DeMarcus Cousins says new Kings guards have ball moving better, 'not being overdribbled'
If Isaiah Thomas felt disrespected by the Sacramento Kings during negotiations as a restricted free agent this summer, he'll be downright Rodney Dangerfield-esque after hearing the subtle shots fired at him on Wednesday.
After just a few days of training camp, Kings center DeMarcus Cousins is already praising the team's new point guards, taking a jab at Thomas's style of play in the process.
DMC on PG changes: "it’s been incredible. It’s been a smooth transition. The ball is moving a lot better. It’s not stuck in one place ...
— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) October 1, 2014
DMC continued: "...It’s not being overdribbled by anybody on the floor".
— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) October 1, 2014
The implication there, of course, is that Thomas overdribbled and caused the Kings' offense to stall at times. That apparently hasn't been the case with Darren Collison and Ramon Sessions, less talented players but perhaps more willing and timely distributors.
The knock that Thomas stalled the offense is somewhat fair:
| Player | Touch/Gm | Min/Touch | Pass/Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas | 86.1 | 0.091 | 0.692 |
| Collison | 55.5 | 0.067 | 0.749 |
| Sessions | 60.6 | 0.069 | 0.726 |
The table shows that not only did Thomas hold the ball longer than the two new Kings point guards, but that he passed a smaller portion of his touches. Thomas is a dangerous scorer, however, and despite passing more often per touch, Collison and Sessions did a far worse job creating for teammates.
| Player | TS% | PER | Ast% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas | 57.4% | 20.5 | 32.2% |
| Collison | 57.5% | 16.2 | 21.9% |
| Sessions | 58.5% | 18.0 | 25.7% |
What's more, Thomas's ways seemed to agree with Cousins just fine:
| Cousins | Pts/36 | TS% | O-Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| w/ Thomas | 25.7 | 56.1% | 104.7 |
| w/o Thomas | 24.5 | 54.4% | 100.2 |
Cousins' opinion matters, and the ball may in fact be moving better without Thomas. However, that doesn't mean that paying Collison and Sessions a combined $6.9 million, while Thomas makes $7.2 million in Phoenix, was the right move, or that Thomas won't continue to evolve as a more complete point guard in his fourth season.
(Dap EOB)