Kings constantly hyping rookies above the team

[rainmaker]

Slow day today, but I thought I'd bring up something which I disagree with concerning either our FO or marketing team. Not sure which is responsible. But that is the constant over-hyping of our rookies and putting them before the team, or even the better, more seasoned players.

Even as someone who's backed Reke since day one I believe our team took marketing his 20/5/5 too far. I don't believe Reke was out there chasing stats(which I'm sure some will disagree with), but I do think the team sure as hell made it seem that way, and that him getting those stats was more important than anything else.

We had some hyping of Omri, mainly based on his country of birth, yet he was barely average when with us and might just be playing his way out of the league right now.

Then came Cousins, who should have been marketed, but again it went too far. Everyone remember the huge posters of he and Reke covering the side of Arco before he even stepped on the court for us? Think there was a huge poster of him on a downtown building as well, very early in his rookie season. Later came out it rubbed a lot of the vets the wrong way, which it should have and it was far too premature. Even opposing players were talking trash to Cuz during games about the huge poster on the arena.

Then we have Jimmer and his constant hype when he first came here, and as a player he definitely is not deserving. I like Jimmer and thing in the long run he'll be fine, but all the hype also rubbed players the wrong way as Smart mentioned in Amick's SI article last week. Even said some jealousy is still lingering and for good reason. He's our 4th or 5th best guard, depending on if you consider Salmons a guard, yet was a huge part of our media campaign early on. Just ridiculous. Earn it first.

Now, IT. He has played well and took many by surprise. Yet realistically, is our 4th or 5th best player. I'd put him behind JT right now, who's behind Cuz/Reke/MT. Yet here we go again with the team, not fans, but team generated ROY campaign, facebook page dedicated to it(set up by the team, not fans), commercials hyping him and now tweets and game previews from the team saying "come out and see Thomas & the Kings take on......". Also tweets from the team asking to "like" the facebook page they set up.

It's too damn much! Why are we always hyping rookies to death? Why are we putting extra pressure on them? Why is the organization ignoring the awkwardness it generates in the locker room? It's not a big thing, but think Cuz/Reke/MT are happy the organization is saying come out and watch Thomas & the Kings? I expect not.

Just let the damn rookies grow. Market around our best 2-3 players. It's just something a really don't like. You market around your top players, not your newest toy. And I don't mean to refer to rookies as a new toy, but the team every time we have a rookie who shows some promise, sometimes even before so, they start marketing them above better, more proven players. Also seem to forget the rookie(s) they promoted to death the year prior. Promote, promote, promote, and then forget as they hype the new rookie.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I agree but it isn't just rookies, it's just that is all they have to go on lately. It really started to get out of hand with K-Mart being marketed as some kind of savior. And to be fair, it's hard to market the team when they lose a lot more frequently than they win. But I think it gets us into big trouble, especially when the players don't perform up to the increased expectations. They should probably be focusing on the arena at this point, getting fans excited about that and building everything to that future. In that regard I think they can market all the young guys together as a package with a rendering of the new arena beginning construction behind them "Building towards our future" or something like that. Get people excited about a few years down the road and getting on board from the ground up. The best part of the golden years for me will always be having been through all the crap that preceded it and finally getting rewarded for standing by the team.

 

[jthompson1]

I agree, I've noticed it mainly with Jimmer, because talking about IT, Reke, and Cousins they deserved some of it. I DONT agree with the Isaiah ROY campaign it's just desperate in my opinion. But then going to Jimmer, dont get me wrong I like the kid but all his hype was so much before he ever did anything! I dont remember it being like that with Reke and Cousins.

 

[bluntsnbball]

I agree, I've noticed it mainly with Jimmer, because talking about IT, Reke, and Cousins they deserved some of it. I DONT agree with the Isaiah ROY campaign it's just desperate in my opinion. But then going to Jimmer, dont get me wrong I like the kid but all his hype was so much before he ever did anything! I dont remember it being like that with Reke and Cousins.

what did you expect? Jimmer was drafted to sell ticks and merch. His marketability was the reason we traded down to get him. He's the Tebow of the NBA, except he doesnt win games.

 

[RussoTuristo]

what did you expect? Jimmer was drafted to sell ticks and merch. His marketability was the reason we traded down to get him. He's the Tebow of the NBA, except he doesnt win games.

Yep, they just desperate .. its all about selling tickets and merchandise. I guess Kings marketing people graduated from Larry Baer School of Marketing couple of years ago. Panda hats are coming out next season.

 

[rainmaker]

I agree, I've noticed it mainly with Jimmer, because talking about IT, Reke, and Cousins they deserved some of it. I DONT agree with the Isaiah ROY campaign it's just desperate in my opinion. But then going to Jimmer, dont get me wrong I like the kid but all his hype was so much before he ever did anything! I dont remember it being like that with Reke and Cousins.

Well, this was put up before Cuz's first game.

It's just that year after year we're hyping rookies above our better players. Not a knock on IT or Jimmer, but just let them be. I don't agree with the ROY campaign either. I can understand if the guy has a legit shot as Reke did, but IT doesn't stand a chance. Could be 1st team all rookie though. But why even give out the expectation he could win it? Unecessary, and could be part of IT looking more for his shot. Does he feel he has to chase shots and points now that the organization has started an ROY campaign? Possible.

 

[Anthony1]

When I opened up the paper today, and saw that Isaiah ROY page, I just busted out laughing. Giggling, actually. Not that Isaiah isn't in the conversation, but I just thought it very "agressive" of the Kings to put something out there like that. I mean, I guess it would be understandable if Isaiah was scoring 20 points and dropping 9 dimes a night, but that hasn't really been the case. Isaiah is probably in the top 5 for on court production, maybe top 4, but seeing that advertisement had me snickering to myself at how brazen the Kings marketing is with that.


On the other side of the coin, they are trying to sell tickets.

 

[Bricklayer]

Not that Isaiah isn't in the conversation,

Oh no, Isaiah is not, in fact, in the conversatin at all. If there is a conversation involving him its just in whether they are going to be willing to load up another all rookie team with 3 or 4 PGs, or whether Rubio and Kyrie's presence will ake Isaiah second team. that's what we should be pushing for -- First Team All Rookie. Reasonable goal. Reachable goal. Non-looking deluded goal.

 

[Spok22]

As someone said before the organization is desperate and looking for anyway to get fans in the building. What better way then to promote the popular new toy? I'm sure when the team starts to win, they will go back to promoting the entire team like the old days.

 

[ParniValjak]

As someone said before the organization is desperate and looking for anyway to get fans in the building. What better way then to promote the popular new toy? I'm sure when the team starts to win, they will go back to promoting the entire team like the old days.

Unfortunate really that they don't realise that winning gets the fans back in and to win, you need to spend money and on the right players. In other words the oxymoron of what we did since the end of last season.

 

[UK_King]

I don't agree with it either, i like the engagement with the fans when they're first drafted, i like the rookie meet and greets and hyping the merch, thats just how a business runs. The huge posters and campaigns are a bit much and come off a bit desperate (even though i know they're not meant that way) It's about trying to engage the community.

The IT for ROY campaign is obviously a bit much too, i like him a lot but he has about as much chance of getting the ROY award as Kevin Garnett.

 

[Sac.1989]

have we finished our season V CLE. will be interesting to see IT V Irving

 

[King Baller]

have we finished our season V CLE. will be interesting to see IT V Irving

I just checked and there are no Cleveland games. The team only goes further east than Texas once and that is at Charlotte. OKC is on there 3 more times!

KB

 

[Kingster]

Slow day today, but I thought I'd bring up something which I disagree with concerning either our FO or marketing team. Not sure which is responsible. But that is the constant over-hyping of our rookies and putting them before the team, or even the better, more seasoned players.

Even as someone who's backed Reke since day one I believe our team took marketing his 20/5/5 too far. I don't believe Reke was out there chasing stats(which I'm sure some will disagree with), but I do think the team sure as hell made it seem that way, and that him getting those stats was more important than anything else.

We had some hyping of Omri, mainly based on his country of birth, yet he was barely average when with us and might just be playing his way out of the league right now.

Then came Cousins, who should have been marketed, but again it went too far. Everyone remember the huge posters of he and Reke covering the side of Arco before he even stepped on the court for us? Think there was a huge poster of him on a downtown building as well, very early in his rookie season. Later came out it rubbed a lot of the vets the wrong way, which it should have and it was far too premature. Even opposing players were talking trash to Cuz during games about the huge poster on the arena.

Then we have Jimmer and his constant hype when he first came here, and as a player he definitely is not deserving. I like Jimmer and thing in the long run he'll be fine, but all the hype also rubbed players the wrong way as Smart mentioned in Amick's SI article last week. Even said some jealousy is still lingering and for good reason. He's our 4th or 5th best guard, depending on if you consider Salmons a guard, yet was a huge part of our media campaign early on. Just ridiculous. Earn it first.

Now, IT. He has played well and took many by surprise. Yet realistically, is our 4th or 5th best player. I'd put him behind JT right now, who's behind Cuz/Reke/MT. Yet here we go again with the team, not fans, but team generated ROY campaign, facebook page dedicated to it(set up by the team, not fans), commercials hyping him and now tweets and game previews from the team saying "come out and see Thomas & the Kings take on......". Also tweets from the team asking to "like" the facebook page they set up.

It's too damn much! Why are we always hyping rookies to death? Why are we putting extra pressure on them? Why is the organization ignoring the awkwardness it generates in the locker room? It's not a big thing, but think Cuz/Reke/MT are happy the organization is saying come out and watch Thomas & the Kings? I expect not.

Just let the damn rookies grow. Market around our best 2-3 players. It's just something a really don't like. You market around your top players, not your newest toy. And I don't mean to refer to rookies as a new toy, but the team every time we have a rookie who shows some promise, sometimes even before so, they start marketing them above better, more proven players. Also seem to forget the rookie(s) they promoted to death the year prior. Promote, promote, promote, and then forget as they hype the new rookie.

The easiest fruit to pick on this is the Cousins advertisement (which included Tyreke). I think I posted on this at the time. It was ridiculous. You just don't advertise a rookie who's never stepped foot on the NBA floor. The guy hasn't proved anything and you're out there advertising him like the Second Coming. No wonder other teams were laughing. Also, it feeds into the self-absorption of the rookie, the feeling of entitlement. It's just not healthy. Now if the rookie is making a difference on the team during the season, like Tyreke, like IT, like Cousins, then I don't have a problem with the Kings marketing that, as long as it is done with some sense of proportion. The problem is that they tend to overdo things. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that the entire team is young, and it doesn't have a veteran star or stars. There are no defined stars on this team; they are all works in progress. If the team consisted mostly of quality vets, I don't think you would have this overhyping of rookies that we see. And, if the non-rookies like Tyreke and Cousins were more consistent in their performances you would see more hyping of them. The prior game in which Tyreke came of the bench they hyped him because of his performance. So some of it has to do with an emphasis on the "new", but it also has to do with performance on the court.

By the way, if T. Williams would make a positive impact on this team, and they signed him to a longer term contract, there's no doubt in my mind they would hype him. He's no rookie, but he is "new", and new + positive impact = marketable commodity.

 

[Siranthony]

All I will say is this team is being built through the draft. Our rookies are our future. They aren't going anywhere. How can you blame the team for hyping them to some extent. Should we trade all our rookies so they can be stars elsewhere (Like Golden state did all these years). don't be stupid.

 

[uolj]

I don't have a problem with it at all. They have to market what's exciting, and especially when Cousins was drafted what was exciting was having a rookie of the year and possibly the most talented guy in the draft in back to back years.

It's not like the team had real stars to market. And if you don't want pressure put on the rookies highlighted by the team's marketers, then don't do it. Take it for what it is.

 

[NoBonus]

Personally, I don't see a problem with it... let's see, they need to get people to games, so what should they hype?

The team? I imagine that slogans would go,
"Come see a sub-500 team not make the playoffs!"
"Some nights, this team plays great!"
"Be there when the Kings play a great quarter of basketball!"

Or hype the better players?
"Come see the amazing guard without a jumpshot!"
"Tonight only, walk the court with the veterans!"

Seriously, youth and rebuilding is what makes the Kings fun to watch (and is about the only thing the Kings have to be excited about, especially in the prior few seasons). I want to see future stars developing. I don't go to the games to see them dominate the court right now, hopefully soon, but right now, the exciting part is seeing the potential and the growth. Hype those rookies! They sell tickets!

 

[BMiller52]

Come on dude this is just the reality of the situation when the owners of the team need cash and can't actually afford good players. Jimmer offered the Maloofs a nice chance to sell a lot of jerseys, which is probably just as important to them as actually winning the games.

 

[Larry David]

Your view of this will depend upon whether you live in town. The Kings have radically overhyped their rookies and mismanaged the fans expectations in the process.

Kevin Martin was proclaimed as a guy that was going to make a lot of all star games.

At one point, they were alluding to Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes as the new Chris and Valde. The Kings were retiring both jerseys that season and were desperate to sell anything.

Evans was not just promoted as a guy that would be a multi-all start, but a superstar, and perhaps a legendary player.

In each instance, the resulting fan backlash for the players “not improving enough” stems directly from the Kings hype machine on KHTK, in particular Grant, mismanaging fans expectations. They’ve done a better job this year … but that’s just bad business.

Specifically, fans don’t have much to get excited about. Thus, the team over sells the rookies they plan to build around. Not only has the team improved only marginally in the win column, fans are also upset that the players haven’t delivered on the false promise they were sold.

Ever NBA team and sports fan does a little of this, but the Kings have been really bad about it and they’ve paid the price. Based upon how the Maloofs have run their “business empire” it’s not shocking.

The other thing that’s coming back to bite them is how they’ve run down players after the draft. In order to stamp down fans saying, “I would have rather had ___.” They’ve sent Jerry and a little of Grant out to say, “You didn’t want him.” In particular, they dumped all over Rubio three years ago and claimed Brandon Knight wasn’t on their board a year ago.

I doubt Brandon Knight was off their board. Instead, Petrie thought that Jimmer might be a fit next to Evans, the owners liked Jimmer and also wanted the buzz that came with him. Petrie said that 7 was early for Jimmer. Petrie had his marching orders. You can trade back and do what you want, but get Jimmer. Because the draft looked to fall off at 6 with guards, Petrie locked in a deal that moved from 7 to 10, by swapping out Jimmer for Beno and picking up Salmons. Then when Brandon Knight slid and were there at 7, it looked bad (even though the owners probably would have wanted Jimmer anyhow.)

Thus, Jerry Reynolds is sent out to proclaim that Brandon Knight wasn’t even on the Kings board. Brandon Knight is already pretty good. If he end up being really good – like Rubio will be – your front office looks pretty dumb because they publicly said they passed on these guys because they weren’t going to be very good.

A little hype is ok, but at then end of the day, honesty and fair minded assessments are best for business and fan’s expectations.

 

[Larry David]

Personally, I don't see a problem with it... let's see, they need to get people to games, so what should they hype?

The team? I imagine that slogans would go,
"Come see a sub-500 team not make the playoffs!"
"Some nights, this team plays great!"
"Be there when the Kings play a great quarter of basketball!"

Or hype the better players?
"Come see the amazing guard without a jumpshot!"
"Tonight only, walk the court with the veterans!"

Seriously, youth and rebuilding is what makes the Kings fun to watch (and is about the only thing the Kings have to be excited about, especially in the prior few seasons). I want to see future stars developing. I don't go to the games to see them dominate the court right now, hopefully soon, but right now, the exciting part is seeing the potential and the growth. Hype those rookies! They sell tickets!

Whatever you do in life, if you over hype your product, you'll pay for it later. Of course, short sighted business decisions are a Maloofs staple.

 

[uolj]

Specifically, fans don’t have much to get excited about. Thus, the team over sells the rookies they plan to build around. Not only has the team improved only marginally in the win column, fans are also upset that the players haven’t delivered on the false promise they were sold.

I think that's the fans' fault as much as it is the team. And I don't know if I'd really agree that it has come back to bite the team at all. I don't believe there would be any more interest in the team now than there would have been if they hadn't over-hyped people. And if the team fails to live up to the hype in the long run, then the fans will lose interest regardless. It's only a problem if there is high turnover amongst the players that were hyped, and I don't think there really has been.

What Grant and Jerry talk about is a separate issue. I don't know if they're instructed to do the schtick, I think it might just be their nature (especially Jerry).

 

[rainmaker]

I think that's the fans' fault as much as it is the team. And I don't know if I'd really agree that it has come back to bite the team at all. I don't believe there would be any more interest in the team now than there would have been if they hadn't over-hyped people. And if the team fails to live up to the hype in the long run, then the fans will lose interest regardless. It's only a problem if there is high turnover amongst the players that were hyped, and I don't think there really has been.

What Grant and Jerry talk about is a separate issue. I don't know if they're instructed to do the schtick, I think it might just be their nature (especially Jerry).

I think it has come back to hurt them, or actually, the players on the team. How often does Reke get ripped for not putting up the 20/5/5 numbers he put up as a rookie? When he's more aggressive, he's chasing stats and being a ball hog. When sits back and tries to get others involved he's not living up to the 20/5/5 future superstar the team pegged him as, as a freaking 20 yr old. I've seen numerous people implying Reke should be traded for not living up to the stats he put up as a rookie, and that therefor he hasn't improved and we should trade him while he still has value. I highly doubt there would be such a strong anti-Reke crowd if not for what happened his rookie year.

And the hyping of Jimmer hasn't hurt anyone? Then why did Smart say just last week there's still jealousy in the locker room about all his hype before accomplishing anything at this level? How about the team disturbance from his brothers tweets?

All this is just an added component which makes it that much tougher for a young team to win and grow together, imo. Even now I think IT might be chasing his shot more because of the ROY campaign put on by the organization. Also probably makes it tougher to sit IT if you're Smart, when IT is deserving of being sat, because of the ROY campaign. The back to back iso's for IT against GS at the end was highly questionable and made little sense. Did the ROY campaign play a part? I mean, why else would you go away from your top 3 guys and go to the guy being hyped out of control for a ROY award he has no realistic shot at winning?

 

[The_Jamal]

Every struggling small market team has to find a way to market their team to build interest. IT being the 60th pick and playing well is a marketing dream. It plays well into the whole underdog story that everyone likes to read about.

 

[uolj]

Such criticism occurs regardless of who gets hyped and how. I don't see any indication that the hype caused additional criticism. Nor do I see any evidence that it has hurt the Kings bottom line (which is what should be the main question for whether it's a good idea for them or not).

And the hype of Jimmer wasn't much to do with the Kings. He was overhyped well before he got here.

I'm not saying I love the Kings marketing choices, I rarely do (gold 6 sponsored by Bud Light anyone?). But there's not much to market here, so marketing the promise and potential of youth is perfectly acceptable.

 

[Larry David]

If you can't see the cause and effect between the over hype of Evans as a rookie and the ongoing Evans backlash, I can't help you find it. But it's there.

The other thing to consider is the reaction of casual fans. The people that post here can't get enough Kings, are often looking on the bright side of a player or the team, and watch enough to know when it's overhype. That's not most of the fans.

If you keep telling me that Evans, or Thompson for that matter, are going to be great. And then I watch only 10 games a year, and they aren't great. Then, you've got a problem.

 

[uolj]

If you can't see the cause and effect between the over hype of Evans as a rookie and the ongoing Evans backlash, I can't help you find it. But it's there.

The other thing to consider is the reaction of casual fans. The people that post here can't get enough Kings, are often looking on the bright side of a player or the team, and watch enough to know when it's overhype. That's not most of the fans.

If you keep telling me that Evans, or Thompson for that matter, are going to be great. And then I watch only 10 games a year, and they aren't great. Then, you've got a problem.

I can see why someone might think that the overhype has caused a significant backlash, but I can't see it actually happening. The backlash would have been there regardless. The criticism would have been there regardless. If the Kings had better players to market, then they'd also have better players to bear the brunt of the criticism. But they didn't and don't.

The backlash is primarily a result of being the team's best player (or at least one of them), not because of the hype. Obviously hype always leads to backlash, but the question here is whether the Kings overhyped their young players. To me, I don't see how that made a big difference and I don't see what else they could have done that would have been much better for them.