[Grades] Grades v. Pelicans 12/23/2013

[Lennox]

That dude just hates Jimmer with a passion. Look at his posts he blames all their losses on him.

 

[treach1976]

Just the kinda coach this team needs right now. People around here need to start taking responsibility for their actions, bad or good...This is a common with teams in the situation we are in, which is the rebuilding stage. Players turn on players. Players turn on coaches. Coaches turn on players. Coaches turn on coaches. What Malone has done here is come in and say "Enough of this bullcrap name calling and finger pointing. Everyone here is at fault. I am at fault. You are at fault. We are a team. The Kings are a team. The Kings are not an individual. The Kings are at fault. The Kings, NOT A KING, but THE KINGS."

Frankly, I love this approach; I think it's phenomenal! And I think it is this approach that makes Michael Malone attractive to the head coaching position from the standpoint of Vivek and the rest of the ownership group...

Also makes me think that Malone isn't "in on the tank"... In other words, shouldn't Malone be saying things like, "look, the team is learning and growing together right now... no excuses, but we need to get better at X,Y,Z...". To come out and say "we need better players", etc., makes me think that he's legitimately worried about his long-term tenure. It sucks to be the coach during a tanking year.

 

[steelevt]

This isn't about Jimmer.

that was a reply to the poster who said jimmer played too many minutes over IT in the 4th, which I assume implied it was part of the loss. that link, if you read it, doesn't really show that playing jimmer had any effect causing us to lose. I assumed posting the link would show that without having to spell it out.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

And Malone's comments after the game is exactly why I called bullcrap when everyone in the front office talked about 'wins and losses not mattering'. If you play bad basketball you will lose. If you play good basketball you will in. It is the easiest tool to gage how good or bad a team is. And last night Malone directly mentioned our record more than once.

And this team has more talent than their record suggests. It's true. We should be better than we are. So I don't totally blame PDA, or the 'roster construction'. No, it's far from perfect, but there are enough pieces here to be better. Not great, but better than we are right now.

 

[Glenn]

I think part of Malone's post game rant was a direct shot at PDA for not giving him players that can play defense. PDA may have his own idea of how to construct a team but it seems to be in stark contrast to what Malone wants. These players are skilled at offense. They are not skilled at defense. At a certain point, no more points can be scored so piling up scorers, especially when it sacrifices defense, is a self-limiting way to construct a team. There is a huge mismatch in attitudes of the GM and coach and the guy having to suffer with it is Malone. Malone all but called out PDA by name.

 

[Chubbs]

Out of my self imposed asylum briefly.

First, happy holidays, merry Xmas, a belated happy Hanukkah, or whatever you celebrate. Sincerely I mean that. Even if, and perhaps especially if, we disagree. Now on to the part where I'm harsh and downright hyperbolical.

Second, RE: in game thread anthony Davis comments. Anthony Davis will be in the hall of fame if he can stay healthy. If you're not impressed with his game, um, yeah. Is this the first game you've ever watched? Davis is 20. If you can't see how he has a chance to be one of the best ever one of a kind superstars you're absolutely in over your head. Just stop. I repeat, the kid is 20. He was born march 11, 1993. He's more statistically dominant than cousins is right now. Not hypothetically. Now, with little offensive game. Davis has a better PER. Elite level. And he may rewrite the book defensively. On no, he gets his points on put backs. He totally sucks!

Third, Reke is a stud both sides of the ball. Anyone who thinks otherwise can join the people not impressed with Davis in a mass suicide for all I care. We are worse in the immediate short term without him. You can't teach his talent. No one on this team has anything close to his ability as far as wings go. Especially defensively. Debates about his worth and long term prospects can continue. But his talent is without question. We took a major step in reverse.

Fourth, the gay trade also made us worse. It was a talent grab to make up for a talent vacuum. That gaping hole at the 3 threatened to suck the entire franchise into it. Unfortunately, we lost our starting PG, and replaced him with you know who to place two reckless gunners allergic to defense in the same starting lineup. It doesn't work and never will, not with the shortcomings of a certain player, pun intended. Malone seems to have figured that out with some very pointed comments about not being able to make a simple entry pass out of a timeout from starting pg to starting sf. I've got more faith in gay bouncing back (seems hurt) than a certain player suddenly getting taller.

Fifth, Jason Thompson needs to go or be benched? The only decent post defender we have on the roster? Clearly, we need to start the 6'7 inexperienced backup. I'm sure that'll help the defense. Why hasn't Malone thought of that? C'mon Michael, shorter is always better in the NBA. That's exactly what we need to do, go smaller, less experience!

This team as constructed has no chance out there. The results are pretty overwhelmingly pointing in the down direction. Teams try for one quarter and blow us out. Pick up the d, expose our tiny pg's inability to run an offense, and it's over before you can say seppuku. This is on the front office. Malone has no chance with this group. Can he coach or not? Who knows at this point. The pieces fit worse than they did at the start of the season. The hope is this isn't the roster at the end.

This team can play better. Whether wins are the result is questionable. But the talent level isn't as bad as the play.

PS- Did Jerry really call you know who too short? Did I imagine that? Stay in character Jerry! G and J are basically WWE announcers. Stay with the script. You're confusing people.

 

[treach1976]

I think part of Malone's post game rant was a direct shot at PDA for not giving him players that can play defense. PDA may have his own idea of how to construct a team but it seems to be in stark contrast to what Malone wants. These players are skilled at offense. They are not skilled at defense. At a certain point, no more points can be scored so piling up scorers, especially when it sacrifices defense, is a self-limiting way to construct a team. There is a huge mismatch in attitudes of the GM and coach and the guy having to suffer with it is Malone. Malone all but called out PDA by name.

I definitely read it as a shot to PDA... Wonder what effect it has on the locker room though? "Coach thinks I'm not working hard enough" to "Coach thinks I'm not the right person for the job" is a very different thing, and might actually work better from a motivational standpoint (it goes from, "I'm going to work harder", to "I'm going to prove coach wrong"). While their may be a benefit there, it might have a concurrent effect of turning players against Malone - I think players tend to rally around a coach that believes in them.

 

[ESP47]

Of course Tyreke was going to have a good game against us. He was going against IT, Jimmer, McLemore and Thornton. If you have 4 players and Thornton is the best defender, you have some really bad defenders on your hands. We traded Mbah and Salmons, the only two guys who could slow Tyreke down. If you turn Tyreke into a shooter, he's a liability to his team. If you allow him to drive, he's going to destroy you. He destroyed us.

Now as far as Malone's philosophy vs. PDA's, I get where each guy is coming from. No coach is ever looking to rebuild. Coaches are let go from season to season, month to month. If you sit back and tank or let your team rebuild, you aren't going to win many games, you're more prone to getting fired and it makes it tougher to get future jobs because they think you can't coach because of your record. Coaches are about wins and losses. GM's are about finding that next great player and starting a dynasty. You never ever see a GM's win loss record but you see the coaches all the time. GM's get fired for making bad picks and bad trades. Coaches get fired for not being able to turn a turd into gold.

PDA sat back and noticed that we had a team void of talent or at least void of talent that was constructed together well enough to win games. If you're already a playoff team lacking defense, trading Mbah a Moute for Williams is a bad move. If you're a rebuilding team that has no shot at even the 10th spot in the conference, trading Mbah a Moute for Williams makes sense. You aren't going to get to the playoffs on the back of Mbah but you're going to try and find that flash in the pan in Williams who you could possibly build around.

Same with Rudy Gay. You're trading two old pieces in Salmons and Hayes, along with two guys who don't fit with what you're trying to accomplish in Vasquez and Patterson. PDA is trying to find more complete 2 way players. Salmons can defend and shoot the 3. Hayes can play D. Vasquez can pass. Patterson....well he's supposed to be able to score. All guys with huge holes in their games at this point in their careers. So PDA decided to flip them for a guy who's supposed to be able to do what most of those guys do, just combined into one person. I get why he did it. It leaves the team sort of stranded this year because you lose defense and scoring off the bench, but if we make a few more moves we could be sitting pretty next year with a team that can contend.

 

[Kingster]

I think part of Malone's post game rant was a direct shot at PDA for not giving him players that can play defense. PDA may have his own idea of how to construct a team but it seems to be in stark contrast to what Malone wants. These players are skilled at offense. They are not skilled at defense. At a certain point, no more points can be scored so piling up scorers, especially when it sacrifices defense, is a self-limiting way to construct a team. There is a huge mismatch in attitudes of the GM and coach and the guy having to suffer with it is Malone. Malone all but called out PDA by name.

Yes. I posted about this a few days ago. I'm glad that Malone was hired directly by Vivek because if he wasn't you never know if DA might throw him under the bus. This is a tough one for Malone right now. Tyreke, gone, Douglas, gone, Luc, gone, Aldrich, gone. All could play D. (Even Salmons you could argue could play D, it's just that it had to be at the 2-guard position). All were replaced by players who couldn't play D, with Acy maybe the one exception. Maybe DA fully knew that he was taking on offensive players, but he had confidence that Malone could teach them some D. Maybe he just didn't weigh defense as much as the offensive side of the ball in his talent evaluation. I'm looking forward to hearing DA interviewed on the subject to know what he was thinking.

 

[dude12]

I think part of Malone's post game rant was a direct shot at PDA for not giving him players that can play defense. PDA may have his own idea of how to construct a team but it seems to be in stark contrast to what Malone wants. These players are skilled at offense. They are not skilled at defense. At a certain point, no more points can be scored so piling up scorers, especially when it sacrifices defense, is a self-limiting way to construct a team. There is a huge mismatch in attitudes of the GM and coach and the guy having to suffer with it is Malone. Malone all but called out PDA by name.

No way.....way off base. Of course Malone and PDA are on the same page. It's just early in the process. Malone expects that whomever is on the roster will have the intestinal fortitude to play some damn defense. I mean...how do they not know to sag off Tyreke...or more probable, how the heck can they not implement he gameplans? Our guard defense makes everyone look like all-stars...except Jameer Nelson, who was to crappy to take advantage of them.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Fifth, Jason Thompson needs to go or be benched? The only decent post defender we have on the roster? Clearly, we need to start the 6'7 inexperienced backup. I'm sure that'll help the defense. Why hasn't Malone thought of that? C'mon Michael, shorter is always better in the NBA. That's exactly what we need to do, go smaller, less experience!

The real joke is that Thompson is arguably the best defender left on the team, which really tells you all you need to know about how ****ty the defense is. He's a terrible help defender, and nobody has ever said otherwise, but his man defense not only stands head and shoulders above the rest of his teammates, but it's right up there with the better defenders in the league at his position (his man defense only, relax Thompson haters). You know how some people were talking about how badly Glen Davis "burned" Thompson on Saturday? Well, at the end of the game, Baby had "burned" Thompson to the tune of a whole ten points. In fact, since Thompson was inserted into the starting lineup, he's held every opposing team's starting power forward at or below his season average, except for Zach Randolph.

Has that translated to wins? No, it hasn't, but that wasn't the question. The question was, who on the Kings is playing defense, and the answer is, Thompson is playing defense. Would replacing him with Acy in the starting lineup be an improvement defensively? Maybe, but I doubt it: Acy has a great motor, and he never takes plays off, but he's hardly a lockdown guy, either. On a lot of levels, he has the same problems that Chuck Hayes has. I have the feeling that the help defense would get slightly better, and the power forward man defense would get slightly worse. With the likes of Tim Duncan, LaMarcus Aldridge, David West, Kevin Love and Zach Randolph coming up in the next ten games, I don't know that I make that tradeoff any time soon.

 

[mac]

Random side note: it's scary when IT tries or takes a charge when a guy goes up. He's so short that he takes your legs out under you which would put you way off balance. Like undercutting a guy in midair

 

[Kingsfan23]

Second, RE: in game thread anthony Davis comments. Anthony Davis will be in the hall of fame if he can stay healthy. If you're not impressed with his game, um, yeah. Is this the first game you've ever watched? Davis is 20. If you can't see how he has a chance to be one of the best ever one of a kind superstars you're absolutely in over your head. Just stop. I repeat, the kid is 20. He was born march 11, 1993. He's more statistically dominant than cousins is right now. Not hypothetically. Now, with little offensive game. Davis has a better PER. Elite level. And he may rewrite the book defensively. On no, he gets his points on put backs. He totally sucks!

I'll assume your referring to my posts, and you have been making it a habit lately of belittling the arguments of those who you disagree with. Davis is a phenomenal talent who will help the pelicans but before I can consider him top 5 personally his offense will be more refined

 

[Kingster]

No way.....way off base. Of course Malone and PDA are on the same page. It's just early in the process. Malone expects that whomever is on the roster will have the intestinal fortitude to play some damn defense. I mean...how do they not know to sag off Tyreke...or more probable, how the heck can they not implement he gameplans? Our guard defense makes everyone look like all-stars...except Jameer Nelson, who was to crappy to take advantage of them.

Maybe a big part of it is mental immaturity. For some strange reason they thought Korver was Tyreke and Tyreke was Korver. They are so difficult to distinguish from each other. However, if we did have a couple of vets with some defensive pedigree (e.g. Luc), it would seem to help out Malone. At least Luc could figure out that Korver isn't Tyreke and vice-versa. Salmons could even do that. At this point, if the Kings wanted to go the developmental league to get some scrubs who are willing to run into a wall in order to get a loose ball, I'd be for it.

 

[bajaden]

Yeah.. I mean ok let's also not act like Tyreke doesn't have flaws in his game. But with good coaching (again I say, Monty Williams really isn't that much better than Keith Smart) who knows what we could have made of him? At the very least he'd have the defensive ability for Coach Malone to work with.

Basically what's annoying is that the new ownership promised one thing and one thing only for this season - significant defensive improvement. So far we do not look on track to reaching that goal, and Coach Malone's frustration shows it. We keep talking about culture change, and getting the right guys with the right attitudes. Well ... right now all that's left of last year's team is Thomas, Cousins, JT, Thornton, Outlaw and Jimmer. 3 of those guys haven't been getting regular minutes and are clearly not the main cause of our defensive problems. I also don't think JT is the problem. Cousins could be the problem, but there's no way we're getting rid of him. So that leaves IT ...

During the next game, watch Cousins on defense carefully. Play it back in slo mo if you can. By no means am I saying that Cousins is a great defender, but he's hardly the main culprit. JT, is very good in a one on one situation, but he absolutely terrible on rotations. The majority of the time, Cuz does what he's supposed to do on defense. He comes to stop the ball. Of course in order to do that, he has to leave his man. In general, its Cousins man that ends up doing the damage because no one rotates over to pick him up, and many of those cases, the culprit is JT. I pointed out that in a game preceding this last one, IT's man came from the perimeter to set a back screen on Cuz, who was guarding Bosh at the freethrow line. IT just watched it happen without yelling to Cuz about the backscreen. Of course Bosh went around Cuz and Cuz ran into the backscreen.

This is simple stuff, and it doesn't require you to be a great athlete. It only requires you to do what your supposed to do. In the last game, everyone knows that Tyreke isn't a very good outside shooter. So you tell me! When Tyreke runs the pick and roll, do you go over the screen, or under the screen. Logic tells you to go under, because you know that Tyreke isn't going to come off a pick and shoot the ball. So if you take the easy route, and go under the screen, your in perfect position to stay between Tyreke and the basket. If you try and go over the pick, Tyreke turns the corner and is on his way to the basket. So what did we do last night? We tried to go over the screen just about every time. It didn't matter who was guarding him, Gay, McLemore, IT, etc. Logic tells you that you make Tyreke beat you from the perimeter. What we did was just plain stupid.

 

[bajaden]

Hah, I should have read all the posts before posting. What can I say, great minds think alike. He says with all humility.

 

[PurpleHaze]

"I guess we gotta get some better players..." We're a bad basketball team now, that's the bottom line..."

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:10190828

This is best sound bite of Coach Malone laying it out there, with as he said - "no excuses."

 

[John Galt]

My favorite Malone bite was (paraphrasing) "maybe they haven't hit rock bottom yet. I hit rock bottom a week into the season"

 

[Chubbs]

I'll assume your referring to my posts, and you have been making it a habit lately of belittling the arguments of those who you disagree with. Davis is a phenomenal talent who will help the pelicans but before I can consider him top 5 personally his offense will be more refined

I wasn't referring to anyone in particular.

 

[KingMilz]

My favorite Malone bite was (paraphrasing) "maybe they haven't hit rock bottom yet. I hit rock bottom a week into the season"

Lmao yeah that was cold blooded I got a good laugh out of that one, I can't blame him but team has been pee weak for the majoirty of the year.

 

[Hadlowe]

Lmao yeah that was cold blooded I got a good laugh out of that one, I can't blame him but team has been pee weak for the majoirty of the decade.

Fixed that for you.

 

[King Cool]

At least we can be thankful that Bricklayer isn't the GM of this team.

 

[Spike]

At least we can be thankful that Bricklayer isn't the GM of this team.

Not sure what this is borne out of, but I don't know that you'll find the support you're looking for. (Although he's a big boy and can take care of himself, I'll play.)
When would he have taken over? Assuming the PDA timeline, or when Petrie clearly stopped working?
We'd likely have Evans and Cousins together, depending upon how real the drama was. Not sure about our draft pick, McLemore may or may not be a King. Honestly, this team didn't need as much blowing up as it did tinkering, depending on if you value defense and half court offense over scoring 100+ a game. To that end, I'm thankful for Malone, even though he was Vivek's call. I would have loved to see him work with Evans.

Would Brick had been able to unload as much crap at once as PDA did? Not sure. He did turn Hayes, Salmons, and Vasquez into Gay. We still have ill-fitting parts, but they are more talented.

 

[Bricklayer]

At least we can be thankful that Bricklayer isn't the GM of this team.

Truly.

You would be stuck with a Cousins/Drummond/Evans ultra physical young core.


When do

Would Brick had been able to unload as much crap at once as PDA did? Not sure. He did turn Hayes, Salmons, and Vasquez into Gay. We still have ill-fitting parts, but they are more talented.

When do I get to have taken over? Because I suspect its true I would not have been able to turn all that junk into Rudy Gay...because I would never have had that junk in the first place.

being loud and longterm I have a pretty clear track record to follow on such things, although my native born caution means I almost always hedge a bit and leave open an escape door in case somebody surprises me. Nonetheless this much is clear:

-- I would not have had Patterson, because I would not have drafted TRob, my man was Drummond
-- I would not have had Greivis because I would not have let Tyreke go (and if I did have Greivis I damn well would also have had Robin Lopez).
-- I would not have Hayes -- I was quite explicit on that point, and would have brought back Dalembert
-- I would not have had Salmons. I would never have traded Beno away.
-- I also would not have drafted Jimmer BTW. I unfortunately can't claim to go back and draft Kawhi instead -- although he was one of my favote guys in that draft, my clear repeated stance was that we should trade our pick (entirely, not swap it so we could take Jimmer, who we never would have needed to take if we kept Beno)
-- I damn well would not have picked up Outlaw's contract

All of the above are pretty clearly in the record for me. Now I will say that I considered the Hickson trade reasonable on its face at the time, and underestimated the impact that perpetual first round pick giveaway was going to have on us, because if we had followed MY suggested GM moves, we would long since been in the playoffs, would have just shifted a #20 pick or whatever off to the Cavs, and would have been done with it.

As for this past draft I can't claim Ben, MCW or anybody, because we would have been too good to get them, and again my response to a weak draft would have been to trade back out of it. Noel, BTW, was my man if by some chance I was in position to take him, but given how destructive my frontcourt would already have been, he would have been unnecessary.

Tricky thing is whether I would have IT or not. As the #60 pick I scarcely had any opposition to us taking him, or anyone. But its hubris to think that I would have also uncovered that one gem in the rough. Nonetheless, for current purposes I did not, nor would I have, advocated for anybody else with that pick, and it was a pick we got through trade not our own record. Would have to know what trade to know if I'd have even had it.

Here's a sampler of what my team would have looked like, taking the strike year as the year where I once again fell out of support for Petrie (Petrie briefly from 08-10 had about 1 1/2 years of rationality).

Cousins
Drummond
Thompson
Dalembert
Hickson? --> would have had to trade or let walk by now due to monetary constraints, would probably want somebody stretchier anyway

Evans
Udrih
IT

other possible: Donte, Douglas (actually again, never have TRob, so would not have Douglas except as free agent), etc. Terrence Williams maybe, but the off court rumors make me doubt I'd have wanted him around.

Thornton is an open question -- I was ok with the trade of Landry for him, but certainly his whole handling/contract and everything would not have gone the way it has. He wouldn't be a $8mil 10th man, I can say that much.

would not have wasted money on Landry obviously this summer. JT's contract would likely have been a little smaller since he would have been sharing time with Cuz and Dalembert at the time he made it.

SF is an open question. Donte might still be here, but he'd be a deep bencher even if he was. I would never have had Salmons nor Outlaw. If I truly get to cherry pick all GM moves, I am on record as being in support of picking up Mbah for those picks (as I was in trying out James Johnson for that pick the year before). Cannot claim to have been wildly for or against swapping Mbah for Williams, but circumstances would have been wildy different under my regime. But the x-factor is that I would have traded the Jimmer pick trying to get a SF out of it. And not Salmons either. So that could be our guy.

So optimistically I am:
C- Cousins
PF-Drummond
SF- somebody received for #7 pick in 2010 -- a shootist
SG- Evans/Beno
PG- Beno/Evans (Beno now might be headed toward bench work though, so starting combo have to be switched)

Thompson
Dalembert
IT
Thornton? If not, then a shootinig guard, with emphasis on shooting, would have had to be picked up to replace him.
somebody received for Hickson -- stretch 4, or swingman with Mbah/Williams eventually the stretch 4
somebody received for this year's pick, or picked in this year's draft, realistically later than #7 though.
Mbah a Moute or Williams
Donte?
somebody like Douglas maybe -- deep bench defensive guard


But I sure am glad we have Big Cuz & the Chuckateers instead.

 

[LPKingsFan]

Don't sell yourself short, Brick! We'd be sitting pretty with several trophies thanks to the Yi Jianlian/Thabeet-driven dynasty

 

[Bricklayer]

Don't sell yourself short, Brick! We'd be sitting pretty with several trophies thanks to the Yi Jianlian/Thabeet-driven dynasty

I did like Yi (unfortunately) from what I saw of him in vids, but that's not to say I would necessarily have drafted him even if I'd been in position to, which we weren't. Not working out for anybody was a red flag, and there were so many options that year. For the record, and it is on record, I argued for the Hawes selection as the most rational one given our position after the other bigs were all taken. Was hoping at that position we'd make that trade to get in position to take Noah, who I didn't love, but thought would make a good roleplayer. Once that evaporated, Hawes would have been my man too. Which again, is all on record. Would I have been saved from error by our draft position? Perhaps. But you can only play the hand you're dealt.

Ditto the Thabeet year actually. I obviously did not predict his ineffectiveness, did not see how he COULD be so ineffective. But by drafttime I had heard the Evans buzz, how he was tearing up the other PGs in group drills, and again you will find me arguing that it was a reasonable pick. I did not have a good feel for that draft though. So many stars and near stars came out of it, and the irony is that I might have made the Reke pick in part because I did not correctly predict Harden/Jrue/Curry/Lawson etc. The eye popping talents to me early looked like Blake (overall), Rubio (passing), Thabeet (shotblocking), maybe Jennings who was sloppy but had talent (ballhandling/passing), and then the late push by Evans who was supposed to be whipping them all in workouts. You would upon investigation find me in fact widely in support of the spirit of all three of our picks that year, except that I regretted taking Brockman instead of DeJuan Blair.

 

[bajaden]

I think part of Malone's post game rant was a direct shot at PDA for not giving him players that can play defense. PDA may have his own idea of how to construct a team but it seems to be in stark contrast to what Malone wants. These players are skilled at offense. They are not skilled at defense. At a certain point, no more points can be scored so piling up scorers, especially when it sacrifices defense, is a self-limiting way to construct a team. There is a huge mismatch in attitudes of the GM and coach and the guy having to suffer with it is Malone. Malone all but called out PDA by name.

Gotta disagree with you on this one Glenn. PDA and Malone have both stated several times that they talk on a daily basis. PDA stated that every personnel move he makes, he discusses at length with Malone, and Vivek. These guys are very professional, and I really doubt that their going to get into a pissing contest in the public arena. I think Malone was just trying to light a fire under his team, and at the same time, try and let the public know that losing isn't his objective, so as to dispel any notion that the team is intentionally tanking. A popular notion right now.

 

[Glenn]

Gotta disagree with you on this one Glenn. PDA and Malone have both stated several times that they talk on a daily basis. PDA stated that every personnel move he makes, he discusses at length with Malone, and Vivek. These guys are very professional, and I really doubt that their going to get into a pissing contest in the public arena. I think Malone was just trying to light a fire under his team, and at the same time, try and let the public know that losing isn't his objective, so as to dispel any notion that the team is intentionally tanking. A popular notion right now.

"I guess we gotta get some better players..." "We're a bad basketball team now, that's the bottom line..."

I stated an opinion that addressed this quote of Malone's. You can have a different opinion but I think there is room to interpret this comment the way I saw it. Frankly I wonder what PDA is doing and if it is all with the stamp of Malone's approval, I have questions about both of their decisions. They have traded away or not resigned every player skilled at defense so why now complain that they can't play defense? They got what they wanted.

 

[Bricklayer]

"I guess we gotta get some better players..." "We're a bad basketball team now, that's the bottom line..."

I stated an opinion that addressed this quote of Malone's. You can have a different opinion but I think there is room to interpret this comment the way I saw it. Frankly I wonder what PDA is doing and if it is all with the stamp of Malone's approval, I have questions about both of their decisions. They have traded away or not resigned every player skilled at defense so why now complain that they can't play defense? They got what they wanted.

I read, or hoped I read, that comment as sort of the final insult/attempt to inspire the troops rather than as a true statement of intent by Malone. Not mind, you, that I think he would mind getting some better defenders. Just that in listening to it, it sounded more like an expression of disgust.

PDA should feel free to read it as more though. Lord knows I would cheerfully welcome any and all perimeter defenders he was able to acquire at this point.

 

[dude12]

I think the goal has been a combination of improving talent and shedding contracts both at the same time which is a tough combination. I think the next moves priority is shedding another contract...namely MT and maybe JT....not sure how they feel about JT but if they can move MT and have to le go of a DWill or JT in the process, I think they would o that. I think that is the priority......eventually they will put together a better fitting team....they have said as much.