[Game] Kings vs. Bucks, 4/3/2021, 7pm PST 10pm EST
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
Was hoping McNair would be more of an analytics guy than he's shown. The net rating alone tells you the Kings have been playing above their heads as far as wins and losses go and that it was bound to come crashing back down to normal at some point. They're 12th in point differential. Why he would move forward on a playoff push this year goes to show that he's not really paying attention to the things he was supposed to be really good at.
The Pelicans are actually a game behind the Kings but they are +4 in point differential on the Kings. Meaning they are inconsistent but when they're on, they can thump teams by 20+ points. The Kings rarely ever win by 20. Think they have two 20+ wins on the entire season. When the Kings win, they usually win by less than 5 points. When they lose, they normally lose by more than 5 points. That's not a sign of a strong team. The Pelicans show signs of possibly being able to turn the corner because they score more points than they give up. Memphis does too.
This team still needs to add and/or develop a lot of talent before they can make a real run for the playoffs. What they're doing now is the usual purgatory method they fall for every year. It always seems like they suck and then we look up and they're only 3 games out of the playoffs. We get excited and they try to make the run and fail and don't even get a top 10 pick even though the team is very deserving of a top 10 pick. It's just other teams nip it in the bud much sooner than the Kings do and realize it's pointless to try and push for the playoffs when the analytics say the team is highly unlikely to make it, despite what the record might show at the time.
The Pelicans are actually a game behind the Kings but they are +4 in point differential on the Kings. Meaning they are inconsistent but when they're on, they can thump teams by 20+ points. The Kings rarely ever win by 20. Think they have two 20+ wins on the entire season. When the Kings win, they usually win by less than 5 points. When they lose, they normally lose by more than 5 points. That's not a sign of a strong team. The Pelicans show signs of possibly being able to turn the corner because they score more points than they give up. Memphis does too.
This team still needs to add and/or develop a lot of talent before they can make a real run for the playoffs. What they're doing now is the usual purgatory method they fall for every year. It always seems like they suck and then we look up and they're only 3 games out of the playoffs. We get excited and they try to make the run and fail and don't even get a top 10 pick even though the team is very deserving of a top 10 pick. It's just other teams nip it in the bud much sooner than the Kings do and realize it's pointless to try and push for the playoffs when the analytics say the team is highly unlikely to make it, despite what the record might show at the time.
It's not just "getting" the top 10 pick, it's making a good choice with the top 10 pick. I don't think their judgement of talent translation to NBA is even average. They haven't had a solid executive since Petrie. Scoring differential is predicated on defense as much as offense, and the Kings are still in the poor range when it comes to defense. They don't get angry enough when the other team scores and they're just not good enough collectively - they just want to score themselves....that's today's NBA. Defense is a shell of what it was in the past especially the last 10 years or so, thanks in part to rule makers and refereeing.. It's all-star game every game.
Well so far McNair is 1 for 1 on draft night. Although I'd say that pick was pretty obvious to most people but apparently it wasn't to a handful of other GMs.
You're right about the defense has changed but we're talking about the context of defending in 2021. All teams are handicapped by the rules defensively but the Kings are still at the bottom of all the teams in defense in this context. That needs to change.
You're right about the defense has changed but we're talking about the context of defending in 2021. All teams are handicapped by the rules defensively but the Kings are still at the bottom of all the teams in defense in this context. That needs to change.
It's not like he pushed all his chips in to make a run at the 10th seed this year but the trades made were all to acquire players that can help us this year and possibly this year only for some of them.
I think people were hoping for draft picks but it's not like draft picks are always available and they certainly weren't available for the players we traded.
Wright is a sold player. Davis could be useful in the future. Harkless is Harkless. Nothing earth shattering but these moves did make the team a little better this year considering CoJo was terrible all year and Bjelica barely played.
I'm not mad about it but the moves just helped the team further solidify themselves into the purgatory area because now it's too late and too difficult to tank but they aren't good enough to make a run at it either. Always one foot in and one foot out with this franchise, which is what did make me mad about the whole "soft tank" thing he talked about. This is exactly what happens when strong decisions at the top aren't made. You get lukewarm (no pun) results.
I think people were hoping for draft picks but it's not like draft picks are always available and they certainly weren't available for the players we traded.
Wright is a sold player. Davis could be useful in the future. Harkless is Harkless. Nothing earth shattering but these moves did make the team a little better this year considering CoJo was terrible all year and Bjelica barely played.
I'm not mad about it but the moves just helped the team further solidify themselves into the purgatory area because now it's too late and too difficult to tank but they aren't good enough to make a run at it either. Always one foot in and one foot out with this franchise, which is what did make me mad about the whole "soft tank" thing he talked about. This is exactly what happens when strong decisions at the top aren't made. You get lukewarm (no pun) results.