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

[dude12]

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.

Yes, there are a couple of members who post that everyone plays with injuries and that it's an excuse and Cuz should get over it.

 

[Glenn]

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.

I don't know how many ways there are to say this. It IS close. It's very frustrating.

 

[Glenn]

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

This makes no sense. He is a basketball player. He was 8-22.

 

[Bricklayer]

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.

He has completely ruined Marcin Gortat in the past when playing out of the post. In fact dropped 40 on him one night.

Its the relentless assault that does it. George Karl likes flash. He doesn't understand the effectiveness of the grind.

We have the league's premiere power back. We then hired a notorious old run n shoot/chuck and duck coach. That guy isn't going to have any conception of slamming the power back through the middle 25 times a game, controlling time of possession, and just wearing the defense out. Instead he's got him out running routes like a scat back.

 

[CruzDude]

Cousins interview with Sean Cunningham Monday, I guess after the game, is kinda a major headline. But why is he feeling lost or out or whatever?? Him out at perimeter so much accomplishes nothing and allows Gortat to have a career night, and why not, no big down low to stop it. If this is Karls handiwork, then that is the problem

 

[Henkel]

He has completely ruined Marcin Gortat in the past when playing out of the post. In fact dropped 40 on him one night.

Its the relentless assault that does it. George Karl likes flash. He doesn't understand the effectiveness of the grind.

We have the league's premiere power back. We then hired a notorious old run n shoot/chuck and duck coach. That guy isn't going to have any conception of slamming the power back through the middle 25 times a game, controlling time of possession, and just wearing the defense out. Instead he's got him out running routes like a scat back.

Highlights from game Brick mentioned if anyone's interested.

 

[Bricklayer]

Highlights from game Brick mentioned if anyone's interested.

Thanks for digging that up. It instantly went off in another snarky tweet to Karl

 

[206Fan]

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.

I really hope this would never be the case. If it ever was, I see no reason why we shouldn't just get rid of him now. He doesn't control the Kings. The Kings control the Kings... Players should never have this power...hell, Pat Riley kept Lebron James in check in Miami.

I don't think your conspiracy theory is true, but it makes me cringe.

 

[kingsboi]

Temple plays the Kings, all of a sudden he becomes a three point shooter and no longer only a "defensive specialist". Gortat had Boogie for lunch and dinner and took him out of his game, wait...no he didn't, Boogie does a good job at that on his own. Need more than two points from your starting PG....

 

[IfAt1st]

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.

Holy crap.
I only watched 3 minutes of this, and the huge observation to make is - they aren't even allowed to touch Hakeem without getting a foul!
Time and time again, Hakeem gets to shimmy-shake and pivot in the paint, and noone so much as touches him other than (try to) put their body between him and the basket.
(Not to mention the ease by which Hakeem gets the ball by the entry pass or an unobstructed drive to the hoop)

I'd love to see a rapid-fire compilation of Cousins' post plays, because every single one in my memory is slathered with defenders slapping, pulling, grabbing at him.

The biggest reasons why Cousins CAN'T be dominant like the old-time big guys is because :
* the NBA allows defenders to beat the crap out of big guys in the paint.
and
* the zone defense rules change makes it so its easy for teams to deny the entry pass and not even allow any dominant big man to get the ball safely.

 

[IfAt1st]

Highlights from game Brick mentioned if anyone's interested.

Man, Boogie was so fun to watch back then.
I enjoyed watching him play so much, it got me through 5 years of horrible basketball.

Now that they have a team that could realistically be competitive, he has turned into a pumpkin.
I can hardly bear to watch him play anymore, he's too aggravating to watch.
He simply can't (or won't) play the way he did back then.
It's sad.

 

[The_Jamal]

Thanks for digging that up. It instantly went off in another snarky tweet to Karl

Uhh, most of these highlights aren't him playing in the post... It's him facing up in the mid-range and working from there

 

[Bricklayer]

Uhh, most of these highlights aren't him playing in the post... It's him facing up in the mid-range and working from there

Plenty of it is in the post, but the midrange stuff tells the tale too. He can attack the hoop constantly because he is rarely more than 15-18 feet from it, he's in there on the offensive glass, its an entirely different playing style than what we have seen this season.

 

[HndsmCelt]

Man, Boogie was so fun to watch back then.
I enjoyed watching him play so much, it got me through 5 years of horrible basketball.

Now that they have a team that could realistically be competitive, he has turned into a pumpkin.
I can hardly bear to watch him play anymore, he's too aggravating to watch.
He simply can't (or won't) play the way he did back then.
It's sad.

You miss the point. DMC did not vanish, he was dissapeared. If you play him out of position, just like any other player he will struggle. This is NOT him.

 

[pshn80]

You miss the point. DMC did not vanish, he was dissapeared. If you play him out of position, just like any other player he will struggle. This is NOT him.

Does a player nave to slow way down because he is played out f position and feels lost? Half the game is offense and half s defense. One of th key ngredients t any scheme is being there and hustling. Seems Cuz's problem in the last game was much larger than the "scheme".

 

[Prog]

Thanks for digging that up. It instantly went off in another snarky tweet to Karl

I just gave you your 10,000 like. Congrats on the milestone!

 

[Glenn]

Man, Boogie was so fun to watch back then.
I enjoyed watching him play so much, it got me through 5 years of horrible basketball.

Now that they have a team that could realistically be competitive, he has turned into a pumpkin.
I can hardly bear to watch him play anymore, he's too aggravating to watch.
He simply can't (or won't) play the way he did back then.
It's sad.

I think this is the first time I have agreed with you. It's very sad to see an entertaining, skilled basketball player finally get surrounded by the players that he has needed for years only to be asked to play some hybrid position that he has never played before.

Can't remember who advocated getting Griffen but it crossed my mind that Karl would want him to be something that he isn't. Perhaps the same problem would exist.

We can't go forward with Karl and Cuz on the same team. Karl is trying force a square peg into a round hole. He wants Cuz to become the great 6'11" three point shooter and honestly, I think Cuz could do it. Unfortunately Cuz has made a career being something else and I needn't say what Cuz is. Instead of expanding on Boogie's skills, Karl is trying to rework his entire game. It boggles my mind. I imagine Boogie looking at this team and envisioning himself down on the left block and having fun as the team rattles off wins. Then the truth becomes horribly apparent that Karl can't see the same picture.

CAN'T.

I am willing to put up with another bad year if I know that a Cuz-friendly coach is in the future. Vlade has positioned this team in a way I didn't think possible in one year. Now Vlade needs to figure out what to do with Collison but that's small potatoes. We have a team that could be great given a couple years together. Cuz can be here another 10 years which is long after Karl has retired. These could be happy years for us all. Cuz has changed from being a guy that the rest of the league thought was a cancer to someone struggling with whatever energy and physical health he has to fit into an offense of a future HoF coach. He is doing it because he said he would.

He must feel a small amount of jealousy (perhaps the wrong word) that Koufos is allowed to play the game that suits Kosta. The irony is that if Cousins wasn't such a multi-talented monster he wouldn't be asked to become this hybrid center/SG. Envision this team with Cousins playing the same type of game he always played prior to this year. It is tantalizingly close to being great.

I will never ever understand a coach who doesn't coach his players and ultimately his team to their strengths. I supported Karl to the extent that I couldn't imagine that a man of his experience wouldn't be able to do this. Wow, was I wrong. Free Boogie and allow him to be Boogie.

 

[Glenn]

Plenty of it is in the post, but the midrange stuff tells the tale too. He can attack the hoop constantly because he is rarely more than 15-18 feet from it, he's in there on the offensive glass, its an entirely different playing style than what we have seen this season.

This doesn't seem difficult to understand. Cuz played on the left block or 15-18 ft away from the rim instead of 23 ft from the rim. . That extra 5 ft takes away the effectiveness of putting the ball on the ground and attacking the rim. That extra 5 ft adds enough time that he can be double or triple teamed. People may not have liked his bully ball style of attacking from 15 ft but it worked. He either made the shot, had it blocked, or got fouled with the good far outweighing the bad.