I'll be there from SoCal.
http://www.nba.com/kings/multimedia/kings_open_practice_2010-11_splash.html
http://www.nba.com/kings/multimedia/kings_open_practice_2010-11_splash.html
I'm loving this team already. Demarcus is such a baller. On talent alone, he should start from day one, but I can understand making him wait it out a bit to make him work. I was also really impressed with Pooh Jetter. I can see why Westphal seems to be so high on him. I'm willing to bet both of these guys will be fan favorites.
A little more.
The following is based mostly on the first half of today's scrimmage.
POINT GUARD: Tyreke looks good. Really good. Continues to take folks off the dribble effectively and his shot looks much better. Jetter has nice playmaking skills, great speed, and can work as a nice pressure defender. I can see him bringing the ball up a lot to get the Kings in their sets and save Reke a little energy. I wouldn't be surprised if he plays a significant role on this team.
SHOOTING GUARD: Seems like SG is an area that this team will need to address in the future. Udrih just looks okay right now. He appears well-conditioned, just a bit sloppy. No red flag concerns here, but just a weak showing thus far. The same can be said for Garcia. He completed some plays but isn't really starting material IMO. The big deal here is he looks to have recovered from his injury and hasn't injured himself yet this offseason.
SMALLL FORWARD: Greene is noticeably bigger and was pretty focused out there. It's still a close race between him and Casspi as the starter, I think. Casspi was hitting his 3's pretty well and managed to finish some plays close to the hoop. He looks a little bigger too but not as much as Donte. Marcus Landry should make this team, occupying the third string spot at small forward. He continues to hit his shots and generally looks like he belongs.
POWER FORWARD: JT continues to struggle finishing some plays but there's no denying the improvements he's made. He looks great physically and really hits the boards hard. My vote is for JT to start. He's just a real handful. Carl Landry continues to struggle. He looked tentative and I think his confidence might be a big shook up. Nonetheless, he should continue to play an important role on the team. He's always been best as a super-sub and I think he should return to that role this season. Darnell Jackson should make this team. He actually reminds me of Jon Brockman but with a jumper. He's a real competitor and having these kinds of guys on the roster will keep the intensity up.
CENTER: Cousins is awesome. Future allstar. Big time player. Should start immediately. Incredibly talented. A special player. Dalembert looked fine but nothing really special today. Just glad to see his injury is healing. Whiteside is injured but he's clearly the third-stringer at the center spot.
Evans/Jetter
Udrih/Garcia
Greene/Casspi/M.Landry
Thompson/C.Landry/Jackson
Cousins/Dalembert/Whiteside
I wouldn't mind a bit more backcourt depth/talent but I'm not sure any of the other guards will make this team.
KOTJ
The following is based mostly on the first half of today's scrimmage.
POINT GUARD: Tyreke looks good. Really good. Continues to take folks off the dribble effectively and his shot looks much better. Jetter has nice playmaking skills, great speed, and can work as a nice pressure defender. I can see him bringing the ball up a lot to get the Kings in their sets and save Reke a little energy. I wouldn't be surprised if he plays a significant role on this team.
SHOOTING GUARD: Seems like SG is an area that this team will need to address in the future. Udrih just looks okay right now. He appears well-conditioned, just a bit sloppy. No red flag concerns here, but just a weak showing thus far. The same can be said for Garcia. He completed some plays but isn't really starting material IMO. The big deal here is he looks to have recovered from his injury and hasn't injured himself yet this offseason.
SMALLL FORWARD: Greene is noticeably bigger and was pretty focused out there. It's still a close race between him and Casspi as the starter, I think. Casspi was hitting his 3's pretty well and managed to finish some plays close to the hoop. He looks a little bigger too but not as much as Donte. Marcus Landry should make this team, occupying the third string spot at small forward. He continues to hit his shots and generally looks like he belongs.
POWER FORWARD: JT continues to struggle finishing some plays but there's no denying the improvements he's made. He looks great physically and really hits the boards hard. My vote is for JT to start. He's just a real handful. Carl Landry continues to struggle. He looked tentative and I think his confidence might be a big shook up. Nonetheless, he should continue to play an important role on the team. He's always been best as a super-sub and I think he should return to that role this season. Darnell Jackson should make this team. He actually reminds me of Jon Brockman but with a jumper. He's a real competitor and having these kinds of guys on the roster will keep the intensity up.
CENTER: Cousins is awesome. Future allstar. Big time player. Should start immediately. Incredibly talented. A special player. Dalembert looked fine but nothing really special today. Just glad to see his injury is healing. Whiteside is injured but he's clearly the third-stringer at the center spot.
Evans/Jetter
Udrih/Garcia
Greene/Casspi/M.Landry
Thompson/C.Landry/Jackson
Cousins/Dalembert/Whiteside
I wouldn't mind a bit more backcourt depth/talent but I'm not sure any of the other guards will make this team.
KOTJ
First off, I think this is the most talented depth the Kings have ever had on a training camp team. Based on what I've heard, read, and saw today, Marcus Landry looks like a lock to make the team. JT was very impressive the whole game. His only failing was his freethrow shooting. Other than that he played great. Cousins played well, but I think he's only scratching the surface of what he's capable. I'm curous, did Tyreke miss a jumpshot in the game. I missed the very beginning, but I don't think he missed shot from the time I started watching. He looked like he was just having fun and picking his spots.
Jackson played very well. He didn't rebound all that well in this scrimage, but I know he's known for being a good rebounder. He could be insurance if we decide to trade C. Landry. He's certainly more physical than Landry. Landry had a very hard time trying to guard JT. Pooh Jeter looked just terrific. He looked just as good as he did in summer league, if not better. I think he's capable of getting some serious minutes. I thought Beno played well. Both Greene and Casspi played well but didn't stand out.
Here's the question. If the Kings decide to keep M. Landry, do they also keep Head? I think not. I think if they keep 14 players Jackson might just steal that last spot. Tough decision to make. I really like Head, but Landry is younger, bigger, and has proven to be a very good outside shooter. Head has the advantage in passing skills and ballhandling, but is that what we really need since we have Jeter to back up Beno? There's a long way to go before they have to decide, but if Landry keeps playing like this, its going to be hard to let him go.
Jackson played very well. He didn't rebound all that well in this scrimage, but I know he's known for being a good rebounder. He could be insurance if we decide to trade C. Landry. He's certainly more physical than Landry. Landry had a very hard time trying to guard JT. Pooh Jeter looked just terrific. He looked just as good as he did in summer league, if not better. I think he's capable of getting some serious minutes. I thought Beno played well. Both Greene and Casspi played well but didn't stand out.
Here's the question. If the Kings decide to keep M. Landry, do they also keep Head? I think not. I think if they keep 14 players Jackson might just steal that last spot. Tough decision to make. I really like Head, but Landry is younger, bigger, and has proven to be a very good outside shooter. Head has the advantage in passing skills and ballhandling, but is that what we really need since we have Jeter to back up Beno? There's a long way to go before they have to decide, but if Landry keeps playing like this, its going to be hard to let him go.
there wasnt really a clear stand out IMO...everyone had their moments. reke started to heat up as he got into the flow of the game, it seemed like he was forcing things early on. cousins seemed quiet offensively but i noticed he grabbed a ton of rebounds. jt still needs to work on finishing downlow but stuck his nose in there, landry needs to wake up out of the funk he's in, omri hit a couple 3's early, and donte didnt do anything significant. i was impressed with jeter, marcus landry and darnell jackson. those 3 played really well tonight. one thing that bothered me, i coached high school ball and always stressed the players to take warming up seriously. i noticed cousins seemed REALLY lazy warming up...idk, maybe it's just me!
Tyreke was easily the best player on the floor. No one could guard him and he was hitting his jumpers too. Jumpshot looks a lot better though not consistent yet.
Other notable players from the scrimmage.
Pooh Jeter: proved he definitely belonged on the team.
Marcus Landry: was consistently knocking down shots, including 3s.
Cousins: very skilled bigman, excellent passing skills (dare i say even better than Hawes already in passing????)
JT: definitely improved, and not as out of control. Might take starting spot back.
Overall, the talent level on this year's team is 3x better than last year. (and Whiteside didn't even play) There was also way more fans that showed up to this year's scrimmage as well. I came away very excited for this season. Will definitely be attending some more games this year.
I noticed that too Cousins wasnt very into the warm up process....hes young though so maybe he will start stretching out more after a bit of wear and tear this season. It all looked good they spread talent thru both squads nicely. Starters should be Dalembert, C Landry, Garcia?(the three is such a tough call), Beno, and of course Reke. Not bad bringing guys like Cousins, Thompson, and Whiteside off the bench......kinda deep huh? and thats just the bigs you
also have Casspi, Greene, Jeter.........
also have Casspi, Greene, Jeter.........
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Based on the performance today...
I'd say the starting line-up should be
Evans
Garcia
Casspi
JT
Cousins
The battle for every spot not PG was won lopsidedly.
JT and Cousins together worked very well...controlled the paint and gobbled up rebounds. Both likely had double-doubles.
Evans shot 5 for 11 from the perimeter (not counting buzzer-beater half court attempt)...shot looked good...was 5 for 8 until the last couple of minutes.
Biggest issue so far...FREE THROWS. They shot terribly.
I'd say the starting line-up should be
Evans
Garcia
Casspi
JT
Cousins
The battle for every spot not PG was won lopsidedly.
JT and Cousins together worked very well...controlled the paint and gobbled up rebounds. Both likely had double-doubles.
Evans shot 5 for 11 from the perimeter (not counting buzzer-beater half court attempt)...shot looked good...was 5 for 8 until the last couple of minutes.
Biggest issue so far...FREE THROWS. They shot terribly.
Yup good game and a fun time. At points the guys were hamming it up (like the group hug) and others they were getting competitive. Looked like Cousins was even talking some, and calling for the ball. JT shot a lot of FTs, DMC rebounded alot. Good to see DeMarcus giving up his body like he does but sometimes he doesn't get that call and our biggest guy is on the floor watching someone dunk.
Bobby Jackson signed for a little while after the game and he signed a jersey for me. I have it on video- I'll try to put it on Youtube. He was very nice and generous with his time signing for a lot of kids, and some of us older kids too.
Bobby Jackson signed for a little while after the game and he signed a jersey for me. I have it on video- I'll try to put it on Youtube. He was very nice and generous with his time signing for a lot of kids, and some of us older kids too.
K
They should change Omri's middle and last name to 'No Passpi'. That guy does NOT pass the rock. I'll take Donte in my starting lineup based on his unselfishness alone. No Passpi never met a shot he didn't like. He only made one pass that was not from a rebound or loose ball, and it resulted in his lone assist of the game.
Jeter is a stud. Reke's jumper is about to make playing defense on him unfair, JT stayed under control, Donte's new muscle doesn't affect his athleticism, M Landry hit his shots, C Landry never got a flow, Cousins quietly scored about 14 AND made passes few centers of all time could have made AND gobbled up boards, Beno picked his spots, Garcia picked his spots, and Darnell Robinson needs to make the squad.
Jeter is a stud. Reke's jumper is about to make playing defense on him unfair, JT stayed under control, Donte's new muscle doesn't affect his athleticism, M Landry hit his shots, C Landry never got a flow, Cousins quietly scored about 14 AND made passes few centers of all time could have made AND gobbled up boards, Beno picked his spots, Garcia picked his spots, and Darnell Robinson needs to make the squad.