[Grades] Grades v. Mavs 12/4/10
- Thread starter Bricklayer
- Start date
The key failure in this game was that we couldn't make any plays coming out of timeouts in the final four minutes. Seems like we turned the ball over pretty much in every play Westphal specifically drew up. Dallas one the other hand made a key basket out of a timeout that cut it to 92-99 just when we had the momentum. If we had stopped that one we would have won. Or if we had made just one good play out of a timeout to slow their momentum we would have won. We were outcoached in this one.
You know this game made me feel/realise that Landry just isn't a good fit for us. He's a very talented player, but just not the right fit for our team. Why? He doesn't rebound enough, which is really important considering our defence isn't really good, and also with Cousins being a rookie and still picking up a lot of fouls we sort of have to have Landry guarding the other team's best big, which he is not particularly good at due to his size.
On offence, he's not a very good passer which stops ball movement, already a scarce commodity on the team. Another thing that dawned upon me was this - our bigs are set up inside off dribble penetration. It's not like Nash or Dwill whereby the bigs come off a pick and roll and are pretty open going to the basket. For us it's usually Beno or Tyreke driving in, drawing the double team and then giving a short pass to the open big man. What this means is that the paint is still going to be pretty packed when the big gets the ball, or rather the defenders are able to get back in a shorter period of time. As such, our bigs need to be able to finish strongly or quickly around the rim, either with athletic explosiveness like Amare or sheer size like Cousins (though I would like him to have a little more hops). Landry is a good finisher inside, but his skill is really due to patience and quickness getting a shot up more than anything else. That works fine against your average PF but when you've got 2 7 footers with outstretched arms around you ... Getting them up on a shotfake isn't going to help that much.
I also worry that our offence may be too reliant on outside shooting. It works when shots are falling, but eventually if we want to make a deep run in the playoffs we'll need to get more points inside, and hopefully that will come with Cousins developing. I'm hoping that over the offseason we get rid of Landry and pick up a big with real hops, someone who can just rebound and finish around the rim. JT is actually the perfect PF to play with Tyreke - he has a decent outside shot and is quite athletic. He still needs to improve on finishing in traffic though but he's shown a lot of improvement in that area.
On offence, he's not a very good passer which stops ball movement, already a scarce commodity on the team. Another thing that dawned upon me was this - our bigs are set up inside off dribble penetration. It's not like Nash or Dwill whereby the bigs come off a pick and roll and are pretty open going to the basket. For us it's usually Beno or Tyreke driving in, drawing the double team and then giving a short pass to the open big man. What this means is that the paint is still going to be pretty packed when the big gets the ball, or rather the defenders are able to get back in a shorter period of time. As such, our bigs need to be able to finish strongly or quickly around the rim, either with athletic explosiveness like Amare or sheer size like Cousins (though I would like him to have a little more hops). Landry is a good finisher inside, but his skill is really due to patience and quickness getting a shot up more than anything else. That works fine against your average PF but when you've got 2 7 footers with outstretched arms around you ... Getting them up on a shotfake isn't going to help that much.
I also worry that our offence may be too reliant on outside shooting. It works when shots are falling, but eventually if we want to make a deep run in the playoffs we'll need to get more points inside, and hopefully that will come with Cousins developing. I'm hoping that over the offseason we get rid of Landry and pick up a big with real hops, someone who can just rebound and finish around the rim. JT is actually the perfect PF to play with Tyreke - he has a decent outside shot and is quite athletic. He still needs to improve on finishing in traffic though but he's shown a lot of improvement in that area.
What frustrated me most about Carl Landry this game however was not his offence, or even his defence on Dirk, but how he was playing as if he were a shot blocker. Everytime Jason Terry got past his defender and was driving in, Carl would lay back (even though Dalembert was right behind him), as if he was going to swat Terry's lay up or something. Instead, Terry just dribbled to the baseline, stepped back and was wide open for jumpshot after jumpshot. Did not understand that at all.
Not really. Maybe in past games your description would be accurate, but I noticed in this game more than any other game so far this season the guards were just making an easy entry pass to the big men without the dribble drive. And I think that had a lot to do with the Kings being so successful on offense in this game. The big men were having a lot more touches and the guards were being asked to do less. Unfortunately, with Landry you don't want him to be a passer. I saw Cousins, Dally, and even Thompson making excellent passes in this game. Landry just can't do what they can.
I really, really, really thought the Kings were going to win this game 
I even SMILED when watching this game! Do you know how long its been since I smiled and laughed more than once while watching this team play!
Reke was great, he and Beno fell right back into place. Donte was great. DeMarcus played more than a full quarter without picking up a foul!
Please basketball Gods, let this be a sign of progress!!!!!
I even SMILED when watching this game! Do you know how long its been since I smiled and laughed more than once while watching this team play!Reke was great, he and Beno fell right back into place. Donte was great. DeMarcus played more than a full quarter without picking up a foul!
Please basketball Gods, let this be a sign of progress!!!!!
LOL, I would think that one or 2 would have bounced his way just by the law of averages. Did he bat those back to the other team? Pretty poor rebounder for a PF. Carl Landry is the prototypical "TWEENER". Too small to play the 4 and too slow to play the 3. Too bad we need more from the PF spot and we are not getting it from Landry. You could start Green at PF and get better results.
He didn't throw up a prayer. He left his feet and tried to pass the ball with 2 seconds left on the clock. When Dirk overplayed him all he had to do was put the ball on the floor once, pull up and shoot the ball. If he had done that an missed, no one would be upset. You don't make every shot. But he didn't! He passed up a wide open shot, drove into the teeth of the defense, left his feet and passed the ball to them. There is no way to defend that. He clearly made a mistake. Just like Cousins made two mistakes by making two silly fouls and giving them 4 pts with the clock stopped. But the main culprit is Westphal. With 9 seconds left on the clock, you want to have players on the floor that can put the ball on the floor and create a shot if they have to. You want good shooters setting up on the wing, if you have to shoot from there. Landry doesn't fit either of those descriptions. He never should have been out there in that situation. So I don't blame him, I blame Westphal and this love affair he has with Landry, regardless of the situation or the matchup.
In fairness to Landry, him guarding Terry is a matchup made in hell. However it was a mismatch that Dallas kept going to. Interestingly enough, one time when Cousins got stuck one on one with Terry, he kept Terry in front of him, and his length kept Terry from having a good shot. Once again it goes back to Landry being undersized, but at the same time not having particuarly quick feet. He couldn't stay in front of Terry with out giving him space, and didn't have the length to bother his shot when he did play off of him.
Landry in 28 minutes had 4 pts on 1 of 6 shooting, no rebounds and 3 turnovers. He did manage one blocked shot. Thompson didn't fare much better offensively with 4 pts on 1 of 5 shooting. But he had 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in 20 minutes. He also played much better defense on Dirk. There's a greater issue in the difference between having Thompson or Landry on the floor. Its not hard to know just exactly where Landry is going to be most of the time. The right side of the key somewhere between 12 to 18 feet from the basket. We also know that when he gets the ball, 90% of the time he's going to shoot it. Sometimes quickly, and sometimes after trying to figure out what he wants to do. So from that perspective, its not hard to figure out how to defend his position. If you pressure him out in the 15 foot or more range by doubling him, he's either going to put up a forced shot, or he's going to turn the ball over. He's simply not a good passer, and doesn't have the height in some cases to see over the defense.
Thompson on the other hand, may not yet be as good an offensive player as Landry, but is far more mobile, and moves without the ball. Which gives the ballhandler a few more options with dishes near the basket or backdoor cuts, and in some cases alley opps. Thompson is a good passer and better ballhandler. That gets him in trouble sometimes when he tries to do too much, but in general the offense operates much smoother with Thompson on the floor. Thompson is much harder to defend because he's quicker, and more mobile, and doesn't really have any particular spot on the floor he loves to score from. Therefore its harder to know what he's goinig to do with the ball. Some might say thats because he doesn't know what he's going to do with the ball. Might be some truth in that.
I'm starting to agree with those that maybe Landry just isn't a good fit for this team. I think he fit in better with a more mobile center that liked to play away from the basket like Hawes, than he does with either Cousins or Dalembert. Landry simply has no game away from his comfort spot on the floor. Put him on the floor with Dalembert and it gets congested around the basket and makes it easier to defend Landry. With the right matchup, I think he can be valuable, but in general, it might be better to get something of value in return for him.
Thompson on the other hand, may not yet be as good an offensive player as Landry, but is far more mobile, and moves without the ball. Which gives the ballhandler a few more options with dishes near the basket or backdoor cuts, and in some cases alley opps. Thompson is a good passer and better ballhandler. That gets him in trouble sometimes when he tries to do too much, but in general the offense operates much smoother with Thompson on the floor. Thompson is much harder to defend because he's quicker, and more mobile, and doesn't really have any particular spot on the floor he loves to score from. Therefore its harder to know what he's goinig to do with the ball. Some might say thats because he doesn't know what he's going to do with the ball. Might be some truth in that.
I'm starting to agree with those that maybe Landry just isn't a good fit for this team. I think he fit in better with a more mobile center that liked to play away from the basket like Hawes, than he does with either Cousins or Dalembert. Landry simply has no game away from his comfort spot on the floor. Put him on the floor with Dalembert and it gets congested around the basket and makes it easier to defend Landry. With the right matchup, I think he can be valuable, but in general, it might be better to get something of value in return for him.
Please! Lets not give Westphal any more ideas about playing players out of position. Last night we had three guys that were doing the bulk of the scoring in Evans, Greene, and Cousins. Beno, who is very capable of scoring didn't do much of it in the first half, but he did a lot of little things to help those that did. Thompson played defense and rebounded. If we can get scoring out of the other scorers, we don't need Thompson to be a big scorer. If he can play defense, make some nice passes, give us 8 to 10 pts, and 7 or 8 boards in 30 minutes, thats all we need from him. I'm sure they'll be nights where he'll give us more than that. But if he knows thats his roll, he can go out there, be comfortable, and just play the game.
Thompsons biggest problem is trying to do too much. If he knows he's not expected to score 20 and grab 10 boards, he can just relax and let the game come to him.
Thompsons biggest problem is trying to do too much. If he knows he's not expected to score 20 and grab 10 boards, he can just relax and let the game come to him.
You are RIGHT! My bad. I only wanted to point out that Landry isn't doing that hot at the PF position. I meerly suggested that Green would do better even though he is a small forward. We dont need any more experimentation by Westfall with playing players out of position. We have seen that fail already too many times. The Kings need to play JT more and Landry less to see if JT can be the man at the PF and then Landry can return to being a 6th man.
I thought Beno deserved a grade as high as Evans. Beno was the glue that held us together throughout the entire game and allowed us to play as well as we did. The several possessions at the end however were strange. It looked as if he was trying to hand off the ball to Reke but for whatever reason wasnt able to do so. Tyreke had a good game. Its good to see him being less selfish and fitting in a bit with the team. He was lucky some of those 3 point shots fell in though because they were ill timed and if they didnt go in, wouldve costed the kings several brand new possessions.