nba.com write up on our starting 5

#1
http://www.nba.com/kings/blog/kings-starting-five-earn-top-rankings

Kings Starting Five Earn Top Rankings

Sacramento’s starting unit has competed at a high level this season according to advanced metrics. Coach Corbin & JT discuss the group’s effectiveness.

by Steven Wilson
Writer, Digital
Posted: Jan 12, 2015
Playing just 22 games side-by-side, the Sacramento Kings regular starting five has been outstanding this season.

With DeMarcus Cousins and Jason Thompson manning the paint, Rudy Gay on the wing and the combination of Darren Collison and Ben McLemore in the backcourt, the Kings rank ninth in offensive rating (111.3), first in defensive rating (88.6) and fifth in net rating (+22.7)

“If you look at the last few games, other than that third quarter against Denver, we’ve been making great progress with that group,” said Head Coach Tyrone Corbin.

Those five players have racked up over 300 minutes together on the court − good for eighth in the League − which has allowed them to establish a unique trust between one another.

“Matchups change… but for the most part, we feel like with that traditional lineup, we can match up against most teams,” continued Corbin.

Sacramento has the added luxury of some solid rebounding bigs in its starting five. Big Cuz has routinely ranked amidst the top of every rebounding category, JT regularly flirts with double-digit boards and Rudy Gay is a strong rebounder from his small forward spot.

As a group, the Kings starting unit ranks seventh in rebounding percentage at 54.6 and 14th in defensive glass cleaning (78.9).

“For us, I think now it’s about finding that consistency,” said Thompson. “In two out of the last three games, we’ve played against really good teams and I feel like we (adjusted our playing style). We can’t be hyped for some games and not for others. We have to have that same mentality game-in and game-out.”

The group also holds the 12th spot in the League with an effective field goal percentage of 54.5, while nearly cracking the top-15 in pace (97.21), which ranks the number of possessions a team has per 48 minutes.

“I think they’re really doing a good job communicating with each other and holding each other accountable,” said Corbin.

  • No starting lineup has been better defensively than Sacramento’s regular starting five in terms of defensive rating (88.6).
  • The Kings regular starting unit holds the 13th spot in the NBA with a true shooting percentage of 58.2.
  • Sacramento’s next opponent − the Dallas Mavericks − currently holds the 17th spot in defensive rating (98.3) and the 50th spot offensively (98.0) in terms of starting units.
From Love to Nowitzki

Kings forward Jason Thompson did an admirable job with Kevin Love in the team’s recent win, holding him to 25 points on 21 shots, but now he has another highly skilled opponent to deal with.

Dirk Nowitzki leads the Mavs into Sacramento as the teams partake in a rematch of November’s shootout in which Dallas stormed back from a 24-point deficit to claim a 106-98 win.

“I can’t say enough about how much I respect his understanding, especially where he’s at and his role on this team,” Corbin said of Thompson after practice on Monday.

“He’s done a really good job for us and has made us better because of his versatility and his attention to detail.”

Known for his sharp-shooting reliability over the past decade, Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki had an off month to round out 2014. He connected on just 27.8 percent of his threes in December, averaging 17.8 points per game. Historically, it was one of the worst shooting months of his career.

“Dirk is a unique player,” admitted Thompson.

“Sometimes you’re not going to be able to block his shot because of his height, but you have to contest and make it tough for him.”

In five games this month, Dallas’ No. 41 is averaging 18.2 points, shooting 44.7 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from the three-point line.

“The game has changed when it comes to (power forwards),” said Thompson. “Just by stretching the floor, making threes and trying to shoot more jump shots − it’s something that you have to adjust to.”

The Kings No. 34 will look to slow down Nowitzki and Co. as the Kings seek their third win at home in the past four games.
 
#2
Nice to see. We need to win some consecutive games. This team really should have a better record. On the plus side... If we make a strong run at the playoffs we my be able to attract a free agent here to solidify out bench.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#3
Nice to see. We need to win some consecutive games. This team really should have a better record. On the plus side... If we make a strong run at the playoffs we my be able to attract a free agent here to solidify out bench.
The playoff thing isn't really realistic any longer. We again wasted our soft month, blew all our easy homecourt games, and the rest of the season is either tough teams, or the weak teams we face are on the road.

A fully animated Boogie though might still be enough for us to make a good run at .500, which would be disappointing given what might have been, but still a big step forward after forever terrible. And if Boogie can lead us to that, that could attract the free agent. A legit superstar. The recent front office nonsense and the scorn heaped on it will not help though. Nor will us probably having 4 of our 5 starting spots sacred cowed.
 

CruzDude

Senior Member sharing a brew with bajaden
#4
Gradually they are coming together and playing their game that best fits their talent. Corbin seems to be recognizing this and going with the flow. Now if only the bench could contribute but will need an upgrade or two for that.

Getting more pressure on the perimeter with Cuz defending the middle better and better with fewer fouls is the key to climbing up the ladder in the west. The TO to Ast ratio of the Cavs game to me is their biggest accomplishment lately. Now to do that more frequently gets them up the ladder all the more quickly. Sniffing at the playoffs is a long way off. Continuing the progress is the most important thing now and playing together. It all takes time. As a Kings fan since 1989 I know.
 
#5
The playoff thing isn't really realistic any longer. We again wasted our soft month, blew all our easy homecourt games, and the rest of the season is either tough teams, or the weak teams we face are on the road.

A fully animated Boogie though might still be enough for us to make a good run at .500, which would be disappointing given what might have been, but still a big step forward after forever terrible. And if Boogie can lead us to that, that could attract the free agent. A legit superstar. The recent front office nonsense and the scorn heaped on it will not help though. Nor will us probably having 4 of our 5 starting spots sacred cowed.
We're 3 games back of the 8th seed in the loss column, and in 2 of our last 3 games we blew out good teams by a combined margin of over 40. We've beat good teams before. All it takes is one sustained winning streak to be back in the thick of it.

**** PESSIMISM. GO KINGS!!!!!
 
#6
On topic: I've said for years that JT would be a great role player with a defined role on a good team. I always thought it would happen somewhere else, but I'm very happy that he's doing it in Sactown.

Yeah he's overpaid, but we can't do anything about it. I'd love for him to get an extension for a more reasonable price. I also think we need a third man for the front court rotation, but I am 100% satisfied with the way JT compliments Cuz and the rest of this team.
 
#7
On topic: I've said for years that JT would be a great role player with a defined role on a good team. I always thought it would happen somewhere else, but I'm very happy that he's doing it in Sactown.

Yeah he's overpaid, but we can't do anything about it. I'd love for him to get an extension for a more reasonable price. I also think we need a third man for the front court rotation, but I am 100% satisfied with the way JT compliments Cuz and the rest of this team.
I've always felt that way as well. Especially since Thompson has morphed himself from an athletic and skilled/finesse player out of Rider into a strong, tough nosed defender. His scouting reports from his draft year are almost funny now.
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jason-Thompson-594/

Part of my concern with JT has always been whether he'd accept the role he seemed best suited for, especially at the end of last year when he talked about moving on from Sacramento (not that I blame him) but especially about getting more touches. But he's been great this year, especially when playing teams that have a big body for him to defend. I think in a perfect world you'd have Thompson as the first big off the bench swinging between PF & C. Maybe with a stretch four that isn't overly soft on the boards or a complete defensive liability (along the lines of Patterson or Ilyasova of a couple seasons back) as your other reserve big so you have some versatility.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#8
We're 3 games back of the 8th seed in the loss column, and in 2 of our last 3 games we blew out good teams by a combined margin of over 40. We've beat good teams before. All it takes is one sustained winning streak to be back in the thick of it.

**** PESSIMISM. GO KINGS!!!!!
If Boogie plays like the MVP, anything is possible. But that's what it takes, and no burps, no injuries, not a single loose loss.

Suns are on pace to win 45, somebody, OKC most likely, will almost surely win more than that. But even to get to 45 we would have to go 29-16 the rest of the way, a .644 win%, which is to say a 53 win pace. If somebody pops that number out to 48 wins or so you are beginning to talk about a 60 win pace just to slip in.

Boogie pulls that off, with the front office meddling storyline, he seriously would deserve the MVP. Because of the media's stupid little de facto best player on a great team unwritten rules he wouldn't get it, but he'd certainly be Top 5 in the votes.
 

Krunker

Northernmost Kings Fan
#9
Those are interesting comments from Corbin about JT, since it was just a couple weeks ago when he benched JT for Hollins.
 
#10
I've always felt that way as well. Especially since Thompson has morphed himself from an athletic and skilled/finesse player out of Rider into a strong, tough nosed defender. His scouting reports from his draft year are almost funny now.
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jason-Thompson-594/

Part of my concern with JT has always been whether he'd accept the role he seemed best suited for, especially at the end of last year when he talked about moving on from Sacramento (not that I blame him) but especially about getting more touches. But he's been great this year, especially when playing teams that have a big body for him to defend. I think in a perfect world you'd have Thompson as the first big off the bench swinging between PF & C. Maybe with a stretch four that isn't overly soft on the boards or a complete defensive liability (along the lines of Patterson or Ilyasova of a couple seasons back) as your other reserve big so you have some versatility.

It's amazing what a difference it makes having an organization that fits players into roles that are properly suited for them.

And I completely agree about the stretch four. I'd love to see Ryan Anderson here, both for his skills and to get a Sacramento native on the team. Unfortunately I don't think that's workable, at least right now, but any quality player in that mold could do us very well.

As to bench vs starter, if we did magically add RA (or a similar player), my first instinct would be to play them off the bench in order to be the second unit leader. JT fits in great and really balances out starting lineup, and I'd be worried about his diminishing effectiveness on the bench.

The other advantage to having a stretch 4 on the bench would be in dealing with DMC getting in foul trouble - we could move JT to center and being out the 4 to provide a punch in order to prevent the offense from stalling.
 

rainmaker

Hall of Famer
#11
I think it's a legit possibility this team puts a run together and goes after that 8th spot. Said as much after the firing. Cuz is simply incredibly talented and with him out there going 35 a night, we should have a chance to win any given night. He himself can cover up much of the incompetence surrounding this organization. But make no mistake, Rudy and Cuz want to win and will do their best to do so. Other guys naturally will follow their lead.

However, I also said it's still likely to end with Corbin getting fired and having to start over again next year and we'd also likely come up a little short, which will be mostly a result of everything which happened in Dec.

Thing with Corbin is PDA can get in his ear all he likes and it will have an effect, however coaches usually fall back on what they know, their true beliefs and Corbin much like Malone is a disciple of a more defensive system. We've started to see us go back to that over the last week. And it likely ends in Corbin also getting his walking papers but if we can at least keep this going where there's at least the appearance of playing for something, it's better than flat out falling apart and talking draft picks, or worse.
 
#12
WTH?
A puff write-up on NBA.com and a couple of opponents stinking up the court and y'all are ready to talk playoffs again?

Don't talk about playoffs- You kiddin me?
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#13
WTH?
A puff write-up on NBA.com and a couple of opponents stinking up the court and y'all are ready to talk playoffs again?

Don't talk about playoffs- You kiddin me?
It doesn't cost any more to dream in technicolor. If a few people want to consider the playoffs as a possibility, as long as it's mathematically possible they aren't totally out of line.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#14
I would of never guessed that starting unit would be number one in defensive efficiency....goes to show you that when they do want to play it they are more than capable, but the key here is do they want to. With the season being a wash pretty much as far as competing for the 8th seed, the players still have plenty they can play for and I don't see why they don't try to muster up as many wins with this unit as possible because as we all know, it takes time for chemistry to form and in order to fulfill that chemistry...the team needs to stay intact...at least the starting unit does. Other than that random Derrick Williams starting line up...Corbin needs to just stay consistent with this line up through the ups and downs and let the players learn on their own on how to get the best out of each other. The bench on the other hand...gulp!
 
#15
It doesn't cost any more to dream in technicolor. If a few people want to consider the playoffs as a possibility, as long as it's mathematically possible they aren't totally out of line.
On the surface, I'd support that if it makes the fans feel better to be deluded a longer time, but in my experience, it hurts more to have high hopes dashed than to accept the reality once it has become apparent.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#16
On the surface, I'd support that if it makes the fans feel better to be deluded a longer time, but in my experience, it hurts more to have high hopes dashed than to accept the reality once it has become apparent.
That's your experience. Some like to remain optimistic as long as possible. My dreams don't depend on your reality...and vice versa.
 
#17
The one major hole on the roster is a defensive, rebounding center in the second unit. It is almost to the point that any old paint clog will do as long as he is a seven footer. Add a good sixth man on the wing (a healthy Casspi would do) and you have 48 minutes of effective defense and "good enough" offense.
 

hrdboild

Hall of Famer
#18
The starting unit has been effective all season. The bench has been a disaster. Back before the sudden and inexplicable firing of Coach Malone, the conversation was mostly about what we need to do to get a functioning bench unit on the court that can at least hold a lead for a few minutes at a time. I was genuinely optimistic that we could find a few key guys to push us over the hump in that regard. Really all we need is a backup big who's as effective on the defensive end as Cousins is so we don't lose our interior D when he subs out and a third guard who can effectively back up both positions and keep the pressure on the opposing backcourt by excelling on either end of the floor. Get those two pieces and we could work out a 9 man rotation with some combination of Casspi, Williams, or Landry chipping in as scorers.

It's hard to look past all the other distractions and treat this like a functioning basketball team again, but I know there are deals out there to be made for these type of players if somebody would just get on the phone and make it happen. There are all sorts of underutilized players scattered across the other 29 rosters. How far we go this year depends entirely on whether PDA and staff can make something happen with this bench unit and how soon they can make it happen.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#19
The starting unit has been effective all season. The bench has been a disaster. Back before the sudden and inexplicable firing of Coach Malone, the conversation was mostly about what we need to do to get a functioning bench unit on the court that can at least hold a lead for a few minutes at a time. I was genuinely optimistic that we could find a few key guys to push us over the hump in that regard. Really all we need is a backup big who's as effective on the defensive end as Cousins is so we don't lose our interior D when he subs out and a third guard who can effectively back up both positions and keep the pressure on the opposing backcourt by excelling on either end of the floor. Get those two pieces and we could work out a 9 man rotation with some combination of Casspi, Williams, or Landry chipping in as scorers.

It's hard to look past all the other distractions and treat this like a functioning basketball team again, but I know there are deals out there to be made for these type of players if somebody would just get on the phone and make it happen. There are all sorts of underutilized players scattered across the other 29 rosters. How far we go this year depends entirely on whether PDA and staff can make something happen with this bench unit and how soon they can make it happen.
"Our bench is amazing so long as Derrick Williams remains on the team."
-PDA probably
 
#20
The starting unit has been effective all season. The bench has been a disaster.
This is a good post, however I don't agree with the conclusion/insinuation that the starting unit doesn't need upgraded.

Collison is barely a qualified, playoff-caliber point guard. He tends to choke in pressure situations/teams.
Ben is spectacularly unproven. Him not being as horrible as he was last year is hardly a reassuring criteria. I would guesstimate that I can count the number of pressure shots he's hit in his career on one hand.
JT is not a starting PF quality on a playoff team. He just isn't.

The Kings are getting this far sheerly by Demarcus's beastly play, and Rudy's adding on, with occasional guest-stars chipping in some good play.

They are a LOT of roster spots away from being a 6 or 7 seed.
 

hrdboild

Hall of Famer
#21
This is a good post, however I don't agree with the conclusion/insinuation that the starting unit doesn't need upgraded.

Collison is barely a qualified, playoff-caliber point guard. He tends to choke in pressure situations/teams.
Ben is spectacularly unproven. Him not being as horrible as he was last year is hardly a reassuring criteria. I would guesstimate that I can count the number of pressure shots he's hit in his career on one hand.
JT is not a starting PF quality on a playoff team. He just isn't.

The Kings are getting this far sheerly by Demarcus's beastly play, and Rudy's adding on, with occasional guest-stars chipping in some good play.

They are a LOT of roster spots away from being a 6 or 7 seed.
These are all glass half empty assumptions that are easy to make when the team is losing. When we were jumping out to massive first quarter leads against solid top 5 playoff teams on the road, every single guy in the starting lineup was contributing way above their worst-case scenario though. That's what the article indicates. And in those early season losses where we jumped way ahead of Memphis and Dallas and then lost the lead, it wasn't the starting unit that was the problem. Those leads were all coughed up with our starters on the bench.

Since Malone was fired, the team defense has looked substantially worse. Thompson is once again struggling to find a role. Ben is looking less and less aggressive by the week. Bad Rudy Gay has forced up an increasing number of low percentage shots. So yeah, we have problems that could be fixed in a number of ways. With an interim coach in charge, I can't even judge which of these problems can only be fixed with personnel changes. Like I said, it's hard for me to treat this like a functioning basketball team right now. No amount of trades can replace a motivated squad united in playing hard for a head coach they trust. The team I saw early in the season I firmly believe they were just 2 or 3 players away from winning a first round playoff series. Too bad we'll never know now.