[Grades] Grades v. Pistons 11/15/2013

What killed us most?

  • No personnel to guard Josh Smith

    Votes: 1 1.5%
  • Outlaw/Patterson bang knees and we lose both

    Votes: 8 12.1%
  • Geoff Petrie ruinously takes a midget instead of Drummond, who eats us alive on the glass

    Votes: 31 47.0%
  • Greivis throws the ball all over the court, IT just keeps dribbling it off his feet

    Votes: 8 12.1%
  • Ben McLebrick and Marbrick Thornton miss three after three...after three..after...

    Votes: 9 13.6%
  • Coach Malone decided to try midget ball again against the biggest frontline in the game

    Votes: 9 13.6%

  • Total voters
    66
  • Poll closed .

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#1


In a big ole celebration of Sacramento basketball all the pillars put on a good show, the crowd broke the noise record, Boogie kept his cool and impressed (especially impressed Doris Burke :p), and Vivek aced his 2nd quarter press table interview.

Unfortunately other than our Boogie/Drummond frontline combining for 41pts 31rebs.....oh wait! There IS no Boogie/Drummond frontline, because Geoff Petrie is a freaking idiot and damaged our franchsie for the next decade with an idiot mistake taking a 6'8" lightweight in TRob rather than the monster in Drummond. Ok. Sigh. I'm not over it. Never will be. But anyway, other than Big Cuz in there battling we just could never establish any consistency from anybody else, and Grevis and IT were throwing/dribbling the ball all over the arena, combining for a ridiculous 12 TOs as we were ragged as could be. Still, I think overall it was a good show for the city, for the franchise, for Boogie. In this case all fo that trumps the actual outcome.

Tonight the Consortium:
Bricklayer
Capt. Factorial
Spudfan
MassacheusettsKingsFan
Bajaden


Boxscore

Stats: 16min 3pts (1-4, 1-2, 0-0) 4reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Salmons ( D ) -- John continued his lengthy streak of contributing nothing, but this time Malone kind of made him pay for his lack of production. He only played 16 minutes tonight, which is on the low side for a starter especially when the backup at his position (Outlaw) was injured in the second quarter. He was forced to play against the much bigger Josh Smith, and Salmons actually held him mostly in check during the first quarter (then Smith got rolling). He hit one 3 off of a Jason Thompson offensive rebound for his only points of the game. I don’t know how much longer Malone will allow Salmons to start and play empty minutes, especially if Mbah A Moute keeps producing. --Mass

Stats: 28min 4pts (2-8, 0-0, 0-0) 9reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 1TO
Thompson ( B ) -- Thompson started the game strong by scoring the first two points for us tonight. He would finish the night with only 4 points and although there wasn’t much going on for him on the offensive side he still earns a solid B tonight. It would have been an easy A if he had been a little bit more efficient on that end. Where he really earned this grade tonight was the solid defense on Monroe. All night long JT frustrated Monroe by playing amazing defense while holding him to less than half his season averages in both points and rebounds. With our offense being so sluggish and turning it over so much we would have been completely out of this game if it wasn’t for JT. Being in the starting lineup has been a good look for JT and he is validating Malone’s choice to swap him for Patterson more and more every game.--Spud

Stats: 36min 26pts (12-23, 0-0, 2-3) 13reb 2ast 0stl 3blk 4TO
Cousins ( A ) -- This wasn't a perfect game for Cuz. Actually it was an ugly game the way it started. I thought for a while that the ref's were running a test on Cuz to see how much he would endure, and to his credit, he kept his cool. First I want to congratulate him on his post defense. I personally counted 4 blocked shots, but he only got credit for three. He was a real presence in the post, changing shots if not blocking them. Not sure what he ate before the game, but give him more of it. Cousins scored 26 pt's in 36 minutes of play, and shot better than 50% doing it. And he also added 13 boards as well. Yes he had four turnovers, a couple of them unforced, and at least one questionable, which I thought was a foul. He started the game running a pick and roll with Vasquez, but there was a foul before the basket. He then got called for a ticky tacky foul at the other end, that seemed to set the tone for the first half. He missed a bounce pass from Vasquez on another pick and roll for a turnover, but when I reviewed it, he was clearly grabbed by Monroe. But enough about that. Cousins was the best king on the floor tonight, and dominated inside against Monroe and Drummond, getting both in foul trouble. He clearly had both frustrated as the game wore on, which is the opposite of what I expected going into this game. I thought about a B+ because of the 4 turnovers, but in my opinion, this was one of Cousins best defensive games in the post, and in some of his rotations to stop the ball in the lane. In one instance in the second half, Smith took a long rebound, drove around the top of the key and to the basket. Cousins stepped out and clearly affected Smith who somehow got the ball to Drummond who then had his shot blocked by Cuz. It was a great defensive sequence. Offensively, the Pistons had no answer for him. No, I didn't like some of the outside shots he took. But if you end up shooting better than 50%, its hard to be critical of the results. Except for a brief couple of moments with 2 minutes left in the game, where it looked like Cuz was ready to throw in the towel, he played with energy and determination. I'll allow him those few moments of frustration. All in all, a very good game. Unfortunately, he didn't have much help. Cousins may be on ESPN's highlight reel tonight with a down the lane dunk on a feed from IT.--Baja

Stats: 32min 7pts (2-6, 1-4, 2-2) 6reb 2ast 1stl 1blk 0TO
McLemore ( D+ ) -- I will attempt to refrain form several very obvious notes I could make about the general state of our SG position, and instead just note that our rookie continues to rook it up. For the second time this season he maybe got over amped by a big noisy crowd and missed a chance to bring the roof down as he missed another big flying dunk down the lane in the early going. And in most ways, that was his only real push to matter on offense. When he finally did get a jumper to fall, Josh Smith promptly came right back down the other way and schooled him in the post. For most of the night his contributions were limited to being of a bit of help on the defensive boards and...well kind of that. He continued to have problems losing his dribble, and just even the slightest step or shift seemed to throw off his jumper. He had his lone little burst of helpful play in the 3rd, when he finally did hit a three, and late in the quarter he made a nice play grabbing a defensive board and making a nice outlet pass to IT for a layup. Only real reason he got the minutes he did though was because we lost two guys to injury, and Ben was less awful than Marcus. If things were supposed to get easier for him working with the starters, he's certainly not making it look that way yet. --Brick

Stats: 29min 13pts (5-10, 3-6, 0-0) 0reb 6ast 0stl 0blk 8TO
Vasquez ( D ) -- Greivis' good shooting night (3-6 from three, 13 points) was completely overshadowed by his unacceptable eight turnovers. Vasquez seemed to spend the first half of the game looking for new and interesting ways to turn the ball over - losing it on a drive, bad post feeds, setting a moving screen on a handoff, and finally violating one of this year's new rules - when Greivis went and stood out of bounds to avoid playing offense he was called for a violation and his fifth TO of the first half. You've got to know the rules, Greivis. He didn't start the second half any stronger, making a bad pass on the first possession. He then worked his grade straight into an F when he committed a traveling violation at the 10-minute mark of the third quarter for his 7th TO of the night. From there, things got a bit better, as he first hit back-to-back threes to get us into a brief lead, and then feeding the post heavily in the fourth quarter (hadn't done that since the first), including three possessions in a row to Cousins on the block. Of course, then he decided to go away from what was working, missing a dumb shot on a drive and then throwing a full court pass to the Pistons on a break with us down 11, basically sealing our fate. He did have three assists in the fourth quarter to make his line look decent, but it was not a good night. --Capt.
 
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Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#2
Bench

Stats: 31min 18pts (6-11, 3-4, 3-6) 2reb 7ast 0stl 0blk 4TO
Thomas ( C ) -- The less said about Isaiah's defense in the first half, the better. But I'm going to say a few things anyway. First off, I don't care if you got switched onto Drummond, you don't leave him alone in the lane and assume that somebody with their back turned is going to pick him up or that, as in this case, he's going to get a three-second call on him before he gets the ball. Second, please don't schedule your film shoots for your video "How To Let A Point Guard Blow By You, Screen Or No" during our game times. Thank you. If it weren't for some vastly-improved help defense down low (thanks, Coach Malone!) we would have been in trouble a lot earlier in this game. The bright side for IT in this game, outside of some good shooting from deep, was his second quarter, when he was passing up a storm. Five of his seven assists came during the second quarter, and he had at least 5 instances where he set up a teammate for a miss. But IT fell apart a bit in the fourth with three turnovers of his own (once completely picked by Jennings) that did not help our efforts to get back into the game. --Capt.

Stats: 4min 0pts (0-1, 0-1, 0-0) 0reb 0ast 1stl 0blk 0TO
Patterson ( INC ) -- Patterson came into the game with 3 minutes left in the first and was done for the night seconds before the quarter finished. It looked like he banged knees with Outlaw while going after a rebound then proceeded to lay on the floor in pain until the Kings called a timeout to help him hobble off the court. Hopefully it isn’t a serious injury as it would make it harder to trade him for Asik ;) --Spud

Stats: 23min 5pts (1-6, 1-5, 2-2) 4reb 2ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Thornton ( D ) -- came in early for the guy with the rookie jitters, and for a few early minutes it looked like a good move that was going to solve our problems. Set Cousins up nicely down the lane for a big dunk, and drained a corner three. All was well in chucker land. And then...well then I don't know. Now we've got some real SF issues and Marcus has to be having Smart flashbacks with all the 3 guard lineups he's finding himself in, but his complete disappearance as the game went along did not seem terribly related to matching up with bigger Pistons, unless it just be that the big front frontline discouraged him from even trying to get inside. Whatever it was, after the initial burst, for the rest of the game Marcus was largely useless. Aside from one fastbreak where he just threw himself into the defender's chest to draw a foul, his offense devolved into every few minutes randomly chucking up, and bricking, another three. In fact 5 of his 6 shots on the night were threes. And while the rest of the team shot 50% from distance, our two "shooting" guards combined for 2-9. Maybe it was just hard to get into any rhythm when you never knew if your PG was going to pass it to you or the opposing team. I freely admit to not getting it with Marcus Thornton at this point. I wonder if he even does. --Brick

Stats: 8min 3pts (1-3, 0-0, 1-2) 3reb 0ast 1stl 0blk 0TO
Hayes ( INC ) -- Hayes only played 8 unmemorable minutes. He did score 3 pt's and grab 3 boards, only one of which was a tough board. But I'll be kind, and not give him a grade. --Baja

Stats: 5min 2pts (0-1, 0-1, 2-2) 0reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Outlaw ( INC ) -- Only played 5 minutes before banging knees with Patrick Patterson (resulting in both players sitting the rest of the game out). Hit a pair of free throws for his only points. Lost Singler a few too many times on the other end. Not a good performance, but his night ended way to early. --Mass

Stats: 29min 9pts (4-7, 1-2, 0-0) 2reb 1ast 1stl 1blk 0TO
Mbah a Moute ( B- ) -- One of the few bright spots tonight for the Kings. Mbah A Moute saw extended minutes for the first time this season, and he made the most of them. Showed a surprisingly diverse offense game for the defensive minded forward. Hit a corner 3, a pullup jumper, and a dunk off of a nice hard cut to the basket. His shot looked good. He swung between PF and SF multiple times, and I thought he looked much better as a SF. Please stop playing him at power forward with Chuck Hayes, Coach. Please. His numbers don’t suggest good board work, but he was battling inside boxing his man out as best he could. His defense was just ok. He couldn’t stop Josh Smith (no one could) but LRMAM wasn’t necessarily on Josh Smith all game, and Smith was bouncing between the 3 and 4 as well. He was productive, though, which is a lot more than I could say for the other small forwards on this roster. --Mass
 
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#3
I really don't want to be one of those fans but...

In a game where Cousins dominated and needed some outside shooting help, why not put Jimmer in instead of MT23?
 
K

KingMilz

Guest
#5
Growing up playing bball there were two things that got under my skin more than anything
1. Teammates not playing the right way
2. Teammates not giving 100%
Now when you lack talent like the Kings do those two things have to be given's you have to play the right way and on every possesion give 100% or else you simply cannot compete, why are Salmons/Thornton and all these other guys not named IT/Cousins/Prince Luke/JT not giving 100% and playing the right way. You have to make up for the fact you suck by doing these two things and I don't see it.

#Vasquez was awful, it's bad enough he can't guard anyone but those unforced turnover killed us he was the biggest reason why we lost
#Cousins again was good but the shot selection is still bad he shouldn't need to take 20+ shots to score 20+ points he's to talented to not be more effective great effort 2night but lots of calls against him and stayed as good Cuz and not bad Boogie
#Jason Thompson has probably had the two best defensive games I have ever seen from him back to back top job not worried about his offense
#IT/MT were both off and we badly needed them, Thornton just does not want to be here lets be real
#Prince Luke excellent defense, was calmed and composed let the game come to him should be playing 30+ mins spliting between SF and PF no more Chuck Hayes @ PF.
#Salmons we need to bring in a grizzly bear to take care of him
#Ben Mac still nervous but that's fine, the more he plays the better he will be I don't care how badly he's played he has to play to get better.
#The talent is just not there and I don't think the effort is either from everyone,you can't beat more talented teams playing low IQ basketball

Also I hope PPat is ok he's a good guy
 
#6
I think this cemented the fact, despite quality wins against mediocre Denver and New Jersey at home that we are one of the worst teams in the league. Good for draft position, but now I am worried that we will not even show incremental improvement over last year.

Thornton - Just when we think he can be useful, he reminds you that question marks still exist.

Love Demarcus and IT

Greivis - completely on the fence with him. Part of me feels he has the natural talent - heart, improved J, sees the floor to be who we need going forward, but there are still holes to his game.. have to hope injury is a part of this.

Ben - I'm going to be on him like white on rice from here on out.. Just has been a detriment so far at the position and the same as the guy hes replaced. He had two or so good games in summer league and was bad the rest. A pretty good preseason for a rookie.. There is no more pass for me. We all want him to be a good player and a top 3 franchise type player, I think we should expect him to at least hold his own and go unnoticed in his first year starting. Holes in the kids game. All I ask is that in good faith he start showing signs, any signs, of why we all as Kings fans should have high hope for him
 
#7
"How not to spend $27.5 million"

This one of a kind group consists of Outlaw, Hayes, Jimmer, Thornton, and Salmons. Here's what that got us tonight:

52 total minutes
13 points on 3-14 shooting
8 rebounds
3 assists
1 steal
0 blocks
0 turnovers

+bad defense
 
#9
I was surprised by the lack of calls Cousins was getting. That being said, going out and getting 26/13 on 50+% shooting against the biggest frontline in the NBA is superstar stuff.

Happy to see Mbah a Moute show up and produce. I'm ready for Salmons to be launched into outer space never to return.

Greivis was drunk. No other explanation. Couldn't tell if he was passing it to the Pistons or the Kings at times.

That being said, a lack of true second option, a lack of consistently good shooters, and a lack of paint presence outside of Demarcus is killing this team.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#10
Ben - I'm going to be on him like white on rice from here on out.. Just has been a detriment so far at the position and the same as the guy hes replaced. He had two or so good games in summer league and was bad the rest. A pretty good preseason for a rookie.. There is no more pass for me. We all want him to be a good player and a top 3 franchise type player, I think we should expect him to at least hold his own and go unnoticed in his first year starting. Holes in the kids game. All I ask is that in good faith he start showing signs, any signs, of why we all as Kings fans should have high hope for him
How dare our rookie play like a rookie?! Rabble rabble rabble
 
#11
Growing up playing bball there were two things that got under my skin more than anything
1. Teammates not playing the right way
2. Teammates not giving 100%
Now when you lack talent like the Kings do those two things have to be given's you have to play the right way and on every possesion give 100% or else you simply cannot compete, why are Salmons/Thornton and all these other guys not named IT/Cousins/Prince Luke/JT not giving 100% and playing the right way. You have to make up for the fact you suck by doing these two things and I don't see it.

#Vasquez was awful, it's bad enough he can't guard anyone but those unforced turnover killed us he was the biggest reason why we lost
#Cousins again was good but the shot selection is still bad he shouldn't need to take 20+ shots to score 20+ points he's to talented to not be more effective great effort 2night but lots of calls against him and stayed as good Cuz and not bad Boogie
#Jason Thompson has probably had the two best defensive games I have ever seen from him back to back top job not worried about his offense
#IT/MT were both off and we badly needed them, Thornton just does not want to be here lets be real
#Prince Luke excellent defense, was calmed and composed let the game come to him should be playing 30+ mins spliting between SF and PF no more Chuck Hayes @ PF.
#Salmons we need to bring in a grizzly bear to take care of him
#Ben Mac still nervous but that's fine, the more he plays the better he will be I don't care how badly he's played he has to play to get better.
#The talent is just not there and I don't think the effort is either from everyone,you can't beat more talented teams playing low IQ basketball

Also I hope PPat is ok he's a good guy
Agree with most but IT scored 18 points on 11 shots and 7 assists. The 4 TO's were too many, but he once again was the only real help for DeMarcus.
 
K

KingMilz

Guest
#12
Agree with most but IT scored 18 points on 11 shots and 7 assists. The 4 TO's were too many, but he once again was the only real help for DeMarcus.
Hmm ok I just checked the box score you are right about IT but he didn't have any real impact I thought I'm suprised he scored that many just watching the game I didn't think he was even close to that, my mistake on that part you are correct to bring that up.
 
#14
Hmm ok I just checked the box score you are right about IT but he didn't have any real impact I thought I'm suprised he scored that many just watching the game I didn't think he was even close to that, my mistake on that part you are correct to bring that up.
IT (as much as people don't want to admit it) has done splendidly as a #2 to Cousins. 18 PPG on 12 FGA/game, 6 FTA/game, above a .600 TS%, has scored above 16 points in 5 of 8 games. I and we should take those kind of numbers for a Cousins side-kick any day of the week. The problem offensively, continues to be performances similar to this spread of shooting:

Salmons: 1-4
Thornton: 1-6
McLemore: 2-6
JT: 2-8
Hayes: 1-3
total:
7-27 for 25%

It's simply inexcusable. Part of the reason LeBron is so good is he has Ray Allen, Mario Chalmers, Shane Battier, Udonis Haslem, Chris Bosh all able to hit spot-up shots at a high level. Teams cannot just pack the paint against him and leave the army of 40% 3pt shooters or exceptional mid-range shooters of Haslem and Bosh wide open. That is what we're missing right now. Teams can pack the paint against Cousins in the post or against IT penetration and simply let the other guys brick an alarming number of shots. Heck, add 1 3pter from McLemore or Thornton and 2 other easy looks and this game is tied. Even then 10-27 at 37% is a pitiful showing for the good looks those guys get on a daily basis
 
#16
i dont know why people are voting for us not drafting drummond. everyone knows if we did draft him, the maloofs would have traded him away for a bag of chips halfway through his rookie season and we still wouldn't have our defensive big.
 
#17
Lol.. I don't blame Petrie for drafting T-Rob because Morey, Presti or whatever quality GM would have done the same. T-Rob was slated on many mocks as being #2 behind Anthony Davis and was consensus top 4, not Drummond. If we go back to the old threads here I would be surprised if I would see many voicing for Drummond over TRob beforehand
 
#18
I voted Drummond, because he did match so well with Cousins skill wise. TRobb was a life-story draftpick.

However, the real problem was lack of secondary offensive burst. IT had an okay game, but he carried more of a load than you wanted. You expect one of Thornton or McLemore to hit open shots on a night, but neither did. I think that during the off-season, they're going to have to bring a guy in to teach Ben a shooter's mentality.
 
#22
Cousins is all alone out there. And man his attitude is night and day difference from last year
Yeah I feel sorry for doubting him and embarrassed that I was one of the few on the poll concerning his extension that didn't vote in total support. It could have went in one of two ways, and thankfully for us he is the truth. One of the few things that have went right so far
 
#23
Lol.. I don't blame Petrie for drafting T-Rob because Morey, Presti or whatever quality GM would have done the same. T-Rob was slated on many mocks as being #2 behind Anthony Davis and was consensus top 4, not Drummond. If we go back to the old threads here I would be surprised if I would see many voicing for Drummond over TRob beforehand
Oh, there were several of us. I think Brick was one of them too, and so was Glenn if I am not mistaken.
 

hrdboild

Hall of Famer
#25
Robinson was in the national championship game and played well. That's why he was a top 5 pick. Because sometimes scouts trust production over potential. Because winning is still considered an intangible skill despite how many uncontrollable factors (and luck) go into determining the outcome. Because he was a beast of a rebounder in college, is very athletic for his size and position, and had a developing midrange jumper which rounded out his skill set as what most are looking for in a prototypical NBA power forward. And also because sometimes consensus opinion persuades people to ignore their own eyes and their own gut instinct and go with whatever decision is popular. Drummond and Barnes were considered risky high-ceiling picks with considerable bust potential (Barnes because his shooting was erratic in college and he didn't show enough of a killer instinct, Drummond because he played limited minutes and had only a rudimentary offensive game). Robinson was considered a safe pick who should be a solid pro, though perhaps not a particularly impressive one.

I've harped on this in the past, but safe picks often wind up being the worst ones in the lottery. Yes you risk coming up with nothing if your pick busts, but why waste a lottery pick on a guy you can pick up as a free agent for a mid-level deal down the road (is Thomas Robinson really that much better than Carl Landry?) and pass on potential home runs like Andre Drummond or Paul George? This year it looks like Michael Carter Williams is that guy. Hit on a couple of those picks and you find yourself leading the league (see Indiana with Paul George and Roy Hibbert). The Robinson pick is a good example of why Petrie was unable to build a winning team for such a long period of time. He always went with production over potential, always passed on the big risk guys and found his team stuck in the mud going nowhere while other bottom feeders lept into playoff contention. (I suppose Cousins stands out as a notable exception) So yeah, probably half the GMs in the league would have made the same Robinson pick -- but they're the same GMs whose teams will finish this season with losing records.

On a related note, Joel Embiid is the high-risk guy in this draft to keep an eye on. He's not going to get nearly the same hype as his fellow freshmen, but so far he looks like a potential home run to me. He's a defensive presence but he also looks quite capable on the offensive end, particularly with his passing instincts and nose for loose balls. He could end up being the rock-solid big man who eventually makes a half dozen or more GMs look silly for passing on him. Also keep an eye out for Chris Walker at Florida once he gets academically cleared to play.
 
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#26
Robinson was in the national championship game and played well. That's why he was a top 5 pick. Because sometimes scouts trust production over potential. Because winning is still considered an intangible skill despite how many uncontrollable factors (and luck) go into determining the outcome. Because he was a beast of a rebounder in college, is very athletic for his size and position, and had a developing midrange jumper which rounded out his skill set as what most are looking for in a prototypical NBA power forward. And also because sometimes consensus opinion persuades people to ignore their own eyes and their own gut instinct and go with whatever decision is popular. Drummond and Barnes were considered risky high-ceiling picks with considerable bust potential (Barnes because his shooting was erratic in college and he didn't show enough of a killer instinct, Drummond because he played limited minutes and had only a rudimentary offensive game). Robinson was considered a safe pick who should be a solid pro, though perhaps not a particularly impressive one.

I've harped on this in the past, but safe picks often wind up being the worst ones in the lottery. Yes you risk coming up with nothing if your pick busts, but why waste a lottery pick on a guy you can pick up as a free agent for a mid-level deal down the road (is Thomas Robinson really that much better than Carl Landry?) and pass on potential home runs like Andre Drummond or Paul George? This year it looks like Michael Carter Williams is that guy. Hit on a couple of those picks and you find yourself leading the league (see Indiana with Paul George and Roy Hibbert). The Robinson pick is a good example of why Petrie was unable to build a winning team for such a long period of time. He always went with production over potential, always passed on the big risk guys and found his team stuck in the mud going nowhere while other bottom feeders lept into playoff contention. (I suppose Cousins stands out as a notable exception) So yeah, probably half the GMs in the league would have made the same Robinson pick -- but they're the same GMs whose teams will finish this season with losing records.

On a related note, Joel Embiid is the high-risk guy in this draft to keep an eye on. He's not going to get nearly the same hype as his fellow freshmen, but so far he looks like a potential home run to me. He's a defensive presence but he also looks quite capable on the offensive end, particularly with his passing instincts and nose for loose balls. He could end up being the rock-solid big man who eventually makes a half dozen or more GMs look silly for passing on him. Also keep an eye out for Chris Walker at Florida once he gets academically cleared to play.
And our team's player development is also definitely at fault. Maybe Robinson wouldn't have looked as bad if we had someone to mentor him and teach him. And on the flip side maybe Drummond would be Hassan Whiteside 2.0 on our team. It is kinda puzzling to see many of our "disappointing" players go on to other teams and become decent players 4 years down the road (e.g. Omri, Hawes). Sometimes it's also about opportunity. TRob could probably have been a lot more useful for us if we didn't already have JT. Likewise Jimmer if we didn't have Thornton. For some reason the old Kings FO thought that the best way to a develop a young player was to get a veteran guy who does exactly what they do but at a higher level, and put them in the way of the young players getting minutes. And the one position that could really use an upgrade? No sir-ee, no Harrison Barnes, no Kawhi Leonard.
 
#27
And the one position that could really use an upgrade? No sir-ee, no Harrison Barnes, no Kawhi Leonard.
Barnes refused to work out for us. Again, I can see what Petrie was aiming for in Jimmer, just missed. There is certainly an element of happenstance to the draft
 
#29
Didn't TRob also not work out for us?
I may be wrong here, but Barnes would have been lucky to have been drafted where we were, and as I referred to earlier T-Rob's stock was already where he didn't need to work out for us. So with Barnes I think it was personal, whereas with TRob it might have been business. Way too late for me to look this up, so take this as a guess
 
#30
while I did vote for T-Rob over Drummond, because of long-term implications, that mini lineup toward the end of the third just spelled doom. no resistance on the boards or in the paint and offensively it lacked any punch whatsoever. if the team had anybody who could at least get to the rim or the foul line in that group, it might've been at least somewhat palateable, but as it was, they were just completely lost against that massive Detroit team. this was a case, where having Landry would have helped, offensively at least.