Cousins Defense

[Koorverfor3]

Big Cousins fan.
Was wondering how he was playing at the end of last year and this year with Malone as his coach.
Always thought the step for him to leap into SuperStardom would start with his defense, as he is already the most complete offensive Big we've seen since perhaps prime Dirk or C-Webb.

I noticed he has been terrific protecting the rim with opponents shooting 45% at the rim. Thats like borderline Elite.
Hows his pick and roll defense and the other aspects..
For instance Shaq was always a stall worth protecting the rim but he never was able to make the impact of a David Robinson or Hakeem defensively due to his cement feet. I remember as a kid watching Mike Bibby obliterate him possession after possession in the pick and roll game.

Can somebody give me a solid analysis of the guy? Talking with Malone I can't imagine what the heck your team is going through now, I sincerely pray for you guys you are easily the most patient dedicated fan base in the league.

[SacKingZZZ]

He went away from some of it, partially due to team play style, the last few weeks but in the Thunder game he certainly started to use his length again. I've been hammering the subject on this board for the last 2 years waiting for Cousins to use that length and now he finally is doing it and it's paying huge dividends when he does. There was one shot in the Thunder game after he had already blocked a few that Durant went straight at him and tossed up a junk shot because Cousins was getting ready to pounce. Love seeing that. I know his charges are good and all but I want to see less of that, and more challenging shots with his length. If the refs are calling charges against him this team doesn't stand a chance offensively. Role players taking charges as a first measure of defense is one thing, but you can't have your franchise player going all in on 50/50 calls.

His pick and roll defense is hit and miss. I think he's better at it than most true C's though. The main problem might be this teams idea of pick and roll defense seems to kind hit or miss all over the map in it's own right. Sometimes they play way under screens, sometimes they double, sometimes they switch, sometimes they just don't even try. Athletically Cousins is OK, he can even handle some switches but you can tell he has to try really hard and if he's gassed he'll just go for a poke away when the player is past him, a la CWebb back in the day. He's starting to do some of the same things Marc Gasol does, just using that big frame and sliding his feet. I always thought he could be every bit the defender Hibbert or Gasol are and he can be. Maybe even more, but just like them it's going to depend heavily on what his team around him is able to do to make it happen.

[bleeds_purple]

He's honestly a really good all around defender. His biggest strength is court awareness and positioning. This helps his pick and roll defense and help defense. He's really good as putting his body in the right spot to shade on the ball handler while maintaining contain on the big man. His help defense is down right amazing - takes the most charges in the league. Always getting in driving lanes and shading off his man to "tag" guys cutting to the rim. I can't comment too much on his man defense because we usually avoid that by putting Thompson on the better post up big but its seems to be pretty good when he's forced into those situations.

He definitely anchors our defense albeit in a less than traditional pure shot-blocking sort of way.

[KF10]

He is a legitimate defensive anchor when defense is preached.

[floppymoose]

He's been really good this year:
http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_ ... position/9

Big step up from prior seasons.

[KF10]

Kings Starting Five Earn Top Rankings

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.

[KF10]

Kings starting 5 is the best defensive lineup in the NBA.

Elite DefRtg & Excellent OffRtg.

The problem is the sudden drop off when we go to the bench.

Depth issues is clearly evident here.

[ADoaN17]

Kings starting 5 is the best defensive lineup in the NBA.

Elite DefRtg & Excellent OffRtg.

The problem is the sudden drop off when we go to the bench.

Depth issues is clearly evident here.

The team is also first in FTA and rebounding differential. This team has potential, just need to get more chemistry together and limit turnovers. The off season should help with the bench.

[SacKingZZZ]

Kings starting 5 is the best defensive lineup in the NBA.

Elite DefRtg & Excellent OffRtg.

The problem is the sudden drop off when we go to the bench.

Depth issues is clearly evident here.

And what's the rating when Cuz was out and Malone was still coaching? Common denominator there?

I've mentioned this before, this teams unbalanced roster can be no further evidenced than what you see on the bench. Collsion and Gay made sense. Surprise, they worked! Stauskas, Sessions, Landry, etc. didn't. Surprise they don't work. Although Landry has been solid. They've sandwiched everything that makes sense on this roster into the starting lineup and have case all that doesn't make sense to the bench. I will say though, I'd bet you can stick anybody else at SG into the starting lineup next to Cuz, Collison, and Gay and those numbers won't change much.

[SacKingZZZ]

Kings starting 5 is the best defensive lineup in the NBA.

Elite DefRtg & Excellent OffRtg.

The problem is the sudden drop off when we go to the bench.

Depth issues is clearly evident here.

The team is also first in FTA and rebounding differential. This team has potential, just need to get more chemistry together and limit turnovers. The off season should help with the bench.

I have never seen FTA as something to be touted if that's all you do really well. We've seen games where the refs swallow the whistle and what happens as a result. It's a great thing if you have the other offensive stuff covered, but if it's all you have it's going to be a rough night when the calls aren't coming. This team has a great 1/2 punch so hopefully they focus on capitalizing on that moving forward and design a roster that makes sense around them. Sorry Pete, this isn't it and the bench is mainly what Pete put together so all you need to know in regards to your mistakes glares from your bench. Oddly enough Casspi and McCallum are the only things that do make sense and they are the only two that consistently play well off of Cousins when they are in there with him.

I do still think this team should build it's bench identity around Landry as the main scoring threat. It's what he does and they've been doing it more lately. The bench won't defend because Cousins isn't there, but they should be able to score for craps sake. If they can be -2 to -4 on average and just buy the starters some time it should be doable.

[KF10]

Kings starting 5 is the best defensive lineup in the NBA.

Elite DefRtg & Excellent OffRtg.

The problem is the sudden drop off when we go to the bench.

Depth issues is clearly evident here.

And what's the rating when Cuz was out and Malone was still coaching? Common denominator there?

I've mentioned this before, this teams unbalanced roster can be no further evidenced than what you see on the bench. Collsion and Gay made sense. Surprise, they worked! Stauskas, Sessions, Landry, etc. didn't. Surprise they don't work. Although Landry has been solid. They've sandwiched everything that makes sense on this roster into the starting lineup and have case all that doesn't make sense to the bench. I will say though, I'd bet you can stick anybody else at SG into the starting lineup next to Cuz, Collison, and Gay and those numbers won't change much.

Their rating was terribad when Cousins was out (Hollins in as replacement). I remember looking at the numbers and it was very striking to see how one player (Cousins) can be massively influential. Same goes to shifting to one playing style to another. Ratings dropped but it not until recently their rating somewhat stabilizes.