Bruski presents another side to the story
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I believe the article is accurate. You can tell by watching the players that they are not happy and comfortable.
The team has changed since the 5 game winning streak from January 14 to January 23. The Kings have a pathetic record of 5-17 after January 23 and in their last 10 games have a record of 1-9 including a current 5 game losing streak.
Karl's days as HC are counted. Hes' finished.
The team has changed since the 5 game winning streak from January 14 to January 23. The Kings have a pathetic record of 5-17 after January 23 and in their last 10 games have a record of 1-9 including a current 5 game losing streak.
Karl's days as HC are counted. Hes' finished.
We've already overhauled the roster from top to bottom in the vision of Vlade. Karl is the wrong guy to work with this roster, so you don't know what you have until everyone is working in unison. On paper we are fine. With Karl leading, we're a dumpster fire.
So, when a coach completely loses a team and they don't want to play for him, it is a 10 game difference. Take an average team and give them a competent coach, you get this year's Utah Jazz. With our roster flaws and all we shoild still better than the Jazz. Even look at Portland.
I mean, we keep wishing for a team full of all stars. That's not what you need to be an 8th seed. The majority of playoff teams have holes in their roster, or a weakness they have to cover up.
We have the star player. We need the right coach and FO and the rest is tweaks.
So, when a coach completely loses a team and they don't want to play for him, it is a 10 game difference. Take an average team and give them a competent coach, you get this year's Utah Jazz. With our roster flaws and all we shoild still better than the Jazz. Even look at Portland.
I mean, we keep wishing for a team full of all stars. That's not what you need to be an 8th seed. The majority of playoff teams have holes in their roster, or a weakness they have to cover up.
We have the star player. We need the right coach and FO and the rest is tweaks.
Like you, I firmly believe that this team should be better than it is, and there are a lot of reasons why it's not. The simplistic answer is that replace the head coach with any coach that's competent, and we make the playoffs. Maybe, maybe not. Vlade was put in the tough position of trying to please a head coach that he didn't hire, and a star, who didn't much care for his head coach. I'm not sure just how you accomplish that without god stepping in and working a miracle, which almost seemed to happen with our five game winning streak.
Personally, I think there's a lot of blame to go around. Cousins agent poisoned the well before the season even started. You had your best player, and your Hall of fame head coach going out of their way to avoid each other at summer league. Sorry folks, but that's not a good way to start the season. The Cousins/Karl relationship had a lot going against it without all the drama being thrown in. Karl's style of play certainly didn't compliment Cousins abilities. Add in, that Karl, known for his somewhat violatile personality, seemed to be nothing but a mere shell of his former self.
Rudy Gay hasn't been the same player this season either, and at times, he looks like he just wants the season to be over. You have three ball dominate players in Rondo, Gay, and Cousins, and it appears there just aren't enough touches to go around. For whatever reason, Gay seldom seems like he's in the flow of the game. McLemore has been a ghost on the floor for the most part, which with three other players demanding the ball on a regular basis, isn't unusual. If he had an aggressive personality, he'd probably be OK, but he doesn't. He spends too much time trying to fit in, and if he makes a mistake, he finds himself on the bench. I'd love to see what someone like Scott Skiles could do with McLemore.
What we have once again is a bunch of ill fitting parts. I don't think Gay, Cousins, and Rondo fit well together. They don't compliment each other. Instead of blending, it's more like they wait their turn, particularly Gay. Rondo is a terrible defender, and the defensive system, and I'm being kind calling it that, is confusing not only to me, but apparently the players as well.. There are some bright spots. Willie is everything and more than most thought he would be. Casspi has played extremely well, and always seems to find a way to make himself relevant during a game. I think Collison has had a very consistent year despite being jerked around and having to play SG a high percentage of the time. And Cousins is having a career year.
So, I think we let Rondo walk. He'll want far too much money, and a longer contract than I'd be willing to give him. I'd trade McLemore, get what I can, and try and clear a little more cap space in the process. I'd try and find a head coach that can utilize Cousins abilities, and who'll emphasize defense. I'm reluctant to trade Gay, but if the right deal comes along, I would. Especially if I can acquire a top tier SG. If not, I'm certainly looking at SG's in the draft, of which are are quite a few. If I can move Belinelli I would, but if not, I'd hope the old Belinelli shows up next season. I'm fine with Koufos. I like the energy that Acy brings, but I won't cry if he's not here next year. What I do know, is that Acy isn't a starting PF in the NBA.
Personally, I think there's a lot of blame to go around. Cousins agent poisoned the well before the season even started. You had your best player, and your Hall of fame head coach going out of their way to avoid each other at summer league. Sorry folks, but that's not a good way to start the season. The Cousins/Karl relationship had a lot going against it without all the drama being thrown in. Karl's style of play certainly didn't compliment Cousins abilities. Add in, that Karl, known for his somewhat violatile personality, seemed to be nothing but a mere shell of his former self.
Rudy Gay hasn't been the same player this season either, and at times, he looks like he just wants the season to be over. You have three ball dominate players in Rondo, Gay, and Cousins, and it appears there just aren't enough touches to go around. For whatever reason, Gay seldom seems like he's in the flow of the game. McLemore has been a ghost on the floor for the most part, which with three other players demanding the ball on a regular basis, isn't unusual. If he had an aggressive personality, he'd probably be OK, but he doesn't. He spends too much time trying to fit in, and if he makes a mistake, he finds himself on the bench. I'd love to see what someone like Scott Skiles could do with McLemore.
What we have once again is a bunch of ill fitting parts. I don't think Gay, Cousins, and Rondo fit well together. They don't compliment each other. Instead of blending, it's more like they wait their turn, particularly Gay. Rondo is a terrible defender, and the defensive system, and I'm being kind calling it that, is confusing not only to me, but apparently the players as well.. There are some bright spots. Willie is everything and more than most thought he would be. Casspi has played extremely well, and always seems to find a way to make himself relevant during a game. I think Collison has had a very consistent year despite being jerked around and having to play SG a high percentage of the time. And Cousins is having a career year.
So, I think we let Rondo walk. He'll want far too much money, and a longer contract than I'd be willing to give him. I'd trade McLemore, get what I can, and try and clear a little more cap space in the process. I'd try and find a head coach that can utilize Cousins abilities, and who'll emphasize defense. I'm reluctant to trade Gay, but if the right deal comes along, I would. Especially if I can acquire a top tier SG. If not, I'm certainly looking at SG's in the draft, of which are are quite a few. If I can move Belinelli I would, but if not, I'd hope the old Belinelli shows up next season. I'm fine with Koufos. I like the energy that Acy brings, but I won't cry if he's not here next year. What I do know, is that Acy isn't a starting PF in the NBA.
Very good. I disagree with just about nothing and even the nuances suit my soul. I wonder how Gay would play without Rondo. Seems like at one time, a year ago, Cuz and Gay seemed like good buddies off the court. Perhaps that is simply what the two best guys do. I don't know but it seems to have changed. As I am not a cameraman, I don't know if what seems apparent is really true, their relationship isn't as close, or simply happenstance of where the cameraman was shooting pictures. It seems like Vlade could have a clue as to what is going on. There is plenty of time to keep Rudy and see what happens on the court with Rondo gone. He could be traded during the next year.
Collison may be called ball dominant but he seems willing to pass. I've sure seen more ball dominant PGs. Collison plays defense. His February shooting was eye opening.
I might cry if Acy is gone. He brings energy.
Collison may be called ball dominant but he seems willing to pass. I've sure seen more ball dominant PGs. Collison plays defense. His February shooting was eye opening.
I might cry if Acy is gone. He brings energy.
I can certainly see moving on from Rudy and Rajon. A better coach would change things but you don't cap yourself out to put a .500 level team on the floor and that might be where we top out without better defenders at those key positions. I've been trying to talk myself into Harrison Barnes as a Rudy replacement. I think he'd welcome a chance to get out from under the Curry/Thompson/Green shadow but is he a max or near-max guy? Is he going to grow into a second option offensively with more touches? I don't know. It's a gamble somebody is going to take though. Everybody talks about 3 and D wing players like we'll cut Rudy and just sign a cheaper 3 and D roleplayer to take his place. The trouble is every team in the league has the same idea so your 3 and D roleplayer isn't a cheap option now, he's a max guy. Unless you can find one who is young and hasn't taken off yet but then you need to be either clairvoyant, extremely lucky, or an expert in talent evaluation. It's a tall task. I'm reasonably confident in DeMarcus and Willie as the starting frontcourt. Kosta should be solid on a team that isn't obsessed with running. Omri is a great option at SF off the bench. Other than that, it's all up in the air for me.
surely they'll be on the same page this summer.
we had a chance to move forward without karl and potentially salvage the back end of the season.
that was put to rest when the minority owners decided they wanted to dig their heels in...
that was what was being discussed when Vlade called karl and made the announcement that we are working on things internally. This article adds to that.
all in all, our ownership cant take a trick.
we had a chance to move forward without karl and potentially salvage the back end of the season.
that was put to rest when the minority owners decided they wanted to dig their heels in...
that was what was being discussed when Vlade called karl and made the announcement that we are working on things internally. This article adds to that.
all in all, our ownership cant take a trick.
Note: Just ended typing this. Turned out to be a rant-ish.
Contrary to what I have said before, we don't necessarily need a better 2-guard to replace either or both Belinelli and McLemore. We can keep them, but then add in my current draft candidate, Denzel Valentine, a 6'5, 220 lbs. guy that can distribute the ball. On our team, he can play the 1, 2, seldom 3. I'd like for our players to be at least a bit taller than the traditional heights of their positions, taking wingspan also into account. If Rondo walks or if we let him walk, we're looking at a lineup of one 6'0 PG and a 6'6 PG. Back to your 2-guard argument. I agree, but we don't have to replace Belinelli and McLemore.
I just think that Belinelli is being asked to do too much (run under a bunch of screens, find ball, catch ball, turn around, locate basket, and then shoot over defender). Nope. Just get the ball to Cousins or Gay in the mid-range. Cousins is a mismatch for anyone. Rudy Gay has lost his height advantage (remember the "extension of the defense" that Jerry always used to talk about? You don't hear about it anymore) because he's being asked to play the 4. So he has to use his speed advantage which results in strange, one-footed sissy chucks rather than the confident, two footed shot over the defense. When either Cousins or Gay gets trapped, maybe kick it out to Belinelli who's gotten the inside-out pass probably many times during his stint in the Spurs?
We should play Cousins and Gay in the mid-post area. That got us to good places last year. That's why I was a bit concerned about the Koufos signing and the Rondo signing. It's not good to play two 270 pounders on the floor at once. We would get severely beaten by fast stretch 4s that are usually shorter. But we have Willie, the anti-smallball-at-the-4-position guy. If he could post up, we are set to absolutely punish teams that play small at the 4. But on to Rondo. We've seen throughout this year that it's just a bit more difficult keep the ball in the mid-range after giving the ball to either Cousins or Gay, especially with Rondo in. We see a bit of cheating from the defense. And then when Cousins and Gay kick it out, Rondo's the only one thats really open since teams still remember the past, not his present shooting. And then he calls for a reset. Maybe for a Belinelli turnaround shot. Just kidding, mostly. Usually it's another pick and roll with little time left of the shot clock. But it's good to see Rondo making more of his outside shots. Maybe if he were more automatic with his decision-making from the inside-out pass, like Omri. Attack immediately, or pump fake, and then attack, or take the shot. Don't ask for a P&R as your first option. Please don't ask for a Belinelli turnaround shot.
Maybe that's why we're not using the mid post area. It's either in the deep post or the 3pt line. Deep post, I can handle. But not the 3pt line where defenders cheat down and then swat the ball out of Cousins' hands, sometimes fouling him, but the refs don't call it. And sometimes its a clean swat.
Oh and we won't forget McLemore. His shooting isn't where we'd like it to be. I imagine that its the fault of the development coaches and himself confidence-wise. He works hard so I'd guess its about what he works hard on which isn't on point. But at least he's improving his passing. Quite impressive, actually. Last year it was his defense, this year its his passing. But we don't get to see much of him.
Contrary to what I have said before, we don't necessarily need a better 2-guard to replace either or both Belinelli and McLemore. We can keep them, but then add in my current draft candidate, Denzel Valentine, a 6'5, 220 lbs. guy that can distribute the ball. On our team, he can play the 1, 2, seldom 3. I'd like for our players to be at least a bit taller than the traditional heights of their positions, taking wingspan also into account. If Rondo walks or if we let him walk, we're looking at a lineup of one 6'0 PG and a 6'6 PG. Back to your 2-guard argument. I agree, but we don't have to replace Belinelli and McLemore.
I just think that Belinelli is being asked to do too much (run under a bunch of screens, find ball, catch ball, turn around, locate basket, and then shoot over defender). Nope. Just get the ball to Cousins or Gay in the mid-range. Cousins is a mismatch for anyone. Rudy Gay has lost his height advantage (remember the "extension of the defense" that Jerry always used to talk about? You don't hear about it anymore) because he's being asked to play the 4. So he has to use his speed advantage which results in strange, one-footed sissy chucks rather than the confident, two footed shot over the defense. When either Cousins or Gay gets trapped, maybe kick it out to Belinelli who's gotten the inside-out pass probably many times during his stint in the Spurs?
We should play Cousins and Gay in the mid-post area. That got us to good places last year. That's why I was a bit concerned about the Koufos signing and the Rondo signing. It's not good to play two 270 pounders on the floor at once. We would get severely beaten by fast stretch 4s that are usually shorter. But we have Willie, the anti-smallball-at-the-4-position guy. If he could post up, we are set to absolutely punish teams that play small at the 4. But on to Rondo. We've seen throughout this year that it's just a bit more difficult keep the ball in the mid-range after giving the ball to either Cousins or Gay, especially with Rondo in. We see a bit of cheating from the defense. And then when Cousins and Gay kick it out, Rondo's the only one thats really open since teams still remember the past, not his present shooting. And then he calls for a reset. Maybe for a Belinelli turnaround shot. Just kidding, mostly. Usually it's another pick and roll with little time left of the shot clock. But it's good to see Rondo making more of his outside shots. Maybe if he were more automatic with his decision-making from the inside-out pass, like Omri. Attack immediately, or pump fake, and then attack, or take the shot. Don't ask for a P&R as your first option. Please don't ask for a Belinelli turnaround shot.
Maybe that's why we're not using the mid post area. It's either in the deep post or the 3pt line. Deep post, I can handle. But not the 3pt line where defenders cheat down and then swat the ball out of Cousins' hands, sometimes fouling him, but the refs don't call it. And sometimes its a clean swat.
Oh and we won't forget McLemore. His shooting isn't where we'd like it to be. I imagine that its the fault of the development coaches and himself confidence-wise. He works hard so I'd guess its about what he works hard on which isn't on point. But at least he's improving his passing. Quite impressive, actually. Last year it was his defense, this year its his passing. But we don't get to see much of him.
Rondo/Gay/Cousins is a bad core because of exactly what you mentioned - three guys that need the ball a lot to be effective. It was the same problem with IT/Gay/Cousins though while Rondo is the better passer/floor general, IT was/is a far better shooter. And Thomas for all the grief about his height was a better defender too, though that's not saying much when comparing him with Rondo.
To me Rudy Gay is a solid third option on a contending team. He's not a #2 and his game doesn't even really compliment Cousins' all that well. Offensively Rondo should be a fourth or fifth scoring option on a good team. AND if he's your starting PG you'd better have at least two other guys in the starting lineup who can stretch the floor and who aren't iso players. Cousins can shoot from distance but he shouldn't be launching so many threes and he's not exactly Ray Allen. Rudy Gay is a career 34% shooter. So in my mind to make the Kings work with a Rondo/Gay/Cousins core you'd need a great shooter at SG who is a true second option on defense, is a very good defender and who also somehow has a very low usage rate. Ideally the starting PF should be a good shooter as well but he also needs to be a good defender with a low usage rate and hopefully a good passer as well.
WCS may be able to grow into that idealized PF role to some extent but that SG doesn't exist. Klay Thompson is about the closest match I can think of but he's got a 26% usage rate on a team that has Curry, Green, Iguodala, Barnes etc. So he needs the ball in his hands to be effective too.
So in my mind not all three of those guys (Rondo, Gay, Cousins) shouldn't be back next year. The one of the three that makes the most sense to keep is Cousins. So what about the other two?
With Rondo I can overlook the poor shooting but not the atrocious defense. I don't think it's a physical issue at all (though he's not as quick laterally as he was) but solely effort. So do you sign a guy for $15 -16 million or possibly more per year hoping that he can be convinced to play defense like he did 7 or 8 years ago?
If you keep Rondo I think you trade Gay and Collison. Gay could possibly bring back a better fitting piece at SG letting Casspi start at SF. Or if Gay is dealt for a draft pick it could open up enough cap room to sign a guy like Ryan Anderson who WOULD be a nice fit with Cousins. Collison is a tough guy to give up because he's a great backup/spot starting PG who is signed to an incredibly team friendly contract. But unless the next coach loves smallball too he's better as a trade piece than a 12 mpg backup. Especially when considering that DC's contract is up after next season anyway.
I think if you let Rondo walk then you still trade Gay but keep Collison. Whether there's a good use of that additional caproom to be had or not I don't know. Anderson would still be a good target. So would Barnes though I think he'll be vastly overpaid when all is said and done. Maybe dealing for draft picks would be the best bet. They'll be the absolute best deal once the new CBA kicks in, the most likely way for the Kings to acquire talent (assuming they pan out) and there are a number of guys in this draft that I think would be good fits around Cousins.
If you trade Cousins then obviously you blow everything up, trade Gay (and everyone else) and let Rondo walk. Considering the trade swaps and the picks owed to Chicago and Philadelphia this would be a tougher rebuild than normal, to say the least. The Kings would REALLY have to hit on their pick and any picks they get from trading Boogie or it's (at minimum) another 5 or 6 years of misery.
Tough decisions to make this summer. But I hope Rondo/Gay/Cousins aren't all back on the roster next summer.
To me Rudy Gay is a solid third option on a contending team. He's not a #2 and his game doesn't even really compliment Cousins' all that well. Offensively Rondo should be a fourth or fifth scoring option on a good team. AND if he's your starting PG you'd better have at least two other guys in the starting lineup who can stretch the floor and who aren't iso players. Cousins can shoot from distance but he shouldn't be launching so many threes and he's not exactly Ray Allen. Rudy Gay is a career 34% shooter. So in my mind to make the Kings work with a Rondo/Gay/Cousins core you'd need a great shooter at SG who is a true second option on defense, is a very good defender and who also somehow has a very low usage rate. Ideally the starting PF should be a good shooter as well but he also needs to be a good defender with a low usage rate and hopefully a good passer as well.
WCS may be able to grow into that idealized PF role to some extent but that SG doesn't exist. Klay Thompson is about the closest match I can think of but he's got a 26% usage rate on a team that has Curry, Green, Iguodala, Barnes etc. So he needs the ball in his hands to be effective too.
So in my mind not all three of those guys (Rondo, Gay, Cousins) shouldn't be back next year. The one of the three that makes the most sense to keep is Cousins. So what about the other two?
With Rondo I can overlook the poor shooting but not the atrocious defense. I don't think it's a physical issue at all (though he's not as quick laterally as he was) but solely effort. So do you sign a guy for $15 -16 million or possibly more per year hoping that he can be convinced to play defense like he did 7 or 8 years ago?
If you keep Rondo I think you trade Gay and Collison. Gay could possibly bring back a better fitting piece at SG letting Casspi start at SF. Or if Gay is dealt for a draft pick it could open up enough cap room to sign a guy like Ryan Anderson who WOULD be a nice fit with Cousins. Collison is a tough guy to give up because he's a great backup/spot starting PG who is signed to an incredibly team friendly contract. But unless the next coach loves smallball too he's better as a trade piece than a 12 mpg backup. Especially when considering that DC's contract is up after next season anyway.
I think if you let Rondo walk then you still trade Gay but keep Collison. Whether there's a good use of that additional caproom to be had or not I don't know. Anderson would still be a good target. So would Barnes though I think he'll be vastly overpaid when all is said and done. Maybe dealing for draft picks would be the best bet. They'll be the absolute best deal once the new CBA kicks in, the most likely way for the Kings to acquire talent (assuming they pan out) and there are a number of guys in this draft that I think would be good fits around Cousins.
If you trade Cousins then obviously you blow everything up, trade Gay (and everyone else) and let Rondo walk. Considering the trade swaps and the picks owed to Chicago and Philadelphia this would be a tougher rebuild than normal, to say the least. The Kings would REALLY have to hit on their pick and any picks they get from trading Boogie or it's (at minimum) another 5 or 6 years of misery.
Tough decisions to make this summer. But I hope Rondo/Gay/Cousins aren't all back on the roster next summer.
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ALIEN POISON lost credibility back in the Adleman era..... Complete and utter hack. So many great sports reporters have left the Bee and yet she somehow retains a job. It is the main reason I cancelled the Bee a long time ago. I made several complaints to the sports editor. No response, so I just quit buying their crap. I don't go to their website either.
And before you claim I'm a sexist, Susan Slusser is one of the best sports reporters on the West Coast.
And before you claim I'm a sexist, Susan Slusser is one of the best sports reporters on the West Coast.
Don't worry. I don't think anyone will claim you're sexist. I feel the same way about her. The problem is the sports editor isn't much better. The contentious relationship between the Kings and the Bee has been around for a long time. I decided years ago the Bee is trying way too hard to be edgy about the Kings when they really just need to do a competent job of reporting the facts.
I still miss Mark Kreidler and Scott Howard-Cooper. They would be critical of the team, players, etc. without trying to turn it into a personal vendetta. That, of course, didn't sit well with their bosses and they were let go.
I still miss Mark Kreidler and Scott Howard-Cooper. They would be critical of the team, players, etc. without trying to turn it into a personal vendetta. That, of course, didn't sit well with their bosses and they were let go.
Agreed, on both counts. I read enough of Ailene's Kings coverage during the Adelman era to write her off completely. All she does is pick sides and instigate and she frequently asks leading questions to fish out quotes which fit her agenda. She's not a reporter at all, she writes op-ed pieces and then passes them off as reporting. And Susan Slusser really is excellent. She's always well informed and does a great job covering the day-to-day storylines with the A's and making you feel like you're getting a peak behind the scenes at the various quirky personalities of the players and coaches.
Your probably right about Barnes being close to a max guy. To be honest, I'm not looking at him to be my number two guy. He might well turn out to be that, but I'm fine if he comes in and plays solid defense, and hits his outsides shots. Lets remember that he's still a very young player, and would be a part of the foundation of the team along with Cousins, Willie, Omri etc. Barnes is a team player. Obviously if we were to sign him, and that's a big if, he would take up most if not all of our cap space. But by signing him, we make Gay expendable and therefore a tradable asset. So while we would be capped out, we would still have ways to improve the team. If we get lucky in the draft and Buddy Hield is there for us, we may have our SG of the future. Hield is a good defender as well as being a good, if not the best shooter in college today.
Of course if we go after Barnes, then we don't go after Ryan Anderson. I could live with either decision. I don't realistically see how we can obtain both, but who knows, maybe Vlade can work a miracle...
Of course if we go after Barnes, then we don't go after Ryan Anderson. I could live with either decision. I don't realistically see how we can obtain both, but who knows, maybe Vlade can work a miracle...
Okay, I keep reading these things even though I tell myself I shouldn't. I do have a request...When you're talking about Harrison Barnes, could you please use HBarnes or something so I don't have an immediate heart attack thinking you guys are referring to SactownsFinest, the irrepressible Matt Barnes?