[Grades] Grades v. Rockets 12/15/2015

Turnover King of the Evening?

  • Casspi

    Votes: 12 26.1%
  • Gay

    Votes: 3 6.5%
  • Cousins

    Votes: 5 10.9%
  • Collison

    Votes: 26 56.5%

  • Total voters
    46
  • Poll closed .
I think Cousins can stand to be a lot more fit. I don't think anybody is suggesting that he turn his body into Manute Bol but there would be nothing wrong with being more fit which would give him more stamina to get up and down the court better as well as be stronger inside. As others have noted, he's not all that strong of a finisher inside with traffic around him.
 
When you embrace crap all you get is poopoo all over you.

His bullyball game is precisely what makes him special. Take that away, and he's just another pansyass wannabe guard. Nobody will weep when Chris Bosh retires. They may not even notice.

This is a born natural bullyballer who can do unprecedented skill things. Not a skilled softie who might occasionally venture inside with the grown men.

Size and strength are one of the great universal elements in all contact sports. Watching him today I had almost the exact opposite reaction. With his natural build he should be stronger than he is. No way should little Dwight be able to bend him.

Losing fat doesn't mean losing strength. Jason Thompson played bullyball or he tried and he tripped over his feet traveled or got called for a charge. What makes Boogie special is not just bullyball. It is his skill set for a man his size, particularly an ability face up and take guys off the bounce. Guys his size don't feel comfortable 12 to 18 feet from the basket with a live dribble. He does.

You actually can negate his advantage out of the low block because it is easier to defend him with his back to the basket than when he is facing it. His reads are suspect. He doesn't get lift around the hoop. He doesn't have a turnaround jumper. He doesn't have a half-hook. There is no polished low post game and no go-to move.

I agree with you his physicality make him special. He can punish opponents and he wants to. The issue is how best to accomplish that. You have to move him around the court and get him the ball at the free throw line facing the hoop (as Karl has smartly done) as often as low block because he is more offensively capable facing the basket than with his back to the basket.

And losing 10 pounds of fat wouldn't hurt.
 
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Collison, Cousins, and Casspi turned everything over in the 3rd quarter..

We tried to put Cousins down low, and it didn't work at all today. Doubled team as soon as he caught the ball. That's why adding more to his perimeter game has been important, whether anyone likes it or not.
Last night, late in the game, he was absolutely shut down by Ariza and double teams.

There were several people complaining about not putting Cuz down low enough...when we did, they complained we looked for him down low too much.

I wasn't impressed with Curry. He didn't do anything for our offense. He played a bit PG tonight, but he didn't look comfortable there. As a SG, he wasn't as active and moving as he should've been. He wasn't cutting very much. He just stood at the corner side of his 3pt line each time they doubled Cousins..that's why he started turning the ball over like crazy. He was given 20mins, and I don't think he used the best of it. He did a good job defensively, but Anderson can give us the same.
 
Collison, Cousins, and Casspi turned everything over in the 3rd quarter..

We tried to put Cousins down low, and it didn't work at all today. Doubled team as soon as he caught the ball. That's why adding more to his perimeter game has been important, whether anyone likes it or not.
Last night, late in the game, he was absolutely shut down by Ariza and double teams.

There were several people complaining about not putting Cuz down low enough...when we did, they complained we looked for him down low too much.

I wasn't impressed with Curry. He didn't do anything for our offense. He played a bit PG tonight, but he didn't look comfortable there. As a SG, he wasn't as active and moving as he should've been. He wasn't cutting very much. He just stood at the corner side of his 3pt line each time they doubled Cousins..that's why he started turning the ball over like crazy. He was given 20mins, and I don't think he used the best of it. He did a good job defensively, but Anderson can give us the same.


Cousins was triple teamed, and they were playing illegal defense most of the time. Also, we were throwing the ball around like idiots. Had we been 50% more efficient on our passing the attention cousins brought would have had us winning by 30.

As for Seth, he looked exactly like you would expect a player who has had spotty minutes. A little out of sync with other players and a little tentative not wanting to make mistakes. I thought he took advantage of what the defense gave him. Made his free throws and a nice layup.
 
Losing fat doesn't mean losing strength. Jason Thompson played bullyball or he tried and he tripped over his feet traveled or got called for a charge. What makes Boogie special is not just bullyball. It is his skill set for a man his size, particularly an ability face up and take guys off the bounce. Guys his size don't feel comfortable 12 to 18 feet from the basket with a live dribble. He does.

You actually can negate his advantage out of the low block because it is easier to defend him with his back to the basket than when he is facing it. His reads are suspect. He doesn't get lift around the hoop. He doesn't have a turnaround jumper. He doesn't have a half-hook. There is no polished low post game and no go-to move.

I agree with you his physicality make him special. He can punish opponents and he wants to. The issue is how best to accomplish that. You have to move him around the court and get him the ball at the free throw line facing the hoop (as Karl as smartly done) as often as low block because he is more offensively capable facing the basket than with his back to the basket.

And losing 10 pounds of fat wouldn't hurt.

But losing weight can mean losing leverage. AD has gained a lot of strength since he entered the league. But still he will never be able to dislodge defenders like Cousins does.
I think there is a reason behind Cousins answer, when asked if the 2015 Kentucky class would be able to win versus his own 2010 Kentucky team - “They wouldn’t have a chance. Too light.”
 
Cousins was triple teamed, and they were playing illegal defense most of the time. Also, we were throwing the ball around like idiots. Had we been 50% more efficient on our passing the attention cousins brought would have had us winning by 30.

Well the Ref's didn't call illegal defense, so it's pointless to use this as an "excuse". We threw the ball all over the court, because we had trouble handling the pressure the small lineup was able to establish. This is not the first time, we have a hard time using Cousins size as an advantage versus small ball lineups. I think we have to find a way to handle this. And looking down on this strategy won't help finding a valid solution.
 
But losing weight can mean losing leverage. AD has gained a lot of strength since he entered the league. But still he will never be able to dislodge defenders like Cousins does.
I think there is a reason behind Cousins answer, when asked if the 2015 Kentucky class would be able to win versus his own 2010 Kentucky team - “They wouldn’t have a chance. Too light.”

I don't equate losing fat with losing leverage. Leverage is a function of size and strength not donuts. Leverage is also a function of lower body and base. Boogie's body type is wider than The Brow who is longer and leaner. Boogie has a base that helps him dislodge defenders. This isn't going to change is he losses excess fat. It is going to help his endurance instead of fading in second half.

The other point is that although the Achilles and back have been more publicized Boogie said recently he is dealing with tendonitis in both feet. His feet would not take such a pounding if he were lighter on them.
 
The double teams from last night don't help the case that the post up should be used less. It shows how poorly equipped this team is to react to doubling the post. Once you've got two defenders on one guy, you get an inches advantage against an NBA defense.
 
Cousins was triple teamed, and they were playing illegal defense most of the time. Also, we were throwing the ball around like idiots. Had we been 50% more efficient on our passing the attention cousins brought would have had us winning by 30.

As for Seth, he looked exactly like you would expect a player who has had spotty minutes. A little out of sync with other players and a little tentative not wanting to make mistakes. I thought he took advantage of what the defense gave him. Made his free throws and a nice layup.

That's exactly what I was thinking. The Kings were simply MUCH better than the Rockets. Without the TOs the Kings would have simply disintegrated them. There is a lesson to be learned here. Without Rondo, there is no place for dribbling the ball around. Let the ball work. By the time the rotations get a bit more regular, the players learn the system. Now the passing lanes were too predictable or, alternatively, there was a miscommunication of the receivers direction. I.e. neither the passer nor the receiver knew the plan as they should have.
 
I think Cousins can stand to be a lot more fit. I don't think anybody is suggesting that he turn his body into Manute Bol but there would be nothing wrong with being more fit which would give him more stamina to get up and down the court better as well as be stronger inside. As others have noted, he's not all that strong of a finisher inside with traffic around him.

He's devastating around the rim.

You know why? He draws fouls. He's actually one of the most aggressive around the rim players in the history of the NBA. I'm old enough to have seen a good swath of the great centers. Cousins is a far nastier rim attacker than Kareem, Hakeem, Ewing, and players of that ilk who featured post moves, hooks, and jumpers. He's more akin to an extremely mobile Moses Malone, who went rumbling right to that rim almost intending to get blocked or altered, and then he would clean up and clean up and clean up until eh got fouled or it fell.

The fouls are the things boys and girls. Cousins gets blocked because he doesn't resort to post moves or fallaway jumpers. He wants to get right to the rim, all the time. That's very rare. VERY rare. And it means you are going to get blocked. It also means you better have bulk and wide shoulders to bounce people and absorb a pounding, and it means that you are going to damn near lead the league in fouls drawn year in and year out.
 
Losing fat doesn't mean losing strength. Jason Thompson played bullyball or he tried and he tripped over his feet traveled or got called for a charge. What makes Boogie special is not just bullyball. It is his skill set for a man his size, particularly an ability face up and take guys off the bounce. Guys his size don't feel comfortable 12 to 18 feet from the basket with a live dribble. He does.

You actually can negate his advantage out of the low block because it is easier to defend him with his back to the basket than when he is facing it. His reads are suspect. He doesn't get lift around the hoop. He doesn't have a turnaround jumper. He doesn't have a half-hook. There is no polished low post game and no go-to move.

I agree with you his physicality make him special. He can punish opponents and he wants to. The issue is how best to accomplish that. You have to move him around the court and get him the ball at the free throw line facing the hoop (as Karl has smartly done) as often as low block because he is more offensively capable facing the basket than with his back to the basket.

And losing 10 pounds of fat wouldn't hurt.

Load of horse manure.

Two years ago when allowed to play bullyball for a full season, he shot .496. Before Mike Malone got fired last season he was shooting .520.

This year when "being moved around the court for his benefit" he's shooting .420. Verily that's genius work just freeing him up to dominate.
 
I swear to the Great God Naismith, if Superman (not the George Reeves version) showed up tomorrow and signed with the Kings, some people would complain about him.

I don't know about anybody else, but I'm not gonna act like I know what's best for DMC. There are highly paid professionals around him who are charged with that responsibility. I"m just going to thank Naismith - once again - that some pretty smart GMs made a pretty stupid mistake and passed on him so that he fell to the Kings.

I am thankful for one more thing - at least we're having this argument. DMC could have bailed a long time ago but, for whatever reason, he likes us - he really likes us.

#LoyaltyIsLove

#GoKings
 
I don't equate losing fat with losing leverage. Leverage is a function of size and strength not donuts. Leverage is also a function of lower body and base. Boogie's body type is wider than The Brow who is longer and leaner. Boogie has a base that helps him dislodge defenders. This isn't going to change is he losses excess fat. It is going to help his endurance instead of fading in second half.

The other point is that although the Achilles and back have been more publicized Boogie said recently he is dealing with tendonitis in both feet. His feet would not take such a pounding if he were lighter on them.

TENDINITIS - Although tendinitis can be caused by a sudden injury, the condition is much more likely to stem from the repetition of a particular movement over time. Most people develop tendinitis because their jobs or hobbies involve repetitive motions, which put stress on the tendons needed to perform the tasks. - http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tendinitis/basics/causes/con-20020309
 
TENDINITIS - Although tendinitis can be caused by a sudden injury, the condition is much more likely to stem from the repetition of a particular movement over time. Most people develop tendinitis because their jobs or hobbies involve repetitive motions, which put stress on the tendons needed to perform the tasks. - http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tendinitis/basics/causes/con-20020309

An argument could easily be made that if Boogie was asked to run helter skelter up and down the court, given his size, he would be a high risk for achille's tendonitis and/or plantar fasciitis. Brick has already laid out the argument that I share that losing weight would not be a good thing.

Heck, last night he wasn't jumping very well yet with his bulk, people bounced off of him and he lifted his very long arms and got rebounds. For many reasons including the risk of injury, I think he is playing an intelligent game even if people whine that he is always the last down the court.
 
An argument could easily be made that if Boogie was asked to run helter skelter up and down the court, given his size, he would be a high risk for achille's tendonitis and/or plantar fasciitis. Brick has already laid out the argument that I share that losing weight would not be a good thing.

Heck, last night he wasn't jumping very well yet with his bulk, people bounced off of him and he lifted his very long arms and got rebounds. For many reasons including the risk of injury, I think he is playing an intelligent game even if people whine that he is always the last down the court.

Just a note: I think that was Rainmaker who made that argument about the tendinitis. Think he might be a personal trainer, or in the biz.
 
Just a note: I think that was Rainmaker who made that argument about the tendinitis. Think he might be a personal trainer, or in the biz.

I did also except I made a mistake in saying a sudden movement would cause tendinitis. It might tear something but it is the repetitive movement that causes an "itis" of any kind.
 
I did also except I made a mistake in saying a sudden movement would cause tendinitis. It might tear something but it is the repetitive movement that causes an "itis" of any kind.
When I was in school, I found an easy way to remember things like that. Just like a person gets tired of doing something or eating something over and over again, muscles respond the same way in regards to repetitive motion. Do enough of a certain movement and the muscles will, one day, respond in kind! Best way to avoid that is to continually strengthen said muscles, in order for that muscle or muscle group to be able to withstand greater forces. It isn't a perfect solution, but those don't exist anyway!
 
Love the win, but did anyone else feel like George was trying to give it away in the 4th again? I mean man, i get it, Ben doesn't have the ball handling that George looks for in the 4th quarter, but he was playing really good D on Harden, who was really starting to catch fire in the 4th. I saw Omri attempt to guard Harden a few times and he just got torched, nowhere near enough quickness to keep up with him.

I mean come on, Seth over Ben? Seth did nothing last night, he looked like the same player we let go in Ray Mac. I have seen progress and i have seen great changes to the way GK goes about coaching, i don't want to dig into him too much, but the 4th quarter is not a time to be stubborn. Game after game we lose steam in the 4th due to odd lineups, generally playing DC and Rondo together, but i really thought he'd play Ben with Collison last night. Seth in the 4th was just really puzzling and made me quite nervous. We had a nice lead in the 4th, if that's not the right time to put your defensive stopper on Harden and try to hold them off, then i don't know if Ben will ever see minutes in the 4th.
 
Stuck as I've been in this NBA wasteland (no TV and no streaming or live clips) in Southern Mexico can now appreciate the grading to make some sense of the ESPN/NBA play-by-play lines of occasional text as to game progress.
 
An argument could easily be made that if Boogie was asked to run helter skelter up and down the court, given his size, he would be a high risk for achille's tendonitis and/or plantar fasciitis. Brick has already laid out the argument that I share that losing weight would not be a good thing.

Heck, last night he wasn't jumping very well yet with his bulk, people bounced off of him and he lifted his very long arms and got rebounds. For many reasons including the risk of injury, I think he is playing an intelligent game even if people whine that he is always the last down the court.

I don't whine that he s the last man down the court, he is th last man down the court.

I share VF's view that how he is used by the team is in good, experienced, professional hands - better than ever. So will leave it at that.
 
He's devastating around the rim.

You know why? He draws fouls. He's actually one of the most aggressive around the rim players in the history of the NBA. I'm old enough to have seen a good swath of the great centers. Cousins is a far nastier rim attacker than Kareem, Hakeem, Ewing, and players of that ilk who featured post moves, hooks, and jumpers. He's more akin to an extremely mobile Moses Malone, who went rumbling right to that rim almost intending to get blocked or altered, and then he would clean up and clean up and clean up until eh got fouled or it fell.

The fouls are the things boys and girls. Cousins gets blocked because he doesn't resort to post moves or fallaway jumpers. He wants to get right to the rim, all the time. That's very rare. VERY rare. And it means you are going to get blocked. It also means you better have bulk and wide shoulders to bounce people and absorb a pounding, and it means that you are going to damn near lead the league in fouls drawn year in and year out.

Actually, Mose Malone is a very good example. He also reminds me a little of Wilt, who was another player that played bully ball. Of course he's not at tall as Wilt, nor as athletic. Cuz is a throw back to the old style center
 
Stuck as I've been in this NBA wasteland (no TV and no streaming or live clips) in Southern Mexico can now appreciate the grading to make some sense of the ESPN/NBA play-by-play lines of occasional text as to game progress.

Did you get kidnapped during your last trip to the Villa d' Baja? :eek:
 
Load of horse manure.

Two years ago when allowed to play bullyball for a full season, he shot .496. Before Mike Malone got fired last season he was shooting .520.

This year when "being moved around the court for his benefit" he's shooting .420. Verily that's genius work just freeing him up to dominate.

Um... I appreciate your insights but in this regard your assessment is closer to what comes out of the backside of a horse.

Boogie is shooting 10 FTAs per game which is career high. That doesn't confirm the notion that he is hanging out on the perimeter launching Js. He's still attacking, i.e. bully-balling. You cannot reconcile 10 FTAs per game with change in role because they don't reconcile. A jump shooter doesn't get to the line 1o times per game.

His 42% FG is function of injury (achilles), suspension, injury (back), new teammates, new system, and not an inferior system for his talents. This will bear true as the season wears on if he plays smart and that's on him. All things equal I would rather see Boogie faced up from 14 to 20 feet with a live dribble than back to the basket 10 to 15 feet. Why? Because he is better when he faces the hoop. His first step is N-I-C-E. His turnaround jumper off the block is NOT so nice. His half-hook is not nice either because he has shot that shot once or twice all year.

Please tell me what is go-to move out of the block? Because bullying your way to the hoop with weak side high flyers waiting for your arrival when you have a limited vertical is not a go-to move! For proof of this, see the first 5 years of Boogie's career.

42% FGs is not as important as TS% which reflects getting to line and making 3s. That has slipped too 52.6% but only tick less than 55.5% and 54.5% from two seasons prior despite injuries and etc. As his body gets healthy and he gets timing and rhythm back I hope his TS% will eclipse those numbers to 56% to 58% range.

Its up Boogie to improve his efficiency through patience and intelligence and get his body right, but with Rondo and a coach who is giving him freedom like no other, he is in position to excel like no other. Instead of blaming Karl, which I suspect is what you want to do, I would be more inclined to blame Boogie for not playing within limitation of his skills and spending too much time crying to refs over legit calls and too many carbs in his diet.

When he starts honoring defenses, honoring opponents, trusting teammates and going Paleo, his efficiency will rise. And your "bully-ball" argument will fall by the wayside. This is not about lack of bully-ball or Karl misreading his personnel. This is about our franchise player being better mentally and physically. Karl is more than willing and capable of creating conditions for him to dominate.

Karl for all his admitted flaws does not want to take him off the block permanently. He wants to diversify the attack of a player with diversified skills. This is called common sense.
 
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