[Grades] Grades v. Suns 12/13/2013

What killed us tonight?

  • No board help from the forwards

    Votes: 1 1.6%
  • No help at all from JT

    Votes: 2 3.2%
  • New guy getting acclimated

    Votes: 1 1.6%
  • Inefficient Cuz

    Votes: 3 4.8%
  • No PG on floor

    Votes: 11 17.5%
  • No SG play at all

    Votes: 14 22.2%
  • Betty White could score on our guards

    Votes: 31 49.2%

  • Total voters
    63
  • Poll closed .
Gee, you think Suns two guards scoring 57 pts on 21 of 30 doesn't point out a lingering problem in Malones defensive plan?

Malone's defensive plan is totally dependent upon our players being able to do more than execute "veronicas".
 
to those with inflated expectations, here's an interesting note: through 21 games this season, the kings are actually one loss heavier than they were at this point last season, with a similar home/away split...

 
Really did you read my post! I picked JT because it was the only choice that was close. Reason we lost is because of cousins attitude IMO.
Really, is that all? So everyone else played winning basketball and because Cuz didn't smile enough or because a Pho player who wasn't even the game decided to bump him and he got a tech for responding, we lost?

Incredibly astute on your part. I tip my hat to you, sir.
 
Cousins defence and selfish play after the first quarter were the reason we lost that, the amount of time they ran the pick n roll and Cousins gave Bledose and Dragic anything they wanted was shocking he left Thomas out there to die. If he played a smart game after the 1st could have easily had 10 assists but choose to force and hurt the team over and over with just awful shot selection just some of the worst I have seen in any game by any player this season.

We should have easily won that game with the production we got from Gay/Thomas and Williams just needed Cousins to actually put a little bit of effort on defence and keep making passes like he was in the first, but again selfish low IQ basketball like in every loss from multiple players killed us. Seem like the team takes turns seeing who can hurt us the most and 2night was Cousins.

Gray was good he did well out I thought, I don't understand it's like the team enjoys playing selfish low IQ no defense basketball, i 'm starting to get the feeling these guys care more about numbers than wins cause if they cared about wins we would not be getting this effort level and be getting smashed by teams with FAR LESS TALENT what a embarrassing performance. Suns just out hustled us and moved the ball well and for some reason we get beat the same way over and over and instead of doing what other teams do to us we do the opposite.....
 
Really, is that all? So everyone else played winning basketball and because Cuz didn't smile enough or because a Pho player who wasn't even the game decided to bump him and he got a tech for responding, we lost?

Incredibly astute on your part. I tip my hat to you, sir.

This is something I hate because DMC has every right to complain and fight for his case here. He simply responded to someone else's contact, and of course he gets T'd up. if that's Jimmer, or anyone else with a good rep, do you think it's a technical? Because I sure don't.
 
Watching Gray set some great screens made me realize how terrible Cousins(and just about all other Kings bigs) are at it. If Cousins set some good screens with his frame the offense would run so much smoother. The main time i noticed this was when Cousins would set a "pick" under the basket so that Gay would flash to the post. The point of that screen would be so that Gay can catch it with a half step advantage on the defender, instead Gay has to gather himself with the defender already on his back before he catches the ball.
 
Dragic and Bledsoe would be hard to stop for even elite perimeter defenders, both of them can beat their man just about any time, Bledsoe with his speed and strong frame, and Dragic has the outside threat and is also deceptively quick, to blame it squarely on IT an McLemore is wrong, the team defense was horrid tonight, bad rotations, Cousins looked lost for most of the night, JT might as well have stayed home. Bad team defense, but it was to be expected with so many new players playing together.
 
Watching Gray set some great screens made me realize how terrible Cousins(and just about all other Kings bigs) are at it. If Cousins set some good screens with his frame the offense would run so much smoother. The main time i noticed this was when Cousins would set a "pick" under the basket so that Gay would flash to the post. The point of that screen would be so that Gay can catch it with a half step advantage on the defender, instead Gay has to gather himself with the defender already on his back before he catches the ball.

You really don't want Cuz putting too much effort into setting screens. That's an activity that sooner or later adds extra fouls to your tally, and the last thing he/we need is him in even more foul trouble. Guys like JT and Gray though, absolutely. Always helps.
 
Derrick Williams disappeared tonight. I'm sad because he was really playing well as a third wheel. Ben played worse too, and I'd like to think it's related.
 
You really don't want Cuz putting too much effort into setting screens. That's an activity that sooner or later adds extra fouls to your tally, and the last thing he/we need is him in even more foul trouble. Guys like JT and Gray though, absolutely. Always helps.

Well, he eventually needs to learn how to do them properly, if we ever want to run a PnR. Perhaps whoever had Gray on the grades tonight, but I'm certain he had at least 5 or 6 screens that started a play that lead to points or at least really good shots.
 
Derrick Williams disappeared tonight. I'm sad because he was really playing well as a third wheel. Ben played worse too, and I'd like to think it's related.
We were +20 with him on the floor how exactly did he disappear? He was the 2nd/3rd best player after Gay and IT
 
Dragic and Bledsoe would be hard to stop for even elite perimeter defenders, both of them can beat their man just about any time, Bledsoe with his speed and strong frame, and Dragic has the outside threat and is also deceptively quick, to blame it squarely on IT an McLemore is wrong, the team defense was horrid tonight, bad rotations, Cousins looked lost for most of the night, JT might as well have stayed home. Bad team defense, but it was to be expected with so many new players playing together.

The IT apologists on this board are embarrassing. No one can ever suggest that he was a big part of a loss without you jumping all over it. Yes, other people contributed to the L but its ok to point out his shortcomings. And as talented as Bledsoe/dragic may be they aren't shooting a combined 21/30 on most nights while the opposing "pg" dishes 2 assists in 42 minutes.
 
The IT apologists on this board are embarrassing. No one can ever suggest that he was a big part of a loss without you jumping all over it. Yes, other people contributed to the L but its ok to point out his shortcomings. And as talented as Bledsoe/dragic may be they aren't shooting a combined 21/30 on most nights while the opposing "pg" dishes 2 assists in 42 minutes.
Most the PG's damage came from fastbreaks and Pick N Roll since Cousins decided the best defense against them was to play zero defense and leave Thomas on a Island with Bledose going at him while Plumlee screens him, what's Thomas meant to do?
 
We were +20 with him on the floor how exactly did he disappear? He was the 2nd/3rd best player after Gay and IT
I don't know. He just didn't look the same to me. I don't think he got an alley oop this game. In the previous games, he'd make a nice cut and score, or he'd run a good fastbreak, or he'd get an alley oop dunk, and it would energize the whole team. He made some shots this game, yeah, but I didn't feel like they had the same impact.

The two things that I did notice from Derrick Williams today were that awful layup he bricked in transition and one of the Morris twins driving past him easily. I think I remember a nice offensive rebound + putback too. It's just not the same though.
 
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I'm kind of shocked by the amount and severity of the vitriol directed at Cousins. Were people just waiting for a bad game? Was it building up? Hopefully the release is therapeutic for everyone involved.

I'm still digging Derrick's gameplay so far, who somehow managed to be a +20 on the game. So glad about that. Also impressed with Gay's scoring...seemed to come pretty effortlessly.

On to the next one.
 
I'm kind of shocked by the amount and severity of the vitriol directed at Cousins. Were people just waiting for a bad game? Was it building up? Hopefully the release is therapeutic for everyone involved.

I'm still digging Derrick's gameplay so far, who somehow managed to be a +20 on the game. So glad about that. Also impressed with Gay's scoring...seemed to come pretty effortlessly.

On to the next one.
The last thing anyone on here wants is to Cousins to have a bad game but he did have a bad game and it was his doing, his effort and shot selection were not there and those two things he has complete control over.
 
Kings got beat by a better team. It would have been nice if someone had blocked out Plumlee on his big dunk put back.

Gay and Gray looked good on their first outings as Kings:)

KB
 
The issue is that the Suns don't have a lot of talent. Bledsoe and Dragic are nice, but its more or less chemistry and system that wins for them.

The Kings are handing off the duty of tank commander from game to game. Poor energy, poor decisions, and just a bit of a mess all over.
 
Lets talk about how bad Ben McLemore is. He's 3-21 the last 3 games with horrible defense and not much else. Our SG production on the year has been embarrassing.

Bumped for truth. I forgive Ben for bricking shots and for the shaky handle, but not for his defense. I'm rewatching the Jazz game, and so far in the first half it's his defense that is single-handedly killing the team. The other players are making the occasional gaffes, but it ain't just occasional with Ben.
 
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The issue is that the Suns don't have a lot of talent. Bledsoe and Dragic are nice, but its more or less chemistry and system that wins for them.

The Kings are handing off the duty of tank commander from game to game. Poor energy, poor decisions, and just a bit of a mess all over.

They may not have a lot of talent, but what talent they do have is aimed directly at where we are tremendously weak. Basically right now we have exactly one (1) NBA level guard, and he's a 5'9" gunner who needs a note pasted to his forehead to remind him there are other guys on the floor. Dragic/Bledsoe its a tough backcourt. but they don't drop 57 points on 70% shooting against just everyone.

I actually don't know what we are going to do about SG here. Ben has completely collapsed, and so has Thornton. I was pissed over certain events that took place this summer, but I never imagined it would get this bad. We fixed our SF position only to have a hole open up every bit as ugly as the Salmons/Outlaw platoon.
 
If Ray Mac can get the ball to these guys in good spots and play defense out there he needs to start, this team will continue to lose games with our bench sparkplug starting.

Say what you want about GV but he helped this team alot offensively by just getting some sort of offense onto the floor, it was definitely missed tonight.

I kno the front office is working to get some type of floor general in here. Im all in for IT hero ball in the 4th but we need a real pg for the starts of the game and the second half.
 
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