Game Thread: Kings @ Hornets

[AD23forMVP]

Saying Vasquez's numbers are empty is harsh, but I do believe that there is a different value in assists.

For example, last night Greivis' assists broke down like this:

1- Gordon comes off screen and works his way into the paint for a layup

2- Jason Thompson sags off Davis, basically happens right in front of GV

3- Give and go type play, GV gives it to Lopez, Lopez back to GV, GV gets into lane after Jason Thompson comes out to guard him then gives it back to Lopez. *

4- DeMarcus Cousins falls asleep on defense and GV finds him, Lopez works his way into the paint for a layup.

5- GV dribbles below the arc and turns around and passes to a open Mason for 3.

6- Gordon gets the steal, gives the ball to GV who jogs it up the court, GV hands it back to Gordon above the 3pt line who basically walks into a layup.

7- Handoff to Lopez for short jumper

8- GV throws the entry pass to Lopez at the elbow (the one they like to start the offense off with, Lopez or Davis) who has a open lane to the goal because Cousins is doing god knows what.

9- Anthony Davis runs from one elbow to the other for a essentially a toss.

10- Entry pass to Gordon in the post against the smaller Thomas.

11- Cousins falls asleep on the fast break and lets Gordon get in front of him and GV finds him.

12- Jason Smith hands off to Mason who hands off to Vasquez who passes back to Mason on the right wing.

13- GV hands off to Mason in the corner.

The first thing this leads me to say is that assists are greatly exaggerated in the NBA. I count four passes that imo shouldn't be credited as an assist. 1,4, 6, and 8. I remember reading an article years ago about how NBA assists are tallied. This is just an opinion though.

There are a few that I probably could have made that were just a result of bad defense. 2, 5, 7, 9, 13

The others are good assists. 3 when GV got the mismatch and was able to get into the lane and bring Lopez's man with him was a thing of beauty. 10 was a real good look because Gordon got Thomas out of position for a fraction of a second and GV hit him at the perfect time. 11 wasn't a difficult pass but it showed good vision that he saw Gordon get out past Cousins on his left. And then I can't really group 12. It was a hard skip pass to make because his body was facing away, but it was another bad defensive play from Sacramento as well.

Where as I'm watching Goran Dragic, he's finding his bigs off the p&r or p&p (Vasquez did not have a single assist off the pick game last night), he's getting into the lane and drawing three defenders and passing around those guys to open teammates, he's making passes where guys don't even have to put the ball on the ground for layups or dunks where GV's passes force our bigs to take a couple dribbles to get into better position.

[nolaslim213]

This is getting out of hand. I went to Espn forums, Kings forums, and other sports sites and All fans were praising Vasquez. I almost made a thread on this. Most people were calling him a beast, future All-Star, and even Steve Nash lite. I think alot of Hornets fans really. Underate their own players and overate others (Tyreke Evans, Really?)

I'm not high on Evans either. Kings fans are desperate for any player right now. Vasquez puts up nice number, but he doesn't impact the game. That's what I meant by empty numbers. He is a nice player, but I want more, and that doesn't even take into account how horrendous he is defensively.

I understand the angle on Vasquez that his shortcomings are hard to overcome and that a championship team needs a better starting PG, but calling someone's numbers empty is just... I'm gonna put it nicely and call it ridiculous.

Has Vasquez ever taken over a game? Can he put the team on his back and win games for us? At the beginning of the season, Vasquez said a PG's worth is measured by team wins, and we suck.

Let's be honest with ourselves, his numbers are empty. He doesn't impact the game. Teams don't have to game plan him offensively, and they certainly attack him when he is on defense. He can't hit the PnR man to save his life, and he is a passing PG!!! What the hell is that? He can't thread the needle, and he can't pass guys open. All he does is wait for the defense to make a mistake, and he takes advantage of it, but that does you no good against elite teams like Miami, Boston, OKC, LAC, SA, etc....

Where as I'm watching Goran Dragic, he's finding his bigs off the p&r or p&p (Vasquez did not have a single assist off the pick game last night), he's getting into the lane and drawing three defenders and passing around those guys to open teammates, he's making passes where guys don't even have to put the ball on the ground for layups or dunks where GV's passes force our bigs to take a couple dribbles to get into better position.

Exactly my point. Good post. Vasquez can't make the real passes that a PG needs to make. He can only make the obvious pass once the defense breaks down, and when I say "the defense breaks down," I don't mean Vasquez is breaking the defense down. I just mean the defense messes up.

[RaisingTheBar]

If you want empty stats, go look at Ricky Davis' career. He played for himself and not his team. I don't think this is the case for Vasquez.

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Isn't that the guy who was 1 reb away from a triple-double and on the inbound ran to his own goal and threw the ball off the backboard to get the rebound? That was a while ago I could be confusing him with someone else.

[AD23forMVP]

I do think Davis did that lol

[RaisingTheBar]

I do think Davis did that lol

Yup