OPENING NIGHT - Kings vs. Clippers 10/28

[enderwilson]

Sloppy start to the game but at least we made a comeback. Clippers looked good - especially Blake.

I really liked what we saw from Kofous, Belinelli, and Collison. These guys are professional players who know what they're doing.

I just wish we could see more Cousins in the post. First few possessions of every game NEED to be low post touches for Cousins. Its not rocket science. Sure, it was nice seeing him shoot 4/5 on the threes but the part obfuscated by the boxscore is that when he didn't take the three he was in a horrible position to play-make. And most of those situations led to a turnover or other bad result. When he pump fakes on a mid-ranged shot he's an excellent position to take one or two dribbles and drive into the paint. From the three point line not so much. He's not going to shoot 80% every night. Long-term I simply don't want a dominant paint player like Cousins hovering around the three point line.

As I expected Rondo is going to kill our spacing and offensive flow when he's on the floor; hopefully we can figure something out. Collision is just flat out better. There's no two ways about it. That being said I don't mind Collision and Belinelli off the bench but our starting backcourt has to produce something.

Lastly, any chance we can ship Casspi off to Siberia? He's simply not an NBA player. Every time he touches the ball I'm waiting for disaster to strike. Caron was solid, albeit mediocre. Moving forward I'd like to see all of Casspi's minutes go to McLemore and Caron. There's simply no reason to play him.

I think we will against teams that we could take advantage of down low. In this game, DAJ and Josh Smith combined for 8 blocks. Six of those were directed at Cuz. It's still pretty awesome to see that DMC still dropped 32 on the Clips even though they did a pretty good job of taking away the paint.

[codydaze]

My takeaways from the game:
1) Ben is a certified bum. The guy just isn't going to get it.
2) Collison is a great spark plug off the bench, he played like he had something to prove and was much better than Rondo but I still like him off the bench.
3) The bench in general has a fire to them that we haven't seen in a while and I feel like they'll be picking us up all year.
4) We need more ball movement. The ball stopped consistently throughout the game as guys made a couple iso moves and would then pass the ball. This defeats the whole purpose and we need more rapid ball movement.
5) Defense looked okay on the interior but we're gonna have to stop going under screens on mid range shots. That's a free two points every time.



Also. I think we've opened pandora's box to Cousins attempting 100 threes this year... I don't know exactly how to feel about that even though he knocked them down last night.

[teerfour+40LG]

I am a big Cousins believer. I believe he can do anything on the basketball court, including making threes, so I am happy that he gets to unlock that this year.

But the problem is if Cousins is shooting the threes, then he can't be the one getting space in the paint, so we still need more shooters in the starting lineup. We had four guys in the starting lineup last night who couldn't space the floor for Cousins: himself, Rondo, Ben, and Koufos. It is cruel to ask them to win games with that lineup.

In my mind, in order to play Rondo, Rudy has to start at 4, probably with Belinelli and Casspi at 2 and 3.

And then someone has to tell Casspi to stop driving and start chucking more threes. If he makes that simple adjustment, he would look a lot better. He needs to play more like Butler did.

I am pleasantly surprised with Butler. He has earned minutes as the backup 3 imo. He has made starting Rudy at the 4 an easier sell for me.

Collison was spectacular, I love having him on the team. Same with Koufos.

[benchmobbin02]

I think we will against teams that we could take advantage of down low. In this game, DAJ and Josh Smith combined for 8 blocks. Six of those were directed at Cuz. It's still pretty awesome to see that DMC still dropped 32 on the Clips even though they did a pretty good job of taking away the paint.

I wish I could give you two +1 for this comment. Hit the nail on the head.

With that said, I think he still cost us a shot at the game with the sequence of plays around 1min left. He turned it over when we were down 2, gave up a DJ dunk on the other end on the pick and roll and then stalled the offense on the next play. Huge series of events that killed our comeback.

[SacKingZZZ]

I am a big Cousins believer. I believe he can do anything on the basketball court, including making threes, so I am happy that he gets to unlock that this year.

But the problem is if Cousins is shooting the threes, then he can't be the one getting space in the paint, so we still need more shooters in the starting lineup. We had four guys in the starting lineup last night who couldn't space the floor for Cousins: himself, Rondo, Ben, and Koufos. It is cruel to ask them to win games with that lineup.

In my mind, in order to play Rondo, Rudy has to start at 4, probably with Belinelli and Casspi at 2 and 3.

And then someone has to tell Casspi to stop driving and start chucking more threes. If he makes that simple adjustment, he would look a lot better. He needs to play more like Butler did.

I am pleasantly surprised with Butler. He has earned minutes as the backup 3 imo. He has made starting Rudy at the 4 an easier sell for me.

Collison was spectacular, I love having him on the team. Same with Koufos.

If Cousins doesn't hit those 3's this game isn't even close at any point. If he can do it every game it's great, but who's putting money on that one? It's tough because of exactly what you're saying, the spacing with Rondo, Kosta, and Cuz is non-existent if not for Cuz being the spacer.

If they are going to go with Rondo and Koufos next to him I don't know why you would try and play up tempo with teams. Beat them up with your size.

[SacKingZZZ]

Sloppy start to the game but at least we made a comeback. Clippers looked good - especially Blake.

I really liked what we saw from Kofous, Belinelli, and Collison. These guys are professional players who know what they're doing.

I just wish we could see more Cousins in the post. First few possessions of every game NEED to be low post touches for Cousins. Its not rocket science. Sure, it was nice seeing him shoot 4/5 on the threes but the part obfuscated by the boxscore is that when he didn't take the three he was in a horrible position to play-make. And most of those situations led to a turnover or other bad result. When he pump fakes on a mid-ranged shot he's an excellent position to take one or two dribbles and drive into the paint. From the three point line not so much. He's not going to shoot 80% every night. Long-term I simply don't want a dominant paint player like Cousins hovering around the three point line.

As I expected Rondo is going to kill our spacing and offensive flow when he's on the floor; hopefully we can figure something out. Collision is just flat out better. There's no two ways about it. That being said I don't mind Collision and Belinelli off the bench but our starting backcourt has to produce something.

Lastly, any chance we can ship Casspi off to Siberia? He's simply not an NBA player. Every time he touches the ball I'm waiting for disaster to strike. Caron was solid, albeit mediocre. Moving forward I'd like to see all of Casspi's minutes go to McLemore and Caron. There's simply no reason to play him.

I think we will against teams that we could take advantage of down low. In this game, DAJ and Josh Smith combined for 8 blocks. Six of those were directed at Cuz. It's still pretty awesome to see that DMC still dropped 32 on the Clips even though they did a pretty good job of taking away the paint.

The issue is who wins the battle when a team can take advantage of the Kings out on the perimeter, just like Griffin did to Koufos all night long. Koufos is a terrific interior defender, he can probably get better at perimeter defending with strategic help but it will take him time to adjust. He kept reverting back to wanting to help in the paint, which is his forte.

[teerfour+40LG]

If Cousins doesn't hit those 3's this game isn't even close at any point. If he can do it every game it's great, but who's putting money on that one? It's tough because of exactly what you're saying, the spacing with Rondo, Kosta, and Cuz is non-existent if not for Cuz being the spacer.

If they are going to go with Rondo and Koufos next to him I don't know why you would try and play up tempo with teams. Beat them up with your size.

I would consider it a success if Cousins shoots at least 30% from 3. It is not going to set the world on fire, but even at that modest rate, it is a better shot than his long twos have ever been.

[teerfour+40LG]

So, I just watched Willie's minutes, and he was incredibly good on every possession. DeAndre Jordan knocked him around, and he stumbled and tripped over himself a few times, so he looked like a rookie in those respects, but Willie was still really good defensively on every play. It was great. He stayed down, he stayed in front, he altered shots, and he did not foul. And, he did all that guarding four different players too, Jordan, Griffin, Pierce, and Josh Smith.

I liked his offense too. He got a pass in the paint once, and he just shot the open 8 footer with a nice soft touch. That is perfect.