[Game] Game 16: Sacramento Kings @ San Antonio Spurs. 11/28/14 5PM PST, 8PM EST
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
I definitely am bothered that Ray Mac isn't playing. I wish we were in another city where the reporters had the balls to ask him what his reasoning is.
As a general principle, I think there are several correct ways of running a team. Sometimes the coach does something I don't like. I'd like to know what his reasoning is. We are 16 games into a season. I don't know if Ray is outplaying Ramon in practice. I don't know if Hollins is better than JT in practices. What is going on now really doesn't bother me. The fact that we have a winning record contributes a large part to my state of mind.
As a general principle, I think there are several correct ways of running a team. Sometimes the coach does something I don't like. I'd like to know what his reasoning is. We are 16 games into a season. I don't know if Ray is outplaying Ramon in practice. I don't know if Hollins is better than JT in practices. What is going on now really doesn't bother me. The fact that we have a winning record contributes a large part to my state of mind.
Defense wins games and turnovers can certainly lose games. We have enough scoring from other players. All indications from this season, with this team, is that Ray is the better choice. It's only a matter of time, before the coach will admit it publicly by how he runs the team. Hopefully it happens very soon
To be fair to Coach Malone, when we played Ray major minutes with DC out, he was either nonexistant or not all that awesome at initiating an offense. I mean, people were calling for Ramon's head during the Rockets game but it's not like Malone could just replace him with Ray because McCallum literally gave him nothing all night. Ramon had a solid, if unspectacular, performance against the Spurs so it's hard to fault Malone for playing him over McCallum on that particular evening.
I realize that McCallum is everyone's darling after Malone literally had to play him 48 minutes a night at the end of last season but he hasn't done all that much this season to warrant extended playtime aside from not be Ramon Sessions.
I also realize that we as Kings fans tend to forget that one game doesn't make an entire season but Ryan Hollins is a lifetime end of the bencher. If he was as awesome as some people here seem to be making him out to be, don't you think that one of his many other coaches (including two of the best in the league in Doc Rivers twice and Rick Carlisle) in his long career would have noticed by now? Then again, we are the same fanbase that talked ourselves into believing that Justin Williams could be a viable NBA player.
I realize that McCallum is everyone's darling after Malone literally had to play him 48 minutes a night at the end of last season but he hasn't done all that much this season to warrant extended playtime aside from not be Ramon Sessions.
I also realize that we as Kings fans tend to forget that one game doesn't make an entire season but Ryan Hollins is a lifetime end of the bencher. If he was as awesome as some people here seem to be making him out to be, don't you think that one of his many other coaches (including two of the best in the league in Doc Rivers twice and Rick Carlisle) in his long career would have noticed by now? Then again, we are the same fanbase that talked ourselves into believing that Justin Williams could be a viable NBA player.
Here's the issue.
Ray McCallum games of 10+ min this season:
11/03: 14min 4pts (2-5FG 0-2TH 0-0FT) 0reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 0TO <---can't really have this
11/11: 12min 3pts (1-5FG 1-2TH 0-0FT) 1reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 1TO <---can't really have this
11/18: 21min 5pts (2-4FG 1-2TH 0-0FT) 2reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 2TO <---can't really have this
11/25: 19min 12pts (4-7FG 0-3TH 4-4FT) 3reb 1ast 1stl 0blk 2TO <his good game, still no assits
11/26: 13min 0pts (0-1FG 0-0TH 0-0FT) 1reb 2ast 0stl 0blk 1TO <---can't really have this
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avg: 15.8min 4.8pts 1.0ast 1.2TO
Sessions has sucked. But Ray has completely whiffed on taking the job away from him. His own numbers are just not acceptable for a backup PG on a winning team. You can't expect to take a guy's job just on the "well he's even worse than I am" argument. If Ray wants the job he has to step up and do something positive on his own. Working his A/T ratio over 1:1 might be a start. You are a PG, make somebody better.
Ray McCallum games of 10+ min this season:
11/03: 14min 4pts (2-5FG 0-2TH 0-0FT) 0reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 0TO <---can't really have this
11/11: 12min 3pts (1-5FG 1-2TH 0-0FT) 1reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 1TO <---can't really have this
11/18: 21min 5pts (2-4FG 1-2TH 0-0FT) 2reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 2TO <---can't really have this
11/25: 19min 12pts (4-7FG 0-3TH 4-4FT) 3reb 1ast 1stl 0blk 2TO <his good game, still no assits
11/26: 13min 0pts (0-1FG 0-0TH 0-0FT) 1reb 2ast 0stl 0blk 1TO <---can't really have this
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avg: 15.8min 4.8pts 1.0ast 1.2TO
Sessions has sucked. But Ray has completely whiffed on taking the job away from him. His own numbers are just not acceptable for a backup PG on a winning team. You can't expect to take a guy's job just on the "well he's even worse than I am" argument. If Ray wants the job he has to step up and do something positive on his own. Working his A/T ratio over 1:1 might be a start. You are a PG, make somebody better.
Yes, that is exactly the issue. All the Kings young players must understand that they must pass the ball and make the ball to do the work. They should look at Casspi. His improvement has resulted mainly from becoming a more efficient player. Casspi has the highest points per shot ratio in the team and his assist numbers have soared (with a nice assist/TO ratio). Move the ball and you'll become part of the game!
Problem is Ray never showed he can create for others at this level. He was a simple game manager when inserted into starting lineup last year. He never goes inside off of P&R, but rather looks to pullup from mid-range. He also has same long-range awkwardness as Collison: 20-43 on corner 3s in his career so far, but 5-26 from anywhere else. His game does not force shifts in opposing defense, so bench working with him at the helm would need some creative work from Malone to design plays.
There's also a fundamental flaw in bench as a single unit, which is why it makes no sense Malone often tries to use it as one - there's no common style. Sessions and Landry prefer to get the ball and go to work, while guys like Casspi or Stauskas would rather move the ball and moves themselves, though these two sometimes "learn" from their teammates and go force issue themselves.
Looks like Malone created pretty smooth offense among starters, that sometimes looks simply devastating, when everybody hits their shots, like we saw in a few first quarters. Hope to see real improvement in bench play during upcoming long home stand.
There's also a fundamental flaw in bench as a single unit, which is why it makes no sense Malone often tries to use it as one - there's no common style. Sessions and Landry prefer to get the ball and go to work, while guys like Casspi or Stauskas would rather move the ball and moves themselves, though these two sometimes "learn" from their teammates and go force issue themselves.
Looks like Malone created pretty smooth offense among starters, that sometimes looks simply devastating, when everybody hits their shots, like we saw in a few first quarters. Hope to see real improvement in bench play during upcoming long home stand.