Culture and moving forward

#1
I opened a thread, as I did not know where to put my thoughts, but if moderators have a better idea, please remove it :)

I am so glad when I heard Pop's comments about changes in Sacramento.. I am trying to explain for few years what Divac wanted to do, but many people did not understand that.. Sure Vlade made mistakes, which would be strange if he didn't as more experienced GM's do, but he had a goal and he reached there faster than I expected.. Less than a two years ago Kings were dysfunctional franchise for years, and now you have WCS saying that whole team is on a same page.. I knew Kings will start winning, but I was not expecting it this fast, sure it is a start of a season, but so far so good..

Couple of things that I really like:
1. Like I already said culture.. These kids really love playing together, you can see that nobody cares about stats, whole bench is jumping all the time, nobody gets skipped in offense on purpose.. This is only reason why Kings have 8 wins, they still do not have a pure quality, but they overachieve because they are a team.. Also nobody complains, Z-Bo is in suit, Gilles is not plaing much, MBIII is second pick on a draft and he does not get minutes other players from his class do, but all of them are there for a team.. This is gold..
2. Player developement.. Last year lot of people were talking that Fox is a bust, and look at him now.. Most of the fans just look at the stats and if player scores 20 pts or handles 10 assists he is great, next game he gets 10 points and he is a bust.. This is a problem of a fast world we live in, but that is another subject.. Anyway, we do not see what is happening outside of 48 minutes in the court, and why young players maybe do not play many minutes or do not have good stats, but you can see after a while that something is done.. Same thing with MBIII or Gilles, just because they are 2nd pick and one of best high school players of its generation does not mean they must play 35 minutes and if they do not they are busts.. Almost all players look better now, than last year, so that is great thing to have..
3. Players rejuvenation.. as we see on Shump plays much better than what he looked with Cavs, he looks like when he vac a Knick.. This can be good thing, you can bring players that are on down side, getting something in return, and trying to get them back in form so you can either trade them for something or get good player.
4. Switch defense, offense and positionsless basketball.. These are most important things in NBA today, how good you defend and attack missmatches.. Now Kings have bigs that can defend guards which is great thing to have, if you can defend two positions down, you can easily played than that position.. In other words if MBIII can defend SF with ease, he can play it and than have adventage in offense on that miss match.. This is why I am more and more for MBIII pick.. For example I would never have Jokic in a team if I want to win something, yes he is flashy, he can attack and his defence is ok in regular season, but what the hack should I do in a play off match when opponent team goes every possesion for him to switch to guard.. Kings have huge potential in future basketball..
5. Continuity.. Joerger, having continuity on bench is from outmost importance if you want to win.

Couple of things Kings should do in future:
1. Draft picks.. Hope lesson is learned, do not give away your draft picks (unless you can get a star player).. Also second round picks can be great thing to have, in second round you can take either some raw talent that can be big shoot, or you can get some Euro guy and stash him untill he is ready for NBA.. Now it is lot harder to get Euro player with great potential in second round, as world is more global, but you can still find it. Low risk high reward.
2. Like I mentioned rejuvenation of players, trying to get some good vets that are in down phase, but maybe can help you while getting assets at the same time.. Vets are super important, yeah it would be great to have 5 players at the age of 21 playing and growing, but that does not work like that.. For players to grow thay need to have veteran presence there and they need to play to win, not to get 20 points if they want to progess..
3. Not overpaying.. If you can bring player you need, even for max it is ok, but do not to give players money just beacuse nobody else wanted to come..

So keep going this direction and future is bright..
 
#2
Last night's game against OKC proved to me that not only are the new Kings playing fast and being unselfish, they also have picked up some new confidence to stand up to players like Westbrook, Paul and other serious trash talkers. Shumpert in particular has helped toughen up the team culture when it comes to mental toughness. It is essential to winning basketball. Its why I like Koufus so much. Its why Fox showed us something last night against Westbrook. These guys are starting to believe. It is hard to get and easy to lose. Great progress in how they view themselves.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#4
Last night's game against OKC proved to me that not only are the new Kings playing fast and being unselfish, they also have picked up some new confidence to stand up to players like Westbrook, Paul and other serious trash talkers. Shumpert in particular has helped toughen up the team culture when it comes to mental toughness. It is essential to winning basketball. Its why I like Koufus so much. Its why Fox showed us something last night against Westbrook. These guys are starting to believe. It is hard to get and easy to lose. Great progress in how they view themselves.
This is quite possibly my favorite post of yours of all time. :)
 
#5
Thanks VF21. It is pretty easy to tell which people have played competitive basketball at some level, because they understand the mental aspects. It is the part of the game that always fascinated me. Growing up on the playgrounds around Wash DC playing for money was typical. We learned a lot of life lessons from a young age.

I still have memories of pick up games a long time ago. Most gym rats do. Some guy showed at Hec-Edmonson Pavillion in Seattle at the U of W. Most games were pretty civilized. This guy thought he was going to show us how to play street ball. He liked to grab jerseys, throw hips, chicken wing, that kind of stuff. I stopped the game and asked him "is this really how you want to play?" "Its the only way I play" he said. I got in his shorts and played the way we grew up. I was lifting weights then and weighed about 30 pounds more than in high school. He never scored another bucket and left. Sometimes it is not the most talented team that wins, but the one with the most confidence, even in the NBA, maybe especially in the NBA.
 
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#7
It was nice of Pop to make those positive comments, he is a class act.

The Kings Organization deserves the platitudes and attaboys.

I loved the way the Young Fellas stood up to OKC even when they were draining threes at the end of the game.

Fox standing up to Westbrook after all the "rock the baby" crap was especially satisfying:)

Marv blocking Adams was also a sweet moment. This Young Super team is fun to watch:)

Scoreboard!
 
#8
Moving forward?

How is Vlade gonna find the money to pay all these guys?

Fox, Buddy, Bogs, WCS.... that's not even considering Bagley, if he lives up to his sky high potential.

Quick, Vivek, invent another tech thingie! Or whatever it is you billionaire dweebs do!
I hope its not an issue. Id like to think its nothing but i just cant help but think back to when we jettisoned Cousins partly because Vivek didnt want to pay him. If we choose not to match WCS this summer which is a possibility, depending on what we do with the cap space, we might earn a negative rep.

We better have the funds to extend our guys and pay luxury tax or our ability to compete as a franchise is done before it started.
 
#9
I hope its not an issue. Id like to think its nothing but i just cant help but think back to when we jettisoned Cousins partly because Vivek didnt want to pay him. If we choose not to match WCS this summer which is a possibility, depending on what we do with the cap space, we might earn a negative rep.

We better have the funds to extend our guys and pay luxury tax or our ability to compete as a franchise is done before it started.
I don't think it's that we didn't want to pay Cousins - it's that paying him meant we'd be almost frozen cap wise.

The stupid pick from next year is a result of trying to get out of cap hell. So really we mortgaged everything on that and it was getting us nowhere and then suddenly you'd have to commit to paying a guy an obscene amount of money and running with what you have.

If the team were in the playoffs I don't think paying Cousins would be an issue. It's paying premium for a losing product.

and I hate to say this because it's like beating a dead horse and I still like Cuz, but if it's Cousins instead of WCS getting into it with Adams and Westbrook the other night, he probably gets ejected and the game goes with him.
 
#10
Thanks VF21. It is pretty easy to tell which people have played competitive basketball at some level, because they understand the mental aspects. It is the part of the game that always fascinated me. Growing up on the playgrounds around Wash DC playing for money was typical. We learned a lot of life lessons from a young age.

I still have memories of pick up games a long time ago. Most gym rats do. Some guy showed at Hec-Edmonson Pavillion in Seattle at the U of W. Most games were pretty civilized. This guy thought he was going to show us how to play street ball. He liked to grab jerseys, throw hips, chicken wing, that kind of stuff. I stopped the game and asked him "is this really how you want to play?" "Its the only way I play" he said. I got in his shorts and played the way we grew up. I was lifting weights then and weighed about 40 pounds more than in high school. He never scored another bucket and left. Sometimes it is not the most talented team that wins, but the one with the most confidence, even in the NBA, maybe especially in the NBA.
Is this Brick’s burner account? Just kidding.