[Game] Kings v. Knicks - Sunday, March 4 - 6 PT

You can’t possibly be mad with this and Nets wins. The youngsters played majority of the minutes and delivered in the crunch in both games, albeit against pretty ordinary teams.

Almost gave the game away there in the 4th quarter but Skal burried that silky smooth 3. Youngsters making winning plays is what this rebuilding thing is about. Maybe basketball gods smile on us and reward us for going out there and playing to win every game with our young crew.
 
You can’t possibly be mad with this and Nets wins. The youngsters played majority of the minutes and delivered in the crunch in both games, albeit against pretty ordinary teams.

Almost gave the game away there in the 4th quarter but Skal burried that silky smooth 3. Youngsters making winning plays is what this rebuilding thing is about. Maybe basketball gods smile on us and reward us for going out there and playing to win every game with our young crew.
Nah no ones mad...

The biggest thing about Skals play to me was the recognition of open shooters on the perimeter and good passes so they could catch and shoot. 2 of Bogi’s 3 pointers came directly off of Skal passes that 6 weeks ago would have been a forced shot against a sagging defense.

If our bigs continue to pass out, teams will be forced to honor the perimeter. That will open up the lane for Skal’s jump hook and Fox’s drives.
 
You've seen many times where a technical was called with less than 2 seconds left on the clock because someone stepped onto the court and the other team didn't have any time outs left? Sorry, dude. I ain't buyin' it. I ain't even renting it. Hell, I ain't even stepping onto the lot and taking it for a test drive.
Yes, I have.
 
When you play your youngsters to develop them for the future, you expect to lose a lot of games. I had hoped this strategy would net us a top five pick this year. But, alas, our youngsters are quickly progressing and learning how to win. Now a top ten pick is the likely outcome. It'll be a major disappointment come draft day, but if we're true to the goal of developing our youngsters, this is it! A game like this could be seen as the turning point in a player's career.
 
Anyone else want to agree with me now Bogdan can average 19-21 points a game next year? He scored 22 on 11 shots.
1) He is deadly running the pick and roll, especially now he is more willing to shoot if they give him space.
2) Teammates are starting to pass out the ball to open shooters
3) His step back is becoming more and more effective.
Well it seems like you are finally starting to come back down and match a lot of our expectations and hopes for him. Welcome to the party and welcome back to reality :p

All three of those things, combined with increased minutes will IMHO drive Bogi’s PPG into the 25 ppg range.
 
Well it seems like you are finally starting to come back down and match a lot of our expectations and hopes for him. Welcome to the party and welcome back to reality :p
How have I changed my opinion? I’m still set 19-21 points is a given and 23-25 is a possibility?

Bogdan’s game is remarkably well suited to the pick and roll dominated NBA. His ability to make good decisions off the dribble, step back and nail a 3 pointer, see and hit the open shooter, and throw quick lobs in the paint all paint to a very bright future in my opinion. I think he will be better here than in Europe because NBA bigs 1) have the athleticism to catch and finish his quick lobs 2) can pass out of the post to open shooters on the perimeter 3) have to be respected on the pick and roll. If Giles is what people have hinted at, he and Bogi could be a deadly tandem in the half court.

Of the two passes Skal made to Bogdan last game Bogi drained both wide open 3’s. I expect we will see more of that going forward. The delta between 19-21 and 23-25 is how lethal his step back 3 becomes. It is already looking better and better and I expect him to work on it all summer. I also expect Joeger to increasingly build the offense around Bogi and his skills. That means finding was to get Bogi 15-17 shots a game.
 
When you play your youngsters to develop them for the future, you expect to lose a lot of games. I had hoped this strategy would net us a top five pick this year. But, alas, our youngsters are quickly progressing and learning how to win. Now a top ten pick is the likely outcome. It'll be a major disappointment come draft day, but if we're true to the goal of developing our youngsters, this is it! A game like this could be seen as the turning point in a player's career.
Yeah Skals development was the difference in the game yesterday. He seems to be making better decisions. If he can keep showing that improvement it will be encouraging from a prospect standpoint but disappointing from a draft standpoint.
 
You can’t possibly be mad with this and Nets wins. The youngsters played majority of the minutes and delivered in the crunch in both games, albeit against pretty ordinary teams.

Almost gave the game away there in the 4th quarter but Skal burried that silky smooth 3. Youngsters making winning plays is what this rebuilding thing is about. Maybe basketball gods smile on us and reward us for going out there and playing to win every game with our young crew.
I'm pro tank but I don't care if we fall a spot or two in the draft if it means our young guys are developing properly and playing like this. These kids all have high upsides with lots of potential and playing the way they have been playing is key to unlocking that potential. That in my eyes is more important than anything else.
 
I'm pro tank but I don't care if we fall a spot or two in the draft if it means our young guys are developing properly and playing like this. These kids all have high upsides with lots of potential and playing the way they have been playing is key to unlocking that potential. That in my eyes is more important than anything else.
We are winning the lotto from the 8th ping pong slot...Chicago Bulls "Derrick Rose Draft" style! Bank on it!
 
Not too concerned about the wins, as someone who supports lins, as early March was always the toughest “tanking” stretch. Every team in the league could/would beat the Nets/Knicks at home, and it came down to the wires
 
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Good to see the young guys contributing and coming up big again.

Randolph has been a great vet for us, but hopefully we trade him during the off-season to give more mins to the young guys. He still has something left in the tank to help a contender. That one year will have helped the young bigs a lot. Time to hand them the keys and get a less productive big man vet to fill his role next year.
 
Not too concerned about the wins, as someone who supports lins, as early March was always the toughest “tanking” stretch. Every team in the league could/would beat the Nets/Knicks at home, and it came down to the wires
What bothers me is when it's a vet dominated win. When it's the younger guys completely different for me.
 
How have I changed my opinion? I’m still set 19-21 points is a given and 23-25 is a possibility?

Bogdan’s game is remarkably well suited to the pick and roll dominated NBA. His ability to make good decisions off the dribble, step back and nail a 3 pointer, see and hit the open shooter, and throw quick lobs in the paint all paint to a very bright future in my opinion. I think he will be better here than in Europe because NBA bigs 1) have the athleticism to catch and finish his quick lobs 2) can pass out of the post to open shooters on the perimeter 3) have to be respected on the pick and roll. If Giles is what people have hinted at, he and Bogi could be a deadly tandem in the half court.

Of the two passes Skal made to Bogdan last game Bogi drained both wide open 3’s. I expect we will see more of that going forward. The delta between 19-21 and 23-25 is how lethal his step back 3 becomes. It is already looking better and better and I expect him to work on it all summer. I also expect Joeger to increasingly build the offense around Bogi and his skills. That means finding was to get Bogi 15-17 shots a game.
Just off the eyeball test, supported by the stats below, Boggy has taken it upon himself to be incrementally more assertive. I would not surprised the Kings coaches pulled him aside, and said look, you are shooting 58% TS. That's great. As a team we are 53.2% TS, second worst in the league. We want you to be more assertive, more selfish, to look for your offense while still making the high percentage play. Your efficiency justifies shooting as much or anyone else on the team. You are the most potent offensive player we got (Buddy is only 55% TS after 60% TS in 25 games last year).

Look at the steady rise of Boggy's FGAs:

March (3 games): 13 FGAs
February: 12 FGAs
January: 10 FGAs
December: 9 FGAs (too passive here)
November: 10 FGAs

I don't necessarily think Joerger needs to find ways to get him his shots. He can pretty much get his shot when he wants. As you probably noticed too the Kings will alternate with Fox or Boggy bringing up the ball in the half-court set. This enables him to use the high pick and create for himself or pass and relocate.

Boggy was deferring more in the first few months that led to a degree to his modest struggles because when he would look to score he would be out of rhythm. Instead of looking to get others involved first, I would prefer he go get his first. With this slight tweak in mindset he will be at 14-15 FGAs and become that 20 PPG scorer we need him to be.

There are other variables too like quality of defender and recognizing and exploiting mismatches but in general I say Boggy will look to defer less and assert himself more as a scorer over the remaining game as a natural occurrence of his experience and performance so far and relative to his teammates.

For a team to have any chance at respectability, they need to define their primary scorer and Boggy is as leading of a candidate as any other. The torch needs to be passed from Z-Bo to Boggy leading into next season though I would content Z-Bo never should have had the torch to begin with.

Boggy 58% TS
Buddy 55% TS
Randolph 54% TS (leading scorer 15 PPG)
Willie 52% TS (yikes)
Fox 49% TS
Skal 52% TS
Justin Jackson 50% TS
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
Fox - clutch
Bogs - clutch
Hield - clutch
Skal - clutch.

Check, check, check, check. It's good see the young guys come up big in big moments during the course of the season. What was even more impressive than Skal's shot going in was the fact that the play was not drawn up for him as a first option; he took it upon himself to take the shot. That is the assertiveness and confidence I want to see from the young man. Just keep on keepin on, Skal.
 

gunks

Hall of Famer
I'm pro tank but I don't care if we fall a spot or two in the draft if it means our young guys are developing properly and playing like this. These kids all have high upsides with lots of potential and playing the way they have been playing is key to unlocking that potential. That in my eyes is more important than anything else.
A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush!
 
Winning with our young core being clutch and active is much more important than losing and getting better position in the draft, in my opinion. Fox, Bogi, Hield, Skal , WCS are our future and they need to build chemistry. There is no better way to build good chemistry and teamwork than wins like this.
Just keep this young core, with addition of next year top 10 pick and few veteran free agents and we have a lot of reasons to be excited.
 
And this is why it's tough to be pro-lin after a win like this. As much as I would love a high pick, losing sucks the spirit out of a team, and can be particularly hard on the kids. Wins like this, can help the kids develop better, which is worth a few draft spots.

That said, I hope the lotto luck smiles on us, and some other teams stop sucking as well.