We can't have four guys playing perimeter; We need Demarcus to change

I like Jimmer as a complement to Tyreke.  For the past two years, the Kings have solely lacked consistent outside shooting.  They have begged and conjoled Donte Greene, Omri Cassipi, Francisco Garcia, Garrett Temple, Desmond Mason, Chapu, Luther Head, Jermaine Taylor,and Antoine Wright to fulfill that role with inconsistent results at best. During the dark, dark Musselman/Reggie Theus/Kenny Natt debacle, I think many of us got so unused to seeing what competitive non-crazy "Mette World Peace" NBA players look-like that we started believing that Donte, Omri or Cisco could be NBA starters.  They are not more than situational players at best and pretty duplicative in the streaky but slightly below average 3-pt shooters with good rebounding, below average defense [limited lateral quickness (Cisco), smarts and quickness (Omri) and NBA IQ (Donte)], and inability to create their own shot.  Of the lot, I think Donte has potential as a cheap defensive specialist who can defend multiple positions. Cisco is very likeable, can handle the ball in stretches, tries hard, and is truly the only King that provides any modicum of veteran leadership with the loss of Beno.  Moving him is moot because no one would be willing to take his contract without some kind of compensation.

Omri needs to go, although it would be really interesting to go city to city and see herds of Jewish fans intermingling in the visitors section with herds of Mormon fans. Which makes me wonder if Muslim fans ever came out for Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Tariq Abdul-Wahad, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim or if they would have if the Kings would have fielded those three together?  Serbian Orthodox Christians for Peja and Vlade?  The Kings visitors section could be a beacon for religious tolerance.

Sorry, I digress.  Now with Marcus Thornton and Jimmer Fredette rotating outside, a hopefully healthy Tyreke who showed he can get to the rim at will can actually have someone to throw to and actually hit a wide open look when multiple players have to collapse on him.  Jimmer and MT23 both showed higher basketball IQ in understanding how their shooting and driving ability can lead to openings for their teammates which makes the 3 combo guard rotation workable in my eyes.  I think because they have the IQ; they will be better defenders than people give them credit for.  Salmons can give Tyreke a break for having to chase around top 2s all night and also take away some of the ball handling and initiating role.  Since the handchecking rules, no one can keep the CP3s or other top quick point guards out of the lane, so those two would not be any different and probably better than Beno and can make it up by posting up midget guards or shooting over them on the other end.

With Salmons, hopefully a better facilitator considered this team has better offensive options than the last time he was here when him just dribbling for 24 seconds was at times their best option for scoring.  But now with Tyreke, Salmons, Thornton and Jimmer, we're going to need more of an inside presence.

My bigger issue is with coaching and expecting different things from Demarcus.  People on this board have wanted him to be mentored by C-Webb.  That is exactly what I don't want.  C-Webb had a dominant post body but preferred to settle for elbow jumpers which are always going to be much more inconsistent than a physical player bodying up and finishing around the rim.  The settling for jumpers approach also does not draw fouls which minimizes the defensive risk for opposing bigs and would contribute to consistency, which was a problem even for the 2002 team. Now, I love Coachie but he has been the only consistent coach since then and almost all the bigs we've had since then then (Miller, Hawes, and now Cousins) have adopted the Princeton orientation of bigs, created for mismatched bigs, where high post passing and jumpshots are the emphasis.  

Demarcus was dominant, leading the NCAA in PER, when he was banging.  He still has the size and strength to do that in the NBA especially with his unreal quickness, spin and post moves.  But he doesn't.  David Thorpe, DraftExpress and Synergy stats have noticed but has the coaching staff?  It took C-Webb a few seasons and injuries to go the "softer" route and it took Malone like 15 before he went all elbow.  It was troubling to see DeMarcus start that way.  As DraftExpress writes, "Unlike many prospects who fail transitioning to the NBA, Cousins' issues aren't due to his skills not translating, but more so of him abandoning everything that made him a great prospect and collegiate player in order to try being a completely different type of player."  The article even mentions that this is the style he played in high school which makes you want advice Otis Hughley, his HS coach, now on the Kings sideline is giving him.  

With the very real possibility that Sammy will want to go a contender, the Kings need to find a Dalembert like post presence to complement DeMarcus which, if we remember, took them about five years to find the first time.  Hassan needs to gain like 50 lbs. to become that and Marc Gasol would be terrific, if he were willing to come.   I think JT has a much better sense of his role as the season progressed but he has his own fouling and body language problems.

I think conditioning was definitely part of the issue, especially for the fouling, and Demarcus was noticeable trimmer by the end of the year.  But part of it is the coach staff defining what it wants out of Demarcus.  I am not sure it helps or hamper to have someone like Dalembert doing what the staff would want Demarcus to do.  I do not think it is for a lack of effort on Demarcus's part.  All things considered, I think he has a passion/fire for winning that the Kings need more of.