SAC @ DAL

[Silver Man]

Here's my problem with Sessions. Tonight, unfortunately he was our starting point guard. This was an issue to me because we have Cousins, and Gay. Two great Scorers who need the ball and need it a lot, but with Sessions at point at times it seems that those two especially Cousins didn't get the ball early in the possession, obviously not every possession but it was noticeable to me. Sessions had 18 points, but ZERO assists. To add onto the zero assist from our point guard who played 36 minutes, Sessions is almost horrible on defense. Gets beat way too much and is bad in the pick n roll game. I'd much rather Ray gotten Sessions minutes tonight and Sessions gotten Rays minutes. Ray would have ran the offense much more smoothly, and played good defense.

On a side note Derrick Williams is a joke. I didn't think it was possible to play so poorly in such little time.

[RIPskaterdude]

Up 24, we really needed this win. Next up is @Memphis and well....5 and 4 here we come

[KF10]

The refs has gotten to the player's head...again. I hope Malone grills them even harder than the okc game.

I know there were terrible calls today but come one now, how the hell we couldn't hold on to a 20+ lead?

[KF10]

btw, kudos to Cousins not getting a technical in the past several games. If this was last year's Cousins, dude would have gotten at least a couple already.

[KF10]

Thompson's offensive production has jumped off the cliff since the start of the season.

Dude is shooting 29% from the field and averages more fouls than points per game

what a window licker

[codydaze]

Cousins really took himself out of the game at the end. He got really frustrated and started to force things and made some poor decisions. This team has to realize we're better when we get player movement and ball movement on the offensive end. We play way too much one on one still and even though Cousins and Gay have the ability to score in those situations it usually ends up in a low percentage shot. The first saw a lot of movement and good passing and we were getting easy buckets and it opened up the three point shot.

Ben Mclemore has really, really impressed me so far this year though. I have not been a fan since his rookie summer league and had very low expectations from him this year but his defense is looking leaps and bounds better and he is finally getting some confidence in his shot. The one thing I can say about Ray Mccallum is he needs to be more aggressive on the offensive end. He's great at getting the offense going but there's times when he needs to attack and get into the paint. A lot of times he crosses half court, gives up the ball and runs to the corner. He has a really nice mid range shot and is a good distributor when he gets into the paint, I just want to see him do it. I'd really like to see him take Sessions minutes but he has to be aggressive and actually go out there and take them.

[SunsRback4Good]

Why you guys blow a 20 point lead? Whyyy?

[SacSanity]

Refs 2, Kings 0. I love the NBA.

[Geoff35]

Yea, mavs did turn it on and start makin shots.. but the refs completely took responsibility in making sure that 20 point lead went down ASAP

[Silver Man]

Yea, mavs did turn it on and start makin shots.. but the refs completely took responsibility in making sure that 20 point lead went down ASAP

Carlisle and the Mavs made adjusments, we simply did not.

I'd like to see more motion within our offense, because teams are adjusting to Cousins and Gay being force fed without much motion to begin with is hurting us in the long run of games.

[enderwilson]

In deference to Sessions, he wasn't the problem that game. His stats were actually pretty good. He may have had 0 assists, but only 1 TO and was 6-9 for shooting in 35 minutes of ball handling duty. That is not the ball stopper that IT was. He's passing the ball. The passes are just not assists. From what little I saw of the game during the 3rd quarter Session's role was pretty much limited to dribbling the ball up court to where he then quickly got it into Rudy's hands. Although Rudy was mostly efficient in the game, he still had 7 turnovers and it seemed like his mistakes in the 3rd quarter is what really turned the momentum towards Dallas' favor.

Regardless, I don't believe that any single player is responsible for the last two losses. Although the refs in the OKC game were obscene, I wouldn't put these losses entirely on the refs either. This team still has to learn how to control the momentum of the game for a full 48 minutes. We were doing that when we were having success. I think getting back to the basics of what this team was doing differently from last year is what has been missing, mostly this game, and some in the last. That is, take care of the ball, and play smart and confident team defense. With the talent this team has, we shouldn't even worry about the other stuff. That will come naturally. Our offense was fine this game. If we limited our turnovers and played tough defense then we would have taken away Dallas' opportunities, and then we would have locked that game down.

[Texas Chuck]

Refs were bad tonight--especially to start the game where they seemed to think it would be a good idea if every single player on both teams was in foul trouble. It was ridiculous. I'm not sure how much it favored the Mavs, tho admittedly I'm not going to be paying as much attention to calls that favor Dallas.

Having Tyson Chandler back really helped tonight. Obviously, and most importantly, he was a real factor against Cousins, but also his leadership and fight when we were losing 50-4 or whatever it was....

But this game ultimately came down to a veteran team with a head coaching advantage taking advantage of a young up and coming team, especially one missing their PG.

Cousins is stupid talented. Even tho he had probably the worst game I've ever seen him have against Dallas, the things he can do at his size---just so effortless. Rudy Gay looked good to. And while you guys didn't like the refs, Gay shot what 11-12 FT's in the 1st Q alone?

I have long defended Derrick Williams, but that was the most amusing 30 seconds of inept basketball I have ever seen.

Hope you guys can build on this good start to the season tho. Those battles we had a dozen years ago every season in the playoffs were so much fun--even if Mike Bibby got the better of Nash and we only ever got past you guys because Rafe injured Webber.

[blind prophet]

Refs were bad tonight--especially to start the game where they seemed to think it would be a good idea if every single player on both teams was in foul trouble. It was ridiculous. I'm not sure how much it favored the Mavs, tho admittedly I'm not going to be paying as much attention to calls that favor Dallas.

Having Tyson Chandler back really helped tonight. Obviously, and most importantly, he was a real factor against Cousins, but also his leadership and fight when we were losing 50-4 or whatever it was....

But this game ultimately came down to a veteran team with a head coaching advantage taking advantage of a young up and coming team, especially one missing their PG.

Cousins is stupid talented. Even tho he had probably the worst game I've ever seen him have against Dallas, the things he can do at his size---just so effortless. Rudy Gay looked good to. And while you guys didn't like the refs, Gay shot what 11-12 FT's in the 1st Q alone?

I have long defended Derrick Williams, but that was the most amusing 30 seconds of inept basketball I have ever seen.

Hope you guys can build on this good start to the season tho. Those battles we had a dozen years ago every season in the playoffs were so much fun--even if Mike Bibby got the better of Nash and we only ever got past you guys because Rafe injured Webber.

You guys certainly showed the veteran presence over the entire game but I would not trust your initial instincts of interior defense by this game. Sessions did not have a single assist. Put Collison on the floor setting up Cousins in much more favorable angels and it is going to be a different test.

Not sure if you guys could stop it or not, I was looking forward to a test myself vs Chandler, but you got the handicapped version of Cousins with Sessions on the floor.

[Texas Chuck]

well obviously I have seen Chandler in every game this year, so Im not just basing it on this game. And no doubt you suffered from not having a PG--I alluded to that very thing in my post. But Chandler still had a positive impact on Cousins. He's helps.

Do I think Chandler can shut down Cousins? Of course not. Would it surprise me at all if Cousins had a 30-15 game against Chandler and the Mavs this year? Not at all. You don't stop a guy like Cousins, you just try and make him work harder for it--Chandler can help do that.

And look our defense period is poor. Our starting lineup has exactly one plus defender and that's Chandler. Parsons and Monta will compete, but no one is mistaking them for defensive stoppers and Dirk and Nelson are poor defenders at this point. And our bench doesn't bring many answers. Our two wings who can defend--Aminu and Crowder--are both so weak offensively that its hard for Rick to leave them in the game. Devin Harris is pretty solid and him deciding to really amp up the pressure D last night was a key to the comeback.

But make no mistake, we have to outscore teams to win which means we will be just fine in the RS, but I'm worried about our chances to advance in the playoffs if Rick can't coach em up.

[blind prophet]

well obviously I have seen Chandler in every game this year, so Im not just basing it on this game. And no doubt you suffered from not having a PG--I alluded to that very thing in my post. But Chandler still had a positive impact on Cousins. He's helps.

Do I think Chandler can shut down Cousins? Of course not. Would it surprise me at all if Cousins had a 30-15 game against Chandler and the Mavs this year? Not at all. You don't stop a guy like Cousins, you just try and make him work harder for it--Chandler can help do that.

And look our defense period is poor. Our starting lineup has exactly one plus defender and that's Chandler. Parsons and Monta will compete, but no one is mistaking them for defensive stoppers and Dirk and Nelson are poor defenders at this point. And our bench doesn't bring many answers. Our two wings who can defend--Aminu and Crowder--are both so weak offensively that its hard for Rick to leave them in the game. Devin Harris is pretty solid and him deciding to really amp up the pressure D last night was a key to the comeback.

But make no mistake, we have to outscore teams to win which means we will be just fine in the RS, but I'm worried about our chances to advance in the playoffs if Rick can't coach em up.

I'm not so sure actually.

Chandler has seen it all, is a tough on Cousins regardless of who is feeding him the ball. Our PG depth is terrible though, just another example for us for a future move possibly. You guys may be able to make a championship run vs a worthy big in a series as it is. But I'd of like to seen it on its full ability.

I'm honestly not sure.

I still think Dirk's length gives him some advantages that don't necessarily show up on the box score either.

I think you guys may be ok, I just want to see it vs a full effort, and its obvious to me we need some depth in setting up our offense,

[RedAlice]

In deference to Sessions, he wasn't the problem that game. His stats were actually pretty good. He may have had 0 assists, but only 1 TO and was 6-9 for shooting in 35 minutes of ball handling duty. That is not the ball stopper that IT was. He's passing the ball. The passes are just not assists. From what little I saw of the game during the 3rd quarter Session's role was pretty much limited to dribbling the ball up court to where he then quickly got it into Rudy's hands. Although Rudy was mostly efficient in the game, he still had 7 turnovers and it seemed like his mistakes in the 3rd quarter is what really turned the momentum towards Dallas' favor.

Regardless, I don't believe that any single player is responsible for the last two losses. Although the refs in the OKC game were obscene, I wouldn't put these losses entirely on the refs either. This team still has to learn how to control the momentum of the game for a full 48 minutes. We were doing that when we were having success. I think getting back to the basics of what this team was doing differently from last year is what has been missing, mostly this game, and some in the last. That is, take care of the ball, and play smart and confident team defense. With the talent this team has, we shouldn't even worry about the other stuff. That will come naturally. Our offense was fine this game. If we limited our turnovers and played tough defense then we would have taken away Dallas' opportunities, and then we would have locked that game down.

It's not calculated that way...

Let's just put it up in this way: where did Rudy's TOs came from?

[enderwilson]

It's not calculated that way...

What do you mean?

Let's just put it up in this way: where did Rudy's TOs came from?

Poor ball handling on Rudy's part. Forced and unforced turnovers in the 3rd was where many of them came from. It was Rudy being the Rudy that most critics bash as being the ball stopper.

[Silver Man]

In deference to Sessions, he wasn't the problem that game. His stats were actually pretty good. He may have had 0 assists, but only 1 TO and was 6-9 for shooting in 35 minutes of ball handling duty. That is not the ball stopper that IT was. He's passing the ball. The passes are just not assists. From what little I saw of the game during the 3rd quarter Session's role was pretty much limited to dribbling the ball up court to where he then quickly got it into Rudy's hands. Although Rudy was mostly efficient in the game, he still had 7 turnovers and it seemed like his mistakes in the 3rd quarter is what really turned the momentum towards Dallas' favor.

Regardless, I don't believe that any single player is responsible for the last two losses. Although the refs in the OKC game were obscene, I wouldn't put these losses entirely on the refs either. This team still has to learn how to control the momentum of the game for a full 48 minutes. We were doing that when we were having success. I think getting back to the basics of what this team was doing differently from last year is what has been missing, mostly this game, and some in the last. That is, take care of the ball, and play smart and confident team defense. With the talent this team has, we shouldn't even worry about the other stuff. That will come naturally. Our offense was fine this game. If we limited our turnovers and played tough defense then we would have taken away Dallas' opportunities, and then we would have locked that game down.

Sessions by being able to defend on pick n roll situations or in general wasnt a problem? Sessions has sucked for us. We don't need him to score, we need him to run the offense and play defense. Offense was sloppy with him in charge and he played bad defense.

[Kings2013]

Cousins really took himself out of the game at the end. He got really frustrated and started to force things and made some poor decisions. This team has to realize we're better when we get player movement and ball movement on the offensive end. We play way too much one on one still and even though Cousins and Gay have the ability to score in those situations it usually ends up in a low percentage shot. The first saw a lot of movement and good passing and we were getting easy buckets and it opened up the three point shot.

Ben Mclemore has really, really impressed me so far this year though. I have not been a fan since his rookie summer league and had very low expectations from him this year but his defense is looking leaps and bounds better and he is finally getting some confidence in his shot. The one thing I can say about Ray Mccallum is he needs to be more aggressive on the offensive end. He's great at getting the offense going but there's times when he needs to attack and get into the paint. A lot of times he crosses half court, gives up the ball and runs to the corner. He has a really nice mid range shot and is a good distributor when he gets into the paint, I just want to see him do it. I'd really like to see him take Sessions minutes but he has to be aggressive and actually go out there and take them.

Ray's issue to me is creating. Kid has heart, can play D, can run plays from the top, but so far I haven't seen him being great at individually breaking defense down or getting to the lane, hopefully this is something that can improve with time.

[enderwilson]

Sessions by being able to defend on pick n roll situations or in general wasnt a problem? Sessions has sucked for us. We don't need him to score, we need him to run the offense and play defense. Offense was sloppy with him in charge and he played bad defense.

When Collison is out, we absolutely need him to score to make up for what's lost. Realistically we knew that he wasn't going to replicate Collison's defense even before the game started. Most were concerned about his ability to deliver on the offensive end, which he had yet to do at any consistent clip this season. In terms of scoring, he delivered, and efficiently at that.

And yet, the default is to pick a scapegoat, which only demonstrates limited vision to see the bigger issues. Sessions wasn't why we had so many turnovers that game. And I don't believe any one person can defend 5 guys. Defense has to be a team concept. Perhaps it may be as simple as addressing the weakest link, which may be attributed to Sessions. But this team has always had problems defending the pick and roll. Defending that requires two defenders to contain the ball. The rest of the team knew that it wasn't Collison on the ball, so technically they knew of a need to make adjustments to not having him there. I don't want to sound like I'm defending Sessions, I'm just not giving our guys a pass either. Everyone needs to step up when a man is down.

People are giving Session's way too much responsibility for having lost this game. Sesson's was on the floor when we were up by 20, right? Does he get credit for that? No. Just the blame for when we loose the lead. The TEAM lost the lead, and we lost it by loosing sight of taking care of the ball and using our defense to limit Dallas' opportunities.