Let's Make the Playoffs! & The State of the Opposition
- Thread starter Bricklayer
- Start date
The thing is for all the hand wringing, wailing and gnashing of teeth we are in the 9th slot a hairs breadth from 8, have won 5 of the last 7, and split the road trip 2 and 2... that ain't bad. The fact that the team still has lots of room for growth with the roster we have is a cause for OPTIMISM, it means with nothing more than a little rest, hard work and determination we can improve with what we have in a short time. I think .500 is doable and will get us in the play offs.
If the Kings are to be a playoff team, they need to win the games they should win and pull out a few upsets. Very few teams SHOULD be able to beat the Kings if they used their length to defend well and got the other team in foul trouble with Boogie and Rudy. Rondo's drive-and-dish to open shooters like Omri, Marco, and Ben should create good perimeter shots. Side-entry passes to DMC create double-teams that also open the floor for cutters as well as 2-3 pass open perimeter shooters. This is not rocket science but this team cannot seem to do it.
I truly think the 4 day Christmas break the team is on will help heal Boogie up a little and help the team to focus. I truly think that this team can sneak into the 8th seed if they can gain ground on Utah with Gobert out. To me, Utah is the real contender for the 8th seed with us, the other teams will fizzle out.
I truly think the 4 day Christmas break the team is on will help heal Boogie up a little and help the team to focus. I truly think that this team can sneak into the 8th seed if they can gain ground on Utah with Gobert out. To me, Utah is the real contender for the 8th seed with us, the other teams will fizzle out.
The only way this team will make the playoffs is if we start playing better team defense. You honestly do not need great defensive players to be respectable as a team on the defensive end. We lack communication and trust on defense, but above all we lack 48 minutes of effort.
I feel like if we could be at least respectable on that end of the floor we can be a top 10-15 team easy.
We have a real opportunity to make the playoffs this season and I would hate for us to miss it because of weak D.
I feel like if we could be at least respectable on that end of the floor we can be a top 10-15 team easy.
We have a real opportunity to make the playoffs this season and I would hate for us to miss it because of weak D.
Ben is not a good defender, he is inconsistent. DeMarcus plays good defense when he wants to but he is probably the best defender out of the bunch. Collison is undersized to make any impact defensively IMO and Gay is not who you think he is, sure...he's shown the ability from time to time, that in no way means he is a "good" defender. Good defenders don't coast and play defense when they want to. Cauley Stein is a rookie, a good defensive rookie might I add, but still a rookie who needs to learn some fundamentals on the defensive end to adjust properly to the pros.
If I can derail this asinine Cousins versus Duncan debate, for just a hot second... since when does that thing that Cousins does where he backs his man down, and then spins to the baseline not count as a post move? What the hell do you guys think that post moves are supposed to look like? Are you under the impression that it only "counts" as a post move if there's some sort of pump fake or hook shot involved?
EDIT: I moved the "Cousins versus Duncan debate" to its own thread. I wasn't sure where this post went so I left it here. Carry on. - VF21
EDIT: I moved the "Cousins versus Duncan debate" to its own thread. I wasn't sure where this post went so I left it here. Carry on. - VF21
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The dual PG lineups is another topic, but let's not act like there is a legitimate rift on that issue. From what we heard from DC, the players seem to be in favor of it
Also the small-ball lineups are getting better specified... With Casspi's emergence at the 4 in the starting lineup
Defense is still the biggest issue... We give up the least shots 0-3 ft from the basket, but the 2nd most threes. Teams shoot alot of threes against us, and at roughly around the league average %... Which is not an indicator of great defense. High volume at decent efficiency. The stats and the game shows we over commit on the inside. And even though we give up the least from 0-3, we also let teams shoot the 2nd best percentage in the league there. So we've got clear issues all around the joint. Surprisingly we do alright against corner threes. We allow teams to shoot alot of corner threes, but we defend them very well. Interesting
http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2016.html
Also the small-ball lineups are getting better specified... With Casspi's emergence at the 4 in the starting lineup
Defense is still the biggest issue... We give up the least shots 0-3 ft from the basket, but the 2nd most threes. Teams shoot alot of threes against us, and at roughly around the league average %... Which is not an indicator of great defense. High volume at decent efficiency. The stats and the game shows we over commit on the inside. And even though we give up the least from 0-3, we also let teams shoot the 2nd best percentage in the league there. So we've got clear issues all around the joint. Surprisingly we do alright against corner threes. We allow teams to shoot alot of corner threes, but we defend them very well. Interesting
http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2016.html