[Grades] Grades v. Wizards 12/21/2015

Bricklayer · Dec 21, 2015

You know you embarrassed yourself when half the opposing roster st various career highs and games against you.

Boxscore

Stats: 34min 16pts (6-17, 0-3, 4-5) 7reb 0ast 2stl 1blk 0TO
Summary: couldn't finish anything
Gay ( C- ) -- had a decent first half with Cuz not effective, but there was little spark to it, and as the game went along he seemed to run out of legs and not be able to finish anything in there. Returned to the 4th early and immediately hit a tough shot in the lane, but was missing easy ones in the late game and very little of the recent defensive focus was evident.

Stats: 26min 9pts (3-7, 1-3, 2-2) 6reb 2ast 0stl 0blk 2TO
Summary: got in quick foul trouble, scored all his points in the third, but was never a factor
Casspi ( D+ ) -- got into severe early foul trouble that may have really hurt us by removing a potential source of energy, and did not score until after half. In the third he picked it up and gave us what he had to give, and at the end of the quarter tied the game with his 9th point of the game, and the quarter, But I'm not sure he was really playing well, he would never score again, and he played a major role in us getting right back in trouble in the early 4th as he twice sagged off of 3pt shooters, and they both drained their shots to put us down 8 and force a quick timeout. The grade here is just a shrug. Almost felt like half a game, at best.

Stats: 32min 22pts (8-22, 1-3, 5-7) 8reb 3ast 3stl 1blk 3TO
Summary: had about 4 minutes of opening tip energy in him, then looked exhausted, Gortat killed him
Cousins ( D ) --

Stats: 24min 9pts (3-6, 1-1, 2-2) 6reb 0ast 1stl 0blk 1TO
Summary: as one of the few non-dead legs guys no rational explanation why he wouldn't play more
McLemore ( B- ) --

Stats: 34min 2pts (1-7, 0-0, 0-0) 8reb 9ast 1stl 0blk 4TO
Summary: was lacking his spark, getting outplayed by Wall, then stepped on Wall's foot and rolled an ankle
Rondo ( C ) --

Bricklayer · Dec 21, 2015

Bench

Stats: 19min 6pts (3-6, 0-0, 0-0) 5reb 0ast 0stl 1blk 1TO
Koufos ( ) --

Stats: 31min 13pts (4-8, 1-3, 4-5) 3reb 8ast 0stl 0blk 2TO
Collison ( ) --

Stats: 23min 15pts (6-12, 3-8, 0-0) 0reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 1TO
Belinelli ( ) --

Stats: 6min 4pts (2-3, 0-0, 0-0) 2reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Butler ( INC ) -- if it was his last stint with us, well at least he went out on a good note back in his old All Star stomping grounds, and gave us half a quarter of solid work in the 2nd wiht Casspi in foul trouble.

Stats: 11min 3pts (1-3, 0-1, 1-1) 1reb 0ast 1stl 0blk 1TO
Curry ( D ) -- here's a thought -- what if he just isn't very good?

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gil renard · Dec 21, 2015

Is that DMC?

c-webb1s#1 · Dec 21, 2015

Well at least Portland, Phoenix, and Minnesota lost tonight :/

gunks · Dec 21, 2015

I expect a lively Cousins debate will be commencing shortly.

gil renard · Dec 21, 2015

Why did you change the picture? It was a dead (or sleeping) sloth.

Tetsujin · Dec 21, 2015

Pat yourself on the back if you had thirty games into the season as when the annual "Demarcus is the reason we suck!" discussion begins.

enigma99a · Dec 21, 2015

Cousins sucked but so did Rudy Gay tonight. Also DMC's conditioning really shows on a back to back. That was one ugly 4th quarter

c-webb1s#1 · Dec 21, 2015

Well yes, let us not panic and say trade DMC after one bad game! That would be ridiculous, but lets not deny he really hurt us tonight. Let us also not deny that something is seriously amiss with him health wise. He is moving like Seattle Supersonic Patrick Ewing lol He also is regressing in terms of maturity and shot selection.

I dont know...just my observation!

sactownfan · Dec 21, 2015

cousins has looked so out of it..... no doubt he's not 100% but he has looked awful

He isn't running
He isn't posting as much (or as well)
He has looked like he's only 60%

Blob · Dec 21, 2015

Cousins is having his worst month in 2 1/2 seasons at 20 PPG and 10 RPG and 38% FGs and most of these FGs are easy set ups on pin downs and interior entry passes from Rondo. And most of his rebounds are because he is biggest guy under the basket.

When the game requires patience, savvy, post moves, respecting the ball and the opponent, and not just brute force, he has been an erratic achiever at best.

Gortat embarrassed him and handed his lunch and dinner of humble pie.

How many times does Cousins plan to drive haplessly into waiting defenders entitled to their position on the floor and expect to be bailed out before he learns the refs aren't going to reward weak sauce?

When I see Cousins I see a player who lacks focus, commitment, maturity, leadership and temper control. This is our franchise player. It is not a surprise our record is 11-17 against our share of cupcakes.

The question is why is there a dramatic fall-off when his play should be ticking up entering his prime and getting 4-5 easy baskets per game because of Rondo?

Choose all that apply:

(a) Out of shape.
(b) Hurt (Back, double foot tendonitis)
(c) Incompatible system
(d) Mentally weak (immature, impetuous, egotistical)
(e) Misses Stauskas.

Defenders of Boogie will select (c) however there is a problem with (c). The alternative to what we are watching is give Boogie a steady diet of low post touches. Throw the ball to Boogie in the post with a defender of equal size behind him and it is not going to end well. There's no flip or turnaround to resort to because it is not in his arsenal.

His game plan out of the block is bully ball. And unless you have hops to draw contact or finish over defender, high flyers are coming weak side. Cousins 6 inch vertical and trash post game is overlooked by those contending he needs to spend more time down low. And to add the refs do not want to award any player two trips to the line unless clearly earned in effort to speed up the game.

Fans may forget but Cousins used to pop the 14 to 17 foot jumper in Malone's system. There was a mix of low post and face-ups to keep the defense honest and keep him from constant banging. The main difference now is more freedom, faster pace, and a PG who is going to pass up more shots to give him shots which has resulted in highest usage (32.6) and lowest efficiency (51.9) since his sophomore season.

Cousins is not obligated to throw up crap or drive recklessly when on the perimeter with 10 to 18 seconds on the shot clock yet he seems to feel obligated to do so with rare exceptions (like the dimes he dropped in TOR) though he has capable teammates surrounding, something he could not say in previous 4-5 years.

Karl is not to blame for his unwillingness to play with more patience and to be decoy for others with all the attention he warrants.

The biggest problem I see besides a physically broken down player is a guy who wants to takeover the team instead of be part of the team. He shoots the team out of games more often than shoot them into games. This is called dumb basketball.

The correct choice above are (a) (b) and (d) with slight possibility of (c) but only related to the newness of the role and not incompatible with his skill set.

I suggest Cousins go on the injured list for two weeks like LeBron did and come back with a vengeance. He doesn't seem capable of tempering his shot selection while he gets right physically. So if he continues to play at subpar health we are likely to see inefficient production.

The fact that he puts up numbers playing his worst basketball since his 2nd year is only speaks to his talent. With physical and mental issues, and geezer coach with tenable future, whether he ever realizes the extent of his talent has never been more in question.

gunks · Dec 21, 2015

Mix of frustration/fatigue/injuries/poor scheme taking the toll on the big fella.

It shouldn't be this hard to win with a big of his caliber, but our franchise finds a way.

Cuz does need more coddling than the average superstar though. And his 'tude sucks. And he may or may not be in the best shape (also, injuries).

I'm still a Cuz believer (when he's on he's on. And our record with/without him speaks for itself), but damn... it can be frustrating to be a Kings fan.

Oh well, on to the next one!

KingMilz · Dec 21, 2015

No Beal,Nene,Neal or Portor and we lost, props to Garret Temple dude has just battled for every minute hes had to earn good to see him rewarded and Gortat raped our big men.

The_Jamal · Dec 21, 2015

Worst loss of the season for me. I can live with most losses we've had this year as a good majority of them showed us having good play and could have won if we corrected a few mistakes. But here, absolutely no one came to play. Such a stark contrast between us and the Wizards as far as who played with energy and hustle and it was clear they wanted this one more than we did. We flat out just quit in the 4th quarter; something we've managed to avoid for most of the year.

What hurts is we saw yesterday what the highs of this team can be.

lawlman91 · Dec 21, 2015

On the bright side, Ben McLemore is 22 years old and not looking like a rookie. Hopefully he continues to love the grind.

206Fan · Dec 22, 2015

God, I knew Cousins would have major trouble with Gortat... I didn't think Cousins would decide NOT to guard Gortat at all...

This is why it's been good for Cousins to extend his game out to the perimeter a little bit. All the time at the perimeter? No. But he can't bang down low against a lot of bigs in the league.
His lack of finishing ability around the rim really hurts his offensive game. He's one of the worst finishes above the rim for a C imo. This year, I thought Cousins would elevate his game just like Blake.

Blake started out as an only above the rim player who couldn't shoot his FTs. Griffin was basically a guy who knew how to dunk and pass.
Look at how much he's elevated his offensive game!

Cousins has always been a high usage, ball dominant, and inefficient scorer. It gets so frustrating sometimes when you see him putting up stupid shots like tonight.

It's really really starting to make me question whether or not he could even be a #1 option on a playoff team.
I know Cuz has been dealing with injuries, but he looked terrible tonight. He's starting to become one of our most inconsistent players.

It's honestly so ****ing hard to build around a guy like Cousins. Karl has done that...now we just need the players to put in EFFORT. It all starts with Cousins.

Glenn · Dec 22, 2015

Karl thinks Cousins will be a proven three point shooter by the end of the year. Is that the goal, Georgie? Really? Why not use the skills he already has? This is disgusting.

gunks · Dec 22, 2015

206Fan said:

Have better shooters around him for one.

And also don't run him into the ground by pushing the pace and trying to convert him into a 270lb SG.

Cuz was destroying teams in the paint under Malone. It was sustainable. Sure he missed some gimmes, and got blocked a lot. But he also got a ton of rebounds off his own misses, and drew a lot of fouls. These things don't happen when he's floating around like Channing ******* Frye.

Not to mention Malone had him playing like a legit anchor on defense.

Switch him out with Aldridge on The Spurs, or Drummond in Detroit even, and I'm sure they'd have no trouble building around him. Neither would the Celtics. Or any other team in the league. We just **** it up because we're the Kings.

Bricklayer · Dec 22, 2015

206Fan said:

Wrong;

Under Mike Malone, as a much MUCH more posted player, these were Cousins' numbers:

86 games. .499 FG% .561TS%.

The great magic there being nothing more complex than playing your big man like a big man, and yes, having him post the hell out of almost everybody. The rest of your analysis is pure bunk. if it wren't, there's no way he could have succeeded.

And before you say anything regrettable about the above numbers, consider career numbers:

Hakeem .512FG% .553TS%
Ewing .504FG% .553TS%
Duncan .506FG% .551TS%
Moses .495FG% .569 TS%
Boogie .499FG% .561TS%

You want our HOF center to put up number like previous HOF centers? Its not that hard., Unless you're an old idiot. You play him like a big man. Just like all the other guys on this list were played like big men. If anybody thinks they would have put up the numbers above if they were being blatantly misused like Karl is misusing Cousins needs some real help.

206Fan · Dec 22, 2015

Bricklayer said:

How did you determine these were him in the post? Anyone with a set of eyeballs knows that Cuz has stopped playing in the post after his 2nd year.

Cuz game has turned into taking his player 8-12ft away from the basket...backing them down a few inches..then attacking the rim with his quickness. Those count as "points around the rim" And why are you using limited sample sizes for Cuz?

Cousins has 0 post moves. He has 0. I don't know why you would want to fight this narrative when we all know Cuz just isn't a post player anymore. That's not how his game is. It stopped being that way after his 2nd or 3rd year.

How many times under Malone did you see Cuz attempt a hook shot? There were a lot of people talking about how Cuz isn't a post player anymore in a different thread. He stopped developing that years ago.

True or false, Cuz took perimeter shots with Malone at HC? Trying to act like Karl is the reason why his post game has deteriorated is non-sense.

206Fan · Dec 22, 2015

gunks said:

Cousins does have better shooters around him now.

He has Casspi, Ben, Collison, and Belinelli. Gay and Rondo have turned into decent 3pt shooters.

Cuz being in the paint is very difficult to do with these new defensive rules. We saw Cuz struggle vs. the Rockets down low vs. Ariza because of their constant double-teaming and it resulted in 3-4 turnovers back to back.

Actually, Detroit had a player like Cousins named Monroe. They couldn't do crap around him...

You swap him out with Aldridge on the Spurs...it makes Cousins their 2nd option. He's not a franchise player if you put him on that team like he is here.

The_Jamal · Dec 22, 2015

Kings are 6th in the league in 3pt% this season and 7th in FG%, despite Cousins insane volume and him struggling there this season. So the "no shooters" excuse really isn't one anymore.

IfAt1st · Dec 22, 2015

Go look at the statlines and re-watch the game.
Watch who's dogging it and causing the main problems against the Wizards.
Our "big three" of Rondo, Boogie, and Gay absolutely crap the court last night, the night after showing they could crush the Raptors (one of the best teams in the East).

I refuse to believe this team is THIS Jekyll and Hyde without a reason.

Here's my conspiracy theory:
Boogie is (again) leading a mutiny against Karl's systems, led by his partners-in-crime Rondo and Gay.
This happened last year against Corbin (really against management/ownership), just much more blatantly.
Cousins is being more subtle with it this year, but I think these past 3 games has made it clear to ownership that this team could be a playoff team (see Raptors) if they wanted to compete on a nightly basis - yet they can badly lose any game (see Minny and Wizards) as a lesson to ownership.

My problems with Cousins doing this are the same as I said in the begining of the year - who the hell does Cousins want to come here and take over coaching?
Who the hell will he (and by extension the rest of the players) actually play hard for?
Unless they have a suitable replacement lined up, Cousins mutinying on the court and sabotaging wins and fanbase support is crippling the organization to the point of no return, IMO.

He's playing with fire, and I'm sick of it.
Just play the ****ing game.
Give this fanbase what they deserve - wins and a playoff berth, and then do your powerplays in the off-season to find a compatible coach that you will actually try hard for again.

VF21 · Dec 22, 2015

gunks said:

I look at it this way:

Picture Cousins as a premiere grind-it-out tailback who demolishes defenders on the ground. Now picture a head coach deciding that he should really focus on being a wide receiver and lining him up repeatedly on the outside and sending him down the field on long patterns. It's not gonna work.

That, to me, is what Karl is attempting to do...and it is so clearly not working that it's almost laughable (if I didn't feel like crying).

VF21 · Dec 22, 2015

IfAt1st said:

Go look at the statlines and re-watch the game.
Watch who's dogging it and causing the main problems against the Wizards.
Our "big three" of Rondo, Boogie, and Gay absolutely poopoo the court last night, the night after showing they could crush the Raptors (one of the best teams in the East).

I refuse to believe this team is THIS Jekyll and Hyde without a reason.

Here's my conspiracy theory:
Boogie is (again) leading a mutiny against Karl's systems, led by his partners-in-crime Rondo and Gay.
This happened last year against Corbin (really against management/ownership), just much more blatantly.
Cousins is being more subtle with it this year, but I think these past 3 games has made it clear to ownership that this team could be a playoff team (see Raptors) if they wanted to compete on a nightly basis - yet they can badly lose any game (see Minny and Wizards) as a lesson to ownership.

My problems with Cousins doing this are the same as I said in the begining of the year - who the hell does Cousins want to come here and take over coaching?
Who the hell will he (and by extension the rest of the players) actually play hard for?
Unless they have a suitable replacement lined up, Cousins mutinying on the court and sabotaging wins and fanbase support is crippling the organization to the point of no return, IMO.

He's playing with fire, and I'm sick of it.
Just play the ****ing game.
Give this fanbase what they deserve - wins and a playoff berth, and then do your powerplays in the off-season to find a compatible coach that you will actually try hard for again.

Your conspiracy theories are always ... well ... interesting.

Bricklayer · Dec 22, 2015

The_Jamal said:

No its not. Quite the opposite, IF WE WOULD JUST PUT HIM IN THE POST, this is the best lineup he's ever had to truly dominate.

The problem is we won't. I don't think emotionally that Karl can. This is absolutely 100% an ideological decision. He hasn't just coached a certain way forever, he's ADVOCATED for coaching a certain way forever. It was one of the two reasons that hiring him was always a dubious idea -- we already got a taste of the other (backstabs best players/wears out his welcome). Its like asking a marxist to let that steel factory that has been running strong for years before the revolution to remain in private hands, because it might make it more efficient. It almost doesn't matter to him if that's true or not, it would fly in the face of his entire belief system.

In any case we play junkball ala Houston, but without even as many token posts as Howard used to get under McHale, who still had some respect for it from his playing days. Three or to the rim is a thing. So is 4 out, or in our case amazingly, FIVE out, like a wannabe Hawks team. Gotta keep that rim free by making sure nobody at all is down in there at all, even if you've got a huge force who belongs down in there as often as you can get him.

This is on George Karl. All it would take, ALL it would take is a simple flip of his mental switch, let everybody else continue playing perimeter dribble drive, and return Cousins to his old stomping grounds. Its really just that close for us, and makes too much sense for us to ever actually do.

Its the best supporting roster Cuz has had...and we cap it with a coach who neuters Cousins' game for the sake of ideology. The anger seething beneath everything now is because this is the Kings team that COULD actually get it done, and its being wasted. Worse yet, the wasting is being done mostly by one single individual. Vlade did his job. Vivek has stayed aloft this time, barely a peep. Cuz and Rondo have bonded. Some of the guys playing better, some worse, but the talent is very clearly there. But there is just simply irrational inefficient decisionmaking going on. Maybe we don't have a big block V8, but at the very least we finally have ourselves a peppy V6, and then some old man has come along and pulled out one of the spark plugs because he likes to sniff the fumes.

The_Jamal · Dec 22, 2015

Bricklayer said:

So did you just ignore how bad he was vs Gortat in post-up situations last night or....

Btw, not disagreeing with you about much else. But I don't think he beat Gortat once in the 7 or 8 post-up possessions he had. When he gets the ball down there, he struggles mightily when there's someone who can match his strength. He's really not a player you can just dump the ball down to in the post and let him go to work. His real strength is his versatility and quickness+Strength. When he gets steam going to the rim, you can't stop it without fouling. Thus the reason he's one of the best at getting to the line.

The Raptors game is what I want to see more of. He was getting the ball in the 15-18 range, where he actually had some space to get to the rim and draw a foul or find an open shooter. Th I don't disagree with in theory with the way Karl's trying to use him; the 3pt line is just the wrong spot for it.

Glenn · Dec 22, 2015

Several people who are in the know, so to speak, say Boogie is still playing with injuries. Does anyone doubt that? Injuries don't heal over night. Continuing to play on an injury kinda slows down the healing process. The fact is, an injured Boogie is worth more than no Boogie. In the back to backs, he was reasonably agile the first day. He still seemed to have lost the strength to go to the hoop and drag bodies with him. If I remember correctly, he hurt his back probably by twisting it on an attack of the rim several weeks ago. It stands to reason that if he tries the same move, one of his most effective moves, he will not have the strength as usual. HE APPEARS WEAK. HE HURTS. Last night he seemed far worse. If you buy the FACT that he is still feeling lingering effects of injury, it makes sense he wouldn't be able to play as well on the 2nd day of a back to back.

This does not mean the coach is NOT contributing to a great deal of what is wrong. George Karl is hurting him. Karl is confusing him. This is what you get from Karl and his use of big men.

I am very discouraged. It is getting difficult to watch.

The_Jamal · Dec 22, 2015

Been watching Hakeem lately and there a lot of similarities between him and Cuz's offensive skill-set. Cuz will never come close to Hakeem's bevy of post-moves or footwork, but a big part of what made Hakeem so great was his ability to use his ball-handling ability to face-up and get to the rim from 15-18 feet out with his vastly superior quickness. Cuz has a similar quickness advantage, but also with a much bigger frame.

Edit: Also watching Hakeem in his post-up situations... that's where the major divide is between Cuz and the other big men legends. Nobody could stop Hakeem because nobody knew what was coming from him on that possession. He always had you guessing. There isn't a single reliable move we could point to that Cuz does on a consistent basis that's effective on the low-block.

KingMilz · Dec 22, 2015

Glenn said:

Several people who are in the know, so to speak, say Boogie is still playing with injuries. Does anyone doubt that? Injuries don't heal over night. Continuing to play on an injury kinda slows down the healing process. The fact is, an injured Boogie is worth more than no Boogie. In the back to backs, he was reasonably agile the first day. He still seemed to have lost the strength to go to the hoop and drag bodies with him. If I remember correctly, he hurt his back probably by twisting it on an attack of the rim several weeks ago. It stands to reason that if he tries the same move, one of his most effective moves, he will not have the strength as usual. HE APPEARS WEAK. HE HURTS. Last night he seemed far worse. If you buy the FACT that he is still feeling lingering effects of injury, it makes sense he wouldn't be able to play as well on the 2nd day of a back to back.

This does not mean the coach is NOT contributing to a great deal of what is wrong. George Karl is hurting him. Karl is confusing him. This is what you get from Karl and his use of big men.

I am very discouraged. It is getting difficult to watch.

If he's so hurt than why did he jack up 22 shots on the second day of a back to back?

[Grades] Grades v. Wizards 12/21/2015

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