[Game] Kings-Spurs Vegas Summer League - 7/11/14

Kingster

Hall of Famer
Very sad when you have D. Will, McCallum, Stauskas, McLemore, and Acy - all under contract to the Kings - get a smack down from SA who has virtually nobody recognizable.

Stauskas is notable for having what every other backcourt guy on this team doesn't have - an instinct for the game. D. Will is also robotic. When you think about it, other than Cousins and Stauskas, who does have an instinct for the game on this team?
 
Very sad when you have D. Will, McCallum, Stauskas, McLemore, and Acy - all under contract to the Kings - get a smack down from SA who has virtually nobody recognizable.

Stauskas is notable for having what every other backcourt guy on this team doesn't have - an instinct for the game. D. Will is also robotic. When you think about it, other than Cousins and Stauskas, who does have an instinct for the game on this team?
This is so true. You would hope our point guard would have this quality. Another way of saying this might be that Stauskas has a high Basketball IQ.
 

gunks

Hall of Famer
Still wish we could have gotten Payton, But Nik wasnt bad in his first stint.

BMac....Ugh, PDA needs to ship him out while he still has "potential" value. Not that he didnt try to do so on draft night.
 
At the game tonight. Stauskas looked good. Getting results out there without really calling attention to himself.

Second half was bad and found myself wishing Cousins could come off the "bench." ;-)

Poor McLemore just looked bad. I want him to improve for the sale of the team. Right now I'm just hoping he looks better next game, but it is disappointing.

Wasn't all that happy with D Will either. This roster should have done better, but we really didn't have height out there. McCallum looked So-so, too, although, right now, I still have more hope for him than Ben.

A bunch of us sat together at the game. Pete came and say just below is for awhile. He is such a nice guy and always makes a point of greeting us and exchanging a few words. Then Cousins came over to talk to Pete and was so nice, too.

It was nice to look across the court and see a “King's Row." Vivek, Cousins, Mastrov, Reggie Evans, Mullen, Bratz.

Fun evening and a group of us had dinner after. We got invited to a Kings event tomorrow. Don't know if its secret or not, but you'll hear about it tomorrow. Nothing major at all, so don't stress out. Just a nice little media moment to get an invite to.

Right now, I just love being a Kings fan.

(As I'm really no expert, take my opinions regarding the game with a giant grain of salt. ;-) Looking forward to seeing the next two games. )
 
derrick williams is a pick and pop stretch four who can occasionally drive to the basket, draw fouls, and rebound. that's his game.
Williams isn't actually "pick and pop four". He prefers to get the ball, bounce it at least once, then make a decision, whether to shoot, drive or pass, and shooting is actually worst of the options, unless he's guarded by SF, then drive becomes worse one. He's SF, who has trouble driving (not enough quickness and pretty loose handle for SF, plus he struggles to finish strong on his drives due to weak one leg jump), or PF, who has problems with defense and rebounding - he just doesn't like to bang. Williams insist on hanging around on the arc, where he only has passing as a true weapon. Shooting is badly needed for him. Or moving inside to the places, Rudy operates in as Derrick's mid-range/post game is more consistent than outside one.

I don't understand, what people expect from McCallum. He's a facilitator/game manager, not a creator. He was driving to the rim, only when the other team was concentrating on his better teammates. As a leader of the bench Ray was utterly unspectacular.
 
I am liking Stauskas. Such a smart player who simply knows how to play. Think he will fit well with Cousins and Gay and is already miles ahead of McLemore who we should be trading while he still has some value out there. He is losing it fast!

You simply have to love the intensity and heart that Acy plays with! What he lacks in talent, he makes up in heart!

Brooks might be a cheap scoring option off the bench for us this year!

The rest? Meh!
 
Just watched the replay.

Good LAWD.

horrible.

Decent showing from Nik. Exactly what I expected. Needs the ball more frankly. Ben was abysmal.

Brooks and Williams are so sleepy on the court the game just passes them by. Having said that on that showing Brooks is gonna give you as much if not more than Ben right now.
 
SA actually did have a few roster players out there. Daye and Baynes were on the team last year, and anderson was their first round pick. still, it's kind of disappointing that we got beat like that. Nik doing well is a plus, but Ben playing so badly(8 turnovers?) is not good. honestly i think they should deal him while he still has some potential value. Acy should be a contributor if he keeps hitting that perimeter jumper. Bit disappointed in ray mac but i'll wait till he plays the rest of the games to really judge him.
 
It just proves that this "woah man he's an athlete, dude can leap" trend means absolutely nothing, where does Ben's athleticism actually impact his/the game? No where. The same goes for Derrick Williams.

McCallum struggles at the rim and he also is a very erratic shooter, puts up a lot of airballs should be working to develop a floater ASAP.

as for this ball movement they've been preaching..... :oops:
 
My thoughts after watching are Mclemore is still awful, Williams is terrible, Stauskas already has the highest BBIQ on the team and Acy is now their 2nd best long range shooter.
Acy was a decent shooter last year as well. He is not a volume shooter and is happy to operate as a defensive role player.
 
I've wanted Ben to start coming around and be a force. He's such a good athlete, teammate and he's a nice, respectful kid. The kind you want to see excel on your team. However, I'm not sure he's even going to be a starter in this league anymore after what we've seen so far.
I feel the same about DWill.:(

That showing last night was a suckfest. the only good thing I saw was Quincy and Nik. Nik impressed me with his BB smarts. He really isn't just a shooter, he see's the game develop and made some good assists last night. So far, I'm impressed. I think he'll be a keeper.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
I'm really starting to think Ben could be the next Wes Johnson. I hope they can trade him while he still has some value.
Unfortunately I think that was about the trade deadline last year.

I find busts pretty foul, and my nose starts twitching as soon as I catch that whiff. There are reasons that I was advocating trading or at least exploring trading Jimmer, TRob and Ben within 2 months of the beginning of their careers. I hate to lose value and see an asset rot on the vine. I was shocked, pleasantly so, but still shocked when Geoff actually dumped TRob for something. But at this point Ben has not only been in the league for a year, but we have just totally exposed him to the world's ridicule. If we were hiding him and limiting his stints off the bench or something maybe somebody would buy a narrative of tons of potential, just needs a chance. But instead we featured him, actually cleared the entire position out to feature him some more, eliminated his backup, and just took it on the chin like a bad round for Rocky in order to give him every possible chance. Unfortunately that has given everybody else every possible chance to see what he can('t) do too.


On a more positive note, after 1 preseason game I already feel better about Stauskas than I did about any of the above three at any point in their Kings existence. It really doesn't take as long as Geoff used to make it seem like it did to see what skills a guy has, to see if he knows how to play. And Nik does, without being burdened by positionless relatively unatheltic midgethood like Jimmer was.
 
I'm really starting to think Ben could be the next Wes Johnson. I hope they can trade him while he still has some value.
Ben struggles because he doesn't have even a solid Bball IQ. He has strictly relied on his superior physical gifts without ever feeling the need to think about the game. He just doesn't have what it takes between the ears (my personal opinion). I, of course, hope to be proven wrong. Nik, for example, looks like the 1 year pro as compared to Ben. I am all for trading Ben at this point.
 
Ben struggles because he doesn't have even a solid Bball IQ. He has strictly relied on his superior physical gifts without ever feeling the need to think about the game. He just doesn't have what it takes between the ears (my personal opinion). I, of course, hope to be proven wrong. Nik, for example, looks like the 1 year pro as compared to Ben. I am all for trading Ben at this point.
The problem is that every other team has seen what Ben brings to the game. I don't know if you could trade him for anything of value right now.
 
Unfortunately I think that was about the trade deadline last year.



On a more positive note, after 1 preseason game I already feel better about Stauskas than I did about any of the above three at any point in their Kings existence. It really doesn't take as long as Geoff used to make it seem like it did to see what skills a guy has, to see if he knows how to play. And Nik does, without being burdened by positionless relatively unatheltic midgethood like Jimmer was.

This is very true, which is why I hate when people poo poo the summer league. You can actually see quite a bit when you watch game. Its not just about the numbers.

We saw it from the past 3 busts right from the jump. Jimmer had ball handling issues. His defense was poor. And he was without a position. Those things never changed. We saw that from his first summer league game till the end of his Kings career.

Robinson was also without a position. We played him like a point forward. You could see right away that he lacked basketball skill. He was all athleticism, and on top of that had very questionable decision maker. Question marks all over the place. Even still, I'd say he had the best summer league out of him, Jimmer, and Ben. I saw some potential, and still do, but it was no sure thing.

Then, of course, Ben. Terrible summer league last year. Rushed everything. Terrible ball handler. No confidence. Questionable shot selection. Questionable decision making on both ends. All things evident from his first summer league game. Hasn't improved.

We saw it from Evans right away. We saw it from Cousins right away. It really isn't that hard to notice.

Stauskas was certainly more in line with Evans and Cousins than those other three. You saw skill, confidence, etc. You saw a player who played as advertised. And it wasn't just about his numbers. It was the positive basketball plays he made. It was the pump fake on a 3, escape dribble to an open mid range. When Ben trys that he travels, looses the ball, falls off balance, etc. He just doesn't have enough skill. Stauskas does, and he has a defined position. Positive marks from this guy.
 
The problem is that every other team has seen what Ben brings to the game. I don't know if you could trade him for anything of value right now.
Well, I don't want to waste another season letting Ben loose and watching him drain the life out of team with missed shot after missed shot and blown defensive assignments. Whatever value you can get, I would take. I strongly suspect we have already offered Ben repeatedly only to be shot down. We will have to take back a bad contract to get rid of Ben.
 
J

jdbraver

Guest
Well, I don't want to waste another season letting Ben loose and watching him drain the life out of team with missed shot after missed shot and blown defensive assignments. Whatever value you can get, I would take. I strongly suspect we have already offered Ben repeatedly only to be shot down. We will have to take back a bad contract to get rid of Ben.
He is on his rookie contract. We don't need to take a bad contract back. Just hope he works out before we have to let him go when his contract runs out.