Preseason Grades v. Warriors 10/23/2013

[Kingster]

The Fish can still swim upstream. Nice to see.

And nice finish by IT. I noticed three or four times where he just stood there without putting the ball on the floor waiting for his teamates to get open. I like that. He's still overagressive at times. He's still trying to find the fine line. But I'd rather have a guy you have to rein in like IT than a guy who is too passive or afraid to make the play. On offense, he schooled Douglas. And then in the 4th quarter he got into Curry's grill. (Curry didn't like that, did he?)

PPat continues to impress me. You want this guy on your team. He's never going to average 10 rebs a game, but he's got BBIQ, which makes up for some of that. And he can really shoot. He opens up the floor for Cousins.

Speaking of which, I thought Cousins played a very energetic game. I didn't see him take any plays off. He's seriously running the floor getting back on defense. That's encouraging. He's certainly not there yet where you can say he decisively outplayed Bogut, but he did hustle throughout the game, and considering what I saw last year, it's worth noting.

McLemore continues to look like a talent. (I liked that he got some teachable moments against Klay Thompson). I still don't want him to start. Give him 20 games in the real season coming off the bench; then reassess. For such a young guy he does have a fine ability to rise up on a jump shot with perfect balance, even when going very fast to the hole. But that play where he threw the ball to open space is just one example of why I don't see him playing a lot of minutes just yet.

 

[jcwkings]

100% wrong. You would stop setting picks too if 99% of the time you never got the ball when nobody is 10 feet around you and the guard chucks something up. This year GV is getting the ball to Cuz on the roll.

I didn't mean he doesn't want to, he doesn't prefer to. Cousins is most comfortable 18 feet out where he faces up and either takes the midrange shot or takes his man off the dribble. I've been encouraged to see this pre season a bigger focus on getting good position inside and feeding him for easier shots, hasn't really shown too many post moves other than an occasional half hook or up and under move, but sometimes being in that deep position is more than enough with his length and touch. Cousins could/should be a good pick and roll/pop player, but to this point he hasn't shown it, be it by design or otherwise.

 

[CruzDude]

So much for grading players vs. grading nicknames. Here's my nickname list:
MLM - McLemore
MCM - McCallum
PPat - Patrick Patterson
MAM - Mbah a Moute
MT - Marcus
Cuz - Cousins
IT - Isaiah
Chuckwagon - big, low center of gravity, not easy to push around
6gun - The Outlaw

 

[Gary]

...and for our starting PG, the "floor general" if you will...General Greivis! (Hey, he needs a nickname too!)

I think he already has that nickname. It's so obvious, but it's also so perfect at the same time.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

So much for grading players vs. grading nicknames. Here's my nickname list:
MLM - McLemore
MCM - McCallum
PPat - Patrick Patterson
MAM - Mbah a Moute
MT - Marcus
Cuz - Cousins
IT - Isaiah
Chuckwagon - big, low center of gravity, not easy to push around
6gun - The Outlaw

Seems like a large percentage of our team melts in your mouth, not in your hand.

 

[treach1976]

Chuckwagon - big, low center of gravity, not easy to push around

I'm sorry, but aren't you just using Chuckwagon because his pudgy? Lol @low center of gravity, not easy to push around...

 

[pshn80]

So much for grading players vs. grading nicknames. Here's my nickname list:
MLM - McLemore
MCM - McCallum
PPat - Patrick Patterson
MAM - Mbah a Moute
MT - Marcus
Cuz - Cousins
IT - Isaiah
Chuckwagon - big, low center of gravity, not easy to push around
6gun - The Outlaw

I still want Salmons on this team and he is. "JS" is fine.

 

[pshn80]

I'm sorry, but aren't you just using Chuckwagon because his pudgy? Lol @low center of gravity, not easy to push around...

....... and everyone on the crew always loves the chuckwagon.

 

[blackice]

I think it's pretty clear the four games we play against Golden State Cousins won't have any "wow" games for us so we need to attack Lee and Curry on offense if we want to have any shot of winning against them.

 

[nickmcclure]

In a way not sustainable for Cousins. Well, unless you want to turn Cousins into this guy every night.

Why? Cousins had a stellar year last season starting along side IT. Thomas played well tonight...again and Vasquez had 6 TO's in like 22 min...I know it's just one game but until GV fully recovers and figures out the system, I'd rather have IT start. McLemore's ceiling is stupid high and he's already making positive contributions to our team.

 

[Bricklayer]

Why? Cousins had a stellar year last season starting along side IT. Thomas played well tonight...again and Vasquez had 6 TO's in like 22 min...I know it's just one game but until GV fully recovers and figures out the system, I'd rather have IT start. McLemore's ceiling is stupid high and he's already making positive contributions to our team.

17 and 10 is not remotely a stellar year for DeMarcus Cousins. And we lost, a lot.

 

[William Blake]

Why? Cousins had a stellar year last season starting along side IT.

He costantly got the ball in horrible positions and as a result shot with low % and was the (relevant) big man with the least % of assisted baskets in the league.
It may be Smart's "system" fault, but the point guard should be held accountable too.

 

[Spike]

There's a similarity here between letting IT gun and having DMC pick up the scraps vs. passing to set up the run. Hear me out:

In football, you want to run to set up the pass (anomalies aside). You punish the team for 3 quarters, and then you just overpower them in the 4th. With GV in, we tend to follow this philosophy. He feeds Cousins early, and keeps him going throughout. Even if it doesn't work at first, it pays dividends in the 4th when the other team is tired, and then everyone else can go nuts.

IT doesn't do this. He looks for his own shot, and then other players follow suit. As a result, it's pretty easy to defend, and since you don't have to expend much energy there, you don't wear out as much. What usually happens here (as with what happened most of last freaking year), we either ended up on the business end of a blowout, or won/lost a shootout. Everyone once in a while, like maybe twice, we won in a blowout because everyone hit their shots.

I'd rather have the guy who knows the importance of setting people up (especially on this roster with DMC and BMc), because it results in consistency on a game-to-game basis, as well as in the long term. IT can get his off the bench. Why be happy with 17/10 when DMC could easily get 20+/10?

 

[HereWeBoogie]

since people on here have been criticizing the nickname M16 for Ben, i wanted to make note of the fact that one of the hashtags Ben used on his Instagram photo earlier today was #M16

 

[macadocious]

Who critized M16? It's an awesome nickname, just like AK47. Although I'm sure the NBA won't let him wear an M on his back in the nick name game, just like Kirelinko can't have AK on his back.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

idk i thought it was great too, there was a big debate on here about it recently. people claiming it was a bad nickname because it was harder to say than his actual name Ben. but Ben definitely likes it, check out his new Twitter name LOL

Sir McLemore #M16 ‏@BenMcLemore

 

[Hadlowe]

There's a similarity here between letting IT gun and having DMC pick up the scraps vs. passing to set up the run. Hear me out:

In football, you want to run to set up the pass (anomalies aside). You punish the team for 3 quarters, and then you just overpower them in the 4th. With GV in, we tend to follow this philosophy. He feeds Cousins early, and keeps him going throughout. Even if it doesn't work at first, it pays dividends in the 4th when the other team is tired, and then everyone else can go nuts.

IT doesn't do this. He looks for his own shot, and then other players follow suit. As a result, it's pretty easy to defend, and since you don't have to expend much energy there, you don't wear out as much. What usually happens here (as with what happened most of last freaking year), we either ended up on the business end of a blowout, or won/lost a shootout. Everyone once in a while, like maybe twice, we won in a blowout because everyone hit their shots.

I'd rather have the guy who knows the importance of setting people up (especially on this roster with DMC and BMc), because it results in consistency on a game-to-game basis, as well as in the long term. IT can get his off the bench. Why be happy with 17/10 when DMC could easily get 20+/10?

I'll just add that when Landry gets himself healthy, he can be a Boogie Jr. off the bench to complete the pounding. Running a steady high efficiency offense out of the post needs to be the basis of the flashy plays that show up on highlight reels.

 

[Spike]

Agreed. You have to work it from the inside out. Since we don't have that wing player with the ability to take it inside with great skill, it has to come from the post, which will also open shooters on the outside.

 

[mac]

Ok time for me to play Jimmer apologist again Disagree with Brick's assessment that Jimmer got torched by Curry in the 3rd. I'm going to attempt to break down each of Curry's scores in the 3rd when Jimmer was in the game.

1)
I think there was a lot of defensive miscommunication between DMC and Jimmer. I don't know how to describe it but very often both guys would pick up one man after a pick. In this instance Cousins got caught on a screen and Bogut got the ball. Jimmer picked him up and closed off the lane to the basket, tried to take a charge but got bumped, and is now caught behind Bogut. At this point Steph Curry is open on the angle and he has Iggy at the top of the key, but because Jimmer was behind Bogut and Cousins also came to pick up Bogut it left only John Salmons guarding the two of them. Then you see Jimmer looking a little loss not sure who he should pick up, and he starts running to Iggy but then Curry passes it back to Iggy and Salmons rotates to Iggy, then Jimmer has to go all the way back to pick up Curry, who by then got the ball back and hit an open 3. So in that instance I'm not sure who's fault it was - Jimmer or Cuz.

2) 10:00 mark - Patterson gets stripped by Lee, Warriors go the other way and Curry hits a 3 over Patterson in transition.

3) Here Curry goes to set a screen for Thompson. But instead of Thompson receiving the ball he goes on to screen Jimmer, freeing up Curry to get the ball. Vasquez switches to Curry, gets screened off by Bogut on a Curry drive and Curry makes the layup. (Gotta admit - the Warriors have pretty good movement. Their screens actually work, unlike ours)

Aside from these 3 made baskets, Curry had 1 assist which was just a normal pass to Lee, and Lee hit a jumpshot over PPat. That was the extent of Jimmer "getting smoked" by Curry in the 3rd quarter. He proceeded to make 2 more 3s in the quarter being guarded by IT. Similarly in the 1st quarter Curry essentially only made one basket over Jimmer, and that wasn't Jimmer's fault either. Salmons left his man to help, ball was kicked out to the corner, Jimmer rotated over, then had to close back to Curry, got faked out and Curry hit a 3.

 

[steelevt]

idk i thought it was great too, there was a big debate on here about it recently. people claiming it was a bad nickname because it was harder to say than his actual name Ben. but Ben definitely likes it, check out his new Twitter name LOL

Sir McLemore #M16 ‏@BenMcLemore

people will always complain about something. if they cant put 1+1 together and figure out m16 is mclemore or MaM is luc or just want to complain because a nickname is longer than their first name then it's their problem. i never understood why they would cared so much. if you dont like it, you dont have to use it. apparently ben mclemore likes it, is it ok with the nickname police is he uses it?

 

[Bricklayer]

people will always complain about something. if they cant put 1+1 together and figure out m16 is mclemore or MaM is luc or just want to complain because a nickname is longer than their first name then it's their problem. i never understood why they would cared so much. if you dont like it, you dont have to use it. apparently ben mclemore likes it, is it ok with the nickname police is he uses it?

I'm sorry, but I prefer Effervescent Kumquat to M16. It just rolls off the tongue, and so captures the player.

 

[Livinthedream]

I'm sorry, but I prefer Effervescent Kumquat to M16. It just rolls off the tongue, and so captures the player.

I think I'll use that nickname. It doesn't roll. More like dances on the tongue. Effervescence captures his essence.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

2) 10:00 mark - Patterson gets stripped by Lee, Warriors go the other way and Curry hits a 3 over Patterson in transition.

This actually happened twice in the game - on two occasions Patterson tried to "run interference" on Curry when he was bringing the ball up the floor instead of letting Curry's man pick him up. Both times the effect of the interference was that Curry's man wasn't guarding him at the the three point line, and Curry hit two basically unguarded threes because of it. I'd like to see Patterson not do that anymore if it's not to stop a legitimate fast break.

 

[steelevt]

I'm sorry, but I prefer Effervescent Kumquat to M16. It just rolls off the tongue, and so captures the player.

#effervescentkumquat make it happen brick. I see what ur powers have done with #bringbackkayte