GM Pete D'Alessandro SPEAKS! SF search

[Gary]

I was more tired of him having to barrel into guys because everyone else stood still while he had the ball, didn't space the floor, didn't set good screens etc. Same applies to every player, but Tyreke picking up an offensive foul driving is his equivalent (or maybe even a slightly better scenario in that he's attacking the rim) to IT/MT chucking up a ill-advised jumpshot. Poor offensive system doesn't create good looks for anybody, ISO or non-iso players.

What were they supposed to do? They weren't going to be passed the ball once Reke started his move to the basket.

This is just my opinion but I think the team was best when it was sharing the ball, and I think once the ball stopped moving so did they.

-Motion creates emotion. Care of the Boiler Room, and many other people who use that saying

 

[Kingsfan23]

WTF? I certainly didn't say that.

Lol. sorry about the way I structured that post. The first sentence really only applied to the Voison article you referenced, the rest was my rant that didn't have to do with your post

 

[ovrush]

What were they supposed to do? They weren't going to be passed the ball once Reke started his move to the basket.

This is just my opinion but I think the team was best when it was sharing the ball, and I think once the ball stopped moving so did they.

-Motion creates emotion. Care of the Boiler Room, and many other people who use that saying

Maybe I only watched a few of Tyreke's games but I saw him pass a TON after he started his move to the hoop and drew multiple defenders. I don't think I'll ever bridge the gap between the guy I watched and the guy who apparently never passed the ball the last few years (last year while averaging 11 shots and 4 assists a game while being the most efficient and best defensive player on the team). Either I'm extremely jaded or a lot of other people are extremely jaded, but the gap between what I saw and a guy who apparently never passed out of his drive is irreconcilable

If he really is this no passing, no shooting ballhog whose defense is over rated that is described by some here, then I'm shocked anyone signed him at all, and his stats are extremely misleading.

 

[VF21]

Oh good. We're gonna talk about Tyreke some more.

 

[Double-K]

This is pretty concerning. We might really have been onto something earlier, steelevt, about them not being a good pair.

As they say, it's still early... So we shall see, I guess. Maybe we can pick up some free agents who couldn't get what they want from other teams late in the free agency period.

 

[HndsmCelt]

Best and only thing that can be said is that "the jury is still out" on PDA. But rest ssured as the season progresses he will be weighed, evaluated and judged.

 

[VF21]

Best and only thing that can be said is that "the jury is still out" on PDA. But rest ssured as the season progresses he will be weighed, evaluated and judged...

...and pilloried and drawn and quartered if the team doesn't turn around as quickly as some believe it should.

 

[BonziFan]

And as I've mentioned, and there are hints here again: I am not sure our rookie GM has a real feel for the limitations of the market he is in. If he was planning on dumping players for capspace and singing major free agents as a major part of his plan, he really should have stayed in Denver and waited for an opportunity with a larger market franchise.

But thats just it, we havent even given him a chance to even see what his plan is. You very well could be right, but at least see what he comes up with by the time the season starts.

 

[BonziFan]

Um...first of all Tyreke might be the most elusive driver in the NBA. With Manu done, his eurostep is the best in the business.

Secondly ANY to the basket player is going to pick up offensive fouls. Its actually a good sign. It means you are playing the game with no fear, on the attack.

Again, what you say has merit, but when you do it on a 3 on 1 without giving up the ball that appears selfish.

 

[upinsmoke]

Again, what you say has merit, but when you do it on a 3 on 1 without giving up the ball that appears selfish.

Seen it! I'm on board with the wait and see what the final product looks like crowd.

 

[jpsls]

Again, what you say has merit, but when you do it on a 3 on 1 without giving up the ball that appears selfish.

That's not really fair. It was just one play.

 

[hrdboild]

You're acting like a child who didn't get the toy he wanted. I guarantee you our GM is a lot smarter than you. What would you like him to do? Do you really believe Tyreke and Cousins really compliment each other? Sorry, but I don't. I actually like Tyreke but not at the expense of our stud center.

Look, Ailene really gets to me. She hasn't written a column yet which isn't editorial and her opinion on basketball is roughly this ... pretty = good.

This is Pete's first interview after a very questionable personnel decision and all he has to say is that he's made passing and shooting his priorities? That's what I'm reacting to. You're going to give up on Tyreke, fine. Give me a valid reason why. We just got better by adding a pass first guard who also happens to be terrible on defense is not a valid reason why to me. We were dead last in points allowed last season. Last! 30th out of 30 teams and we just traded our best defender for one of the worst in the league and this guy says we got better. Why, cause he averaged 9 assists per game? Tyreke averaged 6 assists per game on a similarly terrible team his rookie season. He also scored more points on less shots this season, grabbed more rebounds, turned the ball over less, blocked more shots, came up with more steals, and shot .338 from three to Vasquez's .342. Are those three more assists going to be the difference for us when we we haven't addressed the defense at all yet and every big name free agent has already agreed to a deal? And tell me again how signing Tyreke would have cost us Cousins? Those are completely different issues.*

You guarantee me our GM is smarter than me? By what measure? You don't know a thing about me. Somebody yesterday guaranteed that GMs are all smarter than the rest of the people on the planet. You two should meet up for lunch or something.

PS -- I liked Bonzi too, so at least we have that in common.

...

*Nor, for that matter, did signing Tyreke prevent us from going on to sign a SF. In fact, judging by Igoudala's decision and Dwight Howard's decision, I'd say that not signing Tyreke actually hurt our chances of getting a quality SF to agree to play here.

 

[BonziFan]

Look, Ailene really gets to me. She hasn't written a column yet which isn't editorial and her opinion on basketball is roughly this ... pretty = good.

This is Pete's first interview after a very questionable personnel decision and all he has to say is that he's made passing and shooting his priorities? That's what I'm reacting to. You're going to give up on Tyreke, fine. Give me a valid reason why. We just got better by adding a pass first guard who also happens to be terrible on defense is not a valid reason why to me. We were dead last in points allowed last season. Last! 30th out of 30 teams and we just traded our best defender for one of the worst in the league and this guy says we got better. Why, cause he averaged 9 assists per game? Tyreke averaged 6 assists per game on a similarly terrible team his rookie season. He also scored more points on less shots this season, grabbed more rebounds, turned the ball over less, blocked more shots, came up with more steals, and shot .338 from three to Vasquez's .342. Are those three more assists going to be the difference for us when we we haven't addressed the defense at all yet and every big name free agent has already agreed to a deal? And tell me again how signing Tyreke would have cost us Cousins? Those are completely different issues.*

You guarantee me our GM is smarter than me? By what measure? You don't know a thing about me. Somebody yesterday guaranteed that GMs are all smarter than the rest of the people on the planet. You two should meet up for lunch or something.

PS -- I liked Bonzi too, so at least we have that in common.

...

*Nor, for that matter, did signing Tyreke prevent us from going on to sign a SF. In fact, judging by Igoudala's decision and Dwight Howard's decision, I'd say that not signing Tyreke actually hurt our chances of getting a quality SF to agree to play here.

I hear what you're saying, I really do. Its just that we have no idea what this team will look like when its all said and done. Malone himself said it doesnt take great individual defenders to have a great defensive team.

Those numbers you're referring to were WITH Tyreke, so frankly it didnt matter in the slightest that he was a great defender, which I question anyway.

I wasnt saying it would cost us Cousins, I just said that Tyreke doesnt compliment him very well. They both need the paint to be successful, so given the choice between the 2, I take Cousins 100/100 times without thinking twice about it.

 

[hrdboild]

I hear what you're saying, I really do. Its just that we have no idea what this team will look like when its all said and done. Malone himself said it doesnt take great individual defenders to have a great defensive team.

Those numbers you're referring to were WITH Tyreke, so frankly it didnt matter in the slightest that he was a great defender, which I question anyway.

I wasnt saying it would cost us Cousins, I just said that Tyreke doesnt compliment him very well. They both need the paint to be successful, so given the choice between the 2, I take Cousins 100/100 times without thinking twice about it.

Just a small point -- if you're the worst defensive team in the league and you trade an average to good individual defender (I never said he was great, just better than anyone else on our team) for a poor individual defender, can you reasonably expect to get better on defense? Obviously a whole lot more changes are needed, but this guy is saying we've already gotten better because we got a guy who can pass. Rebounding? Defense? Considerably worse and he ignores them completely. That's what I'm upset about. We were an average to above-average offensive team last season who still lost a ton of games because our defense was atrocious. You want to get better? Let's start there. And so far he's managed to make us even worse in the one area we most needed to improve and then he's got the nerve to say he's made the team better. Ailene parroting his schtick is just the icing on the cake.

 

[RussoTuristo]

Remember, normal GM (and PDA is not crazy) will never tell you his real plans. Pete gave Ailene some typical GM BS. Don't panic. Be excited. I know it is a nervous time for all of us but I love it. I am so happy that we have our team in Sacramento and can talk about free agency, trades etc.

 

[sergmatt]

And as I've mentioned, and there are hints here again: I am not sure our rookie GM has a real feel for the limitations of the market he is in. If he was planning on dumping players for capspace and singing major free agents as a major part of his plan, he really should have stayed in Denver and waited for an opportunity with a larger market franchise.

In other words they should have hired you instead so that you could have properly built the team around the "shining star in waiting" that has always been held down by his coaches (all 4 of them), his teammates, and most importantly his own disloyal fans that just don't comprehend the value of an iso-driven poor shooting combo guard that needs the ball in his hands. Fools all of them...

Basically what you have been getting at all along is that Vivek made a mistake hiring D'Allesandro because any GM that doesn't believe in Tyreke's starpower is a GM that doesn't know what he is doing and destined for failure.

How you know all of this for sure considering this is PDA's first real "move" and Tyreke has never actually been elected an all-star, is puzzling, but hey at least you feel strongly in your convictions.

I'll say this Bricklayer,

You obviously think very highly of your own ability to analyze and evaluate NBA talent. You've also made it known for a while that everybody else here needs to recognize that ability as well. Being a lurker reading this forum for years, it's easy to come to the conclusion that you feel you are smarter and a better talent evaluator than most NBA GM's (let alone fans......you've already stated that you "pummel" them). Hell as terrible as many GM's are there may be a whole lot of truth to that but D'Allesandro is still a mystery and the one thing he has that you seem a little unwilling to give him is a clean slate and time.

With that said for a guy that needs so badly to be respected by other fans here as the be-all-end-all of talent evaluators, you are sure risking your reputation by attaching it to Tyreke Evans and trashing the new GM Pete D'Allesandro when he's only one move into his tenure. What if you are wrong? What if he does have a plan and it works? What if a year from now the Kings are on the rise and Tyreke Evans is still not reaching his alleged "potential" in New Orleans? What if Tyreke does play well for New Orleans but it's a good trade for both teams and the Kings benefit from addition by subtraction? What if a year from now the Kings still suck but Tyreke Evans isn't playing well so nothing gained nothing lost?

The problem when you state opinions as nearly concrete facts is that they may come back to bite you and make you look foolish in time. Just wondering if you are prepared for that because if and should this all work out for D'Allesandro and the Kings you are going to have a difficult time in the future going back to the same routine of "I know more than the fans and I know more than our own GM".

Risky move....

 

[kingsfanslc]

I think ya'll are over reacting. The FO hasn't been on the clock long enough to warrant a grade yet. Everyone PLEASE take a deep breath and relax, there is nothing us fans can do. Have some faith!

 

[MizzouKing]

Moooving the Ball

This is just my opinion but I think the team was best when it was sharing the ball, and I think once the ball stopped moving so did they.

-Motion creates emotion. Care of the Boiler Room, and many other people who use that saying

That's not just your opinion, my friend...that's basketball!

 

[MizzouKing]

Imagine if this board (and technology) had been around a few years ago, when Mitch Richmond was being shipped out for an unhappy Chris Webber. How angry would be the tirades? How furious would we be about the talented loyal soldier getting shafted while we make major decisions around a hot head? I do hope that enough of us are forgetting our history (myself included) that the whole of us will be "doomed" to repeat it.

Oh F off Ailene. We already know you're happy. An active offseason? Really? Compared to who? Which free agent did we sign?

Too little defense? And we just traded Evans for Vasquez? Ha! She's in for a rude awakening, not that she's even going to recognize it. She'll just find someone else to blame for Vasquez's poor defense.

Salary cap flexibility? You've got to be kidding me Pete. You know why Igoudala took $8 million less than we offered him to go to Golden State? Because they have a winning team. So you're going to let one of our best players go because $11 million is too much money for you and you're ecstatic that you got a pass-first point who can't defend anybody?

Absolutely hate everything he had to say there. He wants shooting and passing and he can't afford Evans at $11M but he can afford Igoudala at $13M and somehow trading Vasquez for Evans made us a better team? Oh my god, this is even worse than I thought. This guy doesn't get it at all. He wants to make us the next 110 point scoring, no defense playing, 55 game winning small ball flameout. Sure setting our sights high there.

 

[Cecil]

In other words they should have hired you instead so that you could have properly built the team around the "shining star in waiting" that has always been held down by his coaches (all 4 of them), his teammates, and most importantly his own disloyal fans that just don't comprehend the value of an iso-driven poor shooting combo guard that needs the ball in his hands. Fools all of them...

Basically what you have been getting at all along is that Vivek made a mistake hiring D'Allesandro because any GM that doesn't believe in Tyreke's starpower is a GM that doesn't know what he is doing and destined for failure.

How you know all of this for sure considering this is PDA's first real "move" and Tyreke has never actually been elected an all-star, is puzzling, but hey at least you feel strongly in your convictions.

I'll say this Bricklayer,

You obviously think very highly of your own ability to analyze and evaluate NBA talent. You've also made it known for a while that everybody else here needs to recognize that ability as well. Being a lurker reading this forum for years, it's easy to come to the conclusion that you feel you are smarter and a better talent evaluator than most NBA GM's (let alone fans......you've already stated that you "pummel" them). Hell as terrible as many GM's are there may be a whole lot of truth to that but D'Allesandro is still a mystery and the one thing he has that you seem a little unwilling to give him is a clean slate and time.

With that said for a guy that needs so badly to be respected by other fans here as the be-all-end-all of talent evaluators, you are sure risking your reputation by attaching it to Tyreke Evans and trashing the new GM Pete D'Allesandro when he's only one move into his tenure. What if you are wrong? What if he does have a plan and it works? What if a year from now the Kings are on the rise and Tyreke Evans is still not reaching his alleged "potential" in New Orleans? What if Tyreke does play well for New Orleans but it's a good trade for both teams and the Kings benefit from addition by subtraction? What if a year from now the Kings still suck but Tyreke Evans isn't playing well so nothing gained nothing lost?

The problem when you state opinions as nearly concrete facts is that they may come back to bite you and make you look foolish in time. Just wondering if you are prepared for that because if and should this all work out for D'Allesandro and the Kings you are going to have a difficult time in the future going back to the same routine of "I know more than the fans and I know more than our own GM".

Risky move....

Good post. I read a few of the threads and I don't get why some of these guys/gals even follow the Kings. They get so worked up about it and there are a handful that are know-it-all keyboard warriors, ready to call people who disagree with them hopeless. Well, now they can sit here and complain about the end of the world with each other. I'll sit back and enjoy watching KINGS basketball again this year. I'll give Pete a couple of years to rebuild this team around Cousins and see what happens. Unfortunately, Cousins and Reke just didn't work.

 

[gunks]

I was an Evans fan too. But the Kings haven't won 30 games in five years. I'm not sure this move is exactly catastrophic.

This. But I also wouldnt be surprised if Evans totally blows up into a perennial allstar. The idiots we've had for coaches during Reke's tenure here didnt exactly know how to use him.


I'm trying to withhold judgement until the offseason is over. This team is definitely a work in progress. Reke for Vasquez seems like a horrible move, but maybe it will pan out. Talent wise its no contest that Reke is the better player. But a 9 assist PG + DMC + shooters could make for a fun team. Malone has his work cut out on the defensive end though.

 

[Spike]

Not sure what you were going for with that long rant, but it didn't really relate to the quoted post from Brick. His point remains a salient one: PDA may just now be realizing how difficult it is to bring talent into Sacramento. If he planned on cleaning house, fine, but he hasn't really gotten rid of the logjam at guard, and he hasn't had any talent sign on the dotted line...yet.

It's left to be seen how the cap space resolves itself, but you hope for your new GM to at least double down the first base side. So far, it looks like he's on first via fielder's choice. That's all we have to go on until his next at bat.

If the next move actually fills a need and then reduces the logjam at guard, then there should be more positivity, but as of now, blind faith does just as much damage as criticism. That's precisely what TDOS is about. There's no grace period when moves are made - everything has an immediate consequence as there are no do overs in basketball. This group inherited a mess and an uphill battle for sure, but it's all the more reason to get it right the first time.

One more thing: We can't take years to build around Cousins - one is about it before he wants to leave, if improvement isn't shown.

 

[VF21]

Imagine if this board (and technology) had been around a few years ago, when Mitch Richmond was being shipped out for an unhappy Chris Webber. How angry would be the tirades? How furious would we be about the talented loyal soldier getting shafted while we make major decisions around a hot head? I do hope that enough of us are forgetting our history (myself included) that the whole of us will be "doomed" to repeat it.

I'll second that. I was not only unhappy about the trade for Webber, I was convinced he would absolutely destroy the franchise.

 

[Cecil]

Not sure what you were going for with that long rant, but it didn't really relate to the quoted post from Brick. His point remains a salient one: PDA may just now be realizing how difficult it is to bring talent into Sacramento. If he planned on cleaning house, fine, but he hasn't really gotten rid of the logjam at guard, and he hasn't had any talent sign on the dotted line...yet.

It's left to be seen how the cap space resolves itself, but you hope for your new GM to at least double down the first base side. So far, it looks like he's on first via fielder's choice. That's all we have to go on until his next at bat.

If the next move actually fills a need and then reduces the logjam at guard, then there should be more positivity, but as of now, blind faith does just as much damage. We can't take years to build around Cousins - one is about it before he wants to leave. LA just found an opening...

I highly doubt that Pete didn't know that Sacramento had a hard time bringing in Free Agents. Vlade, Brad Miller, ...... it's not a very long list.

 

[Spike]

I highly doubt that Pete didn't know that Sacramento had a hard time bringing in Free Agents. Vlade, Brad Miller, ...... it's not a very long list.

Seriously though, how well versed do you think he was prior to coming to Sacramento? I'm not talking about the fact that he is extremely green as a GM, but specifically to the Sacramento job. Denver is a different animal. You had a coach with a system and good player relationship, nice nightlife downtown, etc. I don't think he knew as much as he thought he did, other than knowing he had a tough task in front of him. On that front, yes, I think some posters here would know better than the new guy. It's baptism by fire, and hopefully he learns quickly. One year isn't as much time as people make it out to be.

 

[swisshh]

Dear lord. Every time the team trades away a popular player we have to put up with the irrational fans of these players. Can we just have a separate forum for them? Call it the Peja Pen if you like. It's ****ting up the forum.

 

[hrdboild]

What were they supposed to do? They weren't going to be passed the ball once Reke started his move to the basket.

This is just my opinion but I think the team was best when it was sharing the ball, and I think once the ball stopped moving so did they.

Have you ever played pickup basketball before? Here's what usually happens, you don't know the other guys on your team or what they're going to do but usually somebody can shoot and somebody is a decent ballhandler (usually not the same person) and someone else has a knack for grabbing rebounds. Get all three of those guys on the same team by random chance and you ought to win as long as you don't screw it up. If you're all reasonably smart people you're going to figure out who should be setting picks and then that person is going to try to fill the open space on the floor. This works out reasonably well in most pickup games because pick and roll basketball is hard to defend at a team level and professional defenses these ain't. However, more often than not people don't communicate or don't understand their role so what typically happens is that one person drives and everyone else stands where they are, easily defensible, and waits for the pass (ie turnover). So is it the fault of the guy with the ball that everybody else is standing around doing nothing while they try to create something? In this situation it's just the circumstances. But when you have a coach, theoretically guys are going to be moving with a purpose, to the next position in the offense, because that way everybody knows where everyone else is supposed to be next and you can cut to open space knowing that the ball isn't going to go sailing out of bounds to the exact position you were standing in 2 seconds ago. My hope was that bringing in a quality coach would result in less of the guys standing around mess and more of guys moving with a purpose, regardless of who the ballhandler is.

Imagine if this board (and technology) had been around a few years ago, when Mitch Richmond was being shipped out for an unhappy Chris Webber. How angry would be the tirades? How furious would we be about the talented loyal soldier getting shafted while we make major decisions around a hot head? I do hope that enough of us are forgetting our history (myself included) that the whole of us will be "doomed" to repeat it.

Actually MizzouKing, I remember my reaction when I read that we had just traded 33 year old Mitch Richmond for 25 year old Chris Webber. I was thrilled and in awe of Washington's stupidity. This deal isn't at all similar. Tyreke Evans is 23 for one thing, and Grievis Vasquez was not the first pick in the draft 5 years ago. But then I didn't like the Jason Williams for Mike Bibby trade and look how that turned out. It's not like I'm infallible or anything, but I also don't see a lot of people saying that we won this trade either or got significantly better. The counter argument is basically just "wait and see".

 

[sergmatt]

Have you ever played pickup basketball before? Here's what usually happens, you don't know the other guys on your team or what they're going to do but usually somebody can shoot and somebody is a decent ballhandler (usually not the same person) and someone else has a knack for grabbing rebounds. Get all three of those guys on the same team by random chance and you ought to win as long as you don't screw it up. If you're all reasonably smart people you're going to figure out who should be setting picks and then that person is going to try to fill the open space on the floor. This works out reasonably well in most pickup games because pick and roll basketball is hard to defend at a team level and professional defenses these ain't. However, more often than not people don't communicate or don't understand their role so what typically happens is that one person drives and everyone else stands where they are, easily defensible, and waits for the pass (ie turnover). So is it the fault of the guy with the ball that everybody else is standing around doing nothing while they try to create something? In this situation it's just the circumstances. But when you have a coach, theoretically guys are going to be moving with a purpose, to the next position in the offense, because that way everybody knows where everyone else is supposed to be next and you can cut to open space knowing that the ball isn't going to go sailing out of bounds to the exact position you were standing in 2 seconds ago. My hope was that bringing in a quality coach would result in less of the guys standing around mess and more of guys moving with a purpose, regardless of who the ballhandler is.

Funny makes me wonder if you've picked up a basketball too or if you do are you "that guy" who turns into a black-hole when he has the ball in his hands. Guys that don't want to pass the ball wonder why their teammates stand around but it often never occurs to them why they are standing around. It's a two way street and it depends on your perspective. Shooters and slashers only move without the ball if they think there is a good chance they are going to get rewarded.

Were Jason Kidd and Steve Nash just lucky that whatever team's they played on, the guys didn't stand around and tried to get open? Unlikely. What is more likely is that those guys were gifted passers that not only saw the open-man but were more than happy to get the assist instead of their own shot. As a result their teammates put a lot more effort into getting open. Funny how that works.....

I've played a lot of pickup basketball ball too and I can tell you this when I've had the unfortunate experiences of playing on the same team as guys that think they are Tyreke or Iverson or Carmelo........I did a lot of standing around too. It's not worth the energy to look busy when the ball ain't coming your way even when you are open.

 

[Bricklayer]

Imagine if this board (and technology) had been around a few years ago, when Mitch Richmond was being shipped out for an unhappy Chris Webber. How angry would be the tirades? How furious would we be about the talented loyal soldier getting shafted while we make major decisions around a hot head? I do hope that enough of us are forgetting our history (myself included) that the whole of us will be "doomed" to repeat it.

No, I was telling anyone who would listen back then that we had gotten a flat out steal. Old for young. Little for big. Had an argument with my brother about it.

And here's the big difference: Webber was both younger and more talented than Mitch. Vasquez is neither. We would be having significantly less handwringing on here if Pete had come in and swung a deal of Tyreke for John Wall or Rajon Rondo. As of this moment its Tyreke for Grieves Vasquez, which is kind of a sad joke and if that were it alone it would indicate a fundamental inability to assess talent, or complete unfamiliarity with the team he is now running. The free agency money is the only excuse -- and based on their refusing to take back Lopez I still say we must have had a plan there. I just don't know if it was a realistic one or not. PDA is barely a Sacramento King. He's been here maybe 3 weeks. What does he know or understand or not know or understand about the limitations of the Sacto market? This article did little to quell those doubts. So we'll see here.

 

[BMiller52]

These guys have been here for less than a month, have cap space, drafted a potential star, and are 5 days in to free agency. But everyone is already tearing them apart because they let the 2nd best player on a 28 win team go for a PG who averages 9 assists per game? Give me a break. Tyreke was talented but he was not god and he was not the great defender he's made out to be. His defense was decent and his offense was good at driving to the basket and not much else. Give the new regime some time, they come from successful backgrounds. You all should just be grateful we even have a team right now.