Third Quarter Collapse Strikes Down Kings
by Tom Ziller on Jan 30, 2010 6:38 AM PST
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PrintWhen your team's top beat writer surmises that the team's starting power forward "had perhaps the worst performance of his career" after said power forward looked awful on offense and gave up 32/14/7 to a guy who usually comes off the bench, and you actually have to search your short-term memory to consider whether any of your starting power forward's recent games were actually worse ... that's when you know have a problem. A Big(s) problem.
Paul Millsap treated Jason Thompson badly, very badly. No one else was much better, though, and in the closing minutes no one else really got much of a chance to try. I thought Spencer Hawes played well in his (brief) minutes, but perhaps Paul Westphal disagreed, because Hawes didn't take his warm-ups off in the fourth quarter (except for when he came in to watch the Jazz miss a free throw, after which a time-out was immediately called with no time having gone by -- the substitution that never officially happened in the box score!). In that final period alone, Millsap had 9/5 as the Kings snuck between a small and micro line-up with Andres Nocioni, a touch of Sean May, Ime Udoka and even Omri Casspi at power forward. Nocioni had a few interspersed possessions on Millsap (never good), and Casspi marked him at least once, but the result has been shed from my memory already, so I'm assuming it didn't end well.
Beyond the overall dominance, Millsap had two key stretches in the fourth. The Kings had cut the deficit to four midway through the quarter when Paul went on a spree, hitting a goofy fall-away (plus the foul) and following up with a deep two-point jumper on the right elbow and a lovely finish at the rim off an odd Ronnie Brewer set-up. Seven points in 68 seconds, basically cancelling two lovely Kevin Martin-Tyreke Evans connections at the other end.
The second spell of import came on the glass: inside of three minutes, Jazz up six, Millsap collected a rebound off his own miss and shuffled it to Sundiata Gaines, who finished. Inside of 40 seconds, Millsap came out of nowhere (if nowhere is the line of cameramen on the baseline) to suck up a carom off a Gaines brick. The Kings had to foul Wesley Matthews on the subsequent play, and though Matthews missed both (a familiar refrain for Utah) time and spirit had been sapped.
The Kings really dug a hole in the third quarter. Martin exited with 4-1/2 minutes left in the period, game tied at 59. Brockman came in for Thompson at the same time. Brockman -- who had zero points and two rebounds in 12 minutes, Mama there go them per-minute stats! -- committed two fouls and a three-second violation within 59 seconds of each other. Hawes left for May at that point. The Jazz had taken a three-point lead on all the free throws. Over the next minute-and-a-half Millsap drove easily on Brockman for two, and May didn't close out on Mehmet Okur, who nailed a three. Two minutes left in the quarter, and that tie has turned into a six-point Jazz lead. Thompson re-enters for Brockman, who had committed another foul, and Evans leaves for Udoka. So at this point, the Kings line-up is Beno Udrih, Udoka, Casspi, Thompson and May. A veritable juggernaut, right? The Jazz add four more to the lead by the end-of-quarter buzzer. 73-63. The Kings never get closer than four in the fourth quarter.
The line-up +/- data really mimics what I saw (or vice versa). There were 5 min, 15 seconds in the first half in which both Evans and Martin sat. The Kings were -3. There were two minutes without Evans and Martin in the second half (the aforediscussed end-of-the-third): the Kings were -3. So that's -6 over 7 min, 15 seconds.
The Kings were +4 in the roughly 34 minutes in which both guards played together. Martin was +1 in his non-Evans minutes, and Evans was -6 in his non-Martin minutes (which all came in that third quarter). The team was far more effective when they played together. Unfortunately, since each played upward of 37 minutes, I'm not sure you can play them together any more than Westphal did and still survive the minutes without them, especially on nights when Beno shoots 0-for-5.
***
I'm not going to talk too much about Martin's reversal of fortune, because ... well, this is the norm. This is what the world expects now. It didn't take a genius to believe a brilliant shooter/scorer would eventually end a slump. It's like predicting a new Kevin Smith film will be unwatchable, or that Mehmet Okur will wince when he's about to take a charge. It's just common sense, based on years of observation.
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What do they do
with Jason now? It seems to me that his issues are mostly mental now. It looked to me like he was ready to cry on the bench when he fouled out. Would it be worth it to give him a game or 2 off to clear his head? It bugs me a lot cause I like the dude, and hope he turns it around.
I don't know what to make of it anymore
I don’t even care about his scoring. How can you get into a rebounding and defensive slump though???
He has enough good games for me to believe in him as a player. It has to be mental. He needs to just keep it simple…defend his man, box him out, crash the offensive boards, and put-backs
Mental?... maybe that's part of the problem
but mostly what we saw here was a very impressive demonstration of sheer superior strength and athleticism by Millsap around the basket. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again Millsap is a freakin beast, and the reality is we have NO answer for a player like that currently on our roster.
AK47 was pretty much having his way all over the court too.
JT can be a nice player, he’ll get better, and all that good stuff, but he just doesn’t have the Right Stuff physically to match up with a Paul Millsap or a Carlos Boozer, much less Pau Gasol, Chris Bosh, LaMarcus Aldridge, etc etc.
That goes double for Spencer Hawes, and until we address this situation we will continue to get our asses handed to us by bigger, stronger more athletic players in the front court.
"When the going gets Weird, the Weird turn professional."
(Hunter Thompson)
What happened to Donte last night?
I missed the game. 4 minutes of PT?
Excellent analysis of what went wrong trying to defend Paul Millsap
Agree with what_the_crap about JT. He looked terrible out there and when he fouled out he looked very frustrated with himself.
Paul Westphal’s post-game words and body language said it all. He was obviously very upset with defense. He had sent in the defensive troops all night and was unable to find a stop for Millsap. I had to wonder to myself, whether PW was more upset at with the players or management (for not having traded for a Big by this time – Armstrong does not count). I don’t want to read too much into it, just that this crossed my mind.
You do have to give some credit to Millsap. He probably played the game of his life and to our dismay looked like a superstar. I bet Millsap can’t wait for the post-game review of the game so he can watch himself play.
To be the best, you have to do your best. Otherwise, you are only second-rate.
Correction
Should read: …whether PW was more upset with the players
To be the best, you have to do your best. Otherwise, you are only second-rate.
The Kings
are suspiciously often at the receiving game of the opposing big’s “best game of his life.” It isn’t coincidence.
during the Win time of '09 (November and most of December)
the Kings were the ones with that claim. Donte’s game against the Knicks, Ime against the Bulls, Tyreke surpassing whatever his previous wonderful performance was at that time.
What goes up (on this young team) must come down.
by betweentheeyes on Jan 30, 2010 8:40 AM PST up reply actions
That's right! That wonderful breakout game for Donte'
To be the best, you have to do your best. Otherwise, you are only second-rate.
You're right, not a coincidence.
This has been happening too often this season. Soon offensive players of opposing teams will be salivating at the opportunity to shine against the Kings. If this isn’t happening already. Millsap must be feeling quite “The Man” today.
To be the best, you have to do your best. Otherwise, you are only second-rate.
There is a reason the Jazz gave Millsap all that money this summer.
And why they won’t go after Boozer this summer.
Father of the "Natt this!" movement, Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order, and Originator of the "Brock Ness Monster".
i cant figure it out, I thought Hawes rebounded well last night (9 in only 22 minutes). He was a factor. Our offensive woes are because we have no cohesiveness, dante starts and plays only a handfull of minutes, noc plays 5 min one night and 30 the next, same with Hawes. I like PW but his substitutions seem to be counterproductive. I dont know how anyone can feel comfortable on the floor when one mistake could take them out for the rest of the game.
agreed. He was also 3-6 from the field. He needs more touches, it seems lately he has been playing well and his minutes are stil way down. If Hawes is rebounding, and scoring why bench him? Its not like he was playing terrible D last night. At least I didn’t notice anything. It was Millsap doing the damage
Sometimes you just have to look yourself in the mirror and say....Tyreke Evans.
That just happened.
Cartier Martin from that Warriors game
is available.
GREENE! You’ve been superfluously apostrophe’d! - andy sims
I was unable to watch the game but that doesn't stop me from having an opinion
Yes, I am a sport blogger. (the first of the 12 steps).
The Kings juggling act – bowling balls, chain saws, feathers – has started to show some missed catches. Plugging in less talented players and rookies isn’t working like it was 20 games ago. Lump that together with the game of “Who’s slumping tonight this week?” and the losses accumulate. This week brought the (one game) rise of Kevin Martin and the continued stumble of JT. Like Speed, Shock has earned some “let him play himself out of it” time. Making JT the current flavor of the month for the whipping boy trade fodder, replacing Spencer Hawes. I am glad JT has PW in place to help him right his ship.
I think JT should come off te bench for awhile.
This was his last game to try to play himself out of it. He needs a break.
Yep,
or stay on the bench for a while. His game continues to deteriorate. He was badly embarrassed by Milsap. I can’t help but think that he’s starting to look like a bust.
Yep, that is how it is starting to look.
To be the best, you have to do your best. Otherwise, you are only second-rate.
He just needs to get his head on straight.
Second year players that were averaging 15-10 in the first part of the season can’t be considered busts in their second year.
Hope
by Ultrakingsfan on Jan 30, 2010 9:26 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Donte
Was it just me or was it inexplicable that Donte got so little time last night? There was a period where Kirilenko (prob spelled wrong) was having his way on offense against clearly less athletic players. Why not put Donte on him. Similar size/athleticism as AK.
by chri5 on Jan 30, 2010 8:47 AM PST via mobile reply actions
Because AK was having his way with Greene when DG was in there
GREENE! You’ve been superfluously apostrophe’d! - andy sims
At the start? The whole team looked like crap at that point. Donte wasn’t on AK in the 2nd when AK was having a dunkfest.
by chri5 on Jan 30, 2010 9:02 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
Hmm I guess this is what happens when I miss the third and most of the fourth quarter. Lol
by chri5 on Jan 30, 2010 9:29 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
noc
did do better, but i’m thinking Donte could have got some time at the 2 when Martin sat…Shoot, PW tried every other imaginable lineup….
"every once in a while a kernel of truth...uhh... corn is revealed in my usual pile of poop" - betweentheeyes
Too small of a line up
The guards that Utah had on the floor were really quick. I think that at times it was Price and Gaines who are both fast as hell and even Brewer might be tough. I might have been a bad match up to put Donte on one of them.
I want Kirilenko so bad.
K9 Greene and Armstrong for Kirilenko?
Hope
by Ultrakingsfan on Jan 30, 2010 9:28 AM PST up reply actions
Won't work monetarily under the CBA.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Oh, hes in the laegue two and Jayson Thomson and that Boggins dude on Milwokee, and Occur for the Jizz. Its a talented laegue.--Kfan in Korea
Sounds great...
for us but why would Utah want our junk for a fine product?
Collapsing and inconsistency
This is a consistent inconsistency. This team can’t seem to get it together for four straight quarters. It was better with Martin and Evans, but Beno and JT both sucked. Weird because JT was mr. consistent at the beginning of the season and Beno has been super of late. Seems like the slumping off of the offense and the spotty individual defense continues to happens, but…
I would have to say the defensive rotations are better and Martin and Evans were dishing assists to each other. That was what I have been waiting to see. These guys starting to get into sync and it really started late in the game, the last half and really was clicking by the 4th…. Yep, just in time to pull them out.
My hope is that Martin and Evans are the glue and core of the team’s offense and it rubs off on all the other guys…
This was the first game where by the end I was ignoring the players
and screaming at the coach. Yes, a lot of the call sucked. Yes, no one could stop Milsap. Yes, Broc had a bad night. But not of that excuses playing tiny ball when you are being abused by the power forward. With only JT or no big man at all (which felt close to teh same thing last night) we had no chance to stop him and no chance to get rebounds the few times he missed. I’m a huge PW fan, but that was the most pathetic substitution pattern I’ve ever seen. What a shame to waste a vision of what Crash and Burn could produce together.
""Balance your right to dissent, with your responsibility to contribute."
Gordan Ryan
I watched the replay and I agree with you
Substitutions sucked. Not only were we getting abused by a Power Forward, but an undersized PF no less. Why Spencer only got 22 minutes I don’t know, he looked great. And JT has been slumping for about 3 weeks to a month lately, barring the Philly game. Its starting to annoy me that he seems to get off easy while Spencer has one bad game and he gets relegated to the bench.
Father of the "Natt this!" movement, Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order, and Originator of the "Brock Ness Monster".
Better question: Why is that?
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Oh, hes in the laegue two and Jayson Thomson and that Boggins dude on Milwokee, and Occur for the Jizz. Its a talented laegue.--Kfan in Korea
To Pookey - Do you have any ideas as to your question?
To be the best, you have to do your best. Otherwise, you are only second-rate.
Yeah a few.
But I’m going to include it in my Spencer Hawes piece I’m going to start working on here in the next few minutes.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Oh, hes in the laegue two and Jayson Thomson and that Boggins dude on Milwokee, and Occur for the Jizz. Its a talented laegue.--Kfan in Korea
Look forward to your piece
In my opinion, it was because he didn’t think Spencer or Brock were athletic enough to guard Milsap. Okay, I can buy that. But in my opinion, you don’t pull out your bigs. You double with someone small and quick as soon as Milsap gets the ball. You make him pick up the dribble. It may allow him to pass out to another player, but at least you have someone on the floor who can rebound. Last night, we were actually doing pretty well on the boards at the start of the game. But in crunch time, we couldn’t guard their guys and we gave up nearly all the rebounds on both ends of the floor.
If you don’t think you can guard a guy, fine. I don’t think we have a single truely athletic big other than JT and maybe Greene. But neither of them has the bulk to clog the lane. But if you pull your bigs, in a game like last night’s you may as well wave the white flag.
""Balance your right to dissent, with your responsibility to contribute."
Gordan Ryan
by SavageBeast on Jan 30, 2010 11:11 AM PST up reply actions
I wonder why he didn't try Donté on Millsap
Not strong enough perhaps, but when you trust the guy to guard LeBron, I say you can let him at least try Millsap. And if you want Spence to be focusing on defense, why not let him at least try to guard the opposing big whose destroying you?
Father of the "Natt this!" movement, Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order, and Originator of the "Brock Ness Monster".
Yeah
he might night be strong enough, but I’d rather see him on Milsap than Noc or Casspi. At least his height would provide some issues.
""Balance your right to dissent, with your responsibility to contribute."
Gordan Ryan
by SavageBeast on Jan 30, 2010 11:41 AM PST up reply actions
Well said both of you.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Oh, hes in the laegue two and Jayson Thomson and that Boggins dude on Milwokee, and Occur for the Jizz. Its a talented laegue.--Kfan in Korea
I look forward to reading it.
Father of the "Natt this!" movement, Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order, and Originator of the "Brock Ness Monster".
Are you asking me or just figuratively asking Westphal?
Father of the "Natt this!" movement, Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order, and Originator of the "Brock Ness Monster".
It's an open ended question.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Oh, hes in the laegue two and Jayson Thomson and that Boggins dude on Milwokee, and Occur for the Jizz. Its a talented laegue.--Kfan in Korea
PW has cut his minutes
although not as much as some of us, myself included, would like to see. A lot of times last couple JT gets reinserted into games at pivotal moments, and I just say ‘why’?
Month by month, JT played 34 min/g in Oct and Nov., 37 min/g in Dec., but only 27 min/g in January. So his minutes recently are down 7-10 minutes a game. Some of that is result of continued foul problems, though, as much as PW decision to sit him in favor of Brock or whomever.
I’d like to see JT benched for a few games. It would send the message to the team that minutes are not gifted to players, and hold players responsible for persistently putrid play. We have not seen Brock start at ‘4’ with Hawes. Or Omri could also be reinserted as a starter with Donte sliding to ‘4’. That lineup would give the Kings better spacing, and more active defensively, albeit less rebounding. The Kings have lost 15 of last 18 games, may as well try a different mix.
trouble with mobile posting
I recall with around three minutes left in the fourth, PW started doubling Millsap and they shut him down. It seems like PW feels the need to always look for a better match-up. When he has good defenders on the floor why not press and call for doubles. Force them to find another scorer. I have no idea how the Jazz or any other team handles the pressure but it was clear by the time they reached last quarter no one was going to stop him.
I think you are right.
I didn’t watch the replay, but my notes show that shortly after four minutes left in the game, Millsap had 32 points. So, that is around the time they shut him down.
To be the best, you have to do your best. Otherwise, you are only second-rate.
It's ime for a consistent lineup
All this yanking in and out and no one knowing when they’re going to play or for how long is wreaking havoc on the team. You read Hawes’ comments and Greene’s comments and Caspsi a few weeks ago and no one knows how long they’re going to play, who they’re going to be playing with, and how many shots they can expect. Defensive chemistry is completely nonexistent.
Look at the incredible chemistry on display between Martin and Evans – if Martin wasn’t Martin he probably would have been benched for having three good games and that never would have happened.
Evans/Martin/Casspi/Thompson/Hawes. That’s the lineup. Stick to it, who gives a crap about the matchup, who cares who’s hot or not. That’s the most talented lineup, and that’s the future. They’re the ones who need to develop chemistry and have their confidence rebuilt. They need time to gel. Bring the other guys off the bench, but do it rationally.
There’s been plenty of time for evaluation. It’s time for consistency. All this yanking in and out is insane and very clearly detrimental to chemistry and confidence.
Typos abound!
ime = time
“if Martin wasn’t Martin he probably would have been benched for having three bad games…”
Funny
I first read it as, “It’s Ime for a constant line-up.” Udoka? What does he have to do with it?
""Balance your right to dissent, with your responsibility to contribute."
Gordan Ryan
by SavageBeast on Jan 30, 2010 11:42 AM PST up reply actions
I like Greene starting instead of Casspi
and have Casspi come off the bench with Beno for scoring punch. Throw Brockman/May and Nocioni/Udoka in depending on matchups.
Father of the "Natt this!" movement, Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order, and Originator of the "Brock Ness Monster".
Either way
I can see a plausible case for either arrangement. Just as long as it’s consistent I’d be happy.
I LIKE it...
…but Omri ain’t scoring. With the way they’re all playing right now, I’d probably start this:
Hawes
Brockman
Casspi
Martin
Evans
May
Thompson
Nocioni
Greene
Beno
"HARK! BUT LOOK OVER HERE, IT'S A COST CONTROLLED COCO CRISP! DOES MY USE OF ALLITERATION HYPNOTIZE YOU?" (PL78)
by CaliforniaJag on Jan 30, 2010 3:07 PM PST up reply actions
And then once JT gets his groove back we'll ask he goes back in the starting lineup?
I think this is the problem with the shuffling lineups/ rotations debate. I’m not arguing for or against any of the sides of this argument, but I think being so young just adds to what PW can/ has to do. The starting lineup we, as fans, want also changes from week to week sometimes and it’s tough to just get set on one.
If you ask me, I’d go with Reke, Speed, Donte, JT, and Hawes. But then someone would prefer Brockman for his rebounding, or Omri instead of Donte. I can see how coach has the same problem. The performance of this guys (even the veterans sometimes) is so inconsistent that it is tough to knw who’ll show up from game to game, that’s why I think he changes plans on the fly.
That being said, I see how this seems to also confuse players so it turns into the whole chciken or egg problem. I also wished,like, many that we would just set a starting lineup and set a solid rotation, but I don’t know how realistic this is. At least we’ve seen the same lineup in the past 3 games, hope it stays the same to have some stability.
The future begins now...
I totally agree, more than half way thru the season and PW plays 11 players searching for help
Well, the answer to poor team defense and inconsistent 1 on 1 offense, isn’t sitting on the bench. It’s getting the best players on the floor and teaching them how to defend a simple pick & roll, or how to deal with picks off the ball. Then once they learn how to defend them, maybe just maybe they’ll learn how to run them.
"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom
The greatest impact player in NBA History - Tim Donaghy
And all 11 know that he's not afraid to make moves and expects good play
But the strategy is not working, team looks out of synch and can’t play two solid quarters. Experimentation needs to end. Starting lineup and backup rotation needs to be consistent for at least a few games.
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