The reason I brought it up, is because at the end of games when you really need a good shot to win the game, or even in the last couple of minutes when everything is going south and you need a score to stop the bleeding, one of the easiest ways to get a player open is by running a screen or even a double screen for him. Just watch Kobe at the end of games, or any good team. There aren't many teams that go into a 1 - 4 fromation. Only teams that have players like LeBron etc. do that. The Lakers used to do it, but now do more conventional plays. Unfortunately, Evans is not very good coming off screens and shooting the ball. At least right now. Actually Evans idea of using a screen consists of only creating some space for himself somewhere, and as a result he doesn't even use the screen properly, or he uses it before its properly set up. Not a condemnation, its just more that he has to learn.
Personally I think Beno is the best at using screens, and Cisco comes in second. Problem is they don't run many screens for Cisco. There's only a couple of alternatives to not using screens. Ball movement to break down the defense until you get a spot up shooter open. Or someone that can break down the defense off the dribble. Tryeke is the only plaer on the team that can do that with any consistency. Beno is probably the next best. This is just my opinon as far as Beno is concerned, and I'm not his agent, but when he comes in first in one catagory and second in another, that may not be a good thing, it you don't consider him an NBA caliber starter.
I think what we have here are a lot of players with singularly decent, to in some cases, very good special talents. Except that they don't all fit together very well at times. In some cases, what you gain on one end is nullified by what the player does on the other end. What we don't have are a bunch of players that are very good at both ends of the floor. So your giving up something to gain something in almost every instance. There are exceptions. Some in the present, and some that you cand see for the future. Some almost a sure thing, and some with a lot more hope than sureity attached. I put Evans and Cousins into the almost sure thing catagory. I have little doubt both will be good to great players in the future. Maybe one will even be a so called superstar. I put Greene and Casspi, with Whiteside included into the hope catagory. I put Thompson somewhere in between. He's closer to a finished product in the sense that he does play both ends of the floor, and for the most part is a positive on both ends. He sill has a lot of room for improvement, but even is he doesn't improve that much more and just becomes more consistent, he's a fine addition to the team.
Beno, god bless him, really trys hard on defense. He simply doesn't have the athleticism or skill to pull it off. Offensively, he's been a bright spot for the most part. He's able to do a little bit of everything. But he hurts us at times on the other end of the floor. Dalembert is the exact opposite. Great on the defensive side of the floor, but a liability on the offensive side of the floor. Landry is another player thats not complete. Usually a good offensive player, but a terrible rebounder for a PF, and a defensive libility when matched up against the bigger PF's in the league.
My point is that the Kings have too many one deminsional players on their team. Of the starters only Cousins and Evans, and perhaps Thompson appear to be players capable of excelling on both ends of the floor. Greene has shown flashes, but so far is inconsistent. And Beno is Beno, and he's never going to be a good defender. Put Beno on the floor with four players that are good to decent defenders, and then you can probably compensate for him. Off the bench the only player close to being a complete player, although a limited one talent wise, is Cisco. Maybe down the road with enough playing time, Jeter. I suspose you could throw Jackson in there, but who even knows if he'll be here next year. Casspi, like Greene is inconsistent.
So we need either Greene or Casspi, or both, to develop into more well rounded players, or we need to go out and find some. Either through the draft or trade or freeagency. Both Casspi and Greene need to work on their ballhandling and passing skills. This team needs players that know how to pass the ball. I watched the Jazz play a few nights ago and its amazing to watch a good team play. There were times when the ball never touched the floor. I always said that if I look at the box score and I see a team has over 20 assists and fewer than 12 turnovers, and they out rebounded the other team, 95% of the time, that team won the game. I believe the Kings are around 27th in the league in assists, and at the opposite end on the turnover chart. Thats the main reason their not winning games. If they were to get their assist totals up and the turnover totals down, it wouldn't come down to the 4th quarter. By and large our rebounding is fine. It was down the other night, but that shows the difference when Thompson isn't on the floor with Cousins. The two of them work the boards very well together.
This isn't meant to be a knock on Jackson, but twice in the first quarter, he was blocking out for a rebound, but he was blocking out Cousins. Kind of funny actually..
