Summer League Game 1: Pistons vs. Kings Game Thread

[Arco Arena]

Not so fast!...If Miami doesnt win it all I doubt he does.

Voting happens at the end of the regular season. So they don't have to win the championship, just completely dominate in the regular season.

 

[Telemachus]

Yeah, unfortunagtely Riley pretty much has exec of the year wrapped up.

Shouldn't that go to Dwyane Wade?

 

[Nighthawk1]

I loved our interior defense this game..
Hassan is a project, especially on offense we knew this coming in... His 5 blocks though tell me this kid has a ton of upside though - if he can even manage to score 10 points a game and get his rebounds in when Boogie isn't eating them all this will be a great interior defensive combo for years to come.

I'm sure Reke, Landry, JT, Beno, and Cisco are excited about the type of play they saw from our front line today... Not to mention when we still have Dally who isn't bad on the defensive and rebounding end either.

I don't think Hassan should be shipped to DL though...


Oh yea.. one more thing to love
Points in the Paint: Kings - 46, Pistons - 26...

 

[dmj]

Like Vlade, I'm also a bit worried about Cousins' shot selection. It is only one summer league game, of course, but I would hate for him to start relying heavily on 15-20 ft. jumpers--a bad habit that a lot of NBA big men have.

 

[Arco Thunder]

I usually keep my TDOS enthusiasm to a minimum but WOW!!! We've got a WHOLE new attitude now! GP might be in the running for another Exec of the Year, too...and he hasn't even finished his offseason tooling either! I cant WAIT until teams like San Antonio with Duncan, that damn team in Miami with that Bosh guy, and whatever other team has 'big guys' that have been dominant against us in the past...there's a new sherrif in town baby, and he goes by 3 letters: DMC!!

It's just too hard to not be excited!! I know that we still have a ways to go (I'm trying to control myself), but WOW!!!! Yes, WOW!!!!!

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

Voting happens at the end of the regular season. So they don't have to win the championship, just completely dominate in the regular season.

Indeed, but at this point, I'm thinking anything shy of 65-70 wins would be epic fail for that team...in the eyes of the voting media, they better be 'sliced bread' when it's all said and done.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

Like Vlade, I'm also a bit worried about Cousins' shot selection. It is only one summer league game, of course, but I would hate for him to start relying heavily on 15-20 ft. jumpers--a bad habit that a lot of NBA big men have.

Dude is 6'11/285 lbs, I doubt he would forget that he should use what his momma gave him...there shouldnt be any lack of inside muscle with DMC IMO.

 

[Gary]

Dude is 6'11/285 lbs, I doubt he would forget that he should use what his momma gave him...there shouldnt be any lack of inside muscle with DMC IMO.

I don't think there will be any issues either.. Notice in the 4th quarter he went right back down to the post again.. He's going to be fine. I am assuming he was out there because the coaches wanted to get a look at another player trying things in the post or slashing to which Cousins could have got in the way. It happens all the time in summer league when coaches want to get a look at specific players.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

i'm lovin our rookies! watching the replay and whiteside altering shots

 

[Section 101]

I run on dial up because nothing else is available... so I can forget about that.

We have indoor plumbing now too.

 

[Chupacabra]

I would also like to point out that Cousins has impressive court vision and passing ability. He made numerous nice passes. Evans and Cousins on the floor at the same time is going to be TOUGH.

 

[fnordius]

i'm lovin our rookies! watching the replay and whiteside altering shots

Yeah, if Whiteside can keep it up, I think I'm going to be VERY happy with the guy.

 

[Gary]

Said earlier Whiteside can be our brand new Keon Clark, and Cousins can be our new Webber (at the C position).. That is an awesome tandem to have on the floor at the same time if they both reach their potential.

 

[Vlade4GM]

I would also like to point out that Cousins has impressive court vision and passing ability. He made numerous nice passes. Evans and Cousins on the floor at the same time is going to be TOUGH.

Yup. It's weird that not a lot of scouting reports emphasized that aspect about him, but it was clear every time I watched him play. His decision making will need polish, but that's par for the course. Could be very Shaq like in terms of posting up, kicking out, and getting it back with deeper position.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

Just watched the game from my DVR .. so its time for some impressions!

Cousins He played how you would expect him to play. Clearly looked like the best big on the court. I thought his defense against Monroe was good, however Monroe is one of the weaker players he'll have to defend in the NBA. Had a nice dunk in traffic, and a sweet post move towards the end. Mixed in some jumpers in between. Got a little jumper happy, and at times was slow getting up and down the court. He is such a competitor .. he's always fired up, talking, clapping .. very vocal. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the outlet passes. He threw one away, but when he can find his guard that quickly it usually turned into a good shot or basket. I remember watching the Kings last year and Evans would walk the ball up the court way to often. If he can catch the outlet pass without having to come back and take it from the rebounder we may be able to get into our offense faster and create easy chances. Good game for Cousins, wasnt spectacular, but he showed everyone what he can do.

Casspi looked good. Finished at the rim, handled the ball a bit more than usual. Still seems kind of slow to me. Hard to explain what I mean, but he has this slowness about him .. maybe thats just me. Got a few buckets off of drives which was nice. Got to the line, hit a shot or two. Much better than any game he had in last years summer league.

Greene got smashed in the face by a Monroe elbow early in the game and had to come out. When he got back into things he looked pretty good. Forced some shots, but had some nice drives to the basket and finished some tough shots. He still needs to rebound better. He also made some nice plays passing the ball.

Sloan I actually thought sloan looked pretty good. For what we want him to do, he should be fine. Played within himself and didnt force anything really.

Rice played well. I knew he could play, I must have saw him at least 30 times while he was at BC. He can shoot, hes really quick, and he can finish. He showed that today. Outplayed Sloan, and is one of the reasons why I was surprised we signed Sloan so early .. I looked at our summer league team and I knew Rice and Landesberg could easy compete for the backup guard spot. Rice had some fantastic AND1 finishes at the rim. Was a little ballhoggish at times, but overall played really well.

Whiteside is awesome at what he does - block shots. I dont know if Ive ever seen anything like him. He was coming out of everywhere contested layups. Much better help defender than man defender, which is why playing him at PF makes a lot of sense. If he doesnt get any stronger, he can still be effective as the 'guy next to Cousins'. He's an exciting player to watch. Pretty bad on offense, and I dont expect it to get THAT much better, but it can deffinetly improve. For what he does, there is no way he should have dropped all the way down to 33, but whatever, i'll take it.

 

[KINGSDOTCOM]

for those who missed the game...here are the highlights

[yt="Sac vs Det Highlights"]jIiUdeyD738[/yt]

 

[Jkbiker]

Really liked what I Saw in Tyrese Rice

18:02Min 5-8 2pts 1-2 3pt 4-4 FT 15 pts

Would like him to come to Kings camp and challenge Sloan for the job as backup pt guard?



I hope sloan's contract is not guaranteed

Sloan had only 1-5 for 2pt, 0-2 3pts and 4-6 FT total pts 6 as starter and 20min

But only the first game

in his First game with Utah:

Season Team G GS MPG FG% 3p% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG
2010 UTA 1 0 13.0 0.600 0.500 0.833 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 2.0 12.0

Pretty good scorer But only 6ft1in 190 lbs

not sure how well he can run point

 

[Kingster]

My concern though is that he might think he has offensive freedom now that he's out from under Calipari's rule.

Yeah, well now he's under Westphal's rule. And I sure hope that Westphal has the patience and discipline to continue to post the guy and have the guards go to him, even if Cousins isn't very good in the post right out of the gate. Cousins' footwork didn't look very good in the post tonight, but it's only the first summer game. Kid has a long way to go.

 

[Kingster]

Whiteside is awesome at what he does - block shots. I dont know if Ive ever seen anything like him. He was coming out of everywhere contested layups. Much better help defender than man defender, which is why playing him at PF makes a lot of sense. If he doesnt get any stronger, he can still be effective as the 'guy next to Cousins'. He's an exciting player to watch. Pretty bad on offense, and I dont expect it to get THAT much better, but it can deffinetly improve. For what he does, there is no way he should have dropped all the way down to 33, but whatever, i'll take it.

I thought Whiteside had the smoothest low post move of the night for either team. And I think he can get a heckuva lot better on offense. He can shoot from the outside; just didn't show us tonight. This kid really excites me because he is so mobile for such a long guy. If I just look at him and Cousins on the basis of potential, he has as much potential as Cousins, just in different areas. What a steal.

 

[SacTownKid]

for those who missed the game...here are the highlights

[yt="Sac vs Det Highlights"]jIiUdeyD738[/yt]

Nice edit on that vid, pretty much summed up all the positives with this game.

 

[ReinadelosReys]

Finally got around to watching the game, the rookies were everything as advertised.

Cousins--great footwork, nice shooting touch from 15-17ft, a pretty good passer, big and willing body.

Whiteside--still a NBA player in the making, but just incredible length and uncanny ability to block shots from the off side.

Casspi was nice to see also.

Nice to see the team creating some chemistry already. I can't believe I was excited to see a summer League game! Getting more and more excited to see the team come this fall.

 

[Gary]

for those who missed the game...here are the highlights

[yt="Sac vs Det Highlights"]jIiUdeyD738[/yt]

Favorite play of the game is when Whiteside blocked the shot with his wrist and just grabbed the ball out of the air.. lol.. Great play! 3:35 on the youtube clip.

 

[Megalodon]

" If the ball was a knat, Whiteside is a bug zapper. "

" Because they understand that Tyreke Evans is going to ... Tyreke havoc. I just made that up "

ROFL at those guys

 

[Prince_XY]

Very impressive game for both Cousins and Whiteside.

Cousins seemed like a complete package the Kings are looking for a BIG. Inside and outside plays, offense and defense, passing skills - you name it, the kid looks like he has it. I think he can also interchangeably play the C and PF position. Give this kid a year or two and pair him with either Dalembert or Thompson ( or even Whiteside after a couple of years ) and we can surely match the powerhouse tandems of Bynum/Gasol or Gortat/Howard.

Whiteside was also very impressive. He seemed NOT too raw to deserve a stint at the NBA-DL. IMO, Whiteside in the near future can be more useful than Hawes will ever be in the NBA. This kid is a potential monster shot-blocker. I wonder what those GMs who passed on Cousins are thinking now.

 

[Gary]

Finally got around to watching the game, the rookies were everything as advertised.

Cousins--great footwork, nice shooting touch from 15-17ft, a pretty good passer, big and willing body.

Whiteside--still a NBA player in the making, but just incredible length and uncanny ability to block shots from the off side.

Casspi was nice to see also.

Nice to see the team creating some chemistry already. I can't believe I was excited to see a summer League game! Getting more and more excited to see the team come this fall.

LOL yah I was actually excited to watch the game.. I was cheering them more so than I cheered the normal game last year.

 

[bajaden]

We have indoor plumbing now too.

You gave me a good laugh with that one. Actually here in Mexico its a pretty new deal in some areas.. Great line though...

 

[VF21]

Said earlier Whiteside can be our brand new Keon Clark, and Cousins can be our new Webber (at the C position).. That is an awesome tandem to have on the floor at the same time if they both reach their potential.

Whiteside has a MUCH better upside than Keon Clark!

This was a great way to "meet" the new guys. It's been a long time since I was this excited about the coming season.

I LOVE THIS TEAM!!!

 

[Vlade4GM]

Very impressive game for both Cousins and Whiteside.

Cousins seemed like a complete package the Kings are looking for a BIG. Inside and outside plays, offense and defense, passing skills - you name it, the kid looks like he has it. I think he can also interchangeably play the C and PF position. Give this kid a year or two and pair him with either Dalembert or Thompson ( or even Whiteside after a couple of years ) and we can surely match the powerhouse tandems of Bynum/Gasol or Gortat/Howard.

Whiteside was also very impressive. He seemed NOT too raw to deserve a stint at the NBA-DL. IMO, Whiteside in the near future can be more useful than Hawes will ever be in the NBA. This kid is a potential monster shot-blocker. I wonder what those GMs who passed on Cousins are thinking now.

I don't think you can fairly blame any GM's (with the exception of Kahn) for passing on Cousins. Wall, Turner, and Favors all made sense where they went, and you can't just ignore that Cousins' red flags were something that made him risky whether you can think they were overblown or not. One thing is for sure, we got incredibly lucky to get a big man prospect of his caliber at the 5th pick, that doesn't happen very often.

 

[bajaden]

Just watched the game from my DVR .. so its time for some impressions!

Cousins He played how you would expect him to play. Clearly looked like the best big on the court. I thought his defense against Monroe was good, however Monroe is one of the weaker players he'll have to defend in the NBA. Had a nice dunk in traffic, and a sweet post move towards the end. Mixed in some jumpers in between. Got a little jumper happy, and at times was slow getting up and down the court. He is such a competitor .. he's always fired up, talking, clapping .. very vocal. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the outlet passes. He threw one away, but when he can find his guard that quickly it usually turned into a good shot or basket. I remember watching the Kings last year and Evans would walk the ball up the court way to often. If he can catch the outlet pass without having to come back and take it from the rebounder we may be able to get into our offense faster and create easy chances. Good game for Cousins, wasnt spectacular, but he showed everyone what he can do.

Casspi looked good. Finished at the rim, handled the ball a bit more than usual. Still seems kind of slow to me. Hard to explain what I mean, but he has this slowness about him .. maybe thats just me. Got a few buckets off of drives which was nice. Got to the line, hit a shot or two. Much better than any game he had in last years summer league.

Greene got smashed in the face by a Monroe elbow early in the game and had to come out. When he got back into things he looked pretty good. Forced some shots, but had some nice drives to the basket and finished some tough shots. He still needs to rebound better. He also made some nice plays passing the ball.

Sloan I actually thought sloan looked pretty good. For what we want him to do, he should be fine. Played within himself and didnt force anything really.

Rice played well. I knew he could play, I must have saw him at least 30 times while he was at BC. He can shoot, hes really quick, and he can finish. He showed that today. Outplayed Sloan, and is one of the reasons why I was surprised we signed Sloan so early .. I looked at our summer league team and I knew Rice and Landesberg could easy compete for the backup guard spot. Rice had some fantastic AND1 finishes at the rim. Was a little ballhoggish at times, but overall played really well.

Whiteside is awesome at what he does - block shots. I dont know if Ive ever seen anything like him. He was coming out of everywhere contested layups. Much better help defender than man defender, which is why playing him at PF makes a lot of sense. If he doesnt get any stronger, he can still be effective as the 'guy next to Cousins'. He's an exciting player to watch. Pretty bad on offense, and I dont expect it to get THAT much better, but it can deffinetly improve. For what he does, there is no way he should have dropped all the way down to 33, but whatever, i'll take it.

Pretty much agree with your analysis. Cousins and Whiteside played as I thought they would. If anything, I thought they played better than I thought they would in their first game. There were no easy baskets for the Pistons inside other than the few fast breaks that they had. At some point in the second quarter you could tell that the Pistons were getting frustrated. It was fun to watch it happen to someone else for a change. One player that impressed me with his defense in his limited minutes was Christmas. He really harrassed his opponent and just generally made life miserable for him.

The biggest surprise was how well the Kings played together as a team. Very unusual for the first game of the summer league. By the way. My problem with Rice is that the gets a little too selfish with the ball at times. I thought that in general Sloan was trying to run the team and set up plays. While I thought there were times when I thought Rice was only trying to get his own shot. But its just the first game.

 

[Vlade4GM]

Favorite play of the game is when Whiteside blocked the shot with his wrist and just grabbed the ball out of the air.. lol.. Great play! 3:35 on the youtube clip.

He got away with a goaltend on that play. It hit the backboard first.