Fire Reggie Theus (revisited)!

[Warhawk]

I think you're the one missing his point now. He thinks there is a downside: the loss of a sense of "earning" their minutes. If you put them there on a platter, what will be there incentive to improve?

Just to be clear here, I'm not sure if I believe that or not, I'm just trying to sort it out for you.

bebop does lay down an pretty interesting truth that seems to void his "platter" claim though



This is an absolute truth. Guys like Kobe Bryant and Jermaine O'Neal were basically relegated to garbage time their first couple years in the league, while ultra busts like Kwame Brown were starting 80 games by their second year.

The thing is, if that statement proves that their added minutes will in no way hurt them (most likely, it would help them...a lot), then what is the argument for keeping them off the floor if they don't "earn" their minutes over the seedy vets?

I think we're all just tied up in a really fallacious argument here. Let's all just sit down, relax, and watch the Kings play a good game tonight. You know....a single digit loss .

But they are already earning them!

They already outplay the vets. Let them have the minutes they have earned/deserve. Why hold them back? I don't get it. They outplay the vets and need even more time to improve. Do it and don't look back.

 

[bajaden]

And lastly, I find it hilarious that the same people who trash Mikki Moore would inadverdently raise him when the argument suit them. I never said a youngster need to play at an all-star level to take a job away from a vet. I said JT/Hawes need to completely outplay Moore, that's all. And one certainly does NOT need to play at an all-star level to completely outplay Mikki Moore. If you had watched some of Atlanta's games instead of just looking at the stats, there's no question that Al Horford can tie one hand behind his back and still completely and utterly outplays Zaza Pachulia. Horford never has to worry about losing minutes to anyone because he is irreplaceable on that team. In fact, how Horford casted aside Pachulia should be the standard of how Hawes/JT should do to Mikki Moore.

By your own admission, your stating that Hawes and Thompson have outplayed Moore. To me, that should be case closed. But let me be clearer why I'm upset with Reggie. Its not so much about the total minutes, as how they get the minutes..

No one complained early in the season when Hawes started 5 games and Thompson got his minutes at PF and some at Center. Except for one game by Thompson, they both played very well. So well, everyone was talking about both of them starting together as soon as possible.

Since then, Thompson's minutes have come either at SF, where the results have been mixed, and in garbage time. Neither of those is indusive to his improvement, in my opinion. You can see his frustration in trying to guard SF's and getting into foul trouble.

You say you have no problem with the youngins sitting if their not having a good night. What about the nights where Moore is having a bad night and the young guys sit anyway. My idea of giving them playing time, is not to let the vets get 20 to 30 pts behind and then put the young players in. How about we reverse that process. Give them their minutes and make them meaningful minutes, against the better players in the league, and not against the other teams scrubs.....Anyway, I be done!

 

[kupman]

I think I feel another poll coming on:

Who gives us a better chance to win games (not that it really matters)?
a) the 29-35 year-olds, or

b) the 20 - 28 year olds.

My honest to goodness answer would be "b" (again, not that it really matters because we will lose most games either way).

 

[HighTopKicks]

I'm one of those people that believe that PT doesn't guarantee development. As the old saying goes "Practice doesn't make perfect, Perfect Practice makes Perfect".

If PT for the rookies is the only criteria for Theus keeping his job than he has done that and should stay. But, if the criteria is to develop the rookies, than that implies that the minutes they play are quality minutes. Minutes where they can develop their offensive skills, minutes where the offense goes through them, or minutes where they are the decoys that set up the offense (draw a double team down low and pass out hi to the open shooter), then Theus should go.

Substituting Hawes for Moore means nothing if Hawes ends up being the 3rd option and taking a last minute 3pt shot. This to me means that Hawes needs to start at center and Miller plays the PF at least for half of the possessions. Plus, JT has to be the 1st big off the bench, and plays must be run for him.

 

[fnordius]

Guys like Kobe Bryant and Jermaine O'Neal were basically relegated to garbage time their first couple years in the league...

Well, sure. They were both drafted straight out of high school. Did you think they'd start an 18 year old JO over Rasheed Wallace?

JT's had 4 years of college to get through that stage, Hawes has had 1 year of college and 1.25 years in the NBA. Bobby Brown had 4 years of college plus some Euro ball. Only Greene has had as little as one year of college ball, and - no surprise - he's not looking very NBA ready yet.

So maybe Kobe and JO's situation might apply to Donte a bit, but it's apples and oranges WRT the rest of our roster.

 

[MoneyMike916]

24. Sacramento Kings — Kings coach Reggie Theus, on his team's losses to Utah and Dallas: "It's a long season, and we need to give it some time. This was a tough two games for us. We have to go and regroup tomorrow to see what we did wrong and just keep moving forward." Translation: "Please don't fire me, please don't fire me, please don't fire me, oh, that's a beautiful jacket, Joe, please don't fire me ..."

yahoo power rankings http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ba...nkings-Brandon-Roy-Blazers-kee?urn=nba,125527

 

[Smills91]

I put NO WAY.

There's really no way you can fault Reggie. He's being a COACH first, a coach tries to WIN GAMES. Why is he being a coach? Because that's his directive from the Owners. Until they give him a sense of job security(remember that a coach is measured almost SOLELY off their W-L columns) then he's doing what he's paid to do, attempt to win games. I think he's done a good job overall for the most part. There have been a handful of games that have gotten well away from us, but honestly, our roster isn't THAT good, YET...especially when you factor in the transient state of the team so far. You can't tell me when your #1 scoring option goes down that you expect to win the majority or even HALF of your games. That's absurd. I wanna see Reggie give a two year extension on his deal with team options each year for a partial buyout. Give him that sense of security and time and I think the fact that you get some CONSISTENCY from the head coach will do wonders for the franchise.

 

[VF21]

Sorry, Smills91, but you've pretty much got it backwards. The owners have made it abundantly clear to Reggie MORE THAN ONCE that it's not about winning so much as it is playing hard and giving the kids the time to learn and grow. He stubbornly continues to insist it's all about winning, despite their repeated indications to the contrary. Winning is great BUT not if it's just going to give major minutes to the older guys on the team.

You don't give an extension to an employee who stubbornly clings to his own philosophy over and above yours. THAT'S why Theus needs to listen intently to both the Maloofs and Petrie and play the kids, and not just garbage minutes or ridiculous combinations so he can point to the boxscore and say, "See! He played 12 minutes here and 8 minutes here!"

Young players need to develop their skills in their normal positions; not playing in some Bizarro-world combination that might include 4 guards and a small forward.

Theus needs to show that he can, in fact, work on the defense AND develop the kids. so far, he's done neither.

Again, it's NOT just about winning games. especially if those wins do absolutely nothing to further the development of the team for the future.

 

[nbrans]

Nice knowin' ya, Reg. See you on Hangtime reruns!

 

[piksi]

any time now

 

[killer123]

right after today's loss, fire him now~

 

[VF21]

I just created a third version of the now traditional poll, "Should we fire Reggie Theus?"

http://www.kingsfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29708