
SAN DIEGO -- Day three of an NBA training camp is usually the time that players start to show signs of wear.
The Kings were not immune to this phenomenon today as they battled bumps and bruises and left the gym with an empty ice machine.
DeMarcus Cousins tweaked his left ankle fighting in the post against Eric Moreland and rookie Willie Cauley-Stein. The All-Star big quickly removed his shoe to check on the injury, but was able to resume practice, albeit with a slight limp. Darren Collison took a bad step, bit like Cousins, he was able to carry on.
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George Karl continued to use an 18 second shot clock and there is talk of even speeding that up to possibly 14 seconds. The Kings are running up and down the court at a frenetic pace. If they can’t land an easy bucket in transition, they are initiating the offense quickly and moving the ball like an intricate game of hot potato.
Rotation taking shape?
While there are still decisions being made about who will start and who will come off the bench, a clear group of players are getting the bulk of the minutes in the practice time that the media is getting to see. Be it first or second team, Collison and Rajon Rondo are seeing the bulk of the minutes at the point. Ben McLemore and Marco Belinelli are facing off at the two. Rudy Gay, Omri Casspi, Caron Butler, Willie Cauley-Stein, DeMarcus Cousins and Kosta Koufos are on the court a lot on the frontline.
There are another eight players in camp that have been getting varying degrees of time, but nothing that you would call substantial. According to Karl, there is probably a reason that groups have formed so quickly.
NBA
“These young players have trouble finding a consistency, finding a personality,” Karl said. “This would be a different camp if you’re a team that’s been together. But you have 10 guys here searching for their part of what they’re going to be, so no one is kind of allowing someone to have an opportunity. It’s a fight, kind of a tug of war. I think it might hurt some young players a little bit.”
Dealing with the officiating
Cousins has disagreed with the officiating in the last two practices and these aren’t even NBA refs. It’s a trend that the talented big man has continued throughout his career in the league and it typically leads to an increase in personal and technical foul calls.
“I think DeMarcus has to make a commitment just to not allow frustrations to cause a disruption in the game,” Karl told a small gathering of media members. “I don’t like negative emotion in a game. I think it’s a sign of frustration, it’s a sign of we’re losing. If there is any emotion in a game, it should be positive.”
There are plenty of issues that need to be worked out in the next month before games count for real, but this is an issue that is larger just Cousins.
“We gave away too many possessions that cheapen the game because of our emotional outbursts,” Karl added. “You can’t do that. You can’t ruin the game because you get emotionally frustrated.”
What is the answer? Karl has very few options outside of using the bench as a tool. At some point Cousins and his teammates are going to have to stop giving away valuable points to their opponents.
What’s next for the team?
The Kings have another two days in San Diego before breaking camp on Saturday and heading to Portland for Monday’s preseason opener against the Trail Blazers. They play again on Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns and come home to face the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday at Sleep Train Arena.
Quote of the Day
During the game action, DeMarcus Cousins snared a rebound and sent a blistering pass out of boards to the far end of the court. Rudy Gay, who was supposed to be on the receiving end ribbed his big man as he took a seat on the bench.
“What do I look like, Odell Beckham Jr.?” -Rudy Gay to DeMarcus Cousins after an errant pass.