[Grades] Grades v. Thunder 11/23/2016

[Bricklayer]

Link to Boxscore

Starters

Gay ( C+ ) -- with almost everybody around him playing well, Rudy was just totally invisible in the first half, and its a major reason why we couldn't open the lead. Barely even took a shot. Came to play after half though, started draining threes, and he and Cuz together > Westbrook alone. But if there was still one guy forcing shots out of the rhythm of our offense it was Rudy. Gave us scome scrap on the boards.

Barnes ( B ) -- classic glue veteran stuff here. Scored 0pts, missed all 4 of his shots, including 3 threes...and yet led the team in +/-, made hustle plays and slick unselfish passes, only had one duh turnover, and never let any of the Thunder roleplayers have themselves one of those out of the blue nights that have sunk us for years.

Cousins ( A ) -- give him a couple of nights to freshen those legs, and watch out. Dynamic performance just mauling the Thunder frontline, including Steven Adams, who coming into this one you would have said caused Cuz some problems. Started off bombing threes and carried the team in the first half, but had to take more shots than he should have. But got help after the break, stayed in control, and made the usual assortment of ho hum I'm a HOF talent plays.

Afflalo ( B- ) -- remains kind of a forgotten man on offense, but we again tried to use him in the post a few times, and other than one bad miss from the perimeter that led immediately to a Thunder break, he was just quiet offensively, not bad. And like Barnes and the other vets, passed the ball, stayed smart, saavy and largely in control. We had Spurs vets tonight.

Collison ( B+ ) -- quickness and ability to get into the paint bothered the Thunder all night, and we got that jump from our starters coach was looking for. Loses some ticks on the grade for continued boneheaded decisionmaking at times -- never a specialty, and since coming back just gets erratic. But I don't see any point in blaming him for Westbrook. That's basically unstoppable.


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Bench

Koufos ( A- ) -- another really strong game for Kosta as the backup center. Willie should take notes on how he used his body to shield the Thunder off the glass and gave the Thunder bigs no easy ones. He and the bench did well enough that we sat Cuz for 7-8min of the 4th, until Kosta finally had a Kosta finishing moment inside, missing twice on one possession. Still, nice, solid, and did not have to worry about providing offense.

Lawson ( B+ ) -- back in what looked like much more of a comfort zone for Ty, directed a bench crew without a clogged middle, never felt compelled to try to shoot, and made some nice passes. More than that though, for a little guy with a soft messed up rep, he has really been in there scrapping, and did so again tonight with some inspiring steals and boards in amongst the trees.

Temple ( A- ) -- starting to really like this guy as the "other glue guy". Downticked a bit for blowing a couple of point blank shots at times of the game when it didn't feel like we quite put them away, but just makes good plays over and over again and had a couple of great steals against Westbrook up top triggering breaks.

McLemore ( B ) -- tale of two halves again for Ben, as in the first half, and early 2nd quarter, he came in taking shots in rhythm, making smart decisions, and quickly poured in 9pts off the bench to keep the offense moving without Cuz on the floor. then came out in the second half, missed all his shots, and committed the throwback boneheaded foul a 3pt shooter for a 4pt play error.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

 

[biltalent]

Great team win!

 

[dude12]

That was a solid win.....I really like how Joerger continues to look to optimize the rotation. Seems like guys are starting to fit into their roles and play well together.

 

[lwc]

I hope the winning continues.

 

[Boogie_Fever]

Garrett Temple should be the starting SG for this team. If not, at least play 28+ mins a game. Perfect glue guy for this team.

 

[pdizo916]

I liked Temple's play, Affalo's shooting, Ben Mac's scoring in the first half and Rudy's in the 2nd half, LOVED Koufos' rebounding and DMC's overall game. Good team win. Oh yea, shout out to Lawson, Collison and Barnes.

 

[Kingsfan23]

I think getting your starting point guard back where he needs to be is huge

 

[steelevt]

 

[k_dubb90]

So much for that 4 -12 talk

 

[Tetsujin]

So much for that 4 -12 talk

but if we lose the next game, we're 6-10 which is just 4-12 with two more wins and less losses which means we'd suck even worse than we would at 4-12

 

[SLAB]

but if we lose the next game, we're 6-10 which is just 4-12 with two more wins and less losses which means we'd suck even worse than we would at 4-12

AND ITS ALL COUSINS' FAULT!!!!!

 

[Sluggah]

Eh. My game last year Cousins went off for like 48 points and the year before that he hit a crazy buzzer-beater. This was a bit of a snooze-fest by comparison. My mojo might be wearing off, but surely Vivek can afford to helicopter me in for games until they lose...just in case.

A side note though...WTF is up with the seats at Golden1? My husband and I aren't exactly giants...like 6'1 & 6'3...we legit can't fit into those seats. I thought we were in a good section. Are they like that everywhere in the stadium? Am I crazy?

 

[Gliesian]

I love Cuz. I'm starting to believe we are gonna make it this year!
Rudy didn't force it until Cuz felt bad for him and said, here ya go dude get a hoop. He failed, but besides the point. I think Rudy realized he was not necessarily second option (as tetsujin pointed out he was going against an elite defender) and this may have contributed to the good start. Last year he would have kept forcing it. Little things like this make me very excited

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

So much for that 4 -12 talk

Maybe "inevitable" means something else in Monterrey?

 

[jcassio]

Line up wise, things seem to be working. Better, anyway. But I'd like to see Temple start, along with Collison and Afflalo. That, with Rudy playing the 4, would give us one of our strongest defensive line ups, and five guys who can spread the floor and hit 3's. I'm glad to have Barnes on our team, but given his age, we need to get his minutes down to about 20 a game so he'll still be contributing when we're fighting for a playoff spot.

 

[ppine]

That is the most ferocious that the Kings have looked in recent memory. They came out and competed at a high level for the whole game. That right there is something new and a testament to Coach J changing their mindset. Look at the last 8 games. The Kings have won every game when they keep their opponents to around 100 points or less. They have lost every game with higher scoring by the opposition. Malone was right "Defense wins games in the NBA."

Cousins deserves a lot of credit. His level of animation is lower. Rudy made a nice recovery in the second half. Barnes is a guy you want on your team. Collison seems to run the team better than Lawson and provides a lot more offense. Ben and Koufos played quality minutes off the bench. I would like to single out Afflalo as a player that is finding his way with this team. He is a stout defender and is now using his size to back down guards and get shots from within 10 feet. I do not remember seeing Willy or Omri on the floor last night at all. If there is a signature win, this would have to be it for this year's team.

 

[mac]

Joerger with an A for not playing Willie.

 

[miltonap]

Awesome, awesome game. All this team has needed is time, that's all. Starting to see some results.

Gotta get me a Temple jersey. Loved Ty's hustle as well, Kostas defense was spot on

 

[John Galt]

That was my favorite game of the year. 26 assists and it showed. The ball was zipping around.

One thing I haven't seen a lot of chatter about was Kosta! He had more pep in his step than I've ever seen. Benching him must have lit a fire or something.

I was all set to get a Barnes jersey but now I might get a Temple jersey. That guy can ball - not saying he's an all star but he's the best 2 I've seen on the floor for the Kings since Doug Christie. I'm torn on whether I wish he would start, or if he's best off the bench (or more accurately, I'm worried that Afflalo would sulk and become useless if demoted). But I love that guy!

I think the rotation last night is the guys who should get ALL the minutes. A shame about WCS but he's not the same caliber as the ones we had on the floor - he may come in handy if there is foul trouble for our bigs. Omri is a victim of bad timing but also should not take any minutes from the guys who played last night. It will take an injury or trade for Omri to play.

But Kosta... damn Kosta keep up the good work boy you really helped us last night!

 

[ockingsfan]

I think that Jorger finally figured it out.

Kosta is best coming off the bench, not starting next to DMC.

Those slow starts sunk the Kings in almost all of their losses.

I'm looking forward to lots more wins from now on!

 

[Dime Dropper]

Serious man-crush on Temple and have had for a while now.

The guy is about as solid as they come, well-rounded game, high-IQ and plays defense. Great signing by Vlade.

 

[BeerNerd916]

Kosta does NOT compliment Cuz and Joeger has found that out. Finally.

And to everyone who hated on the Temple pick up, how you love him now?!?

 

[giantking1355]

One of DMC'S most mature games, IMO, in basketball terms. (Behavior was solid as well)

 

[pshn80]

A win. A good win. Nine guys played significant minutes an all played well. A team and coach victory. Joerger is steadily getting there. Good coach. Starting to build a team and their stamina and persistence to keep it up for the whole game. I'm going to the Houston game. I always go hopeful and with some optimism. Thanks to Joerger those feelings grow. Before you know it we'll be at 18-9. Keep going Kings!

 

[King Baller]

That is the most ferocious that the Kings have looked in recent memory. They came out and competed at a high level for the whole game. That right there is something new and a testament to Coach J changing their mindset. Look at the last 8 games. The Kings have won every game when they keep their opponents to around 100 points or less. They have lost every game with higher scoring by the opposition. Malone was right "Defense wins games in the NBA."

Cousins deserves a lot of credit. His level of animation is lower. Rudy made a nice recovery in the second half. Barnes is a guy you want on your team. Collison seems to run the team better than Lawson and provides a lot more offense. Ben and Koufos played quality minutes off the bench. I would like to single out Afflalo as a player that is finding his way with this team. He is a stout defender and is now using his size to back down guards and get shots from within 10 feet. I do not remember seeing Willy or Omri on the floor last night at all. If there is a signature win, this would have to be it for this year's team.

I agree with everything you said. One point i wanted to add is about the Kings PG's. Darren has been playing great since his return. Last night Ty showed an intensitiy coming off the bench the KIngs have lacked in past seasons. I sure noticed and appreciate his effort under the basket battling the other team for the Ball!

 

[dude12]

That was my favorite game of the year. 26 assists and it showed. The ball was zipping around.

One thing I haven't seen a lot of chatter about was Kosta! He had more pep in his step than I've ever seen. Benching him must have lit a fire or something.

I was all set to get a Barnes jersey but now I might get a Temple jersey. That guy can ball - not saying he's an all star but he's the best 2 I've seen on the floor for the Kings since Doug Christie. I'm torn on whether I wish he would start, or if he's best off the bench (or more accurately, I'm worried that Afflalo would sulk and become useless if demoted). But I love that guy!

I think the rotation last night is the guys who should get ALL the minutes. A shame about WCS but he's not the same caliber as the ones we had on the floor - he may come in handy if there is foul trouble for our bigs. Omri is a victim of bad timing but also should not take any minutes from the guys who played last night. It will take an injury or trade for Omri to play.

But Kosta... damn Kosta keep up the good work boy you really helped us last night!

Afflalo has been very solid for a nice stretch. I like Temple off the bench. Gives the coaches time to see how to use him and other matchups. Temple has been in there during the 4th Q's. Looking forward to Friday night when Harden comes to town. Temple on Harden in the 4th.

 

[SLAB]

What is this optimism crap?

I for one can't wait for our next loss so the "WE SUCK TRADE DMC BLOW IT UP FIRE VLADE" crew comes out from under their hides-holes to grace us with their presence.






Seriously though, I'll just agree with Brick's second picture because that's all that needs to be said.

 

[206Fan]

Kosta does NOT compliment Cuz and Joeger has found that out. Finally.

And to everyone who hated on the Temple pick up, how you love him now?!?

I don't think anyone hated the Temple pickup. It was more about him being our sole backup PG that everyone hated. Temple is a really solid 3&D player, but runs into trouble when you ask him to be lead PG. He's an amazing teammate all-around though.

 

[parker]

I don't think anyone hated the Temple pickup. It was more about him being our sole backup PG that everyone hated. Temple is a really solid 3&D player, but runs into trouble when you ask him to be lead PG. He's an amazing teammate all-around though.

There were comments about vlade overpaying for him. Maybe not hate, but disappointment.