[Grades] Grades v. Wizards 01/28/13

[Circa_1985_Fan]

I'm not sure I cna work with a stat that annoints Lionel Simmons, Walt Williams and Peja as bigs.

Or Harold Pressley.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

Anthony Bonner? Kevin Gamble?

Bonner was a rebounding machine and good banger for his size. Gamble...not so much...forgot about Byron Houston, too.

 

[VF21]

Maybe one of our superb beat writers will find out what the deal with Cuz is.

I lol'd.

 

[rainmaker]

Hmmmm,

Cousins on his play of late. I asked if teams were taking him out of what he wanted to do.

“I wouldn’t even blame it on the other teams,” Cousins said. “It’s not that. That’s not the case.”

Is it his fault?

“Not me either,” Cousins said.

Cousins would not say who was to blame.

“I answered it,” Cousins said. “That’s how it is.”

Me thinks the honeymoon period between Cuz and Smart is history.

 

[KingMilz]

Cousins on his play of late. I asked if teams were taking him out of what he wanted to do.

“I wouldn’t even blame it on the other teams,” Cousins said. “It’s not that. That’s not the case.”

Is it his fault?

“Not me either,” Cousins said.

Cousins would not say who was to blame.

“I answered it,” Cousins said. “That’s how it is

No one is stopping Cousins from being great other than himself so yeah it is his fault, even if the Kings and him are in a bad situation he can do better than what hes doing while being a better teammate.

 

[LWP777]

It's the same old thing with DMC....always somebody else's fault. It's getting old. Very old. I understand the team is horrible. The coach is horrible. The owners are horrible. Etc, etc, etc. How about playing for personal pride? How about playing to become an All-Star so you can get a monster contract. I just don't think he has that type of mental makeup.

 

[Bricklayer]

Hmmmm,




Me thinks the honeymoon period between Cuz and Smart is history.

When the rumblings start again, whoever it is that he's referencing had really better take notice. So if that is the case, then the no energy the last couple of games, and the extreme passing last game, might be his version of the Kobe oh-you-want-me-to-shoot-less-I'll-show-you-shooting-less message sending?

After everything that has happened this season, and after he was playing so well for such a loing stretch, I wonder who would be foolish enough to challenge him?

 

[KingMilz]

How about playing to become an All-Star so you can get a monster contract. I just don't think he has that type of mental makeup.

Exactly very well put

 

[The_Jamal]

Hmmmm,




Me thinks the honeymoon period between Cuz and Smart is history.

I don't mind calling the team out when he's dominating like he did for a few weeks. In fact, I want him to be putting monster numbers and then putting pressure on the organization to make changes. This is in such bad taste though. He's coming off a 3 game slump and clearly isn't giving the same effort as he's done since the suspension. He's all but saying he's not playing his hardest because he has beef the someone in the organization. It just adds to his "mental headcase" persona.

 

[Section 101]

I don't mind calling the team out when he's dominating like he did for a few weeks. In fact, I want him to be putting monster numbers and then putting pressure on the organization to make changes. This is in such bad taste though. He's coming off a 3 game slump and clearly isn't giving the same effort as he's done since the suspension. He's all but saying he's not playing his hardest because he has beef the someone in the organization. It just adds to his "mental headcase" persona.

Actually, I think it's IT.

 

[theclash4u5]

Maybe one of our superb beat writers will find out what the deal with Cuz is.

Brilliant

 

[swisshh]

A noteworthy tidbit:

It wasn't Wall guarding IT on the last play, but NBDL guy Garret Temple cold off the bench. He hadn't played the whole game. Considering that much-up and the fact that the Wizards left the lane wide open, it was actually a good play to make by IT to drive on Temple.

 

[LWP777]

A noteworthy tidbit:

It wasn't Wall guarding IT on the last play, but NBDL guy Garret Temple cold off the bench. He hadn't played the whole game. Considering that much-up and the fact that the Wizards left the lane wide open, it was actually a good play to make by IT to drive on Temple.

Maybe but I actually agree with Bricklayer for once. He made a "hero" play and it worked. Tyreke popped up to the top of the 3 point circle after they inbounded the ball and he was wide open. It looked like that was a designed play and they were trying to iso Reke but IT never even looked his direction. It's hard to be too critical after IT made the game winner but I seriously doubt that was the play designed in the timeout (IT iso'ing).

 

[Kingster]

Maybe but I actually agree with Bricklayer for once. He made a "hero" play and it worked. Tyreke popped up to the top of the 3 point circle after they inbounded the ball and he was wide open. It looked like that was a designed play and they were trying to iso Reke but IT never even looked his direction. It's hard to be too critical after IT made the game winner but I seriously doubt that was the play designed in the timeout (IT iso'ing).

I actually think IT isoing (nice word) was the play. Before that it was Thornton isoing and he hit a guarded 3 pointer. That's what they were doing. I don't like that kind of basketball, but NBA coaches tend to do it quite a bit. So my view is that someone was going to be the hero or the goat because of how Smart drew it up. Given the fact that IT had his way in this game, it makes sense he was the guy. I don't buy into Tyreke has to be the hero because he's the second best player on the team yada yada....

 

[Kingster]

I think there must be a 3-week flu bug out there because Jason Thompson has it. It's one thing to have a shooting slump; quite another to have a defensive slump. Ever since this board talked about how consistently well he was playing he started playing consistently poorly.

 

[mac]

On if it’s possible to have either Evans or Cousins on the floor throughout all 48 minutes of a game.

Only problem – if I were to have great separation in the first quarter, to where I got this first quarter under control and I’m not losing too much, then I can do that. You know, it’s so hard – you want to try and keep your best players on the floor as much as you can. But trying to have one guy off the floor and then trying to somehow get it spread around, it’s hard to do. It’s hard to do because obviously Tyreke’s got to make plays off the dribble from on the floor. So now you move him off because now you have Cousins, who’s playing pretty well, so you’re trying to utilize what he does to keep you in a scoring count. By that, meaning when Marcus (Thornton) comes in, he has to pick up that slack.
​

Okay, now once you get into the second quarter, Cuz gets his blow, Tyreke is now getting ready to come back depending on where Marcus is at – now hopefully you can move it to where you can close off the second quarter, which last night (Jan. 23 vs. the Suns) we did. Now you kind of try to duplicate the same thing in the third quarter, but it’s hard to take when you don’t have anyone that’s close to those two guys in what they do because they’ll command the attention. Tyreke has the ball – teams (are) coming over, the defense is loading up. Cuz has the ball – they’re coming down to trap or double. When you don’t have that kind of attention, teams won’t guard the other players.

Read more: http://www.cowbellkingdom.com/2013/...rt-on-sacramento-kings-substitution-patterns/

Can someone explain to me what on earth Smart is blabbering about? At this point I can't even make out what he's trying to say, and I don't think it's a problem with my comprehension. It doesn't make any logical sense whatsoever.

 

[LWP777]

Read more: http://www.cowbellkingdom.com/2013/...rt-on-sacramento-kings-substitution-patterns/

Can someone explain to me what on earth Smart is blabbering about? At this point I can't even make out what he's trying to say, and I don't think it's a problem with my comprehension. It doesn't make any logical sense whatsoever.

Basically what he is saying is that other than DMC and Evans, the team is horrible and defenses just collapse on them, making it really hard for them to get in a rhythm.

 

[sqwalk]

Wow, Smarts thoughts are all over the place. After reading this I think I need some aspirin.

Well, his crazy rotations mirror exactly his hard to decipher blabbering. No wonder the players are confused. Lol.

 

[Bricklayer]

A noteworthy tidbit:

It wasn't Wall guarding IT on the last play, but NBDL guy Garret Temple cold off the bench. He hadn't played the whole game. Considering that much-up and the fact that the Wizards left the lane wide open, it was actually a good play to make by IT to drive on Temple.

I did not catch that. Should be noted 2 things: 1) it actually made the drive more impressive, buecause Temple is a good defender. but ice cold of course. 2) It actually made the drive even higher risk, because Temple is a good defender, and unlike Wall IT did not know he could get around him. Anyway, similar size/build to Wall and I missed it wasn't the same guy.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

I did not catch that. Should be noted 2 things: 1) it actually made the drive more impressive, buecause Temple is a good defender. but ice cold of course. 2) It actually made the drive even higher risk, because Temple is a good defender, and unlike Wall IT did not know he could get around him. Anyway, similar size/build to Wall and I missed it wasn't the same guy.

As Grant was saying, it's tough with those Wiz uniforms. Putting the numbers right across the stripe means it's nearly impossible to read the number.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

As Grant was saying, it's tough with those Wiz uniforms. Putting the numbers right across the stripe means it's nearly impossible to read the number.

G-Man said the same thing on the radio, and it sounded like he was rather further from the court than Napear and Reynolds were. Groused about it all night.

 

[Bricklayer]

G-Man said the same thing on the radio, and it sounded like he was rather further from the court than Napear and Reynolds were. Groused about it all night.

You get G-man on radio? Do they stream then?

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Not from KHTK's site, but NBA.com streams audio for the games for free. I infinitely prefer listening to Gerould over the idiotic Napear and Reynolds, but the downside is that the play-by-play doesn't synch up to the action well.

 

[pshn80]

Answer to poll: (1) feed Cousins a conditioning pill; (2). Feed Thompson and Cousins a foul-prevention pill; (3) feed Robinson a mild prozacpill; stir a little, give an inspiring pep talk and let them go. Voila!!!

 

[bajaden]

As Grant was saying, it's tough with those Wiz uniforms. Putting the numbers right across the stripe means it's nearly impossible to read the number.

I had trouble the whole game. Thank god for DVR's where I could stop play, back it up, and on occasion, replay it in SloMo. I didn't notice it wasn't Wall either, but then I wasn't covering IT.

 

[bajaden]

Answer to poll: (1) feed Cousins a conditioning pill; (2). Feed Thompson and Cousins a foul-prevention pill; (3) feed Robinson a mild prozacpill; stir a little, give an inspiring pep talk and let them go. Voila!!!

Whatever is going on with Cousins has nothing to do with conditioning. Either he has the flu, or there's some dysfunction going on within the team. I don't think Cuz and Brooks get along. Who knows, Brooks may have been one of the players that called out Cuz at the meeting. But in general, I don't think Cousins likes the way Brooks plays. Smarts comments about Cuz's play don't jell with me. Yes, he gets doubled and sometimes tripled, but its nothing new. So it doesn't explain his poor play. Strangely enough, he got off to a good start in the last game, and then sat for almost the rest of the first half. Yes, Okafor was scoring at will, but it wasn't Cousins that was covering him all the time, it was JT. I don't have the answer. Could be as simple as the flu, or something far more serious.

 

[Padrino]

Whatever is going on with Cousins has nothing to do with conditioning. Either he has the flu, or there's some dysfunction going on within the team. I don't think Cuz and Brooks get along. Who knows, Brooks may have been one of the players that called out Cuz at the meeting. But in general, I don't think Cousins likes the way Brooks plays. Smarts comments about Cuz's play don't jell with me. Yes, he gets doubled and sometimes tripled, but its nothing new. So it doesn't explain his poor play. Strangely enough, he got off to a good start in the last game, and then sat for almost the rest of the first half. Yes, Okafor was scoring at will, but it wasn't Cousins that was covering him all the time, it was JT. I don't have the answer. Could be as simple as the flu, or something far more serious.

i'm not sure that big cuz likes the way that any of his guards play. unless paired with an aggressive tyreke evans, brooks acts rather like a black hole. as does marcus thornton. IT glaringly fails to deliver the ball to cousins in most pick and roll scenarios, and has descended into chucker mode of late. tyreke is frozen out of the offense often enough that he gets bullheaded and charges into the lane with reckless abandon, though he and cuz do manage to connect with each other from time to time, either in the pick and roll or as one slides to the hoop in backdoor situations. i think they both recognize that the two of them should be at the center of the king's game plan, but are at the unfortunate mercy of a coach who routinely fails to capitalize on the talents of his best players. and my guess is that this fact is what ails demarcus right now. despite his brilliant stretch through most of january--which was not coincidentally accompanied by a leveling of his attitude--neither his coach nor his teammates ever seem to place the appropriate amount of trust in his ability to be "the man." of course, i discourage cousins' tendency to mope his way through the slumps, but more than the immaturity hurdles that he must overcome if he is to ever approach elite status, i am disappointed in the team's inability to recognize that it goes as cousins goes. evans is the team's clear-cut second fiddle, and when he's at his best on both ends of the floor, he's a very dangerous player, but the kings' success truly hinges on demarcus' upward trajectory. a pecking order needs to be established. big cuz is the first option. when he's struggling, then it should be an imperative of the gameplan to get tyreke going. or, at the very least, it should be an imperative to make the game easier for demarcus, who will make the game easier for his teammates by drawing more attention than any other king ever will, evans included...

 

[LWP777]

Whatever is going on with Cousins has nothing to do with conditioning. Either he has the flu, or there's some dysfunction going on within the team. I don't think Cuz and Brooks get along. Who knows, Brooks may have been one of the players that called out Cuz at the meeting. But in general, I don't think Cousins likes the way Brooks plays. Smarts comments about Cuz's play don't jell with me. Yes, he gets doubled and sometimes tripled, but its nothing new. So it doesn't explain his poor play. Strangely enough, he got off to a good start in the last game, and then sat for almost the rest of the first half. Yes, Okafor was scoring at will, but it wasn't Cousins that was covering him all the time, it was JT. I don't have the answer. Could be as simple as the flu, or something far more serious.

He's a head case Baja! I've been trying to tell you this for months!

 

[Padrino]

He's a head case Baja! I've been trying to tell you this for months!

i must say, your tendency towards embarrassingly reductionist and woefully shortsighted commentary is always good for a laugh...

 

[mac]

Basically what he is saying is that other than DMC and Evans, the team is horrible and defenses just collapse on them, making it really hard for them to get in a rhythm.

So why doesn't he keep one on the floor at all times? It's like he's saying, oh we only stand a chance when we have DMC and Evans on the floor. But it has to be both, and not just one, or there's no point, so I'd rather go with both for extended stretches and then let my team run around like a headless chicken for the 8 minutes that they're out, than keep one on the floor at all times.