Kings @ Blazers (Pre-Season) Game Discussion

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
Ben meet bench. Bench meet Ben. Ok done.
Kiddo Ben meet Marco real man. Ben learn from the man. Ben grow up son, no NBA star wannabe, always next year. Be a man and prove it! Otherwise Kings bench is your new home and not what you, we all thought. Do I think Ben should not be starting, no, but he should not be handed his Pizza Guy contact for nothing.
I see that we still lead the league in knee-jerk reactions.

That said, I don't hate the idea of Bellinelli starting, at all.
 
K

Kingsguy881

Guest
Kiddo Ben meet Marco real man. Ben learn from the man. Ben grow up son, no NBA star wannabe, always next year. Be a man and prove it! Otherwise Kings bench is your new home and not what you, we all thought. Do I think Ben should not be starting, no, but he should not be handed his Pizza Guy contact for nothing.
Whiskey?
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
Knee jerk, like we never saw Ben or bellinelli play b4?
We've seen rather more of Bellinelli than we have of McLemore. If anything, we've seen enough of Bellinelli to know that he hasn't proven to be appreciably better as a starter than McLemore. McLemore hasn't earned the starting spot, but Bellinelli hasn't, either. Not really.

I've always been defense over offense, so my personal preference is the guy who plays better defense. But, I could live with either guy starting.
 
The rest of the league just met DMC's new best friend.

So how many triple doubles will the big man rack up this year with our new found gun slinger lurking in the wings?
 
We've seen rather more of Bellinelli than we have of McLemore. If anything, we've seen enough of Bellinelli to know that he hasn't proven to be appreciably better as a starter than McLemore. McLemore hasn't earned the starting spot, but Bellinelli hasn't, either. Not really.

I've always been defense over offense, so my personal preference is the guy who plays better defense. But, I could live with either guy starting.
Plus I think Ben has more potential as a 3 and D guy that fits with the starting lineup, particularly as a target for Rondo fastbreaks. Marco on the other hand forms a potent and more creative offensive unit with DC. It's more about the potential pairings to me than who is better right now.
 
Takeaways

-Koufos should be anchor of the second unit, Cousins and he are similar as paint protectors so no need to have them both out there from the get go.

-Saw glimpses of Rondo/Boogie connection in the 3rd quarter

-WCS made a difference, rebounding is iffy but his speed, length and energy came through from game 1 of pre season. Solid debut.

-Bellineli, WOW! Can't expect that every game, but best shooting display I have seen since at least K-Mart was here.

- Collison very nice second stint after looking rusty in the first.

-Ben needs to do something in these next games, i think the up and down pace affected him worst as his poor decision making really shone through.

-Rudy looked like a Monstar took his skills. Safe to say that's his stinker of the month, can't really worry though, he will come around.

-Acy looked pedestrian, should only play in spots.

-Anderson was playing solid wing D(a need on this squad), couldn't hit a shot though.
 
J

jdbraver

Guest
We've seen rather more of Bellinelli than we have of McLemore. If anything, we've seen enough of Bellinelli to know that he hasn't proven to be appreciably better as a starter than McLemore. McLemore hasn't earned the starting spot, but Bellinelli hasn't, either. Not really.

I've always been defense over offense, so my personal preference is the guy who plays better defense. But, I could live with either guy starting.
We have seen tons of Ben to know he disappears all the time. You can't have a starting 2 guard that other teams can leave wide open. As for his defense it didn't help much did it. Belli earned the right to start the next game it's up to Ben to take it away.
 
If you want to establish a culture of winning, pre-season or not, you leave the guys out there that have gotten you to the brink of the win. The team NEEDED this win, as did we.
I wholeheartedly agree with you.
I really didn't understand grant other than his fear of these guys getting hurt.
 
If you want to establish a culture of winning, pre-season or not, you leave the guys out there that have gotten you to the brink of the win. The team NEEDED this win, as did we.
I agree, if we lose reports start "Kings look bad in debut, lose to lowly Blazers". Instead the outside media only sees the win and we and the team know theres plenty to work on(WHICH IS EXPECTED WHEN YOU HAVE 10 NEW FACES).
 
After one game I would say my hope is that we can get to this sooner than later
Starters:
Rondo
Ben
Gay
WCS
Cuz

Bench:
Collison
Bellineli
Casspi
Gay/Cuz/WCS
Koufos

Karl will have to stagger Cuz and Rudy, I think one of them should be on the floor at all times with WCS thrown in there at times as well.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
I wholeheartedly agree with you.
I really didn't understand grant other than his fear of these guys getting hurt.
Fear is for babies and teams who have no confidence in themselves. I have faith in George Karl and will leave the decision on minutes to him. We have a 1200+ win coach. It's time for people like Grant to quit second guessing him.

We aren't the same old Sacramento Kings who've been kicked around the bottom of the barrel for almost a decade. It's a different attitude, a different culture and I'm already liking it.

GO KINGS!
 
BTW Portland hit an absurd amount of shots that generally won't go in. I would say when our defense was set we did pretty decent job overall. Most of their stuff came off of our dumb mistakes/turnovers.
 
J

jdbraver

Guest
I think rotations are more complicated than just "who is better right now"
Yah, like who can consistently hit an outside shot. Or who can space the floor. Cuz no team respects ben's jump shot. What has Ben done to warrant starting. Belli is a consistent threat look at both their numbers over the past few years.
 
Yah, like who can consistently hit an outside shot. Or who can space the floor. Cuz no team respects ben's jump shot. What has Ben done to warrant starting. Belli is a consistent threat look at both their numbers over the past few years.
Marco is a better passer, ball handler and consistent shooter. No doubt at this point.

Those things may be more valuable with the bench lineup while bens role as a defender, runner and hopefully more consistent shooter is a fit with the starters.

If you use this game for Marco as the standard then sure, start him. But they aren't nearly as far apart in productivity as you are suggesting
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
Yah, like who can consistently hit an outside shot. Or who can space the floor. Cuz no team respects ben's jump shot. What has Ben done to warrant starting. Belli is a consistent threat look at both their numbers over the past few years.
It isn't just about who's the best. It's about which 5 players present the most balanced team on the court at any one time. Because of this, I think Ben just might keep the starting slot for a while.
 
I think the first unit was way too sloppy to fully condemn Ben. He should obviously do better but the first unit overall looked like they needed way more reps together. Cuz was Cuz but I didn't like those threes he was taking and in general he spent too much time in the perimeter. Rudy looked like he had just woken up. Koufos is a rock but I think he fits better with the second unit. The main issue I see is what will happen at the 4 because Cuz need to play 5 imo. WCS is the guy, question is will Karl start a rook? Otherwise I see it being Rondo, Ben, Casspi, Gay, Cuz opening night.