CruzDude
Senior Member sharing a brew with bajaden
With or without Bibby this year, the Orlando TV on-air guys pointed out some year long issues the Kings are having that have become major. It was objective conversation about both teams and in the first half the Kings were better in most stat categories than the much better Magic.
A little research and here is what I found about the Kings so far this year:
Worst in league in assist/TO ratio
29th in own Assists
30th in own TO's
27th in league in 3pt defense
25th in rebounding
28th in points allowed in the paint
23rd in league for opponent FG%
but in trying to keep my "half full glass" (it may be only 20% full by now!)
5th in league in FT shooting %
7th in steals
middle of league in most other categories
The second half of the Orlando game supported these stats big time. The first half did not. What changes at half time? Why don't Kings turn it on like most other teams? What changes many times when they have a good first half then go south?
Artest is great for the defense he does and getting to the basket but not so great when he starts to hog the ball and dribble too much that gets everyone else standing around. Dilemma #1: keep RonRon next or trade him? Probably not much question there. But can Salmons take over the SF role, defend and score consistently? We know he is much, much better as a starter but is he much better team player than RonRon?
Sometimes the Kings move without the ball really well but seems majority of time not. Kevin the exception but when he runs his butt off and doesn't get the ball consistently, hard to have an incentive. What keeps the Kings from moving without the ball?
With no good defender down low, I can see the bad 3pt defense and the only quick defenders are Kevin, Garcia and Douby (kinda). Maybe with some more playing time Shelden can start to become an enforcer down low. Don't know how quick he is but he shows flashes of being really good. But only flashes.
If Kings can beat Heat and Hawks, and they should, they can go 3-2 on this trip. Somehow we need to see more and more of Shelden for awhile to see what he can bring with more minutes. I'd like to see him take some of Mikki's minutes and bring some defense down low.
Guess I'm a bit frustrated in that the Kings know their problems but don't seem to do much about it. Coach can only coach so much then it's up to the players to carry it out.
The +'s
Brad's game is the best since he's been here but he does not deter anyone much from driving to the bucket.
Beno shows spurts of being a very good PG but not consistently yet.
When Kevin has the lightswitch ON, he is 20-25 ppg and a good defender.
RonRon can shut down just about anybody he guards for most of the game.
Cisco is fabulous off the bench, most of the time.
Hawes is coming along very good, slowly but for the minutes he's getting doing fine.
A little research and here is what I found about the Kings so far this year:
Worst in league in assist/TO ratio
29th in own Assists
30th in own TO's
27th in league in 3pt defense
25th in rebounding
28th in points allowed in the paint
23rd in league for opponent FG%
but in trying to keep my "half full glass" (it may be only 20% full by now!)
5th in league in FT shooting %
7th in steals
middle of league in most other categories
The second half of the Orlando game supported these stats big time. The first half did not. What changes at half time? Why don't Kings turn it on like most other teams? What changes many times when they have a good first half then go south?
Artest is great for the defense he does and getting to the basket but not so great when he starts to hog the ball and dribble too much that gets everyone else standing around. Dilemma #1: keep RonRon next or trade him? Probably not much question there. But can Salmons take over the SF role, defend and score consistently? We know he is much, much better as a starter but is he much better team player than RonRon?
Sometimes the Kings move without the ball really well but seems majority of time not. Kevin the exception but when he runs his butt off and doesn't get the ball consistently, hard to have an incentive. What keeps the Kings from moving without the ball?
With no good defender down low, I can see the bad 3pt defense and the only quick defenders are Kevin, Garcia and Douby (kinda). Maybe with some more playing time Shelden can start to become an enforcer down low. Don't know how quick he is but he shows flashes of being really good. But only flashes.
If Kings can beat Heat and Hawks, and they should, they can go 3-2 on this trip. Somehow we need to see more and more of Shelden for awhile to see what he can bring with more minutes. I'd like to see him take some of Mikki's minutes and bring some defense down low.
Guess I'm a bit frustrated in that the Kings know their problems but don't seem to do much about it. Coach can only coach so much then it's up to the players to carry it out.
The +'s
Brad's game is the best since he's been here but he does not deter anyone much from driving to the bucket.
Beno shows spurts of being a very good PG but not consistently yet.
When Kevin has the lightswitch ON, he is 20-25 ppg and a good defender.
RonRon can shut down just about anybody he guards for most of the game.
Cisco is fabulous off the bench, most of the time.
Hawes is coming along very good, slowly but for the minutes he's getting doing fine.