Kings @ Warriors

[bjax24]

What I respect about Smart is he is less BS than Westphal. Our problems seem to be when we go against his system, and if he does things like that lineup from tonight that was on for a while, he learns from it. He's not as stubborn.

[SacKingZZZ]

Turnovers and the

Thomas
Garcia
Greene
Hayes
Hickson

lineup.

Rule of thumb for Smart:

ALWAYS have either Cousins or Evans on the court at all times when dealing with substitutions. The moment when I saw that lineup, I knew it will not produce.

The first part of the fourth quarter reared its ugly head to the Kings. They got their first points when it was 5/6 minutes left...

And see, this is when sitting any one of your main guys for long stretches hurts your rotation at the end of the game and why coaches like Rick Adelmen stick to a pretty set schedule. He had to sit them because they needed to rest and the way it worked out is that was about the only time to do it for both of them. If I were a coach I'd take Cousins out at the 2 minute mark of the 1st and put in him at the 8 minute mark of the following quarter. That's the best way to maximize rest, and ensure that you aren't leaving anybody out for inconsistent or long stretches.

[RIPskaterdude]

Hayes was also getting dominated by a bench scrub. Posting him up wasn't working, and it's what started to get us into our 4th Q funk.

And who might that have been?

Posting him up is stupid, and putting a lineup out there with no focal point is even more stupid. You really need to start looking at the little things out there, might be surprised what you see.

The Warriors had

Robinson
Thompson
Rush
McGuire
Udoh

out there when they made their big run, and Hayes wasn't able to post up, or really do anything, on McGuire.

[SacKingZZZ]

Turnovers and the

Thomas
Garcia
Greene
Hayes
Hickson

lineup.

One of the worst lineups you could think of.

The best part of it is that he went totally Westphalian with it's implementation and he pounded the ball down low to Chuck Hayes. He made a nice pass out of there to Garcia who bobbled it, but c'mon now. That's why Hayes needs to play with Cousins. You have a nice match there because you know where the ball is going.

[SacKingZZZ]

Hayes was also getting dominated by a bench scrub. Posting him up wasn't working, and it's what started to get us into our 4th Q funk.

And who might that have been?

Posting him up is stupid, and putting a lineup out there with no focal point is even more stupid. You really need to start looking at the little things out there, might be surprised what you see.

The Warriors had

Robinson
Thompson
Rush
McGuire
Udoh

out there when they made their big run, and Hayes wasn't able to post up, or really do anything, on McGuire.

Wait a minute, so let me get this straight, Hayes was "dominated" by....McGuire?? Yeah, no. Posting up Hayes is a mistake no matter who is guarding him, PERIOD. Hayes is an acceptable high post passer and in the low post he isn't terrible but with one arm, really not a good idea. His passing, screening, offensive rebounding, and knowledge of spacing are his gifts to your team offensively, nothing more. Convenient that those are pretty much what you want next to a player like Cousins.

[SacKingZZZ]

What I respect about Smart is he is less BS than Westphal. Our problems seem to be when we go against his system, and if he does things like that lineup from tonight that was on for a while, he learns from it. He's not as stubborn.

Tonight is the first time I can say that you can lay a good chunk of the blame on Smart. He was off in his rotation management. I also don't like this trend of leaving Jimmer out for long portions and then bringing him back with 3 minutes to go. He put a lot of lineups out there tonight that just can't shoot. The game started off in the post, going to Cousins, pounding it inside, and oh boy, was he killing them. They had no answer. Cousins goes out and stays out. The game plan shifts to pounding it to Tyreke inside out. Tyreke struggled but then got going. They continue to jam it to Tyreke, largely ignore Cousins, and when he does get it, it's about as far away from the post as you can imagine, the spacing is screwed, and the Warriors switched to more of a sluff zone, cutting off any idea of continuing to attack from the perimeter. That's when you need to get that ball back down low. Did eventually but it was too late.

[KF10]

For those who missed Cousins' "dream shake":

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcA4SbBiXr8&feature=plcp&context=C3130f7dUDOEgsToPDskIZDt8tVxTP125-7lFvkARO[/youtube]

[KF10]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L2wqpmXW7o&context=C376a18bADOEgsToPDskJcGJTtEam3QW30HdSURXV5[/youtube]

[SacKingZZZ]

For those who missed Cousins' "dream shake":

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcA4SbBiXr8&feature=plcp&context=C3130f7dUDOEgsToPDskIZDt8tVxTP125-7lFvkARO[/youtube]

Hahaha, nice. One of the most promising things about Cousins is his propensity to learn, and learn quickly. About time he used some pump faking! That's a necessary key to any below the rim big. Wonder if Reef has been working with him on any of that stuff.

[boogie-reke]

My kind of losses, completely feels like a win.

Reke and Cousins playing good, team overall looks alright and would win if the coach put the right players on the court - but eventually we loose and distance ourselfs a little more from the warriors in the draft-ranking.

[boogie-reke]

Oh and that play for Tyreke to come off screens making that hard cut on the elbow (YES I SAID IT - HARD CUTS, IT FINALLY HAPPENS) - is just money. works like a charm.

He can be used so good off the ball with his strength to come off screens with ease... and the 2nd option when that first play is stuck is great too cause all the defence is focusing on Reke, whenever he decides to pass to the other big rotating in it's almost as good as a layup if said big is able to catch the ball.

[deadenddude]

I don't understand Smart's marriage to playing Salmons so many minutes. It is objectively obvious that Salmons only hurts this team. Is there some sort of blind faith he has in the guy or is management telling him to play the man they're paying $9m?

All I can figure is that it's a respect thing because he's a vet or a salary thing because he's the highest paid player on the team. Either way it's really stupid. He's averaging 7.1 points a game on 35% shooting. it's just inexcusable to keep playing him when there's guys like Garcia and Greene who surely can't do any worse. Heck, even Honeycutt would probably be better at this point.

[kevin44]

Are we really this bad? Ellis & Curry shoot 25%. Andris does nothing as usual & Lee has one of his poorest game. If Smart can't figure out how to guard Rush maybe he should be looking for a new job.

[KF10]

Oh and that play for Tyreke to come off screens making that hard cut on the elbow (YES I SAID IT - HARD CUTS, IT FINALLY HAPPENS) - is just money. works like a charm.

He can be used so good off the ball with his strength to come off screens with ease... and the 2nd option when that first play is stuck is great too cause all the defence is focusing on Reke, whenever he decides to pass to the other big rotating in it's almost as good as a layup if said big is able to catch the ball.

Yeah, I noticed that as well.

I saw Reke curling around the screen at the elbow area to receive the ball! It was like he read everyone's post on this forum lol. If he manages to incorporate that on a consistent basis, boy he will have an easier time to score or create a play for others.