobile enough, so he relied on Diaw instead.

But ultimately I agree. A roster with Cousins, a smart coach and players, who can step out and defend the perimeter, could do a good job against the Warriors small ball (sadly they can also go big...). Problem is we don't have the coach nor the roster to do that. WCS was a first step, but he hurts you on offense. Other than him, there is not a single player on this roster, that allows this playstyle, while with some players like Rudy it's not due to their physical limitations but more due to their mindset.
And that's what is the most frustrating.

And to really beat the Warriors Cousins has to step up his pick&roll defense too. The Warriors exploited his reluctance to step out on the perimeter every time they met us.

 

[kingjatt]

Well I remember Boris Diaw defending Lebron during the finals and doing a pretty good job on him. He doesn't look like it, but I think he is a very decent defender. Patty Mills is quick enough to really get into the opposing guards shirt. Marjanovic is just a huge brick wall in the paint. Kyle Anderson, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard and Jonathan Simmons can defend nearly every position on the floor, allowing lots of switching without getting punished too badly.
I understand where you are coming from, but to me the Spurs look like a heck of a defensive team.
What Pop did take away from the defeats versus the Warriors was, that he couldn't beat them playing big. He couldn't force the Warriors to adjust to him. So he did the smart thing and adjusted to them by limiting Duncan's and West's minutes.
It was the same he did versus the Heat. Splitter wasn't mobile enough, so he relied on Diaw instead.

But ultimately I agree. A roster with Cousins, a smart coach and players, who can step out and defend the perimeter, could do a good job against the Warriors small ball (sadly they can also go big...). Problem is we don't have the coach nor the roster to do that. WCS was a first step, but he hurts you on offense. Other than him, there is not a single player on this roster, that allows this playstyle, while with some players like Rudy it's not due to their physical limitations but more due to their mindset.
And that's what is the most frustrating.

And to really beat the Warriors Cousins has to step up his pick&roll defense too. The Warriors exploited his reluctance to step out on the perimeter every time they met us.

Diaw isn't a decent defender on a consistent basis, in fact he had been losing his minutes lately due to getting cooked by stretch 4's (Ryan Anderson) much less quick guards. He had a few possessions on Lebron where he didnt get bullied in post ups but he was mostly just a body to thru at bron to buy Khawi a few mins of rest.

Patty is no physically gifted defender either, if he isn't hyper aggressive he knows his ass (accountability, what a concept George!) will get planted on the bench (like it did for Martin early in that game) and it shows how hard players will play if they truly buy what the coach is selling.

Kyle is no where near fast enough to guard quick guards but he does do a decent job on slower stretch fours so ill give you that, granted he only sees 10 mins or less per game. Boban and Simmons are currently in the D-league.

We dont have the full roster to do that (emulate Spurs) but we do have some key pieces. I disagree that Cuz is the only piece. Rondo can hound defensively when the game slows down he has large hands and a giant wingspan ala like a mini khawi. Believe it or not when Malone was really on Rudy's (everyones) ass last year they all competed hard defensively. Rudy is the type that needs someone constantly on him ( which is hard when the current coach can barely speak). What we definitely do not have is players for a dribble drive offense/ switch everything no matter what defense.

These guys aren't as bad as they have looked this season, they realized early on that this coach was not playing to their strengths so a natural "Whats the use?" attitude began to plague this team. I might be in the minority but i don't want us to get rid of anyone, I would like to see how they do with a new SG a few crafty vet signings and a coach who actually has their back and can formulate a gameplan highlighting the strengths of this roster.

 

[funkykingston]

Disagree. Both teams played hard. Neither team wanted to be the one who lost to "that bunch of losers" on national television.

 

[funkykingston]

It's nice to win Casspi was great, Cousins was good (although Lopez matched his 20/20 game), Rudy and Rondo were terrible.

I've been resigned to the idea that Rondo would be resigned with a big new deal from the Kings. I'm hoping that his recent play and the interest by the Knicks actually means he won't be back next season.

Here's where things stand going into the offseason:

Rondo and Moreland will be free agents - UFA and RFA respectively
Curry, Anderson and Butler have player options
Acy and Dukan have non-guaranteed deals.
Cousins, Cauley-Stein, Koufos, Gay, Casspi, McLemore, Belinelli, Collison are all under contract with guaranteed deals and no options.

Cousins
Cauley-Stein
Casspi
Acy (as a fourth or fifth big)

I want those players back on the team. Curry too if he opts in (doubtful) or can be resigned to a reasonable deal.

The Kings could potentially have $25 million in caproom and Rudy Gay, Koufos, Belinelli, McLemore and possibly Collison as trade chips to improve the team.

 

[KingsFanGER]

Diaw isn't a decent defender on a consistent basis, in fact he had been losing his minutes lately due to getting cooked by stretch 4's (Ryan Anderson) much less quick guards. He had a few possessions on Lebron where he didnt get bullied in post ups but he was mostly just a body to thru at bron to buy Khawi a few mins of rest.

Patty is no physically gifted defender either, if he isn't hyper aggressive he knows his ass (accountability, what a concept George!) will get planted on the bench (like it did for Martin early in that game) and it shows how hard players will play if they truly buy what the coach is selling.

Kyle is no where near fast enough to guard quick guards but he does do a decent job on slower stretch fours so ill give you that, granted he only sees 10 mins or less per game. Boban and Simmons are currently in the D-league.

We dont have the full roster to do that (emulate Spurs) but we do have some key pieces. I disagree that Cuz is the only piece. Rondo can hound defensively when the game slows down he has large hands and a giant wingspan ala like a mini khawi. Believe it or not when Malone was really on Rudy's (everyones) ass last year they all competed hard defensively. Rudy is the type that needs someone constantly on him ( which is hard when the current coach can barely speak). What we definitely do not have is players for a dribble drive offense/ switch everything no matter what defense.

These guys aren't as bad as they have looked this season, they realized early on that this coach was not playing to their strengths so a natural "Whats the use?" attitude began to plague this team. I might be in the minority but i don't want us to get rid of anyone, I would like to see how they do with a new SG a few crafty vet signings and a coach who actually has their back and can formulate a gameplan highlighting the strengths of this roster.

That's strange, because as far as I remember Diaw was really causing some problems when Pop extended his minutes after game 3 of the 2013 finals and I believe he was among the leaders in minutes per game for the Spurs in 2014.
I actually found a video of Diaw in the finals in 2013. Maybe it's only me, but this is some terrific defense for someone, who is much more slowfooted than Lebron.

I believe Rondo can still hound someone defensively, when I see it. I was one of the guys, who thought Rondo would fit in here nicely and that he still could play defense. But now I'm not really sure, what's going on. I don't believe he is that limited physically, that he can't play defense anymore, so I somewhat agree, that this is a mental thing. But to resign him and hope a new coach could fix that, is a pretty huge risk.

And my mindset on Rudy is completely different. I simply have lost patience with him. He got all the tools, but something just doesn't work. And we were a below average defensive team all the time under Malone execpt for one small stretch. So once again - to hope a new coach will solve it, is a huge risk.

 

[Larry89]

we....... won?

 

[kingjatt]

I've been resigned to the idea that Rondo would be resigned with a big new deal from the Kings. I'm hoping that his recent play and the interest by the Knicks actually means he won't be back next season.

Here's where things stand going into the offseason:

Rondo and Moreland will be free agents - UFA and RFA respectively
Curry, Anderson and Butler have player options
Acy and Dukan have non-guaranteed deals.
Cousins, Cauley-Stein, Koufos, Gay, Casspi, McLemore, Belinelli, Collison are all under contract with guaranteed deals and no options.

Cousins
Cauley-Stein
Casspi
Acy (as a fourth or fifth big)

I want those players back on the team. Curry too if he opts in (doubtful) or can be resigned to a reasonable deal.

The Kings could potentially have $25 million in caproom and Rudy Gay, Koufos, Belinelli, McLemore and possibly Collison as trade chips to improve the team.

Id rather resign Rondo if hes interested at reasonable money, but I don't mind letting him go and taking the cap space approach either. I just dont know how many(if any) quality guys we can get without paying a significant "Kings Tax", especially in a year where everyone will have cap space.

Oh and gotta hire a GM and Coach first...

 

[funkykingston]

Id rather resign Rondo if hes interested at reasonable money, but I don't mind letting him go and taking the cap space approach either. I just dont know how many(if any) quality guys we can get without paying a significant "Kings Tax", especially in a year where everyone will have cap space.

Oh and gotta hire a GM and Coach first...

I'm not certain that Rondo is a better starting PG than Collison. Better passer, sure. Better defender? Nope. Better shooter? Nope.

I can see the argument for either guy but once you look at the salary cap I have a hard time saying that I'd rather have Rondo for $15-$17 million vs DC for $5 million.

I like watching Rondo, but he does two things that I think hamstring a team. One is that he hurts the defense. I know there's a notion that maybe Rondo can still be a good defender but he's not pushed to, but to me that just doesn't resonate. Good defenders want to play defense. I don't want a guy who only D's up when he wants to.

The other thing Rondo does is dominate the offense. You're not going to see the kind of ball movement the Hawks and Spurs have with Rondo at the point. It's just not his game. And even if you got him to buy into that kind of system, you're taking away what makes him great since his strengths are all about running the offense and his weakness (offensively anyway) is playing off the ball. And as someone that would MUCH rather see an offense with ball movement than something like Nash's Suns teams with one guy orchestrating things I like Collison's willingness to move the rock. He will never rack up assists or make highlight reel passes but he is the right type of PG for a coach who wants everyone to be able to pass and shoot.

Maybe the Kings strike out in free agency. I don't think that's the worst thing in the world. I'd rather that be the case than to overpay for a guy and have his contract become an albatross ala Landry, Thornton etc.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

The other thing Rondo does is dominate the offense. You're not going to see the kind of ball movement the Hawks and Spurs have with Rondo at the point. It's just not his game. And even if you got him to buy into that kind of system, you're taking away what makes him great since his strengths are all about running the offense and his weakness (offensively anyway) is playing off the ball. And as someone that would MUCH rather see an offense with ball movement than something like Nash's Suns teams with one guy orchestrating things I like Collison's willingness to move the rock. He will never rack up assists or make highlight reel passes but he is the right type of PG for a coach who wants everyone to be able to pass and shoot.

To that point, if you think that you can build a playoff team around Cousins and Gay (and, inexplicably, I still do), then you probably have to get rid of Rondo for that reason. Cousins needs the ball. Gay needs the ball. You can't have three guys in your starting lineup that all need the ball to be effective.

 

[kingjatt]

I'm not certain that Rondo is a better starting PG than Collison. Better passer, sure. Better defender? Nope. Better shooter? Nope.

I can see the argument for either guy but once you look at the salary cap I have a hard time saying that I'd rather have Rondo for $15-$17 million vs DC for $5 million.

I like watching Rondo, but he does two things that I think hamstring a team. One is that he hurts the defense. I know there's a notion that maybe Rondo can still be a good defender but he's not pushed to, but to me that just doesn't resonate. Good defenders want to play defense. I don't want a guy who only D's up when he wants to.

The other thing Rondo does is dominate the offense. You're not going to see the kind of ball movement the Hawks and Spurs have with Rondo at the point. It's just not his game. And even if you got him to buy into that kind of system, you're taking away what makes him great since his strengths are all about running the offense and his weakness (offensively anyway) is playing off the ball. And as someone that would MUCH rather see an offense with ball movement than something like Nash's Suns teams with one guy orchestrating things I like Collison's willingness to move the rock. He will never rack up assists or make highlight reel passes but he is the right type of PG for a coach who wants everyone to be able to pass and shoot.

Maybe the Kings strike out in free agency. I don't think that's the worst thing in the world. I'd rather that be the case than to overpay for a guy and have his contract become an albatross ala Landry, Thornton etc.

You make great points I certainly cant argue with most of them but I could see a scenario where we have both of those guys strictly at PG splitting the minutes and never having them out of position. With the insane amount of backcourt talent in the NBA these days its never a bad idea to have 2 fresh and pesky guys playing point guard, especially if you go back to having Cuz and Gay being the focal points to operate down low with a slower approach.

Darren and Rondo would be a heck of a PG punch if used correctly. Plus letting talent walk/go for nothing hasnt worked out to well for us lately.

Use the leftover FA money to grab a decent starting SG (Courtney Lee?) and you have a capable defender with size at every position.

I think trying to mimeck the ball movement heavy offenses is what got the Kings into this mess in the first place, that does not suite the strength of any of the players. In my opinion you forge your own identity first, pounding Cuz,Gay while trying to space the floor, and build outward from that.

If you want to run read and react motion offenses you need different players, in which case I agree, step 1 would be to let Rondo walk and probably trade Gay.

If thats the case the ultimate question is do we have enough time to build Cuz a competitive team before he decides on free agency? Our track record would certainly suggest otherwise.

 

[KingsFanGER]

I'm not certain that Rondo is a better starting PG than Collison. Better passer, sure. Better defender? Nope. Better shooter? Nope.

I can see the argument for either guy but once you look at the salary cap I have a hard time saying that I'd rather have Rondo for $15-$17 million vs DC for $5 million.

I like watching Rondo, but he does two things that I think hamstring a team. One is that he hurts the defense. I know there's a notion that maybe Rondo can still be a good defender but he's not pushed to, but to me that just doesn't resonate. Good defenders want to play defense. I don't want a guy who only D's up when he wants to.

The other thing Rondo does is dominate the offense. You're not going to see the kind of ball movement the Hawks and Spurs have with Rondo at the point. It's just not his game. And even if you got him to buy into that kind of system, you're taking away what makes him great since his strengths are all about running the offense and his weakness (offensively anyway) is playing off the ball. And as someone that would MUCH rather see an offense with ball movement than something like Nash's Suns teams with one guy orchestrating things I like Collison's willingness to move the rock. He will never rack up assists or make highlight reel passes but he is the right type of PG for a coach who wants everyone to be able to pass and shoot.

Maybe the Kings strike out in free agency. I don't think that's the worst thing in the world. I'd rather that be the case than to overpay for a guy and have his contract become an albatross ala Landry, Thornton etc.

I think our offense benefitet from Rondo no matter if he holds the ball too much or not. Problem with this team is, that you don't have many players, who can be the ballhandler in a pick&roll.
And that's actually what stops DC from being a solid starting PG in this league. He just doesn't run the pick&roll very well other than in getting his own mid range jumper out of it.
Gay is not a good pick&roll ballhandler. Bellinelli isn't great either and Ben...well lets not get started with his handling, while he can throw some pretty good pass sometimes.
With DC we pound the ball in Cousins too much and need him to create.
One thing I liked this season, was that Cousins got in a lot more situations were all he had to do was catch the ball and finish with a jumpshot or layup. Most of these situations are directly related to Rondo running the offense.
Not that Cousins can't create, but after all he is a big guy and he will not be terribly efficient, when asked to get his own shot all the time.
Not with the way teams gameplan versus us.

 

[funkykingston]

To that point, if you think that you can build a playoff team around Cousins and Gay (and, inexplicably, I still do), then you probably have to get rid of Rondo for that reason. Cousins needs the ball. Gay needs the ball. You can't have three guys in your starting lineup that all need the ball to be effective.

I certainly haven't seen anything to convince me that Rond0/Gay/Cousins is a core that can win or that's worth building around. So I think either Rondo needs to be allowed to leave in free agency, Gay needs to be traded or possibly both.

As much as Boogie has expanded his game, I still think he's best off when given space to operate in the blocks or from the elbow. Gay doesn't provide a ton of space for Cousins. Rondo certainly doesn't help space the floor for Cousins. Neither does WCS. And Ben and Marco SHOULD help space the floor but both have been disappointing.

I wonder how well it would work to do what Houston did with Dream and surround DMC with shooters. Collison (or Curry), Bazemore, Casspi and Ryan Anderson for example.

It'd essentially be what the Rockets are doing now except that instead of Harden driving to the hoop you'd have Cousins at the elbow or in the blocks. And instead of three shooters on the perimeter you'd have four.

Even though he's not a great outside shooter I think you could work Gay into that type of offense while having a 2nd go-to scorer who can create his own shot. But with Rondo you're more limited.

I'm fine with both Rondo and Gay departing. But if one is staying I'd prefer Rudy/DeMarcus over Rajon/Demarcus.

 

[KingsFanGER]

You make great points I certainly cant argue with most of them but I could see a scenario where we have both of those guys strictly at PG splitting the minutes and never having them out of position. With the insane amount of backcourt talent in the NBA these days its never a bad idea to have 2 fresh and pesky guys playing point guard, especially if you go back to having Cuz and Gay being the focal points to operate down low with a slower approach.

Darren and Rondo would be a heck of a PG punch if used correctly. Plus letting talent walk/go for nothing hasnt worked out to well for us lately.

Use the leftover FA money to grab a decent starting SG (Courtney Lee?) and you have a capable defender with size at every position.

I think trying to mimeck the ball movement heavy offenses is what got the Kings into this mess in the first place, that does not suite the strength of any of the players. In my opinion you forge your own identity first, pounding Cuz,Gay while trying to space the floor, and build outward from that.

If you want to run read and react motion offenses you need different players, in which case I agree, step 1 would be to let Rondo walk and probably trade Gay.

If thats the case the ultimate question is do we have enough time to build Cuz a competitive team before he decides on free agency? Our track record would certainly suggest otherwise.

Is there a playoff team not relying heavily on ball and player movement?
Getting into the playoffs with pounding the ball down low to Cousins and Gay?
Really hard for me to see that happen, especially, when we don't get top tier defenders in FA.
Mimic the Grizzlies of the past years? We need a high low attack for this and great defensive players.
Other than that? Can't think of a team, that I would classify as a inside to outside team.
And nope, it's not because there are no good big man in the league, who can post up. Gotta be another reason for it. But it is, what it is.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Is there a playoff team not relying heavily on ball and player movement?
Getting into the playoffs with pounding the ball down low to Cousins and Gay?

With all due respect, I feel like that's lazy reasoning: "Well, none of the good teams are doing X, which therefore proves that X doesn't work." Maybe other teams just don't have the personnel to do X. The only playoff two playoff teams in either conference that are even really set up to pound it inside are San Antonio and Memphis. And, in San Antonio's case, they essentially decided to continue to utilize the system that plays to the strengths of their best player (Leonard), rather than restructure the offense around their second best player (Aldridge). Besides it occurs to me that it's not about how you play offense, so much as it is about how you play defense.

Really hard for me to see that happen, especially, when we don't get top tier defenders in FA.

Well, I agree with the second part of this, at least. I don't think it matters how we get buckets; what matters is what we can stop on the other end.

Mimic the Grizzlies of the past years? We need a high low attack for this and great defensive players.
Other than that? Can't think of a team, that I would classify as a inside to outside team.

I vehemently disagree with the notion that that should be the standard that we strive for. Trying to be like the Joneses is what has set us on this path in the first place.