"Evans, Kings Battle Nets in Rematch Tonight"

[Cruel_Ruin]

I was generally happy with the coaching today. Not a fan of the last play with Tyreke dribbling to 5 seconds on the clock, but PW really stuck with lineups today and you can see the chemistry building.

Defense was very very encouraging. Hopefully we see a consistent effort. Cousins held his own against Lopez and Dalembert absolutely squished him. Harris was under control. Donte was all over the place, that length not only helps his man defense but he really disrupts the other team too.

Offensively, our statistics may suck, but I'm very encouraged here as well. We actually looked like a team with a plan, and there is no way we shoot that terribly every night. Tyreke still is obviously bothered by that ankle but his jumpshot looked smooth today. Cousins really took it at Lopez and got HIM in foul trouble. Landry disappeared for a bit.

But in the end, our defense really won the game for us. Awesome to see.

[RIPskaterdude]

Didn't even notice that Casspi got a DNPCD....hm.

It's pretty much always going to be somebody with the roster as it currently is.

Eh...I don't know about that. People may not get as many minutes, but I don't see why Casspi couldn't have got 5-10 minutes. Head shouldn't be getting 30 minutes a game (even though he played a pretty decent game tonight). I just don't think I've ever seen a coach start a player one game and then suddenly give him a DNPCD the next.

[Cruel_Ruin]

Didn't even notice that Casspi got a DNPCD....hm.

It's pretty much always going to be somebody with the roster as it currently is.

Eh...I don't know about that. People may not get as many minutes, but I don't see why Casspi couldn't have got 5-10 minutes. Head shouldn't be getting 30 minutes a game (even though he played a pretty decent game tonight). I just don't think I've ever seen a coach start a player one game and then suddenly give him a DNPCD the next.

How exactly was Casspi going to play instead of Head? If Casspi was going to play then either Garcia or Donte were going to lose out.

[RIPskaterdude]

How exactly was Casspi going to play instead of Head? If Casspi was going to play then either Garcia or Donte were going to lose out.

Run Evans at PG, Garcia at SG, Casspi at SF.
Run Beno at PG, Garcia at SG. Donte at SF

There are a lot of options. I'm not saying I want to cut minutes for Donte or Garcia, I just don't think it's good coaching to start someone one game and then give them a DNPCD the next. I know if I was a player, it would drive me crazy...

[SacKingZZZ]

Run Evans at PG, Garcia at SG, Casspi at SF.
Run Beno at PG, Garcia at SG. Donte at SF

There are a lot of options. I'm not saying I want to cut minutes for Donte or Garcia, I just don't think it's good coaching to start someone one game and then give them a DNPCD the next. I know if I was a player, it would drive me crazy...

Of course it does and it's the kind of thing that breaks teams apart. The fact is, just as Mitchweber brought up, somebody has to lose out. The only alternative is to do what Westphal has been doing and that's platoon. That's an even bigger team killer in the long run if your guys aren't buying in and usually that only happens when you're winning. Even then it eventually wears on guys and the Grizzlies under Fratello a few years ago are a prime example of a worst case scenario. Come to think of it, we've been heading down that same road lately. Anyway, Westphal says he's going to tighten the rotation and in the long run that's the absolute best you can do with a tough situation. Petrie has work to do.

As for removing Head from the rotation, he's the only guy playing defense out there against opposing PG's and he's doing quite a decent job of it too. He's even seemed to temper that quick trigger which is nice as well.

[ADoaN17]

Cousins just needs to control the ball better when he goes up with it. I like his move tho.

[king125]

ok so you got 48 minutes out of each position and if Head is playing well and is to be included in the lineup then why not something like this.

Dally (25)/ Cousins (12)/ JT (11)
Cousins (14)/ Landry (25)/ JT (9)
Greene (24)/ Casspi (24) one of these guys needs to be in at all times at the SF
Garcia (24)/ Evans (16)/ Head (8)
Evans (20)/ Beno (24)/ Head (4)

That is a ten player rotation with the following minutes a game.... give or take a minute a two for every player.

Evans (36)
Cousins (26)
Dally (25)
Landry (25)
Greene (24)
Casspi (24)
Garcia (24)
Beno (24)
JT (20)
Head (12)

That is a 10 player rotation that gives the most minutes to our most producing players. JT and Head get less time unless foul trouble occurs. Garcia should never play at the 3 unless Casspi and Greene are in foul trouble. There is no way that one of our top 8 players should ever get a DNP. wtf is that? Greene sits 5 games and PW decides to play him and bench Casspi a whole game? Stupid!

Get a game plan before the game starts and stick with it unless their is foul trouble or injury. If someone is hot leave them in a few extra minutes. But manage the rotation better and make sure everyone gets their minutes. Its hard to get chemistry when you play such incosistent minutes.

[longfellow44]

^^We don't get a rotation like that because paul wesphal is incapable of being consistent. We also have Jackson and Wright who he seems to really like and so they snag minutes from the other players making it utterly impossible to keep the players happy and give them consistent roles on the team because each game their roles are changing.

Petrie has some real work to do here, he needs to take some of that control out of westphals hands by consolidating some of this roster, especially at PF. I don't care if we keep landry, thompson, or Dalembert or Jackson but something has to be done to create a cohesive unit there. We simply have too many guys who deserve playing time. And at guard we truely need a 3rd guard that isn't head that can come in and give us very consistent solid minutes.

Get to work petrie, and please settle down westphal.

again not looking for tons of wins yet, just want to see a decent product on the floor with the amount of talent we have on this team.

[king125]

Thompson for Thornton. Make it happen. Give JT a shot on a playoff team where he will get 18+ minutes a game. And give us another scorer in the backcourt. And then try and be a little consistent. You know how tough it must be for a young player to develop and have any sort of rythm and confidence when they play 30 minutes one game and 0 the next. PW is ruining the players trade value and/or development.....whichever one you want the player to be used for.

[pillwenney]

I just don't think that's really what we need. I think we need to package JT and maybe Omri (possibly--depending on the value of the return) for a good veteran PG.

Chauncey has been really bad this year, but some of that has to be that he's on a team that's kind of falling apart. I think Denver may look to completely rebuild soon, and if they do, it will be our time to step in and take a serious look at what we would need to get him. He could be a huge dose of what we need.

[ADoaN17]

Cousins and Dally only work with the right match-ups. I don't think Cuz should start at PF.

[SacKingZZZ]

ok so you got 48 minutes out of each position and if Head is playing well and is to be included in the lineup then why not something like this.

Dally (25)/ Cousins (12)/ JT (11)
Cousins (14)/ Landry (25)/ JT (9)
Greene (24)/ Casspi (24) one of these guys needs to be in at all times at the SF
Garcia (24)/ Evans (16)/ Head (8)
Evans (20)/ Beno (24)/ Head (4)

That is a ten player rotation with the following minutes a game.... give or take a minute a two for every player.

Evans (36)
Cousins (26)
Dally (25)
Landry (25)
Greene (24)
Casspi (24)
Garcia (24)
Beno (24)
JT (20)
Head (12)

That is a 10 player rotation that gives the most minutes to our most producing players. JT and Head get less time unless foul trouble occurs. Garcia should never play at the 3 unless Casspi and Greene are in foul trouble. There is no way that one of our top 8 players should ever get a DNP. wtf is that? Greene sits 5 games and PW decides to play him and bench Casspi a whole game? Stupid!

Get a game plan before the game starts and stick with it unless their is foul trouble or injury. If someone is hot leave them in a few extra minutes. But manage the rotation better and make sure everyone gets their minutes. Its hard to get chemistry when you play such incosistent minutes.

Platoon!!! NO!!!!

If Cousins can stay in the game you play him as much as you can, pure and simple. This rotation has to be shortened just by what's been proven already. Complaining, and bad play is all that's come from the platoon method. Read my post above for further reference. Your rotation is pretty much on average what Westphal was doing except your crunching minutes off of Landry and beno to add a few more to the others, even worse platooning. Plain and simple, just like Petrie had to do a few years ago, it's time to CONDENSE.

[SacKingZZZ]

Cousins and Dally only work with the right match-ups. I don't think Cuz should start at PF.

Depends on what you mean by "work". I think Daly can easily guard the players that Landry is guarding and at least do as adequate a job. I mean, at the end of the day that's really what it comes down to.

I've also been impressed by Cousins' willingness to switch the pick and roll and slide his feet the last couple of games. Cousins actually plays defense that your PF is more accustomed to playing. You also get major positives from a twin towers lineup. Did you see how when Daly and Cousins were in there they just DOMINATED the offensive glass? It will "work" more nights than not, and even in the areas where it doesn't work, we'll still have major advantages in other areas.

If you put in a super strong defensive wing combo around them all the better.

[ICMTM]

I was at the game and a couple of observations:

1. Kris Humphries had his way with Carl Landry. It went both ways, but Kris Humphries???
2. Jason Thompson is playing on a short leash (no surprise). When he picked up his 2nd foul he was removed from the game and he had words with Paul Westphal
3. Cousins had a bad attitude and for a while was getting OWNED by Lopez. Favors, Lopez, and Humphries had to have at least 5 dunks uncontested.
4. Dalebert can't play offense
5. The hustle players (JT, DG) do dumb things, but the crowd got behind them as they played with a lot of hustle. Add Tyreke and Beno to the mix and those guys played with the most chemistry.

Speaking of the next time you go to a game look to see how many times players give hi fives to others and note who's giving hi fives to who. It will clearly explain a lot in terms of ball movement and overall (lack of) team play.

[KF10]

I was at the game and a couple of observations:

1. Kris Humphries had his way with Carl Landry. It went both ways, but Kris Humphries???
2. Jason Thompson is playing on a short leash (no surprise). When he picked up his 2nd foul he was removed from the game and he had words with Paul Westphal
3. Cousins had a bad attitude and for a while was getting OWNED by Lopez. Favors, Lopez, and Humphries had to have at least 5 dunks uncontested.
4. Dalebert can't play offense
5. The hustle players (JT, DG) do dumb things, but the crowd got behind them as they played with a lot of hustle. Add Tyreke and Beno to the mix and those guys played with the most chemistry.

Speaking of the next time you go to a game look to see how many times players give hi fives to others and note who's giving hi fives to who. It will clearly explain a lot in terms of ball movement and overall (lack of) team play.

Good stuff.

I agree with the last part. I think it is very underrated part in watching basketball. Just looking at the interaction within the team i.e. high fives, cheers, smiles etc tells a significant part of team chemistry.

You can see it with Donte & Casspi during their fight for the starting SF back in the preseason. I noticed that each of those guys don't really cheered for each other as much as others when either of those guys made a good play (*but since the season started already, I don't see it anymore. Both of these guys cheer for each other now*).