[Game] Kings v. Thunder - 11/23/16 - 7:30PT/10:30ET

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#1
So, another good team is coming to town. Will the luck continue? I don't know about anyone else, but I'm sending positive thoughts and wishes in the direction of the Great God Naismith...it can't hurt!

#GoKings
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#5
Westbrook is going to get his regardless, you just have to limit the rest of his teammates and you can beat this OKC team. Steven Adams versus Cousins is always a fun one to watch. Oladipo might have a field day.
 
#6
Westbrook is going to get his regardless, you just have to limit the rest of his teammates and you can beat this OKC team. Steven Adams versus Cousins is always a fun one to watch. Oladipo might have a field day.
OKC is an interesting matchup for the Kings.

Starting Lawson and Collison seems foolish but going back to Cousins/Koufos makes some sense if OKC is still starting Sabonis/Adams.

But personally I'd still really like to see Collison, Temple, Gay, Casspi, Cousins.

It would give the Kings much better spacing, be solid defensively and not have them getting killed in the boards. Plus Casspi would pull Sabonis away from the basket to either avoid or punish double teams on Cousins.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#8
OKC is an interesting matchup for the Kings.

Starting Lawson and Collison seems foolish but going back to Cousins/Koufos makes some sense if OKC is still starting Sabonis/Adams.

But personally I'd still really like to see Collison, Temple, Gay, Casspi, Cousins.

It would give the Kings much better spacing, be solid defensively and not have them getting killed in the boards. Plus Casspi would pull Sabonis away from the basket to either avoid or punish double teams on Cousins.
You really would start Casspi? Casspi has not done a thing to warrant starting, he needs to first get playing time. Not go from in the dog house to starting. We can say that he "should" be playing but I would disagree...he doesn't fit with this head coach and team any longer, last season...sure, he was fun to watch in an uptempo style of play.
 
#9
OKC is an interesting matchup for the Kings.

Starting Lawson and Collison seems foolish but going back to Cousins/Koufos makes some sense if OKC is still starting Sabonis/Adams.

But personally I'd still really like to see Collison, Temple, Gay, Casspi, Cousins.

It would give the Kings much better spacing, be solid defensively and not have them getting killed in the boards. Plus Casspi would pull Sabonis away from the basket to either avoid or punish double teams on Cousins.
I think this would be my starting lineup as well (or replacing Collison with Afflalo). I think Casspi would be a great fit in the starting lineup with his excellent 3pt shooting. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that Joerger will/wants to play Casspi, so we're likely to see Barnes instead of Casspi in the starting lineup.

If Gay & Temple keep shooting the 3 ball at a similar rate that they have done this season, you could potentially have five 40% 3pt shooters to choose from as your starters around Cousins (Collison, Temple, Afflalo, Gay, & Casspi). How sweet would that spacing be?!

The good news is that Lawson has shot 47% from the floor and 50% from three the last 5 games. Hopefully, this is a sign that his shot is coming back. He won't be as unplayable if he can at least hit an open jumper.

If I was Joerger, I think this is what I would like to see the rotation shape up to be:

9-Man Rotation
PG - Collison (32 min) / Lawson (16 min)
SG - Temple (20 min) / Afflalo (28 min)
SF - Gay (34 min) / Temple (8 min) / Barnes (6 min)
PF - Casspi (28 min) / Barnes (20 min)
C - Cousins (36 min) / Koufos (12 min)

9-Man Minute Distribution
Cousins - 36 min
Gay - 34 min
Collison - 32 min
Temple - 28 min
Afflalo - 28 min
Casspi - 28 min
Barnes - 26 min
Lawson - 16 min
Koufos - 12 min
 
#10
You really would start Casspi? Casspi has not done a thing to warrant starting, he needs to first get playing time. Not go from in the dog house to starting. We can say that he "should" be playing but I would disagree...he doesn't fit with this head coach and team any longer, last season...sure, he was fun to watch in an uptempo style of play.
I would. He's a great rebounder and 3pt shooter, and his defense contributed to wins last year when you look at the best advanced stats. People like to overplay his turnovers because when he turns it over, it's practically embarrassing, but the truth of the matter is that Barnes averaged more turnovers per 100 possessions than Casspi last year.

I'd rather have Casspi's elite 3pt shooting, solid rebounding, and size in the starting lineup vs. Barnes who has a horrible standing reach of 8'0.5" (That's the same as Darren Collison!) and has below average to average 3pt shooting. His defense is better than Casspi's & he's a better passer, but I would rather have the attributes Casspi brings in the starting lineup.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#11
I would. He's a great rebounder and 3pt shooter, and his defense contributed to wins last year when you look at the best advanced stats. People like to overplay his turnovers because when he turns it over, it's practically embarrassing, but the truth of the matter is that Barnes averaged more turnovers per 100 possessions than Casspi last year.

I'd rather have Casspi's elite 3pt shooting, solid rebounding, and size in the starting lineup vs. Barnes who has a horrible standing reach of 8'0.5" (That's the same as Darren Collison!) and has below average to average 3pt shooting. His defense is better than Casspi's & he's a better passer, but I would rather have the attributes Casspi brings in the starting lineup.
This shouldn't be a debate between Matt & Omri but since you started it...Omri has two season where he shot 40% from three...that's dandy and all but he really doesn't consistently bring it on the boards and while Matt is not the shooter Omri is, Matt does other things that don't always show up on the stat sheet. By no means am I condoning starting Matt, I don't want Matt starting either, he should not be starting but since he is...what else can we do about it but bicker about how Omri is this world beater who should be starting, obviously Joerger sees something that other posters on here don't.
 
#12
Don't want WCS playing scrub minutes, actually don't want him playing minutes

He's a walking deficit and it will be on Joerger if I see WCas negatively changing momentum from here on out

WCS has played himself out of the rotation even liberally speaking. Needs to earn time
 
#14
I think the Kings need better spacing than the Koufos/Cousins lineup and I think the Lawson/Collison lineup is a disaster defensively and weak on the boards.

So to me Collison/Temple/Gay/Casspi/Cousins is the best compromise between defense, rebounding and the shooting needed to space the floor for Gay & Cousins. Barnes needs lots of floor time but I like Omri's rebounding and shooting and he was really good at the PF spot next to Rudy and DMC.

I wouldn't be upset to see Barnes start instead but Omri should at least be getting a look given how disappointing a lot of guys have been so far.

The case could be made that you get a second unit that plays very uptempo. Lawson, Casspi and Cauley-Stein are all best suited for a transition, attacking team. Willie in particular is best utilized in a Tyson Chandler type role with lots of guys who space the floor and where his role in the offense is as a screen and role player.

That said, WCS and Casspi look out of the rotation completely and Lawson probably would be too if (1) there was another viable option at PG and (2) if there wasn't a small bit of hope that he'd return to his Denver form.
 

Larry89

Disgruntled Kings Fan
#18
Welp somehow the Lakers are beating OKC by 10+ pts right now, and we got them on a B2B tommorow.. Lakers will be 7th seed after a win tonight as well I think..
 
#19
The Lakers are playing great team ball. And tonight it's without D'Angelo Russell and with their #2 overall pick scoring just 5 points.

EDIT: Now Ingram has 8.

They are mostly doing it by buying in, playing to their strengths and playing together.
 
#20
I think the biggest key to our "playing small" is just not pairing Koufos with Cousins. 2K doesnt wow you, but he plays good defense in the post and gets his rebounds. The pairing with Cousins just doesnt work.

Afflalo coming off the bench worked very well. If he had not banged knees and Coach taken him out for a period ( he thought he was hurt from it) he may have done even better.

Temple does so many little things that add up to a lot. I just don't want to see him as the primary play maker. I don't think it utilizes him properly.

Whether to start Barnes or Casspi at PF I cant say. I would probably lean towards Barnes to start, but not to say that Omri doesnt deserve minutes.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#21
Welp somehow the Lakers are beating OKC by 10+ pts right now, and we got them on a B2B tommorow.. Lakers will be 7th seed after a win tonight as well I think..
I continue to SMH at all the people who were whining about the Atlanta loss (before embarrassing themselves against the Pels, the #2 team in the East), and the Lakers loss to a team that hasn't figured out it doesn't belong yet and has been running around threatening and beating traditional powers.

And OKC is shakier than their record. As people have pointed out, they're 8-7, and yet already they have played 10 home games and only 5 away games. They've dropped 6 of 8. Were it not for Adams' record as one of the better Boogie-stoppers out there, I would have a fairly easy time favoring us on our home floor.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#22
The Lakers are playing great team ball. And tonight it's without D'Angelo Russell and with their #2 overall pick scoring just 5 points.

EDIT: Now Ingram has 8.

They are mostly doing it by buying in, playing to their strengths and playing together.
As I mentioned back when they beat us, they AREN'T as young as people keep saying they are. What's powering them is a large contingent of hoary old vets. They've actually got no fewer than 7 guys who are 30+ years old on their 15 man roster. We've only got 5.
 
#24
The bad news is: I'm going to be in the Sacramento area visiting family for Thanksgiving.
The good news is: I'll be attending my first game at the Golden1 center.
The even better news is: The Kings have won 90% of their games when I'm in attendance.

6-9 here we come.
 
#27
As I mentioned back when they beat us, they AREN'T as young as people keep saying they are. What's powering them is a large contingent of hoary old vets. They've actually got no fewer than 7 guys who are 30+ years old on their 15 man roster. We've only got 5.
No they aren't young on average. But what youth they do have (Russell, Clarkson, Ingram, Randle, Nance, and even Zubac - who I liked a lot in the draft) has a lot of potential.

I thought they overpaid for Mosgov & Deng but they clearly are rebuilding very well.
 
#28
As I mentioned back when they beat us, they AREN'T as young as people keep saying they are. What's powering them is a large contingent of hoary old vets. They've actually got no fewer than 7 guys who are 30+ years old on their 15 man roster. We've only got 5.
What a nice attempt of you trying to shape a narrative...

Do you really believe Luol Deng, Mozgov, Lou Williams and Nick Young are the most important players on that team? Of course they aren't. That team is actually powered by the improved play of Russell, Randle, Clarkson, Nance and supported well by the vets that actually do play.