When I say Ramon ****ing Sessions tonight, its in an entirely different spirit than when I said Omri ****ing Casspi last night.
Boxscore
Stats: 41min 14pts (5-9, 0-1, 4-4) 7reb 2ast 0stl 0blk 2TO
Casspi ( B ) -- Another solid, roleplayer goodness night for Casspi. Started out the game playing the same fugly first quarter ball as the rest of the team with a sloppy inbounds pass leading to a turnover and fast break, followed almost immediately by mistakenly going under the screen and leaving Ariza wide open at the top of the arc. Got himself into a bit of early foul trouble. Apparently the early mental mistakes only made him angry, and you would not like Casspi when he is angry. He took charge of the second unity, just putting his head down going right at Montiejunas and repeatedly getting to the foul line or finishing inside. He was a big part of the run in the second that got us within striking distance at the half. He even got T'd up for staring down Trevor Ariza. Far more passive in the second half as Sessions and Cousins were throwing the ball all over the court. I would have liked to see him charging hard at the rim some more in the fourth, but really I wanted anyone but Sessions to be handling the ball by then.
--Hadlowe
Stats: 35min 6pts (3-9, 0-0, 0-0) 11reb 1ast 2stl 3blk 1TO
Thompson ( C ) -- Prior to tipoff, I was thinking about how Thompson would be able to put his stamp on this game without an All-Star caliber post player to defend. He’s been doing that all year for the Kings, but with both Howard and Jones out, I didn’t know how much value the Kings were going to get out of JT tonight. The Kings actually went to him a little more than usual on offense. He had 9 field goal attempts, which is only one off his season high. He didn’t shoot particularly well, but he had one nice post move on Montiejunas, and fed Cousins on a sweet high/low action for an easy bucket. His jumper wasn’t working, but he hustled on the boards (snagged 5 offensive rebounds himself, but it felt like he had a hand on a lot more than that), and Cousins found him for an up and under layup that was probably his most impressive play of the evening. Scratch that, he had one Odell Beckham Jr.-esque steal in the open court that led to an easy two points in transition. Grant made that connection as well, but I swear I thought of it first. Here’s the bad: Donatas Montiejunas really hurt the Kings all night. This was not entirely Jason Thompson’s fault, but Montiejunas did completely fool him on a few nifty post moves, and Thompson had a tough time chasing him around, but both Landry and Cousins also spent some time on Montiejunas. The Kings just didn’t have an answer for him. Thompson played hard, though, as usual. He chased multiple loose balls out of bounds, he had tips or deflections on many Rockets rebound attempts, and he was at least trying to play some help defense. This felt like a pretty average Thompson performance without the stellar defense we’ve grown accustomed to. And it wasn’t all bad defensively, it just wasn’t as good as it has been. --Mass
Stats: 37min 29pts (9-18, 0-0, 11-13) 17reb 6ast 0stl 3blk 7TO
Cousins ( B+ ) -- the big guy at least did his part in this one, but some of what went on out there was a little troubling. First of all was this: the Rockets absolutely Shaq'ed him. But Shaq'ed him if Shaq was stuck on a team of scrubs, which Cuz was tonight. In the early going I was annoyed that we were having Cuz catch the ball facing, when against the Rockets reserve big it seemed posting himup and letting hi abuse them would be the way to go. But then when we started trying to run those postups maybe you saw why we had been avoiding it as Cousins was absolutely SWARMED. I mean, these weren't just doubles -- he was being doubled WIHTOUT the ball, a third man would run at him when it was caught, the others would shade. You sometimes hear the term going 1 on 5 tossed around for various reasons, well this was the real deal, and it wasn't just on play or two, this was the Rockets strategy against him all night long. Secondly was Cuz's frustrated response to the swarm, the hacking, and maybe worst of all his teammates incompetence. Because Cuz was by far our best assistman on the night, and he could easily have a triple double. But guys, and my evil eye is back on you here Ben, were absolutely REFUSING to hit wide open shots when he beat those triple teams with passes. Just refusing. And Cuz was getting pissed. And he had every right to be, but you never want to see those bonds of trust broken like that, because that's what they were -- several times Cuz reverted to his younger days, Ben or Nik or Sessions (egad!) would blow a perfect setup, and Cuz would get mad, and next time down court just say screw it, you guys suck, I'll do it myself, leading to wild charges into the paint and turnovers. It was an obvious response. He also picked up several frustration fouls, and was really chattering with the refs in a way that has gotten him techs in the past. So, the whole game he was frustrated and chippy, and we don't want to go back down that rabbithole. On the other hand, he was frustrated and chippy because he was competing, he wanted to win, and as always with Cuz, I will take a guy acting out because he wants to win every time. Just as long as our sadsack guards actually make it to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow in one piece. Now during the game you had a variety of Cuz's brilliant plays, and standing out were some big impressive defensive stands, going straight up to block Montejunas, later Canaan, and even Harden without fouling him. He was big and strong on the glass, clearing room and leaving no question. On one play reached up an batted at an offensive board and it tipped into the hoop form 6 feet away, for some reason we have him facing up and attacking when posting seemed the way to go. When he did finish inside it was tough tough work through 2 or 3 guys, and he spent a lot of the night facing up, squaring guys up, and doing those power drives through one of the guy's shoulders or another, and there the Houston defense was slower to coalesce around him. He also notched a number of assists that way, from up top directing traffic in a way that our "PGs" never could. Got set up by Omri nicely underneath to start the 3rd, but got blocked from behind by Harden. In a hold your breath moment got tangled up with Dorsey in the final minute of the 3rd and went hobbling down clutching his knee and finally collapsed down underneath our hoop. Now that would have been beautiful -- how does one scuttle our hoped for big December? Lose the big guy. Fortunately he got back up, came back in still chippy, missed a contested drive and got a frustration foul. And picked up an offensive foul on a frustration play again after Ben missed another shot. He came up with some beauties, including a spinning tip, and a nice pass leading a backcutting Ben for a dunk he couldn't miss with 4:40 to go. But I think his night was summed up after Sessions racked up yet another turnover (the 5 is deceptive, I am not exaggerating when I say he put the ball on the floor at least 10 times tonight, he just managed to recover some of them, it was like me dribbling out there) and Cuz just hung his head in disgust. Know what you were feeling big guy. But for the sake of leadership and chemistry, try to contain your disgust. Anyway, you know what this ended up being? 29pts 17reb 6ast that's what this ended up being. Since the 2013-14 season 29pts 17reb has only been accomplished 27 times in the league, 5 by Cuz. 29pts 17reb 6ast has only been accomplished 3 times, twice by Cuz, once by Love. The chippy argumentative demeanor wasn't great, but I am big on not taking for granted the amazing level of play involved here. With Love's demise there's nobody in the NBA who can do that stuff. --Brick
Stats: 38min 14pts (6-17, 2-9, 0-0) 3reb 1ast 0stl 1blk 1TO
McLemore ( B- ) --Ben spent most of the game guarding James Harden and very effectively. On one fast break early in the 1st quarter, Ben was the 1 in a Houston 4 on 1 fast break but Ben hustled down to block the PG layup from behind. Then Ben switched to Ariza for a bit but kept attacking the basket on defense. But the Kings self-distructed in the 1st quarter committing 9 TO’s and down 19-37. Ben pretty much sat on Harden whose shots were off in any case. As a side, in the first quarter a graphic was posted showing Ben’s progress the past 9 games: PPG 5>13, FG% 30>52 and 3pt% 33>46%. Nik came in for Ben with :59 left in the first. Ben was back in at the 6:38 mark of the 2nd period playing the 2 with Nik staying in at a 3 and guarding Cisco, Casspi’s old team mate when he was at the Rockets. When Nik went to the bench Ben remains, gets a steal, brings ball down then goes for quick layup. Ben’s energy is in holding Harden down but too bad TO’s ruin everything. Many times Harden tries to shoot but Ben forces him to pass out. At the half Ben is 2/8 for 5 pts, 3 reb, 1 blk and 0 TO’s. Interesting that only Ben and Nik have 0 TO’s on the whole team. Ben starts the 3rd and gets right back at Harden. Keeps forcing “contested” shots. After a Cuz jump ball is tapped to Ben outside, he hits a quick 3. to cut the lead to 1. After a couple of buckets by Rockets, JT makes a steal to Sessions to Ben for an easy 2. Ben crosses middle going left off balance and pops in a 2 with right hand. By the 3:46 mark of the 3rd Ben has held Harden to 5 of 21 shooting including 1 of 6 from 3. Ben also has the high minutes on both teams. Nik starts the 4th with Ben on bench until the 8:06 mark. Comes in and again gets hot on Harden. On Rockets breakaway lead by Harden Ben affects his layup so much it bounces off front of rim to the Kings. Then a give and go with Cuz for a quick 2 but just not enough from the team. Played 38 min for 14 pts, 3 reb and only 1 TO. Grade high for his D on Harden but lowered by his 6 for 17 shooting. --Cruz
Stats: 35min 8pts (3-8, 1-2, 1-2) 3reb 3ast 0stl 0blk 5TO
Sessions ( F+ ) -- Sorry Ramon, but this wasn’t your day. Despite the back to back game for a bench player suddenly starting both games, Sessions looked crispy physically. Unfortunately, you can’t say the same of his game awareness. Sessions did bring the ball up quickly, and that’s his strong point, but he didn’t seem to pay attention to the fact that DMC had heavy legs and could not keep up with that speed. Instead of rotating the ball with other players to give Cuz time to position himself, he stopped the game standing dribbling the ball. That is not his game and he TOd the ball by dribbling the ball on his own feet or giving bad passes after giving Houston ample time to get organized in D. Ramon led the Kings to the quite clever Rocket trap. Missing Howard, they managed to keep Cuz far from the rim, where he would have been unstoppable. As a point guard you’re supposed to be the playmaker! Get your big man open under the rim where you have an advantage or let the shooters shoot OPEN shots. This really grabbed me when DMC gave a great pass from the 3-pt line down to Sessions for an easy bank shot under the rim. Very nice, but that should go the other way around. You should give that pass and DMC score. During the game I was thinking that Sessions would probably have had a great night with the Rockets with their fast break oriented game. However, you’re playing with the Kings and you have to make their play and at their pace. You didn’t create for the team. When your opposite number hits 6 3-pointers having a 9-16 shooting night (10 3pt attempts), you know you’re in trouble. So, Ramon, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in 35 min. won’t cut it when you have 5 TOs. --Kingston
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Bench
Stats: 10min 7pts (2-2, 1-1, 2-5) 0reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 2TO
Williams ( D+ ) -- I flirted with giving Williams a gentleman's incomplete, as he only played 9 minutes in this game. He knocked down a three and finished a lay-in through a foul, though he didn't convert the freebie. He also got one of the few calls for the Kings inside by forcing a bad shot inside into three defenders and getting bailed out by the refs. Defensively, he was put on Ariza, and ended up losing him several times chasing through staggered screens. There wasn't much hustle in this game, and the difference in energy levels between Casspi and Williams resulted in no play-time in the second half. He did manage two turnovers, though, meaning on a night when the Kings could not hold on to the ball, Williams led the team in turnovers per minute. --Hadlowe
Stats: 13min 0pts (0-1, 0-0, 0-0) 1reb 2ast 0stl 0blk 1TO
McCallum ( C- ) -- Ray always looks energetic and alert. His defense is not perfect, but he is fast and pretty much can keep up with the PGs. You should not underestimate big men that have fast hands. Motiejunas got a steal because of that. Ray is volatile and looks for the drive. You must give a little for the inexperience, but when you drive to the hoop, you need to be aware where your teammates are. If you end up without a shot, there has to be the other man to pass the ball to. At least one of the Canaan’s 3-pointers came on Ray’s watch and at least one more attempt. When your opposite PG gets hot from the 3-point land, don’t --Kingston
Stats: 16min 4pts (2-3, 0-0, 0-0) 5reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 1TO
Landry ( D+ ) -- If Landry didn’t add a few buckets (a jumper and a contested layup) in the second half, this grade could have been worse. We are at the point in Landry’s career (and actually, we’ve probably been here all along) where if he isn’t scoring, he isn’t helping. In the first half, he wasn’t really contributing in any positive manner. Don’t let his rebounding numbers fool you, the Kings looked undersized with their bench unit, and Montiejunas did some of his damage here as well. On a night where the Kings were once again without two of their top three players, the Kings needed a bigger contribution out of Landry. They didn’t get one. --Mass
Stats: 14min 7pts (1-4, 1-3, 4-4) 1reb 1ast 0stl 1blk 0TO
Stauskas ( C- ) -- Nik first gets in the game at the :59 mark at end of 1st quarter. Nik passes on a 3 then dribbles to lane, tries off balance shot but gets fouled for his first 2 points. He is guarding our old Cisco and doing really good job too.. Cisco tries a reverse layup but Niks D prevents the shot then he gets a feed from McCallum in the corner for a nice 3. Sessions replaces Nik at the 4:40 mark of the 2nd quarter as Nik is 1/3 with 2/2 FT but doing well on defense. At the half Nik and Ben are the only Kings with o TO’s. Nik comes in at the 2:12 mark of the 3rd replacing Casspi. The from the 1 minute mark, Nik becomes the designated fouler of Joey Dorsel, a horrible FT shooter (only 2/11 on the year!). Tactic works twice as Joey misses all 4 FT giving Kings a new possession and additional points. Nik still hesitates on some open 3’s but his defense is good, not great. Still learning but way ahead of where Ben was last year at this time. The 4th quarter starts with Nik at the 2 with RayMac, Casspi, JT and Landry. Gets assist to Carl on the elbow for 2 then drives hard to the basket getting hard foul and makes both FT. Doing well as Kings only down 4 at the 8:55 mark of the 4th then he gets replaced by Ben for the remainder of the game. Grade - is 3 pt shot hesitation, still. --Cruz
Stats: 1min 0pts (0-0, 0-0, 0-0) 0reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Moreland ( INC ) -- woohoo! An Eric Moreland sighting. A pretty awesome one too. He made the absolute most of his 34 seconds of work, not only perfectly executing the check in with the timekeeper, but also showing great form on his bow knot when tying his shoes, getting nearly perfect balance between the two sides without any of that unbalanced stuff you so often see out of rookies. His breathing also appeared competent, and he was able to not only walk without incident, but even run down court and jump in the air once hoping for a defensive challenge. It was top rate stuff. Welcome to the league kid! --Brick
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