Grades v. Lakers 01/01/10

[drboiffard]

I don't think Sergio is a great shooter neither, but for God's sake what free throws are you talking about? It was Udoka who failed the decissive free throws, not Sergio. It was Udoka who failed at changing deffenses when Kobe was left alone, not Sergio.

 

[Bricklayer]

I don't think Sergio is a great shooter neither, but for God's sake what free throws are you talking about? It was Udoka who failed the decissive free throws, not Sergio. It was Udoka who failed at changing deffenses when Kobe was left alone, not Sergio.

That last part isn;t quite right -- for whatever reason as that final play started we actually had KT on Kobe, and Udoka on Pau. I suspect that was because Pau was up top, and Kobe started down low, and so we wanted to keep outr big down low and Udoka up top. But still...we began the deciding play of the game wiht Kenny Thomas guarding Kobe Bryant. So it was he and Sergio involved on it. Not Udoka.

 

[AriesMar27]

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Wow there's no anti euro racism going on here... my problem is that he sucks... He has sucked for some time. Hence why he was given to us. He looks worse than beno did last year. He shoots when he shouldn't and for each good play he makes there's 3 or 4 terrible plays. He sucks straight up!

He can't make free throws, he drives the lane and just throws the ball up, he can't shoot 3s (he hit 1 last night=luck), he can't play defense. He sucks

wow, are you serious? he played 17 minutes.... scored 9 points, had 3 assists and only 1 turnover... how are you gonna talk about how sergio cant shoot threes, evans is shooting 25%, are you serious? im not trying to turn this into a sergio/evans debate im just saying... im not sure what your problem is with sergio, yeah... his defense sucks but thats nothing new to this team. we only have 1 defender on the team, greene and he just started doing that last week... beno, martin, hawes and thompson are horrible defenders...

thompson might be the worst defender on the team. but for some reason you reserve all of youre hate for sergio... thompson fouls out in 25 minutes and goes scoreless in a game that we lose by one point and you blame sergio. he made his freethrows, unlike thompson. hell, now that i think about it, didnt thompson foul out in the last laker game?

drugs are bad, m'kay....

 

[sactownfan]

wow, are you serious? he played 17 minutes.... scored 9 points, had 3 assists and only 1 turnover... how are you gonna talk about how sergio cant shoot threes, evans is shooting 25%, are you serious? im not trying to turn this into a sergio/evans debate im just saying... im not sure what your problem is with sergio, yeah... his defense sucks but thats nothing new to this team. we only have 1 defender on the team, greene and he just started doing that last week... beno, martin, hawes and thompson are horrible defenders...

thompson might be the worst defender on the team. but for some reason you reserve all of youre hate for sergio... thompson fouls out in 25 minutes and goes scoreless in a game that we lose by one point and you blame sergio. he made his freethrows, unlike thompson. hell, now that i think about it, didnt thompson foul out in the last laker game?

drugs are bad, m'kay....

dude are you serious? what game are you watching bro? if you honestly wanna cry about Sergio being a stat line all-star go ahead, i wont lie the numbers look alright... but if your going to ACTUALLY try and make the argument that sergio is just that good a player your outa your mind... his numbers are so deceiving

you must not be watching the same games i have this year where regardless of what his stat line may or may not look like hes been outa control, careless, and selfish...

dude hes a lame backup nobody wanted and for good reason... because he does crap that pisses people off... you think they weren't frustrated with him in POR?

theres no reason to bring Evans into this because neither should be shooting 3's at crunch time or in general...

i dont blame sergio for getting destroyed by kobe... although there is a chance that maybe someone else doesn't run right into kobe... sergios defense does suck....

there was no reason he should have been in the game... or anywhere near kobe... thats on paul westphal...

IF IT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER im over kenny thomas playing over brockman, and Udoka taking mins from greene and casspi....

JT had a terrible game, same as greene.... BUT

sergio sucks every game and should hardly see the floor if Evans is healthy and shouldn't see the floor in crunch time....ever.... END OF STORY

hes a serviceable 3rd string point guard who can play some filler mins if Beno or Evans is in trouble... but thats all... hes not a closer or someone you can rely upon....

Im not blaming sergio for this loss im just over him totally hes crappy wanna be street ball game

 

[DesertFox]

Way to overreact. He's never been a good defender, but he's been very active with the Kings. Rodriguez has played like a solid backup PG this year, and will be a nice change of pace 3rd pg when the team needs it.
And he's not that far from being a very good 20-min a night type player. He's only 23, and his faults are so obvious that it's not hard to think he can improve.

 

[sactownfan]

Way to overreact. He's never been a good defender, but he's been very active with the Kings. Rodriguez has played like a solid backup PG this year, and will be a nice change of pace 3rd pg when the team needs it.
And he's not that far from being a very good 20-min a night type player. He's only 23, and his faults are so obvious that it's not hard to think he can improve.

dude sergio is a little baby.... its also his mindset.... he's publicly cried that hes not happy with his mins and that if he isn't a starting PG soon he will go back to europe because at least there he can be the "star".... hes just like Darko Milicic whos clearly a bust, not terrible but not ever gonna live up to being a solid player... Milicic is only 24.....

sergio might be a good bench player if he would get it in his head that he needs to just keep things together, play team ball, and not try to be so flashy and selfish... but obviously he thinks hes more than a backup so we will continue to see him try to be skip to my lou out on the court all year.

again my argument is.... IF THIS CLOWN IS GONNA IMPROVE AND GROW (if) HOW ABOUT NOT DOING IT WHEN THE GAME IS ON THE LINE!!! AND EVEN MORE SO WHEN THE GAME IS ON THE LINE AGAINST THE LAKERS!!!

 

[Seanathon81]

Two major things bothered me about the final defensive sequence especially because it was our veterans and not one of the kids: Firstly why was Udoka in Gasol's clothes 26 ft. from the basket? You want Gasol to take the wide open 3. Two missed free throws followed by stupid defense completed his night of the epic choke job. 2ndly why did Kenny Thomas follow the cutter leaving Bryant wide open? A lay up doesn't beat you but a 3 from one of the games most clutch players certainly does. Furthermore Thomas made no attempt to close out on Bryant. Given Kobe probably would have still hit the shot but the lack of effort on K9's part bothers me.

I'm a little confused over the Sergio hate right now. Given he did have a few terrible plays but nothing stood out in my mind that would cause this much madness. The only gripe I do have on him isn't really on him it's more on Westphal and that's for even having Sergio in on the final defensive sequence. I have a little trouble wrapping my mind around that given Rodriguez isn't nor is even close to being a decent defender.

 

[cstorm]

I was listening to the Lakers broadcast of the game and they were saying during the timeout that "of course the Kings will double team Kobe..."

I wish they had been coaching during that last sequence.

 

[drboiffard]

That last part isn;t quite right -- for whatever reason as that final play started we actually had KT on Kobe, and Udoka on Pau. I suspect that was because Pau was up top, and Kobe started down low, and so we wanted to keep outr big down low and Udoka up top. But still...we began the deciding play of the game wiht Kenny Thomas guarding Kobe Bryant. So it was he and Sergio involved on it. Not Udoka.

You're right, it was KT who should have gone to do 2on1 so at least the open guy was let alone for a 2 point play .


sactownfan

I can agree that are better defenders who may have been on court instead him at the last minutes (it's ****ing obvious), I can agree he has gone a little selfish in the last two weeks and had taken bad decissions, but don't want to enter in discussions with haters. I think there's at least four people to blame above Sergio (Udoka, KT, JT and Westphall) and you have no reason at all to be insulting and taking it too far.

 

[pshn80]

Way to overreact. He's never been a good defender, but he's been very active with the Kings. Rodriguez has played like a solid backup PG this year, and will be a nice change of pace 3rd pg when the team needs it.
And he's not that far from being a very good 20-min a night type player. He's only 23, and his faults are so obvious that it's not hard to think he can improve.

Well said. Agree. Sergio is not a problem for the Kings, he has a great and effective way of changing the pace when comes in. With his faults he is still an asset when he plays - with this great team. Look someplace else for your terrible problem.

 

[dbfish]

I voted for Udoka because there is no excuse for missing both of those free throws at the end of the game.
Looking at the overall game performance JT was about as bad as it gets.
So I give myself an F for letting those two free throws cloud my normally impeccable judgement.

 

[SacKings384]

If you watched the game I don't see how anyone could say that Sergio played even decent. The guy held on to the ball for like 19 seconds, created nothing, and made boneheaded plays.

 

[Showtime]

JT is a head case. He completely meltsdown when things aren't going quite right - then things go completely to Hell. He needs some man-training.

buh, buh, but, he tries hard!

 

[AriesMar27]

If you watched the game I don't see how anyone could say that Sergio played even decent. The guy held on to the ball for like 19 seconds, created nothing, and made boneheaded plays.

the dude played 17 minutes... its like you guys just want someone to complain about. i can argue about evans with you if it makes you feel better. what more do you want from him as a player? beno had a good game, scored well and had 13 assists in 34 minutes. there is no way that sergio was gonna get 10 himself with beno playing the way he did.

you guys really do miss evans dont you?

 

[BMiller52]

the dude played 17 minutes... its like you guys just want someone to complain about. i can argue about evans with you if it makes you feel better. what more do you want from him as a player? beno had a good game, scored well and had 13 assists in 34 minutes. there is no way that sergio was gonna get 10 himself with beno playing the way he did.

you guys really do miss evans dont you?

Sergio made a few mistakes here and there but if the blame is on anyone it's probably Udoka for missing the 2 FTs or JT for just not having it. But I still feel like we got ripped off by the refs.

 

[AriesMar27]

Sergio made a few mistakes here and there but if the blame is on anyone it's probably Udoka for missing the 2 FTs or JT for just not having it. But I still feel like we got ripped off by the refs.

exactly, no one played a perfect game but if udoka and thompson had made their ft's we wouldnt be having this conversation about losing a close game. which in reality wasnt a close game. we had a 20 point lead towards the end of the 2nd and 15 at halftime. we choked. it happens.

 

[=LarryLegend=]

the freethrow shooting on this team makes me sick! I was hoping Beno would be the guy to shoot them. damn that game upset me big time.

 

[FaStRmAn]

We need to look at the positives in this game (simply because the negatives are too depressing and always come out sounding like conspiracy theories)

Hawes has his best game as a pro on the offensive end. He made a few nice plays on defense but got toasted on the boards by a bigger and stronger Faker front line. Still, if Hawes plays like this every game, when we get all our players back from injury, he will be more than adequate for a center. Sure would like to see him hit the weights and bulk up. His weakness is he has no strength to get his shot off in traffic. He has had 3 years to bulk up, and he looks weaker today then his rookie season.

Casspi had a great game all around. I liked the fire and determination he had. He really is the surprise of the draft, although Evans is going to be the better of the 2 in the end. No one thought that Casspi had this much game except Geoff Petrie. Casspi is a starting 3 no doubt. Which makes for a logjam at the 3 for the Kings. A trade for a big with a couple of 2-3's and a draft pick would do wonders for the Kings.

Now for the bad news. Where is Sean May? Is he on a milk carton? Is he MIA? Hasn't played in forever. Started the season at center and now can't get into a game where we desperately need size and bulk around the rim? He is so far down the bench that I am amazed he even dresses. He should have to buy a ticket. Hasn't earn a dime he is being paid. Wasted money on that free agent. It was a gamble. we lost.

Udoka showed us all why he has bounced around the league. He is a CHOKER. Cant play under pressure. Cant have him on the floor at the end of games because he chokes. His defense was so so and his offense was ok, but those 2 free throws have to GO DOWN! That was our chance and he blew it. Losing the game was not entirely his fault, but he could have sealed it and instead he busted it wide open for the final dagger. I hope PW remembers this and Keeps Udoka out of the game when the game is on the line.

Sergio. WTF was that? You really would rather have a calming veteran influence in the game to get you into your offense and run the offense to get a good shot. He was freelancing WAY too much and some of his shots/passes were ill advised to say the least. There were other players who had off nights (JT comes to mind...) but Sergio had a bad stretch there when we needed a solid outing. He thinks he can win it all on his own, and he CANT. Something PW has to look at and maybe talk Sergio down off the ledge. Role player, not super star!!

Enough has been said about the officiating. Sadly, it should have been expected in Staples. There is just no unbiased officiating in the NBA anymore. You either win in spite of that fact or you dont. Nothing is going to change. The Kings need to play through it or fail. JT got caught up in the ref complaining and it only made it worse for him. Terrible game for JT. One of his worse, and he didn't help himself yelling at the officials. Just accept the foul, and walk off the floor and sit on the bench. You are not a super star, you are a role player! Play your role and stop screaming at the officials! Just makes it worse for the whole team.

I made the mistake of thinking the Kings could win this game undermanned and undersized AT Staples. I guess when they went up by 20, I lost my mind and thought that the Kings could overcome the Fakers AND the Officials! I should have known better. We all should know better. Great game by a depleted squad. No lack of effort at all! They are TRYING their hardest, which is more than you can say about last year's team. I hope they come out strong against the Mav's and finish the game strong and come away with a "W". That would make up for the Faker loss a little bit... You really notice a player like Evans or Martin missing in games like this. If we had either player active we would have won this game. We are nearly there, the Kings just need to keep plugging away and working hard! KEEP GOING KINGS !!!

 

[OptimusRhyme]

wow relooking at the buzzer beating shot.. why the hell was kenny thomas starting off guarding kobe and Udoka on pau?? it should of been the opposite.. what a breakdown.

I still think it was a pushoff, but we did deserve that shot on us. just a terrible terrible defensive sequence.

 

[Bricklayer]

wow relooking at the buzzer beating shot.. why the hell was kenny thomas starting off guarding kobe and Udoka on pau?? it should of been the opposite.. what a breakdown.

I still think it was a pushoff, but we did deserve that shot on us. just a terrible terrible defensive sequence.

I am curious about that myself -- the Udoka/Kenny thing.

Since that replay starts wiht the out of bounds play, I actually, as I mentioned in my grades, think that must have been by design -- that KT was the "big" so he was going to stay low, while Udoka was the "little" (there is maybe an inch separating them BTW) and so he was going to guard up top. Otherwise I can't imagine how they ended up switched like that befor ethe ball was even thrown in. But I obvioiusly don't think much of that scheme, in particular when its KT we are talking about -- if we had Greg Oden or something back there, then sure. Lacks perimeter mobility, and is a big intimidating shotblocker so he could protect the rim. But KT is the opposite -- he can move well enough on the perimeter to stay with Gasol, and he's not terribly useful as a shotblocker, so I just don't see the point in a scheme which is going to have him switch off onto Kobe just to keep him inside on that play.

 

[SacKings7]

I am curious about that myself -- the Udoka/Kenny thing.

Since that replay starts wiht the out of bounds play, I actually, as I mentioned in my grades, think that must have been by design -- that KT was the "big" so he was going to stay low, while Udoka was the "little" (there is maybe an inch separating them BTW) and so he was going to guard up top. Otherwise I can't imagine how they ended up switched like that befor ethe ball was even thrown in. But I obvioiusly don't think much of that scheme, in particular when its KT we are talking about -- if we had Greg Oden or something back there, then sure. Lacks perimeter mobility, and is a big intimidating shotblocker so he could protect the rim. But KT is the opposite -- he can move well enough on the perimeter to stay with Gasol, and he's not terribly useful as a shotblocker, so I just don't see the point in a scheme which is going to have him switch off onto Kobe just to keep him inside on that play.

Really makes ya wonder what this team would be like if we had the right personnel...

 

[vikinginferno]

God that lakers announcer was such a d-bag. On the last play right after Kobe elbowed Sergio, he said something like, "What is Sergio Rodriguez doing???". Well, good sir, he just got elbowed by the master of the elbows. Seriously, he threw at least 2 elbows this game (another against Casspi after Casspi ran into him after a dunk).

 

[sactownfan]

just so everyone knows im not blaming sergio for the loss... again im just over him being on or near the floor when the game is on the line... and im over him playing as many mins...

 

[OptimusRhyme]

I am curious about that myself -- the Udoka/Kenny thing.

Since that replay starts wiht the out of bounds play, I actually, as I mentioned in my grades, think that must have been by design -- that KT was the "big" so he was going to stay low, while Udoka was the "little" (there is maybe an inch separating them BTW) and so he was going to guard up top. Otherwise I can't imagine how they ended up switched like that befor ethe ball was even thrown in. But I obvioiusly don't think much of that scheme, in particular when its KT we are talking about -- if we had Greg Oden or something back there, then sure. Lacks perimeter mobility, and is a big intimidating shotblocker so he could protect the rim. But KT is the opposite -- he can move well enough on the perimeter to stay with Gasol, and he's not terribly useful as a shotblocker, so I just don't see the point in a scheme which is going to have him switch off onto Kobe just to keep him inside on that play.

yah i think we were trying to play some sort of zone, what kind you ask? i have no idea with sergio flailing all over the place. looks like it was a 2-3 which is terrible at protecting threes.
We should have been man to man defense on that last play. pretty poor coaching choice on pauls part.

 

[Uncia03]

I'm not going to blame Udoka for the loss even though we would have won the game if he'd hit those two free-throws late.
With that said, if he'd only made 1 of 2, then it would have forced the Lakers to make a 3-point shot, and our defense would not have had to worry at all about cutters into the lane for the easy lay-up. So our defense could have been set up expressing to contest a 3-point shot and we most likely would have doubled Kobe and not given up a wide-open 3-point look.

It's just incredibly frustrating, but if we can bounce back and smash the Mavericks that will go a long way towards smoothing over the pain.

 

[cstorm]

It's just incredibly frustrating, but if we can bounce back and smash the Mavericks that will go a long way towards smoothing over the pain.

That would be a HUGE statement about the heart of this team if the Kings can bounce back and play a great game tonight.

I hate to admit it , but last year I wouldn't have bothered to watch knowing they were emotionally spent and would get crushed. I'm grateful to the NEW Kings for giving me hope again! Win or lose.

 

[gilly420]

After reading the grades portion of this, I would just like to point out to brick and others that Spencer Hawes has been pathetic for us so far this season and until he starts putting some "work" in on a nightly basis I would not acquant him with champion of the world. He is soft and that **** dont work around here.