Amateur ESP? Hardly, but my thoughts on Petrie

[VF21]

Maybe Brad, Chris, or Greg should knock down a few aggressive Peja-chasers with some highly questionable picks? Show Peja some special love.

On that we are in complete and total agreement. I would love to see Tag put some butts on the floor. He's good at it, remember?

I'm not against Pedja. I just get so weary of it sounding like poor little Pookie Princess all the time...

Bottom line for me is that I've seen a lot to be hopeful about this year. I was really impressed with how much Pedja moves away from the ball in the Phoenix game. It was also obvious that he doesn't get the calls because he's simply too passive. Instead of the "bigs" doing the enforcing, if Pedja (the world's wimpiest 6'10" forward) started putting some posteriors on the floor himself once in a while, I think he'd get more respect from the other players AND the officials.

I did notice that the rest of the team has been really working on communicating with each other and supporting each other on and off the court. Now, if they can just work on the kinks, I think we're gonna have some fun this year...

 

[Catalyst]

No matter how hard you try, it's near impossible to change people. People have to WANT to change for themselves. The Kings can do things to help bring Peja back into the fold, but in the end, it's all on Stojakovic.

To be blunt, I'm with Bobby Jackson on the whole thing. Trade him, move on. Obviously.... I'm not the Kings GM for a reason, and neither is Bobby. Being patient as a GM has paid off so many times for Petrie, and this is another case where I have a strong hunch Petrie is going to let the guys play it out and decide a few months later what to do.

Right now from what I've seen of the Kings as a team, their body language doesn't reflect that of a championship team, and that's REALLY sad to see. It's still two games in though, so there's plenty of time to turn things around. It just is sad to me to see such a proud and confident team down so early in a season.

Right now, Sac looks REALLY out of sorts to me. I know not having Vlade in the lockeroom is really messing with all of the guys. Having Peja demand a trade hurts. A huge part of the Kings family is missing right now, and I think it's reflecting clearly in their play.

A few easier games and a few wins goes a long ways in making things better. And some time in front of an Arco crowd that's going to show the team a lot of love will help all of the guys.

This schedule is like being kicked when you're down, but hopefully this team just gets through it alright and there's going to be some great nights ahead of them.

But, don't underestimate this stretch of the season.... This is huge and Sac needs to turn things around here soon. We're in arguably one of the deepest conferences of ALL TIME, although things will get easier, they're not going to get easy.

Taking it a game at a time, a win in Houston is going to go A LONG way in boosting morale. We've had bad road trips before, and the Texas triangle is one of the toughest in sports. Coming out of things 1-2 isn't bad, and it's something good to build on.

The main thing I want to see Saturday is some pride, some team spirit and a little fun out there. Good things will happen as long as the guys just stick with it.

 

[quick dog]

IMHO, the Kings will be lucky to win half of their games in November and December. However, I believe that thay will be very good in the second half of the season, assuming of course that they are not again crippled with injuries.

They are also still learning to play with the new guys, and without Vlade.

 

[albeitrue]

Vlade missing could have much to do with Peja loosing his mojo, and you're right Quick Dog, sacrificing 15 losses to get Peja back into it would be a small price. .....It's only been two games, I keep forgetting that too! A good start would have meant so very much, although King's could win the next 3 (Houston, Toronto & Seattle) and that'll put us up over .500 all of a sudden. It could really be that easy. And it would take a LOT of pressure off everyone on the court.

 

[allrightythen]

As I have watched the Kings offense, I don't see that it lends itself well to players creating their own shot, especially from the perimeter. Perimeter shots seemed to be created by a wholistic effort by a team involving ball movement and well-set screens. Creating your own shot has never been an ingredient of a successful offense with this Kings team and I don't think that it is a necessity now. If they can return to the offense of previous years I think it will still be one of the best in the league. Its only my opnion but I think the offense will come along soon as it was before (one of the top two or three in the league). Shooters will alwyas have off nights, there is no way to avoid it. The choice that can be made is whether or not to play defense or to block someone out. That doesn't take tons of practice or strategy or great physical talent to do. If anything bothers me its the lack of these seemingly fundamental aspects of basketball that aren't being displayed nearly as often as one would expect from a professional. I remember being taught when I was in third grade what it meant to block out or move my feet a little on defense. Its hard to tell how much someone wants to win when they don't do the simple things.

 

[KingKong]

Reading this thread is definately encouraging. My prespective of the Kings is only seen mostly through the win- loss columns, the boxscore and sometimes through articles written. As you know there is a dearth of Kings games televised here. So it is quite refreshing to see the optimism on how the Kings will come together soon even after an 0-2 start. Thanks

 

[4cwebb]

The choice that can be made is whether or not to play defense or to block someone out. That doesn't take tons of practice or strategy or great physical talent to do. If anything bothers me its the lack of these seemingly fundamental aspects of basketball that aren't being displayed nearly as often as one would expect from a professional. I remember being taught when I was in third grade what it meant to block out or move my feet a little on defense. Its hard to tell how much someone wants to win when they don't do the simple things.

Much like preseason, this is my main worry in listening to those first two Kings' games. Sure, there are going to be nights when you're working through offensive kinks, in this case largely due to Vlade's and Christie's absences (even though Christie isn't a huge scorer, he is intimately familiar with the system, and by default will run it better than his current fill-ins). But the lack of effort on the defensive side of the ball (yet again) is puzzling. I listened yesterday as Rasho, Duncan and Rose tracked down one offensive board after another, negating otherwise solid defense.

Since rebounding and defense are largely about effort, it's frustrating to me that the players still don't seem to realize how important the little things like blocking out or denying penetration are, or if they do, how little effort is put into accomplishing what they know they should be doing.

And, CWebb, this is on you. If you want to step up and lead this team as you claimed you would, then you need to back up all that talk. 12 to 15 boards per night would help, for starters. Effort like you gave in the second round of the playoffs against KG wouldn't hurt, either. Night in, night out, regardless of puffiness in your knee. In fact, I don't want to really hear about puffiness in your knee, even if it's present.

 

[allrightythen]

And, CWebb, this is on you. If you want to step up and lead this team as you claimed you would, then you need to back up all that talk. 12 to 15 boards per night would help, for starters. Effort like you gave in the second round of the playoffs against KG wouldn't hurt, either. Night in, night out, regardless of puffiness in your knee. In fact, I don't want to really hear about puffiness in your knee, even if it's present.

I didn't like Webber saying the things he said during the offseason, but with that said I'm not going to put this on his shoulders alone. With the type of players that are in the Western Conference this year it must be a team effort. Everybody has to get equally involved. If he wants to "lead" this team (whatever that means) he should be the first to glass and to step to take a charge, but its not solely on him. Now is an especially oportune time for him to do so as well, with Christie still recovering partly from that foot issue (I can't spell it) Webber has a great chance to show his leadership by example. As smart as the Kings players are (and I think they are some of the more intelligent in basketball) I think they will find a way to put this thing together.