Kings Fan Fest!
- Thread starter twslam07
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I saw the last few minutes and the dunk contest. Wish I had known this was going to be live on the internet. Dang. From what I saw, they tried to make it fun and I gotta say, the coach is very personable. That may be all I take away from this except it was nice to see the rookies smile a little. I think Malachi was a little overwhelmed until he screwed up and was cheered anyway. Skal could be cool and who knows how far he will go. He was a big league bargain at #28.
The replay is available online here---> http://www.nba.com/kings/#
Is this the first time we've had a head coach bring his wife out to the fan fest with him?
There's obviously not too much we can take from a public scrimmage a whopping week into the preseason but we already can see some of Joerger's pseudo-Princeton leanings in that our big men operated out of the high post more in a fifteen minute scrimmage than they did in an entire season of Karlball, with Omri doing a heck of a lot of cutting and driving off of our post action.
Joerger was mic'd up for the scrimmage and, as assumed, we heard him communicating with the defense more often than the offense, and a lot of pumping up of his rookies. The former minor league coach at one point played the role of rookie player PR booster which was weird but entirely bad. Dave Joerger seems like a really involved positive guy and, hopefully, a man who can become a fixture in our community for years to come.
Not exactly surprising information but Boogie was the best player on the floor. He's good at those high post elbow jumpers so we shouldn't expect him to suddenly stop scoring 25 points a game now that he's not driving the ball from the three point line like some sort of giant James Harden. He passes just as well out of the high post as C-Webb or Vlade ever did. I anticipate more triple-doubles in Boogie's near future.
Skal continues to look like an absolute steal in the draft (really, how did almost every other team in the league pass on this dude?). There was a sequence where the dude fought for an offensive rebound, saved the ball from going out of bounds, recovered the ball, drove it into the lane, and swung around a good around the back pass that completely caught Kosta off-guard. Watching him and Willie matchup was a lot more fun than any preseason practice stream should be.
To Papagiannis's credit, he's gotten in better shape than in summer league and worked pretty hard during his time on the court and, in the impromptu rookie dunk contest, he showed surprising nimbleness and lift considering he's the size of a small airplane.
Aaron Afflalo looked pretty slick on offense, Temple was solid, Farmar saw more time than Lawson.
Vlade's offseason drafting spree and subsequent free agent signing spree has resulted in the roster being an odd collection of happy-go-lucky sky's the limit guys and savvy, hard-nosed veterans. Leading to odd situations like established all-star Boogie Cousins and teenage "I'm just happy to be here." Skal engaging in a high stakes shoot off in October. I love how Boogie is so flipping competitive that he forced himself back into the final possession of the scrimmage, drilled a three, and then genuinely seemed concerned he wasn't award a chance at a four point play... in pre-preseason.
There's obviously not too much we can take from a public scrimmage a whopping week into the preseason but we already can see some of Joerger's pseudo-Princeton leanings in that our big men operated out of the high post more in a fifteen minute scrimmage than they did in an entire season of Karlball, with Omri doing a heck of a lot of cutting and driving off of our post action.
Joerger was mic'd up for the scrimmage and, as assumed, we heard him communicating with the defense more often than the offense, and a lot of pumping up of his rookies. The former minor league coach at one point played the role of rookie player PR booster which was weird but entirely bad. Dave Joerger seems like a really involved positive guy and, hopefully, a man who can become a fixture in our community for years to come.
Not exactly surprising information but Boogie was the best player on the floor. He's good at those high post elbow jumpers so we shouldn't expect him to suddenly stop scoring 25 points a game now that he's not driving the ball from the three point line like some sort of giant James Harden. He passes just as well out of the high post as C-Webb or Vlade ever did. I anticipate more triple-doubles in Boogie's near future.
Skal continues to look like an absolute steal in the draft (really, how did almost every other team in the league pass on this dude?). There was a sequence where the dude fought for an offensive rebound, saved the ball from going out of bounds, recovered the ball, drove it into the lane, and swung around a good around the back pass that completely caught Kosta off-guard. Watching him and Willie matchup was a lot more fun than any preseason practice stream should be.
To Papagiannis's credit, he's gotten in better shape than in summer league and worked pretty hard during his time on the court and, in the impromptu rookie dunk contest, he showed surprising nimbleness and lift considering he's the size of a small airplane.
Aaron Afflalo looked pretty slick on offense, Temple was solid, Farmar saw more time than Lawson.
Vlade's offseason drafting spree and subsequent free agent signing spree has resulted in the roster being an odd collection of happy-go-lucky sky's the limit guys and savvy, hard-nosed veterans. Leading to odd situations like established all-star Boogie Cousins and teenage "I'm just happy to be here." Skal engaging in a high stakes shoot off in October. I love how Boogie is so flipping competitive that he forced himself back into the final possession of the scrimmage, drilled a three, and then genuinely seemed concerned he wasn't award a chance at a four point play... in pre-preseason.
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I can see why Joerger might be inclined to give Ben a shot with the starters instead of Afflalo. Afflalo is much more polished on offense and can even be used as a focal point of offense if plays break down for the second unit. Playing with Cousins and Gay would mean Afflalo will mainly stick to spot shooting. If Joerger can get good defense out of Ben and have him hitting his open jumpers at a good clip plus being a aggresive in the open floor, he fits better as a compliment to Cousins and Gay. If Ben doesn't step up, Temple looked solid in the scrimmage as well, we know he can play good defense but he also looked good hitting outside jumpers. Omri looked good, Joergers cut action will help him, especially if he plays the 4. Omri has a very quick initial burst of speed and then has a long stride which makes him faster than he looks. Its early but I like the depth the team has right now, obviously lets see it tested against other teams. I also love that it doesn't look like we are just throwing the ball out there and playing playground pickup like we did a last season under Karl. Joerger is setting a foudation.
Also Joerger said on the mic that Ben has had a great first week of training camp. Don't know if entirely true or the coach trying to give some confidence to a guy we all know severely lacks it.
Also Joerger said on the mic that Ben has had a great first week of training camp. Don't know if entirely true or the coach trying to give some confidence to a guy we all know severely lacks it.
Yeah, it was all good stuff, and it should have been. I thought Skal and Malachi looked comfortable out there. As you said, Afflalo, Temple, and Farmar all looked like solid veteran players. I thought Lawson looked a little lost at times, but in truth, the TV coverage was terrible at best, so it was hard to get a real feel for what was going on at times. However it was free, so no real complaint.
There was more ball and player movement than I've seen since Vlade, Peja and company departed. Cuz looked in midseason form, and I don't think he missed a shot. It was fun watching as two Kentucky players took turns hitting the winning three point shot, with Skal's coming last. Barnes looked like he was having a good time reffing the game. I think Big Poppa took one shot in the game, a 10 foot hook shot, which looked like it was shot out of a cannon. He still needs a little touch on that shot. I think IC (Isaiah Cousins) hit a corner three. I don't remember Willie taking any shots, but he showed Skal what defense is all about.
Defense was fairly simple with not a lot of switching. Willie probably switched the most, but stayed in the post area and filled the gaps when necessary. I wouldn't take too much from it since it was all in fun.
There was more ball and player movement than I've seen since Vlade, Peja and company departed. Cuz looked in midseason form, and I don't think he missed a shot. It was fun watching as two Kentucky players took turns hitting the winning three point shot, with Skal's coming last. Barnes looked like he was having a good time reffing the game. I think Big Poppa took one shot in the game, a 10 foot hook shot, which looked like it was shot out of a cannon. He still needs a little touch on that shot. I think IC (Isaiah Cousins) hit a corner three. I don't remember Willie taking any shots, but he showed Skal what defense is all about.
Defense was fairly simple with not a lot of switching. Willie probably switched the most, but stayed in the post area and filled the gaps when necessary. I wouldn't take too much from it since it was all in fun.
I went last night with my son and grandkids. It was more fun than it has been in a while. And the arena is beyond beautiful! I was really bursting with Sacramento pride. And 10,000 people rode light rail yesterday, including us. Food is expensive, but very, very good. A major upgrade. Of course, most of the vendors are some of the very best restaurants Sacramento has to offer. And they had the big hanger doors open last night, because it was a beautiful night. I can't wait for the season to start and to get back iinto the swing of things around Kingsfans.com. Crown Downtown just took over my life for so loooong.