[Grades] Grades v. Mavs 11/11/2014

[Dreadnought]

Do we really need to watch Jason Thompson for another 2 years after this? I'm over Ramon already too.

 

[Kingster]

Do we really need to watch Jason Thompson for another 2 years after this? I'm over Ramon already too.

Actually, Thompson is starting to grow on me - for comic relief. If I ever get down about the game, I just watch Thompson and he makes me smile.

 

[SacKings384]

Man if only we had a viable backup pg that could actually share the ball. Like, if there was some sort of a "draft" you could call it, where guys that haven't made the NBA yet are up to be picked in a selected order. We could look at our biggest needs and determine someone to pick. We would have these guys called scouts and they could pick them. We should call Adam Silver and see if he could look into such a system.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

One problem with the grading consortium (which I actually wouldn't mind being a part of now and then ) is the chance of inconsistency among graders. Given the grades handed to Sessions, Thompson etc I just don't see how you can give Rudy Gay a B. He made some huge boneheaded plays at critical moments of the game - not passing the ball to a wide open Cousins/ McLemore, randomly dribbling the ball out of bounds when we just got a steal, pulling up for a three and missing in transition when he coulda attacked the rim... and on defense left Chandler Parsons wide open on multiple occasions. It wasn't a matter of the Mavs forcing us to rotate - these were times when he just flat out turned his back on Parsons and didn't even challenge the shot.

I have no issue with you (or Capt.) disagreeing with my grade. That’s part of the fun. I would argue that Rudy was the biggest reason the Kings kept this one close enough to get to those 'critical moments'. As I mentioned, his offense was not pretty tonight, but he got to the free throw line over and over again, often contributed towards getting the Kings into the bonus. He was the only one creating any offense, either for himself, or others. And that’s not his game! But Sessions was hardly a point guard tonight (0 assists for Ben and Ramon is unacceptable). Malone had to play him 40 minutes and he managed 26 points on 50% shooting, rebounded well, passed fairly well, and got the line often. I’m not looking past his errors, forces, or turnovers; I just didn’t see anything else remotely positive out of the Kings past the first quarter. Rudy was basically all we had.

On the Parsons 3’s … I haven’t seen a player chuck like that in along time, and I saw a lot of defensive breakdowns right after every Nelson (or any guard) / Nowitzki pick and roll. The Kings defended that horribly. Dirk either got an open jumper, or a switch that landed Sessions on him, and the defense broke down from there. Defense is also infinitely harder to grade because we don’t know what the Kings defensive scheme is. It changes from game-to-game. Obviously, you never want to leave shooters open, but unless a player is getting beat repeatedly one on one, it’s tough to know what the problem was. Especially in Parsons case. He was scoring off the ball. Where was Rudy, and where was he supposed to be? We don’t know. The Kings got outscored 92-66 after the first quarter. That’s an entire team defensive breakdown if you ask me. I couldn’t pin it all on Rudy.

I just didn't think Rudy was the problem tonight, and with Cousins absent (that certainly makes Rudy's job harder), he was ok.

I appreciate the feedback, though. I mean that.

 

[kupman]

I actually had a bad feeling when we were up 20 in the first quarter. Watching the game, it appeared to me that the Mavs were playing as well as us despite being down 20. The difference was that they could not hit a bucker to save their life and we were shooting very well. I thought that the law averages would emerge as the game continued. It did and we then found ourselves in trouble.

It is great to see Ben shooting with confidence. He also shows some good D. His passing skill is non-existent.

 

[Spike]

Man if only we had a viable backup pg that could actually share the ball. Like, if there was some sort of a "draft" you could call it, where guys that haven't made the NBA yet are up to be picked in a selected order. We could look at our biggest needs and determine someone to pick. We would have these guys called scouts and they could pick them. We should call Adam Silver and see if he could look into such a system.

If only such a player existed on our team. You know, a second year guy who could run the offense and give good defense.

 

[Bricklayer]

One problem with the grading consortium (which I actually wouldn't mind being a part of now and then ) is the chance of inconsistency among graders. Given the grades handed to Sessions, Thompson etc I just don't see how you can give Rudy Gay a B. He made some huge boneheaded plays at critical moments of the game - not passing the ball to a wide open Cousins/ McLemore, randomly dribbling the ball out of bounds when we just got a steal, pulling up for a three and missing in transition when he coulda attacked the rim... and on defense left Chandler Parsons wide open on multiple occasions. It wasn't a matter of the Mavs forcing us to rotate - these were times when he just flat out turned his back on Parsons and didn't even challenge the shot.

One of the consequences of a guy having a 26-8-8 raw statline on 50% shooting. Even with the fugly that's still LeBron territory.

I think a huge part of the explanation for this one is this simple: this team for the second year in a row has three guys who are EVERYTHING to us, 3 guys total who can create for others. Then one of them was out with injury, so we were already in trouble. Then the refs took away a 2nd one. And it left Rudy Gay out there all alone as the only guy who could make anything happen. So he forced terribly, and everybody else panicked and looked for their own.

 

[206Fan]

I'm surprised no one pointed out that Rudy was playing PointForward. I think that might've been the biggest reason why we lost. Did coach not trust Sessions in running the offense?

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Would you?

 

[Bricklayer]

I'm surprised no one pointed out that Rudy was playing PointForward. I think that might've been the biggest reason why we lost. Did coach not trust Sessions in running the offense?

As I mentioned, we only have 3 guys who can create for others. and Ramon -- 0ast in 36min as a PG -- hasn't played this season like he's one of them. He's been almost exclusively looking for his own. So with Collison out, and once they took away Cuz, it left Rudy out there alone trying to exactly as you say play point forward. He was trying to be our leading scorer and our main assist man, and that's just too much to ask of just about anyone but LeBron.

 

[CruzDude]

I'll save Brick the trouble of grading Hollins who, in my book, was an F- now approaching NOT being better than nothing. Of course, DWill got that grade too (in my book).

 

[Jespher]

One of the consequences of a guy having a 26-8-8 raw statline on 50% shooting. Even with the fugly that's still LeBron territory.

I think a huge part of the explanation for this one is this simple: this team for the second year in a row has three guys who are EVERYTHING to us, 3 guys total who can create for others. Then one of them was out with injury, so we were already in trouble. Then the refs took away a 2nd one. And it left Rudy Gay out there all alone as the only guy who could make anything happen. So he forced terribly, and everybody else panicked and looked for their own.

I'd like to seea bit more of Omri in that role during half court sets. He can be a safety valve for the guards and is an adequate ball handler without the scoring responsibilities of Rudy Gay. Ray McCallum is ball dominant with the dribble, but is also a willing distributor in the half court. Mid quarter line-ups with Rudy, Casspi, and McCallum may get the ball moving more freely offensively without significant defensive drop off from the starting unit.

 

[Prog]

My takeaways:

- JT should be benched every time he complains to the refs. Enough with that.
- Rudy should kick out the ball to open shooters instead of forcing it against triple teams.
- Williams should not play until he wipes off that smirk.
- Stauskas minutes should be handled carefully. If we're dropping big leads when he's on the court playing the way he does, he should sit. Better yet - send him to Reno and get Terrence Williams for now. In the meanwhile, McCallum and Casspi can get some minutes at SG, depending on match-ups.
- The entire team should get a reminder about ball movement every timeout. Anyone on the court who ignores/forgets it should get a more elaborate explanation of the concept sitting on the bench.

 

[ForlornKing]

Kings need to go back and watch the Portland game. It was all Rudy and Demarcus, but the offense was fluid. Decisions were made quick.

 

[Chubbs]

For me the game took the turn downhill when Derrick Williams cam in the Game and in one freaking minute had 3 fouls and as he was standing after each one was smiling and joking around about it? Oh My Gosh!!!!
If I was the coach I would pull him to the side and slap that silly smile right off his face before I banished him to the bench FOREVER !! More Omri Please !

In game time, it all happened between 6:38 and 6:04. 34 seconds, 3 fouls.

 

[Kingston Jamaica]

I'm going to reiterate some of the things said here. I think some of the Maveric comments were right on the money. This time I do think that Mike Malone has to take some responsibility of this loss. The team was playing brilliantly in the 1st quarter. When your shooting guard is producing basically without a fault, keep him going. He wasn't just on a shooting spree, he was doing it also in the D. Sessions obviously felt that he has to make a mark on this opportunity and started to work on his own stat line. Rudy did pretty much the same. The ball stopped moving and Dallas immediately identified the opportunity to come back. Mike Malone should had put Stauskas at the point and Casspi instead of Rudy to get the ball moving again. Stauskas is not the best ball handler, but he passes the ball. Casspi initiates ball movement.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

For me the game took the turn downhill when Derrick Williams cam in the Game and in one freaking minute had 3 fouls and as he was standing after each one was smiling and joking around about it? Oh My Gosh!!!!
If I was the coach I would pull him to the side and slap that silly smile right off his face before I banished him to the bench FOREVER !! More Omri Please !

It was if he had no idea, that it's against the rules to put both hands on somebody. He was in shock and utter disbelief,...and started smiling about it. The guy is so far off mentally at this point, that he might not actually see the floor in a game for a very long time

 

[bajaden]

I think our other SG needs to step it up a little. Right now, Nik is unable to tribute on either side of the floor. I think there's a reason why Hollins signed with us.. I like his vet presence, but he's not much of a factor in games. Sessions actually did a respectable job on offense, but was a little meh on defense. You can't blame him for having 0asts... it's not his fault that he gives the ball to Rudy, and no one ever sees it again.

Rudy and Cuz's stats are misleading. They both had bad games. I put part of the blame on Malone for having Gay play PointForward with Sessions, McLemore, Hollins, and Evans. Rudy was our PG. Hence the 8 assists. His defense was terrible. He left Parsons wide open so many times at the 3pt line... Parsons went 5-11 from 3pt land. That's unacceptable along with his 7tos. Cousins needs to learn that he hurts the team by not being on the floor. Who cares about the refs? If he's not on the floor, he's hurting us. They went on their huge run when Cuz was off the floor. If Cuz wants to be a leader, he has to lead us. By Cuz being in foul trouble, it forces Rudy to be the #1 option. That is never good for any team.

I have no clue what happened to JTs offense. He used to be a solid offensive player for us, but we can't even depend on him to make a FT. Landry struggled against their bigs. He just had a bad night, and the lack of calls from the refs didn't help when he was getting hacked down low.

I'm starting to have a fear that Cuz will struggle against guys who are bigger than him. Who the hell knows how he even went 7-13 tonight.... Here's one observation I've noticed from the last 3 games

Malone is having Cousins all the way out at the 3pt line setting screens for his guards. This is what we saw JT do the first 5 games. However, now Malone is having JT down low while Cuz is setting high screens. I understand Malone wants to try different things with PnR, but why not stick to what was working? Seeing Cuz all the way at the 3pt line on offense is uneasy. I'm a little frustrated with our team right now. We've lost 2 winnable games. I think we all know that the Kings are better than that. Cuz will struggle tremendously against the Grizz. I'm not looking forward to that game. My rant is complete. A lot of it might sound a little jiberish...Good night all! Next game will be a tough one

There is so much wrong with what you said, I don't know where to start. So just let me address the last paragraph. Your offense is often dictated by the other teams defense. If your big can dominate the other teams big, then you would probably run a low pick and roll. But if the other teams big has great size, and is a renown shotblocker, then you run a high pick and roll. Now who you choose to run it with is up to you, but you usually run it with your best big man, which in our case would be Cousins. With Chandler, its a tough call either way, because he defends the Pick and roll very well, but your best chance is going to be with the high pick and roll which pulls Chandler away from the basket.

Sessions was horrible last night. Yes, he finally scored the ball for a change, but countless times I watched him drive into a crowd and ignore open teammates on the perimeter. There's no excuse for your starting PG to have no assists. You say you like Hollins presence, and in the next breath you admit that he brought nothing to the floor. About all Hollins does is take up space. There's a reason he's bounced from team to team, and usually signed as a last resort, because of the need for some type of tall humanoid to play backup center.

 

[ForlornKing]

I know small ball really isn't a popular choice and I don't like it either.... but coach needs to try and just see what happens with Rudy at the 4 for some stretches.

 

[Livinthedream]

There is so much wrong with what you said, I don't know where to start. So just let me address the last paragraph. Your offense is often dictated by the other teams defense. If your big can dominate the other teams big, then you would probably run a low pick and roll. But if the other teams big has great size, and is a renown shotblocker, then you run a high pick and roll. Now who you choose to run it with is up to you, but you usually run it with your best big man, which in our case would be Cousins. With Chandler, its a tough call either way, because he defends the Pick and roll very well, but your best chance is going to be with the high pick and roll which pulls Chandler away from the basket.

Sessions was horrible last night. Yes, he finally scored the ball for a change, but countless times I watched him drive into a crowd and ignore open teammates on the perimeter. There's no excuse for your starting PG to have no assists. You say you like Hollins presence, and in the next breath you admit that he brought nothing to the floor. About all Hollins does is take up space. There's a reason he's bounced from team to team, and usually signed as a last resort, because of the need for some type of tall humanoid to play backup center.

I agree that you put Cuz in the high post. But don't run pick and roll. Give Cuz the ball and run back door cuts to the basket. This worked brilliantly for a couple of plays in the 4th. Cuz to Ben. Would have been a perfect way to get Nik involved too. Eventually Chandler would have to sag a little bit to help out and this would give Cuz space to shoot. I do believe our staff was out coached the last couple of games.

 

[rainmaker]

Mike Malone should had put Stauskas at the point and Casspi instead of Rudy to get the ball moving again. Stauskas is not the best ball handler, but he passes the ball. Casspi initiates ball movement.

Nik at the point? No. He's not near being ready to run an offense as this level as the primary ballhandler. Sure he passes, as do Ray and Ramon, but not all passes are equal. Just because Nik swings the ball or kicks it out off a close out, as he did to Ray in the corner yesterday, doesn't mean he can run an offense. They're entirely different situations and roles.

And Omri initiates ball movement some of the time. Other times he gets tunnel vision which he showed last night. Rudy also gets tunnel vision at times, he also moves the ball a fair amount. He's responsible for a number of the shots Ben is getting up. Rudy of course draws extra attention and creates more open shots for others, which is why he is and should be a focal point of our offense and why Omri should not.

This idea however which keeps popping up around here, which basically is that anytime Rudy forces a couple shots he should be benched and we're going to be better with Omri instead is asinine. Omri has proven so far to be a good bench player and role player for us, brings energy. He isn't however a replacement for Rudy by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[bajaden]

One problem with the grading consortium (which I actually wouldn't mind being a part of now and then ) is the chance of inconsistency among graders. Given the grades handed to Sessions, Thompson etc I just don't see how you can give Rudy Gay a B. He made some huge boneheaded plays at critical moments of the game - not passing the ball to a wide open Cousins/ McLemore, randomly dribbling the ball out of bounds when we just got a steal, pulling up for a three and missing in transition when he coulda attacked the rim... and on defense left Chandler Parsons wide open on multiple occasions. It wasn't a matter of the Mavs forcing us to rotate - these were times when he just flat out turned his back on Parsons and didn't even challenge the shot.

Obviously when you have that many people grading, your going to get a lot of different opinions. Personally, when I put on my grading cap, I neither love, nor hate any player on the team. They all become generic to me. My grade for Gay may have been different, but then I wasn't concentrating on him. In general, I didn't think it was one of his better games, but then I could have said that for just about every player on the team. One could make an argument that McLemore was the best player on the floor last night. Hey, how often have you been able to say that.

As far as grades go, Bricky has the last word. I've told him that he's welcome to change any part of my grades if he thinks it's necessary, or out of proportion with the rest of the grades. I realize he doesn't want to step on toes, but maybe he should if he feels its necessary. Ultimately it reflects back on him, since this is his baby. Frankly, I don't know how he did this by himself for as long as he did. There's a lot more work that goes into this than most realize. He deserves a lot of credit for something that most take for granted, and can't wait to criticize.

 

[Maverick]

Collison is one of your big three?

 

[bajaden]

I agree that you put Cuz in the high post. But don't run pick and roll. Give Cuz the ball and run back door cuts to the basket. This worked brilliantly for a couple of plays in the 4th. Cuz to Ben. Would have been a perfect way to get Nik involved too. Eventually Chandler would have to sag a little bit to help out and this would give Cuz space to shoot. I do believe our staff was out coached the last couple of games.

I wasn't really suggesting what offense they should or should not run. I was merely explaining why, if your going to run the pick and roll, you would probably run the high pick and roll when you have Chandler defending the basket. However, I don't disagree with what you wrote. In general, it appeared to me that we had a game plan, and that plan worked for a quarter and a half. Then Dallas adjusted to stop what we were doing, and we didn't adjust back. I don't think it's any more complicated than that.

 

[bajaden]

I'm going to reiterate some of the things said here. I think some of the Maveric comments were right on the money. This time I do think that Mike Malone has to take some responsibility of this loss. The team was playing brilliantly in the 1st quarter. When your shooting guard is producing basically without a fault, keep him going. He wasn't just on a shooting spree, he was doing it also in the D. Sessions obviously felt that he has to make a mark on this opportunity and started to work on his own stat line. Rudy did pretty much the same. The ball stopped moving and Dallas immediately identified the opportunity to come back. Mike Malone should had put Stauskas at the point and Casspi instead of Rudy to get the ball moving again. Stauskas is not the best ball handler, but he passes the ball. Casspi initiates ball movement.

I'm a big fan of Stauskas, but he's not ready to play the point just yet. His ballhandling is fine for the SG position, but the first time he tried to bring the ball up the floor, their going to trap and pressure him. No need to put that kind of pressure on a rookie whose trying to find his way in the NBA. As much as Gay frustrates me at times, it would be a serious downgrade to replace him with Casspi. Besides, let me ask you this. If the Kings are indeed trying to get Gay to sign and extension, or now, a new contract, do you think their going to bench him? Not going to happen, unless we suddenly trade for Lebron.

 

[Kingston Jamaica]

Nik at the point? No. He's not near being ready to run an offense as this level as the primary ballhandler. Sure he passes, as do Ray and Ramon, but not all passes are equal. Just because Nik swings the ball or kicks it out off a close out, as he did to Ray in the corner yesterday, doesn't mean he can run an offense. They're entirely different situations and roles.

And Omri initiates ball movement some of the time. Other times he gets tunnel vision which he showed last night. Rudy also gets tunnel vision at times, he also moves the ball a fair amount. He's responsible for a number of the shots Ben is getting up. Rudy of course draws extra attention and creates more open shots for others, which is why he is and should be a focal point of our offense and why Omri should not.

This idea however which keeps popping up around here, which basically is that anytime Rudy forces a couple shots he should be benched and we're going to be better with Omri instead is asinine. Omri has proven so far to be a good bench player and role player for us, brings energy. He isn't however a replacement for Rudy by any stretch of the imagination.

Sorry, Rainmaker, if I didn't express myself better. My point was that Nic and Omri should have been put on the floor, when Ramon and Rudy lost the touch with team ball. Not because they are better players. They just seem to be more team oriented and can be used to remind others about it. Pop would have done the substitution even if it would cost him the game.

For example, when Omri did his coast to coast run in the 4th quarter, nobody followed him for the pass. Clearly Parsons was more likely to get the call whatever the situation really was. Beyond passing, basketball requires also movement without the ball.

 

[bajaden]

I'm seriously starting to doubt the Stauskas pick. He is completely unserviceable at the moment. Doesn't make his shots and his defense has been pretty bad in the last couple of games. 31% from the field. 24% from the 3. I hope he'll figure things out soon. He just looks lost at the moment.

If you went into a game and only took one shot, and in this game, it was a forced shot with a hand in his face, does that make you a bad shooter. Stauskas is stuck in the same situation most rookies are stuck in. You get limited minutes, and you get limited shots. You miss your first couple of shots, and wa la your on the bench, and the fans think your a bad shooter. At Michigan, if he missed his first three shots, it wasn't a problem because he was going to get another 10 or so shots in the game. And he shot 44% from the three for two years at Michigan. Trust me, he can shoot the ball. His time will come. Right now he's not getting many touches, or shots, and its tough to look good in that situation. However, he is doing a lot of other little things that go unnoticed to the average eye. He does a good job of freeing up Cousins with back screens or intentional bumps in the post. He'll be fine, it's just going to take some time.

What amazes me, is the unrealistic expectations of fans. Were eight games into the season, and some are willing to throw Stauskas into the trash can. I don't know how to logically address that. I know we live in an instant gratification society, but come on folks, that's just ridiculous. But hey, what the hell do I know?

 

[Larry89]

We got problems, and we play Memphis next. Don't think Ben will have another game like that against Tony Allen..not to mention M. Gasol has had Cousins number for a bit.

 

[randymoss1881]

We got problems, and we play Memphis next. Don't think Ben will have another game like that against Tony Allen..not to mention M. Gasol has had Cousins number for a bit.

Allen will be on Gay and the struggled to beat the Lakers last night and lost to the Bucks.

 

[Albatros]

Allen will be on Gay and the struggled to beat the Lakers last night and lost to the Bucks.

Don't worry we'll help them back to winning ways.