Summer League Game 1 Quickie Grades
- Thread starter Bricklayer
- Start date
I have to agree with those wishing Cousins would spend more time in the post on offense. It doesn't bother much that he displayed those other skills, especially in the summer league, but I'm hoping he spends the cast majority of games down low. Its a win for the defense if Cousins' best option is to take a 17+ foot jumper. First game of SL though so I'm not concerned. He seems to really want to get better so I'm confident our coaches will take advantage of his biggest strengths.
I was impressed with Ryan Thompson and Whiteside as well. Hassan clearly has some learning to do, but he is so athletic and instinctive that I'd be surprised if we didn't see him get a few minutes here and there this season. Ryan Thompson seems to have a nice skill set, especially to go with the guys we have. He's a good shooter, good ball-handler, hard-nosed defender (albeit against SL guys), but doesn't need the ball in his hands to be useful. I'm still interested in seeing what Landesberg can do, but I like Thompson thus far.
I was impressed with Ryan Thompson and Whiteside as well. Hassan clearly has some learning to do, but he is so athletic and instinctive that I'd be surprised if we didn't see him get a few minutes here and there this season. Ryan Thompson seems to have a nice skill set, especially to go with the guys we have. He's a good shooter, good ball-handler, hard-nosed defender (albeit against SL guys), but doesn't need the ball in his hands to be useful. I'm still interested in seeing what Landesberg can do, but I like Thompson thus far.
People are missing that SL is not conducive to big men. 14 and 10 isn't earthshattering, but it's very common to see good big men float around and manage to do little in these games, and in relative terms Cousins asserted a bigman's game fairly well. Oden (pre-injury) had 6 pts, 2 reb and 10 fouls in his first SL game.
No, but it would mean he couldn't be a true defensive anchor which as mentioend has implications for our PF position. Somebody has to play Perkins/Bynum/Duncan/Shaq/Big Ben/Admiral etc. for us or our chances of legit contention go down precipitously. So its something to watch. Found the charge taking particularly problematic as that indicates he wasn't even thinking like a shotblocker on those plays. You can have a guy not look very good one day blocking shots and just have been out of rhythm, but when he repeatedly slides over to try to take a charge at 285 that tells you that he is not thinking like/thinking of himself as one.
I have no idea what his stat line is going to be. What I do have a firm opinion on is that he's not going to be a game changing shot blocker who other players fear on the defensive end. It's just not the strength of his game. He's a looong way from Dwight Howard. On the other hand, I really think he has superior feet coordination to Howard. It's taken Howard forever to learn some simple post moves, and he's still not there yet. I don't think it will take Cousins as long if he puts his mind to it.
Cousins' strength in defending the other big centers in the league won't have much to do with his shot-blocking ability IMO. Most centers around the league aren't going to block Shaq, Yao, etc. in 1-on-1 matchups. You need to body them up and force them away from the basket. This is something that Cousins should have no problem doing. Cousins will be very good at post defense and taking up a lot of space in the paint. I also imagine his weakside help might be a little better when he doesn't have Whiteside looming behind him. With Whiteside challenging every shot, it made more sense for Cousins to keep his position.
Very quickly.
I kept waiting for Landesberg to get into the game. He finally got in with about 4-5 minutes left in the game, and I guess most people missed it due to NBA TV going to Stern.
BUT....he played extremely well in those 4-5 minutes. Was very aggressive getting into the lane, and had some great finishes.
He looks to have better ball-handling skills than Ryan, but Ryan is definately the bigger/more powerful player, and Ryan is a very good defensive player. He showed it beautifully against Gerald Henderson in Orlando, and played another good defensive game against the Pistons.
I'm hoping that Landesberg gets more playing time today. I guess we'll see.
I kept waiting for Landesberg to get into the game. He finally got in with about 4-5 minutes left in the game, and I guess most people missed it due to NBA TV going to Stern.
BUT....he played extremely well in those 4-5 minutes. Was very aggressive getting into the lane, and had some great finishes.
He looks to have better ball-handling skills than Ryan, but Ryan is definately the bigger/more powerful player, and Ryan is a very good defensive player. He showed it beautifully against Gerald Henderson in Orlando, and played another good defensive game against the Pistons.
I'm hoping that Landesberg gets more playing time today. I guess we'll see.
Whiteside was absolutely freakish, especially in this setting, although his style of shotblocking is best suited to translate to these smallball games. Even just the 5 blocks he was credited with in his first game is two more than Favors totalled in his five games and one more than Thabeet totalled in six games last year.
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No one cares about a Laker fan opinion but I laughed when I read this because I was going to post the same.
It is just one game but I agree mostly with Bricklayer. Offensively Cousins is going to be a scorer for you guys and at his size he should rebound well. Defensively he still has to show he can be a defensive anchor because if he cannot then he becomes more of a 4 instead of a 5. Which could hurt him in the league because while he is big for a 4 he isn't that quick for that position and quicker 4's could give him trouble.
It is just one game but I agree mostly with Bricklayer. Offensively Cousins is going to be a scorer for you guys and at his size he should rebound well. Defensively he still has to show he can be a defensive anchor because if he cannot then he becomes more of a 4 instead of a 5. Which could hurt him in the league because while he is big for a 4 he isn't that quick for that position and quicker 4's could give him trouble.
When you have a guard coming down the floor at full speed and no one stops the ball, what preytell is wrong with taking a charge. Me thinks were being a little over critical here. I know you think the world begins and ends with shotblocking, and while I think its a great talent to have, it doesn't have to be the defining characteristic of a good center.
I'm predicting right now that Cousins will become a franchise center in this league. I also predict he'll get his share of blocked shots. Can we remember that were talking about a 19 year old kid. And people are expecting him to come out and be Wilt Chamberlin right out of the gate. Cousins is still a long way from being in NBA shape. Both mentally and Physically. There were times when he appeared winded. Once in shape, I think the defense will improve. Playing defense takes more out of you than playing offense does. Especially at the center position. While the guards are playing pitty pat out on the perimiter, the big guys are having a sumo wrestling match near the basket. I'm glad the Kings are having three games back to back. The best way to get in shape is go play your way into shape.
I'm predicting right now that Cousins will become a franchise center in this league. I also predict he'll get his share of blocked shots. Can we remember that were talking about a 19 year old kid. And people are expecting him to come out and be Wilt Chamberlin right out of the gate. Cousins is still a long way from being in NBA shape. Both mentally and Physically. There were times when he appeared winded. Once in shape, I think the defense will improve. Playing defense takes more out of you than playing offense does. Especially at the center position. While the guards are playing pitty pat out on the perimiter, the big guys are having a sumo wrestling match near the basket. I'm glad the Kings are having three games back to back. The best way to get in shape is go play your way into shape.
theres a difference between drawing a charge from the guards and from the big men. A lot of big men who can't defend in the post, begin to flop and try drawing charges from guys like dwight and shaq. When you have a speedy guard beating by everybody in the paint, it's a lot more logical to try to draw the charge than pick up silly fouls.
He isn't Whiteside in terms of shot blocking, but rather more of a power defender. I'm sure he'll get his fair share of blocks and will swat many flies by defending the weak side, but trying to paint a picture of him based on him sliding in to take a charge as a negative is pretty preposterous.
A punk with bad intentions is going way too far, I think you're projecting criticisms others have made onto me just because I'm making ciriticisms.
I don't think I'm being overly critical, I'm just pointing out concerns i have and since others are challenging what I'm saying I have to defend/clarify my argument. So that can make it seem like I'm coming on harder than I really am.
I don't think I'm being overly critical, I'm just pointing out concerns i have and since others are challenging what I'm saying I have to defend/clarify my argument. So that can make it seem like I'm coming on harder than I really am.
Is Howard the only franchise center you can think of? No! He's not Dwight Howard. At least not defensively and probably never will be. But I think he'll be much better offensively than Howard. There's a difference between a franchise center and a HOF center. I would call Bogut a franchise center. Duncan would be a franchise center as well as a HOF player. Some people might consider Kaman a franchise center, and by todays standards he probably is. I don't put Perkins in the same class with those guys because he's mostly a defensive center. When I was comparing Cousins to Perkins I was comparing body types and size with comparable athleticism, but not necessarily skill sets. Obviously Perkins is mostly a defensive player and for now, Cousins is more of an offensive player.
What I find amusing is how people are making all these judgements after one game. A summer league game at that. And I'm not referring to you. I mean my god, I don't judge a player in college until I've seen him play at least 5 or 6 times. The least of my worries is that he suddenly becomes a 3 pt shooter. I watched him play in 24 games in college and I think I could count on both hands how many times Cousins took a jumpshot. I mean cut the kid a little slack for heavens sake. Isn't he allowed to have a little fun?
My main criticism is that he's obviously not in NBA shape yet. After he was on the floor for 7 or 8 minutes he started to slow down. He was late getting back in transition a few times. I also thought he got lost on defense a couple of times. But all those things are to be expected. I thought his man defense got better as the game went on. I thought he was tentative the first couple of times he guarded Monroe, but later in the game he was much better. To the best of my knowledge, I don't think Cousins and Monroe have ever faced each other in a game before. So it was a learning experience.
What I find amusing is how people are making all these judgements after one game. A summer league game at that. And I'm not referring to you. I mean my god, I don't judge a player in college until I've seen him play at least 5 or 6 times. The least of my worries is that he suddenly becomes a 3 pt shooter. I watched him play in 24 games in college and I think I could count on both hands how many times Cousins took a jumpshot. I mean cut the kid a little slack for heavens sake. Isn't he allowed to have a little fun?
My main criticism is that he's obviously not in NBA shape yet. After he was on the floor for 7 or 8 minutes he started to slow down. He was late getting back in transition a few times. I also thought he got lost on defense a couple of times. But all those things are to be expected. I thought his man defense got better as the game went on. I thought he was tentative the first couple of times he guarded Monroe, but later in the game he was much better. To the best of my knowledge, I don't think Cousins and Monroe have ever faced each other in a game before. So it was a learning experience.
