[Game] 10/10/13 - Kings @ Lakers (in Las Vegas) - pre-season 7:00 PDT
The big key point with Outlaw, is he should never be playing the 4. Any advantage he might have in matchups, is his length at the 3. The guy is very long, but he is not strong enough to play 4 effectively in the NBA. Almost reminds me in his build, of a shorter Keon Clark, who was very effective at 4, but generally not strong enough to play 5. Damn that brings back some memories...(the left hand jack hammer)
Anyhow, It was nice to see him build some confidence tonight. Not to be forgotten is the fact that he came out and actually said that he had a good feeling about this season. Talk is talk, but I do believe this guy may have turned the corner with a good vibe and renewed confidence. He didn't luck into some of his performances in the past, just lost his way in recent times
Anyhow, It was nice to see him build some confidence tonight. Not to be forgotten is the fact that he came out and actually said that he had a good feeling about this season. Talk is talk, but I do believe this guy may have turned the corner with a good vibe and renewed confidence. He didn't luck into some of his performances in the past, just lost his way in recent times
Outlaw looked reasonably solid as a kickout spot-up shooter. Lets hope that shooting touch stays there because Salmons has not looked good at the three, and Mbah a Moute is a defense only guy.
Jimmer played reasonably well on offense, but Jimmer/IT isn't going to work, pretty much ever. Getting burned on baseline cuts by Meeks, who isn't exactly a speed merchant isn't going to get you minutes. He did deflect two or three more passes to break up plays along with his two steals on the night, and his defensive rotations weren't bad. It's just that, if you picture Tony Allen as a physically intimidating two-guard, Jimmer is the negative of that image. Hand in Jodie Meeks face and it doesn't matter.
Cousins was taking way too many midrange shots for my liking. He just happened to knock them down. I guess going one on two against Gasol/Kaman down low wasn't in the game plan for tonight.
McCallum is looking very solid as a backup point guard right now. He is making IT expendable, which is probably good, as his cheap contract might let us package Salmons or Hayes for a trade.
Hayes had more hustle tonight than I have seen in his entire stint with the Kings.
Jimmer played reasonably well on offense, but Jimmer/IT isn't going to work, pretty much ever. Getting burned on baseline cuts by Meeks, who isn't exactly a speed merchant isn't going to get you minutes. He did deflect two or three more passes to break up plays along with his two steals on the night, and his defensive rotations weren't bad. It's just that, if you picture Tony Allen as a physically intimidating two-guard, Jimmer is the negative of that image. Hand in Jodie Meeks face and it doesn't matter.
Cousins was taking way too many midrange shots for my liking. He just happened to knock them down. I guess going one on two against Gasol/Kaman down low wasn't in the game plan for tonight.
McCallum is looking very solid as a backup point guard right now. He is making IT expendable, which is probably good, as his cheap contract might let us package Salmons or Hayes for a trade.
Hayes had more hustle tonight than I have seen in his entire stint with the Kings.
Salmons is most effective at shooting guard, both defense and offense. I can't understand why they've played him so much at the 3 in recent years. The only reason he did for the bulls, was because they had a hot offensive shooting gaurd at the time in Ben Gordon.
In his first time around with Kings, he played very effectively at shooting gaurd. In fact, he played some of the best defense on Kobe Bryant of anyone in the league.
Call me crazy, but I wouldn't put it out of the question that John Salmons could be our starter at the 2 guard. It could make us that much more solid on defense, with Salmons and Moute working together at 2 and 3. Bring the gunner Thornton off the bench for scoring.
At the moment, my starting lineup is Cousins, Thompson, Moute, Salmons, McCallum. Defense first
In his first time around with Kings, he played very effectively at shooting gaurd. In fact, he played some of the best defense on Kobe Bryant of anyone in the league.
Call me crazy, but I wouldn't put it out of the question that John Salmons could be our starter at the 2 guard. It could make us that much more solid on defense, with Salmons and Moute working together at 2 and 3. Bring the gunner Thornton off the bench for scoring.
At the moment, my starting lineup is Cousins, Thompson, Moute, Salmons, McCallum. Defense first
Well, Kobe and Steve didnn't get a chance to teach our young guys anything tonight but that didn't stop our young guys from showing us some more good stuff tonight. If he keeps this up McCallum is going to make it hard for the coach to limit him to third string. Outlaw is not a young guy but he sure poured 'em in, 7 for 9 is not bad. Would sure be nice if he could keep that up. Hustle, movement on offense, guys playing tighter and more efficiently on their man on defense, none of that is too bad and is certainly not typical of our goys in the recent past. Knock on wood.
Not third string, not our backup, I've got him as our starter right out of the gate. There's nothing that says we have to start Vasquez, if someone looks better for now and into the future.
I'm not sure why many seem to be handing the starting job to Vasquez? What has he done on an NBA court to deserve that?
I'm not sure why many seem to be handing the starting job to Vasquez? What has he done on an NBA court to deserve that?
Ray is a great guard, but lets not underestimate IT and Vasquez.. Just because Ray was a steal doesn't mean he needs to be the star of our team. Keep in mind IT was the last pick in his draft class! We have so much talent in the PG position, hopefully we can figure out a way to play all our guards between the 1,2,3 positions, because between Ray, IT, Vasquez, MT, Ben, Salmons they all deserve solid playing time on any NBA Roster..
Long term, and this has nothing to do with preseason as I haven't seen either game, but personally, I like IT and RayMac and don't like Greivis. Long term that is.. Reading defensive deficiency stats on Greivis, as well as hearing how the N.O system inflated his Assist ratio, and he needs to show me something to remain here beyond this year
even tho it was preseason, it was great for the kings to get the win over the lakers. the best part was that they looked good getting the win. nice to see outlaw and hayes pick up some of the slack for ppat and jt. we wont have everyone play well in every game so it's nice to see others step up, especially those you dont expect to.
i was a little critical of macallum the last game but i saw what most were seeing in him this game defensively. playing well defensively against a no/little offense back up pg toney douglas is one thing, playing well defensively against blake and meeks i believe is step up, even tho it was a small step up. i'm still not ready to make him our starting pg, but he looks real good for a 2nd round pick.
mclemore has looked good these last 2 games. definitely making me forget his play in summer league. i actually believe ROY is possible after seeing this small sample size whereas it was laughable after summer league. thornton better keep an eye on the rear view mirror, cuz he's lost that starting job under malone's watch before and it can happen again if mclemore keeps his play up.
in the end. Go Kings. We beat LA
i was a little critical of macallum the last game but i saw what most were seeing in him this game defensively. playing well defensively against a no/little offense back up pg toney douglas is one thing, playing well defensively against blake and meeks i believe is step up, even tho it was a small step up. i'm still not ready to make him our starting pg, but he looks real good for a 2nd round pick.
mclemore has looked good these last 2 games. definitely making me forget his play in summer league. i actually believe ROY is possible after seeing this small sample size whereas it was laughable after summer league. thornton better keep an eye on the rear view mirror, cuz he's lost that starting job under malone's watch before and it can happen again if mclemore keeps his play up.
in the end. Go Kings. We beat LA
I simply like his skillset so far, better than the others. Then considering that we're in rebuilding mode and not realistically having a decent chance for the playoffs, I'd build our talent with experience for the future.
There's no chance of this? None at all, in your opinion? I disagree and think there's a very solid chance of it. If not the early part of this season, definitely later on
There's no chance of this? None at all, in your opinion? I disagree and think there's a very solid chance of it. If not the early part of this season, definitely later on
Finally I've been able to see the new Kings (I missed the Warriors game), and I really liked what I've seen. It's just preseason, but for the first time in a long time the Kings look like they actually know what they are doing on the floor. In just a couple of weeks, coach Malone got this team to play better than Smart did in a year and a half. Defense is obviously better, even if it's still a long run before this team will be a good defensive team, and the offense makes sense. I guess we can't ask for more right now.
I really enjoyed whatching McLemore and McCallum. These guys have talent, and play great defense. McLemore could really be special, we may have a steal here.
Oh, and I was shocked with Outlaw. He looked like an NBA player tonight. Let's see if he can keep it up, maybe in a real system he could help us at SF.
After all, I'm excited about our Kings! Can't wait for the season to start!
I really enjoyed whatching McLemore and McCallum. These guys have talent, and play great defense. McLemore could really be special, we may have a steal here.
Oh, and I was shocked with Outlaw. He looked like an NBA player tonight. Let's see if he can keep it up, maybe in a real system he could help us at SF.
After all, I'm excited about our Kings! Can't wait for the season to start!
That goes for every player on the team, except maybe IT who gets a lot of his scoring out of freelance basketball. It's no accident that Chuck Hayes was finally useful in a defensive system. Jimmer looked good on offense getting looks in a system. McLemore's skillset actually mandates an offensive system to get him looks.
The last two games have shown just how much Keith Smart hurt this team.
The last two games have shown just how much Keith Smart hurt this team.
He probably did, actually. Isaiah had a pretty bad game tonight. He was only credited with 2 TOs, but I remember a stretch where he had 3 silly TOs on 3 straight possessions. He had at least 5 TOs. IT had more assists but he got burned defensively at times, McCallum was solid and played better defense. And that's coming from someone who thinks McCallums play is being grossly overestimated so far, even though he has done well for a 2nd round pick.
I know you're a massive IT fan, but there's no harm in admitting when he's had a below par game.
I know you're a massive IT fan, but there's no harm in admitting when he's had a below par game.
I like IT. I've always thought he was underrated and that Keith Smart was crazy for not playing him more minutes. However, I know what I saw last night. Don't care what the box score said, IT was inconsistent and I thought single handedly gave the Lakers the lead in the 2nd qtr with a string of bad plays.
Ray was more consistent. He came in and put a stop to the field day Meeks was having. Gave Blake fits as well with solid D. He ran the offense smoothly and hit a few long range jumpers when he needed to. If Ray stays solid like that and IT is up and down, the coaching staff will be compelled to give Ray more minutes.
I know the sample size is small, but that's all we've got right now and I'm just telling you what I see.
Ray was more consistent. He came in and put a stop to the field day Meeks was having. Gave Blake fits as well with solid D. He ran the offense smoothly and hit a few long range jumpers when he needed to. If Ray stays solid like that and IT is up and down, the coaching staff will be compelled to give Ray more minutes.
I know the sample size is small, but that's all we've got right now and I'm just telling you what I see.
McLemore will be starting halfway through the season and one of Thornton or Isaiah will be gone. If it were me, it would be Isaiah and one of our redundant big men (I assume it would be PPat or Hayes). PG is the hardest position to learn how to play in the NBA... Ray will not start this season, but he will become the primary back-up eventually. You just don't hand the keys over to a rookie PG (it is just preseason against a rather average team). I have never been a huge fan of IT to begin with... he concerns himself with himself too often to be a starting PG (looking for his own shots too much - IT should never be leading the team in shots taken, but he often did last season). It is nice to see a large number of assists from him though since it doesn't happen too often. Solid game from the rookies, Ben is continuing to play much better and looks a lot more comfortable with a system. Nice win!
McCallum is prone to overdribbling and doesn't set up the offense quickly right now. His outside shot is suspect. He plays tough defense and gets to the rim well. If he can develop a mid-range pullup (a la Westbrook) and can figure out how to get the offense going sooner, then he is better than Thomas. In my mind, having tough perimeter defense is mandatory with Cousins as the sole rim protector on the team, so the more time McCallum is on the floor, the better.
Same goes for Thornton. McLemore is already a better defender than Thornton, and will become much better before the season ends. Vasquez/Thornton in the backcourt will not work defensively. Vasquez McLemore can work. Assuming you can trade some combination of our guys for a starting SF or a rim protector, we have enough tweeners at other positions to fill in gaps left behind.
Same goes for Thornton. McLemore is already a better defender than Thornton, and will become much better before the season ends. Vasquez/Thornton in the backcourt will not work defensively. Vasquez McLemore can work. Assuming you can trade some combination of our guys for a starting SF or a rim protector, we have enough tweeners at other positions to fill in gaps left behind.