Despite the streaky start to this season, there is a lot to be positive about. We haven’t seen this team healthy yet. Whether or not we will, is another story, but there is hope that we will see something much much better. Artest, Miller, Rahim have all been all-stars. Bibby probably should have been at some point, and Martin will be at some point.
Why is Kevin Martin not the #1 option every time down the court? With 54% FG it doesn’t make sense. Give your most efficient guy the ball—that’s how you win games. He pretty much was the #1 option tonight at Seattle and look what happened. Martin should touch the ball on every possession. He rarely takes shots he doesn’t think he can make and he’s pretty darn good at finding the open man when he doesn’t have a shot. I don’t know who wouldn’t agree that Martin is the future of this franchise.
Big Nasty has been making pretty good on his minutes. I know he’s small but I like his veteran presence on the floor. Much rather see him on the court than riding the bench. Tries to force too much sometimes, but still has a lot to contribute.
Garcia is improving every game. I love his hustle. If the Kings are going to be successful this year, he’s going to be a pivotal part of it. Will he ever be a starter? Probably not, but could be an outstanding 6th.
Bibby’s attitude really affects his game. One bad call can put him in a funk that takes him forever to climb out of, and he basically gives up on the defensive end of the court while trying to shoot his blues away. I know he’s injured, but his lack of hustle sometimes is almost unbearable to watch. And if his injuries are bothering him that much, get him some more rest Muss. We have ball handlers on this team. Just don’t let Ron play point guard. We need Bibby to lead this team throughout the season and play healthy. If he continues to play injured and further aggravate his wrist, then his shot isn’t going to come back nor will his confidence. This is a guy that, when healthy, can give us 20 + points and 7 assists a night. He’s capable of going off for 40, and can single handedly win some games for us. We all know what Bibby can do when he’s healthy.
Contrary to popular belief, I would rather have KT as our starter. Rahim scores more points, but KT has way more grit and hustle. Both of them play too much one on one IMO, but KT plays less of it. He has better court awareness and Rahim gets caught asleep at the wheel way too often, even when he’s running the floor on a fast break. It’s like Rahim isn’t expecting the ball to come to him. Both guys are too selfish with the ball, and when both of them pass, the team plays better, they get the ball back, and they score more points. I love KT’s tenacity on the glass. All that being said, I think that Reef should still be our backup PF off the bench when we get a different starter. It’s pretty apparent that KT can’t play off the bench.
Ron is one hell of a defensive player. What Ron doesn’t understand, or what he can’t admit, or what everyone is afraid to tell him though, is that he should really be the 3rd option on offense. He’s more productive when he takes fewer shots. I get nervous every time the ball is in his hands, because he thinks that basketball is played 5 on 1 with him being the 1. Hopefully he saw tonight that the team can score a whole lot of points without him on the floor. When he does have the ball, he needs to be posting up because he has tremendous skills on the low block. He’s too strong for just about everyone. What frightens me most though is that he openly tells the media that he’s going to shoot the ball as much as he wants, but we never hear about anyone telling him otherwise—except for Jason Hart. People are scared of setting Ron off. I would be, but until his shot selection is under control, he’s canceling out all the good he does on defense by taking shots away from our more efficient scorers, and by giving up a ton of defensive rebounds to the other team.
Salmons—is good when he’s on, but offense is still too inconsistent at this point. Great defender though. I want him and Ron on the court together, but due to injuries, we haven’t seen much of that yet. I think it’s pretty interesting though that we win the games that Salmons shows up to play and lose the ones he doesn’t. Like Garcia, will play a big part in this team’s success this year, but even more so. Get some consistency and we’ll be doing all right.
Ronnie Price is going to become our Bobby Jackson. It’s just not going to happen right away. The guy has talent out the wazoo and can jump out of the gym, is a much better defender than Bibby, but like so many other guys on our team, is trying to force too much at this point. I hope we re-sign him after this year. By March will look like a legitimate, consistent back-up pg, next year will be a pretty good one.
Brad—I hope he doesn’t try to come back too soon and end up making his injury worse. We need his 15 and 8, we’re missing it sorely right now. Even if he’s not much of a defender, merely having his presence under the basket is going to alter a lot of shots by the other teams. We won’t see as much of lay up drill when he returns. Notice I said “as much.” We really need his passing too.
Potapenko—I’m sorry, with Brad out and other teams walking into the paint and scoring at will, there is no reason this guy shouldn’t be handing out six hard fouls a night to the Tony Parkers and the Deron Williams’. Give us six hard fouls and 4-5 rebounds. That’s really not too much to ask.
Hart—is going to blow up at some point this year, and not in the good way.
Mo Taylor—useless. He gets on the floor and wants so badly to make something happen with his limited minutes that he just makes bad choice after bad choice.
I’m not sure what I think of coach Muss yet, but the players seem to support him. Not sure about his rotation, but that’s because he’s not sure of his rotation. Our offense is pretty static at times. Our defense thus far isn’t what everyone thought it would be. I need some more games to make a decision here.
All in all there is a lot to be happy about because the best is certainly yet to come. When and if we finally get healthy, we can be an extremely good team. My prediction: The team stays around .500, maybe a little above, until February and then makes another late season push like last year. 46-48 wins, 7th or 8th seed going into the playoffs.
Why is Kevin Martin not the #1 option every time down the court? With 54% FG it doesn’t make sense. Give your most efficient guy the ball—that’s how you win games. He pretty much was the #1 option tonight at Seattle and look what happened. Martin should touch the ball on every possession. He rarely takes shots he doesn’t think he can make and he’s pretty darn good at finding the open man when he doesn’t have a shot. I don’t know who wouldn’t agree that Martin is the future of this franchise.
Big Nasty has been making pretty good on his minutes. I know he’s small but I like his veteran presence on the floor. Much rather see him on the court than riding the bench. Tries to force too much sometimes, but still has a lot to contribute.
Garcia is improving every game. I love his hustle. If the Kings are going to be successful this year, he’s going to be a pivotal part of it. Will he ever be a starter? Probably not, but could be an outstanding 6th.
Bibby’s attitude really affects his game. One bad call can put him in a funk that takes him forever to climb out of, and he basically gives up on the defensive end of the court while trying to shoot his blues away. I know he’s injured, but his lack of hustle sometimes is almost unbearable to watch. And if his injuries are bothering him that much, get him some more rest Muss. We have ball handlers on this team. Just don’t let Ron play point guard. We need Bibby to lead this team throughout the season and play healthy. If he continues to play injured and further aggravate his wrist, then his shot isn’t going to come back nor will his confidence. This is a guy that, when healthy, can give us 20 + points and 7 assists a night. He’s capable of going off for 40, and can single handedly win some games for us. We all know what Bibby can do when he’s healthy.
Contrary to popular belief, I would rather have KT as our starter. Rahim scores more points, but KT has way more grit and hustle. Both of them play too much one on one IMO, but KT plays less of it. He has better court awareness and Rahim gets caught asleep at the wheel way too often, even when he’s running the floor on a fast break. It’s like Rahim isn’t expecting the ball to come to him. Both guys are too selfish with the ball, and when both of them pass, the team plays better, they get the ball back, and they score more points. I love KT’s tenacity on the glass. All that being said, I think that Reef should still be our backup PF off the bench when we get a different starter. It’s pretty apparent that KT can’t play off the bench.
Ron is one hell of a defensive player. What Ron doesn’t understand, or what he can’t admit, or what everyone is afraid to tell him though, is that he should really be the 3rd option on offense. He’s more productive when he takes fewer shots. I get nervous every time the ball is in his hands, because he thinks that basketball is played 5 on 1 with him being the 1. Hopefully he saw tonight that the team can score a whole lot of points without him on the floor. When he does have the ball, he needs to be posting up because he has tremendous skills on the low block. He’s too strong for just about everyone. What frightens me most though is that he openly tells the media that he’s going to shoot the ball as much as he wants, but we never hear about anyone telling him otherwise—except for Jason Hart. People are scared of setting Ron off. I would be, but until his shot selection is under control, he’s canceling out all the good he does on defense by taking shots away from our more efficient scorers, and by giving up a ton of defensive rebounds to the other team.
Salmons—is good when he’s on, but offense is still too inconsistent at this point. Great defender though. I want him and Ron on the court together, but due to injuries, we haven’t seen much of that yet. I think it’s pretty interesting though that we win the games that Salmons shows up to play and lose the ones he doesn’t. Like Garcia, will play a big part in this team’s success this year, but even more so. Get some consistency and we’ll be doing all right.
Ronnie Price is going to become our Bobby Jackson. It’s just not going to happen right away. The guy has talent out the wazoo and can jump out of the gym, is a much better defender than Bibby, but like so many other guys on our team, is trying to force too much at this point. I hope we re-sign him after this year. By March will look like a legitimate, consistent back-up pg, next year will be a pretty good one.
Brad—I hope he doesn’t try to come back too soon and end up making his injury worse. We need his 15 and 8, we’re missing it sorely right now. Even if he’s not much of a defender, merely having his presence under the basket is going to alter a lot of shots by the other teams. We won’t see as much of lay up drill when he returns. Notice I said “as much.” We really need his passing too.
Potapenko—I’m sorry, with Brad out and other teams walking into the paint and scoring at will, there is no reason this guy shouldn’t be handing out six hard fouls a night to the Tony Parkers and the Deron Williams’. Give us six hard fouls and 4-5 rebounds. That’s really not too much to ask.
Hart—is going to blow up at some point this year, and not in the good way.
Mo Taylor—useless. He gets on the floor and wants so badly to make something happen with his limited minutes that he just makes bad choice after bad choice.
I’m not sure what I think of coach Muss yet, but the players seem to support him. Not sure about his rotation, but that’s because he’s not sure of his rotation. Our offense is pretty static at times. Our defense thus far isn’t what everyone thought it would be. I need some more games to make a decision here.
All in all there is a lot to be happy about because the best is certainly yet to come. When and if we finally get healthy, we can be an extremely good team. My prediction: The team stays around .500, maybe a little above, until February and then makes another late season push like last year. 46-48 wins, 7th or 8th seed going into the playoffs.
