Successful Season?
- Thread starter The_Jamal
- Start date
Considering all the changes, ANY improvement will work for me at this point. I just want to see better basketball with silly things like rotations that make sense, players who communicate with each other (you know, like calling out a screen), and a coach who uses his white board for more than just ordering snacks.
I don't even know how to respond to this. What is our goal? What is our roster going to be?
In general theory, just generally looking for progress, I would have said +10 for normal progress for the team. But the team is currently being destroyed, so who knows what is reasonable? Its clear the front office is not looking to tank while it throws gobs of money at its Golden State friends and family, which is probably a good thing because they could lose Cousins if they did try to dive. So I assume they are still planning to move forward. But until you see what the Frankenstein monster looks like in a month or two, you can't really put a number on what should realistically be anticipated. This is why we generally save the season predictions for the opening of training camp.
Other things go in too. If you get to +10, but have no potential to get better still, you've hardly been successful. But that's another argument.
In general theory, just generally looking for progress, I would have said +10 for normal progress for the team. But the team is currently being destroyed, so who knows what is reasonable? Its clear the front office is not looking to tank while it throws gobs of money at its Golden State friends and family, which is probably a good thing because they could lose Cousins if they did try to dive. So I assume they are still planning to move forward. But until you see what the Frankenstein monster looks like in a month or two, you can't really put a number on what should realistically be anticipated. This is why we generally save the season predictions for the opening of training camp.
Other things go in too. If you get to +10, but have no potential to get better still, you've hardly been successful. But that's another argument.
given the roster situation as it stands, this is immensely difficult to judge. but, for the fun of it: in my mind the further development of demarcus cousins, the development of ben mclemore, and significant improvement in the major defensive categories constitutes a "successful season." an additional 10 wins seems reasonable under those conditions, provided that the new regime isn't all talk and that the roster will be improved upon further into the offseason, and provided that mclemore is up to the challenge in his rookie season. that puts the kings at about 38 wins, which would be good enough for 10th/11th place out west, within sight distance of the playoffs, with the goal of reaching the playoffs in either of the following two seasons...
edit: now ask me if i think it will happen on a team without any significant defensive personnel, whose front office spurns the defensive side of the ball while claiming to value ball movement and shooting, but then turns around and targets inefficient, me-first monta ellis as its second option behind demarcus cousins. not so much. it's gonna be one helluva bumpy remainder of the offseason if these factors do not change...
edit: now ask me if i think it will happen on a team without any significant defensive personnel, whose front office spurns the defensive side of the ball while claiming to value ball movement and shooting, but then turns around and targets inefficient, me-first monta ellis as its second option behind demarcus cousins. not so much. it's gonna be one helluva bumpy remainder of the offseason if these factors do not change...
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Waaaaaay to early to tell. I have a policy when students think I was too hard on them and want me change a grade on a paper. I WILL re-read it but I reserve the right to LOWER the grade if I felt I was too generous. If I were to guess the team as is might win 20-25 games, but that is not to say that it can not be made WORSE.
I know it's too early to judge as we (hopefully) aren't close to being done with the roster.
But we do know Vasquez, Cousins, Landry, McLemore are going to be a significant part of our core. IT and Salmons will likely be back. So we know what a good chunk of our playing roster will be.
This is more of to gauge what Kings Fans expectations are for next season. Do we expect a full-turn around year 1? Playoffs? 5 more wins, but with improvements in rotations, defense?
Despite not knowing the final roster, what would have you "satisfied" with our progress at the end of next season?
But we do know Vasquez, Cousins, Landry, McLemore are going to be a significant part of our core. IT and Salmons will likely be back. So we know what a good chunk of our playing roster will be.
This is more of to gauge what Kings Fans expectations are for next season. Do we expect a full-turn around year 1? Playoffs? 5 more wins, but with improvements in rotations, defense?
Despite not knowing the final roster, what would have you "satisfied" with our progress at the end of next season?
Improvement isn't just measured in wins. In year 1? Any win total is acceptable to me, even less wins than last season, if I see evidence of improvement on the court. If we're actually playing defense now for the whole shot clock and for the full 48 minutes that would be hugely encouraging for the future. But it's also more about the long-term goal than the short-term one. Cousins is only 22. We can afford to slowly build a team around him that has potential to be competitive for a long time. To do that we have to find out who the other key players are going to be. We can't afford to bury a guy like McLemore on the bench like we did with Thomas Robinson. And we need to identify and commit to players who help us on both ends of the court. All of the other polls have included an 'undecided' option -- I think that might be prudent here.
I think this year shouldnt be about the wins, although more wins then last year would be nice. I really like what Vivek said when he said we need too focus on a positive culture change, building a team indentity and setting the foundation to contend in the future.
Its going to be a slow process getting to the top, and we have too make sure the foundation is layed down smoothly or else the house is going too crumble when we attempt to build it.
I also think a succesful season would include: putting ourselve in a good position financially/cap wise for future moves, balancing out our roster the best we can(especially the glut at PF and Guards), Improving the defensive/offensive philosophies, and developing our young talent the best we can .
Its going to be a slow process getting to the top, and we have too make sure the foundation is layed down smoothly or else the house is going too crumble when we attempt to build it.
I also think a succesful season would include: putting ourselve in a good position financially/cap wise for future moves, balancing out our roster the best we can(especially the glut at PF and Guards), Improving the defensive/offensive philosophies, and developing our young talent the best we can .
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Simply put, I don't care what the team's record is at the end of this season. Things that are important:
(1) Growth and development from Cousins and McLemore who appear to be the only young talent that are definitely staying
(2) Development of an offensive and defensive system that works and that the players buy into
(3) Some semblance of a plan to shape the roster moving forward
We very well may still see (1) and (2) but it's (3) that has me really concerned right now. Rebuilding teams should be accumulating young players on cheap deals, draft picks and potential cap space. Not spending capspace on veterans, and especially not on high volume scoring veterans like Landry and potentially Ellis.
(1) Growth and development from Cousins and McLemore who appear to be the only young talent that are definitely staying
(2) Development of an offensive and defensive system that works and that the players buy into
(3) Some semblance of a plan to shape the roster moving forward
We very well may still see (1) and (2) but it's (3) that has me really concerned right now. Rebuilding teams should be accumulating young players on cheap deals, draft picks and potential cap space. Not spending capspace on veterans, and especially not on high volume scoring veterans like Landry and potentially Ellis.
To me, the fact that:
- The Kings are playing in Sacramento
- There's a new ownership group
- There's a plan moving forward to a new arena
- The new FO is making moves - for better or worse, but they are definitely TRYING (and hopefully have a PLAN that extends beyond this summer)
... already makes this a successful season. Whether we'll get more wins than last year is still to be seen - we don't know what these folks are planning, or even if their plans will pan out. This is not a one-year turnaround, to get out from the bottom of the cesspool (thanks, Maloofs!) you still have to wade thru all the sh*t and work your way out.
- The Kings are playing in Sacramento
- There's a new ownership group
- There's a plan moving forward to a new arena
- The new FO is making moves - for better or worse, but they are definitely TRYING (and hopefully have a PLAN that extends beyond this summer)
... already makes this a successful season. Whether we'll get more wins than last year is still to be seen - we don't know what these folks are planning, or even if their plans will pan out. This is not a one-year turnaround, to get out from the bottom of the cesspool (thanks, Maloofs!) you still have to wade thru all the sh*t and work your way out.
We will likely win more no matter what.
In my mind you can take almost any 15 guys in the NBA and play better team ball then we did the last couple years if you have a good strong coach and a good system. Do I expect more wins this year over last, yes. Do I think the moves we made are bad yes. They aren't mutually exclusive. I think a good coach will make a large difference in our team and if Malone pans out then we will win more but that won't make this a successful season unless we can see the building blocks that are going to take us far into the playoffs and or put us into the contender conversation in the future.. Is shooters around a good big enough? Ask Orlando.
If we were underachieving with our talent and we make those games up this year with coaching/system but less talent is it successful? too subjective.
In my mind you can take almost any 15 guys in the NBA and play better team ball then we did the last couple years if you have a good strong coach and a good system. Do I expect more wins this year over last, yes. Do I think the moves we made are bad yes. They aren't mutually exclusive. I think a good coach will make a large difference in our team and if Malone pans out then we will win more but that won't make this a successful season unless we can see the building blocks that are going to take us far into the playoffs and or put us into the contender conversation in the future.. Is shooters around a good big enough? Ask Orlando.
If we were underachieving with our talent and we make those games up this year with coaching/system but less talent is it successful? too subjective.
As the roster stands, passing the 30-win mark (and overall, about a five game win increase) would satisfy me for the first season. We might make even more roster changes during the season with more trades, besides, we barely know how the current roster will look on opening night. But like others have mentioned, some communication between the players would be nice. I hope to see chemistry form throughout the season and hopefully it rises all the way until the end.
Aside from the roster overall, i'd like to see Demarcus establish himself as a star this season. And McLemore pushing for ROY with his shooting percentages being high would be nice to see.
Aside from the roster overall, i'd like to see Demarcus establish himself as a star this season. And McLemore pushing for ROY with his shooting percentages being high would be nice to see.
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Come to think of it, yes there is something we can say now. It will be a successful season if the Demarcus Cousins situation is solved by next May. Whether that means he comes into training camp ready to work, buys into the new culture, plays hard on both ends night in and night out for Malone and gets rewarded with a contract next summer. Or he continues to be immature, complaining about everything, yelling at coaches etc. and gets traded mid season. Seriously the is Demarcus Cousins a foundation for this franchise moving forward question needs to be figured out this season/year. If Demarcus does the former and buys in, changes his attitude, this team instantly becomes at least 5-10 more wins from last year imo(assuming we continue fleshing out the roster), if not he gets traded and we get a lottery pick next year(not the worst thing that can happen).
There will be no "this coach is crap anyways" excuse for DMC this year. Malone is backed by the owner, and is now backed by vets in the locker room (Landry, potentially Ellis). So its do or die for DMC in Sacramento.
There will be no "this coach is crap anyways" excuse for DMC this year. Malone is backed by the owner, and is now backed by vets in the locker room (Landry, potentially Ellis). So its do or die for DMC in Sacramento.
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Instead of writing this again, I'll agree with what's said here.
The FO has made this Cousins team. Need to see growth. Emotional and physical. Love his hatred of losing...play some defense and do something about it.
Need to see McLemore developed properly.
Need the final roster to buy in to the coach's philosophy and bring it every game.
Really don't want see any more hero ball where guys are trying to get theirs.
Players need to know what their roles are and stay within their roles
I want to see us compete hard every game, every quarter.....less pouting about playing time, not enough touches, don't want to see terrible body language.
I want to see professionalism again......whomever is on the
The FO has made this Cousins team. Need to see growth. Emotional and physical. Love his hatred of losing...play some defense and do something about it.
Need to see McLemore developed properly.
Need the final roster to buy in to the coach's philosophy and bring it every game.
Really don't want see any more hero ball where guys are trying to get theirs.
Players need to know what their roles are and stay within their roles
I want to see us compete hard every game, every quarter.....less pouting about playing time, not enough touches, don't want to see terrible body language.
I want to see professionalism again......whomever is on the
I think that's the wrong question. I would have said it was a successful season if we cleared the dead weight from the roster, accumulated some young talent, implemented an effective defensive system, resigned Cousins and play hard every night.
But right now we are going in the wrong direction if we are ever going to be a playoff team again.
But right now we are going in the wrong direction if we are ever going to be a playoff team again.