Kings vs Raptors game thread

With one day of attention by Smart, TRob looks more like a PF. At least to me. I'm an optimist.

No I think you're right. A struggling PF, but at least here he was sometimes attempting to make it work. The moves weren't clumsy either. Its clear he has practiced some of them. On the other hand the touch, ability to handle length and being bumped is still a real question. I'll take anything right now though. Act like a PF and maybe eventually the rest will follow.

All of this does make it clear just how deep of doo doo we would have been in had we nto gotten Jason back though.
 
One of the reasons these games have not been as fun to wathc as recent years?

The two Kings with contracts, and very likely only two with shots to be on the team next year, combine to shoot 8-30 from the field. The rest of the squad that has no chance to paly for us shoots 21-43.
 
I have to add: no matter how good TRob seems to look on the periphery, do not turn him into a SF. Play him at his natural position and don't give him any idea that we want him to shoot an occasional three. I am very happy Petrie got JJ and slammed the door shut on that idea.
 
I thought TRob looked better this game, esp the second half. More controlled and more post play. Displayed some nice passing and some very nice moves in the post. The rebounding will always be there. Looks like he just needs some better coaching since he looks more like a PF today after some work with Coach Smart.
 
FInal thoughts and stats

Kings shoot 39.7% so we can say they shot 40% but were 5/21 on 3's for 24%, 32 reb and 14 art. Raptors shot 50%, were 6/13 on 3's, and had 48 reb and 22 ast. Kinda speaks for itself. But the Kings had only 9 TO while Raps had 17. About the only good side.

TRob played 30 min and had 4 pts, 8 reb and 5 ast and only 3 TO. In his interview he was down still and says he hasn't done anything yet. After listening to him for 5 min, I'll leave it at that for now. Will publish his full video interview as soon as I can.
 
T Rob looked good going to the hoop. when hes on the floor with the real kings and the defense has to focus on other people, he will be just fine
 
T Rob looked good going to the hoop. when hes on the floor with the real kings and the defense has to focus on other people, he will be just fine

Good comment. Coach English in his interview said much the same and didn't seem worried.
 
All of this does make it clear just how deep of doo doo we would have been in had we nto gotten Jason back though.
No, the Kings would have then simply been able to take advantage of the experienced, proven vets that were available this year.

The only unknown is whether Elton Brand, Scola, or other big (and an extra 3 or 4 million dollars a year) will turn out to be better than JT.
 
I have no faith that the FO would have gone after Brand, Scola, or another big. That, and right now JT is the player we need at that position. Doesn't demand the ball, and will go out and rebound. We need some roleplayers at the PF and SF position to help the ball-hungry players we've acquired at PG, SG, and C.
 
I have no faith that the FO would have gone after Brand, Scola, or another big. That, and right now JT is the player we need at that position. Doesn't demand the ball, and will go out and rebound. We need some roleplayers at the PF and SF position to help the ball-hungry players we've acquired at PG, SG, and C.

Not to mention a big fullsized frontcourt guys who can legitimately rebound and play backup center.
 
I have no faith that the FO would have gone after Brand, Scola, or another big. That, and right now JT is the player we need at that position. Doesn't demand the ball, and will go out and rebound. We need some roleplayers at the PF and SF position to help the ball-hungry players we've acquired at PG, SG, and C.
Once the season starts, and everyone is howling over how we're getting destroyed, I'll keep in mind that you thought JT was the right player for the job, and that the Kings need roleplayers instead of proven vets.
 
Once the season starts, and everyone is howling over how we're getting destroyed, I'll keep in mind that you thought JT was the right player for the job, and that the Kings need roleplayers instead of proven vets.

We all know that you are negative so that wouldn't be a surprise. What will you say if we do well especially with our bigs which is the subject at hand. I sure don't think that letting JT go would have been wise especially when we didn't know Brand and Scola would be available. It really wasn't a choice of one over the other despite the way you are making it sound.

If you have stars, you fill in the other positions with role players. I don't know what is so mystical about that. There is only so much money to spend. A 33 year old Brand and 32 year old Scola would have retired or been on the real downside of their career by the time our team was ready to make a major push.

Therefore when you post your "I told you so" note, include my name. Not sure what exactly will be proved once the season starts but that's OK. Have at it. I really doubt that having Brand instead of JT would make much of a difference or at least to the extent that you could prove that it was the JT vs Brand (assuming it happened which it didn't) decision that was responsible for whatever happens.
 
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It really wasn't a choice of one over the other despite the way you are making it sound.

If you have stars, you fill in the other positions with role players. I don't know what is so mystical about that.
Good post, for the most part.
Let me reply:

It DID end up being a choice between JT and whatever-other-PF would come available.
I understand you (or anybody else) wanting to argue me on various points, but not this one : by signing JT (after drafting TRob), the Kings DID make a choice. A choice not to go after anyone else that would come available. Signing JT locked up that backup big man role, with a hefty salary for a backup.

IMMO, the Kings signed JT WAY prematurely.
The whole point of not extending JT during the season was so that they wouldn't overpay (as they have repeatedly, as we all know and have complained about for years) and could wait to see what other teams valued him as.
Well, that blew up in their face since they didn't have any other PF that could remotely come in and gobble up the hellacious numbers of rebounds the Kings clanked last year, so JT feasted on them and his numbers bloated.
But the Kings compounded the problem by not waiting until other teams matched (at least publically), and if there were (inexplicably) offers that JT's agent didn't make public then I believe they overvalued JT. He's a career backup - not a starter.

Which brings us to where the Kings thinking process SHOULD have been : they NEED relaible, proven starters in this league.
They have ONE star, and that's DMC - everyone else has to prove themselves, or has proven they are not thus far into their careers.
You, and many other KF's, have this delusion that the Kings have all this talent, and are just waiting for some unquantifiable spark to make the team come alive and start winning.
I've got news for you (and I've accepted this as a realistic Kings fan) : the Kings don't have the talent to compete in the NBA.
They didn't last year, when I made the controversial thread that was proven right, and they don't this year.

The Kings don;t need roleplayers - they need PLAYERS.
Proven, NBA-quality players that know what the hell to do on the court when the pressure is on.
The current Kings squad proved countless times last year they are hapless and ineffective in crunchtime.
When the other teams increase the pressure, the Kings feel apart almost every single time last year (and the year before...)

There is only one chance this team has to be successful this year - if both Tyreke and DMC come into the season and just start dominating night in night out (to the point that it didn't really matter too much who else was out there with them). DMC would have to improve his game and especially his maturity quite a bit, while Tyreke would have to make such a jump as to be remarkable (since he's shown none so far in his career).

Having vets like Brand or Scola (career high-minute starters, with playoff/pressure experience) is sheer folly to overlook.
Especially when people are actually advocating that it was better to keep players who have proven they are not NBA starter material, and are career backups? Especially when they could have gotten the vets CHEAPER.

Does anyone realize that NOONE on this Kings roster (other than the castoffs everyone here loves to hate and dismiss) has ever actually played a competitive NBA basketball game?
They've played pageant games - games in the regular season where the teams didn't really care much whether they won or lost. One out of 82 in a too-long season. Whenever the other team has really wanted it (ratcheted up to NBA-quality defense), the Kings have invariably lost for over 3 years and running.
 
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Once the season starts, and everyone is howling over how we're getting destroyed, I'll keep in mind that you thought JT was the right player for the job, and that the Kings need roleplayers instead of proven vets.

Go for it. Show me how Brand and Scola do this season and compare it to what JT brings to this team in terms of specific needs. Scola? Great flopper. Between him and Cousins it'll be like bowling pins flying all over the place. Career low in rebounds last year. Brand? Hasn't shown much of anything in years - in fact, his numbers were fairly identical to Thompson's last year.

If we're looking at players at the beginning/end of their career, who is more likely to improve, and who has nothing left in the tank? I'll stand by claim that JT is a better fit for this team at this moment. Great kid who knows his role. He can surprise you with a 20/10 game from time to time, but that's not really what we need from him anyway.

If we get destroyed on the glass again it's because Smart goes with a three guard lineup for 90% of the season. We had the bodies to play bigger last year, have people in their natural roles, and still win about the same number of games. Frankly, we probably would have won a few more even with the gaping hole at SF. Hell, we probably would have won a few more starting "The Enigma" Donté Greene at SF because we would have been a normal sized team instead of one that was always small at three positions, and usually four positions.
 
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