A Kings Assessment At All Star Break

[pshn80]

An assessment at All Star break of the Kings team and it's prospects. We all enjoy reading what a fellow nit wit has to offer.
* Present starters, their readiness tobe a winning team for a season:
Closest to where they need to be -
Gay - closest
Thompson - next closest
Cousins - trailing along with Thomas
Thomas
A SG isn't there yet

If we can get a SG who has Doug Christie characteristics, e.g., good defender, good ball handler, dribbler, passer and average scorer and 78" tall then- the starters we have can get us over .500 for a season after next year and maybe sooner.

If the other four starters can continue to improve their defense as they have been doing and Thomas and Cousins can shore- up their significant shortcomings on offense - cut down on dumb, selfish play- we can do it.

This is just one alternative but one that I think will work

 

[Hadlowe]

An assessment at All Star break of the Kings team and it's prospects. We all enjoy reading what a fellow nit wit has to offer.
* Present starters, their readiness tobe a winning team for a season:
Closest to where they need to be -
Gay - closest
Thompson - next closest
Cousins - trailing along with Thomas
Thomas
A SG isn't there yet

If we can get a SG who has Doug Christie characteristics, e.g., good defender, good ball handler, dribbler, passer and average scorer and 78" tall then- the starters we have can get us over .500 for a season after next year and maybe sooner.

If the other four starters can continue to improve their defense as they have been doing and Thomas and Cousins can shore- up their significant shortcomings on offense - cut down on dumb, selfish play- we can do it.

This is just one alternative but one that I think will work

I see the 4 as the most pressing need. Thompson is a pretty good man defender, but bad on rotating weakside to protect the rim or making the right call on defending pick and roll plays. He is in his prime years, so it's a safe bet that what you see with him right now is what you are going to get, and that is a player in the bottom quintile of the league for starters at his position on either side of the ball.

After that, point guard is the next most pressing position. Thomas is a very good player on offense, but still causes problems for the Kings on defense where he is the point of initial breakdown just far too often. Cousins is a problem there when the point guard is running a PnR play with the opposing center because he doesn't get above the three point line often to hedge or trap. A better defensive point guard isn't going to solve everything on defense, but it will make it easier for the team to predict when and where the breakdowns are coming and adjust schemes accordingly.

Then you get to shooting guard which is just a tough nut to crack unless McLemore makes the leap during the summer.

 

[Chupacabra]

An assessment at All Star break of the Kings team and it's prospects. We all enjoy reading what a fellow nit wit has to offer.
* Present starters, their readiness tobe a winning team for a season:
Closest to where they need to be -
Gay - closest
Thompson - next closest
Cousins - trailing along with Thomas
Thomas
A SG isn't there yet

If we can get a SG who has Doug Christie characteristics, e.g., good defender, good ball handler, dribbler, passer and average scorer and 78" tall then- the starters we have can get us over .500 for a season after next year and maybe sooner.

If the other four starters can continue to improve their defense as they have been doing and Thomas and Cousins can shore- up their significant shortcomings on offense - cut down on dumb, selfish play- we can do it.

This is just one alternative but one that I think will work

Will you please explain why it is that you think Cousins is the 3rd most prepared King to have a winning season?

 

[pshn80]

Will you please explain why it is that you think Cousins is the 3rd most k King to have a winning season?

Because he is a little too "thomasesque" on offense with the ball in his hands. Our offense would be much more effective if Cousins exercised better basketball judgement, being a better judge on when to go when to pass. And it's not that he doesn't make the basket, he often does, but the tean's game would be better served if he strategically past off, anywhere. Same desease he shares with IT. I don't see this view expressed here but I have had this view for sometime. An extension of this idea is that if you get a new better PG you won't necessarily cure Cuz of this problem. I'm interested to see if my view is in anyway shared by other posters.

 

[Padrino]

Because he is a little too "thomasesque" on offense with the ball in his hands. Our offense would be much more effective if Cousins exercised better basketball judgement, being a better judge on when to go when to pass. And it's not that he doesn't make the basket, he often does, but the tean's game would be better served if he strategically past off, anywhere. Same desease he shares with IT. I don't see this view expressed here but I have had this view for sometime. An extension of this idea is that if you get a new better PG you won't necessarily cure Cuz of this problem. I'm interested to see if my view is in anyway shared by other posters.

one of these things is not like the other. that is, one is a dominant franchise center who has every right to demand the ball--both from his coach and from his PG. the other is an undersized gunner without the natural PG instincts to consistently involve his more high profile teammates. now, i don't disagree that demarcus cousins needs to further develop his instincts when it comes to passing out of the post, but to compare the hierarchical priority of the team's #1 option to the "disease" of its #3 option is a bit laughable...

 

[pshn80]

one of these things is not like the other. that is, one is a dominant franchise center who has every right to demand the ball--both from his coach and from his PG. the other is an undersized gunner without the natural PG instincts to consistently involve his more high profile teammates. now, i don't disagree that demarcus cousins needs to further develop his instincts when it comes to passing out of the post, but to compare the hierarchical priority of the team's #1 option to the "disease" of its #3 option is a bit laughable...

That's where we differ, I don't think it is laughable and because it would be thought of as laughable by many of us that makes a serious deficiency in our team play. Please take away the No. 1 and No. 3 ladles, Isee this a team problem with both.

 

[Spike]

But the whole point of Cousins being a number 1 option is precisely why you can't take away that label.

 

[Tetsujin]

Well if we're taking away the 1st option label and so on, then I think we can all agree that Kevin Durant is not prepared to win.

 

[Hadlowe]

That's where we differ, I don't think it is laughable and because it would be thought of as laughable by many of us that makes a serious deficiency in our team play. Please take away the No. 1 and No. 3 ladles, Isee this a team problem with both.

I think one of the issues you describe is that we get the ball to Cousins in the high or low post and the play ends off the ball. We run very poor weakside motion to get open passing lanes.

I think Cousins really wants to be that complete big man like Webber. He has good vision. What he is missing is three targets who will do the right thing with a kickout pass.

 

[Bricklayer]

If DeMarcus Cousins is traded tomorrow to Portland for LaMarcus Aldridge, or to the Clippers for Griffin, or to the Spurs for Duncan, or to the Warriors to Lee, or to any number of other winning franchises for their top bigs, all of a sudden DeMarcus Cousins is "ready to win", and would begin doing so instantly.

DeMarcus Cousins is not the part of the equation lacking here. And he should never be mentioned in the same breath with an entity like IT again. Health willing, DeMarcus Cousins will likely be a HOFer. The vast majority of his teammates will be forgotten the day they leave town. Their path to greatness lies in supplementing Cousins, not the other way around.

 

[pshn80]

If DeMarcus Cousins is traded tomorrow to Portland for LaMarcus Aldridge, or to the Clippers for Griffin, or to the Spurs for Duncan, or to the Warriors to Lee, or to any number of other winning franchises for their top bigs, all of a sudden DeMarcus Cousins is "ready to win", and would begin doing so instantly.

DeMarcus Cousins is not the part of the equation lacking here. And he should never be mentioned in the same breath with an entity like IT again. Health willing, DeMarcus Cousins will likely be a HOFer. The vast majority of his teammates will be forgotten the day they leave town. Their path to greatness lies in supplementing Cousins, not the other way around.

I certainly hope you are right.

 

[ppine]

The Kings have a 1-3-5 punch. It is the 2 that is really weak. The 4 is next in weakness. After those two spots are taken care of , then they can start thinking about a different sort of point guard if that is what the front office decides.

 

[pshn80]

If DeMarcus Cousins is traded tomorrow to Portland for LaMarcus Aldridge, or to the Clippers for Griffin, or to the Spurs for Duncan, or to the Warriors to Lee, or to any number of other winning franchises for their top bigs, all of a sudden DeMarcus Cousins is "ready to win", and would begin doing so instantly.

DeMarcus Cousins is not the part of the equation lacking here. And he should never be mentioned in the same breath with an entity like IT again. Health willing, DeMarcus Cousins will likely be a HOFer. The vast majority of his teammates will be forgotten the day they leave town. Their path to greatness lies in supplementing Cousins, not the other way around.

How about my point that the present Kings with the SG I described and the natural improvement of Cuz and IT can be an over-.500 team (even though I've mentioned the two of them in the same breath)?

 

[mac]

The Kings have a 1-3-5 punch. It is the 2 that is really weak. The 4 is next in weakness. After those two spots are taken care of , then they can start thinking about a different sort of point guard if that is what the front office decides.

call me silly, but IMO if we truly had a 1-3-5 punch we would not be worst in the West. Hey everyone, remember when we all were bagging on the Suns prior to the season? Well we sure showed them eh?

 

[Npliam]

call me silly, but IMO if we truly had a 1-3-5 punch we would not be worst in the West. Hey everyone, remember when we all were bagging on the Suns prior to the season? Well we sure showed them eh?

Yeah, remember when I made the bold statement that I wasn't sure that the Kings were much better than the Jazz. How stupid was I?

 

[ParniValjak]

The Kings have a 1-3-5 punch. It is the 2 that is really weak. The 4 is next in weakness. After those two spots are taken care of , then they can start thinking about a different sort of point guard if that is what the front office decides.

If we had a genuine 1-3-5 punch we would not be last in the west. SG is really weak because of a lack of quality shots our SGs are getting because they are scorers that need shots. Either the SGs do not fit or the PG does not fit.

Thornton has not lost his ability to score...he is more than capable of scoring the ball but his name rarely gets called so he lives off scraps. Its the only thing he does well. You chage the PG to Rondo or Lowry type and all of a sudden Thornton is back to being a 15-17ppg player who spreads the floor and gets good looks because the PG is not a high shot taker.

If you roll with IT at PG, then the SG needs to be strictly a 3 and D type. I am finding difficult to read how the front office views IT. I suspect they do not see him as our PG of the future hence interest in Rondo. I suspect they see him as a dynamic 6th man but the problem is that the dynamic 6th man is about to get paid as a starter by someone. I hope its not us.

 

[Chupacabra]

If were going to go forward with cousins-gay we won't need scoring out our pg. Wed be better off with a 3&D player. Scoring isn't this teams problem.