Follow Kings players in FIBA World Cup games

#4
Bjelica did not play because of a knee injury.
I read somewhere that it's a cyst in his knee. Now, that may be the result of an injury, or it may not be. There are different kinds of cysts, with different causes and different symptoms. It is possible that he's had the cyst for months or even years, but it's just now giving him problems. I'm not speculating on what I think is likely; just saying it may not be injury related.
 
#8
Bjelica dominated today, can't wait to see him against some bigger opponent. Serbian journalists who followed the preparations before the World Cup said Bjelica was never in such good shape like this summer. Bjelica confirmed he's been working hard ever since the season with Kings ended in April.
Beli was the most underrated player on the team last year. He fell off during the second half but he was our best player during the first half.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#9
Beli was the most underrated player on the team last year. He fell off during the second half but he was our best player during the first half.
To be fair, he also had some bad stretches in the first half of the season after starting off the season playing like Vlade and Peja's lovechild.

The team this year is just so deep that I'm not sure how much playing time he's going to see.
 
#12
To be fair, he also had some bad stretches in the first half of the season after starting off the season playing like Vlade and Peja's lovechild.

The team this year is just so deep that I'm not sure how much playing time he's going to see.
I think he'll play more minutes than Holmes and Ariza for sure. Bagley will probably get more minutes but I'd put my money on Beli being the better player as far as contributing to winning basketball goes this year.
 
#14
I think he'll play more minutes than Holmes and Ariza for sure. Bagley will probably get more minutes but I'd put my money on Beli being the better player as far as contributing to winning basketball goes this year.
With Bjelica aging, Bagley should be able to defend better quick and athletic PFs. If he learns how to do that, he will contribute to winning.
 
#16
With Bjelica aging, Bagley should be able to defend better quick and athletic PFs. If he learns how to do that, he will contribute to winning.
I hope that's the case because to me it all hinges on Bagley's defense. During the first half of the season, Beli made more savvy veteran defensive plays than I've seen from a Kings player in years. People would remember faster PFs blowing by him here and there but they'd forget when he would poke the ball away, get a last second block or intercept a half court pass that would have led to a sure bucket.

If Beli plays the way he did in the second half, he will struggle to get minutes but if he plays somewhere closer to an average between his first and second halves last year, he will be playing a good amount of minutes if the Kings are in the playoff hunt.
 
#18
Cory Joseph scored 15 points in a loss (92:69) against Lithuania. Also, delivered 3 assists and committed 4 turnovers. The shooting was 6/16 from the field. Not a very good game for him.

BoxScore
 
#20
End of the first half. Serbia leads 50:42.

Bogi 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. Bjelica 0 points (0/3), 5 rebounds and 7 assists!

Jokic 12 points, Belinelli 11 points, perfect shooting from the field. Gallinari 9 points.
 
#25
Final score 92:77.
Bogdanovic 31 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 turnover, and 5 steals.
Bjelica 5 points (2/9 from the field), 7 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 steal, 1 block. Also +- 28, the second-best is 13.

Other players:

Jokic 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists.
Belinelli 15 points, 4 assists.
Gallinari 26 points, 8 rebounds.

BoxScore
 
#26
Bogi and Beli are making us proud. If Serbia wins the gold, it will be very cool for us to have two of their top three players on the Kings. And if you consider that they are both (likely) bench players for the Kings, that says so much about how far we've come.
Now, if anyone feels the need to remind us that the US team is depleted of its mega-stars and could have/should have whipped the Serbians with their eyes closed, go ahead Capt Predictable. Frankly, I don't care who wins, as long as it's the US or Serbia. Either scenario is great for the Kings (as long as no one suffers a major injury).
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#28
I honestly can't wrap my head around even having a discussion about who will contribute more to winning this coming season between Bjelica and Bagley. Really? Beli is 31 years old, is half the athlete that Bagley is. He has one thing he does well, shoot three's. I lost count last season of how many times I yelled at Beli to shoot the dam ball as he passed up open three's to drive into traffic. So much for BBIQ!

As for defense, both players posted a Drtg of 110 on a team that had little to no defensive scheme in place. Joerger admitted that he didn't install any kind of switching defense. So it was basically, fly by the seat of your pants. That probably works for a veteran player whose been around the block a few times, but not so much for a rookie who has never been asked to play any kind of defense.

Look, I like Beli and I'm not trying to diminish his abilities, but lets not confuse him with a budding star. Beli would likely only start for a few teams in the NBA, while the Kings look at Bagley as a future all star. I happen to agree with them. In 23 mpg last season Beli scored 9.6 points, grabbed 5.8 rebounds and blocked 0.6 shots. But he did what he was supposed to do in most cases shooting 40.1% from the three.

Bagley played 2 minutes more than Beli and scored 14.9 points, grabbed 7.6 rebounds, and blocked 1.0 shots. Actually, he was the leading shotblocker on the team. (very sad) Yes, he only shot 31.3% from the three, which shouldn't shock anyone since he hadn't made his reputation by shooting three's. What is encouraging is that in his final 20 games he shot 35.7% from the three. However, overall he only took 96 attempts versus Beli's 257 attempts. So hardly a fair comparison.

I think the battle for minutes will be between Beli and Holmes, and that will likely be determined by matchups. I suspect that Bagley will average around 32 to 34 minutes a game along with Fox and Barnes. Ariza will get whatever minutes Barnes doesn't, and may actually have some of his minutes stolen by Bog's if the Kings go small. How many minutes Giles gets depends on how big a leap he can make this year, and perhaps the match up, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Giles and Dedmon split the available minutes at center.

The Kings have the ability to match up with almost anyone, at least on paper, but make no mistake, their priority is still to develop their young core, and that's where the bulk of the minutes will go
 
#30
I honestly can't wrap my head around even having a discussion about who will contribute more to winning this coming season between Bjelica and Bagley. Really? Beli is 31 years old, is half the athlete that Bagley is. He has one thing he does well, shoot three's. I lost count last season of how many times I yelled at Beli to shoot the dam ball as he passed up open three's to drive into traffic. So much for BBIQ!

As for defense, both players posted a Drtg of 110 on a team that had little to no defensive scheme in place. Joerger admitted that he didn't install any kind of switching defense. So it was basically, fly by the seat of your pants. That probably works for a veteran player whose been around the block a few times, but not so much for a rookie who has never been asked to play any kind of defense.

Look, I like Beli and I'm not trying to diminish his abilities, but lets not confuse him with a budding star. Beli would likely only start for a few teams in the NBA, while the Kings look at Bagley as a future all star. I happen to agree with them. In 23 mpg last season Beli scored 9.6 points, grabbed 5.8 rebounds and blocked 0.6 shots. But he did what he was supposed to do in most cases shooting 40.1% from the three.

Bagley played 2 minutes more than Beli and scored 14.9 points, grabbed 7.6 rebounds, and blocked 1.0 shots. Actually, he was the leading shotblocker on the team. (very sad) Yes, he only shot 31.3% from the three, which shouldn't shock anyone since he hadn't made his reputation by shooting three's. What is encouraging is that in his final 20 games he shot 35.7% from the three. However, overall he only took 96 attempts versus Beli's 257 attempts. So hardly a fair comparison.

I think the battle for minutes will be between Beli and Holmes, and that will likely be determined by matchups. I suspect that Bagley will average around 32 to 34 minutes a game along with Fox and Barnes. Ariza will get whatever minutes Barnes doesn't, and may actually have some of his minutes stolen by Bog's if the Kings go small. How many minutes Giles gets depends on how big a leap he can make this year, and perhaps the match up, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Giles and Dedmon split the available minutes at center.

The Kings have the ability to match up with almost anyone, at least on paper, but make no mistake, their priority is still to develop their young core, and that's where the bulk of the minutes will go
Well, we discuss it because they will probably share minutes at the PF position. Bagley is the future of the Kings, Bjelica has one more season to play for the Kings. However, we usually predict future performance based on the passed one. Last year, Bjelica contributed more to winning (on average) because of the outside shooting that opened space for Fox and even WCS (to roll and dunk), rebounding, and solid individual and help defense. Bagley progressed nicely during the season and if he continues to improve this season, there is no doubt he will be huge force for the Kings. If nothing unexpected happens, he will be the starter. IMO, after playing during the summer with the national team, Bjelica might miss games due to injury or exhaustion. It would be actually better if the coach gives him reduced minutes and even rest him some games. In-form Bjelica would be a valuable option in PO.
 
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