Stauskas' Handles???

[ShastaKingsFan]

Based on the draft, I'm wondering if either Dragic or Bledsoe are available. Less anyone noticed, the Suns drafted Tyler Ennis with one of their late first round picks. I thought at the time that it was a strange pick considering that they already have, potentially, two starting PG's on their roster. So I see a little smoke there. Don't know if the Kings are involved in talks with them or not, but there were a couple of rumors about the Kings and Bledsoe prior to the draft. Anyway, food for thought.....

I think Hornacek really likes Dragic, so if either one is available after their pick of Ennis, it's probably Bledsoe.

With that said, if we somehow got Dragic to pair up with Stauskas,....now that would be really entertaining

 

[kingsboi]

Well this is live game action.

I mean live game action against NBA talent.

 

[Webber131]

I am not as down on Ben as many others are. We need to keep in mind that he was a young 19 yr old rookie coming into a league as a project with high upside. He had holes in game (handles being the most obvious) and came to a team in transition of ownership, front office, and coaching whose primary goal was to develop a rapport with the "headcase" star player and get him signed and start a rebuild (how good of a job they did remains to be seen). They were too busy, sadly, trading Tyreke and establishing themselves in the community to worry about developing their younger talent like Ben. He was drafted to a team with no veteran leadership and too many selfish players like IT who, rather than helping him develop, froze him out of the offensse, and Marcus Thornton. He has all the tools and ability to be a good player in this league but will need help and nurturing. Afterall, it takes some players a few years to hit their stride. I would be saddened to see the Kings give players they draft only 1 year to develop. That is how you lose future talent. You need to allow them time to mature and work with the coaches and develop. Giving up on him is a symptom of many years of losing and frustration with leadership. There is a reason so many teams want us to trade him...we shouldnt be to fools to do that at this stage. I think towards the end of the seasonBesides, Malone thinks he is making great strides and can coexist with Nik.

“I think people who think we automatically take Nik Stauskas that we don’t appreciate or love Ben. That’s not the case,” Malone said. “Ben McLemore has had an incredible summer so far and I know he is anxious to show that in summer league in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. But both of these guys can play together. People don’t know, but (Stauskas) can play a little point guard. He has that kind of command of the basketball.”

http://pistonspalace.com/2014/06/29/trade-rumors-ben-mclemore-part-revamped-trade-talks-josh-smith/
(I know its ironically from an article saying he will be traded but...)


Even if you look at the last 5 games of the season he averaged 18ppg on 45% shooting and 38% from 3pt, along with 3.6 reb and 1.8ast. Over the last 15 or so games he hit double digits 12 times on 42%, which while isnt great, is a big improvement from earlier in the year. I feel the following lineup will be the best to start the year and will actually surprise people in being competitive (though likely wont win much).

PG: McCallum/IT
SG: Mclemore/Stauskas/Terry
SF: Gay/D-Will/Outlaw
PF:Evans/Landry/Acy
C: Cousins/Thompson

We may want to pursue free agent centers who could provide a boost and solidify our bench and would come cheap (Nazr Mohammad, Jermain O'neal, Chris Kaman, Emeka Okafur) who could be had for 1-2mil, allowing us to move Landry and Thompson without significant drop in play.

We do have a few pieces other than Mclemore that are valuable to teams around the trade deadline. We have $15million (without Rudy Gay) - $35 million of cap space to provide in expiring contracts (Terry, D-Will, Outlaw) which we can package with Landry and or Thompson in various permutations to get another piece even if we dont move Mclemore. We could theoretically even move McCallum who may (if he recieves enough playing time) be more valuable to a team than Mclemore depending on how he plays. I say at least give him a few months of an actual NBA offseason to work with his team mates and coaches before you throw him away. Imagine other teams threw away rookies who were in bad positions without developing their talent. This team needs to change the culture of tossing the rookies out...especially since high quality free agents dont want to come here...so we should try our best to develop talent that we have, considering other teams are trying their best to pull that talent out from us.

 

[Monster]

The most interesting thing to me about this video is comparing it to this shot chart:



It's clear that Stauskas highly prefers the left corner three to the right corner three. And if you watch that video, his backyard court does not have a right corner three - there's a retaining wall in the way.

I'm not saying that he can't develop a right corner three, but I do think that the preference is interesting given his childhood court.

If you look at your chart, both sides are above average efficiency. He didn't have a problem with average from either side, just didn't take as many shots. Part of that is the offense.

 

[Albatros]

I mean live game action against NBA talent.

This is a bit of an asinine debate really considering none of the prospects have played "nba talent".

Nik has performed well against some highly thought of draft picks. You can only play what's in front of you.

 

[kingsboi]

There is no doubt he has played against some good competition in the big ten, hence why I said we should slow our roll and just wait it out and see what he can do before we label him one thing or another.

 

[twslam07]

In Michigan's offense, each position kinda has a "zone" where they start off. Beilein, the Michigan coach, knew Stauskas loved the left corner three, and that's where he started off each time in the half court set. Since he initiated the offense a ton in college, it should come as no surprise that the majority of his shots are left corner to the top of the key.

This doesn't mean that he's incapable of the right corner 3. Shooters are shooters, regardless of where they are on the court. I prefer this shot chart, instead
.View attachment 4901

Also attached is a gif of Stauskas vs. Florida his freshman year. He went 6/6 from 3pt range in this game. All from the left side of the court. You're right in saying he prefers the left side of the floor, but he's not limited in terms of where he shoots from.

I think what is interesting about his preference to shoot from the left is that Cousins also likes to do his work on the left side. Usually you don't put a shooter on the same side when your big man is going to work. They're most often on the opposite side of the court so when the double comes you swing it to the other side for the open shot.

It still looks like he shoots the same percentage from both corners. He just takes more shots from the left. I don't think it will be too much of a problem if he is on the right side waiting to take advantage of the double team Cousins causes.

 

[Bricklayer]

I think what is interesting about his preference to shoot from the left is that Cousins also likes to do his work on the left side. Usually you don't put a shooter on the same side when your big man is going to work. They're most often on the opposite side of the court so when the double comes you swing it to the other side for the open shot.

It still looks like he shoots the same percentage from both corners. He just takes more shots from the left. I don't think it will be too much of a problem if he is on the right side waiting to take advantage of the double team Cousins causes.

One significant advantage again could be that Thomas sucks a setup man. And Stauskas' great contribution might not be as a shooter so much as a ballhandler/passer. Thus you can have him on the left side making that entry pass to Boogie, then sliding to the corner or up on the angle to provide space/an outlet.

 

[LPKingsFan]

It was only a few days ago that this site was full of posts wishing that the Kings' offense could resemble the Spurs'. I pointed out that a big hindrance to that was the lack of passing not from the PG, SF, or center but from the SG and PF positions. Stauskas now improves the former significantly.

 

[Chupacabra]

For me, by far the most exciting thing about Stauskas's handles is the improvement that was made between his freshman and sophmore year. It went from limited dribbling ability to a variety of effective moves.

 

[Bricklayer]

It was only a few days ago that this site was full of posts wishing that the Kings' offense could resemble the Spurs'. I pointed out that a big hindrance to that was the lack of passing not from the PG, SF, or center but from the SG and PF positions. Stauskas now improves the former significantly.

Yeah, well that wish wasn't coming form me. The Spurs are freaks, and probably 1x champion freaks at that too. They will go away, and they won't be replaced or duplicated. Then the league will return to normal, and no more Maloofian want to imitate the cool kids bullcrap (remember that was what landed us Jimmer after of course the key to winning was devined to be having a midget chucking guard a la Juan Juan Barea).

Now that said there is absolutely no doubt we needed another ballhandler/passing post or two. or even one, because I think IT is a net DRAIN on ball movement, not an increase. btu enough of this Spurs junk, I don't want to hear about them anymore. We're going to build along semi-traditional lines. Great center (or even possibly PF if a shotblocker is brought in), with the ability to create/pass. #2 weapon. Versatile offense greaser at SG. Now we need other pieces.

 

[Bricklayer]

For me, by far the most exciting thing about Stauskas's handles is the improvement that was made between his freshman and sophmore year. It went from limited dribbling ability to a variety of effective moves.

yeah, I'm not sure he was limited as a frosh so much as he was limited in role. You will note those dribbling videos and whatnot come from back BEFORE his frosh year right? I think he could always handle, it just wasn;t used much for a frosh on a team with a major PG.

 

[Chupacabra]

yeah, I'm not sure he was limited as a frosh so much as he was limited in role. You will note those dribbling videos and whatnot come from back BEFORE his frosh year right? I think he could always handle, it just wasn;t used much for a frosh on a team with a major PG.

Theres a good chance youre right. I wont pretend to have watched any of Stauskas's Michigan games. I dont give any credence to ballhandling drills unless its purpose is to focus on the weak hand. I dont think the drills give much indication of ball handling ability. unless of course the player cant do a simple drill.

 

[Monster]

Theres a good chance youre right. I wont pretend to have watched any of Stauskas's Michigan games. I dont give any credence to ballhandling drills unless its purpose is to focus on the weak hand. I dont think the drills give much indication of ball handling ability. unless of course the player cant do a simple drill.

Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. were the ball handlers in Stauskas freshman year. Stauskas was mainly the kick out guy for Trey and Tim. He didn't drive nearly as much that year because when Trey got into the lane, the whole defense focused on him, leaving Nik wide open for an easy three. Of course there were occasions that Nik would take the ball and do something with it, but really he was just a shooter that first year. He flashed the ability to handle the ball, but it wasn't his role. I doubt anyone except us Michigan fans thought he'd become what he did this past year, though.

It was quite funny, actually. Everyone who watched Nik's highlights had him pegged as a shooter and everyone who watched his games knew he was an all around talent. The same thing happened with Zak Irvin this year for Michigan. He was just a shooter, despite having the all around game. He'll explode this year. 100% believe he'll be a lottery pick, too.