[Grades] Grades vs. Grizzlies, 1/20/17

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
#1
There’s a girl in New York City who calls herself The Human Trampoline
Sometimes when I’m falling, flying, tumbling in turmoil
I say “Oh, so this is what she means”
She means we’re bouncing into Graceland...


And when you bounce into Graceland with a losing record and missing your second-best scorer, get ready to get bounced right back out of Graceland. The Kings got off to a hot-shooting 9-0 start, but then returned the favor by giving up 11 straight. They finished out the first quarter strong, particularly on the defensive end, only allowing 15 points. But from there, the Grizzlies just took over, slowly and surely building up a +27 over the middle two quarters, finishing up the beatdown late in the third quarter with big men hitting deep threes. The fourth quarter was nothing more than six minutes of early garbage time with Willie and Ben, and then six minutes of legit garbage time with the Mal/Skal duo joining them as Joerger rested his starters for Chicago.



Starters:
Darren Collison (D+) - Played some harassing defense on Conley, who didn't really get off tonight, but missed far too many easy shots for a player who now must be one of the primary offensive options.
Arron Afflalo (C-) - Had quite a few good defensive possessions as if he forgot that he is now old, and can't play D anymore. But on the other hand, stone-handed a layup out of bounds and generally disappeared on offense.
Garrett Temple (B-) - Didn't have a terribly strong game until garbage time, when he started taking shots away from the rookies - as the PG on the floor. He padded his stats in the last few minutes to make his game look on par, but wasn't quite there when we needed him.
Kosta Koufos (C-) - Did his best to make life hard on Gasol, but didn't make life hard on Gasol. Somehow forgot how to rebound, the one problem he really hasn't had this year. Somehow logged 24 minutes in the first three quarters, which is amazing, because I would have guessed like 14.
Demarcus Cousins (B) - Had a classic Boogie game in every possible way. Scored with the J and the drive, gobbled up rebounds, made great passes (and had several should-be assists blown by his teammates), got into a bit of foul trouble, argued with the refs and got a T. Notably finished the game with 9,504 points, passing Peja for #2 on the all-time Kings scoring list with an excuse-me banked jumper from the deep wing (still a ways to go to pass Mitch Richmond at 12070).

Bench:
Ty Lawson (B-) - Was getting to the basket both in the half court and transition, and was basically the Kings' only real offensive threat not named Boogie for most of the game.
Anthony Tolliver (D) - Tolliver was apparently on the floor tonight, not that he did anything of note other than miss a ton of threes and let Z-Bo have whatever he wanted.
Matt Barnes (D+) - Immediately knocked down a three, then remembered who he is. Missed two easy layups, player pretty awful defense, just generally made us miss Rudy that much more.
Ben McLemore (D+) - Came in, hit his first two shots, and looked generally like an NBA player until garbage time came, when he completely fell apart.
Willie Cauley-Stein (C+) - Had a promising if short outing, with flashes of defense, two clean jumpers, and two dead-center free throws. Don't give up on him just yet...
Malachi Richardson (INC) - Had a quiet outing, with one nice drive for a foul, but otherwise didn't get much done aside from Mitch Richmonding the line on his missed jumper.
Skal Labissiere (INC) - Got out there and immediately made Willie Cauley-Stein look like a monstrous weight-room addict. That said, he had a pretty nasty follow-up dunk and played solid D in his short stint.
 
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#11
So what happens if sixers make the playoffs and/Or get a pick after 11th and we get a top 10 pick and they switch with us. Do we lose that pick to the bulls?

Sorry if this question has been asked elsewhere.
Bulls only have control of our pick. If Philly gets 11 or whatever, we keep it. Bulls only get the pick if it's our personal pick that falls out of top 10.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#12
So what happens if sixers make the playoffs and/Or get a pick after 11th and we get a top 10 pick and they switch with us. Do we lose that pick to the bulls?

Sorry if this question has been asked elsewhere.
There's a stickied thread that Capt. put up that addresses the pick situation.
 
#13
This season is simply awful. I'm wondering who will become the scapegoat this year. Last year is was obviously Karl. In years past we have had PDA and IT. This year there is no clear cut favorite to be the scapegoat. Sadly, however, I am afraid it may be Vlade's turn.
 
#14
This season is simply awful. I'm wondering who will become the scapegoat this year. Last year is was obviously Karl. In years past we have had PDA and IT. This year there is no clear cut favorite to be the scapegoat. Sadly, however, I am afraid it may be Vlade's turn.
It's funny how there is always a clear cut scapegoat every year. The scapegoats get ejected and land on their feet most of the time. Yet one thing in Kings land has remained constant. Every year the same results. Get me off this merry go round.
 
#15
This season is simply awful. I'm wondering who will become the scapegoat this year. Last year is was obviously Karl. In years past we have had PDA and IT. This year there is no clear cut favorite to be the scapegoat. Sadly, however, I am afraid it may be Vlade's turn.
I really wanted vlade to succeed. Real high hopes for this season but some of his moves/non moves are starting to look bad. WCS was a pick a lot of us liked and seemed like a good pick but hasn't panned out so far. "The trade" which I hated, is coming back to haunt us in multiple ways. Stauskas looking like the guard that should have stayed, philly with a real chance to swap this year and still get a future pick, and that cap space didn't do much with rondo and Marco gone and not doing much with them. Last but not least is a move not many likes. Letting Seth curry go to sign a cheap contract with the mavs and have some success this year while we over spend on Barnes afflalo and tolliver. Then there's the unfortunate Rudy injury before he was traded even though he stated he was opting out. While he's done some good, like signing temple and getting a good coach, it's starting to looking like the bad is outweighing the good. If anyone is going to be this seasons scapegoat, it might be vlade.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#16


And when you bounce into Graceland with a losing record and missing your second-best scorer, get ready to get bounced right back out of Graceland. The Kings got off to a hot-shooting 9-0 start, but then returned the favor by giving up 11 straight. They finished out the first quarter strong, particularly on the defensive end, only allowing 15 points. But from there, the Grizzlies just took over, slowly and surely building up a +27 over the middle two quarters, finishing up the beatdown late in the third quarter with big men hitting deep threes. The fourth quarter was nothing more than six minutes of early garbage time with Willie and Ben, and then six minutes of legit garbage time with the Mal/Skal duo joining them as Joerger rested his starters for Chicago.



Starters:
Darren Collison (D+) - Played some harassing defense on Conley, who didn't really get off tonight, but missed far too many easy shots for a player who now must be one of the primary offensive options.
Arron Afflalo (C-) - Had quite a few good defensive possessions as if he forgot that he is now old, and can't play D anymore. But on the other hand, stone-handed a layup out of bounds and generally disappeared on offense.
Garrett Temple (B-) - Didn't have a terribly strong game until garbage time, when he started taking shots away from the rookies - as the PG on the floor. He padded his stats in the last few minutes to make his game look on par, but wasn't quite there when we needed him.
Kosta Koufos (C-) - Did his best to make life hard on Gasol, but didn't make life hard on Gasol. Somehow forgot how to rebound, the one problem he really hasn't had this year. Somehow logged 24 minutes in the first three quarters, which is amazing, because I would have guessed like 14.
Demarcus Cousins (B) - Had a classic Boogie game in every possible way. Scored with the J and the drive, gobbled up rebounds, made great passes (and had several should-be assists blown by his teammates), got into a bit of foul trouble, argued with the refs and got a T. Notably finished the game with 9,504 points, passing Peja for #2 on the all-time Kings scoring list with an excuse-me banked jumper from the deep wing (still a ways to go to pass Mitch Richmond at 12070).

Bench:
Ty Lawson (B-) - Was getting to the basket both in the half court and transition, and was basically the Kings' only real offensive threat not named Boogie for most of the game.
Anthony Tolliver (D) - Tolliver was apparently on the floor tonight, not that he did anything of note other than miss a ton of threes and let Z-Bo have whatever he wanted.
Matt Barnes (D+) - Immediately knocked down a three, then remembered who he is. Missed two easy layups, player pretty awful defense, just generally made us miss Rudy that much more.
Ben McLemore (D+) - Came in, hit his first two shots, and looked generally like an NBA player until garbage time came, when he completely fell apart.
Willie Cauley-Stein (C+) - Had a promising if short outing, with flashes of defense, two clean jumpers, and two dead-center free throws. Don't give up on him just yet...
Malachi Richardson (INC) - Had a quiet outing, with one nice drive for a foul, but otherwise didn't get much done aside from Mitch Richmonding the line on his missed jumper.
Skal Labissiere (INC) - Got out there and immediately made Willie Cauley-Stein look like a monstrous weight-room addict. That said, he had a pretty nasty follow-up dunk and played solid D in his short stint.

See? See? He's snarky!

Inevitable consequence of the job. :p
 
#17
I really wanted vlade to succeed. Real high hopes for this season but some of his moves/non moves are starting to look bad. WCS was a pick a lot of us liked and seemed like a good pick but hasn't panned out so far. "The trade" which I hated, is coming back to haunt us in multiple ways. Stauskas looking like the guard that should have stayed, philly with a real chance to swap this year and still get a future pick, and that cap space didn't do much with rondo and Marco gone and not doing much with them. Last but not least is a move not many likes. Letting Seth curry go to sign a cheap contract with the mavs and have some success this year while we over spend on Barnes afflalo and tolliver. Then there's the unfortunate Rudy injury before he was traded even though he stated he was opting out. While he's done some good, like signing temple and getting a good coach, it's starting to looking like the bad is outweighing the good. If anyone is going to be this seasons scapegoat, it might be vlade.

I liked the Cauley-Stein pick as "safe". I thought he'd be getting alot more playing time though this season. Now Joerger is playing his Vet squad in hopes for wins, but its stalling out. The question is when does he throw in the towel on his own rotation ideas and bring in the younger players to help them develop again if at all? The Lawson pickup was easily the best of the season, and I hope they bring him back next season at value to both parties.
 
#19
Cousins got a technical toward the end of the 2nd quarter. He had 16 points and the Kings where down by 6 points. Cousins only scores 3 more points in the second half. He was taken out of the game at the end of the third quarter and never came back in. Kings lose by 16 and it wasn't that close. How critical are these selfish moments in almost every game when Cousins says or does something because he is angry and can't control himself?
 
#20
No dribble penetration, no shooting, no one who can dribble and create inside the 3 point line with consistency, no flow or structure on offense just a bunch of ball sticking ugly iso basketball that starts with Cuz. A bunch of 3rd string talent on the roster yet ownership and the GM have delusions of the playoffs.

Please blow it up asap!
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#21
Cousins got a technical toward the end of the 2nd quarter. He had 16 points and the Kings where down by 6 points. Cousins only scores 3 more points in the second half. He was taken out of the game at the end of the third quarter and never came back in. Kings lose by 16 and it wasn't that close. How critical are these selfish moments in almost every game when Cousins says or does something because he is angry and can't control himself?
Given that we cut the lead down to 5 and immediately completely collapsed when we removed him, maybe not so much.


More damaging was the moment that led to that technical (btw, interesting note, but Jones said Cousins did NOT get that for anything he said to the ref directly, but rather for something he said to his bench talking about the ref -- methinks "that dude is ****ing blind" or some such) when Cuz picked up his 3rd foul with 2.7 seconds to go in the half. That was truly pointless and sloppy.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#22
No dribble penetration, no shooting, no one who can dribble and create inside the 3 point line with consistency, no flow or structure on offense just a bunch of ball sticking ugly iso basketball that starts with Cuz. A bunch of 3rd string talent on the roster yet ownership and the GM have delusions of the playoffs.

Please blow it up asap!
Indeed, coming into this game Cousins was averaging 7 assists a game this month. Truly a ball sticker.
 
#23
Indeed, coming into this game Cousins was averaging 7 assists a game this month. Truly a ball sticker.
Im forming my opinion based on what I see and what I see is no flow, guys standing around. Cuz sets a lazy pick never rolls gets it at the three point line iso.....almost every play down the court. Not even really an attack on Cuz but its more on Joerger and the FO(no talent). The offense is ineffective and unwatchable.
 
K

KingMilz

Guest
#24
Whatever Cousins did to pee off Big Spain in the 3rd not a wise move.....Gasol just murked us in the 3rd and Z-Bo finished us. The cherry on the top was on the Grizz telecast where they were about to interview Gasol post gameand Tony Allen just came in "best C in the game".
Tolliver, I want to like him, but just isn't good....
Acy had 12 and 7 in a Nets win
 
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#25
Whatever Cousins did to pee off Big Spain in the 3rd not a wise move.....Gasol just murked us in the 3rd and Z-Bo finished us. The cherry on the top was on the Grizz telecast where they were about to interview Gasol post gameand Tony Allen just came in "best C in the game".

Acy had 12 and 7 in a Nets win
Dejounte Murray had 24 in his first extended minutes last night too, could have picked him 3 times!
 
#28
I thought this game was "for Rudy"? All talk no actions......

Despite his solid numbers Cousins looked bad out there. His defense was bad, he missed his fair share of really good looks and missed his fair share of rebounding opportunities. He deserves some of the criticism for this loss.
But what really bothers me, is the amount of open 3's his teammates miss. You can't ask more from Cuz, than to set up his teammates like he does in January. But when Tolliver, DC, Barnes and Afflalo just keep bricking 3 after 3 after 3, Cousins really can't do anything about it. Of course with Cousins acting more like a playmaker, more TO's happen. He tries the fancy pass a little too often. But when his teammates fumble layup opportunities, it's just inexcusable.
And the rebounding......boy how awful can a NBA veteran be on the glass, when every game the opposing wings and guards fly in uncontested for offensive boards? Tony Allen had 5 offensive boards, Ennis 3, Green 2, Conley and Harrison 1. That's 12 offensive boards from people crashing the boards while starting on the perimeter, when the shot goes up. We on the other hand had 3 offensive rebounds from Tolliver and 1 from Cousins. No offensive rebounding from the perimeter guys (excluding Tolliver) at all.

We lack shooting, athleticism and defense. Cousins needs to do a better job protecting the rim and rotating, he needs to hit the shots the D gives him, but no matter what he does, he won't carry these guys to the Playoffs.
This roster is just not up to the challenge and is outmatched in the athleticism, rebounding and shooting categories almost every night.
 
#29
Interesting grade for Skal. How does he make Willie look like a weightroom addict, when he grabs more boards in 6 minutes than Willie in 12?
First he was matched with Green and after that with Martin, who is a lot more bulky than Skal. He didn't get overpowered once....
He had good position, when the shots did go up. He grabbed 3 boards in 6 minutes and had a tip attempt, that wasn't counted, because Malachi was fouled on his drive.
He was active in his rotations, helped out on Willies man twice and broke one alley oup attempt to Martin.
He switched on Harrison and was able to keep up with him, bothering his finish at the rim (Ok not overly impressive, because Harrison is pretty slow for a PG).
His movements lack grace and don't look fluid. He seems to be a bit slow for his build and weight. But the effort is there and people make a lot more out of his so called lack of strength than necessary.