[Game] Kings v. Pelicans - 1/13/16 - 7 PT, 10 ET
- Thread starter VF21
- Start date
I can see why Karl tends to wear thin on players. Lots of criticism to the media but no scheme to change issues, just blame shifted to the players.
Every video and written account of practice I've seen is focused on offense, running and playing at a fast pace. Lots of post game talk about defense but it sure sounds to me like there's not enough emphasis put on it by Karl and the assumption/thought that defense is just something the players should do.
It's not a player issue when every single P&R is switched. That's scheme. And in today's NBA it's the worst approach. Why not starting hedging those pick & rolls? Or using an Ice/down approach? Try something different at least since it's clear what's being employed doesn't work.
I'm tired of beating the Malone drum and waxing nostalgic for that short stretch of good basketball last season even if it was the last time I was encouraged by the Kings in the last decade or so.
But I will say this - whether Malone's brief window of surprising success was sustainable or not at least I felt like the team showed up and played hard each night.
Now? I'm almost starting to dread game nights because there's a good chance that the dysfunctional, sloppy and flat out awful version of the Kings will show up making for a frustrating waste of an evening.
If you lose while giving a full effort, scrapping and staying true to your identity as a team I'm fine with that. But this? Not so much.
Every video and written account of practice I've seen is focused on offense, running and playing at a fast pace. Lots of post game talk about defense but it sure sounds to me like there's not enough emphasis put on it by Karl and the assumption/thought that defense is just something the players should do.
It's not a player issue when every single P&R is switched. That's scheme. And in today's NBA it's the worst approach. Why not starting hedging those pick & rolls? Or using an Ice/down approach? Try something different at least since it's clear what's being employed doesn't work.
I'm tired of beating the Malone drum and waxing nostalgic for that short stretch of good basketball last season even if it was the last time I was encouraged by the Kings in the last decade or so.
But I will say this - whether Malone's brief window of surprising success was sustainable or not at least I felt like the team showed up and played hard each night.
Now? I'm almost starting to dread game nights because there's a good chance that the dysfunctional, sloppy and flat out awful version of the Kings will show up making for a frustrating waste of an evening.
If you lose while giving a full effort, scrapping and staying true to your identity as a team I'm fine with that. But this? Not so much.
All we know is when Kings don't play defense they're bad, but when they can't get offense in gear total train wreck. Come out after half with all out D effort or forget it I've got better things to do than sit around watching don't give a damn multi-millionaire slackers. Put up or flat shut up Sacramento Kings.
Issues:
-Not a lot of quickness out there.
-Offensive approach is putting no pressure on New Orleans. The Pels are bad defensively. Kings just passing around the perimeter, shooting jumpers.
-Not many calls for the Kings inside.
-Not enough of the Casspi/Gay/Cousins lineup that tends to produce the best
-Not a lot of quickness out there.
-Offensive approach is putting no pressure on New Orleans. The Pels are bad defensively. Kings just passing around the perimeter, shooting jumpers.
-Not many calls for the Kings inside.
-Not enough of the Casspi/Gay/Cousins lineup that tends to produce the best
They're very consistently inconsistent. The panic of two weeks ago is just as out of place as the euphoria.
They are 14-15 with Cousins. Very consistent. 1 good night. 1 bad night. The part that makes no sense is the good and bad nights don't line up to any known predictive model. Guys roll out of the left side of bed and they're great. They roll out of the right side of the bed, and they've awful. Makes no sense.
They are 14-15 with Cousins. Very consistent. 1 good night. 1 bad night. The part that makes no sense is the good and bad nights don't line up to any known predictive model. Guys roll out of the left side of bed and they're great. They roll out of the right side of the bed, and they've awful. Makes no sense.
I agree with everything you said except that switching everything is always a bad idea. If the Kings were using a lineup that included Rudy, WCS, and a third decent sized wing who could defend, The Kings could actually do a ton of switching and be a pretty tough defense. The fact that Karl knows his defensive schemes are switch heavy and he STILL runs lineups severely undersized is insane to me.
The issue with switches generally isn't the big that has to contain a PG (Cousins still struggles with this and Koufos is too slow afoot but WCS, Acy, Gay & Casspi do well) but that those 1-5 or 1-4 P&Rs lead to a big posting Rondo or Collison - something that a number of opponents have taken advantage of over and over in games.
