Donte Greene; 3:33
- Thread starter DeMoN
- Start date
I think Donte's defense on Beasley was one of the reasons the Kings won in Sota. Sure Donte was not a scoring machine but I saw nothing in Game one that warranted the hook from the starting unit. Omri may have played worse in the starters role in game two.
Westphal needs to have some patience with his rotation. These guys need to learn to play together and consistant roles would help them learn each others games.
If a guy wins the starting role, give him at least 5 games or so before yanking his chain!
KB
Westphal needs to have some patience with his rotation. These guys need to learn to play together and consistant roles would help them learn each others games.
If a guy wins the starting role, give him at least 5 games or so before yanking his chain!
KB
I think Donte needs a good game or two in good ol' Arco to help get him going. Someone mentioned in a game thread that atleast with Donte's lack of minutes we aren't seeing Wright yet so maybe fnally PW is set on our SF rotation. Now all we need is consistency from them it's a young season I'm not ready to throw in the towel for Donte just yet...
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Westphal said after the game that with the entire roster back, Cisco's and Heads emergence, and Omri's improvement on defense in the reasom Omri won the starting job. Sounds like Omri is the new sf. Sounds to me like coach think Omri is a few steps ahead of Donte, and was only going to bring him off the bench because of our lack of scoring off the bench. Now that Cisco and Head are contributing, we can afford to put Omri in the starting lineup where he believes be belongs. At least that's what I gather.
Sounds like Donte really screwed himself by showing up out of shape, and if Cisco and Head continue playing well, will have a toughtime finding minutes going forward.
Sounds like Donte really screwed himself by showing up out of shape, and if Cisco and Head continue playing well, will have a toughtime finding minutes going forward.
Good to hear Westphal actually finally settled on a starting 3, Omri plays hard as hell out there he deserves it. Sadly for Donte if Cisco continues to play like he has consisently he has to play tons of minutes as well. Here's hoping Donte keeps his head up and works hard to get all the way backkk in the rotation.
Maybe so but how much better are the "smarter" guys playing and how consistently, let he who is playing better play. As far as the coach sticking with a starter or a starting lineup ........ which player, which lineup? The team right now is full of underperformers so who do you pick? They all have potential. They all have played well a little and poorly at lot. So give the coach a break. He hasn't overlooked much stellar play. We are going to see more of this bouncing around in playing time, and then some more again. Hopefully, some will begin to play better. If not. put a blindfold on and start trading players.
I was confused myself why it took Westphal to put Donte in that late and for that short of a time. I mean the best he could of done atleast was go and D somebody up, because it sure wasn't working too well in the first half, we could of used his defense on somebody I'm sure. Regardless, I hope he gets more burn today.
I've been saying all along that Donte is not going to amount to anything other than a back of the bench player. He has all the tools and can't put them together in a game. He's fast, athletic, plays good D and has a nice shot....in practice. Only 1 tool at a time shows up in a game. He'll shoot 1-7 and have 3 blocks. Next game he shoots 4-6 with 1 rebound and 4 TO's. Dude is 6-11 and is still a tweener because his body type doesn't quite fit any position.
Right now Westphal is going to try and win. We have talent on the team and he's going to try and make a run for the 8th seed right now...and to do that he needs to play the best players available. When any hope of a playoff run is over, he'll stop playing guys like Head and play Donte more often.
Right now Westphal is going to try and win. We have talent on the team and he's going to try and make a run for the 8th seed right now...and to do that he needs to play the best players available. When any hope of a playoff run is over, he'll stop playing guys like Head and play Donte more often.
Donte plays some of our best defense at the wing position - he improved his rebounding - stopped being flashy and looking to score so much - and got benched for it.
We don't give our under 24 year old players playing time they will NEVER develop and if they don't develop we will never win in the future or even now!
Let's remember last season with all the lineup and rotation changes - are we going to see the same again? I hope not.
We don't give our under 24 year old players playing time they will NEVER develop and if they don't develop we will never win in the future or even now!
Let's remember last season with all the lineup and rotation changes - are we going to see the same again? I hope not.
I've had a lot to say about Donte, just like many of you. I've been critical, but I've always tried to keep a positive outlook about his future. I'm somewhat befuddled by how a player can go from being awarded the starting job, to the end of the bench after one game, and not even play at all in the third game. While I'll admit that Donte didn't exactly have a stellar first game, I don't think what I saw warranted losing his starting job. Thats a pretty short leash folks. So me thinks there's more than meets the eye.
There's no doubt that Greene is an enigma. He's sort of like mercury, the liquid metal. Interesting, and nice to look at, but your not sure just how to put it to use. So the question is: Is he truely a treasure box full of parts that just need to be put together right? Or is he just a beautifully wraped christmas box with nothing inside? I'm hoping for the former. But in truth, I have no idea. Maybe what he really needs is a change of scenery. I'm still pulling for him. But I think he's slowly running out of chances.
There's no doubt that Greene is an enigma. He's sort of like mercury, the liquid metal. Interesting, and nice to look at, but your not sure just how to put it to use. So the question is: Is he truely a treasure box full of parts that just need to be put together right? Or is he just a beautifully wraped christmas box with nothing inside? I'm hoping for the former. But in truth, I have no idea. Maybe what he really needs is a change of scenery. I'm still pulling for him. But I think he's slowly running out of chances.
Not sure I like it when it is said publicly that a player is a starter, and then disappears from rotation.
it might be too early, it might be that there are other reasons, but if the coaching stuff thought that Donte is our guy as starter, surely, it has to mean something more then just one game. good or bad.
If indeed, the coaching stuff thinks that now Omri is that guy, it has to raise questions on what made them change their minds that was not there before?!
else, it just going to show how little those definitions actually means.
it might be too early, it might be that there are other reasons, but if the coaching stuff thought that Donte is our guy as starter, surely, it has to mean something more then just one game. good or bad.
If indeed, the coaching stuff thinks that now Omri is that guy, it has to raise questions on what made them change their minds that was not there before?!
else, it just going to show how little those definitions actually means.
What happened to Donte truly is odd, and I don't ever remember seeing it before in pro sports. That is, having a player awarded a starting spot, and then get banished to the end of the bench for games 2 and 3. Donte wouldn't have played the 4 minutes in NJ if it wasn't for the foul trouble the rest of our bigs were in. He played well in those 4 minutes, and coach hasn't looked his way since.
Now I'm speculating here, as we all are, since none of us are privy to what goes on behind the scenes. But I think there clearly is something going on behind the scenes with Donte and the coaching staff. We already know he showed up to camp out of shape when he's in the biggest battle of his professional life.
Both Omri and Donte knew they were going to battle it out for a chance to start. Omri traind in Vegas for 5 weeks, played in the summer league, then spent close to a month playing with his NAT team, and returned to Vegas for 2 weeks to train prior to training camp. And in comparison Donte showed up out of shape, and doesn't seem to have added anything to his game judging by his preseason. Still, after all that, Donte was the starter for the opener, and we practically haven't seen him since.
Maybe I'm reaching here, but one thing I find telling about the situation, is that when JT struggles, as he did against NJ, he always gets a chance to redeem himself the following game. No matter what JT does, it doesn't result in him being banished to the end of the bench. In contrast, Donte is on a much, much shorter string. My educated guess would be the difference in the way Westphal handles the two is related to work ethic behind the scenes. I don't think coach is singling out Donte and purposely trying to end his time here in Sac. It just can't be as simple as Donte didn't play up to par in the opener, sohe's done playing for the next week. It doesn't work that way. There must be something which has built up, or is building up bhind the scenes.
Now I'm speculating here, as we all are, since none of us are privy to what goes on behind the scenes. But I think there clearly is something going on behind the scenes with Donte and the coaching staff. We already know he showed up to camp out of shape when he's in the biggest battle of his professional life.
Both Omri and Donte knew they were going to battle it out for a chance to start. Omri traind in Vegas for 5 weeks, played in the summer league, then spent close to a month playing with his NAT team, and returned to Vegas for 2 weeks to train prior to training camp. And in comparison Donte showed up out of shape, and doesn't seem to have added anything to his game judging by his preseason. Still, after all that, Donte was the starter for the opener, and we practically haven't seen him since.
Maybe I'm reaching here, but one thing I find telling about the situation, is that when JT struggles, as he did against NJ, he always gets a chance to redeem himself the following game. No matter what JT does, it doesn't result in him being banished to the end of the bench. In contrast, Donte is on a much, much shorter string. My educated guess would be the difference in the way Westphal handles the two is related to work ethic behind the scenes. I don't think coach is singling out Donte and purposely trying to end his time here in Sac. It just can't be as simple as Donte didn't play up to par in the opener, sohe's done playing for the next week. It doesn't work that way. There must be something which has built up, or is building up bhind the scenes.
I don't think there's any doubt that a lots going on that we can't see. Your comparison of Donte and JT is an interesting one. Both have been plagued by poor play and inconsistency. There is one distinct difference between the two. JT is always in great shape, and he's always working on his game to get better. All his work may not always add up to success, but at least he puts in the time. One other thing. JT never disappears in games. At least not entirely. He's always trying to do something to help. Sometimes too much, but thats better than just flat disappearing on the floor. It will be interesting to see how the whole thing plays out.
I think Donte will finish the season at around 18 minutes per game. If Omri plays with consistency and intentsity, I have absolutely no problem with him starting for the season. With Donte's inconsistency, he should be an energy player be a major boost off the bench some nights. Then, on the nights he doesn't bring it, Garcia or Jackson should step up.
Donte does seem fairly happy even with his limited minutes as you can see with his cheerleading from the bench. Being the new Brockman could suit Donte very well.
Donte does seem fairly happy even with his limited minutes as you can see with his cheerleading from the bench. Being the new Brockman could suit Donte very well.
I really like Donte. He has a great personality and he really looks like a team guy. But he's got to get incredibly focused on improving his game every-single-day. It may be too late for him with the Kings. I really don't know. But for his sake, he's got to become an adult and commit to the game in order to have a nice career in the NBA. Otherwise, he's just going to be another case of lost potential.
