Kings Preseason Takeaways, Opinions and Observations

C

CVKingsfan

Bench
It’s a long 10 days until the season opener, so what do you have to say about the Kings preseason? Can we conclude anything based on a preseason 5-1 record?

For me, there were two primary things that stood out:

(1) WCS could be the most polished and NBA ready rookie the Kings have ever drafted – if there was ever a ROY candidate who earned the right to be considered due to his defense and not his scoring, WCS is the guy!

(2) Rajon Rondo’s BB IQ and floor general qualities – from DMC’s description of Rondo being a BB genius to the personal observations stated by those attending or watching games and practices of Rondo diagramming the next play on a clipboard with the team (without the coaching staff in the huddle). Have the Kings ever had a PG with this unique skill and ability, or have we ever had a coach with this much faith and trust in his point guard?

Lastly, James Ham (CSNCalifornia's Kings Insider) did a great job, in my opinion, of identifying some key points as a result of the King’s preseason here:

http://www.csnbayarea.com/kings/early-takeaways-kings-5-1-preseason

What are your thoughts?
 
Here's my takeaway: After all the Cousins/Karl crap, and all the rest of the horror show projections from the national experts that we had to endure in TDOS - it is incredible... amazing... that the team has the kind of positive chemistry and momentum that we have.

I'm not aware of so much as a sideways glance or a questionable body language gesture from Cousins, Karl, Rondo... anybody. I also haven't read any negative stuff from Collison about starting vs coming off the bench (I predict he will be a serious 6th man candidate next year). Vivek has kept his trap shut and the weasel is long gone.

Nobody could likely have likely guessed that we would be in such a good spirits at the end of the preseason schedule. Aside from concerns about McLemore's development - there isn't a cloud in the sky.
 
My take away is pretty simple here....Cousins needs to attempt 0 three point FG's, Cauley Stein needs to start from day one, the bench will be respectable this year it seems and Ben will remain a black hole.
 
1. Our depth will win us some games this year.

2. Still don't see a way we can shut down elite wing scorers yet. Klay, Harden, Wiggins and Ellis are a few that had career night vs. us last year, hopefully we can step up the perimeter D.
 
I think we will have troubles with spacing especially with our starting 5.
But I expect us to be a decent defensive team, if we are able to keep the TO's low.
I can't think of another team, that has the same overall interior defense potential for 48 minutes.
In the paint there will be nothing easy for our opponents. Perimeter defense remains a work in progress, but if Ben can make step forward again, it won't be a glaring weakness with Rondo, DC and Ben.

Strangely enough the current roster would be nearly perfect for Malone's defensive playstyle from the start of last season. But I do think Karl is a decent enough coach, to figure things out. And I don't have any problems with good defense leading to a fast paced offense.
 
#We need a decent wing player (aside from Rudy/Beli) if we want to do some damage if we make the playoffs unless both Casspi and Ben step it up bigtime.
 
KingMilz said:
#We need a decent wing player (aside from Rudy/Beli) if we want to do some damage if we make the playoffs unless both Casspi and Ben step it up bigtime.
Click to expand...

Indeed. But how do we get one?
We have no draft picks in 2016 unless we and the 76ers are in the lottery again (am I right?).
So it comes down to 2016 FA (there are a couple of decent wing role players) or a trade, with Ben as our only expendable piece with some value, unless Rondo plays terrible and we move his expiring contract.
I don't think there is much of a chance, that we head into the second half of the season with another good wing player.
But after all every team has it's weaknesses.
 
KingsFanGER said:
Indeed. But how do we get one?
We have no draft picks in 2016 unless we and the 76ers are in the lottery again (am I right?).
So it comes down to 2016 FA (there are a couple of decent wing role players) or a trade, with Ben as our only expendable piece with some value, unless Rondo plays terrible and we move his expiring contract.
I don't think there is much of a chance, that we head into the second half of the season with another good wing player.
But after all every team has it's weaknesses.
Click to expand...
I really hope it does not come to this but if Ben does not step it up than we might have to package him and he's movable since he's got high potential. I really hope it's just preseason and Ben is not going 100% but it does not seem like that. We just need solid contributions from him and Casspi and than it's really up to how good Cousins/Gay are.

No matter what I said this before this year is a 100% a resolution year barring serious injuries in terms of what we are doing going forward with the Cousins/Gay combo and I'm really hoping they can lead us it would great to see.
 
Almost every other guy on the team is a friggin' canon. The task is to pick and chose the right combos. It's a work in process and I'm optimistic.
 
CVKingsfan said:
(1) WCS could be the most polished and NBA ready rookie the Kings have ever drafted
Click to expand...
I don't know about all that... L-Train was pretty polished, and NBA ready. He didn't turn out to be very good, but he was pretty polished. Wiz and BG, too. Big Nasty was pretty polished, too, he just turned out to have a very low ceiling.
 
Mr. S£im Citrus said:
L-Train was pretty polished, and NBA ready. He didn't turn out to be very good,
Click to expand...

L-Train was actually very good player. Just on a bad team, as was the case for a lot of Kings players up until 1996ish. He finished 2nd to
Derrick Coleman in the ROY voting in 1990/1991.

He averaged 17 ppg, 8 rpg and 4.2 apg over the first 4 years of his career until injuries derailed the rest of his career.

Those numbers are very good for a SF.
 
That's usually the main issue with "NBA ready players." They are already close to their ceiling and don't have much room for growth.

Not saying this is the case with WCS. I don't have a large enough sample size to have an opinion on him yet. But of all the player's to watch on the Kings, he'll be the one I'm focused on. Fascinating skill set.
 
KingsFanSince85 said:
L-Train was actually very good player. Just on a bad team, as was the case for a lot of Kings players up until 1996ish. He finished 2nd to
Derrick Coleman in the ROY voting in 1990/1991.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but that's like saying that Stojakovic finished second in scoring to McGrady, that one time. It's true, on a technicality, but it's not he was ever really in the running.
 
From 3 TV games and 1 in-person game, takeaways are:
- Improvement of AST/TO ratio in training camp was super (and unexpected) for such a new bunch;
- WCS is the real deal and we'll need to wait awhile to see how he and Cuz can maximize their production;
- Rondo seems as advertised and a big step up as to running team, for the most part;
- DC has really stepped up his game for pre-season and will be very valuable;
- Bench is best since 50+ game win era;
- Great Vlade comment on Dukan having a smooth shot just like Peja in his first year or two;
- Chemistry on personal level seems really good so far, now for chemistry on the court in regular season;
- Koufas is major upgrade for backup 5;
- The 5-game road trip mid-November will show what we can likely have for first half of season.

Encouraging, fun to watch and first optimism in many years.

ED 10/20: Omri is one of my favs and is better than last year so far. Expect to see Anderson and Curry get some minutes and hope Dukan sticks. cd
 
Last edited:
WCS is the truth.

Rondo, Marco, and Koufos were amazing free agent gets.

Vlade can build a team.

Ben needs to step it up. I haven't given up on the kid, but we need solid shooting and D from him. He's done it before. Just needs to relax and play his role.

DC is going to be a monster for us off the bench. If we make the playoffs, he's in the convo for 6moy.

Hell, our entire bench is going to be monstrous for us.

Cuz isn't being utilized properly. But Karl has admitted as much, and I think he'll figure out how to alter his offense to accommodate a dominant post big. Less threes and ball handling please!

Moreland needs to make the squad and get Acy's minutes. Moreland brings rebounding, blocks, and hustle points. Acy brings a cool beard.

We aren't there yet. We still need to gel, and we still have some weak spots on the roster..... That being said, I think we're going to be right in that dogfight for the final playoff spots. We can be anywhere from 7th-10th. If we played in the east, I think we'd be a lock.

Final observation: I'm psyched as hell for this season.
 
Mr. S£im Citrus said:
Yeah, but that's like saying that Stojakovic finished second in scoring to McGrady, that one time. It's true, on a technicality, but it's not he was ever really in the running.
Click to expand...

Still, my point is that he was a good player, especially for the first 4 seasons before injuries took their toll. He was very polished coming into the league, as you said, but you are off on him not turning out to be a good player. He very much was. He just couldn't sustain it after the first 4 years due to injury. That's all I was trying to point out.

As for the ROY thing, it just goes to show that only 1 rookie was deemed better that season.
 
Other observations:

It was funny seeing people rag on Collison. "He's looked terrible every game other than this one..." nearly every game while the guy ends up with amazing numbers for a guy off the bench.

Cousins and McLemore aren't going to shoot 39% and 28% or whatever Ben ended up shooting. Obviously they can only go up from there.

Bench is going to be sick. Two good scorers and above average defense down low. Going to be fun to watch.

I think Vlade did the best he could with the resources he had. I can't really come up with a better scenario for this season than he gave us since this is in fact Sacramento and we have pretty much been losing for about a decade straight. I don't care if the team implodes due to Cousins/Rondo/Karl. He gave us fans the best opportunity we could ask for as far as a winning season goes.
 
ESP47 said:
Other observations:

It was funny seeing people rag on Collison. "He's looked terrible every game other than this one..." nearly every game while the guy ends up with amazing numbers for a guy off the bench.

Cousins and McLemore aren't going to shoot 39% and 28% or whatever Ben ended up shooting. Obviously they can only go up from there.

Bench is going to be sick. Three good scorers and above average defense down low. Going to be fun to watch.

I think Vlade did the best he could with the resources he had. I can't really come up with a better scenario for this season than he gave us since this is in fact Sacramento and we have pretty much been losing for about a decade straight. I don't care if the team implodes due to Cousins/Rondo/Karl. He gave us fans the best opportunity we could ask for as far as a winning season goes.
Click to expand...

Agree with all of it. I think you forgot about Omri.
 
Agre with above posts about the excellent job Vlade has done since coming on board regardless of the outcome.

Also, with all these great changes the task of putting it all together to make a winning team is a big task for our coaching staff.
 
I feel like we are missing a defensive wing. Someone who can really contain the perimeter. Maybe we do a small trade somewhere down the season
 
When we go to our bench we will have an advantage over other teams and that's going to pay dividends in many ways over the course of a season.
 
206Fan said:
I feel like we are missing a defensive wing. Someone who can really contain the perimeter. Maybe we do a small trade somewhere down the season
Click to expand...

Getting another wing in general is what's really missing here but I'll be patient and hope Vlade can swing a trade by the Feb. deadline....if not, draft one
 
Cousins will be fine im sure, but we can NOT use him the way we did in this preseason if we wanna win more
than 35 games
 
My takeaway from preseason is that Vlade did indeed give us the pieces to be a playoff contender. So there is every reason for us to be excited.
Ben continues to be a questionmark, of course, and could find himself third in line for big guard minutes this season. But Belinelli is a can't-miss, whether as a starter or off the bench, and Anderson is serviceable. I'd rather practice patience with Ben for another year than to trade him for someone else's cast-off, or for a mid first round pick in 2016.
Those of you who think Cuz should never leave the paint are missing the bigger picture. Yes, he can be a monster in the paint. But if he can become a decent outside shooter (whether than includes 3's or just long 2's), that will be good for his career and good for the Kings.
 
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