Kings Name Vance Walberg Assistant Coach

#1

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#4
Not a surprise. It was an expected move, since Karl had mentioned Walberg prior to being officially named head coach of the Kings. I personally don't know much about Walberg, but if your trying to implement a new system, it helps to have assistants that know your system. Welcome to Sacramento!
 
#5
Walberg is known for his innovative offensive ideas and credited with developing the dribble drive motion offense—implemented by John Calipari at the University of Memphis and later Kentucky.

Learn more here:
(Warning: it's over an hour long :) )
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#6
Walberg joins George Karl’s staff after spending the last two seasons in a similar capacity with the Philadelphia 76ers.

I''m not sure how I feel about this. :(

Given, he was also an assistant for Karl with the Denver Nuggets, so I'm not going to worry too much. :)
Seriously, what is there to feel one way or the other? Everything that happens with the kings doesn't need to be put under a microscope. If you trust Karl, and Karl trusts and needs Walberg, then what more needs to be said, other than welcome aboard. Unless of course you know something about Walberg that we need to know.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#7
Walberg is known for his innovative offensive ideas and credited with developing the dribble drive motion offense—implemented by John Calipari at the University of Memphis and later Kentucky.

Learn more here:
(Warning: it's over an hour long :) )
That's an offense that Cousins would know something about. The dribble drive offense requires a big man that can handle the ball and make good decisions. It's and offense that gives the ballhandler (lets say Cousins) a lot of options on what to do with the ball, and requires more player movement than it does ball movement, however it does require some ball movement through re-setting the offense. I haven't watched the video yet and this is just my opinion from watching Kentucky play hundreds of times. So watch the video which could be entirely different from my dribble.
 
#9
10 minutes into the video, so far the buzz words "Big with handles will have options to iso", "we suck the defense in to shoot 3, no tough 2 points", "we like to space people out, keep the spacing, attack at different angles"
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#10
10 minutes into the video, so far the buzz words "Big with handles will have options to iso", "we suck the defense in to shoot 3, no tough 2 points", "we like to space people out, keep the spacing, attack at different angles"
I think having a big with handles and passing ability is a plus in the dribble drive offense, but not necessarily a prerequisite. You can run it without a Cousins like player. It's an offense that thrives off of misdirection, and uses the other teams pressure defense against them. The downside of the offense is that sometimes it takes some time to get the shot your want, so the 24 second shot clock is somewhat of a detriment, which is probably why Karls teams tend to play fast. The other problem with the offense is that it takes some time to get everyone on the same page. Its a somewhat complicated offense with a thousand different options off of one offensive set.
 
#11
The other problem with the offense is that it takes some time to get everyone on the same page. Its a somewhat complicated offense with a thousand different options off of one offensive set.
Yeah I think that's why they have signals like "if he ball-fakes you, that means you're going to cut" or "if he runs the ball to you, that means you're going to run back door." etc etc...
 

hrdboild

Moloch in whom I dream Angels!
Staff member
#13
His "Big man drill":


(Edit: Wasn't able to post at a certain point in time of Youtube, it's at the 27.22 mark)
That's a good drill. Every NBA big who thinks they need to put the ball on the floor for a "gather dribble" when they catch it in the post needs to go through this drill a few thousand times until they break the habit.

I trust George Karl to put together the staff he needs. He's more than earned that level of trust by now.
 
#14
Here is a pretty insightful article about Wahlberg's influence on Calipari: http://www.si.com/more-sports/2008/02/12/memphis0218
From the article:
One, there were no screens, the better to create spacing for drives. Two, the post man ran to the weak side of the lane (instead of the ball side), leaving the ball handler an open driving path to the basket.
"The players are unleashed when they play this way," he says, "because every player has the green light to take his man on every play."
I think that's a good solution to our "too many penetration" problem before coach Karl was here.
 
#15
Excerpt from this link: http://www.nba.com/kings/news/kings-name-vance-walberg-assistant-coach

Prior to joining Karl in Denver for the 2011-12 campaign, Walberg led Fresno City College to a 133-11 (.924) record in his four seasons at the helm, including a perfect 34-0 mark culminating in a California state community college championship in 2005. His extensive head coaching background at the prep level includes stints at Clovis West, Newark Memorial, Los Altos and Mountain View High Schools. In 13 years at Clovis West (Fresno), Walberg guided his teams to a 343-68 record with nine league titles, 10 CIF Central Section Championship appearances, and three trips to the Southern State Championship Game.
 
#16
Another excerpt:

A veteran of the coaching ranks with more than three decades of experience at the prep, collegiate and professional levels, Walberg joins George Karl’s staff after spending the last two seasons in a similar capacity with the Philadelphia 76ers. Prior to his tenure with the 76ers, he was an assistant for Karl on Denver’s bench.

Walberg is known for his innovative offensive ideas and credited with developing the dribble drive motion offense—implemented by John Calipari at the University of Memphis and later Kentucky. His coaching resume includes three seasons at UMass as an assistant coach (2008-2011) after serving two seasons as the head coach at Pepperdine University (2006-2008).
 

funkykingston

Super Moderator
Staff member
#17
(1) I really like Walberg's offensive concepts
(2) Just like with Adelman incorporating aspects of Coachie's Princeton offense, this will definitely have to be a blend of offenses because
(3) The Kings don't really have the ideal players for this offense - bigs with long range shooting, lots of other 3 point shooters, gifted penetrators etc
(4) Vance Walberg looks like Steve Ballmers younger (and less crazy) little brother.
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#18
(1) I really like Walberg's offensive concepts
(2) Just like with Adelman incorporating aspects of Coachie's Princeton offense, this will definitely have to be a blend of offenses because
(3) The Kings don't really have the ideal players for this offense - bigs with long range shooting, lots of other 3 point shooters, gifted penetrators etc
(4) Vance Walberg looks like Steve Ballmers younger (and less crazy) little brother.
The system doesn't require great athlete's, but it does require decent to good ballhandlers and shooters. As you said, very similar to what Adelman ran. More than anything, it requires the commitment of the players. If you start going rogue in this offense, the whole thing fails. It's truly a team concept, and a concept that should get Cousins a lot more easy shots once everyone gets on the same page. If you watch the Kentucky teams year after, with so many one and done players, and therefore, constant turnover, you'll notice that they always play much better toward the end of the season than at the beginning. Reason being, it takes a while for this offense to become instinctive. This years Kentucky team is the exception since they had quite a few returning players, and they have so much talent, they win despite mistakes.
 

Spike

Subsidiary Intermediary
Staff member
#19
Spacing tends to be an issue with this team - this is certainly a way to tackle the issue.
Like others have said, and I'll agree, I think we'll see elements of the offense, and not really a wholesale UK system. Reading defenders better should also improve.
 
#20
For this offense to work the guards have to be she able to shoot 3's. Either Ben or Nik will have to be hitting them consistently next season.
 
#21
Good, the sooner Karl gets his staff together, the sooner we can start righting the ship. Don't know a lot about him, other than he's been in the coaching buiz for awhile.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#22
Oh look, another offensive "innovator". Maybe we can pile enough of those up to break 30 wins.

Ironically of course a year and a half ago this same front office gave away the very Calipari Memphis trained dribble drive specialist to perhaps make a "dribble drive motion offense" sing.
 
#23
I personally believe the Kings need to hire some real three-point threats in order for this offense to be effective. Ben McLemore is way too inconsistent to rely on as a dependable threat. Nik, who was known as a shooter coming out of college, can't hit the side of a red barn. Rudy Gay is probably our best three point shooter, regardless of what this years' stats may portray. I know that DC has been knocking it down this year, but regardless, this team is not a threat offensively beyond the arch. Who is there for DMC to be comfortable kicking it out to on a nightly basis?
 
#24
I personally believe the Kings need to hire some real three-point threats in order for this offense to be effective. Ben McLemore is way too inconsistent to rely on as a dependable threat. Nik, who was known as a shooter coming out of college, can't hit the side of a red barn. Rudy Gay is probably our best three point shooter, regardless of what this years' stats may portray. I know that DC has been knocking it down this year, but regardless, this team is not a threat offensively beyond the arch. Who is there for DMC to be comfortable kicking it out to on a nightly basis?
Nik doesn't get enough PT, but I agree with you. Ben is actually the only one who Cuz can pass it to. Rudy is not a very good catch and shoot player, I think he hesitates when he's open a lot. Same with Collison. I have no clue about Collison's numbers, but he's not comfortable shooting the 3 unless he's wide open and can square himself up. I think that's probably one of Collison's offensive weaknesses. The absolute only way you can make this a 3pt shooting team is if you replace Collison, Gay, or JT. Even if you just replace Ben, we'll still have the same problems. He's the only player on our team not afraid to shoot despite his inconsistencies.
 
#25
Spacing tends to be an issue with this team - this is certainly a way to tackle the issue.
Like others have said, and I'll agree, I think we'll see elements of the offense, and not really a wholesale UK system. Reading defenders better should also improve.
Too many players are just standing around when Cuz has the ball. No one cuts or tries to move around...I think our offense is just as much of a problem our defense is
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#26
no idea who this guy is but based on the readings and videos he knows his stuff on offense and let's see how long it takes to incorporate the system.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#27
no idea who this guy is but based on the readings and videos he knows his stuff on offense and let's see how long it takes to incorporate the system.
Indeed, between his system and Karl's system and Vivek's system and Mullin's Nellieball and Aresnault's system and Dean Oliver's stats and gerbil's pace we're going to be the the most awesomely systemed lottery team in history.

The sport really isn't that hard. If they still made encyclopedias we'd be getting a full page pic under the "trying too hard" heading. And like most people trying too hard, it means you really don't get it.
 
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hrdboild

Moloch in whom I dream Angels!
Staff member
#28
Nik doesn't get enough PT, but I agree with you. Ben is actually the only one who Cuz can pass it to. Rudy is not a very good catch and shoot player, I think he hesitates when he's open a lot. Same with Collison. I have no clue about Collison's numbers, but he's not comfortable shooting the 3 unless he's wide open and can square himself up. I think that's probably one of Collison's offensive weaknesses. The absolute only way you can make this a 3pt shooting team is if you replace Collison, Gay, or JT. Even if you just replace Ben, we'll still have the same problems. He's the only player on our team not afraid to shoot despite his inconsistencies.
Collison's got the 9th best 3pt% among qualified PGs this season and a solid .366 for his career. He doesn't shoot a lot of them, but he's a good shooter. All anecdotal evidence aside. Ben at one point this season was also in the top 10 at his position in 3pt%. He's not consistent, but this is just his second season and he's getting better. Stauskas didn't suddenly forget how to shoot. I don't think he does a very good job right now of setting himself up for the shot, but I think he'll get better as he settles down and convinces himself that he belongs in the league. Casspi is having an uncharacteristically poor shooting season. His career average is .349 and he shot 37% his first two years in the league (mostly on catch and shoots) when he played a bigger role in the offense. A PF who can make threes is a luxury, not a necessity.

We do have some good shooters on this team. The problem, I think, is that we're not consistently creating good looks for them. Get them the ball in-rhythm in the same places on the floor over and over again and you'll see more of them go in. But then I don't think it needs to be a focal point of our offense anyway. We just need to be good enough that we can use the threat of a three to create more opportunities elsewhere.
 
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