Grades v. Knicks 12/28/2012

[Gilles]

...
First half was just insanity just moving the ball so pure and delightful to watch every guy just blazing the net, good win even though Knicks were missing 2 players and we were missing 1 we have been on the recieving end of that plenty this year...

The best way to spend next couple of practices is probably by showing players the tape of both halves multiple times while showing 71 and 35 - scoring in each half.

[Bricklayer]

I've had this in mind about Cousins since we drafted him. He's suitably big and strong to be typecast as a C, particularly in the modern NBA where the C position is more likely to be filled by a PF and there is no C position. But with his skillset he's really better suited as an offensive-minded PF. We can continue doing what we've been doing, following everyone else's lead and finding an athletic stretch 4 to play alongside Cousins, or we can find a real defensive anchor and let Cousins utilize his inside-out game to punish everyone else's undersized PFs. That's been my preference from the beginning, which is why I was never happy with the decision to go with Hayes over Dalembert. We maybe saved a couple million dollars there and we lost the only size advantage we've enjoyed in a decade. Not to mention -- if you are going to bring in Hayes as a defensive post specialist, then he really should be starting not getting mop-up duty with the second unit.

It looked for a fleeting moment there like we might be building a team around size/strength advantages at two important positions and we've spent the last two years screwing up both of them. Which is why I pretty much just watch the games at this point to see if one of them has a good game or not. Because other than that, we've been running 100mph in the wrong direction for far far too long and it's painful to watch. To be brutally honest, I still see only two players on this team who could lead us somewhere -- everything else is a (expensive) waste of space.

Very much agree with most of that.

[UK_King]

Not even going to think about the negative stuff tonight that.

Great great win, don't really care how we got there, game winning shot. Come on!

[Spike]

It's not a great win, it's a great save.
That said, it's a win, and the players could use some of that.

[Kingster]

Calmed down the game? Did what we needed him to do? He played all but 7 minutes of the second half where we were outscored 55 to 35 and very nearly forced up a shot to cost us the game. I wouldn't equate that to a big game from him.

He had an excellent game. I think he might have made one mistake all night (a missed assist), and for a pg that's huge. He had a ton of hockey assists. He also played very good D. I liked his game a lot.

[Kingster]

I didn't miss seeing Chuck Hayes or Robinson last night. I don't have anything against either, but didn't miss 'em.

Nice to have a game in which Robinson wasn't out there to iso against somebody. He's not good enough offensively to iso against anybody and he shouldn't be pandered to, even if he was the 5th pick in the draft. He needs to work his way up the ladder. Start as the busboy first. Then if he can handle that, graduate to a waiter. Etc. From here on out I hope Smart tells him he's going to have to do all the little things in order to get pt on the floor. He's got to start stepping it up bigtime. He has a lot of talent, but the light bulb has got to come on soon.

[pshn80]

Great win though agonizing second half. Team effort. Though the second half we lost, we won the last six minutes which stopped the bleeding and got us the win.

[lwc]

A win is a win, so I will take it. Too many times the Kings have been on the losing end of those, nice to be on the winning side for once.

[PurpleHaze]

A win is a win, so I will take it. Too many times the Kings have been on the losing end of those, nice to be on the winning side for once.

Yep, and Kings fans will never get tired of watching JJ shot of the year.


http://nba.si.com/2012/12/29/demarcu.../?sct=uk_t2_a5

[Capt. Factorial]

Yep, and Kings fans will never get tired of watching JJ shot of the year.


http://nba.si.com/2012/12/29/demarcu.../?sct=uk_t2_a5

Note that although the story was fixed, apparently the author originally believed that it was Cousins who hit the three (look at the URL). The ESPN anchors who led with the Kings/Knicks as it had just ended (coming out of a college b-ball game) also thought it was "Demarco" Cousins.

Sheesh, national media.

If you're going to spend all of your time dissing our team and dissing our players, at least take the time to figure out who they are.

[Bricklayer]

He had an excellent game. I think he might have made one mistake all night (a missed assist), and for a pg that's huge. He had a ton of hockey assists. He also played very good D. I liked his game a lot.

You must be kidding.

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

I've had this in mind about Cousins since we drafted him. He's suitably big and strong to be typecast as a C, particularly in the modern NBA where the C position is more likely to be filled by a PF and there is no C position. But with his skillset he's really better suited as an offensive-minded PF. We can continue doing what we've been doing, following everyone else's lead and finding an athletic stretch 4 to play alongside Cousins, or we can find a real defensive anchor and let Cousins utilize his inside-out game to punish everyone else's undersized PFs. That's been my preference from the beginning, which is why I was never happy with the decision to go with Hayes over Dalembert. We maybe saved a couple million dollars there and we lost the only size advantage we've enjoyed in a decade. Not to mention -- if you are going to bring in Hayes as a defensive post specialist, then he really should be starting not getting mop-up duty with the second unit.

It looked for a fleeting moment there like we might be building a team around size/strength advantages at two important positions and we've spent the last two years screwing up both of them. Which is why I pretty much just watch the games at this point to see if one of them has a good game or not. Because other than that, we've been running 100mph in the wrong direction for far far too long and it's painful to watch. To be brutally honest, I still see only two players on this team who could lead us somewhere -- everything else is a (expensive) waste of space.

Agreed. Which is why I think Drummond would have been a good pick for us.

[jpsls]

Agreed. Which is why I think Drummond would have been a good pick for us.

But Petrie always has to go with the safe pick. It's why I feel he needs to go.

[spudfan]

But Petrie always has to go with the safe pick. It's why I feel he needs to go.

You feel Jimmer was the safe pick?

[Glenn]

I don't even agree that Petrie makes the safe pick or move. He knows the only way this franchise can go forward is by taking chances. The trade for Webber is an example. The draft of Cousins and Jimmer. As no FA will come here, he needs to hope for a home run. We also have the issue of who is controlling these moves, the Maloofs or Petrie. The involvement of the Maloofs in over riding what their GM wants was made clear today when it was revealed who made the decision about re-instating Cousins. Is this dysfunctional? There isn't a word stronger that can be printed.

We used to make fun of Mark Cuban. I'd love to have Cuban own this team.

[spudfan]

I don't even agree that Petrie makes the safe pick or move. He knows the only way this franchise can go forward is by taking chances. The trade for Webber is an example. The draft of Cousins and Jimmer. As no FA will come here, he needs to hope for a home run. We also have the issue of who is controlling these moves, the Maloofs or Petrie. The involvement of the Maloofs in over riding what their GM wants was made clear today when it was revealed who made the decision about re-instating Cousins. Is this dysfunctional? There isn't a word stronger that can be printed.

We used to make fun of Mark Cuban. I'd love to have Cuban own this team.

Wouldn't surprise me if all of the moves have been decided by the Maloofs since the other businesses were sold off/went under. The Jimmer draft deal is still a real head scratcher to me.

[jpsls]

You feel Jimmer was the safe pick?

Well you know he can shoot and sell jerseys.

[sactownfan]

“two missed shots, one bad drive, one bad skip pass intercepted by the wrong guy, shot taken by a person who hasn’t hit a three-pointer in nearly eight and a half months.”
Just like Kings Keith Smart drew it up, as probably influenced by the Harlem Globetrotters. ---- got that off of the yahoo front page article.... i seem to remember Smart watching the Globetrotters as inspiration in the offseason... maybe thats really how it drew it up... haha

[HereWeVivek]

most people would have forced a hero shot in the corner when Salmons caught the ball in the corner with defense on him and with about 2.5 seconds left. huge props to him for making the pass

[kennadog]

What a roller coaster game for emotions. The first half was amazing, but I expected a cool off. However, did not expect the entire lead to just got down the drain. Thank goodness JJ's shot went down. That was actually a team, effort though. Cuz stole the ball from the Knick's first. IT made a poor shot, but I believe it was JJ who tipped that rebound out to give the Kings another chance. Then the ball got passed more than once with Salmons making that last pass to JJ, who made a beautiful shot. That's teamwork. Yes there was some luck and the game shouldn't have gotten that close, but I saw everyone making an effort at the end.