[Game] Kings v. Rockets - 4-8-12

[VF21]

I'm not disagreeing with you per se but I just don't think there's very much that can be done at this point in time. The injuries to Salmons and Thornton haven't helped and if I were forced to hazard a guess, it would be that the only real objective of the coaching staff at this point in time is to try and figure out which players should be kept going forward and which just aren't going to work out. Is that what's happening? I honestly don't have a clue. I gave up trying to make sense of things a long time ago.

And quite frankly? I cannot sit and watch a game with the same enthusiasm either. Part of it was the whole arena thing. A part of me started to disconnect when it appeared as though the team might be leaving and it's been hard to reconnect. I like the kids on the team, though, and I firmly believe things will work out in the long run. But that might be part of my delusions, no?

There's a reason for the "eternal optimist" title on the left.

 

[Prince_XY]

Do you think you can great players if not allowed to pay for them?

This has been discussed many times in this board. You might want to just read rainmaker and Carolija's responses, because I think they are very smart and very objective to see what is obvious.

 

[Gary]

I'm not disagreeing with you per se but I just don't think there's very much that can be done at this point in time. The injuries to Salmons and Thornton haven't helped and if I were forced to hazard a guess, it would be that the only real objective of the coaching staff at this point in time is to try and figure out which players should be kept going forward and which just aren't going to work out. Is that what's happening? I honestly don't have a clue. I gave up trying to make sense of things a long time ago.

And quite frankly? I cannot sit and watch a game with the same enthusiasm either. Part of it was the whole arena thing. A part of me started to disconnect when it appeared as though the team might be leaving and it's been hard to reconnect. I like the kids on the team, though, and I firmly believe things will work out in the long run. But that might be part of my delusions, no?

There's a reason for the "eternal optimist" title on the left.

Agree with you on that.. I might not be going to anymore games this year because it seems that the coach is just looking at players right now to see if lineups could possible work next year, and see who they move forward with after the season.

The starters are playing as if it's the final game of pre-season or something where they are only there for 20 or so minutes so they can play around and let the bench play the real game.

It's fine with me that they are doing this, but I wont be wasting my time going to see it. Gave my brother and his GF my and my fathers tickets for the rest of the year.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

A few more comments that came to me earlier today ...

I don't think Petrie is really at fault for our unbalanced roster. This 'unbalancedness' happened organically. How does a team prepare for a #60 pick to turn into the kind of player Isaiah has turned into? If he never burst onto the scene like he did, I have no doubt in my mind that Evans would still be the primary ball handler.

Lets be real, coming into the year the roster was relatively balanced considering how our off season went. Evans-Thornton-Salmons, while still slightly undersized at the 3, would have potentially been one of the bigger combinations in the league. If Thornton is your smallest starter, you're doing it right. Not only that, but just about everyone considered Salmons and Evans as plus defenders. Then we had Hayes pegged as the starter next to Cousins ... 3 players in our starting unit where you could say defense is a strength.

What happened? Salmons was beyond terrible, and Hayes got injured.

And that is just with the players we had. Some people are forgetting we offered AK47 (would have been a defensive move) and Sam Dalembert (would have been a defensive move) more money than any other team. They both turned us down. Jamal Crawford also turned us down, which I have to mention even though I didn't want him.

Let me be clear, I hated the Salmons trade, and was indifferent on the Hayes signing. I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. I did prefer Dalembert though. I'm not talking about criticizing those moves, I'm just talking about the roster we brought into training camp. After that point ... I'm just not sure what moves you make from their to improve on what we have now.

That's why this off season is going to be so damn interesting.

 

[Glenn]

This has been discussed many times in this board. You might want to just read rainmaker and Carolija's responses, because I think they are very smart and very objective to see what is obvious.

It was a rhetorical question.

 

[Glenn]

A few more comments that came to me earlier today ...

I don't think Petrie is really at fault for our unbalanced roster. This 'unbalancedness' happened organically. How does a team prepare for a #60 pick to turn into the kind of player Isaiah has turned into? If he never burst onto the scene like he did, I have no doubt in my mind that Evans would still be the primary ball handler.

Lets be real, coming into the year the roster was relatively balanced considering how our off season went. Evans-Thornton-Salmons, while still slightly undersized at the 3, would have potentially been one of the bigger combinations in the league. If Thornton is your smallest starter, you're doing it right. Not only that, but just about everyone considered Salmons and Evans as plus defenders. Then we had Hayes pegged as the starter next to Cousins ... 3 players in our starting unit where you could say defense is a strength.

What happened? Salmons was beyond terrible, and Hayes got injured.

And that is just with the players we had. Some people are forgetting we offered AK47 (would have been a defensive move) and Sam Dalembert (would have been a defensive move) more money than any other team. They both turned us down. Jamal Crawford also turned us down, which I have to mention even though I didn't want him.

Let me be clear, I hated the Salmons trade, and was indifferent on the Hayes signing. I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. I did prefer Dalembert though. I'm not talking about criticizing those moves, I'm just talking about the roster we brought into training camp. After that point ... I'm just not sure what moves you make from their to improve on what we have now.

That's why this off season is going to be so damn interesting.

I don't agree. Smart thinks we have only one PG. We can argue about Tyreke for another 9 games but the fact is, good or bad, he played point guard for two years with the Kings. There is absolutely no reason why this team has had to operate with one PG. Smart has proclaimed himself an expert in guard play yet instead of sharing that excellence with Tyreke and developed him as a guard, he turns him into a SF.

Some of this imbalance is the loss of JJ.

We have bought into the idea that Tyreke is a SF and JJ wasn't worth a seat on the bench but those two actions contributed a great deal to what we are now calling an imbalance. Hickson averaged 13.8 pts per game with Cleveland, 4.3 for Sacramento, and now 13.3 for Portland. He was only awful on the Kings. Why was that? Now with some big guys hurt and whatever motivates Smart to do such things, Tyreke occasionally plays power forward. Who would you rather have at PF, Tyreke or Hickson? Our team consciously dumped JJ and left us undermanned.

Part of this imbalance is caused by Smart. There is no reason why IT couldn't come off the bench as a PG. His emergence didn't force Tyreke to the 3. It was a choice.

Salmons is no longer playing poorly. He adjusted much as Daly did last year. Now we have TWill who is doing just fine.

I look forward to this summer with a certain amount of fear. We not only do not pick up good players, we take our good to adequate players and destroy their ability to contribute.

 

[spudfan]

Good discussions going on in here everyone! Lots of points being discussed about the team that have quality messages without any of the ludicrous stuff we often see in game threads. Even with many conflicting opinions everyone is playing nicely which I have missed dearly. <3 the Kings... even if they suck!

 

[swisshh]

sigh

No disrespect, but the Kings have also tried Walt Williams and Billy Owens as PGs over the years. You can force a guy into a role but it doesn't mean it works. Reke wasn't playing PG as much as he was playing dribble-based Pacman, chomping up the clock, trying to clear a packed lane for a layup.

He wasn't even really the PG last year with Beno around. When it came time to run sets and get guys involved, it was normally Beno. The lack of a Beno type was glaring early on in the season.

I just don't want to go back down that destructive path with Reke. There's not a lot of great young SGs in the game. Tyreke could be top 5 if he wanted, but he's got to devote himself to the job requirements and those requirements aren't all that different from SF. The reason he's at SF is because of Thornton and because the role still demands he learns the same things as he would at SG. We can't have the excuse of "Tyreke was overly catered to" while also arguing "we need to change the roster to cater to Tyreke". It's time Tyreke caters to the NBA game by growing his skillset to the point where he can impact a game without everyone else sacrificing their games for him.

 

[Glenn]

I distinctly recall Smart saying that he could coach point guards. Yet he gives up on one and turns him into a SF and on occasion a PF. So can Smart coach or can't he? I know there is no more fun than to rip the **** out of Tyreke but my note said far more than that which apparently you did not read. It all tied together and was not focused on one player. It was focused, bottom line, an an inadequate coach who is more talk than action.

You can sigh all you wish but Smart is who we depend on to take these players and make the best of them that he can until we reorganize the team if that is what is going to happen this summer. I don't think this team is a helpless mismatch of parts except by the choice of the coach and the GM. Why is Hickson doing so much better in Portland? You avoided that section of my note. We have a coach with a limited amount of skill who is more than happy for us to all think that he is just dealt a bad hand.

We are a losing team and in fact are looking worse and worse as the season comes to a close. Smart is losing control of this team no matter how much you focus on Tyreke.

 

[KingsCitizen]

This team is one legit small forward away from finally seeing how Tyreke would dominate again playing PG.

I believe Smart is holding that chance right now to make sure we will get that lottery pick. If I recall correctly, Evans averaged close 8 assists per night when Smart implemented run and gun offense with Evans at PG. Then a few games after that, Petrie announced Smart's extension. Then Smart then moved Reke to SF. Coincidence? I don't think so.

If I'm in Smart's shoes and got assurance for a 2nd year, I'll develop Cousins game first over Reke(check), tank for that lottery pick(check), grab a legit SF(if MKG or Barnes doesn't drop to us), refine the run and gun system in the offseason, and come back next season with a well conditioned DMC, a national attention rookie, and a wrecking Evans at PG.

 

[kingsnation]

You can sigh all you wish but Smart is who we depend on to take these players and make the best of them that he can until we reorganize the team if that is what is going to happen this summer......We have a coach with a limited amount of skill who is more than happy for us to all think that he is just dealt a bad hand.

We are a losing team and in fact are looking worse and worse as the season comes to a close. Smart is losing control of this team no matter how much you focus on Tyreke.

And this is the sad fact. Everyone can say all they want about the players on this team, but when you have an idiot running the show - it overflows on the court. I think it's fair to say that collectively, as a team, the Kings have one of the lowest if not the worst BBIQ in the NBA. There are sequences when our entire team just looks lost out there. It's a reflection of leadership. It's a reflection of the coach. And it's not just Smart. The Maloofs have done an excellent job at one thing in the past 5 years - and that's making sure we get the dumbest coaches in the game.

Smart has been given free reign to do what he wants with this offense. Whether it's playing 4 guards at once or making a roller coaster out of players' minutes. We've all talked about the mess that his offense is. No rotations, no set minutes or roles. And yet we're so quick to jump down certain players throats. Why is that?

Stats are going to come. That's a given. Outside of DMC, who's really developing? JT? I think alot of that is his playing next to DMC. MT? He's always been a scorer. IT? Well, it's his offense/team. I would argue that there hasn't been much development taking place at all this year and it's at no fault of any player. It's a direct reflection of Smart's ability to lead a team on the court. Yes, Smart has great relationships with the players, he can talk well. Who freaking cares? He can't coach the game of basketball.

Smart will be known for 2 (good) things in his stint as Head Coach of the Kings. A) Mending this franchise's relationship with DMC. and B) Molding Isaiah Thomas. And that's it. Thank you Smart and now if this franchise wants to go anywhere, good riddance.

 

[Spike]

People like to throw around BBIQ, but I think that we're not giving players a fair shake. They're not being put in a position to succeed. Is it high BBIQ to just take your man one on one every time? That seems to be the gameplan. It's not that our players have a low BBIQ. It's that they're:
1. Young, and
2. Poorly Coached

Let me expand on #2. They're not being coached to their strengths. This team is built for the half court set. This team is built to run set plays. We need a coach who will do that, rather than just say "go faster". In fact, Smart DID do this early in his tenure, and you could see the results. You could see an improvement in Evans in finding the open players, in initiating a halfcourt set. Where has all of that gone? Out the window in order to try and get as many points on the board as possible. This team needs an authoritarian with a consistent plan, style of play, and rotation. All of a sudden, you'll see how "Smart" our players are.

The end.

 

[Tyndel]

People like to throw around BBIQ, but I think that we're not giving players a fair shake. They're not being put in a position to succeed. Is it high BBIQ to just take your man one on one every time? That seems to be the gameplan. It's not that our players have a low BBIQ. It's that they're:
1. Young, and
2. Poorly Coached

Let me expand on #2. They're not being coached to their strengths. This team is built for the half court set. This team is built to run set plays. We need a coach who will do that, rather than just say "go faster". In fact, Smart DID do this early in his tenure, and you could see the results. You could see an improvement in Evans in finding the open players, in initiating a halfcourt set. Where has all of that gone? Out the window in order to try and get as many points on the board as possible. This team needs an authoritarian with a consistent plan, style of play, and rotation. All of a sudden, you'll see how "Smart" our players are.

The end.

I agree when he started implementing the offensive system it was coming together. Now its layup drills on both sides of the ball. Can't get a layup? Run faster. pass faster turn it over.

This team is built for the half court. Cousins will never be a running big man says Physics. Reke and greene are runners but reke is also "used correctly" vital to a 1/2 court offense. MT and TWill obviously work better in the half court.

We talk about 1 player away from balance or whatever but thats not true if we were 1 player away from balance we would have 1 gaping hole on our roster. You know like we did last year.

Twill can play SF he is just what we need from that position with Evans at point aside from the 3 ball. Thomas didn't push Reke to the SF position Smart did.

 

[gunks]

Rebuild is stymied by the horrible coaches the Magoofs/GP bring in.

Whats the point of drafting these players if they arnt even going to be developed properly?

Rekes (and everyone else's) first 2 years were a wash because of Westphail. The first month of Smart I thought things would be different, as Tyreke was actually becoming more "PGy", and all the news from Kingsland was that that was how Smart was going to develop him.

Now here we are a couple months later...


It would be awesome if we went after Sloan or even Nate McMillan, but with the Maloofs and Petrie in charge its going to be "Smart forever!"


Sorry for the rant....I just feel like the downhill slide has been steeper these past couple years, when we could have already been on the upslope. Ive finally reached the limits of my patience. Next really dumb FO move that goes down and I may have to take a hiatus from fandom (until the Maloofs/GP are outtie).