[Game] Kings @ Clippers - Sunday, Jan. 27 - 12:30PT, 3:30ET

Kingster

Hall of Famer
Joerger has all the incentive in the world to win these games. A 4 year extension would likely be his if he gets this team into the playoffs. He is a victim of his own stubbornness. There was no reason not to start Bagley against Jackson and the Grizzlies. I get more why Bogs does not start as I detailed above.
Joerger has all the incentive in the world to win these games. A 4 year extension would likely be his if he gets this team into the playoffs. He is a victim of his own stubbornness. There was no reason not to start Bagley against Jackson and the Grizzlies. I get more why Bogs does not start as I detailed above.
I may be wrong, but I really get the feeling that behind the scenes Joerger is constantly asked about 1) things he can do to get to the playoffs, and then in the same breath 2) things that he can do to get more pt for Bagley, Giles, JJ etc. He may also be asked about WCS and playing him a certain number of minutes in order to trade him, and for all we know the same may go for Shump and Bjelica. Joerger has intimitated there are constant discussions between him and management over how to bring the young guys along. There also may be internal political team-chemistry issues going on. For example, Fox said how much he loves Shumpert. He also said Bjelica was played in order to spread the floor for him. We also know that the ankle-biting minority partners are constantly at it. We know an assistant GM has gotten into Joerger's business, though we are not exactly sure of all the details. Just from my own life experience I've come up with this maximum: If a situation doesn't make sense, it's because there is something behind the scenes that you just don't know about that if you did know would make everything perfectly clear. I think this is one of those situations.
 
I only have what many would consider small beefs with the coaching staff. For example, I can't stand that they even allow the guards to do these "bowling ball" passes that seem prevalent around the league. Buddy Hield doing that kind of pass is an absolute recipe for disaster and should immediately be stopped. It doesn't take an inordinate amount of common sense to realize that a bowling ball pass with one hand, not two, and with a wind up rather than a "snap" two handed pass, is not only more subject to misdirection but also easier for the opposition to anticipate. Another small beef: How about when there is a loose ball picking up the ball with freaking two hands instead of trying to dribble it into your possession? This team is absolutely incredibly supremely horrible when it comes to getting possession of 50-50 balls and the coaching staff has to take some responsibility for it. It's a magnificent testament to the softness of this team that they are so horrendous in this aspect of the game. If anyone doesn't think this team is soft, just look at what happens when there's a loose ball on the floor. I've seen bird-watchers have more activity than Kings' players going after loose balls.

All those small potato compaints aside, as others have mentioned, Bjelica (except for the Grizzlies' game) has been horrible. Shump has been horrible. I don't think their performances have anything to do with poor coaching by Joerger. Joerger is left to rearrange the deck chairs, many of which don't fit together very well, especially because Bagley and Giles (and even Fox) are far from finished products. He's probably doing about the best he can do. There's only so many "creative" solutions you can come up with when you are dealing with rookies and sophomores on your team; the inexperience just doesn't allow them to incorporate creative defensive and offensive solutions without screwing them up entirely. I can't stand it that he's starting Bjelica because Bjelica just continues to get killed by the opposition on defense and be a nothing on offense. I can't stand that he plays Shumpert, despite a horrendous consecutive shooting performances and his hero ball. But he can't just sit those guys and "lose" them from this team. He's left with the kiddie-corps if he does, and that's waiving the white flag on any playoff aspirations. I think Joerger continues to do what he does until it's clear to a non-basketball fan, or even a minority owner, that the playoff hopes are dead and gone. Then he'll play the kids much more and Bjelica and Shump may sit almost entirely. The caveat to all of the above is if there is a trade before the deadline, which could allow Joerger to rejigger the entire lineup, which Joerger, more than any of us, must dream about on a nightly basis.
I agree. I do get the sense that Joerger doesn't like the pieces he has to work with as a whole. I also think that he was told that the Kings had to push the pace more this season. By fans and FO alike. He worked it out to be able to do that. Now that teams have figured out how to slow the Kings down or the players are worn out, it becomes evident the team spent more on pace than ironing out how the offense was going to function in the half court. So probably a lot of competing requests he's trying to implement.

He's caught between a rock and a hard place. The Kings have stayed in playoff contention so long that expectations have changed. He doesn't yet have a contract extension, so winning AND keeping the boss happy is paramount. However the team is still young and the roster rebuild is not complete.

One thing I will say is that starting Bjelica in the beginning of the season helped with the winning early, but is coming back to bite them now. Bagley was always going to be the better player. Now that Bjelica has shown to be a liability on defense and even offense, the Kings are learning on the fly in the midst of a playoff run how to incorporate Marvin with the starters.