[Grades] Grades v. Bucks 12/12/2012

[macadocious]

There are in fact 3 certainties; Death, Taxes, and Keith Smart is a horrible coach

Actually, there are 4

 

[VF21]

I absolutely can, and I do. It's the rotations: it's bringing players in too late, whether that's after the other team has taken control of the game, or simply too late for the player to get into a rhythm. Example: Smart waits until the 3-minute mark of a 4-possession game to put Evans back into the game, Evans is erratic, and his shot is not falling, Kings lose, Kings Fans say it's not Smart, that Evans didn't help when he got in. Except that that's not true. Because the games have shown, when Evans comes back in at the 7-minute mark, instead of the 3-minute mark, by the 3-minute mark, he's back in rhythm, getting those layups to go in, instead of having then roll off the iron and out. When Cousins comes back in at the 7-minute mark, instead of the 3-minute mark, by the 3-minute mark, he's dribbling past his defender and getting layups, and not taking awkward 20-footers.

That's coaching. The fact that nobody, including Evans and Cousins, really know what their roles are, because 1) Smart allegedly doesn't believe in roles, and 2) Smart mistakenly believes that everyone on the team is as good as everyone else on the team, and that everybody should get a chance to play. That's also coaching. It's not rocket surgery:

1. Assign roles.
2. Make sure everyone knows their roles.
3. Identify players with overlapping skill sets, and similar limitations, and STOP PLAYING THEM ALL AT THE SAME TIME!
4. Set an 8-9 man rotation.
5. STICK TO THE ****ING ROTATION!!!
6. $$$$$

YES! It's sad how people on a message board can identify these solutions while the head coach just follows the random voices in his head.

 

[LWP777]

Let me put it this way: there are only five teams in the western conference where you look at them and say, "Yup, there's no question: they're more talented than the Kings, across the board, and there's no argument, on any level." And one of those teams, if the season ended tonight, would not even be in the playoffs. Any coach worth a damn has this team in the 6-hole right now: and, technically, we'd be in fifth, because we'd have head-to-head over the Warriors. There have been at least eight losses this season that have been directly attributable to coaching. Not players not showing up, not ball-hogging, not suspensions or ejections. Coaching.

A good coach has this team at 15-7, or better.

WOW. JUST WOW. The Kings are currently 7-14 so first of all I'm not really sure how they could mathematically be 15-7, but that's besides the point.

You could have Phil Jackson, Jerry Sloan, and Red Auerbach as the coaching staff and there is NO CHANCE they could add 8 more wins to this Kings team. 1-2 wins? Maybe. You completely lost all credibility when you said they would be 15-7 or better with a good coach.

 

[Hadlowe]

As the OKC game approaches . . .

 

[bajaden]

There are no certainties in life i know that much.

There are maybes, but not certainties.

I'm fairly certain were not going to make the playoffs. But, the lord does work in mysterious ways, so no one knows for sure. It is however, what makes life interesting.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

WOW. JUST WOW. The Kings are currently 7-14 so first of all I'm not really sure how they could mathematically be 15-7, but that's besides the point.

You could have Phil Jackson, Jerry Sloan, and Red Auerbach as the coaching staff and there is NO CHANCE they could add 8 more wins to this Kings team. 1-2 wins? Maybe. You completely lost all credibility when you said they would be 15-7 or better with a good coach.

Sorry, 15-6. I stand corrected.

 

[bajaden]

As the OKC game approaches . . .

Well Merry Christmas to you as well!

 

[LWP777]

Sorry, 15-6. I stand corrected.

LOL...thanks for the good chuckle at least. I needed a good laugh after that game last night.

 

[LWP777]

Sorry, 15-6. I stand corrected.

You realize that at 15-6 they would have a .714 winning percentage and be the 6th best team in the league, right? Is this some sort of early April Fools joke?!?!

 

[HereWeBoogie]

You realize that at 15-6 they would have a .714 winning percentage and be the 6th best team in the league, right? Is this some sort of early April Fools joke?!?!

well to be fair, they have had a SUPER easy schedule compared to a lot of teams. they have played mostly losing teams, and had a lot of home games.

 

[Npliam]

So the Jazz beat the Spurs at home last night in dramatic fashion when Mo Williams drained a three pointer as time expired. It was awesome, the Spurs have had our number (and most teams number) for a long time. It was a hard fought game where the refs really let the teams play. Just for fun I went over to take a look at the Spurd message board to see what they thought of the game. I almost thought I was on a black and grey Kingsfans. Their major complaints were as follows:

Popavich should settle on better more consistent rotations.
Players don't know their roles because of bad rotations
The refs and the league hate us and don't give Duncan any respect.
Manu needs to retire or be traded

There were a few level headed posters who didn't think it was any big deal to lose to a pretty good Utah team on the road.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

So the Jazz beat the Spurs at home last night in dramatic fashion when Mo Williams drained a three pointer as time expired. It was awesome, the Spurs have had our number (and most teams number) for a long time. It was a hard fought game where the refs really let the teams play. Just for fun I went over to take a look at the Spurd message board to see what they thought of the game. I almost thought I w

You know we have a separate forum for non-Kings NBA discussion, right?

 

[HereWeBoogie]

Just for fun I went over to take a look at the Spurd message board to see what they thought of the game. I almost thought I w

are you going to finish this post lol

 

[UK_King]

I thought he was attempting to bring a bit of postmodern Bret Easton Ellis style prose to the forum.

 

[Npliam]

You know we have a separate forum for non-Kings NBA discussion, right?

Sorry. My computer froze in the middle of my post. I went back and finished it. It does relate.

 

[LWP777]

So the Jazz beat the Spurs at home last night in dramatic fashion when Mo Williams drained a three pointer as time expired. It was awesome, the Spurs have had our number (and most teams number) for a long time. It was a hard fought game where the refs really let the teams play. Just for fun I went over to take a look at the Spurd message board to see what they thought of the game. I almost thought I was on a black and grey Kingsfans. Their major complaints were as follows:

Popavich should settle on better more consistent rotations.
Players don't know their roles because of bad rotations
The refs and the league hate us and don't give Duncan any respect.
Manu needs to retire or be traded

There were a few level headed posters who didn't think it was any big deal to lose to a pretty good Utah team on the road.

This is interesting. I would bet that almost every fan forum is much of the same. The posters always think they know more than the coaches/GM's. While I'm not endorsing Keith Smart, there is no way we could be 15-6 with another coach. Our team simply isn't talented enough and doesn't fit together to boot.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

but no other team in the league has as bad of owners, GM, and coach that we do, and no other team in the league has sucked as long as us and showing no progress, so maybe we have more room to complain

 

[Spike]

well to be fair, they have had a SUPER easy schedule compared to a lot of teams. they have played mostly losing teams, and had a lot of home games.

This.
The start to the season definitely had more winnable games. Would we be playing at a .700 clip the rest of the season? Absolutely not. However, this was the chance to pad in some wins before reality sunk in. Besides, who knows? With the hot start the team might have actually consistently played over their heads the rest of the way and a record above .500 would have been likely. I agree with Slim on this one. While I'm not as optimistic and can't think of 8 games, it's definitely more than 1 or 2 - 5 sounds about right, which would give us 12 wins by now.

Again, we failed to take advantage of our soft schedule and injured teams, and that falls on this guy:

 

[rainmaker]

I've read a number of Russian sources which have said Tunguska was actually a Tesla experiment gone bad. Real bad. Interesting stuff though.

 

[kennadog]

This is interesting. I would bet that almost every fan forum is much of the same. The posters always think they know more than the coaches/GM's. While I'm not endorsing Keith Smart, there is no way we could be 15-6 with another coach. Our team simply isn't talented enough and doesn't fit together to boot.

You know, I don't entirely agree with this. I think with a Popovich, Sloan or an Adelman this team would be much better. I think sometimes people really underestimate the value of a really good head coach.

Altho, so many Kings fans berated Adelman and wanted him fired. I couldn't understand that, at the time. I still can't understand it.

 

[LWP777]

You know, I don't entirely agree with this. I think with a Popovich, Sloan or an Adelman this team would be much better. I think sometimes people really underestimate the value of a really good head coach.

Altho, so many Kings fans berated Adelman and wanted him fired. I couldn't understand that, at the time. I still can't understand it.

Yes, it was ridiculously stupid to get rid of Rick. He gave the franchise some stability and he was on board with coaching through the rebuild. That was the first major mistake of many the Maloofs made.

As far as what our record would be if we had a better coach I just don't think a Pop or Sloan could have won us 5+ more games. Like I said earlier, maybe 1-2, which is actually a lot when you think of it. It's like a 20% improvement. Sure we've had a "soft" schedule but is there ever an easy win for us? All those soft teams look at us as a winnable game too. Also, don't forget that we've dealt with DMC being suspended 3 games and Reke being out for a handful too. Without those 2 in the lineup, it's extremely hard to be competitive.

 

[chief bromden]

There are no certainties in life i know that much.

There are maybes, but not certainties.

Isn't that a 'certainty' in itself, though? According to your logic, the claim there are no certainties can be doubted.

Regardless, that woman macadocious posted is certainly...

 

[Spike]

Isn't that a 'certainty' in itself, though? According to your logic, the claim there are no certainties can be doubted.

This sentence is false.

 

[gunks]

I thought he was attempting to bring a bit of postmodern Bret Easton Ellis style prose to the forum.

Well, our Kings have been less than zero lately.

 

[IfAt1st]

LOVE the scientific, informative grade threads, Brick.

Great job on them, as always.
They are one of the only things that get me through years like this, seriously. I just skip most of the grade for the player, and enjoy the scientific information being presented.