I agree with your post but want to take a second to address this. R. Anderson was presented an opportunity he couldn't pass up to play under a coach and system that is a perfect fit for him. While Tolliver hasn't gotten much burn yet when our reserve unit begins to solidify itself I can see him being a factor there with Lawson leading that bunch.
I don't mind the Temple and Barnes signings. They hang their hats on defense, that's a good start. They are also good teammates and character guys. I'm not saying Tolliver isn't, he seems like a professional to the fullest.
That said, Ryan Anderson cost a pretty penny, even for Houston...the Kings signing him to that type of contract would of been ludicrous IMO. I'm glad they dodged that bullet, same with Wes Matthews, since we are on the subject of free agency.
We want to talk about culture change, sure...it starts with the top of the food chain and then progresses down to the GM & head coach. Bringing in all these players for one season or two won't hurt, it's just spinning wheels though. The Kings need to start hitting on some of these draft selections and can't be giving any away anymore under any circumstances, especially when nobody wants to come here.
That said, Ryan Anderson cost a pretty penny, even for Houston...the Kings signing him to that type of contract would of been ludicrous IMO. I'm glad they dodged that bullet, same with Wes Matthews, since we are on the subject of free agency.
We want to talk about culture change, sure...it starts with the top of the food chain and then progresses down to the GM & head coach. Bringing in all these players for one season or two won't hurt, it's just spinning wheels though. The Kings need to start hitting on some of these draft selections and can't be giving any away anymore under any circumstances, especially when nobody wants to come here.
Little late to this thread party but I see a little of both sides. There's been times where I've questioned who Dave's got out on the floor, but I'd say more so with ty Lawson (out there too much), temple (at first not enough but his 4th qtr minutes are epic) and then there's times where I think even Ben could provide more but anyone talking like Kosta and Barnes needs to play less has to take a step back and look at the player. Kosta is my favorite king right now behind temple, he may be totally unable to hit two hook shots in a row or jump over my wallet but the guy gets AFTER it when he's out there. Same with Barnes. You can feel how badly those types of guys want to win, and as a coach myself, It's really hard not to start/give serious minutes to those guys whose energy can be so effective on other players *cough cough cousins*, despite even their own performance
I think Joerger is finding the right rotation for the team. I'm happy that he's willing to experiment. Even if it results in a few losses. This team needs to figure out what works and what doesn't.
Pros:
Cons:
Overall I think Joerger is doing a fine job. I am starting to see signs of progress and maybe just maybe this team can build the identity they so desperately need.
Pros:
- B-Mac looks like he did under Malone. Playing so much better and I hope he starts getting some more minutes.
- Boog is still getting fed. And he's getting a bit more space than he used to.
- Rudy looks better (although I personally think it's because he's trying to build his value to get traded)
- Defensive effort is much better consistently
Cons:
- BALL MOVEMENT. We get stuck sometimes on the ball movement front and it has cost us games
- Barnes is getting too many minutes. He's a great glue guy and I love him. And for a while I thought he should be getting that many minutes. But his stats show otherwise. 38% from the field and 33% from 3 doesn't justify the amount of minutes he's getting. Especially when guys like Cassipi and B-Mac deserve more playing time.
- Basketball IQ. There aren't many guys on this team that make that "wow what a smart play" play during important times. A lot of our veterans make boneheaded plays during crucial moments.
- Kosta needs less minutes. He doesn't jive well with Boog. Would even hope we could potentially trade him.
Overall I think Joerger is doing a fine job. I am starting to see signs of progress and maybe just maybe this team can build the identity they so desperately need.
I don't think it's as major as you think. No coach is perfect, Dave is still figuring it out.
Casspi can help - benching him might actually help when he comes in, given that Omri is fiery and is always out to prove something.
Barnes is also contributing on both sides of the ball, which makes it more difficult for him.
Ben is playing much better. Whether that's dowo to Dave, or a reduced role, or maturation, who knows. But he's definitely playing with more confidence.
After a 5 game hiatus of terrible (but competitive) play, we are now starting to move the ball again and play defense (as we did in the first few games). Let's hope we can make this consistent now. That has always been our problem but now we have a coach that the players like and believe in. Lets see what happens.
I love Boogie and Temple, goddamn. Shoutout to Barnes who has been awesome, and Rudy who hasn't quit and who, IMO, is now open to staying if we have a good season. Collison was a welcome addition back and also showed some great leadership/encouragement in the last few games.
Casspi can help - benching him might actually help when he comes in, given that Omri is fiery and is always out to prove something.
Barnes is also contributing on both sides of the ball, which makes it more difficult for him.
Ben is playing much better. Whether that's dowo to Dave, or a reduced role, or maturation, who knows. But he's definitely playing with more confidence.
After a 5 game hiatus of terrible (but competitive) play, we are now starting to move the ball again and play defense (as we did in the first few games). Let's hope we can make this consistent now. That has always been our problem but now we have a coach that the players like and believe in. Lets see what happens.
I love Boogie and Temple, goddamn. Shoutout to Barnes who has been awesome, and Rudy who hasn't quit and who, IMO, is now open to staying if we have a good season. Collison was a welcome addition back and also showed some great leadership/encouragement in the last few games.
The only guy Rudy is interested in is himself IMO, this is his last big pay day and he knows he better show effort and better body language because teams are watching and there will be someone that throws some decent money his way, Kings need to do themselves and him a favor and part ways in these next couple of months.
Rudy is having a very good year, which is not a surprise in a contract year. He fits better in this system and knows Joerger some. I think the Kings concern is whether he will be back next year and if he's playing to be traded. Remember that Vlade's statement about the roster and free agency was "Are you in or are you out?"
It is time for this team to roll. We need this game tonight! The last two games have been epic in terms of swerving the car back into the road when it was on the verge of veering off the cliff into the abyss of despondency.
Koufos and Cousins didn't work, and I will be the first to admit I was wrong. I thought these guys could mesh in slow down pace with both guys in better shape and high-low offense, but there was not just enough space in the key for the team to flow offensively, and guys like Lawson and A-Slow-o room to operate.
But complete analysis includes pointing out Boogie is having his best start to a season ever (BY FAR!) so he was NOT slowed playing aside KK. Koufos missed SO many frigging easy shots, so I wonder if that is attributed to playing with Cousins or you know, just missing SO many frigging easy shots!
In other words, if this guy had any degree of touch within 5 feet, a simple ability to catch the basketball, and flip with any amount of skill, he'd be making 60% of his FGs and probably still a starter.
But it's time for this team to put that line-up behind us and roll with these starters:
PG - Collison
SG - Affalo
SF - Rudy
PF - Barnes
C - Boogie
Our bench is now three guards (Ben, Temple, Ty) and Koufos, with Tolliver and Willie as high fivers. That's a 9-man rotation that can get good spacing with first and second units but I wonder where the boards are going to come from with our bigs out of the rotation. If Joerger continues to roll with this rotation, our biggest PF at any and all times is Barnes or Rudy.
I don't think you can get away with this rotation against bigger teams. You are gonna get hammered on the boards. But maybe that's a concession we have to make to get the most out of our talent base. (?) Or Joerger turns back to guys fallen out of favor. Probably the latter but his lack of confidence in Omri and Willie is justified.
When the Kings got off to a 9-6 start under Malone, they were led by the trifecta of Collison, Rudy and Cousins, playing like stars. The same is occurring now except (1) Collison was late to the party and (2) the role players have been largely woeful to mediocre. So instead of 9-6, those numbers are reversed.
If your supporting cast steps up, this is a trio of stars you can win 45-50 games in a weakened West, presuming their level of performance continues:
The Kings rank 15th in offensive efficiency with a 54.6 TS%. What does that tell you about the supporting cast when the TS is 54.6% relative to the efficiency at which our top 3 guys are scoring? It tells me the other guys have NOT been very good!
(Temple is 58% TS but besides him the other guys are mostly bricking).
If our role players give us more with the new rotation, especially Ben, Lawson and Affalo, we move into Top 10 team in offensive efficiency. This is one way to get our record to .500 and higher. The other means to respectability is improved defense. Currently we are 28th out of 30 teams in defensive efficiency. So much for Joerger as a defensive guru
The good news is we are middle of the pack defending the three pointer, thanks to Temple and Affalo and Ty being more aggressive around the arc. But we are middle of the pack in TS% allowed and below average in rebound rate. The bottom line is we are not getting enough stops and clearing the defensive boards.
From my perspective, the hope is the new rotation, effectively amounting to Koufos as back-up, and Willie benched, will result in better spacing and pace leading to better offensive execution and more times forcing the opponent to half-court sets and better defensive efficiency. I don't see how we improve our rebounding rate, but we can become a better defensive team overall by becoming more efficient offensively.
This is basically where the team stands, on the precipice of respectability if they keep moving incrementally in favorable direction with roles more clearly delineated and synergistic.
Koufos and Cousins didn't work, and I will be the first to admit I was wrong. I thought these guys could mesh in slow down pace with both guys in better shape and high-low offense, but there was not just enough space in the key for the team to flow offensively, and guys like Lawson and A-Slow-o room to operate.
But complete analysis includes pointing out Boogie is having his best start to a season ever (BY FAR!) so he was NOT slowed playing aside KK. Koufos missed SO many frigging easy shots, so I wonder if that is attributed to playing with Cousins or you know, just missing SO many frigging easy shots!
In other words, if this guy had any degree of touch within 5 feet, a simple ability to catch the basketball, and flip with any amount of skill, he'd be making 60% of his FGs and probably still a starter.
But it's time for this team to put that line-up behind us and roll with these starters:
PG - Collison
SG - Affalo
SF - Rudy
PF - Barnes
C - Boogie
Our bench is now three guards (Ben, Temple, Ty) and Koufos, with Tolliver and Willie as high fivers. That's a 9-man rotation that can get good spacing with first and second units but I wonder where the boards are going to come from with our bigs out of the rotation. If Joerger continues to roll with this rotation, our biggest PF at any and all times is Barnes or Rudy.
I don't think you can get away with this rotation against bigger teams. You are gonna get hammered on the boards. But maybe that's a concession we have to make to get the most out of our talent base. (?) Or Joerger turns back to guys fallen out of favor. Probably the latter but his lack of confidence in Omri and Willie is justified.
When the Kings got off to a 9-6 start under Malone, they were led by the trifecta of Collison, Rudy and Cousins, playing like stars. The same is occurring now except (1) Collison was late to the party and (2) the role players have been largely woeful to mediocre. So instead of 9-6, those numbers are reversed.
If your supporting cast steps up, this is a trio of stars you can win 45-50 games in a weakened West, presuming their level of performance continues:
- Boogie 57% TS and 1.2 asst to TO, 28 PER (Cousins is playing fairly brilliant basketball, fun to watch)
- Darren 59% TS 2.4 asst to TO, 14 PPG. 17 PER (same efficient scoring rate as last year, better passing stats)
- Rudy 58% TS 1.3 asst to TO, 20 PPG and 20 PER (besides coming up empty @ POR and 1-2 other crunch time moments, Rudy has been great)
The Kings rank 15th in offensive efficiency with a 54.6 TS%. What does that tell you about the supporting cast when the TS is 54.6% relative to the efficiency at which our top 3 guys are scoring? It tells me the other guys have NOT been very good!
(Temple is 58% TS but besides him the other guys are mostly bricking).
If our role players give us more with the new rotation, especially Ben, Lawson and Affalo, we move into Top 10 team in offensive efficiency. This is one way to get our record to .500 and higher. The other means to respectability is improved defense. Currently we are 28th out of 30 teams in defensive efficiency. So much for Joerger as a defensive guru
The good news is we are middle of the pack defending the three pointer, thanks to Temple and Affalo and Ty being more aggressive around the arc. But we are middle of the pack in TS% allowed and below average in rebound rate. The bottom line is we are not getting enough stops and clearing the defensive boards.
From my perspective, the hope is the new rotation, effectively amounting to Koufos as back-up, and Willie benched, will result in better spacing and pace leading to better offensive execution and more times forcing the opponent to half-court sets and better defensive efficiency. I don't see how we improve our rebounding rate, but we can become a better defensive team overall by becoming more efficient offensively.
This is basically where the team stands, on the precipice of respectability if they keep moving incrementally in favorable direction with roles more clearly delineated and synergistic.
I don't know if they will lose to Houston or in New Jersey, but they certainly will lose more games and some of those games will be games that "they should have won."
Hopefully, fans understand this, but I am sure some will doom and gloom and others will look for silver linings just as is happening now.
Hopefully, fans understand this, but I am sure some will doom and gloom and others will look for silver linings just as is happening now.
I've had some issues with Joerger's rotations, but I think he has done a good job so far. The lineup changes he has made make sense and should make us a more competitive team going forward.
It appears that Casspi is out of the rotation for the foreseeable future and Cauley-Stein has been hurting us when out on the floor. Tolliver has been meh so far and McLemore has been just alright thus far with two SGs ahead of him that should be getting the minutes. I'd still like to see Tolliver start next to Cousins as we'd matchup better against teams that play either smallball or regular sized 4s. Tolliver would be able to help with some of that wear and tear to start the game keeping Gay & Barnes fresher at the end of the game when we likely go with them at the 4.
Lastly, I'd like to see Joerger start Temple over Afflalo. A bench of Lawson, Temple, Barnes, & Koufos doesn't really have a go-to scorer. Afflalo would be that player off the bench while playing our best perimeter defender against opposing team's starting lineups (not to mention Temple has been shooting the 3 ball very well). It's not to say that I'm heavily opposed to the current lineup & rotation. I just think a couple slight tweaks will make it even better.
Collison (26 min) / Lawson (22 min)
Temple (14 min) / Afflalo (28 min) / Collison (6 min)
Gay (34 min) / Temple (14 min)
Tolliver (20 min) / Barnes (28 min)
Cousins (36 min) / Koufos (12 min)
Cousins - 36 min
Gay - 34 min
Collison - 32 min
Temple - 28 min
Afflalo - 28 min
Barnes - 28 min
Lawson - 22 min
Tolliver - 20 min
Koufos - 12 min
It appears that Casspi is out of the rotation for the foreseeable future and Cauley-Stein has been hurting us when out on the floor. Tolliver has been meh so far and McLemore has been just alright thus far with two SGs ahead of him that should be getting the minutes. I'd still like to see Tolliver start next to Cousins as we'd matchup better against teams that play either smallball or regular sized 4s. Tolliver would be able to help with some of that wear and tear to start the game keeping Gay & Barnes fresher at the end of the game when we likely go with them at the 4.
Lastly, I'd like to see Joerger start Temple over Afflalo. A bench of Lawson, Temple, Barnes, & Koufos doesn't really have a go-to scorer. Afflalo would be that player off the bench while playing our best perimeter defender against opposing team's starting lineups (not to mention Temple has been shooting the 3 ball very well). It's not to say that I'm heavily opposed to the current lineup & rotation. I just think a couple slight tweaks will make it even better.
Collison (26 min) / Lawson (22 min)
Temple (14 min) / Afflalo (28 min) / Collison (6 min)
Gay (34 min) / Temple (14 min)
Tolliver (20 min) / Barnes (28 min)
Cousins (36 min) / Koufos (12 min)
Cousins - 36 min
Gay - 34 min
Collison - 32 min
Temple - 28 min
Afflalo - 28 min
Barnes - 28 min
Lawson - 22 min
Tolliver - 20 min
Koufos - 12 min
I don't understand how one can mention one team overachieving and not think that in some of the games we have lost that we simply underachieved. We did not play up to the level we are capable of. I take every win and loss as evenly as I can because this is just the beginning of what will likely be a long process of becoming relevant again in the NBA landscape.
That's not true. Of course it's not going to be based on a rookie season alone but FAs definitely look at young talent, and I'll gladly eat crow if Papa is looking like a promising all-star by next season. Wiggins/KAT, Embiid + Simmons, heck maybe even the Lakers this coming offseason... young talent and a team that looks like it's on the rise is far more attractive than a bunch of vets on a team that hasn't sniffed the playoffs in forever. If we make the playoffs, then at least we're a vet team that has a chance. If we don't ...