Because his backups are garcia, outlaw and greene. I'd personally give greene a shot but he hasnt exactly earned it. Frankly, i think salmons still starts due to a combination of the lack of other options, the desire to try and retain his value and an unwillingness to show what a mistake that trade was. Either way, we all get to watch john work his magic for 3 more years.
[Grades] Grades v. Wolves 2/7/12
- Thread starter Bricklayer
- Start date
That's why the Kings made him a PF I would guess. He really needs to start with Cousins and they should bring JT off the bench and always make sure he's out there with one or the other. With a lineup of Evans, Thornton, Salmons, and Cousins out there he'll never have to touch the ball on offensive other than to pass or get up a put back. With the second unit of iffy offense he's almost a top option 
.
Center or not, tonight he was once again the only player on the team that did a decent job on the other teams center. His screens are top notch and his defensive impact is irrefutable. Him getting the ball in the post is a bad idea and I think everyone can agree on that as well.
. Center or not, tonight he was once again the only player on the team that did a decent job on the other teams center. His screens are top notch and his defensive impact is irrefutable. Him getting the ball in the post is a bad idea and I think everyone can agree on that as well.
My issue is this, WHY IS HE A CENTER? I don't like Smart using him as a backup C. He and Cousins looked good together early in the year when there was hardly even anything good at all. Move him back into the starting lineup and let JT ball inside with the bench unit. I'd rather have JT's offense off the bench than not being used at all with the starters, and Hayes defense with the starters and not having to use his offense off the bench.
Tyreke Evans gets an F from me for not even trying. I really don't know what's in this guy's mind. One day he's mini LeBron James the next he's trying to out-dumb JJ Hickson. I'm getting sick and tired of how the only time he gets into the offense quickly is when he doesn't pass the ball and just takes a fadeaway jumper. And I'm a huge Tyreke fan. But seriously, he starts to show some progress and then just I don't know, memory reset or something.
As for the effort - he looked gassed all night and this play had me screaming:
Not guarding anyone, not playing the passing lanes, not putting pressure on the inbounder. Just taking a breather I guess. Oh well, it's not like we lost by 2 points or anything.
Needless to say, there were a lot of things wrong other than Tyreke, but when your supposed best defender decides to play with this kind of "energy" it's not surprising the rest of the team doesn't seem to give a **** either
As for the effort - he looked gassed all night and this play had me screaming:
Not guarding anyone, not playing the passing lanes, not putting pressure on the inbounder. Just taking a breather I guess. Oh well, it's not like we lost by 2 points or anything.
Needless to say, there were a lot of things wrong other than Tyreke, but when your supposed best defender decides to play with this kind of "energy" it's not surprising the rest of the team doesn't seem to give a **** either
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I felt the same way as mac. Hayes would be last on my fugly list because compare to the others he's not that good. Cousins played a bad game but I can still sense some urgency from him..Tyreke I felt none. Fugly goes to guys that has the worst difference between their game IMO...that's you Tyreke!
Holymoly, this team can give ppl heart attack. Lucky for me I'm still somewhat young.
Holymoly, this team can give ppl heart attack. Lucky for me I'm still somewhat young.
Hayes just doesn't (seem to) have any offensive weapons, and he takes up horrible post positions high in the lane or wide.
the reason Pekovic (sp) was killing us was his ability to take up the old Shaq position, under the basket. Add to the fact that breathing on him was a foul he was able to dominate.
I like Chuck Hayes a lot but i don't want to see him with the ball in the post too often.
the reason Pekovic (sp) was killing us was his ability to take up the old Shaq position, under the basket. Add to the fact that breathing on him was a foul he was able to dominate.
I like Chuck Hayes a lot but i don't want to see him with the ball in the post too often.
In the first quarter Smart should have called a timeout after the 8th turnover. Then tell Salmons that he should dribble the ball up the court, and hand the ball in a gentlemanly manner to the nearest Timberwolf. Smart should then have instructed the other four King players to not cross the half court line. They should just defend the basket. At least then they would have four guys to defend the basket. Jason Thompson, Cousins, Thornton, Salmons, they could all take turns literally giving the ball to the Timberwolves. Why go through the charade of making believe they didn't want to give it to them?
Two fewer turnovers and they win this game. What an abomination.
Two fewer turnovers and they win this game. What an abomination.
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Fewer, not less. Pet peeve of mine. Your point stands, though.
After the 1st quarter, I figured that Minnesota fans would be treated to free tacos, or whatever their promo was for scoring 120 points. Defensively, I thought they did much better over the last three quarters, but as said before, they can't put themselves in these sorts of predicaments. If they do it against a good team like the Thunder, it'll be a 30 point blowout. That being said, they were a turnover/shot/assist away from stealing a game on the road after playing like crap for most of the game. That's progress...I guess.
Yeah, the players look tired, and part of it is not having a reliable bench to at least keep pace with the other team, so something definitely needs to be done there. I still maintain that Greene should start instead of Salmons, if only to let Salmons do his scoring thing (maybe) against some 2nd stringers and let Greene focus on defense.
We'll see how they come out against OKC. Hopefully some home cookin' will do wonders.
After the 1st quarter, I figured that Minnesota fans would be treated to free tacos, or whatever their promo was for scoring 120 points. Defensively, I thought they did much better over the last three quarters, but as said before, they can't put themselves in these sorts of predicaments. If they do it against a good team like the Thunder, it'll be a 30 point blowout. That being said, they were a turnover/shot/assist away from stealing a game on the road after playing like crap for most of the game. That's progress...I guess.
Yeah, the players look tired, and part of it is not having a reliable bench to at least keep pace with the other team, so something definitely needs to be done there. I still maintain that Greene should start instead of Salmons, if only to let Salmons do his scoring thing (maybe) against some 2nd stringers and let Greene focus on defense.
We'll see how they come out against OKC. Hopefully some home cookin' will do wonders.
Tyreke Evans gets an F from me for not even trying. I really don't know what's in this guy's mind. One day he's mini LeBron James the next he's trying to out-dumb JJ Hickson. I'm getting sick and tired of how the only time he gets into the offense quickly is when he doesn't pass the ball and just takes a fadeaway jumper. And I'm a huge Tyreke fan. But seriously, he starts to show some progress and then just I don't know, memory reset or something.
As for the effort - he looked gassed all night and this play had me screaming:
Not guarding anyone, not playing the passing lanes, not putting pressure on the inbounder. Just taking a breather I guess. Oh well, it's not like we lost by 2 points or anything.
Needless to say, there were a lot of things wrong other than Tyreke, but when your supposed best defender decides to play with this kind of "energy" it's not surprising the rest of the team doesn't seem to give a **** either
As for the effort - he looked gassed all night and this play had me screaming:
Not guarding anyone, not playing the passing lanes, not putting pressure on the inbounder. Just taking a breather I guess. Oh well, it's not like we lost by 2 points or anything.
Needless to say, there were a lot of things wrong other than Tyreke, but when your supposed best defender decides to play with this kind of "energy" it's not surprising the rest of the team doesn't seem to give a **** either
I remember after an OKC game in which the Kings got blown out that Tyreke said that OKC played it was like the NBA championship game or something because of the energy they put out. I guess it miffed him that they should play with so much energy. Well, Tyreke, you better take a lot of caffeine prior to Thursday night's game; otherwise you're looking at another blowout.
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I think the main takeaway from this game is just how much better the team plays when they can practice before a game. I thought that the Golden State game mostly looked pretty good. The NO game was a lot uglier, at least partly because of minimal prep time. It was quite obvious that the team did not have time to prep for the roleplayers on Minnesota as Pekovic, Beasley, Johnson, and Ridnour took turns lighting up the team.
Hadlowe said it best; correlation isn't the same as causation. If you think Jimmer playing had anything to do with the loss last night then you did not watch the game or are blinded by ignorance. Jimmer brought us back with his 3s in the 4th. We just needed a couple FTs more or JJ to develop some type of catching ability and we send it into OT.
What a horribly ugly game.
The Kings really had no right to be in this game - everyone but Jimmer played bad.
Seriously, the entire team was bad (with the possible exception of JJ, and that DMC had an excuse because it's hard to play basketball with the refs put you in handcuffs).
The problem is - everyone's going to console themselves with the fact that it was a close game at the end, but that will blind them to the reality of all those mistakes the Kings players made. They HAVE to work on those mistakes, and reduce them tremendously if they're going to expect to win in this league.
Who's going to go over the film and have them learn from their mistakes?
I unfortunately don't think anyone's going to do that - they're going to take the positives from this game and move on.
I would bet anything that we're going to see these same mistakes crop up later this year and it will cost them many games.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
That is hilarious!
Someone captured what I've been talking about for awhile.
Tyreke literally stands still on the court at times for a good 2 seconds.
It has cost the Kings countless points this year.
Glad to see someone caught this one in pictures- but I'm positive a very instructive mix-tape could be made of Tyreke's somnambulance during games.
I want to bring up 2 plays involving DMC, though:
1) Tyreke was handling the ball, and embarrassingly dribbled it off Rubio's foot, turning it over. DMC was in front of Pekovic at the top of the key. Rubio ran on the break, Pekovic followed him on the full run while DMC slowly jogged after him.
When Rubio's drive was stopped, he between-the-legs passed it to Pekovic for the slam.
This is the kind of slow reaction and lack of running that is killing the Kings this year.
I dig DMC and have made that clear, but if he thinks he doesn;t have to run on the court, he's sadly mistaken.
He's the last player down the court every damn play of the game.
In fact - it was getting absurd this game -he wasn't even in the paint until 14 seconds left in the clock ALL GAME LONG.
With how long it takes the Kings to run a play, much less get him set up in the post and get the ball to him when the defense is denying him, he needs upwards of 20 seconds to ensure a realistic possibility of a play run for him.
So what can we conclude from this fact we're seeing on a getting-more-often basis?
I think Cousins is getting upset with how few plays are called for him. He figures - why should I bother running or even jogging fast, when all I can do is wait for some gunner to shoot it and then see if I can slip into the paint in the last second and steal an ORBD?
Combine this potentially-dangerous malaise with the fact that he gets intimidated when he plays against physical guys as big or bigger than him, and he ends up shying away from running and battling in the paint much.
2) That 3rd personal foul against DMC was conspiracy-level bull****.
The Kings should take this opportunity to send that to the league to express their displeasure at how blatant that call was against him. It showed, in absurdly-detailed clarity, how the refs can take out a player and make it so Demarcus cannot play some games.
DMC literally stood still on the ground with his hands down as the opposing player drove and jumped into/over him.
If that is a foul, than you can pack up the NBA and throw it off a cliff because there's no way to play defense as a big man and not get a foul called on you. May as well turn the game into a guard-only game. You'd be handing out 20 fouls a game to every defender, unless they matador and try to steal the ball as the guy dribbles past (oh, wait...).
And BTW - I'm no expert, but there's one thing that's VERY easy for me to see - whenever a player goaltends by touching the ball AFTER it hits the backboard, it's incredibly easy for me to see in real time. Instantly, I can tell whether the trajectory of the ball was changed by the backboard during a block attempt. I'm positive many of you can see this, as well.
My question is - if the refs are standing on the court, getting paid to watch the game, why can't they see it, too?
The Kings really had no right to be in this game - everyone but Jimmer played bad.
Seriously, the entire team was bad (with the possible exception of JJ, and that DMC had an excuse because it's hard to play basketball with the refs put you in handcuffs).
The problem is - everyone's going to console themselves with the fact that it was a close game at the end, but that will blind them to the reality of all those mistakes the Kings players made. They HAVE to work on those mistakes, and reduce them tremendously if they're going to expect to win in this league.
Who's going to go over the film and have them learn from their mistakes?
I unfortunately don't think anyone's going to do that - they're going to take the positives from this game and move on.
I would bet anything that we're going to see these same mistakes crop up later this year and it will cost them many games.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
That is hilarious!
Someone captured what I've been talking about for awhile.
Tyreke literally stands still on the court at times for a good 2 seconds.
It has cost the Kings countless points this year.
Glad to see someone caught this one in pictures- but I'm positive a very instructive mix-tape could be made of Tyreke's somnambulance during games.
I want to bring up 2 plays involving DMC, though:
1) Tyreke was handling the ball, and embarrassingly dribbled it off Rubio's foot, turning it over. DMC was in front of Pekovic at the top of the key. Rubio ran on the break, Pekovic followed him on the full run while DMC slowly jogged after him.
When Rubio's drive was stopped, he between-the-legs passed it to Pekovic for the slam.
This is the kind of slow reaction and lack of running that is killing the Kings this year.
I dig DMC and have made that clear, but if he thinks he doesn;t have to run on the court, he's sadly mistaken.
He's the last player down the court every damn play of the game.
In fact - it was getting absurd this game -he wasn't even in the paint until 14 seconds left in the clock ALL GAME LONG.
With how long it takes the Kings to run a play, much less get him set up in the post and get the ball to him when the defense is denying him, he needs upwards of 20 seconds to ensure a realistic possibility of a play run for him.
So what can we conclude from this fact we're seeing on a getting-more-often basis?
I think Cousins is getting upset with how few plays are called for him. He figures - why should I bother running or even jogging fast, when all I can do is wait for some gunner to shoot it and then see if I can slip into the paint in the last second and steal an ORBD?
Combine this potentially-dangerous malaise with the fact that he gets intimidated when he plays against physical guys as big or bigger than him, and he ends up shying away from running and battling in the paint much.
2) That 3rd personal foul against DMC was conspiracy-level bull****.
The Kings should take this opportunity to send that to the league to express their displeasure at how blatant that call was against him. It showed, in absurdly-detailed clarity, how the refs can take out a player and make it so Demarcus cannot play some games.
DMC literally stood still on the ground with his hands down as the opposing player drove and jumped into/over him.
If that is a foul, than you can pack up the NBA and throw it off a cliff because there's no way to play defense as a big man and not get a foul called on you. May as well turn the game into a guard-only game. You'd be handing out 20 fouls a game to every defender, unless they matador and try to steal the ball as the guy dribbles past (oh, wait...).
And BTW - I'm no expert, but there's one thing that's VERY easy for me to see - whenever a player goaltends by touching the ball AFTER it hits the backboard, it's incredibly easy for me to see in real time. Instantly, I can tell whether the trajectory of the ball was changed by the backboard during a block attempt. I'm positive many of you can see this, as well.
My question is - if the refs are standing on the court, getting paid to watch the game, why can't they see it, too?
Oh, and because the thread has already started devolving into a Jimmer thread (sigh), I liked the brief shot of the bench midway through the fourth when Jimmer hit his third or fourth shot in a row and the bench just exploded. I take back everything I ever said about there being tension between the team and Jimmer.
This crow I'm eating sure is tasty.
This crow I'm eating sure is tasty.
The refs have the ability to basically call whatever they want as a foul without reproach.
there was a couple on I.T that i thought we're very soft too.
like Dwight Howard said to cuz "stay off the refs because they target the big guys" - Yeah i guess so!
Obviously everybody knows Joe Crawford is a horrible ref, but what gets me is the praise and gushing your hear lavished on him by all commentators. Same for Bavetta.
there was a couple on I.T that i thought we're very soft too.
like Dwight Howard said to cuz "stay off the refs because they target the big guys" - Yeah i guess so!
Obviously everybody knows Joe Crawford is a horrible ref, but what gets me is the praise and gushing your hear lavished on him by all commentators. Same for Bavetta.
I have a couple comments on IfAt1st's note. I didn't see the game as I was trying to set up a new TV -damn, they've turned into part TV and part computer. Anyway, DMC usually hustles and frankly I've been surprised he could do that. He IS carting around a lot of weight. Now he is putting in a lot of minutes because despite the referees, seems to have pretty much solved the fouling problem. Kareem Abdul Jabbar trotted slowly back to offense and obviously was conserving energy. I wouldn't fault Cousins for getting tired but if that guy turns a little more fat into muscle, he's going to be even more of a beast.
I've refereed which is about as close to athletics as I've gotten. Best seat in the house, let me tell ya. A lot of calls are made by anticipation. At this point in DMC's career he is expected to foul so they call them. The game goes fast and the ref's get a ration of crap if they have a slow whistle so they don't take time to think. So they anticipate. Fortunately, they also review game films. They will soon notice that DMC doesn't foul the way he used to and pretty soon they won't call as many fouls. DMC has really turned around his fouling in a way I didn't expect. There is a lot less reaching in and I think he has either learned this or has had a chat with Smart telling him it is worth more to us by having him on the court than the small item of the other team scoring 2 points and an occasional and 1.
Last year I read that the top notch referees in the NBA made correct calls a little bit more than 90% of the time. I may have the figure wrong but I know the amount of missed calls shocked me. I am not saying referees are bad as a lot of people claim. I am saying that NBA basketball is difficult to ref. Does anyone remember when they used two refs? They added the third as two guys simply couldn't see everything that was going on. I suspect three can't either but I'd hate to have four out there.
I've refereed which is about as close to athletics as I've gotten. Best seat in the house, let me tell ya. A lot of calls are made by anticipation. At this point in DMC's career he is expected to foul so they call them. The game goes fast and the ref's get a ration of crap if they have a slow whistle so they don't take time to think. So they anticipate. Fortunately, they also review game films. They will soon notice that DMC doesn't foul the way he used to and pretty soon they won't call as many fouls. DMC has really turned around his fouling in a way I didn't expect. There is a lot less reaching in and I think he has either learned this or has had a chat with Smart telling him it is worth more to us by having him on the court than the small item of the other team scoring 2 points and an occasional and 1.
Last year I read that the top notch referees in the NBA made correct calls a little bit more than 90% of the time. I may have the figure wrong but I know the amount of missed calls shocked me. I am not saying referees are bad as a lot of people claim. I am saying that NBA basketball is difficult to ref. Does anyone remember when they used two refs? They added the third as two guys simply couldn't see everything that was going on. I suspect three can't either but I'd hate to have four out there.
You do realize that he's getting the def rebounds and passing to the guards while everyone else is already moving. Of course he is going to be the last one. On defense if transition he also normally has the longest distance to run back. The centers are normally the last players down the court on every team unless your name is Howard.
Guards are running from Free throw line to 3 pt line, post players have to run from basket to basket.
Guards are running from Free throw line to 3 pt line, post players have to run from basket to basket.
I know last night was a back to back game for the KIngs but I was beginning to think our guys were in better shape than they have shown in the past two games. Particularly in their lack of energy at the beginning of the game. Is it still a problem?
I agree with soneone who pointed out that Evans literally just stood as a spectator on offense at the beginning of last night's game. There must be a reason but it's hard to figure out without laying some negative on Evans. I'm sure others might have been guilty also but Tyreke?
I agree with soneone who pointed out that Evans literally just stood as a spectator on offense at the beginning of last night's game. There must be a reason but it's hard to figure out without laying some negative on Evans. I'm sure others might have been guilty also but Tyreke?
Between Casspi, Greene, Garcia, Salmons, and Thompson(he's a SF right?); it's amazing how little production we've seen from the SF spot over the last year and a half.
Greene and Casspi were supposed to be the young guys ready to break out. We saw how that ended up. Garcia and Salmons should have been decent enough options to at least hold down the position for a short period. I'm not sure who's worse.
I haven't seen Kawhi Leonard play this year, but he was the guy I wanted us to pick and I'd much rather have him and Beno over Salmons and Jimmer.
Greene and Casspi were supposed to be the young guys ready to break out. We saw how that ended up. Garcia and Salmons should have been decent enough options to at least hold down the position for a short period. I'm not sure who's worse.
I haven't seen Kawhi Leonard play this year, but he was the guy I wanted us to pick and I'd much rather have him and Beno over Salmons and Jimmer.
Excellent post. There is another possibility when it comes to Cousins - he's still not in shape. That said, if he loafs up the court, either because he's tired, or because he's sulking, Smart needs to pull him out and tell the young man that he looks tired out there. Smart may be rethinking his strategy about keeping Cousins in the game even when he is tired, or at least playing like he's tired. The only disciplinary tool he has in his tool kit is playing time, and if Cousins can continue to get minutes while loafing that doesn't exactly incentivize him to play the Smart way. Cousins started this game very poorly, with poor defense and terrible turnovers. At one point, his defense was laughably bad. This is the first time I've seen Smart yelling at him, and from what I can tell, Smart isn't a screamer. Of course Cousins yelled back. Big surprise. I'm also starting to wonder about Cousins backing down against the big guys. It's one thing the play physical against Okafor; quite another to go manno-manno with Pekovic. One game Cousins is a HOFer, the next game he's a scrub. The Cousins saga continues...
I'm tired of people assuming Dally even wanted to come back to Sac or would have, without an obscene offer of money.
Smart commented on Cousins conditioning soon after he took over. It wasn't just fouls that limited Copusins time on the court, it was his poor conditioning. Smart told him he had to really work hard on it. It's nice to see him completely whole games, but it's possible that back to backs are still a real test for him.
I think conditioning needs to be a huge emphasis for a lot of guys on this team, including or especially in the off season.
I'd hate to think of what that game might have looked like, if Love had been available.
Smart commented on Cousins conditioning soon after he took over. It wasn't just fouls that limited Copusins time on the court, it was his poor conditioning. Smart told him he had to really work hard on it. It's nice to see him completely whole games, but it's possible that back to backs are still a real test for him.
I think conditioning needs to be a huge emphasis for a lot of guys on this team, including or especially in the off season.
I'd hate to think of what that game might have looked like, if Love had been available.
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