[Game] Kings v. Spurs - 11/16/16 -7:30PT/10:30ET

[hrdboild]

Some changes need to be made. So far our starting unit has struggled to start games both offensively and defensively. Frankly, our starting unit has an ugly look to it with too much iso offensively, and bad matchups defensively. So, my starting lineup for what its worth.

Center: Cousins
PF: WCS
SF: Gay
SG: Temple
PG: Collison

This moves Cousins back to center, where on defense he matches up better against the other centers in the league, rather than trying guard the quick PF's that usually pull him away from the basket. I think Willie will play better next to Cousins where he becomes more of an afterthought for the other team offensively, making his cuts to the basket easier. I think it improves our defense as well as he matches up much better against the quick PF's. I don't have to explain Collison as a starter. lawson has been terrible so it's a no brainer. Temple is the closest player we have on the team to a Doug Christie type of player. He's an excellent passer from the SG position and he's proven he's capable of hitting the open three. He's also a terrific defender. I think this starting unit is more balanced overall defensively and offensively.

The bench is stuck with Lawson, but if you go small, it will make it easier for him to use his speed. So my bench would be:

Center: Koufos
PF: Tolliver/Barnes
SF: Barnes/Afflalo, depending on matchup
SG: McLemore/Afflalo
PG: Lawson

Except for Koufos, this team can get up and down the floor which should help Lawson who likes to push the ball. Frankly I think some changes need to be made personnel wise, but for now, this is how I would use the the players we have. I know that I've left out Casspi, but for now he seems to be out of Joerger's rotation, so I left him out.

That'd be my starting lineup with this current roster too. Temple is the best wing defender on the team, we need to keep him on the floor more often. I wouldn't be locked into Lawson as the backup PG either -- we can probably find a better option on the waiver wire/free agent market. Detroit is going to have a minutes crunch at PG once Reggie Jackson gets healthy. I'd be happy to have Ish Smith or Beno Udrih coming off the bench.

I don't think this season actually matters though. It's already sunk cost. We're not making the playoffs and Gay and Collison are probably gone next year so my primary focus would be on maximizing their trade value and lining up their replacements. Then we should identify the 7 or 8 players we are going to bring back next year and make sure they get as comfortable as possible with Coach Joerger's system.

It's not that I want to "kill the team". As constituted we're looking at a 35-40 win season and that's probably not good enough to make the playoffs. There's just nothing there to begin with. So... we could play out the string and shrug our shoulders at our misfortune at the end of the year when we lose 2 starters and Chicago gets our pick or we could be proactive and start fixing what needs fixing right now. That may involve a draft pick, it might not. But it almost certainly is going to involve a Rudy Gay trade and probably a Darren Collison trade too. Timing is important in trade negotiations. I don't think we should sell off everything now, but we should already be thinking about it and waiting for the best opportunity.

 

[Suicide King]

Temple has looked great. Very good defense, can knock down open shots, decent at getting the ball to others for good shots. Aside from WCS and our new rookies, he is also the only player on the roster guaranteed past the 2017/18 season.

Afflalo has had a few moments where he has looked decent. Temple at least from a defensive perspective however better suits our starters where we almost always seem to find ourselves down by 10 points early in the first quarter.

 

[mac]

We've lost by single digits to 9-3 San Antonio twice (no problem with those losses)
We lost in a competitive game on the road to 9-2 Atlanta (no problem with this loss)
We lost in OT on the road in a back to back to 2-8 Miami (this one sucks)
We lost in a competitive game on the road to the now 5-7 Magic (I'm 50/50 on this)
We got blown out on the road by the 5-5 Bucks (the way we lost sucks but the Bucks on the 4th game of a road trip isn't awful)
We lost at home in a close game to the 7-5 Lakers (I hate losing to them but they are playing good ball)
We lost on the road, in overtime, on a back to back to 7-5 Blazers (no problem with this loss)

So we maybe have 1-3 objectionable losses this year in a stretch we knew would be tough. Everybody needs to calm down.

Again, losses to say the Lakers because they're playing well is akin to saying we're not playing well, which is the whole problem! It's like saying well our standard is a .35 win team, so it's not our fault if we get beaten by teams that are over .500. We are a .35 win team precisely because we don't beat teams that are over .500!

Also, please don't kid yourself we did not lose by single digits to the Spurs. We were far out of both games by the mid 4th and would get blown out by 15+ if Pop didn't put in his benchwarmers

 

[Tetsujin]

SO many talk of how they would rather blow it up and watch "the kids blossom" yet give up on players after a year or a few SL and DL games. Feast or famine. Lebron or bust. This same line of thinking is just as much to blame for our sucktitude over the last decade plus as anything else.

Blow things up and let the young guys play! Except our young guys, they suck!