Playoffs in the picture for the Kings? (merged)

ZZE916 · Nov 16, 2008

Why is anybody even thinking about playoffs 10 games into the season? The Kings are officially in rebuilding mode, not contending mode. The success of this season should be judged on how well the youngsters are developing, and evaluating the existing talent. Of course, there must be enough wins to keep people coming to the arena from a business perspective. This puts coach Theus in an akward position: Develop the young talent, AND win. I'm glad I'm not him.

Would anybody be disappointed if the Kings did not make the playoffs, but the youngsters were given a chance to develop by playing significant minutes? I would be ecstatic.

PurpleHaze · Nov 16, 2008

ZZE916 said:

I would not be disappointed one bit. Call it Kings fans REALISM in the middle of rebuilding. 33 wins with Muss. 37 wins last year - modest progress in spite of all the injuries and turmoil. This year the immediate goal (as Coach Theus has said) get to .500 and hopefully stay there or better with a chance for playoffs. So far the youngsters (especially Thompson and Hawes) are getting decent minutes if they continue to earn them. Sit back, it's a LONG 82 games. A lot can happen with injuries, trades, etc. I'm really looking forward to next season and especially the one after that. In the meantime, forget the tough OT loss to Phoenix and prepare to get after San Antonio later today. GO KINGS!!

bajaden · Nov 16, 2008

Bricklayer said:

Good lord. Mass silliness again.

Rebuilding is apparently more a test of character than I thought it was. Its a simple enough process, part of the natural order of things. Its like complaining about and trying to deny the necessity of having a childhood. And yet there are a stuborn core who just cannot hold their water through the inevitable and are going to insist year after year that labor be induced after 3 months and that the baby is going be born as a fully formed adult.

We have 4 wins, 3 at home. The records of the teams we have 4 wins over? Memphis = 3-7. Minnesota = 1-7. Golden State = 4-6. Clippers = 1-8. Yeah playoffs here we come. And we'll ignore the stupidity of even wanting to make the playoffs as a bad team just to get the crap kicked out of us for 4 games as a tuneup of the Lakers, while sacrificing our ability to accumulate talent for the future in the process.

Every year during this long and dumb non-rebuld, and now finally the merciful rebuld, every year there's always this same movement. Every year I say pooh pooh. Every year I am accused of being a heathen (a compliment actually). Every year I have been right. Save yourselves the anguish and the trouble -- not happening unless you seriously expect San Antonio and Dallas to win 35 games this year. Should not happen. Should not even want it to happen.

There is potential here. Change the title of this thread to "we have the core of a future playoff team" and I will sign on. People already stuggling with their water through the rebuild will be happy to know that we are further along in the rebuild then they think we are. By all rights we should have our future starting SG, C, and PF already on the roster (and maybe the SF too). But the C and PF are the key developments this year, not the playoffs. Accept it. Be at peace. Everything is cyclical in life, including NBA life.

Well there you go again, raining on my parade. Princey had me all built up, and you had to go and bring me back to reality with the records of the teams we've beat. Especially after I carefully avoided it. Damm!

I do think that the Spur's and the Mav's are in trouble this year. More the Mav's than the Spur's. I wouldn't be surprised by either of them making the playoffs, but I wouldn't be surprised by their absence either.

TaxMan · Nov 16, 2008

DemonsInMyDreams said:

Well....I have a hard time believing the Spurs and/or Mavs will not make the playoffs. They are obviously both not as strong as in prior years (especially the mavs), but they still have big time veteran talent. I'd say best they could possibly imagine would be to sneak into the 8th spot if there are additional injuries in the west; however, I would guess the 10 spot is likely the best we can hope for (which would actually be a very bad result given draft positioning.)

bradmillerfan52 · Nov 16, 2008

I love the Kings and always want them to go all the way and win but I honestly don't think we can make it far in the playoffs. If we get lucky and make it into 7th or 8th seed in the playoffs, we'll be gone before the second round. I don't think we have great leadership (which is key when going into the playoffs as well as regular season games) and I don't think we have a great clutch shooter.

piksi · Nov 16, 2008

So, we are currently 8th and ahead of Spurs and Mavs. Does anyone really, I mean really believe that after 82 games - we will finish ahead of them ?

We will not make playoffs period. We won 4 games against teams with the record of 9-28 combined. We even lost to Minnesota; we and no one else.

fnordius · Nov 16, 2008

When was the last time a .400 team made the WC playoffs, if ever?

But it's okay, the kids are fun to watch, and fun is what I'm wanting the NBA to provide me with. I don't think that ending the season with a string of crushing defeats at the hands of the Lakers sounds all that pleasant anyway.

VF21 · Nov 16, 2008

And once again, Bricklayer finds sense in the chaos:

Bricklayer said:

Yep. Me, too!!!

POTENTIAL is an incredibly exciting word and people need to take a bit of time and embrace the possibilities.

VF21 · Nov 16, 2008

Note: tyrant started a "maybe there's hope" thread a couple of days ago about the playoffs and Prince_XY started a "Kings have COMPLETE playoff team" thread yesterday. Since they were really about the same thing, I've merged the two threads.

lorraine biffath · Nov 16, 2008

I agree , the team will get better with time

rhythmless · Nov 16, 2008

im so glad others came in here... i was beginning to wonder if i was the only person left with realist notions.

Arby's Roast Beef · Nov 16, 2008

bajaden said:

I normally don't praise "Hollinger", but this is where his "power rankings" seem to shed some light on this issue--we're 16th out of the 30 teams in the league in terms of record (4-6), but because of our pee poor start getting blown out by the majority of the teams we've faced on the road, as well as our relatively unimpressive victories beating poor teams this year at home--it's quite obvious why we would rank #26th in those rankings. Think about it--had we lost to those teams, that's when we know we really a down-on-the-gutter sort of team (and probably would've been ranked 29th-30th in those rankings); however, beating those teams and improving on the margins indicates growing chemistry as a team. We have the fifth easiest schedule in the league so far, and yet we still have a negative point differential (-5.1 ppg). I know there are those who live in the "now" and try to point out that we could've somehow beaten a lackluster Detroit trying to find its identity (who btw beat the Lakers in impressive fashion) or could've beaten a depleted Suns team to potentially edge that record to 6-4 (in effect winning six straight at home after pissing four straight on the road)--but come on, those would be classified as "advantageous" wins as well, not really reflecting on the true competition we would be facing when those teams are at full force.

Individually, of course there's hope--we still have our last six draft picks, and only one definitively doesn't seem to have panned out (Douby), while the rest (Martin, Garcia, Hawes, Thompson, Greene) seem to be intriguing, although the last one is still yet to be determined. Let's savor in individual play as opposed to team record this year--it's a learning process, and Brick's baby analogy seems to epitomize this process.

Kingster · Nov 16, 2008

PLAY-OFFS?! PLAY-OFFS?! You've got to be kidding me...

Just give me a top 6 in ping pong balls (#6 in ping pong balls to be the magic number to get a #1 pick), teach these young guys how to play a semblance of man to man defense, trade Miller and Salmons for youngins/picks, and then we're not talking about playoffs after that, we're talking about competing for something better than the freaking 8th seed for time eternity. It's either heaven or hell for me - limbo is out of the question.

Who on this team can you believe it would be possible to be on an NBA Championship team 3-5 years from now? THAT is the question. For me, there are four: Martin, Hawes, Thompson, Garcia (off the bench). Greene, who knows? Maybe. There are two slots to fill in the starting rotation - the small forward (Greene?) and the point guard. Then you have to have at least two other guys who are very good off the bench. If this team got a STUD poing guard, then you would have something to dream about. Then you could have hope that something more than limbo could possibly happen in the future.

VF21 · Nov 16, 2008

Kingster said:

If we're talking possibilities, I think it's possible for Beno to continue to improve to the point where he could be the point guard on a championship team, especially if the other four you mention fulfill their potential...

But I totally agree that any talk of being real contenders for legitimacy in the playoffs is nothing more than idle chatter at this point. Fun for some, perhaps, but totally without much basis in fact.

Entity · Nov 16, 2008

I wouldn't mind seeing the kings make the playoffs. I don't care if its the 8th seed. I don't give a crap how anybody else here feels about it. Its my opinion. I am not on the boat of just having to have a top 5 pick. We have done quite well with 10 and 12 and 23 the last few years. In fact we got 1 of those top 5 picks in a trade. I said i last year at the begining of the season that we were to good to get a top 5 pick and some didn't believe me.

Now once again here I am saying the same thing. We will not get a top 5 pick again. In fact I will say it again we may not even get a top 10. The west will not be as strong as it was last year.

So here it is write it down and stop dreaming about a #1 pick NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
We will be a bubble playoff team with 38 to 44 wins. That record may even get us the 8th seed if so cool another week or so of Kings basketball. If not the 8th seed we will get a draft pick of somewhere between 10 and 16.

VF21 · Nov 16, 2008

Um, Entity? It's not that I don't want to see the Kings in the playoffs. It's that I don't think we're anywhere close to the "complete playoff team" one of the OPs psoted...

Message boards are all about theories, arguing, etc. If you disagree, fine, but it's not as though anyone is going to be all right or all wrong. If people want to dream about a #1 pick, they have every right. It is a dream, after all... and stranger things have happened.

It's all good, dude.

Entity · Nov 16, 2008

VF21 said:

I don't think we are complete either. we need time to improve. how much time? that i the question can this team grow quickly this year and sqeak in? yes. can they do bad enough to get a top 5 pick. No. Mine isn't a theory or dream its the brutal truth.

Kings Faithful · Nov 16, 2008

Entity said:

Thats pretty much the way I feel about the situation as well. Were not getting any younger and watching basketball is about entertainment. We aren't getting anywhere near 1-5 this year, we are too good. So if moving 2-5 spots in the draft means sucking for a year im not apart of that camp. Plus Reggie is never going to go for that, he knows that wins is what the Maloofs want.

VF21 · Nov 16, 2008

Can they do bad enough to get a top 5 pick? Of course they can. The odds aren't in their favor but it could happen. Look at Chicago.

I'm looking at the draft projections, though, and I'm not that impressed with the depth of field we'll have to choose from... I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the Kings end up with a top pick but nothing of real caliber to pick from. Does the name Pervis mean anything to you?

KingsCitizen · Nov 16, 2008

Getting into the playoffs or not, this team is always on a better position than the team we have for the last 2-3 seasons.

If this team believes they can make it to the PO and the rooks come out confident enough as this season unfolds, then that will be a very big bonus to us. Getting these young guys into the Playoffs would strengthen their confidence (take Atlanta for last season and how they opened up this season). If we can make the playoffs (even 8th seed), we won't really jeopardize the future too much. Coz other than those ping pong balls, were still poised for a good cap space by 2009 or 2010. Adding a good FA to a playoff team(if we can make it) will ensure will be there for a long time.

As for not making the Playoffs, I think everybody already have their opinions on this.

Kingster · Nov 16, 2008

VF21 said:

Well, we disagree about Beno. I think he's ok, but I think his average athleticism for an NBA pg will hinder his potential. If we can get that primo pg down the future, I think he'll be traded because he can't come of the bench, kind of like Salmons.

Kingster · Nov 16, 2008

Entity said:

I wouldn't mind seeing the kings make the playoffs. I don't care if its the 8th seed. I don't give a crap how anybody else here feels about it. Its my opinion. I am not on the boat of just having to have a top 5 pick. We have done quite well with 10 and 12 and 23 the last few years. In fact we got 1 of those top 5 picks in a trade. I said i last year at the begining of the season that we were to good to get a top 5 pick and some didn't believe me.

Now once again here I am saying the same thing. We will not get a top 5 pick again. In fact I will say it again we may not even get a top 10. The west will not be as strong as it was last year.

So here it is write it down and stop dreaming about a #1 pick NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
We will be a bubble playoff team with 38 to 44 wins. That record may even get us the 8th seed if so cool another week or so of Kings basketball. If not the 8th seed we will get a draft pick of somewhere between 10 and 16.

If Reggie keeps drawing up plays for Douby and Thompson at the end of close games, we'll be in the hunt for a top five pick!

Kings Faithful · Nov 16, 2008

VF21 said:

Chicago got suspiciously lucky. The Kings don't seem to have that kind of luck, and we never have, cause Stern hates us. lol.

Prince_XY · Nov 16, 2008

Bricklayer said:

I agree. These words should have been the ones we've used to describe this thread to avoid confusion.

We've collected enough talents to make it to the playoffs. What we lack is consistency in showcasing the best of those talents in every game.

Playoffs in the picture for the Kings? (merged)

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