[KINGS] Comments that don't warrant their own thread (2025-26)

Capt. Factorial said:
"Bench the vets so that we can lose games! No, not that one!"
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Tetsujin said:
“play a lineup with our good defenders in if! But not at the expense of one of our worst defenders!”
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While I think the sarcasm here is well-applied, the situation speaks to how faulty the Kings' off-season approach was. Anybody expecting a winning season would have been foolish for doing so, and there was never going to be a graceful way to manage the backcourt log-jam that resulted from signing both Schroder and Westbrook. I think Doug has made some serious errors in judgment this season, and I don't really believe in him at all as a long-term solution in the role, but even I will admit that his faults as a first-time head coach are being magnified by the ridiculous challenge of trying to get some of his younger players minutes amongst this grab bag of aging veterans that demand playing time and occupy the same positions. It's just a mess, and it's going to leave various players alienated in a way that just doesn't reflect positively on the organization at all.
 
Padrino said:
While I think the sarcasm here is well-applied, the situation speaks to how faulty the Kings' off-season approach was. Anybody expecting a winning season would have been foolish for doing so, and there was never going to be a graceful way to manage the backcourt log-jam that resulted from signing both Schroder and Westbrook. I think Doug has made some serious errors in judgment this season, and I don't really believe in him at all as a long-term solution in the role, but even I will admit that his faults as a first-time head coach are being magnified by the ridiculous challenge of trying to get some of his younger players minutes amongst this grab bag of aging veterans that demand playing time and occupy the same positions. It's just a mess, and it's going to leave various players alienated in a way that just doesn't reflect positively on the organization at all.
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To be fair, given how every single trade rumor went over the summer, Malik is evidently not in any of the Kings’ longterm plans at all
 
Tetsujin said:
To be fair, given how every single trade rumor went over the summer, Malik is evidently not in any of the Kings’ longterm plans at all
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That may be, and while I would miss Monk's swagger and enthusiasm, I'm not exactly aching to see him stay in the context of a rebuild. Regardless, the fact remains that Perry created a logjam in what was already going to be a confusing and difficult backcourt rotation, and he's tasked his ill-equipped first-time head coach with untangling the mess. The result is that guys keep getting jerked in and out of the lineup with little rhyme or reason, and it's very likely going to leave some number of players feeling alienated, at minimum, and duly pissed off, at worst. If the Kings are ever going to shed their "basketball hell" reputation, they have to stop creating environments that are repellant to the kind of positive culture they claim they want to foster.
 
ESP47 said:
I don't know what the stats say but the Kings seem to be a lot more competitive when LaVine isn't out there. At least as of late.
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It's not as much LaVine, but just the sheer fact Doug is making an effort to play balanced lineups out there these last 3 games. Obviously lots of Keegan, but we've made an effort to get Nique into a real role, Cardwell has been a nice shot in the arm on defense, Keon was heavily used in the POR games. We're not running maximum minutes for the vets. DDR at 36.6, Russ 31.7, Dennis 28.4 over the last 3 games... 2 of which have gone into OT. And we've effectively had the same 9 man rotation over these last 3, which is helping cohesion and the guys playing together.

Surprise, surprise, when you structure your rotation to give it a chance to succeed.... it starts to show on the floor. Guys get more comfortable in their role. Kings over these last 3:

ORtg 111.2
DRtg: 112.3

Net: -1.2

How these would stack up over the course of the full season:

ORtg: 27th
DRtg: T-6th (!)
Net: 18th
 
A core assumption of the organization seems to be that Malik is not a PG. One may agree or disagree with that assessment, but it seems to explain a lot of the moves (signing both Dennis and Russel) and lineups (still having a logjam with Monk being the odd man out, even with Zach hurt). Playing Keegan at the 3 more, and finding more minutes for Keon, generally are good things that I assume the forum supports. The problem is that, since they don’t feel comfortable with Malik at PG, he’s currently the one losing out.

I was curious if maybe a Malik/Nique backcourt could work with Nique’s playmaking, but this duo is -14 points/100 possessions so far this year, so it hasn’t exactly worked yet.

This bums me out because I love Malik and was glad he re-signed here, but a lot of the predictions for him in the wake of the Fox trade (wasn’t there a lot of talk that Malik was the true playmaker of the team?) haven’t exactly panned out
 
LPKingsFan said:
A core assumption of the organization seems to be that Malik is not a PG. One may agree or disagree with that assessment, but it seems to explain a lot of the moves (signing both Dennis and Russel) and lineups (still having a logjam with Monk being the odd man out, even with Zach hurt). Playing Keegan at the 3 more, and finding more minutes for Keon, generally are good things that I assume the forum supports. The problem is that, since they don’t feel comfortable with Malik at PG, he’s currently the one losing out.

I was curious if maybe a Malik/Nique backcourt could work with Nique’s playmaking, but this duo is -14 points/100 possessions so far this year, so it hasn’t exactly worked yet.

This bums me out because I love Malik and was glad he re-signed here, but a lot of the predictions for him in the wake of the Fox trade (wasn’t there a lot of talk that Malik was the true playmaker of the team?) haven’t exactly panned out
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Monk gave up on himself as a starting lead guard publicly to the media. It wasn't going to happen here, from that point.

He looked good in that spot, when he was paired with a guard that he fits well with in Keon Ellis. Not sure why he felt compelled to give up on the idea.
 
ShastaKingsFan said:
Monk gave up on himself as a starting lead guard publicly to the media. It wasn't going to happen here, from that point.
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Here is exactly what he said in the exit interview last spring and in the first training camp interview. You all can decide for yourselves whether or not he "gave up on himself" as starting point guard.

Q. Walk me through all the changes to your game and the roles you had to go through. And do you think there is an ideal role for you out of those three?
A. I had to be four different players this year. But I wasn't complaining. It was the hand I was dealt. So I was just doing what needed to be done. I don't know what role I'll play next year. I felt more comfortable starting at the two. I felt like I was flooring then. I love that role...Whatever they want me to do, I'm gonna be 100% with that.

Q. In your exit interview, I think you mentioned you kind of prefer to play the two, but obviously, you're good at both. What's the difference between the two [positions] to you?
A. Point guard, you got to be [working] your whole life to be a great NBA point guard. You can't just be out there throwing. You can't get a job that day, go out there and play point guard, and be great at it. I think you got to, especially in the NBA, you got to communicate, you got to run the team, you got to run the defense. You got to know what the shot clock is. It's a lot to go in the net. With the two--go play basketball. So it's totally different jobs.
 
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Caccia said:
Here is exactly what he said in the exit interview last spring and in the first training camp interview. You all can decide for yourselves whether or not he "gave up on himself" as starting point guard.

Q. Walk me through all the changes to your game and the roles you had to go through. And do you think there is an ideal role for you out of those three?
A. I had to be four different players this year. But I wasn't complaining. It was the hand I was dealt. So I was just doing what needed to be done. I don't know what role I'll play next year. I felt more comfortable starting at the two. I felt like I was flooring then. I love that role...Whatever they want me to do, I'm gonna be 100% with that.

Q. In your exit interview, I think you mentioned you kind of prefer to play the two, but obviously, you're good at both. What's the difference between the two [positions] to you?
A. Point guard, you got to be [working] your whole life to be a great NBA point guard. You can't just be out there throwing. You can't get a job that day, go out there and play point guard, and be great at it. I think you got to, especially in the NBA, you got to communicate, you got to run the team, you got to run the defense. You got to know what the shot clock is. It's a lot to go in the net. With the two--go play basketball. So it's totally different jobs.
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I decided that this was his way of saying that he didn't really look at himself as a point guard and would much rather play the two. It was a different tone that what he had last season, when Fox was traded and they decide to try him as the starting 1.

I assume there was also discussion among the team with him about it, otherwise Sabonis threw him under the bus in the off season, when he stated that it should be a priority to get a point guard. I think they had already decided at that point, that starting lead guard was not going to be Monk's role
 
ShastaKingsFan said:
I decided that this was his way of saying that he didn't really look at himself as a point guard and would much rather play the two. It was a different tone that what he had last season, when Fox was traded and they decide to try him as the starting 1.

I assume there was also discussion among the team with him about it, otherwise Sabonis threw him under the bus in the off season, when he stated that it should be a priority to get a point guard. I think they had already decided at that point, that starting lead guard was not going to be Monk's role
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I don’t know. Frankly, I think Sabonis deserves more flak for the comments about needing a point guard. His value is his ability to create offense at center, running a more traditional offense neutralizes his main advantage and makes his weaknesses all the more glaring. Maybe that wasn’t his point (no pun intended) but I found his comments confusing.
 
LPKingsFan said:
I don’t know. Frankly, I think Sabonis deserves more flak for the comments about needing a point guard. His value is his ability to create offense at center, running a more traditional offense neutralizes his main advantage and makes his weaknesses all the more glaring. Maybe that wasn’t his point (no pun intended) but I found his comments confusing.
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That was frustration talking. By the time Sabonis came back from injury last season, the offense had changed and was driven by creation from the guards and the offense was no longer run through him. I think it is his way of saying that if you are not going to use me as an offensive hub, get me a proper PG that can pass me the ball in the post.
 
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