The post is a bit long...I know.
Thanks to ESPN for picking up a Kings game. I finally got to see a game (not streamed on the internet, which really doesn’t let you see much) and I thought I would post my take. Mainly the purpose is two-fold:
1) I love talking Kings and finally get to do it again.
2) I would love to hear the responses from people who get to see the team regularly and what I may be overlooking/getting wrong.
Overall Impression of the Game:
- Horrible officiating: That was just bad all around. The only conciliation was that both teams had some pretty bad calls against them (e.g. Goaltending on beno’s layup v. Shot clock violation).
- Not much defense played by either team: It did seem like the Wizards just had some amazing 1 on 1 plays and great shots, but really...neither team played much defense.
- Overall, that game was so much fun to watch. Even if we had somehow lost at the end it would have been a really fun game to watch. Our Kings are an exciting team again!!!
The Kings Individually:
- Really, most every King deserves to be addressed here, but I don’t have the memory/time to do that. They were all great (well maybe not, but it feels that way after a W).
- Casspi: Box scores and message boards can only tell you so much. You have to see Casspi play to really see how awesome he already is. It seems like he is a real student of the game, and just keeps adding to his skill set. I had no idea he could put the ball on the floor so well...much less going left! Plus, he’s obviously worked on his free-throws. Not to mention the pure hustle and desire he plays with. Such a late 1st round steal.
- Thompson: I have a real good feeling about Thompson. His mid-range shot has become very smooth and relatively reliable. He goes after rebounds like it’s his job (wait...it actually is part of his job). He hustles. I think he has to potential to be the undeniable starting PF for this team when it peaks in a couple (or a few) years. His hyperactivity and mistakes that come with it will fade with time (I hope). JT just needs to be paired up with a legit Center (this will be discussed later).
- Hawes: I didn’t think he was going to play at all tonight as a message from PW to get his arse with the program. After reading this message board, and looking at his box scores, I felt that was more than warranted. Well, he did come in for less than 10 minutes, but it did look like he was playing with more intensity. That dunk was great to see. I’ve read a lot of people advocating trading Spencer, but to me, he seems like he would thrive as the first big off the bench. Not that I wouldn’t want to trade him for the right deal.
- Noc: Noc hit some very timely and necessary shots, but really, I’m on the trade Noc wagon. Every time he got the ball I wanted it out of his hands because I knew there was a good chance he was just going to shoot it. In fact, I would posit that he shoots way to many long shots. Also, not too sure what he brought defensively.
- PW: Now, that was some high-quality coaching. Even the commentators kept gushing about PW. I specifically remember one thing that was said. It was something along the lines of, most coaches have to worry about reinserting their star when the second unit is playing well as it may cause the second unit to not play as hard the next time they get in, but PW does not have to worry about that because he has his team playing hard all the time, no matter what. Nice. It was also great to hear PW telling his young team to just keep attacking (instead of slowing everything down) because that is what got them to that point. Finally, he seems to know the situation. His team is young, on the rise and in need of a coach who will mold and develop them into winners and he coaches accordingly. Finally, the passion, intensity and heart the team seems to always have is a result of great coaching. I don’t know if I’ve seen any other team play this hard yet this season. Nice. Oh, good timeouts too.
- Tyreke: Man, this guy is THE $#!+. I’m glad I finally got to see him play. He beats people off the dribble, he muscles his way to the hoop, his strength and body control allows him to finish plays, he can pass pretty well, he posts up like a forward, he has ice water in his veins and he can play some defense. Sorry for all the gushing, but this was the first time I’ve really gotten to see him play.
I am really excited by the prospect of him and Martin in the back court together. If Martin was playing, the Wizards could not have hid Arenas (like they did when it became obvious that someone else had to guard him). That worked well last night because Arenas could deal with guarding Beno, Udoka or Greene (somewhat). Arenas can’t guard Martin. And with the addition of a ball-handling Cisco, the future looks bright my friends.
Also, he showed me that he can indeed make quality passes. There was one pass that stood out to me in particular. On a drive, he dumped it down to JT on the baseline (who I didn’t even see making that cut until he was there) for a dunk. Unfortunately, Reke was fouled on the pass negating the assist and dunk, but still, that was impressive vision.
However, Tyreke does have some room for improvement. First, the jumpshot. Once he gets that, how can anyone guard him? But right now, not so much. It will happen though, and when it does...watch out rest of the league. Next, he does seem to force it sometimes and get timid at others. There were a few possessions where it looked like he was really forcing it and tried to take it to the paint even though the Wizards knew what was coming and had the lane packed with defenders. Also, for a stint, I thought he was injured or something because it looked like he just didn’t want to be involved in the offense. Maybe just letting the others get going? Not sure.
As a Team:
This team is young, and plays like it. That is good and bad. It is good because they have those young legs that can squeeze out a close victory on the 2nd night of a back to back as well as the fact that I feel their youth has a lot to do with the effort and heart they play with. No one is an “established star” and therefore has that sense of entitlement/primmadonnaism. In fact, the commentators kept on talking about how hard the Kings play. It’s great to see that non-kings fans are taking notice too. However, the down side was pretty evident. That game should not have gone down to the wire. An experienced vet team would have closed the door rather than allow that steal, foul before the inbound pass, or even let them fight back into it before those two mis-cues. This youth was also pretty evident at the start of the half as well as out of some timeouts where they just looked like they had no idea what they were doing. Good timeouts by PW helped in those situations.
The future looks bright. But we still have a blatant weakness...our front line. After watching Haywood and Jamison just dominate, it was obvious that we need a big 5. I love Emeka Okafor, and highly support a trade for him. I think his presence would do 3 important things:
1) Solidifies our front line, which, as mentioned before, is a obvious weakness.
2) Would be great for JT. With a legit big man playing the 5, I see JT just taking off at the 4 (I do not like him at the 5).
3) Let’s us play Spencer off the bench, which I think is a much better fit for him.
QUESTION: I forgot to pay close attention to this once I noticed it, but despite Donte's handles (which were better than I thought), he seems to start every drive with his right hand. Not that he wont eventually go left, but it looked to me like he always dribbled with his right hand first. Was this just me not consistently paying close enough attention, or am I on to something?
So, to wrap this up, here is the (very realistic) future I would like to see. I left out Noc, Udoka, KT and May because I don’t see them as part of our future. Fill in the missing roster spots with whomever.
Starting:
Evans
Martin
Cisco
JT
---player to be acquired---
Bench:
Beno
Sergio
Donte
Casspi
Hawes
And finally, GO KINGS!!!!
I can’t wait to see the 12/26 game in person (Christmas gift for my dad). BEAT LA!
Thanks to ESPN for picking up a Kings game. I finally got to see a game (not streamed on the internet, which really doesn’t let you see much) and I thought I would post my take. Mainly the purpose is two-fold:
1) I love talking Kings and finally get to do it again.
2) I would love to hear the responses from people who get to see the team regularly and what I may be overlooking/getting wrong.
Overall Impression of the Game:
- Horrible officiating: That was just bad all around. The only conciliation was that both teams had some pretty bad calls against them (e.g. Goaltending on beno’s layup v. Shot clock violation).
- Not much defense played by either team: It did seem like the Wizards just had some amazing 1 on 1 plays and great shots, but really...neither team played much defense.
- Overall, that game was so much fun to watch. Even if we had somehow lost at the end it would have been a really fun game to watch. Our Kings are an exciting team again!!!
The Kings Individually:
- Really, most every King deserves to be addressed here, but I don’t have the memory/time to do that. They were all great (well maybe not, but it feels that way after a W).
- Casspi: Box scores and message boards can only tell you so much. You have to see Casspi play to really see how awesome he already is. It seems like he is a real student of the game, and just keeps adding to his skill set. I had no idea he could put the ball on the floor so well...much less going left! Plus, he’s obviously worked on his free-throws. Not to mention the pure hustle and desire he plays with. Such a late 1st round steal.
- Thompson: I have a real good feeling about Thompson. His mid-range shot has become very smooth and relatively reliable. He goes after rebounds like it’s his job (wait...it actually is part of his job). He hustles. I think he has to potential to be the undeniable starting PF for this team when it peaks in a couple (or a few) years. His hyperactivity and mistakes that come with it will fade with time (I hope). JT just needs to be paired up with a legit Center (this will be discussed later).
- Hawes: I didn’t think he was going to play at all tonight as a message from PW to get his arse with the program. After reading this message board, and looking at his box scores, I felt that was more than warranted. Well, he did come in for less than 10 minutes, but it did look like he was playing with more intensity. That dunk was great to see. I’ve read a lot of people advocating trading Spencer, but to me, he seems like he would thrive as the first big off the bench. Not that I wouldn’t want to trade him for the right deal.
- Noc: Noc hit some very timely and necessary shots, but really, I’m on the trade Noc wagon. Every time he got the ball I wanted it out of his hands because I knew there was a good chance he was just going to shoot it. In fact, I would posit that he shoots way to many long shots. Also, not too sure what he brought defensively.
- PW: Now, that was some high-quality coaching. Even the commentators kept gushing about PW. I specifically remember one thing that was said. It was something along the lines of, most coaches have to worry about reinserting their star when the second unit is playing well as it may cause the second unit to not play as hard the next time they get in, but PW does not have to worry about that because he has his team playing hard all the time, no matter what. Nice. It was also great to hear PW telling his young team to just keep attacking (instead of slowing everything down) because that is what got them to that point. Finally, he seems to know the situation. His team is young, on the rise and in need of a coach who will mold and develop them into winners and he coaches accordingly. Finally, the passion, intensity and heart the team seems to always have is a result of great coaching. I don’t know if I’ve seen any other team play this hard yet this season. Nice. Oh, good timeouts too.
- Tyreke: Man, this guy is THE $#!+. I’m glad I finally got to see him play. He beats people off the dribble, he muscles his way to the hoop, his strength and body control allows him to finish plays, he can pass pretty well, he posts up like a forward, he has ice water in his veins and he can play some defense. Sorry for all the gushing, but this was the first time I’ve really gotten to see him play.
I am really excited by the prospect of him and Martin in the back court together. If Martin was playing, the Wizards could not have hid Arenas (like they did when it became obvious that someone else had to guard him). That worked well last night because Arenas could deal with guarding Beno, Udoka or Greene (somewhat). Arenas can’t guard Martin. And with the addition of a ball-handling Cisco, the future looks bright my friends.
Also, he showed me that he can indeed make quality passes. There was one pass that stood out to me in particular. On a drive, he dumped it down to JT on the baseline (who I didn’t even see making that cut until he was there) for a dunk. Unfortunately, Reke was fouled on the pass negating the assist and dunk, but still, that was impressive vision.
However, Tyreke does have some room for improvement. First, the jumpshot. Once he gets that, how can anyone guard him? But right now, not so much. It will happen though, and when it does...watch out rest of the league. Next, he does seem to force it sometimes and get timid at others. There were a few possessions where it looked like he was really forcing it and tried to take it to the paint even though the Wizards knew what was coming and had the lane packed with defenders. Also, for a stint, I thought he was injured or something because it looked like he just didn’t want to be involved in the offense. Maybe just letting the others get going? Not sure.
As a Team:
This team is young, and plays like it. That is good and bad. It is good because they have those young legs that can squeeze out a close victory on the 2nd night of a back to back as well as the fact that I feel their youth has a lot to do with the effort and heart they play with. No one is an “established star” and therefore has that sense of entitlement/primmadonnaism. In fact, the commentators kept on talking about how hard the Kings play. It’s great to see that non-kings fans are taking notice too. However, the down side was pretty evident. That game should not have gone down to the wire. An experienced vet team would have closed the door rather than allow that steal, foul before the inbound pass, or even let them fight back into it before those two mis-cues. This youth was also pretty evident at the start of the half as well as out of some timeouts where they just looked like they had no idea what they were doing. Good timeouts by PW helped in those situations.
The future looks bright. But we still have a blatant weakness...our front line. After watching Haywood and Jamison just dominate, it was obvious that we need a big 5. I love Emeka Okafor, and highly support a trade for him. I think his presence would do 3 important things:
1) Solidifies our front line, which, as mentioned before, is a obvious weakness.
2) Would be great for JT. With a legit big man playing the 5, I see JT just taking off at the 4 (I do not like him at the 5).
3) Let’s us play Spencer off the bench, which I think is a much better fit for him.
QUESTION: I forgot to pay close attention to this once I noticed it, but despite Donte's handles (which were better than I thought), he seems to start every drive with his right hand. Not that he wont eventually go left, but it looked to me like he always dribbled with his right hand first. Was this just me not consistently paying close enough attention, or am I on to something?
So, to wrap this up, here is the (very realistic) future I would like to see. I left out Noc, Udoka, KT and May because I don’t see them as part of our future. Fill in the missing roster spots with whomever.
Starting:
Evans
Martin
Cisco
JT
---player to be acquired---
Bench:
Beno
Sergio
Donte
Casspi
Hawes
And finally, GO KINGS!!!!
I can’t wait to see the 12/26 game in person (Christmas gift for my dad). BEAT LA!
Last edited by a moderator:
I went ahead and made one small change to your initial post.
