[Grades] Grades v. Raptors 12/2/2014

[HereWeBoogie]

the plus minus for this game is insane. Collison had -22, Ben -15, Nik Stauskas +13

 

[gunks]

Pete definitely needs to do some work. This team has some glaring weaknesses. Like 3pt shooting, backup PG, and anyone with size outside of JT/DMC

This.

When we started hot, I saw an article that said something like "PDA wants to sit tight with the roster" .... I cringed. Dont rest on your laurels Gerbil! You've done good, but there is much work to be done!

Signing a journeyman scrub and an undrafted rookie to address front court depth/defense isnt going to do it buddy.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

In the last 8 years? Probably lots.

Sure. If, by 'lots', you mean three.

FYI - we out-rebounded our opponent in one of those three.

 

[Bricklayer]

Just a weird random basketball stat that pops up from time to time really doesn't have any meaning or can really be explained. Obviously, Cuz is hugely important to the success of our team, but our current roster isn't 0-16 bad without him. The roster last year when we were without Rudy and Cuz for that 8 game stretch might have been close, but not over the course of a whole year. No team is ever that dependent on one player.

And it's not really fair to judge a team when missing it's best player. If we never had Cuz, I can safely say we wouldn't be rolling out Hollins at starting C every night. We'd have an actual C there and spend the Cuz max money on somebody or several somebodies.

That's true as far as it goes, but the fact remains that somehow every OTHER team that loses their superstar doesn't start going completely winless. Only us, and its been for years now.

Just ran a random check on some people:

New Orleans was 5-15 last year without Davis
OKC went 25-11 without Westbrook
Memphis went 10-13 without Gasol
Portland went 9-5 without Aldridge


And we're at 0-16 and counting, and to make things worse? 14 of those 16 losses have been at home. Cousins injuries have singlehandedly wrecked our home record for the last few years.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

Wonder what kind of crazy illness DeMarcus has that has stuck around for almost a week now

 

[Bricklayer]

These are all good observations. Only decision I would take issue with is not putting Casspi in towards the end of the 4th when the offense was anemic. Wasn't Omri's best game but some of those kamikaze drives would have been better than relying on Evans put-backs to get any points

so...does that mean you would have run with an all SF Rudy/Casspi/DWill frontcourt?

 

[gunks]

Kinda wonder how a Robin Lopez or a Chris Kaman would help us out with Cousins being out...

...But alas, Portland has snagged them both.

Any other good backup Cs out there?

 

[kingsnation]

That's true as far as it goes, but the fact remains that somehow every OTHER team that loses their superstar doesn't start going completely winless. Only us, and its been for years now.

Just ran a random check on some people:

New Orleans was 5-15 last year without Davis
OKC went 25-11 without Westbrook
Memphis went 10-13 without Gasol
Portland went 9-5 without Aldridge


And we're at 0-16 and counting, and to make things worse? 14 of those 16 losses have been at home. Cousins injuries have singlehandedly wrecked our home record for the last few years.

Not to mention that OKC actually won some games this year w/o EITHER KD or Westbrook.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Sessions doesn't earn closing game playing time, by being ok for a few minutes of 1 game. It was a mistake not to go back to the guy who's proven to be our best floor general and defensive player at the point. Whether he's 100% or not

 

[Bricklayer]

Sessions doesn't earn closing game playing time, by being ok for a few minutes of 1 game. It was a mistake not to go back to the guy who's proven to be our best floor general and defensive player at the point. Whether he's 100% or not

Unfortunately he was 100% awful is what he was.

And he wasn't good last time out either. I actually hope it IS a lingering injury he's not taking well, because that certainly beats him losing his mojo and returning to a lower level guy than the one we had the first month. In any case, Sessions was better than him all night, and I hope he takes that quote and tapes it above his bed for inspiration.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

Not to mention that OKC actually won some games this year w/o EITHER KD or Westbrook.

Exactly. And that poo roster is NOT more talented than our roster with Cousins out

 

[spok22s]

If anything, this team lacks size in the frontcourt. With Cousins out, Jason Thompson is our only true big man. And the moment he leaves the game with foul trouble, the other team exploits it. If we want a chance to win games without Cousins, we can't continue to back up our big men with Reggie Evans and Carl Landry, no matter how great they are playing.

Also, our team needs to stop trying to avoid shooting the three, especially when they're wide open.

 

[Bricklayer]

Wonder what kind of crazy illness DeMarcus has that has stuck around for almost a week now

 

[FaStRmAn]

What i don't understand is Collison plays poor and gets benched for the entire 4th. When Sessions has played like complete crap all season and just keeps getting those minutes

I think Collison was bothered by an injury. Thigh bruise or something to that affect. He was certainly not playing like he has played. Our lack of front court depth was exposed like an open wound. If Hollins is so bad that he couldn't be played in this game then why is he on the team? Desperate for size and rebounding and we had to go to Landry and Evans? That was a glaring admission that we desperately need a backup big to rotate in with JT and Cousins. Hollins needs to go elsewhere.

Also with Collison having a rare poor game, Sessions got extended minutes. He made some good plays, but he made a lot of bad plays. And his defense was exceedingly poor. He could not stay in front of anyone he was guarding. I truly believe if the ref had gotten the ball, he could have drove around Sessions for a score. Sessions has lost more than a step or 2. He is probably just about done NBA wise. His shooting is ok at times but he can no longer drive to the bucket like he used to. He is not a serviceable backup PG.

So this game taught us 3 things.

1. Kings are not nearly as good without Demarcus Cousins in the lineup. But what team is as good without their star?
2. They do not have an NBA Caliber backup big to sub for either Cuz or JT. Landry is too small and Evans has limited skills. Coach wont even play Hollins.
   
3. Kings do not have an NBA caliber backup guard who can run the point. Sessions is not getting the job done. Really its his defense that is killing us.

Ben McLemore has nailed down the 2 guard, Collison the PG, Gay the SF, and Cousins is our center. Casspi is a great bench player with energy, and Evans can come in and get you rebounds. Other than that we have a bench full of stiffs. Hollins cant get into a game where we desperately need size. Williams is so inconsistent, coach has no trust. J.T. would be a great backup Power Forward, but is not really a starter. Nik should not be playing, he is as raw as can be. Landry is really too slow and small to be a factor anymore.

So before the trade deadline, PDA needs to somehow address these issues. I truly believe that Backup Big is the most pressing issue. A big who can defend and rebound without fouling would be great. Then after that a real backup PG. Sessions just aint gonna cut it. I'm excited by the growth of Ben McLemore. He has truly blossomed into a threat. And I think when this team is healthy and all the starters are on the floor, they are incredibly difficult to defend. But the starters have to go to the bench some time...

 

[theclash4u5]

Ramon Sessions as a choice in the poll? Brilliant trolling

 

[206Fan]

What i don't understand is Collison plays poor and gets benched for the entire 4th. When Sessions has played like complete crap all season and just keeps getting those minutes

But the thing is, when Sessions sucks, Malone doesn't have him in there at the end of the game. Collison was so bad tonight. At least Ramon could score a little and get the ball moving. Collison was just a non factor. I question his effort tonight too. It was pathetic.

 

[206Fan]

Somebody talk to me about Landry BTW. What the hell happened there?

I think he got benched because of his body language and matchups. I think it was the 2nd quarter? Landry kept trying to get position for the ball down in the post, but they had great position on him. He got frustrated the first time and committed an offensive foul. The next play, they denied him position and he committed another offensive foul. Never came back into the game. I think a lot of it was probably matchups though.

 

[Tetsujin]

I think he got benched because of his body language and matchups. I think it was the 2nd quarter? Landry kept trying to get position for the ball down in the post, but they had great position on him. He got frustrated the first time and committed an offensive foul. The next play, they denied him position and he committed another offensive foul. Never came back into the game. I think a lot of it was probably matchups though.

Well, getting three fouls in 90 seconds will do that

 

[206Fan]

Well, getting three fouls in 90 seconds will do that

You could tell Landry was pissed tonight. I think he went up against Jonas.. terrible matchup for him. I think he could've helped us grab boards at the end of that game. It was a blood bath on the boards..

 

[spok22s]

But the thing is, when Sessions sucks, Malone doesn't have him in there at the end of the game. Collison was so bad tonight. At least Ramon could score a little and get the ball moving. Collison was just a non factor. I question his effort tonight too. It was pathetic.

Collison hasn't been the same player since he came back from his injury. Have to question whether he's completely healthy yet.

 

[KingMilz]

That's true as far as it goes, but the fact remains that somehow every OTHER team that loses their superstar doesn't start going completely winless. Only us, and its been for years now.

Just ran a random check on some people:

New Orleans was 5-15 last year without Davis
OKC went 25-11 without Westbrook
Memphis went 10-13 without Gasol
Portland went 9-5 without Aldridge


And we're at 0-16 and counting, and to make things worse? 14 of those 16 losses have been at home. Cousins injuries have singlehandedly wrecked our home record for the last few years.

Jazz 0-9 without Favors and 0-1 without him this year is the closest thing to rival Cousins in that regard and he's no where near the player.

 

[KingMilz]

It just felt like the entire game Reggie Evans was rebounding 1 v 3 on our defensive glass, good to see Derrick Williams erupt in the 4th and Ben keeps playing really well and solid production from Casspi. Rudy Gay played a great point-forward game.

 

[twslam07]

Reggie is a MUCH better rebounder than those guys. He's been one of the very best rebounders in the league for a decade. He was also better than those guys in THIS game.

You are right, Brick. He is a much better rebounder than Hollins and Thompson. However, it's very hard to keep people off the glass when Evans is having to be the guy to challenge players at the rim because when he rotates to help out, he is no longer in position to box his man out and grab the board. That's usually why having a second big on the floor helps with that. You put Thompson or Hollins next to Evans and it allows them to challenge the shot while Evans waits to clean up the boards. Unfortunately, we had Williams and/or Gay as our clean up guys down the stretch which led to many second chance points for the Raptors.

 

[twslam07]

As far as rotations go, there were many possibilities to go with in this game which is why many people here are upset.

Personally, after Williams gave us his surge of scoring, I would have likely replaced him with Thompson. We had no problem scoring down the stretch (and it wasn't just coming from Williams), but we struggled on the boards and defensively. You bring in Thompson to help protect the paint and allow Evans to clean up on the boards rather than having Evans protect the paint with Williams cleaning up the boards.

I then probably would have opted for McCallum at PG towards the end of the game to give me someone who could potentially slow down Lowry and also space the floor. On offense, I'm mainly relying on Gay and McLemore with McCallum and Thompson out there to knock down spot up shots all the while Evans is down low to grab offensive rebounds. You need stops (and rebounds) to be able to make up a deficit, and we simply were not getting them with the lineup that was out there.

I think this lineup could have given us the best opportunity to win tonight. They would have had adequate floor spacing, a go-to option, size, strong rebounding, and decent to good perimeter defense with length in the paint.

Hindsight is always 20/20, and even then, my preference could have resulted in a loss.

 

[andjel]

ok, to claim 0-16 requires some stretching and selective starts of counting, numbers are even more amazing though.

Since the beginning of the last season (when team was declared his):

Kings are 0-19 when Cousins plays 20 minutes or less.
Kings are 3-21 when Cousins plays less than 25 minutes, with note that 2 of those 3 wins were blowouts.

 

[twslam07]

As far as the 0-16 stat goes, it's definitely alarming and should highlight how important it is to 1) have a legitimate backup center (a guy like Koufos could go a long way) and 2) to have a third fiddle/option (I think McLemore and or Stauskas can develop into such a player, but they're not ready at this point in time). However, knowing we had a third option type last year (Thomas), I lean towards how imperative it is to go after that legitimate backup center.

Last year, we did not have a backup center either, and though Cousins wasn't the defensive player he is this year, he was still a much improved defensive player. If you insert a defensive minded, roleplaying C rather than a non-defensive minded, roleplaying PF, I think we won't see as big of dropoff in team play as we're accustomed to. Literally, the paint protection and rotations are just not there when Cousins is out.

 

[flamecrow]

Not when it counted 8 offensive rebounds for the Raps in the 4th Q. Reggie grabbed 2 boards in that 4th. Sure he came in and provided a huge spark but he was ineffective in the 4th and we should of attempted to bring any other big to see what they could provide us.

I'm pretty sure if Coach pulled Reggie out and the other bigs do worse or no better, it's still going to be Malone's fault for pulling Reggie out after a monstrous spark. Lose lose for Malone there.

 

[Bricklayer]

You are right, Brick. He is a much better rebounder than Hollins and Thompson. However, it's very hard to keep people off the glass when Evans is having to be the guy to challenge players at the rim because when he rotates to help out, he is no longer in position to box his man out and grab the board. That's usually why having a second big on the floor helps with that. You put Thompson or Hollins next to Evans and it allows them to challenge the shot while Evans waits to clean up the boards. Unfortunately, we had Williams and/or Gay as our clean up guys down the stretch which led to many second chance points for the Raptors.

That is actually a perfect observation of exactly what was going on. If I had some way to highlight I would.

We had Reggie alone in there as the only "big" along with people like Casspi or Williams. When somebody drove, it was Reggie who was having to step up even though he's highly ineffective at his size at doing that. And then the shot would go up and if it was missed, we had nobody behind him who could battle on the boards. It was actually a great example of why you don't want Reggie out there as a "center". You want somebody, anybody, Cuz, Hollins, JT, anybody else to be that guy who steps up to stop penetration, because where you DO want Reggie is to be that guy on the backside cleaning up all those misses. Tonight he was rarely in position to do so because he was having to meet all the guards blowing by our guards on the perimeter, and then the players behind him were SFs at best and were consistently losing those board battles.

 

[The_Jamal]

Exactly. And that poo roster is NOT more talented than our roster with Cousins out

They also had 15 tries to do it. We've had 3 against 3 of the best teams in the NBA.

The 0-16 don't mean squat. Brick can post NO, Portland records all he wants without their stars, but those teams were FAR above anything we had the previous two seasons. We stunk with DeMarcus the past 2 years, so of course we had very little opportunity to win games without him. Sans DeMarcus and a full year of IT and Rudy, that roster probably doesn't get to 20 wins last season.

But we're a different team this year. We're deeper, vet experienced, more people to rely on. We could have gone 0-3 in this stretch with DeMarcus and I wouldn't be overly disappointed. It's really difficult to beat top tier teams and you have to play mistake free basketball. We aren't there yet as a roster, although taken significant strides.

 

[Chubbs]

Malone's lineups make 0 sense. Doesn't address the issues just throws our random guys and hope it works. The raptors toyed with us, they were beating us outside and our coach takes out the bigs. Then they started to go inside and we go even smaller. Can't get a rebound in the 4th ? No attempt to fix it, kept the same line up out there.

It's getting old. Enough already.