Harry Giles thread back on track ;)
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Joerger also has mentioned Giles is one of the strongest players on the team. He has a great work ethic in the gym but neither strength or lateral quickness translated much early on but he had his best game of his career last night. It was a bitter loss, the second in a row, but seeing Giles play like that is fantastic. 
. Willie becomes even more expendable than he already is, which is 100% expendable, when Giles shows he can defend and rebound. I think there would be reluctance to unload Willie if Giles did not show promise in these areas . One of two things will happen if Giles keeps rebounding and defending like last night (1) Willie is traded (2) Willie walks this summer.
When we were having debates before the draft, and declarations were being made MB3 was a defensive catastrophe, I made the point for MB3 to produce at such a high rate in the ACC at 18 years there had to be some defensive potential there. That is what we have subsequently seen from MB3. You can make the same case with regards to Giles. A guy who has so much offensive prowess, he is an even more talented scorer and passer than MB3, he has to be able to do something defensively too, or so logic would dictate. Part of lateral mobility is rebounding outside your area and cutting off driving angles without the reach foul. I still need to see more of this from Harry, then the sky's the limit.
I am not trying to create drama but I get the sense there is tension between Joerger and Giles. The post game comments hint there is issues. Giles thinks he should be playing more. Giles has not earned the confidence and trust of the coach. Joerger has been stingy with the playing time erring on the side of conservativeness. It has been the opposite with MB3. So to say the coach is fundamentally opposed to playing rookies significant minutes is incorrect. He needs to know Giles can hang defensively and last night was his best step yet in that direction, importantly too because his production was in the context of a comeback not garbage time.
Unfortunately the coach fell back on his neutral to negative assessment and did not "roll the dice" with Giles in the last 4:00 minutes of the game or OT or else I think we win. There is something intangible about infusing the team with energy and spirit not to mention execution. Giles did that then Willie comes back in and it was like the air being let out of the balloon. The Blazers hedge the pick and roll to funnel the ball to the worst offense player on the floor. That is Willie or Jackson. This is what smart coaches and teams do. Make the weak link beat you. Play off him just enough to allow him to receive the pass then converge on him and force him into a bad shot or pass. This is partly why Willie is not even viable as a backup in the long term. If you aspire to win 41 games then maybe he has a place. But the Kings have higher aspirations than this so I think the writing is on the wall.
. Willie becomes even more expendable than he already is, which is 100% expendable, when Giles shows he can defend and rebound. I think there would be reluctance to unload Willie if Giles did not show promise in these areas . One of two things will happen if Giles keeps rebounding and defending like last night (1) Willie is traded (2) Willie walks this summer. When we were having debates before the draft, and declarations were being made MB3 was a defensive catastrophe, I made the point for MB3 to produce at such a high rate in the ACC at 18 years there had to be some defensive potential there. That is what we have subsequently seen from MB3. You can make the same case with regards to Giles. A guy who has so much offensive prowess, he is an even more talented scorer and passer than MB3, he has to be able to do something defensively too, or so logic would dictate. Part of lateral mobility is rebounding outside your area and cutting off driving angles without the reach foul. I still need to see more of this from Harry, then the sky's the limit.
I am not trying to create drama but I get the sense there is tension between Joerger and Giles. The post game comments hint there is issues. Giles thinks he should be playing more. Giles has not earned the confidence and trust of the coach. Joerger has been stingy with the playing time erring on the side of conservativeness. It has been the opposite with MB3. So to say the coach is fundamentally opposed to playing rookies significant minutes is incorrect. He needs to know Giles can hang defensively and last night was his best step yet in that direction, importantly too because his production was in the context of a comeback not garbage time.
Unfortunately the coach fell back on his neutral to negative assessment and did not "roll the dice" with Giles in the last 4:00 minutes of the game or OT or else I think we win. There is something intangible about infusing the team with energy and spirit not to mention execution. Giles did that then Willie comes back in and it was like the air being let out of the balloon. The Blazers hedge the pick and roll to funnel the ball to the worst offense player on the floor. That is Willie or Jackson. This is what smart coaches and teams do. Make the weak link beat you. Play off him just enough to allow him to receive the pass then converge on him and force him into a bad shot or pass. This is partly why Willie is not even viable as a backup in the long term. If you aspire to win 41 games then maybe he has a place. But the Kings have higher aspirations than this so I think the writing is on the wall.
Must be good for Harry’s confidence to have a game like that.
BUT - I thought he was missing defensive assignments and was slow to react on that side of the ball (sometimes made up for it with his quickness). And on O - he is not going up strong in traffic.
I am rooting hard for this guy and believe in him, but I can see why Coach is making him earn his time.
BUT - I thought he was missing defensive assignments and was slow to react on that side of the ball (sometimes made up for it with his quickness). And on O - he is not going up strong in traffic.
I am rooting hard for this guy and believe in him, but I can see why Coach is making him earn his time.
Giles has plenty of talent. Most of his problems thus far seem to be mental. He has been his own worst enemy. He is working through his problems and starting to play better all the time. He is slowing down and letting the game happen more.
Willie has mental issues and doesn't seem to work on them much at all. His games vary between and good and terrible.
Willie has mental issues and doesn't seem to work on them much at all. His games vary between and good and terrible.
Grant Napear just came out and said that Giles needs to be in the regular rotation. Hemmed and hawed like he usually does saying he respects Joerger and that Joerger just wants to win, but said that Giles is part of the core going into next year and as such needs the pt. Also said that "we don't know if WCS is going to be with the team next year." Christie chimed in and said essentially that looking forward to next year and trying to win this year are not mutually exclusive. As Giles showed last night, he can contribute to winning now.
The upshot for me is that this supports my idea of last night being a mini-watershed moment for Giles, and Napear is just adding onto to that with his comments. In my experience, most of the time (not all) Napear pipes up like this you will see what he wants reflected on the floor, not because he's directing the chorus, but my guess is he's hearing things from management and maybe coaching and he's just indirectly relaying that to the fans.
The upshot for me is that this supports my idea of last night being a mini-watershed moment for Giles, and Napear is just adding onto to that with his comments. In my experience, most of the time (not all) Napear pipes up like this you will see what he wants reflected on the floor, not because he's directing the chorus, but my guess is he's hearing things from management and maybe coaching and he's just indirectly relaying that to the fans.
My favorite part of that is the “we don’t know if Willie will be part of the team next year.”
Love him or hate him, he’s privy to knowledge that we aren’t. He may have ego issues, but the man has been accurate more often than not.
Giles needs more playtime. He should have got it the second Bagley went down. Instead, we got to see KK desperately trying, but failing, to fit into this type of play. KK can’t do it and we would be incorrect in blaming him. He’s trying, but he’s not the type of center we need and we aren’t the type of team he should be on.
It’s the year of the Giles. I want more Joerger. Feed me!!
Love him or hate him, he’s privy to knowledge that we aren’t. He may have ego issues, but the man has been accurate more often than not.
Giles needs more playtime. He should have got it the second Bagley went down. Instead, we got to see KK desperately trying, but failing, to fit into this type of play. KK can’t do it and we would be incorrect in blaming him. He’s trying, but he’s not the type of center we need and we aren’t the type of team he should be on.
It’s the year of the Giles. I want more Joerger. Feed me!!
Giles should play more but it needs to be matchup depending at this point. In the first half I was pretty irritated that he didn't get on the court when the Blazers sent Myers Leonard and Zach Collins in. Giles is tailor made to play against those types of guys at this point. What you don't want is him playing against Harrell or other big strong backups that he's going to get into foul trouble with.
He had some high impact plays and some bad defensive plays....a couple of which he got lucky on because the Blazers missed point blank opportunities. I still liked what I saw and the momentum of the game changed pretty quickly once he started making plays there. Joerger needs to change the offensive sets to get Giles more looks at 3s. It seems as if he has him playing the WCS/Koufos role and you never see those guys camped out past the 3 point line. The kid showed in Stockton that he can shoot so get him in on some plays where he can utilize that talent.
He needs to play more but I don't mind if Joerger does it on a case to case basis depending on who he is matched up with out there.
He had some high impact plays and some bad defensive plays....a couple of which he got lucky on because the Blazers missed point blank opportunities. I still liked what I saw and the momentum of the game changed pretty quickly once he started making plays there. Joerger needs to change the offensive sets to get Giles more looks at 3s. It seems as if he has him playing the WCS/Koufos role and you never see those guys camped out past the 3 point line. The kid showed in Stockton that he can shoot so get him in on some plays where he can utilize that talent.
He needs to play more but I don't mind if Joerger does it on a case to case basis depending on who he is matched up with out there.
Just going off memory here - Was asked if he inserted Giles to try and provide energy, answered yes. Asked if we can expect Giles to get minutes in next game, answered "don't know, we'll see". Certainly didn't sound like a coach trying to instill confidence in his player publicly. Then again, Joerger is always quite a curt interviewee.
Nitpicking here, but on that event alone I would say that the most encouraging response would be to simply say that Harry has lots of talent and is learning to contribute more, and if he keeps playing like this they need to find a way to get him more playing time. Non-commital, doesn't throw anyone under the bus, but shows confidence in the player. Hopefully he is showing more faith behind closed doors, but the comments by the other players suggest that the coach still doesn't trust Giles.
Nothing from this quote in the Bee indicates DJ plans to play Giles more:
“(Bagley has) a lot of size and he’s a terrific rebounder,” Joerger said. “It’s unfortunate he can’t be out there, but we’re playing a lot more small lineups. So who plays behind (Bjelica)? It’s been Justin Jackson. That’s opened up some minutes at the wings a little bit. ... On nights where I don’t play Yogi Ferrell, that means that Bogdanovic and Buddy play point guard by committee a little bit and that opens up more minutes. And I played (Bjelica) at the 5 the other night, which I think we’ve done twice now, just to see how that looks.”
Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/sports/nba/sacramento-kings/article223860015.html#storylink=cpy
“(Bagley has) a lot of size and he’s a terrific rebounder,” Joerger said. “It’s unfortunate he can’t be out there, but we’re playing a lot more small lineups. So who plays behind (Bjelica)? It’s been Justin Jackson. That’s opened up some minutes at the wings a little bit. ... On nights where I don’t play Yogi Ferrell, that means that Bogdanovic and Buddy play point guard by committee a little bit and that opens up more minutes. And I played (Bjelica) at the 5 the other night, which I think we’ve done twice now, just to see how that looks.”
Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/sports/nba/sacramento-kings/article223860015.html#storylink=cpy
No, it doesn't. But the proof is in the pudding, which in this case is tonight's Denver game. If Giles is sitting on the bench all night then I just don't know what to tell you, other than Joerger is much more conservative than I am when it comes to injecting new blood into the lineup. It did take him quite a long while to get Yogi into the lineup, and as far as I know it remains a mystery why that was the case. It seems pretty clear that he errs on the side of stability and non-tinkering with the lineup, not so much on changing lineups.
I like Joerger. I hope he's around for many years to come. But I do sense from the last post-game interview that the guy is under a lot of pressure. Two games that got away doesn't make him a happy camper. You've got to wonder what message he's getting from management. Does he feel that his job is on the line if he doesn't make the playoffs? (Did they really move the goal post that much?) Does he feel that his job is on the line if he doesn't get more minutes for Giles in addition to Bagley when he comes back? Joerger has to juggle a lot of things with a young team that a coach with an experienced team doesn't have to juggle - winning at least enough to keep morale at a decent level, developing young players, incorporating young players into the lineup over time if warranted, and retaining team chemistry in the process. Now Joerger may feel that he has to add a playoff spot to the list. It's a lot to ask. I hope it works out that Giles and Bagley get a lot of playing time, that there isn't acrimony from vets because of it, and that the Kings get to the playoffs. But that's a pretty big objective and if Joerger doesn't quite get there I hope management is reasonable in their expectations.
I like Joerger. I hope he's around for many years to come. But I do sense from the last post-game interview that the guy is under a lot of pressure. Two games that got away doesn't make him a happy camper. You've got to wonder what message he's getting from management. Does he feel that his job is on the line if he doesn't make the playoffs? (Did they really move the goal post that much?) Does he feel that his job is on the line if he doesn't get more minutes for Giles in addition to Bagley when he comes back? Joerger has to juggle a lot of things with a young team that a coach with an experienced team doesn't have to juggle - winning at least enough to keep morale at a decent level, developing young players, incorporating young players into the lineup over time if warranted, and retaining team chemistry in the process. Now Joerger may feel that he has to add a playoff spot to the list. It's a lot to ask. I hope it works out that Giles and Bagley get a lot of playing time, that there isn't acrimony from vets because of it, and that the Kings get to the playoffs. But that's a pretty big objective and if Joerger doesn't quite get there I hope management is reasonable in their expectations.
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