[Game] Kings @ Magic - Sunday, Aug. 2 - 3 PM PT
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Bjelica is a liability on defense, but in this game, he became a liability on offense as well. The Magic decided to not guard Beli and clog the lane so Fox couldn't get to the basket. Fox didn't adjust very well, especially in the first quarter. The Magic had two of three players in the lane everytime Fox had the ball. They didn't guard him on the perimeter and dared him to shoot the ball from out there. We needed someone else to step up, and it didn't happen.
The truth is, right now, were not a good team. Pains me to say that, but it's true. The only sense of urgency I saw came in the last 8 minutes of the game when we had our Porter, Jeffries, Giles, Brewer and Ferrell on the floor. Hardly and all star lineup, but at least they busted their butts out there. Beli and Buddy fall into the same category with me, if neither are scoring, or in Beli's case, also rebounding, then their pretty much worthless.
The truth is, right now, were not a good team. Pains me to say that, but it's true. The only sense of urgency I saw came in the last 8 minutes of the game when we had our Porter, Jeffries, Giles, Brewer and Ferrell on the floor. Hardly and all star lineup, but at least they busted their butts out there. Beli and Buddy fall into the same category with me, if neither are scoring, or in Beli's case, also rebounding, then their pretty much worthless.
I'd say the same about Fox. It's not like he's getting us back into games with his defense or playmaking when he's not scoring. Defense always just clogs the lane against him and when he's not able to get to the rim or not hitting or taking the outside shots he's pretty much useless in the half court too.
And don't even get me started on CoJo's offense ...
And don't even get me started on CoJo's offense ...
Well first, defense doesn't always clog the lane against him, The Spurs didn't clog the lane, and he abused the hell out of them. I'm sure the Magic watched that game and decided that they weren't going to let Fox beat them. I can't argue against his outside shot. When the lane is clogged, the only other offensive option for Fox is to hit his jump shot, and if he's having an off night, then offensively, he's in trouble. But to be fair to Fox, he was a fairly consistent scorer for most of the year for us, and his job is a more difficult one than Buddy's.
I blame a lot of Buddy's woes on Walton. Buddy is not a shot creator, and Walton seems to be asking him to do just that. Buddy's 3 pt percentages off shots he creates for himself are far worse than when he's in a catch and shoot situation. Buddy is not Michael Jordan but he plays as though he were at times. He takes a lot of contested, forced shots, and with little regard for the situation in the game at the time. In other words, Buddy seldom adjusts his game to the current situation of the game.
Fox on the other hand is constantly trying to adjust to real time situations in the game. Not always successfully, but Fox, unlike most other players on the floor has his success tied to the results of others. If you drive the lane and kick to an open shooter, and he hit his shot, you have an assist, but if he misses, you have a big zero. On a night when your teammates are hitting their shots, you might have 10 to 12 assists. but on a night when their missing (which has been the case of late) you look like you did nothing out there.
(Example) In the Magic game Fox drove the lane all the way to the basket and made a beautiful little shovel pass to Barnes who then missed a layup, but Holmes who was on the other side of the basket grabbed the rebound and put it back in. So we got the basket, but Fox, who really created the situation, got no credit for any of it on the stat sheet. Point being, that Fox does make a difference when he can't successfully get to the basket, or hit his jumper, but far too often, his teammates let him down by missing shots.
Pick a game and keep track of how many times in that game Fox makes a great pass to a teammate and and his teammate misses an open jumper, or a chippy at the basket. Or as in Buddy's case, he gets the pass, and then puts the ball on the floor for no reason and makes the shot, but the official scorer doesn't give Fox an assist. All I'm saying is that judging Fox is more difficult than judging Buddy.
Right now, this team has no interior presence. We're a perimeter offensive team, and right now, not a good one. We need more balance in our offense. I think Vlade thought that Bagley would be that interior offense, but unfortunately, because of injuries, that hasn't happened. Holmes does his best, but he's not a true post up player. Holmes is more of a garbage clean up player, and there's nothing wrong with that, but he's not going to attract a double team and if he moves out to the perimeter, they won't guard him out there. His man just drops off into the lane.
In short, our starting lineup has some serious flaws in it, especially in certain match ups. There is no short term answer for it, which means that we likely have no shot at that 8th spot. But I think the Kings have some serious roster decisions to make in the upcoming free agent period and the draft. We have some talent, but not all of it fits, and some should be coming off the bench instead of starting.
I blame a lot of Buddy's woes on Walton. Buddy is not a shot creator, and Walton seems to be asking him to do just that. Buddy's 3 pt percentages off shots he creates for himself are far worse than when he's in a catch and shoot situation. Buddy is not Michael Jordan but he plays as though he were at times. He takes a lot of contested, forced shots, and with little regard for the situation in the game at the time. In other words, Buddy seldom adjusts his game to the current situation of the game.
Fox on the other hand is constantly trying to adjust to real time situations in the game. Not always successfully, but Fox, unlike most other players on the floor has his success tied to the results of others. If you drive the lane and kick to an open shooter, and he hit his shot, you have an assist, but if he misses, you have a big zero. On a night when your teammates are hitting their shots, you might have 10 to 12 assists. but on a night when their missing (which has been the case of late) you look like you did nothing out there.
(Example) In the Magic game Fox drove the lane all the way to the basket and made a beautiful little shovel pass to Barnes who then missed a layup, but Holmes who was on the other side of the basket grabbed the rebound and put it back in. So we got the basket, but Fox, who really created the situation, got no credit for any of it on the stat sheet. Point being, that Fox does make a difference when he can't successfully get to the basket, or hit his jumper, but far too often, his teammates let him down by missing shots.
Pick a game and keep track of how many times in that game Fox makes a great pass to a teammate and and his teammate misses an open jumper, or a chippy at the basket. Or as in Buddy's case, he gets the pass, and then puts the ball on the floor for no reason and makes the shot, but the official scorer doesn't give Fox an assist. All I'm saying is that judging Fox is more difficult than judging Buddy.
Right now, this team has no interior presence. We're a perimeter offensive team, and right now, not a good one. We need more balance in our offense. I think Vlade thought that Bagley would be that interior offense, but unfortunately, because of injuries, that hasn't happened. Holmes does his best, but he's not a true post up player. Holmes is more of a garbage clean up player, and there's nothing wrong with that, but he's not going to attract a double team and if he moves out to the perimeter, they won't guard him out there. His man just drops off into the lane.
In short, our starting lineup has some serious flaws in it, especially in certain match ups. There is no short term answer for it, which means that we likely have no shot at that 8th spot. But I think the Kings have some serious roster decisions to make in the upcoming free agent period and the draft. We have some talent, but not all of it fits, and some should be coming off the bench instead of starting.
Fox can pretty much get to the around the free throw line area every single time down the court. From there if his lane to the basket is blocked he needs to get consistent with his mid range jumper or floater.
If they ran the corner offense every time down the floor he'd be on the move toward the basket pretty much whenever he wanted.
If they ran the corner offense every time down the floor he'd be on the move toward the basket pretty much whenever he wanted.
