Sacramento Kings Report Card

[tru6playa]

Tyreke Evans: C+

It's hard to evaluate his season due to his injury-plagued season. He regressed in shooting and still doesn't share the ball enough to my liking. There were plenty of opportunities on fast breaks that Tyreke had an easy assist, but chose to take a difficult and forced shot leading to a miss FG or a charge. With that said, he still shows a lot of skill. He needs to work on his selflessness and his jump shot/3-pt shot.

DeMarcus Cousins: B-

His TO's and early season antics are what held him back this season, imo. He wasn't efficient at all, often times throwing up crazy shots down low that had no chance at all. If it wasn't for his excellent rebounding, low post defense, and passing ability, I would've issued him a D+.

I think he's going to fine tune his shot selection and evolve into a monster down low. I'm excited to see him progress.

Marcus Thornton: A+

I was shocked to see him do so well once he put on the Sacramento Uni's. I knew he could shoot, but I was surprised to see him be an above average defender. He did everything and more that I could ask for out of him.

Beno Udrih: C+

If this was just based on his scoring ability, I would've given him a B+. But as good as he is with that midrange pull up J, he's just as bad on defense. His inability to play any type of defense is difficult to stomach.

Francisco Garcia: B-

Garcia, when healthy, is fun to watch. He leads well, shoots the 3 well, defends well, and is always hustling. He'd be an ideal guy to anchor any NBA bench.

Jason Thompson: C

Too inconsistent, however he's always hustling. Misses too many point-blank layups. He often seemed lost on offense and defense (coaching problem?). He's hard not to like with his hustle and team spirit on the bench, but I really feel he is what he is -- a nice compliment off the bench and not an NBA starter.

Omri Casspi: D-

Way too inconsistent and terrible on defense. It's hard to stomach his complaining, when he has been unable to make due with any of his playing time. He does hustle down the floor on every possession. Needs to work on the consistency of his outside shooting.

Sam Dalembert: B+

At the beginning of the season, I absolutely hated Sammy. He was frustrating to watch. But as the season progressed he was absolutely the center we've been searching for for many, many seasons. His rebounding and defense down low was impressive. His offense, when tamed and not force, was a welcome addition. I still cringe when he gets the ball in the post, though.

Jermaine Taylor: B-

I was actually surprised with his production. I feel he did all he could do in a limited amount of playing time. Maybe I'm being too generous, but I feel he could morph into a Bobby Jackson type of bench player.

Donte Green: C+

I feel the same way about Green, as I do about JT. Love his hustle and energy on the bench - but he's way too inconsistent. He needs to work on his shooting touch. But unlike Casspi, Green actually plays defense...so I see more hope in Green than I do with Casspi.

Luther Head: F

God I hated this no-good chucker.

Pooh Jeter: C+

I like his energy off the bench. He was a nice change-of-pace PG that did well with his time on the floor. He needs to work on his shooting, but I thought he did OK for our team.

Darnell Jackson: C-

Not much to add to this. He hustles the same as Brockman, but shoots better. However, for whatever reason, I felt Jackson wasn't as disruptive on the boards as Brockman?

Paul Westphaul: C+

Mixed emotions on this. What can you expect out of couch with such a young core, and an injured Tyreke? I really hated seeing his rotations. I would have liked more Pooh and less Head (not in actuality, though haha) - but in the big realm of things, I don't think it would've changed the W/L at all. I liked the fact that our team was competitive, even though we weren't (how can that be?). I liked that he became emotional on his last post game press conference. I'd like to have him back as our coach next year and see what he can do with a healthier and hopefully more matured team.

[ADoaN17]

I give the Kings a F this season.

[KingInExile]

The only thing on my report card is this:

Maloofs = Fail...recommend immediate expulsion.

[pillwenney]

Whiteside - Inc. (Self explanatory)

Darnell Jackson - B+
Relative to expectations, Darnell played very well this year and showed me that he has a long term place in this league.

Jermaine Taylor - B
Pretty much the same deal. This guy will have a place in this league in the right situation. With the right moves, that situation could be here. I certainly wouldn't complain.

Pooh Jeter - C+
I don't think he ever played below his talent level this year. He is what he is, basically. Wouldn't be bad to keep around long term for spot minutes.

Jason Thompson - C+
Was at a D- for a lot of the year, but really found his groove as the consistent 3rd big when he got the opportunity to play that role, and was in the A range after the all-star break. The over all product wasn't pretty this year, but it ended in an encouraging place.

Omri Casspi - C-
Also kind of hurt by the situation. Didn't so much play worse than last year as much as he just wasn't in as favorable of a situation. Gets some points for improved defense.

Donte Greene - C
Similar to JT, the over all product wasn't pretty this year with Donte, but it ended on an encouraging note. I just hope we trade one of our SFs soon so that the others can have a more consistent role on this team, because they all seem to thrive more (particularly Donte and Omri though) when they're in a consistent position.

Beno Udrih - B-
Beno mostly played well this year....kinda. He gets points marked down for his declined 3 point shooting, and his mostly terrible defense. Otherwise he did what you'd expect out of him. I certainly have my doubts that his future is really with this team.

Francisco Garcia - B
The only thing that really bugged me about Cisco this year was that his outside shot certainly could have been more consistent. With that said, the guy rolls with the punches well, always tries to be the veteran leader, and his decision-making, now that I think about it, was probably better than it has been this year.

Samuel Dalembert - A-
You kind of expected this, given that it was a contract year, but Sam really did surprise all of us at times this year, I think. The guy has been wanting to be a more featured offensive player his whole career and we saw why--he's really not bad on that end. Still probably not as good as he thinks he is, but not bad. He can post a little, he cleans up well, and he can shoot and pass pretty well. We knew about his abilities as an anchor and those are certainly valuable, but his individual defense was surprisingly good as well. He's really only graded down for the times he tries to do more than he can offensively.

Marcus Thornton - A+
I was going to give him an "A" but then I realized I could not find a single reason to deduct anything. The guy was just superb when he got here, and he's looking like he'll be a crucial piece to our future. We knew he could score, but Marcus showed an all-around game we didn't know he had. He can handle the ball and pass well enough, and his defense wasn't as bad as advertised. It certainly wasn't good, but it's not like he was Beno or something.

Tyreke Evans - D+
If Tyreke wasn't injured and played like he played this year, I don't see how I couldn't fail him. And the injuries certainly hampered him a lot, and that needs to be accounted for.

It's other stuff that bugged me though. The selfish play for one thing. I'm not even going to get into the lack of improvement on his jump shot. I thought his jumper did make improvements--small, but clear improvements. The problem is that he fell in love with that jumper at times. I don't know if he was trying to show how much he had improved on it, or if he was just convinced that it was better than it was, or what, but that really hurt the team at times this year.

I understand that sometimes the defense is totally gearing themselves to prevent him from driving. But if the drive just isn't there, PASS IT OFF. We had other weapons on this team this year. If the defense is preventing the drive, then I guarantee other players are in a position to do something with it. You're not playing with Eric Snow and George Lynch. If Omri's defender is a little sloughed off of him to stop your penetration, then he should be in a good position to do something with a quick pass, either with his quick release or with a quick drive to the basket. The same goes for Beno, Cisco, even Donte.

His drives were worse this year, and that I understand more. Injuries played a big part in that of course, and because we were a more big man centric team this year, the lane was more clogged, whereas last year, Tyreke had the floor spread wide open for him. I think he was starting to adjust to that at the end of the year, and started to develop some chemistry with Demarcus, and he should be commended for that. I'm thinking this part of his game should be back to normal next year, assuming health. I have other thoughts on where he'll be next year, but I guess this thread is really more about this year.

Demarcus Cousins - C
Look, you can't overlook how inefficient Demarcus was this year. You just can't. Fortunately, you also can't overlook his talent.

There was one main thing that was his undoing in terms of on-the-court plays. That is that when you bring the double after Demarcus has made his move, it's almost always either a turnover or a bad shot. This accounts for a HUGE part of his inefficiency. Because this would happen and then we'd just keep feeding it to him. The good news is that that's one specific thing to work on in the offseason. But in terms of how consistent that problem was this year, it's certainly a big thing for which you have to mark him down.

He also took over stretches of games. He also improved noticeably and showed a sincere effort to improve his off-court stuff this year (however futile that was sometimes). Over all, it ends up in the middle for me with Demarcus with a C.

[tru6playa]

Whiteside - Inc. (Self explanatory)

Darnell Jackson - B+
Relative to expectations, Darnell played very well this year and showed me that he has a long term place in this league.

Jermaine Taylor - B
Pretty much the same deal. This guy will have a place in this league in the right situation. With the right moves, that situation could be here. I certainly wouldn't complain.

Pooh Jeter - C+
I don't think he ever played below his talent level this year. He is what he is, basically. Wouldn't be bad to keep around long term for spot minutes.

Jason Thompson - C+
Was at a D- for a lot of the year, but really found his groove as the consistent 3rd big when he got the opportunity to play that role, and was in the A range after the all-star break. The over all product wasn't pretty this year, but it ended in an encouraging place.

Omri Casspi - C-
Also kind of hurt by the situation. Didn't so much play worse than last year as much as he just wasn't in as favorable of a situation. Gets some points for improved defense.

Donte Greene - C
Similar to JT, the over all product wasn't pretty this year with Donte, but it ended on an encouraging note. I just hope we trade one of our SFs soon so that the others can have a more consistent role on this team, because they all seem to thrive more (particularly Donte and Omri though) when they're in a consistent position.

Beno Udrih - B-
Beno mostly played well this year....kinda. He gets points marked down for his declined 3 point shooting, and his mostly terrible defense. Otherwise he did what you'd expect out of him. I certainly have my doubts that his future is really with this team.

Francisco Garcia - B
The only thing that really bugged me about Cisco this year was that his outside shot certainly could have been more consistent. With that said, the guy rolls with the punches well, always tries to be the veteran leader, and his decision-making, now that I think about it, was probably better than it has been this year.

Samuel Dalembert - A-
You kind of expected this, given that it was a contract year, but Sam really did surprise all of us at times this year, I think. The guy has been wanting to be a more featured offensive player his whole career and we saw why--he's really not bad on that end. Still probably not as good as he thinks he is, but not bad. He can post a little, he cleans up well, and he can shoot and pass pretty well. We knew about his abilities as an anchor and those are certainly valuable, but his individual defense was surprisingly good as well. He's really only graded down for the times he tries to do more than he can offensively.

Marcus Thornton - A+
I was going to give him an "A" but then I realized I could not find a single reason to deduct anything. The guy was just superb when he got here, and he's looking like he'll be a crucial piece to our future. We knew he could score, but Marcus showed an all-around game we didn't know he had. He can handle the ball and pass well enough, and his defense wasn't as bad as advertised. It certainly wasn't good, but it's not like he was Beno or something.

Tyreke Evans - D+
If Tyreke wasn't injured and played like he played this year, I don't see how I couldn't fail him. And the injuries certainly hampered him a lot, and that needs to be accounted for.

It's other stuff that bugged me though. The selfish play for one thing. I'm not even going to get into the lack of improvement on his jump shot. I thought his jumper did make improvements--small, but clear improvements. The problem is that he fell in love with that jumper at times. I don't know if he was trying to show how much he had improved on it, or if he was just convinced that it was better than it was, or what, but that really hurt the team at times this year.

I understand that sometimes the defense is totally gearing themselves to prevent him from driving. But if the drive just isn't there, PASS IT OFF. We had other weapons on this team this year. If the defense is preventing the drive, then I guarantee other players are in a position to do something with it. You're not playing with Eric Snow and George Lynch. If Omri's defender is a little sloughed off of him to stop your penetration, then he should be in a good position to do something with a quick pass, either with his quick release or with a quick drive to the basket. The same goes for Beno, Cisco, even Donte.

His drives were worse this year, and that I understand more. Injuries played a big part in that of course, and because we were a more big man centric team this year, the lane was more clogged, whereas last year, Tyreke had the floor spread wide open for him. I think he was starting to adjust to that at the end of the year, and started to develop some chemistry with Demarcus, and he should be commended for that. I'm thinking this part of his game should be back to normal next year, assuming health. I have other thoughts on where he'll be next year, but I guess this thread is really more about this year.

Demarcus Cousins - C
Look, you can't overlook how inefficient Demarcus was this year. You just can't. Fortunately, you also can't overlook his talent.

There was one main thing that was his undoing in terms of on-the-court plays. That is that when you bring the double after Demarcus has made his move, it's almost always either a turnover or a bad shot. This accounts for a HUGE part of his inefficiency. Because this would happen and then we'd just keep feeding it to him. The good news is that that's one specific thing to work on in the offseason. But in terms of how consistent that problem was this year, it's certainly a big thing for which you have to mark him down.

He also took over stretches of games. He also improved noticeably and showed a sincere effort to improve his off-court stuff this year (however futile that was sometimes). Over all, it ends up in the middle for me with Demarcus with a C.

No coach grade? lol

[bballjunkie281]

I would give Westphal a straight up F. He was brought in to develop the Kings' youth and to establish their roles going forward, and he failed miserably on all accounts. All the young players regressed under him - Tyreke, Donte, Omri, JT, Hawes (last year).

His mishandling of Tyreke is the one thing that screams out the most. If in two full seasons he couldn't cure his habit of not passing on the fast break (among other bad habits, such as fourth quarter selfishness, pounding the ball for 16 seconds in every possession, not pushing the ball in transition, etc.), then what exactly is he doing. Add to that the musical chairs he played with some of the guys, mainly Donte and Omri, going from starter to reserve to DNPs and starter again, and you've got yourself a group of confused, disgruntled, unmotivated players, who have no idea what their role is, and are wondering why they are being yanked for every little mistake while another player can make the same mistakes over and over again for two seasons and not be held accountable even once.

This was the year the Kings were supposed to make a huge improvement, right? They got rid of the "soft center and useless chucker" and in return got the shotblocker they have been craving for years, as well as the best big man in the draft and another full year of experience under the youngin's belts. Well, had it not been for Thornton's arrival throwing a little makeup powder on the zits of the Kings' win-loss column, this would've been another 17 win season at best and Westphal would've been gone way before Keith Smart. I hope at least this time around he starts learning from his mistakes and starts acting like a real coach, but I doubt he will.

[LeBron's Time]

I disagree on cousins grade. Jermaine taylor, Thompson, jetter, Jackson, beno, Garcia got a higher grade than cousins? Cousins got the same grade as donte? I will give cousins a better grade than that and yes better than Sammy. You guys must also consider that this is cousins first year in the nba, what he did on his 1st year season is very impressive for a bigman rookie year. Sammy is 9 year nba veteran, this is cousins first year in the nba, what he did as a first year player is much impressive than what a 9 year nba veteran player did who average 8 pts 8 rebs 50% this season.. Cousins is one of the best rookie bigman in many years. you guys always mentions cousins turn over and cousins low field goal percentage but you don’t realize that cousins tasks in sacramento kings as a rookie isn’t as easy as other rookie bigman tasks on their respective teams this year or in the past. Cousins can do better what Monroe and davis did on their respective teams if you ask him to do the same role, he will get high percentage fg and less turn over for sure like what he did in college on Kentucky when his not the team go to guy but sacramento kings wants him to do more than that. They want him to be the go to guy bigman, he need to create his own shot (he will get low fg% by doing that), rebounding demon and bigman passer(he will get some TO on that too), not to mention that most of cousins TO comes on offensive foul. all year, nba refs are not fair on cousins as far as cousins getting fouls is concern especially the offensive fouls who results as a TO.

Jason kidd had a 38% fg and 3+ TO on his first year but he got an A grade on that year and become co-rookie of the year. Tyson chandler was 9 year nba veteran and one of the best bigman in nba today had 18 double double this season, cousins first year in the nba had 26 double double already, for a first year nba player(bigman) that’s one of the best. If blake griffin got A+ or A- and wall and Monroe got A- or B+, cousins deserve better than B- or C grade.

[tru6playa]

My scores were not a reflection of talent level on the team. It was based on the player's play with regards to their season expectations and the roles that they played on the team.

[LeBron's Time]

do we expect a 20 points 10 rebounds rookie stats for cousins? most mediamen expect cousins as the 2nd coming of benoit benjamin or let say a bust. but cousins supporters expect him to put 12-15 pts, 7-9 rebs on his rookie year. do he failed us on our expectation?

[pillwenney]

You can't just look at those numbers. Cousins also scored very inefficiently, and was extremely turnover-prone and foul-prone.

[bballjunkie281]

You can't just look at those numbers. Cousins also scored very inefficiently, and was extremely turnover-prone and foul-prone.

Yes, but almost all rookies are inefficient. Cousins proved to be a smart guy with lots of potential and a quick learner. I don't expect a rookie to carry a franchise on his back to the playoffs, I only expect him to give me hope for the future, and IMO he provided a lot of hope for the future. If I had to choose between him an Tyreke as the #1 guy to build the team around, I would choose Cousins without blinking.

[KF10]

Damn it, damn it!! I wrote a long post (it took me about 4 hours to complete), and it got erased for some random reason. I will post my thoughts/summary after I complete my midterm (this Wednesday).

I can't believe it.

[LeBron's Time]

he played lesser minutes because of being foul prone but despite of that he still produce a 30+ minutes type of numbers, thats more impressive to me. kevin love cant do that on his rookie year, cousins is one of the best rookie bigman in the last 20 years in the nba. he deserve more than C grade as a rookie. to tell you honestly i expect cousins to produce 10 pts and 5 rebs on his rookie year because rookie bigman takes time to develop in the nba. if he put up 10/5 ill be hapy, i expect he will get more fouls more TO. but what he did is above on my expectation. 14 pts, almost 9 rebs, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk. for a rookie player thats not a C grade.

[LeBron's Time]

darnell jackson > cousins?... taylor > cousins?... beno > cousins?... garcia > cousins?... thompson > cousins?... jeter > cousins?... casspi (bad year) = cousins?... donte = cousins?

[pillwenney]

You can't just look at those numbers. Cousins also scored very inefficiently, and was extremely turnover-prone and foul-prone.

Yes, but almost all rookies are inefficient. Cousins proved to be a smart guy with lots of potential and a quick learner. I don't expect a rookie to carry a franchise on his back to the playoffs, I only expect him to give me hope for the future, and IMO he provided a lot of hope for the future. If I had to choose between him an Tyreke as the #1 guy to build the team around, I would choose Cousins without blinking.

Cousins was REALLY inefficient. I'm not saying I'm not thrilled with what I saw and the future, but he did about what I expect. I expected his stats actually to be a little bit lower but with better efficiency. Not great efficiency, but not this bad.

darnell jackson > cousins?... taylor > cousins?... beno > cousins?... garcia > cousins?... thompson > cousins?... jeter > cousins?... casspi (bad year) = cousins?... donte = cousins?

No. Like someone else said it's not grading them on how good they are as players, but grading them relative to their own scale.

[jazzfan1971]

I'm mostly worried about the Sacramento front office. It seems to me that they are building a team with no regard to how personalities will interact. It looks like a toxic team in the brewing. I won't be surprised to see a lot of drama off the court next year. Folks demanding trades, questioning the coach, pointing fingers, etc...

Hopefully I"m way off base and you'll field a cohesive team that's competitive and fun to watch. I always loved the Sacramento-Jazz matchups in teh Stockton/Malone era. Hopefully we can return to that level of play at some point.

[KF10]

I'm mostly worried about the Sacramento front office. It seems to me that they are building a team with no regard to how personalities will interact. It looks like a toxic team in the brewing. I won't be surprised to see a lot of drama off the court next year. Folks demanding trades, questioning the coach, pointing fingers, etc...

Hopefully I"m way off base and you'll field a cohesive team that's competitive and fun to watch. I always loved the Sacramento-Jazz matchups in teh Stockton/Malone era. Hopefully we can return to that level of play at some point.

I think you are off base here. I think it's more of a maturity issue with this team. Which is easily can be nurtured by experience. I would be more worried if this team were full of veterans and they do not mix well, personality wise. This team is full of youngsters and it's expected to have rough edges around the sides.

Everyone on the roster likes each other. I think that tends to get overlooked by many people here on these boards. I'm not worried at all.