[Grades] Grades v. Mavericks 12/7/2016

If we had gotten to play the 76ers, beaten them, and gone 3-3 on the trip, how would rate it?

  • Good

    Votes: 9 15.5%
  • Solid

    Votes: 35 60.3%
  • Poor

    Votes: 12 20.7%
  • Aieee! Aieee! Blow it Up!!

    Votes: 2 3.4%

  • Total voters
    58
  • Poll closed .

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#1




Link to Boxscore

Starters
31min 19pts (8-14 1-3 2-2) 3reb 4ast 4stl 0blk 2To
Gay ( B ) -- with the Mavs constantly double teaming Cuz, we started drawing up first half plays for Rudy, and he did a solid job of converting. Never dominant, but finished with authority inside, and was also one of our guys who was constantly playing handsy defense against a Mavs team just laying the ball out there, and notched 4 steals.

Featured Grade 33min 24pts (10-16 2-2 2-3) 14reb 7ast 0stl 3blk 2TO
Cousins ( A ) -- Demarcus was presented with an opportunity to feast tonight and certainly got his fill with no one on the Mavs able to stop him. Had an inauspicious start to the game with an offensive foul barely 30 seconds into the game but soon drained a 3 pointer to put us on the board. Later in the first he had a put back off a Ben Mac miss, an assist to Collison off a double team for three and a block. Did not re-enter the game until the 4:44 mark of the second quarter as the Mavs cut the lead to 7. Was part of a defensive lapse that saw Mathews nonchalantly coast to the rim for 2 and later received his obligatory double foul. Early in the 3rd knocked down his second 3 (2/2) and drew a charge on Dorian Finney-Smith after getting stripped at the other end. Really started to take advantage of the mismatches and our lead grew to 23. Had another nice assist to Collison on his way to 7 on the night as he continued looking to get others involved. Was reinserted at the 7:50 mark of the 4th as Dallas made a run. Continued a good all around game with another of his 3 blocks and helped seal this much needed victory before leaving for good with about 3 mins left in the game. BBQ Chicken. --Suicide

17min 8pts (4-4 0-0 0-0) 4reb 0ast 1stl 0blk 0To
Koufos ( B ) -- surprised to see him get the start against the sizeless Mavs, but other than being in Cuz's way, never hurt us. Played big and got his little things to fall inside as he walked through the Mavs D-leaguers.

21min 9pts (3-11 1-6 2-2) 1reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 1To
McLemore ( D+ ) -- given a sudden opportunity to start, proceeded to do the Ben and remind everybody why he doesn't. Missed everything, provided little else.

30min 19pts (5-10 2-4 7-8) 3reb 3ast 0stl 0blk 5To
Collison ( C+ ) -- scored enough points to deserve some grade, but I was not terribly amused with his poor decisionmaking and on/off D. Part of the dominant starting group, but if somebody in it were making an error, felt like it was DC.


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Bench

24min 2pts (1-2 0-1 0-0) 5reb 3ast 0stl 0blk 1TO
Barnes ( C+ ) -- more effective in this smaller role when not shooting. Made several great passes to set guys up for easy hoops, and avoided the sloppy turnovers. Looked to be fighting hard on D vs. his namesake Harrison, but about the only guy his namesake muscled anything in over.

18min 10pts (5-7 0-1 0-0) 5reb 3ast 0stl 0blk 1TO
Casspi ( B ) -- solid bench minutes in which he seemed scared to take the three for some reason, but aggressively rumbled into the paint for his finishes instead.

15min 6pts (3-5 0-0 0-2) 3reb 1ast 2stl 0blk 1TO
Cauley-Stein ( C ) -- did some things, getting set up for his big finishes at the rim, and in this one joining the poking away for steals trend that much of our team was involved in. But game felt like a step back fluttering-wise. Lost on the glass, not physical, and some shaky decisions

21min 6pts (3-9 0-1 0-0) 2reb 1ast 2stl 0blk 0TO
Lawson ( C ) -- wasn't very good on either end this time, and was a certain lack of control of the game that got annoying as we started to pee our lead away.

27min 17pts (5-6 4-4 3-4) 3reb 3ast 0stl 0blk 1TO
Temple ( B+ ) -- grade gets nicked a bit for things not entirely withing his control, as he repeatedly got victimized against Deron for continuation plays. But was playing good defense, and in this one good offense too, as he became the one non-Cuz to really start bombing from 3pt land.

3min 0pts (0-0 0-0 0-0) 0reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Tolliver ( INC ) -- just the three minutes of endgame garbagetime
 
Last edited:

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#4
at least there was no Afflalo for this one...even with Ben chucking up brick after brick, still better to see an active player than one going through the motions. Good to see they can beat a 4-16 team, not that impressed really but a win is a win.
 
#8
The Mavs are probably the worst team in the league right now. Carlisle kept calling timeouts when he had none just because he saw no reason to worry about the penalty. It felt like he just didn't care anymore. Was really weird to watch.

Feel the Kings need to win the next game at home. Schedule will soon be against teams just above them in the standings.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
#9
The Mavs are probably the worst team in the league right now. Carlisle kept calling timeouts when he had none just because he saw no reason to worry about the penalty. It felt like he just didn't care anymore. Was really weird to watch.
Nitpick: that was only true for the second one.

d. There must be two 100-second timeouts in the first and third periods and three 100-second timeouts in the second and fourth periods. If neither team has taken a timeout prior to 5:59 of the first or third period, it shall be mandatory for the Official Scorer to take it at the first dead ball and charge it to the home team. If no subsequent timeouts are taken prior to 2:59, it shall be mandatory for the Official Scorer to take it and charge it to the team not previously charged. If neither team has taken a timeout prior to 8:59 of the second or fourth period, a mandatory timeout will be called by the Official Scorer and charged to neither team. If there are no subsequent timeouts taken prior to 5:59, it shall be mandatory for the Official Scorer to take it at the first dead ball and charge it to the home team. If no subsequent timeouts are taken prior to 2:59, it shall be mandatory for the Official Scorer to take it and charge it to the team not previously charged.
The first technical was charged because Carlisle had already used his last timeout, with a minute and a half to go in the third quarter, so the mandatory timeout after the halfway point in the fourth was automatically charged to the Mavericks, resulting in the technical foul. The second time it happened, I presume that Carlisle just said, "**** it!"
 
#10
What happened with afflalo? missed this one, any reason he sat out?
Post-game coach said McLemore deserved shot to start in this one, been working his tail off in practice. Unfortunately it doesn't show up in games except maybe in garbage time. Which even that didn't happen in this one against lowly Mavs.
 
#11
at least there was no Afflalo for this one...even with Ben chucking up brick after brick, still better to see an active player than one going through the motions. Good to see they can beat a 4-16 team, not that impressed really but a win is a win.
Are you kidding me? Ben looked terrible out there. Just completely lost and befuddled. Aflallo may disappoint, but that's more because he doesn't meet our expectations for a starting BG. What are your expectations for Ben? That he's active? He looks like an active fool to me on both offense and defense.
 
#12
Temple should start at SG and Afflalo should be used with Lawson and Kosta off the bench.

I would probably start WCS or Casspi, depending on the opponent. I think WCS would be a better fit defensively in the starting unit and Casspi would be a better fit with Kosta off the bench offensively.
 
#13
Are you kidding me? Ben looked terrible out there. Just completely lost and befuddled. Aflallo may disappoint, but that's more because he doesn't meet our expectations for a starting BG. What are your expectations for Ben? That he's active? He looks like an active fool to me on both offense and defense.
Active is the key word. Starting lineup needs energy from Afflalo lethargy
 
#14
Before the game Joerger said he prefers to stick with a lineup for 6-10 games rather than jerking the guys around every game. Based on that information as well as the win, expect a few more starts for Ben.

I'm fine with that. I would have given him a C grade. D+ is harsh, especially considering he was in for the huge run in the 3rd. Don't see how anyone should get lower than a C in a 30 point blowout.
 
#17
I was in the the 13th row Section 124 by Kings bench....man, the Mavs are terrible! The Mavs PA system tried their darnedest to work the fans into a frenzy from pre-game to buzzer.....nauseating! It was TOO LOUD, TOO FAKE....even if I was a Mavs fan it would bug me....what happened to organic enthusiasm....? There was this Mavs marketing rep basically yelling before game started and during TOs....where's your dignity you soulless tool... the Spurs games are the same way....just awful. By contrast the Rockets let the fans generate their own enthusiasm for the most part....WAY better.

The American Airlines Center is beautiful. The exterior is nice brick architecture in the heart of downtown. Unfortunately fans have a horrible product to root for, especially without Dirk or Seth....Barnes and D-Will moving at similar pace our just benched SG. S-L-O-W. When you have a PG like D-Will that moves at the speed of Isaiah X 0.5 ....and robotic SF like Barnes with zero creativity it is a matter of time before you get run off the court. This is why Affalo belongs where he spent 48 minutes tonight.

When you move so slow you negate yourself...unless you can shoot like no one's business, and no one is going to mistake A-Slow-o for Reddick. $12M down the tubes....

Moving on there were a bunch of guys I never heard of playing along Mavs frontline. As far as I could tell they were fairly athletic, but PFs. Not a center among the bunch. The Mavs doubled Boogie all night and he did a good job of swinging to weak side or working against two defenders. I LOVE Boogie and seeing him up close. He's great!!!! He makes the game look easy. Another day at the office: 24/14/7 BOOM! I knew he was racking REBs but surprised by assist number,

I've NEVER seen a game that results in two TECHS because Carlisle exhausted his timeouts by 1:00 left in the third quarter. When Carlisle sees something he doesn't like he halts the action like no other coach.

B-Mac was Brick City but every shot he took was a good shot and his motion was welcome....I would expect his timing to be off....he got GOOD lucks and missed them but his aggressiveness is what we need from that position, and he was making his presence known defensively. I think Joerger should have went back to Ben at the end of the 2nd quarter. The grade for Ben is a joke. Just a joke. I am not going to give him my own grade but say grader doesn't know anything.

Ben was out there competing and making his presence known....of course he's gonna miss after being DNP-CD for three games. He was +20 points I think when on the floor.... I give him a B for his defensive effort and scoring aggressiveness. Those same shots he took tonight will fall once he gets his rhythm back.

You want to know who stunk??? Matt Barnes is bad. He made good interior passes, but this is a guy running on fumes. He can't score. He can't move. Joerger relies on him WAY too much. The love affair that our coach has with Barnes is not unlike his previous affair with A-Slow-o: unwarranted and distressful.

One last note is that Willie is REALLY tall. He's like 1-2 inches taller than Boogie. I don't want to give up on this kid yet but wish he'd be more aggressive offensively when he faces the hoop. Do you want to be a star or afterthought? Wake up Willie before your career passes you by.
 
#20
I disagree on the Ben grade. Granted I got home in the middle of the second quarter but when he was on the floor he was being agressive on defense, sticking to Wes Matthews, Devin Harris, even created a turnover by knocking ball of Harris out of bounds. Hit an open three but obviously missed a lot of shots. I just think those are shots he can start hitting if he were to get consistent minutes/role in rotation. Defensively he and Temple are a pretty good 1-2 punch. I would have given him a C or C+. I am by no means saying he is perfect or even the answer at SG but he fits the starting unit much better than Afflalo, and if Joerger likes Temple off the bench, Ben should get his opportunity, as Afflalo has pretty much taken Bellinelli's spot of dud signing vet SG.
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
#21
The fact I even noticed McBen on the floor is a positive over Invisible Afflalo. The shots didn't fall tonight, but he's shown he can hit them... They have to fall eventually, right?

Then again, I have a soft spot for McBen... No matter how frustrating his play can be, I want him to keep getting chances because I want him to succeed.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#22
I don't understand how you can not play a guy for 3 games then suddenly just start him and expect him to produce
Called being a professional basketball player.

But Ben of course barely is. He's a hardworking kid people like far more than they should as a basketball player because he's a nice kid. If he were a punk, he'd probably already have been dropped given what he's shown on court. Tonight is hardly some aberration.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
#24
Fascinating how people interpret what Ben did in this game as good enough while his production was basically the same as Afflalo ....or worse. Ben starts and he's not very effective, he comes off the bench and he plays better.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
#25
I think they took it hard...https://twitter.com/townbrad/status/806718153346732033

Brad Townsend on twitter -
"Media ushered out of Mavs locker as players and staff assembled for a meeting. Some staff members already sitting on floor. Total dejection."
I thought there was going to be a follow up tweet that they fired Rick Carlisle.

Mavs are a mess. Big contract to Harrison Barnes who isn't a franchise centerpiece, big contract to Mathews who is a shell, Dirk's career is in its last moments, Bogut is an injury waiting to happen....

They over reached on some guys contractually instead of giving shorter more flexible contracts. Bad situation for Cuban and I'm going to enjoy it.
 
#27
Fascinating how people interpret what Ben did in this game as good enough while his production was basically the same as Afflalo ....or worse. Ben starts and he's not very effective, he comes off the bench and he plays better.
I think folks are looking at the overall performance of the team play when he's in the starting unit. Regardless of his shooting numbers or even his mistakes, the unit flows better when he is in with Cousins and Gay. It's why time and time again he ends up starting, no matter who we bring in to replace him.

As far as playing better with the second unit, I think it has to do with expectations and the talent he is playing with and against. Typically with the second unit, players like Temple or even Lawson don't hesitate to give him the ball in the flow of the action. There is no time to think and there isn't Cousins or Gay rolling their eyes if he makes the wrong choice. He's free.

Ben is what he is. A complimentary player. A role player. A piece of a puzzle, not the key. Not someone that takes a team over the hump, but he is a professional player.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#28
Are you kidding me? Ben looked terrible out there. Just completely lost and befuddled. Aflallo may disappoint, but that's more because he doesn't meet our expectations for a starting BG. What are your expectations for Ben? That he's active? He looks like an active fool to me on both offense and defense.
They both look terrible. Why do you think Ben started yesterday? Was it maybe because the team wants to showcase him for a trade?
 
#30
It made zero sense to start Ben last night and not play Afflalo a minute.
After DNP'ing Ben for multiple games, this kind of irrational behavior by the coach is disconcerting (especially since he didn;t explain it to the public).

Again, I'm sick of getting crap on by this franchise.
We Kings fans deserve explanations when inexplicable crap like this is done.
Why is it considered uncommon for us to get answers to valid questions? I'm sure other franchises actually answer obvious questions...

We are constantly left to spin our own theories to explain the unexplainable decisions we see this franchise make.
It's getting really tiring.