[Game] Kings @ Raptors - Sunday, Dec. 20 - 3 PST, 6 EST
- Thread starter VF21
- Start date
I believe that this is not a sub 500 team but it will be if George keeps using his go to end of the game lineup. I like DC but I'd rather have Ben out there for his defense against their scorers. I don't like to seeRondo guarding Shabazz Mohammed or Bellinelli guarding James Johnson. Bellinelli againstmJames gave them 4 quick points and momentum.....momentum that we were able to get back after George went to a traditional lineup. How hard headed is George?
When things are going good for us offensively, things will go for us well defensively too.
I think Rondo needs to step up on his boards. I know he's a great rebounder, but we've been getting out-rebounded.
It's lack of faith in Ben's offensive ability. It's not just Karl, but the entire team. I also feel like Collison wouldn't be happy if he weren't finishing games. I'm starting to like the duo, but I don't like their lack of defense. However, we must remember that we still have a great force in WCS...we need him back.
I'd like to see more of Acy too. He brings energy that no one else on this team does..I'm serious..every team has that high energy guy..but we don't have that. Acy could be a guy who gets 8-10mins a game to clean things up.
I think Rondo needs to step up on his boards. I know he's a great rebounder, but we've been getting out-rebounded.
It's lack of faith in Ben's offensive ability. It's not just Karl, but the entire team. I also feel like Collison wouldn't be happy if he weren't finishing games. I'm starting to like the duo, but I don't like their lack of defense. However, we must remember that we still have a great force in WCS...we need him back.
I'd like to see more of Acy too. He brings energy that no one else on this team does..I'm serious..every team has that high energy guy..but we don't have that. Acy could be a guy who gets 8-10mins a game to clean things up.
The simple solution is to trade Collison.
If you make a trade similar to Collison/Koufos for R. Anderson/N. Cole/Ajinca, the minute distribution becomes a lot less cluttered and much more reasonable.
PG - Rondo (37 min)/Cole (11 min)/Curry
SG - McLemore (24 min)/Belinelli (20 min)/Casspi (4 min)/Anderson
SF - Gay (30 min)/Casspi (18 min)/Butler
PF - Cauley-Stein (20 min)/Anderson (24 min)/Gay (4 min)/Acy/Moreland
C - Cousins (37 min)/Ajinca (11 min)
And just like that, we've eliminated the Rondo/Collison backcourt, 3 guard lineups, & dual center lineups. We're immediately much more balanced without having to force anyone out of position.
As I have mentioned before, Collison getting minutes at SG causes McLemore/Belinelli to get minutes at SF which causes Gay/Casspi to log minutes at PF. If you move Collison, a lot of those rotation issues will be resolved.
If you make a trade similar to Collison/Koufos for R. Anderson/N. Cole/Ajinca, the minute distribution becomes a lot less cluttered and much more reasonable.
PG - Rondo (37 min)/Cole (11 min)/Curry
SG - McLemore (24 min)/Belinelli (20 min)/Casspi (4 min)/Anderson
SF - Gay (30 min)/Casspi (18 min)/Butler
PF - Cauley-Stein (20 min)/Anderson (24 min)/Gay (4 min)/Acy/Moreland
C - Cousins (37 min)/Ajinca (11 min)
And just like that, we've eliminated the Rondo/Collison backcourt, 3 guard lineups, & dual center lineups. We're immediately much more balanced without having to force anyone out of position.
As I have mentioned before, Collison getting minutes at SG causes McLemore/Belinelli to get minutes at SF which causes Gay/Casspi to log minutes at PF. If you move Collison, a lot of those rotation issues will be resolved.
I think that Karl had it set in his mind before the season started that DC and Rondo would play down the stretch. There is nothing Ben can do to change his mind, short of becoming an all-star caliber player. Karl wants to play multiple PGs. Period.
As far as the trust of his teammates, it's true. He's going to have to earn their respect, by stop looking for their approval. When Ben got the offensive foul when he drove down the lane, Rudy was upset that he didn't kick it out to him for a 3. Ben said my bad. But it wasn't. Rudy would never have passed that ball out if he had an open lane and Ben shouldn't apologize for being aggressive when he has a hot hand. I think Ben has shown enough that he's going to have to demand his respect on the team.
As far as the trust of his teammates, it's true. He's going to have to earn their respect, by stop looking for their approval. When Ben got the offensive foul when he drove down the lane, Rudy was upset that he didn't kick it out to him for a 3. Ben said my bad. But it wasn't. Rudy would never have passed that ball out if he had an open lane and Ben shouldn't apologize for being aggressive when he has a hot hand. I think Ben has shown enough that he's going to have to demand his respect on the team.
Also something funny I caught was Jerry criticizing Ben for being aggressive and attacking. He said something along the lines of "this is where Ben needs to get a mid range J, his game just can't revolve around 3pters and layups". I think him and Grant are the same people who said Ben Mac needs to be more aggressive and attack the rim. I remember a few games early in the season, Ben was settling for a lot of mid range Js(and missing), and they said he needs to attack and be more aggressive.
Those guys can get confusing sometimes!
Even with this being said, I think Rudy is given a pass for barking at Ben. He's a superior player and it was just a bit of a small lecture. I've also noticed that Ben has started passing the ball better lately. It might be something they're working on in practice for him...or maybe it's Karl's way of slowly bringing Ben into his offense. Ben is playing as a 3&D player right now.
Ben should just keep continuing to play at this high level. He's an important piece to this team and Karl knows it. I don't have a problem at all with Ben getting 20mins a game as long as we can finish strong at the end of games. \
Those guys can get confusing sometimes!
Even with this being said, I think Rudy is given a pass for barking at Ben. He's a superior player and it was just a bit of a small lecture. I've also noticed that Ben has started passing the ball better lately. It might be something they're working on in practice for him...or maybe it's Karl's way of slowly bringing Ben into his offense. Ben is playing as a 3&D player right now.
Ben should just keep continuing to play at this high level. He's an important piece to this team and Karl knows it. I don't have a problem at all with Ben getting 20mins a game as long as we can finish strong at the end of games. \
I like the way Cousins is looking to set up his teammates instead of forcing up shots. He seems to be in a slump offensively, but he found ways to help the team nonetheless and helped to seal the win in the 4th just by demanding attention from the defense. I expect him to bounce back at some point of the season and to get his offensive game going again. He is missing shots he usually makes at a very decent clip. Somehow he is rushing things a bit around the basket.
And he is keeping his composure like he did under Malone - no excessive barking at the officials. The T was questionable.
And he is keeping his composure like he did under Malone - no excessive barking at the officials. The T was questionable.
I would never trade Koufos. Just the kind of hard working, solid guy we need. And DC might be one of the best backup PG's. We were pretty successful of late with those smaller lineups. Why step away from it?
All we really need is an athletic defender for the 2,3 and 4 position off the bench and Karl to trust his younger players a bit more. Once WCS is back we could even try to assign him to those athletic wings to bother them with his length.
Shaking up things in the middle of a decent stretch of games for the Kings is too risky from my point of view.
All we really need is an athletic defender for the 2,3 and 4 position off the bench and Karl to trust his younger players a bit more. Once WCS is back we could even try to assign him to those athletic wings to bother them with his length.
Shaking up things in the middle of a decent stretch of games for the Kings is too risky from my point of view.
No, we've actually struggled while going small this year.
Sure Collison is one of the best backup PGs in the league, but it's not nearly as valuable when you have a starting PG who should be getting 35-37 minutes a night. Why not reallocate that talent to another position so we can have more balanced rotations that compliment each other?
I like Koufos a lot too and would not be in any rush to trade him, but if a deal came along that balances our team out, I'd be willing to include him. Ajinca is not a bad backup center. He's a big body who brings rebounding and defense. The plus side is that Cousins can log all of his minutes at C rather than playing him out of position at PF.
The main problem we have with the construction of our roster is that our 3 best bench players (Collison, Casspi, Koufos) play the same positions as our best players (Rondo, Gay Cousins). There's not enough minutes at each position for everyone so Karl has to play them out of position in order to find them enough minutes. If you just make a trade to reallocate that bench talent you still remain a talented club, but you're also improving because your players will be playing the positions they are meant to play (thus maximizing their talent). Just as an example, there's a reason why the Thunder don't have their best bench players at PG or SF.
Sure Collison is one of the best backup PGs in the league, but it's not nearly as valuable when you have a starting PG who should be getting 35-37 minutes a night. Why not reallocate that talent to another position so we can have more balanced rotations that compliment each other?
I like Koufos a lot too and would not be in any rush to trade him, but if a deal came along that balances our team out, I'd be willing to include him. Ajinca is not a bad backup center. He's a big body who brings rebounding and defense. The plus side is that Cousins can log all of his minutes at C rather than playing him out of position at PF.
The main problem we have with the construction of our roster is that our 3 best bench players (Collison, Casspi, Koufos) play the same positions as our best players (Rondo, Gay Cousins). There's not enough minutes at each position for everyone so Karl has to play them out of position in order to find them enough minutes. If you just make a trade to reallocate that bench talent you still remain a talented club, but you're also improving because your players will be playing the positions they are meant to play (thus maximizing their talent). Just as an example, there's a reason why the Thunder don't have their best bench players at PG or SF.
I like Koufos a lot more than Ajinca.
And I like our lineup with Gay or Casspi at the 4 a lot too. Gay and Casspi both are fairly big for SF's and when the effort is there don't have any problems playing the 4. And we have a very decent group of versatile players on offense like this. While Anderson is a good player, I'm not sure, that he would be an upgrade over Casspi in the starting 5.
The dual PG lineup may be good for certain situations, but Karl uses it way too often. But parting ways with DC? DC gives us an insurence, when Rondo has trouble with his jumper and the opponents play off of him. We can fall back to last years playstyle with ease and can still have decent spacing even when playing WCS at the 4. This is very important, when you have a great but flawed player like Rondo on the roster. When we reach the playoffs, DC will be even more important.
For me the problem is, that Karl doesn't trust Ben.
But I wouldn't trade DC because of it.
But I'm a guy, who doesn't think "positionsless basketball" is some kind of devilish plan to belittle the value of true big man. So maybe I'm jst a weirdo
And I like our lineup with Gay or Casspi at the 4 a lot too. Gay and Casspi both are fairly big for SF's and when the effort is there don't have any problems playing the 4. And we have a very decent group of versatile players on offense like this. While Anderson is a good player, I'm not sure, that he would be an upgrade over Casspi in the starting 5.
The dual PG lineup may be good for certain situations, but Karl uses it way too often. But parting ways with DC? DC gives us an insurence, when Rondo has trouble with his jumper and the opponents play off of him. We can fall back to last years playstyle with ease and can still have decent spacing even when playing WCS at the 4. This is very important, when you have a great but flawed player like Rondo on the roster. When we reach the playoffs, DC will be even more important.
For me the problem is, that Karl doesn't trust Ben.
But I wouldn't trade DC because of it.
But I'm a guy, who doesn't think "positionsless basketball" is some kind of devilish plan to belittle the value of true big man. So maybe I'm jst a weirdo
I like Koufos a lot more than Ajinca.
And I like our lineup with Gay or Casspi at the 4 a lot too. Gay and Casspi both are fairly big for SF's and when the effort is there don't have any problems playing the 4. And we have a very decent group of versatile players on offense like this. While Anderson is a good player, I'm not sure, that he would be an upgrade over Casspi in the starting 5.
The dual PG lineup may be good for certain situations, but Karl uses it way too often. But parting ways with DC? DC gives us an insurence, when Rondo has trouble with his jumper and the opponents play off of him. We can fall back to last years playstyle with ease and can still have decent spacing even when playing WCS at the 4. This is very important, when you have a great but flawed player like Rondo on the roster. When we reach the playoffs, DC will be even more important.
For me the problem is, that Karl doesn't trust Ben.
But I wouldn't trade DC because of it.
But I'm a guy, who doesn't think "positionsless basketball" is some kind of devilish plan to belittle the value of true big man. So maybe I'm jst a weirdo
And I like our lineup with Gay or Casspi at the 4 a lot too. Gay and Casspi both are fairly big for SF's and when the effort is there don't have any problems playing the 4. And we have a very decent group of versatile players on offense like this. While Anderson is a good player, I'm not sure, that he would be an upgrade over Casspi in the starting 5.
The dual PG lineup may be good for certain situations, but Karl uses it way too often. But parting ways with DC? DC gives us an insurence, when Rondo has trouble with his jumper and the opponents play off of him. We can fall back to last years playstyle with ease and can still have decent spacing even when playing WCS at the 4. This is very important, when you have a great but flawed player like Rondo on the roster. When we reach the playoffs, DC will be even more important.
For me the problem is, that Karl doesn't trust Ben.
But I wouldn't trade DC because of it.
But I'm a guy, who doesn't think "positionsless basketball" is some kind of devilish plan to belittle the value of true big man. So maybe I'm jst a weirdo
I never said Anderson would start. Cauley-Stein would start over Casspi as he brings much more defense to our starting lineup. If the team needs more shooting, you have Belinelli, Casspi, & Anderson sitting right there. However, I believe in setting a defensive tone early and Cauley-Stein helps us establish that.
I don't agree with your assessment on Rondo/Collison. You don't keep a player like Collison around because of insurance. If I have a player of Collison's caliber you want him on the floor for 25 mins a game. Unfortunately, he needs to play with Rondo to get those minutes which is the main issue. I honestly can't recall a game where Rondo has hurt us more than he has helped. You have to make a decision that he is your guy. You don't waste value roster space on a good backup PG when you're lacking in talent elsewhere.