Kings Preseason game 2 vs. Portland. Wed 7 p.m. Game Thread (redux)
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I actually think the larger stressor was Kevin playing 36 min -- we already know he can score 28points...and give us 2rebs and 0 ast in a game. I'm going to give Westphal the benefit of the doubt and say that he was trying to get Kevin and Tyreke long minutes together out there, but there really is no point in your veteran star chewing up huge minutes in preseason to prove what exactly? That chomped out a huge chunk of the swingman minutes too, squeezing all the SFs.
Not, mind you, that I am in suppor tof the Kenny Thomas thing either. But I suppose every new coach has to go there just once to see why the last few coaches have not. Let's hope Coach got it out of his system.
Donte was actually the 28th pick, but I get the point your making .. I just dont buy it.
What have we heard about the great Kenny Thomas? .. or Noc? or Ely? to say they deserve this playing time.. nothing. Ely had 3 minutes tonight. This guy will be extremely lucky if he even makes the team this year, and he plays over Donte. Greene is on the roster, Hawes and Mason arent playing, and we still dont at least give him a look? Maybe I would reconsider if we were at full strength .. but with Hawes out JT slides over to the 5 so there is room at the 4 .. and Mason is also out. Why didnt he play again?
I just dont get it. When we see wierd lineups like Beno-Evans-Martin everyone says "hey cool! thats just our coach trying out different things!" or when K9 starts and plays 20 minutes and does nothing its "yea! maybe Westphal can get something out of him!" but really .. why cant we see how Greene fits with some of these guys? If its Westphals job to see how people fit together, why not give our most gifted athlete ( when it comes to size and quickness ) a shot at it?
The K9 start gets to me the most .. its not like we have to build up some value for this guy anymore. Were over that, he is finally expiring and his value is pretty good, we could trade him and get something back right now if we wanted too...
I dont want to get into this criticizing thing this early .. I want to enjoy some basketball before it frustrates me, but I cant stand to watch another season where we take a step sideways and play vets in front of the young guys .. I cant do it.
What have we heard about the great Kenny Thomas? .. or Noc? or Ely? to say they deserve this playing time.. nothing. Ely had 3 minutes tonight. This guy will be extremely lucky if he even makes the team this year, and he plays over Donte. Greene is on the roster, Hawes and Mason arent playing, and we still dont at least give him a look? Maybe I would reconsider if we were at full strength .. but with Hawes out JT slides over to the 5 so there is room at the 4 .. and Mason is also out. Why didnt he play again?
I just dont get it. When we see wierd lineups like Beno-Evans-Martin everyone says "hey cool! thats just our coach trying out different things!" or when K9 starts and plays 20 minutes and does nothing its "yea! maybe Westphal can get something out of him!" but really .. why cant we see how Greene fits with some of these guys? If its Westphals job to see how people fit together, why not give our most gifted athlete ( when it comes to size and quickness ) a shot at it?
The K9 start gets to me the most .. its not like we have to build up some value for this guy anymore. Were over that, he is finally expiring and his value is pretty good, we could trade him and get something back right now if we wanted too...
I dont want to get into this criticizing thing this early .. I want to enjoy some basketball before it frustrates me, but I cant stand to watch another season where we take a step sideways and play vets in front of the young guys .. I cant do it.
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Was anyone surprised when Coach W announced that Desmond Mason would be the Kings starting SF? I guess I was. Not Nocioni, or Garcia who are arguably the Kings 6th/7th men. Greene certainly had a shot at starting however remote or at least landing somewhere on the depth chart. It appears he's on the bubble. It would seem his game has not improved enough to supplant all those swingmen ahead of him on the roster. Looks like Casspi is possibly more NBA ready than Donte.
Donte still has potential, and I'd rather have that over a stiff backup at C. They got abused by Oden, but that's what happens when Kenny Thomas and Sean May are trying to stick a player like that. (sorry but could have used Diogu here: end rant 
) If this team is going to have more offensive minded players then it needs to utilize that to it's advantage. That hasn't happened in a long time. Give Westphal some time and hope that it can happen. It might not this year, or next, but it can at some point.
) If this team is going to have more offensive minded players then it needs to utilize that to it's advantage. That hasn't happened in a long time. Give Westphal some time and hope that it can happen. It might not this year, or next, but it can at some point.
Donte still has potential, and I'd rather have that over a stiff backup at C. They got abused by Oden, but that's what happens when Kenny Thomas and Sean May are trying to stick a player like that. (sorry but could have used Diogu here: end rant ) If this team is going to have more offensive minded players then it needs to utilize that to it's advantage. That hasn't happened in a long time. Give Westphal some time and hope that it can happen. It might not this year, or next, but it can at some point.
) If this team is going to have more offensive minded players then it needs to utilize that to it's advantage. That hasn't happened in a long time. Give Westphal some time and hope that it can happen. It might not this year, or next, but it can at some point.
My point exactly.
We are not winning a bunch of games this year. Why not spend that time seeing if Donte can become the scoring machine he has a chance of becoming?
in regards to our decade of softness and the analysis provided its clear going off our offseason moves that were trying to add toughness throughout the board. We aquired noc in season, and our 3 picks share the same factor in that they are all supposedly tough so i guess GP is trying. Yes its come a bit late but at least the problem has been identified.
What the heck, grades based on radio broadcast and box score only.
Anyone who attended game please feel free to overrule.
Tyreke - C+ (turnovers hurt tonight)
Kevin - A- (he just scored like Kev does when shots fall)
Cisco - D (barely knew when he was on court after 30+ mins last gm)
JT - D (F seems harsh since he tried as only big on the floor)
KT - C- (I wanted to go D but 6 boards tied for team lead)
Noc - D (a battle w/ Cisco to see who was worse at SF)
Beno - B (had his moments and seems like our solid back-up point)
Sergio - D (maybe should be F as coach threw him in with 5 mins to go)
May - D (seems destined for lots of D's and F's this season)
Casspi - B (now with two back-to-back nice efforts)
Brockman - A (beastly!)
Ely - Inc
Anyone who attended game please feel free to overrule.
Tyreke - C+ (turnovers hurt tonight)
Kevin - A- (he just scored like Kev does when shots fall)
Cisco - D (barely knew when he was on court after 30+ mins last gm)
JT - D (F seems harsh since he tried as only big on the floor)
KT - C- (I wanted to go D but 6 boards tied for team lead)
Noc - D (a battle w/ Cisco to see who was worse at SF)
Beno - B (had his moments and seems like our solid back-up point)
Sergio - D (maybe should be F as coach threw him in with 5 mins to go)
May - D (seems destined for lots of D's and F's this season)
Casspi - B (now with two back-to-back nice efforts)
Brockman - A (beastly!)
Ely - Inc
Brockman is much more offensively polished than we gave him credit for. From what I saw during the practice scrimmages the guy knows how to put it away in the post. I'm not saying he is great or anything, but I expected to see Greg Ostertag like agility from him on offense, and so far I'm seeing much more Corliss Williamson type energy.
I remember Gerry saying that Udoka "anticipated" that pass when Evans turned it over..
I watched the highlights and thought to myself "what?" Anticipated a pass thrown right to him? lol.. Nice call Gerry.. Here I thought he made a nice steal, but KMart didn't cut.
It's going to be a long season if we keep having all those turnovers.
I watched the highlights and thought to myself "what?" Anticipated a pass thrown right to him? lol.. Nice call Gerry.. Here I thought he made a nice steal, but KMart didn't cut.
It's going to be a long season if we keep having all those turnovers.
Other thoughts:
Defense is horrible. One time on a switch, Brockman and Udrih actually screened themselves. I couldn't believe it. On pick and rolls, BOTH Kings players would stay on the one rolling to the hoop. This is stuff you whittle out in JV basketball. Completely inexcusable.
Rotations were slow, or non existent. Guys didn't know where to go. Thompson was lost. Martin didn't seem to care. May didn't move well to cover the rotation. Even Nocioni was caught off rotation a lot. Our woeful defense is not due to athleticism, it's due to either low basketball IQs, or a general lack of caring.
Por ran backcourt pressure/traps. Evans would not try to penetrate. The few times the ball got past midcourt in a reasonable time, we got easy baskets. Kings cannot handle backcourt pressure. No ballhandlers. May/Thompson/Brockman crossed the halfcourt line with the ball more than Evans.
Your 2010 Kings ladies and gents. Look out for more turnovers than assists in every single game.
Of note, the late run by Beno/Casspi was admirable. In the 4th, you could tell Beno wanted to get something done. Casspi was one of the few Kings who had the conscious vision to look for passing.
Evans passes out of the drive willy nilly, and Martin only passes once he's cut off 2/3 times. Then he dribbles TOWARDS you, and passes you the ball. Thanks Kmart, wtf am I supposed to do with it now that you've eaten up 15 seconds off the shot clock?
Excuse me while I go vote "20 wins" in the prediction thread...
Defense is horrible. One time on a switch, Brockman and Udrih actually screened themselves. I couldn't believe it. On pick and rolls, BOTH Kings players would stay on the one rolling to the hoop. This is stuff you whittle out in JV basketball. Completely inexcusable.
Rotations were slow, or non existent. Guys didn't know where to go. Thompson was lost. Martin didn't seem to care. May didn't move well to cover the rotation. Even Nocioni was caught off rotation a lot. Our woeful defense is not due to athleticism, it's due to either low basketball IQs, or a general lack of caring.
Por ran backcourt pressure/traps. Evans would not try to penetrate. The few times the ball got past midcourt in a reasonable time, we got easy baskets. Kings cannot handle backcourt pressure. No ballhandlers. May/Thompson/Brockman crossed the halfcourt line with the ball more than Evans.
Your 2010 Kings ladies and gents. Look out for more turnovers than assists in every single game.
Of note, the late run by Beno/Casspi was admirable. In the 4th, you could tell Beno wanted to get something done. Casspi was one of the few Kings who had the conscious vision to look for passing.
Evans passes out of the drive willy nilly, and Martin only passes once he's cut off 2/3 times. Then he dribbles TOWARDS you, and passes you the ball. Thanks Kmart, wtf am I supposed to do with it now that you've eaten up 15 seconds off the shot clock?
Excuse me while I go vote "20 wins" in the prediction thread...
2 words(and I've been saying this for awhile now):
Marcus Camby
He's still a servicable center that could give us 11/6 off the bench with a couple of blocks a game, and would be a great defensive tutor for our soft bigs. There's no other bigs in the next couple year's free agent/draft crops that would give us what we need in the way of toughness. Sign Cambyman next year! C'mon Geoff, we have young bigs that need an influence to show them what the hell defense and toughness is...and while you're at it, work on getting Manu, too!
Marcus Camby
He's still a servicable center that could give us 11/6 off the bench with a couple of blocks a game, and would be a great defensive tutor for our soft bigs. There's no other bigs in the next couple year's free agent/draft crops that would give us what we need in the way of toughness. Sign Cambyman next year! C'mon Geoff, we have young bigs that need an influence to show them what the hell defense and toughness is...and while you're at it, work on getting Manu, too!
Massy, your a bright guy. I can't believe you and all these other people are getting so worked up over a preseason game. A game you can't even see for heavens sake. Come on dude, lighten up. None of this means anything, except maybe to the coaching staff. If Westphal really wanted to win the game do you think he would have all these weird lineups.
Once the regular season starts we'll have a legitimate reason to criticize. But until then, I'm not going to get too worked up about it. Its meaningless.........
Once the regular season starts we'll have a legitimate reason to criticize. But until then, I'm not going to get too worked up about it. Its meaningless.........
Excuse me, but just what the hell did you people expect. The LA Lakers! We're in a rebuild, with mostly young players, and half of them have never played together before. We have a new coach, putting in a new system, trying to figure out what works and what doesn't in a preseaon game, and a lot of you folks are criticizing as though its a playoff game.
Have any of you played organized sports before? If so, engage your brain and remember how long it took for your team to get on the same page. My God, if this is the reaction to a stinking preseason game, then its going to be a long season. I'm by no means defending anything that happened tonight. Didn't see it. Didn't hear it. And don't care. When the real season starts, then I'll care.
Have any of you played organized sports before? If so, engage your brain and remember how long it took for your team to get on the same page. My God, if this is the reaction to a stinking preseason game, then its going to be a long season. I'm by no means defending anything that happened tonight. Didn't see it. Didn't hear it. And don't care. When the real season starts, then I'll care.
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