King Baller
All-Star
Cole Aldrich - Any questions?
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Cole Aldrich
- Thread starter King Baller
- Start date
Chupacabra
Starter
At worst hes a good body for DMC to spar against. Hes definitely a space eater. All he really needs to be able to do is catch the ball and not turn it over.
This. There are plenty of worse things to have as your 11th or 12th man than a 24 year old 7'0 big. He's had a few nice moments with us and deserves a contract for the 5th big spot.
Funny enough, it's looking like the Trob trade brought in 3 keepers for next season. Obviously, we're not going to pay $5mil for Douglas and Aldrich as we currently are doing, but I would not have any problem spending half that to bring them back.
Glenn
Hall of Famer
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Unfortunately the truth of the matter is that with a radically new regime coming to town and likely replacing every level of the basketball structure and wanting to make a splash, its fairly unlikely any of our unattached assets will get a chance to come back. In fact not even all of our attached ones.
Flopi
Bench
I don't care about the stats but i watched closely Aldrich in the first half.
I was impressed with his defense : nothing spectacular but very solid fondamental defense : helping, showing, boxing out and always in very good position.
I think he was a big part of this good team D that allowed only 36 points in the first half.
I hope DMC could notice that. Cousins' man defense is OK but I think that his positionning and his slow reaction often hurt the team defense by easily allowing opponents driving to the basket.
It's only a mental and fondamental thing though as Cousins has the physical tools to be (at least) as good as Aldrich in that area.
I was impressed with his defense : nothing spectacular but very solid fondamental defense : helping, showing, boxing out and always in very good position.
I think he was a big part of this good team D that allowed only 36 points in the first half.
I hope DMC could notice that. Cousins' man defense is OK but I think that his positionning and his slow reaction often hurt the team defense by easily allowing opponents driving to the basket.
It's only a mental and fondamental thing though as Cousins has the physical tools to be (at least) as good as Aldrich in that area.
ParniValjak
All-Star
I sincerely hope Tyreke is one unattached guy that is back for long term. Aldrich would be OK as a 5th big on any team. Sets good screens and clogs the middle a bit but and has some size. Other than that, there is not too much else to get excited about.
HighFlyingMonkey
Starter
I thought the biggest difference in the game was the DEFENSE he played. His stats were meh, but if you watched closely he was harassing ballhandlers off the pick and roll, smushing anything that came close to the rim, and hustling his behind off to rotate. Granted the Bulls have no real shot creators without Rose and Hinrich, but usually great executing teams MURDER us when Demarcus is in the game. Its because Cousins is slow, lazy and groundbound defensively. Having Aldrich out there was a real eye-opener.
I'm slowly starting to come around on the trade Demarcus bandwagon. I just don't think we can ever have a competent defensive team with him as the starting C, even if 1-4 we have great defenders.
I'm slowly starting to come around on the trade Demarcus bandwagon. I just don't think we can ever have a competent defensive team with him as the starting C, even if 1-4 we have great defenders.
L
LWP777
Guest
I love some of the things he brings to the team -- hustle, defense, sets screens, blocks or alters shots, etc. He's not very good offensively but he's better than I thought. The important thing is that he knows his roll. He's rarely going to take a bad shot.
Simply put, he balances the floor for us and opens things up for our guards.
Simply put, he balances the floor for us and opens things up for our guards.
Yes and no. Even though we will want to overhaul the team, we will still need warm bodies to fill the end of the bench. Why not bring back a few guys who have some familiarity with the team and that played well in limited minutes? Both Toney and Cole have useful attributes in certain situations, especially for our roster. It's also possible that our new management sits on this roster for the first off-season to get a real look at who they want to keep and get rid of.
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Padrino
All-Star
some retention will likely occur (as it did when the sonics/thunder changed hands), simply because it's near impossible to overhaul an entire nba roster in a single offseason and have any hope to compete right away. and after overpaying to acquire the team, you can be sure that new owners will want a competitive squad that can put asses in the seats. undoubtedly, changes will be made, and i'm certain that new ownership/management will be aggressive in pursuing those changes...
however, if the team remains in sacramento, some of the same challenges we face will remain, as well, regardless of new ownership's approach. after all, it is still a small market with difficult prospects to overcome regarding the acquisition of quality free agents. it's highly unlikely that everyone who gets free of their contractual obligations is gonna wanna come here just because we've got shiny new owners, and honestly, that's our only hope of seeing tyreke evans retained, because the one major free agent the kings may be able to sign is their own...
as for cole aldrich, it could go either way. he hustles, and he's a good character guy, so if the price is right, they might decide to keep him. but it's a daunting task ahead for new ownership, generally speaking. if overhaul is the name of the game, then they've got a lot of it to do in very little time, so some sacrifices might be made in the process, perhaps including our impending free agents. but if they decide not to trade DMC, and if they can hold onto tyreke at a halfway decent price, i'll be satisfied. the rest is in the hands of whatever capable individual they hire to tackle this mess of a roster...
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There is room on any team for a big guy that can play defense, rebound and run the floor. Thats what Aldrich did last night. He sets good screens and knows how to roll and jam. Maybe not a starting center, but a decent player and not prone to turnovers. He really fills up the space underneath compared to Hayes.
Darth Divac
Bench
Do you guys know what this means? We get to waive Chuck! Just give his minutes to Aldrich, and BOOM! he's dead salary!
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
I personally have no problem with Douglas and Aldrich as end of the bench fillers -- indeed as defensive rolepalyers they are EXACTLY the sort of guys I think you should fill the end of your bench with.
But realistically, its not likely. Everyone from owners to GMs to coaches will likely be cleared out. Institutional memory will be largely wiped clean. And the new owners of any franchise are always desperate to show that a new leaf has been turned, in particular when there is a wide perception of mismanagement by the old team. Hence they will want to make spalshy changes, and large scale ones to signal the new age. And guys like Aldrich and Douglas being new with little time to show anything, players with little national rep to carry them through, and then having no contracts going forward just make it very easy -- to a new owners those are two open roster spots he can easily put new names into to show the world times are a changing.
Siranthony
Starter
I agree! I know this was a night where the Bulls had a bad on and the Kings a good one. But I saw excitement out there I haven't for a long time. I think I like Aldrich.
I also had the thought of trading Demarcus for the first time. I think Demarcus has monster potential but half the time he is lazy out there. He plays half heartedly until he gets mad. Them he plays hard before he loses his composure.
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Gotta love Kings fans. Or not. Not sure I have ever seen a group of fans so quick to combine the knee jerk with the throw their guy under the bus principles. This nonsense is straight out of the Webebr days. At a certain point a fanbase gets the teams they deserve. For about 20 of the 27 Sacramento seasons that has been a loser.
Darth Divac
Bench
While I haven't seriously considered it, the thought of trading Cousins has recently crossed my mind....Hmmmm.........
Glenn
Hall of Famer
The thought of trading Cousins has never crossed my mind. What crossed my mind YET AGAIN is that there are too many shooters on the floor. I believe this concept has been preached for half a decade. Somebody took the three players, IT, Tyreke, and Cousins and pointed out that any two of them functioned very well with the subtraction of one of them. Our offensive-minded three need the ball. Take out one and there is enough ball to satisfy the two. That's one point and as I think Cousins and Tyreke are more important than IT in the long run, I will still lobby for him to come off the bench.
There has become a huge sticky spot in our offense. That is the use of Cousins. It seems satisfactory to Smart to have an offense where Cousins periodically is given the ball to go into iso mode. There is no other type of play made for him. So Cousins gets the ball and everyone else watches. That's OK, I suppose, but will never lead to a game like last night. It does not lead to an offense where everyone feels like they will participate. Also, I swear that IT tends not to see Tyreke when Cousins is on the floor. In the PnR, Cousins gives a half hearted attempt at setting a pick and when he rolls, he knows he will not get the ball. The irony of that is that who is better than Cousins at rolling to the rim? This suits his skill set. Several times it is because IT doesn't even look to Cousins when he rolls. That's a waste.
We learned something last night and that is that there are many players that are useful. Some posters have said we have little skill on our team. I would say the opposite. Our problem is that what skill we have is not properly used. It will be good when a new regime takes over the Kings.
There has become a huge sticky spot in our offense. That is the use of Cousins. It seems satisfactory to Smart to have an offense where Cousins periodically is given the ball to go into iso mode. There is no other type of play made for him. So Cousins gets the ball and everyone else watches. That's OK, I suppose, but will never lead to a game like last night. It does not lead to an offense where everyone feels like they will participate. Also, I swear that IT tends not to see Tyreke when Cousins is on the floor. In the PnR, Cousins gives a half hearted attempt at setting a pick and when he rolls, he knows he will not get the ball. The irony of that is that who is better than Cousins at rolling to the rim? This suits his skill set. Several times it is because IT doesn't even look to Cousins when he rolls. That's a waste.
We learned something last night and that is that there are many players that are useful. Some posters have said we have little skill on our team. I would say the opposite. Our problem is that what skill we have is not properly used. It will be good when a new regime takes over the Kings.
Siranthony
Starter
I get your point and I can't blame you. But this team has looked bad for too long and Demarcus had been thrown out of too many games. I would love it if he takes some responsibility but when?
That's the thing about maturity. It takes time. That's why we're not adults out of the womb. (Don't think about it - it's not a pretty picture.) I believe he'll get there. Fans who want a quick emotional growth curve probably haven't worked with children/young adults for a long period of time...they do stupid stuff well into their late 20's...and some never grow up.
DMC has the unfortunate displeasure of having to grow up in public, without any real veteran guidance. Coaching is nice, but really, a "been there, done that" mentor would probably be more useful to him. On this roster, who is that supposed to be? Garcia may have been the closest thing to it...let that sink in for a moment.
DMC has the unfortunate displeasure of having to grow up in public, without any real veteran guidance. Coaching is nice, but really, a "been there, done that" mentor would probably be more useful to him. On this roster, who is that supposed to be? Garcia may have been the closest thing to it...let that sink in for a moment.
Padrino
All-Star
why the impatience? i swear, kings fans were both blessed and cursed with the arrival of chris webber, vlade divac, and peja stojakovic, three players who were either fully-formed or very nearly so upon their arrival, c-webb being the one with the most room to mature. that team was veteran. this one is not. it's almost as if a great many kings fans simply do not understand the nature of a rebuild, and that it takes time to develop a superstar-level talent, particularly a 22-year-old immature superstar-level talent at the single most difficult position to play in the contemporary nba. these guys don't play three or four years of college ball anymore. they play one. they come into the league unprepared. yet demarcus cousins is already routinely delivering 20/10 games to a team that hasn't had a 20/10 player since webber. generally speaking, franchise players are so ****ing difficult to come by in a league of 30, with a CBA that theoretically spreads the talent out. franchise centers are even harder to come by, but the kings may just have one. failing to appreciate that fact is, as brick says, perhaps why kings fans are gifted with the mess of a team they deserve at the moment. the lack of perspective present on this board is at times damning to the senses...
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All we had was a great win last night and it answers all our questions? A little hard to believe. I liked Aldrich last night and want to keep him but that is all. Its interesting how well we played without Cousins but we've done the same when Tyreke was missing. Let's see how it goes from here before making our moves. Hell, maybe our team will be here next year and owned and managed by the Maloofs. That would change our "futures" planning. Right now lets wait a while.
