Roster construction/rotation discussion (Split from Grizzlies [Game] thread)

iowamcnabb

Hall of Famer
#1
What about this lineup:

Fox Davion
Velvet Revolver Monk
TD. Barnes
Keegan. KZ
Sabonis. Holmes

TD did pretty well in his stint as a starter last year and you free up Monk Barnes and Davion to handle the scoring
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#2
What about this lineup:

Fox Davion
Velvet Revolver Monk
TD. Barnes
Keegan. KZ
Sabonis. Holmes

TD did pretty well in his stint as a starter last year and you free up Monk Barnes and Davion to handle the scoring
based on how they played last night I wouldn't start TD over Barnes.

I do not think everyone on this team is as bad as they are currently playing but it is time to figure out the best 8 guys and give them the bulk of the minutes. Monk has earned time from the second unit. His interplay with Fox last night was special. For 90 seconds. But still. TD showed up the first few games but wasn't great the last two. Rest of those guys really need to figure it out and FAST.
 

iowamcnabb

Hall of Famer
#3
based on how they played last night I wouldn't start TD over Barnes.

I do not think everyone on this team is as bad as they are currently playing but it is time to figure out the best 8 guys and give them the bulk of the minutes. Monk has earned time from the second unit. His interplay with Fox last night was special. For 90 seconds. But still. TD showed up the first few games but wasn't great the last two. Rest of those guys really need to figure it out and FAST.
My reason for considering it is to improve the second unit. TD wouldn’t be a nothing on offense like KZ was so he wouldn’t throw the balance of the first team off too much but Barnes would greatly improve that second unit. Not sure if it works but searching for answers
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#4
I can’t believe CD is already talking
about how many losses do the kings have to hit before your all in for “the tank”. I thought the this year was a no tank year because the kings had to retain sabonis? If this team sucks that bad why would sabonis resign here?
He is here next year as well. But I do agree if this team sucks part of that will be on Sabonis.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#5
The problem with this line of thinking is you’re essentially saying it’s okay for the Kings to stink. If we excuse every lose to a playoff team that’s ~46 games right (~42 if we’re top 8 but doesn’t work here). Good teams trade losses with the other good teams but if we get railroaded against a tough schedule and then even average a 2:1 win ratio against the other bad teams we’re back on track for 30 wins. Again.

We’ve also had 3 of 4 at home and the 4th being in SF so there’s been minimal travel time so far.
you do have to assume that at some point the shots falling will regress to the mean. the team IS playing better even if the results aren't there. You also have to figure that once the wins begin (or ok, IF) maybe we'll stop getting these horrid calls against us too. It's like every single random piece of bad luck is happening to this team, beyond just play on the court.

horrible timing though, with a new coach and system, it's easy for it to get tuned out if you don't at least enjoy some small success. I do think last night may have been a tipping point unfortunately. But maybe Brown just assumed let's get everyone time before he starts cutting minutes for all but the people that can swim above water. Looking like a lot less than I thought there'd be after camp.
 
#6
you do have to assume that at some point the shots falling will regress to the mean. the team IS playing better even if the results aren't there. You also have to figure that once the wins begin (or ok, IF) maybe we'll stop getting these horrid calls against us too. It's like every single random piece of bad luck is happening to this team, beyond just play on the court.

horrible timing though, with a new coach and system, it's easy for it to get tuned out if you don't at least enjoy some small success. I do think last night may have been a tipping point unfortunately. But maybe Brown just assumed let's get everyone time before he starts cutting minutes for all but the people that can swim above water. Looking like a lot less than I thought there'd be after camp.
The only game I’m really happy with is the Clippers game. We played well enough to win (really well actually) and just got torched by Paul George in a way that was hard to overcome. And Kawhi was out all last year and they were still a very good team

Portland was winnable but we pooched it

Warriors game we got annihilated in the first half and even closing the score wasn’t really a true comeback when our team was clearly demoralized and had no answer when the Warriors gently pushed back against our run

then last night

Fox has been a revelation and Murray is still good but thats about it

I’m still hopeful for the season and trust Mike Brown to improve the team and was high on him as a candidate from when his name first emerged. Also hopeful Sabonis plays a lot better (probably biggest X factor right now)
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#7
The only game I’m really happy with is the Clippers game. We played well enough to win (really well actually) and just got torched by Paul George in a way that was hard to overcome. And Kawhi was out all last year and they were still a very good team

Portland was winnable but we pooched it

Warriors game we got annihilated in the first half and even closing the score wasn’t really a true comeback when our team was clearly demoralized and had no answer when the Warriors gently pushed back against our run

then last night

Fox has been a revelation and Murray is still good but thats about it

I’m still hopeful for the season and trust Mike Brown to improve the team and was high on him as a candidate from when his name first emerged. Also hopeful Sabonis plays a lot better (probably biggest X factor right now)
Our first unit has one of the highest net ratings in the league despite our current record. Honestly it's the bench. Horrid so far.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#8
Based on the tweet I shared earlier the latter is at least partially true.

I'd like to know what the hell Brown was doing with the rotations last night. I know some complained about Keegan getting pulled but he did play ~40 mins, most on the team. Sabonis got into foul trouble, not sure how much that impacted things. But damn, it felt random at times. And yet planned. I don't get it.
My guess on Brown has been that he's rewarding guys with pt in part based on what they do in practice. But then does Holmes really do that much more in practice than Len? I don't have a read on Brown's thought process yet.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#9
My guess on Brown has been that he's rewarding guys with pt in part based on what they do in practice. But then does Holmes really do that much more in practice than Len? I don't have a read on Brown's thought process yet.
I really like Holmes but he stinks right now. No excuses for it either. He got an offseason, resolved the family issues to our knowledge, has committed to wearing eye protection, he's got to get it together yesterday.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#10
I really like Holmes but he stinks right now. No excuses for it either. He got an offseason, resolved the family issues to our knowledge, has committed to wearing eye protection, he's got to get it together yesterday.
He's a very poor fit for this team. I wish they would have traded him over the off-season.
 
#11
I really like Holmes but he stinks right now. No excuses for it either. He got an offseason, resolved the family issues to our knowledge, has committed to wearing eye protection, he's got to get it together yesterday.
Holmes looked good when he was featured by Luke. Is just ok when he has to fit into the team concept.

Interesting enough, Sabonis does not appear to play as well when given a ton of responsibility.

Know your personnel...
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#12
Holmes looked good when he was featured by Luke. Is just ok when he has to fit into the team concept.

Interesting enough, Sabonis does not appear to play as well when given a ton of responsibility.

Know your personnel...
I think Sabonis is finding his groove, he's steadily improved the last two games. Foul trouble really the only negative yesterday. Two of the four I remember seeing were on the BS side.
 
#13
Our first unit has one of the highest net ratings in the league despite our current record. Honestly it's the bench. Horrid so far.
I'm in favor of moving Red Rocket to the bench and having him close games. I think he's being marginalized a little bit in the starting unit and think he is a good enough ball handler and distributor that he shouldn't be playing a full game off the ball anyway. Move TD to the starting unit and see how it goes.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#14
I'm in favor of moving Red Rocket to the bench and having him close games. I think he's being marginalized a little bit in the starting unit and think he is a good enough ball handler and distributor that he shouldn't be playing a full game off the ball anyway. Move TD to the starting unit and see how it goes.
I'd mostly like to see three guys emerge as reliable enough to run an 8 man rotation and then do what we must. Haven't seen that yet.
 
#15
I can’t believe CD is already talking
about how many losses do the kings have to hit before your all in for “the tank”. I thought the this year was a no tank year because the kings had to retain sabonis? If this team sucks that bad why would sabonis resign here?
I'm pretty sure that he's talking about going all in on a rebuild. That means Fox/Sabonis go, and hopefully for something they spearhead a rebuild with that can run an offense the way Fox and Sabonis can. Truth is, rebuilding is going to be tough and we'll find out why it's not really ideal to rebuild with your best young assets knocking on the door of their prime age wise. Too bad to be good, a little too good to be truly bad.
 
#16
My reason for considering it is to improve the second unit. TD wouldn’t be a nothing on offense like KZ was so he wouldn’t throw the balance of the first team off too much but Barnes would greatly improve that second unit. Not sure if it works but searching for answers
Barnes isn't that guy. He was traded for nothing because Dallas found that out. Barnes is a great 3rd option level player that will fit into his teams offense and get you some points when needed. If anyone is destined to be Mr. Bench Offense it's either Monk or Davion. Also, the Kings need the size. These super small guard lineups might be why bigger teams are still hitting these contested shots. We've seen it for a few years now.
 
#17
Our first unit has one of the highest net ratings in the league despite our current record. Honestly it's the bench. Horrid so far.
I feel Brown is trying to showcase Holmes for a potential trade, but I think Queta or Len would be a better alternative to help the Kings win.

Also, Brown seems to be force feeding Metu minutes, his Nigerian Olympic player, when Lyles would probably be a better alternative.

Also, I wonder if the Kings can bring back Kent Bazemore for the backup swing spot. He probably going to give the Kings a better bench production than what they are getting now.
 
#19
Barnes isn't that guy. He was traded for nothing because Dallas found that out. Barnes is a great 3rd option level player that will fit into his teams offense and get you some points when needed. If anyone is destined to be Mr. Bench Offense it's either Monk or Davion. Also, the Kings need the size. These super small guard lineups might be why bigger teams are still hitting these contested shots. We've seen it for a few years now.
yeah the time to trade Barnes was a couple years ago. We would have been sitting with Franz Wagner and probably Kai Jones.
 
#20
What about this lineup:

Fox Davion
Velvet Revolver Monk
TD. Barnes
Keegan. KZ
Sabonis. Holmes

TD did pretty well in his stint as a starter last year and you free up Monk Barnes and Davion to handle the scoring
Concern is TD's length. He's nuggety and strong and probably imposes himself on D more than HB. But still short even at the 2 spot and we need length that can at least challenge shots.
 
#21
I'm pretty sure that he's talking about going all in on a rebuild. That means Fox/Sabonis go, and hopefully for something they spearhead a rebuild with that can run an offense the way Fox and Sabonis can. Truth is, rebuilding is going to be tough and we'll find out why it's not really ideal to rebuild with your best young assets knocking on the door of their prime age wise. Too bad to be good, a little too good to be truly bad.
Man, to start a rebuild trading away the guy you traded Haliburton for, would be hard to swallow. Unless of course you get just as good of a young player, which is hard to envision
 
#22
Holmes looked good when he was featured by Luke. Is just ok when he has to fit into the team concept.

Interesting enough, Sabonis does not appear to play as well when given a ton of responsibility.

Know your personnel...
What were Holmes strengths when he got our attention playing for Phoenix and then when he first won the starting job in his first season with the Kings? This was all before he developed that short range shot to a high percentage
 
#23
yeah the time to trade Barnes was a couple years ago. We would have been sitting with Franz Wagner and probably Kai Jones.
I disagree, Barnes fits what they are trying to do better than anyone but being a 1st option in any capacity is simply not his game. Now whether they should have gone towards building a team like this so late in the game is up for debate. The team Monte built fits to the current game in a lot of important ways. At least the starting 5 does. We just aren't seeing the results and this team isn't built perfect by any means from top to bottom. There is still a lack of true wings with a ton of C's and G's taking up space.
 
#24
What were Holmes strengths when he got our attention playing for Phoenix and then when he first won the starting job in his first season with the Kings? This was all before he developed that short range shot to a high percentage
He was a physical, strong, hustle guy. He initially did well with us because he set good screens and then had his push shot. And he was busy and rotated on defence. Not sure if there was anything more than that?

Now he doesn't even rotate much. I don't think entirely his fault and the team needs time to relearn and retrust each other on that end.
 
#25
I disagree, Barnes fits what they are trying to do better than anyone but being a 1st option in any capacity is simply not his game. Now whether they should have gone towards building a team like this so late in the game is up for debate. The team Monte built fits to the current game in a lot of important ways. At least the starting 5 does. We just aren't seeing the results and this team isn't built perfect by any means from top to bottom. There is still a lack of true wings with a ton of C's and G's taking up space.
Agree some and disagree some. HB does have the skillset on offence to be of value. But on defence he isn't an impact maker. And I think we could downgrade some of his offensive skills if it meant an upgrade in defensive impact. Not talking a Mo Harmless sized downgrade. But a catch and shoot guy on offense and long disruptor on defence would fit well.
 
#26
He was a physical, strong, hustle guy. He initially did well with us because he set good screens and then had his push shot. And he was busy and rotated on defence. Not sure if there was anything more than that?

Now he doesn't even rotate much. I don't think entirely his fault and the team needs time to relearn and retrust each other on that end.
It seems that he's lost a lot of his aggressive physical play, since the two shots to his head/eye. Might be a mental block, but it seems to have made him passive. Almost like he's playing scared
 
#27
It seems that he's lost a lot of his aggressive physical play, since the two shots to his head/eye. Might be a mental block, but it seems to have made him passive. Almost like he's playing scared
Yeah I remember one of his seasons with Walton he said a goal was to make the all defensive team. Maybe coming into the season with the "you will back up Sabonis", combined with the low to no usage on offence has also sapped some of his spirit.
 
#28
yeah the time to trade Barnes was a couple years ago. We would have been sitting with Franz Wagner and probably Kai Jones.
Even when we traded for him Vlade only had to give up Justin Jackson and the corpse of ZBo. I don’t think he ever had much value as a trade chip just on his contract alone