[Game] Nets @ Kings - Tuesday, March 19 - 7PT/10ET
- Thread starter jcassio
- Start date
- Status
The worst coach in the NBA? Dave Joerger isn't even the worst NBA head coach in the state of California.
I've seen two big issues in the last few weeks which are causing us problems:
(1) Lack of variety in the offense. We have huge quarters where we run like crazy and score a ton but we also have quarters where we can't put the ball in the basket to save our lives. Missing Marvin Bagley was a big part of this as he provides a different dimension than our guard-heavy starting lineup. He provided a huge boost in this game but we got almost nothing from our leading scorer (Buddy) unfortunately. Buddy has been consistent enough that a bad game here or there is excusable. I'm more concerned about the bench looking completely out of sync with each other. We brought in Alek Burks and played him a lot of minutes early on but he wasn't pushing the pace like Coach wants so he seems to have already fallen out of the rotation. Then we brought in Corey Brewer and started playing him a lot of minutes as the swing man instead but he's barely had any time to learn the offense or get familiar with the rest of the roster. Bogdan, Marvin and Nemanja have been in and out of the starting lineup recently.
When I watch the games now it just looks like the subs come in and suddenly everybody is freelancing. For most of the year we've been able to come up with a play for an easy basket to stop the bleeding when we need it but the recent roster turnover has killed a lot of the trust the bench unit developed together. We're still racking up points off turnovers (especially when Fox is in the game) but that can't be the entire game plan. I like seeing Bogdan get the opportunity to make plays but he's at his most dangerous as a spot-up shooter and making him a primary ball-handler now off the bench takes away that part of his game. He's forcing up some difficult shots right now and the more possession we waste with bad shots the more pressure that puts on everybody else. The frustrating thing is that they're quite capable of moving the ball and creating easy looks, they just seem to voluntarily go away from it for long stretches of games.
(2) Oh boy do we have problems on the defensive end! When this team is at it's best they're forcing turnovers, crowding ball handlers on the perimeter, and using their energy to wear other teams out. We're the living embodiment of the phrase "the best defense is a strong offense". That's been a double-edged sword though. Often we're so focused on getting the ball up the court quickly that we just step aside and let the other team get an easy basket. And more than the crunch-time mistakes, what's killing us is how easy we give up points in the middle quarters. Grant Napear is fond of calling out missed free throws that come back to haunt us later on but we're effectively doing the same thing any time we give up on a play and let the other team get a layup or an easy shot or an offensive rebound which leads to points. And we do that a lot! We do have some good individual defenders. I think this is where we show our immaturity the most. We don't come out focused for all 48 minutes.
Case in point: It took almost 5 minutes for Brooklyn to score their first points of the 3rd quarter and yet they still managed to score 20 in the quarter. Teams are going to score 100+ points per game now, that's just the new NBA. The increased volume of threes and accelerated pace make it inevitable. But you can still make them work for it. I don't mind too much if one player gets crazy hot and has a career game. It happens. But what's happening far too often is that we're giving maybe 50-60% effort on the defensive end. If this is a product of our "fastest in the league" pace then maybe we need to find a happier medium where we allow ourselves a chance to breath.
I don't think we're playing measurably worse than we have all year. Some of this is bad luck, bad timing, guys getting injured, and so on. But there's a hard ceiling on how much better we could be if we're unable to solve these problems next season.
(1) Lack of variety in the offense. We have huge quarters where we run like crazy and score a ton but we also have quarters where we can't put the ball in the basket to save our lives. Missing Marvin Bagley was a big part of this as he provides a different dimension than our guard-heavy starting lineup. He provided a huge boost in this game but we got almost nothing from our leading scorer (Buddy) unfortunately. Buddy has been consistent enough that a bad game here or there is excusable. I'm more concerned about the bench looking completely out of sync with each other. We brought in Alek Burks and played him a lot of minutes early on but he wasn't pushing the pace like Coach wants so he seems to have already fallen out of the rotation. Then we brought in Corey Brewer and started playing him a lot of minutes as the swing man instead but he's barely had any time to learn the offense or get familiar with the rest of the roster. Bogdan, Marvin and Nemanja have been in and out of the starting lineup recently.
When I watch the games now it just looks like the subs come in and suddenly everybody is freelancing. For most of the year we've been able to come up with a play for an easy basket to stop the bleeding when we need it but the recent roster turnover has killed a lot of the trust the bench unit developed together. We're still racking up points off turnovers (especially when Fox is in the game) but that can't be the entire game plan. I like seeing Bogdan get the opportunity to make plays but he's at his most dangerous as a spot-up shooter and making him a primary ball-handler now off the bench takes away that part of his game. He's forcing up some difficult shots right now and the more possession we waste with bad shots the more pressure that puts on everybody else. The frustrating thing is that they're quite capable of moving the ball and creating easy looks, they just seem to voluntarily go away from it for long stretches of games.
(2) Oh boy do we have problems on the defensive end! When this team is at it's best they're forcing turnovers, crowding ball handlers on the perimeter, and using their energy to wear other teams out. We're the living embodiment of the phrase "the best defense is a strong offense". That's been a double-edged sword though. Often we're so focused on getting the ball up the court quickly that we just step aside and let the other team get an easy basket. And more than the crunch-time mistakes, what's killing us is how easy we give up points in the middle quarters. Grant Napear is fond of calling out missed free throws that come back to haunt us later on but we're effectively doing the same thing any time we give up on a play and let the other team get a layup or an easy shot or an offensive rebound which leads to points. And we do that a lot! We do have some good individual defenders. I think this is where we show our immaturity the most. We don't come out focused for all 48 minutes.
Case in point: It took almost 5 minutes for Brooklyn to score their first points of the 3rd quarter and yet they still managed to score 20 in the quarter. Teams are going to score 100+ points per game now, that's just the new NBA. The increased volume of threes and accelerated pace make it inevitable. But you can still make them work for it. I don't mind too much if one player gets crazy hot and has a career game. It happens. But what's happening far too often is that we're giving maybe 50-60% effort on the defensive end. If this is a product of our "fastest in the league" pace then maybe we need to find a happier medium where we allow ourselves a chance to breath.
I don't think we're playing measurably worse than we have all year. Some of this is bad luck, bad timing, guys getting injured, and so on. But there's a hard ceiling on how much better we could be if we're unable to solve these problems next season.
Last edited:
I think some are hoping it's some kind of injury because that's something they can wrap their heads around. Otherwise, we got nothing...
Ok let him coach another year , we will know.
I have as much respect for Mr. S£im as the next person, but he really doesn't control who coaches the Kings.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
I trust that Vlade and his staff, including his analytics department will have a very detailed report on this team and if they know what they're doing, some of the faults of the team will be clear and they will make a decision in regards to the future accordingly. I'm also sure he will listen to the opinions of the players in all respects and take that in when making an NBA teams typical summer moves.
burekijogurt
Starter
Bogdanovic did not look to me any worse than lets say Buddy last night.
SLAB
Hall of Famer
Difference, Buddy has consistently positively contributed up until the 3pt Shootout ruined him.
And you can’t deny early 4th quarter Bogi was flat out horrible. Single handedly cut the lead 10 points and jumpstarted BK’s momentum with his play.
This game shows we need a solid defensive-minded guard. Pat Beverly comes to mind. Yogi was getting killed out there and was the reason he couldn't stay on the floor. Bogi can no longer be trusted to run the offense for the seco d unit. I think he closed out 3 quarters trying to get a bucket.
A shot blocking big would also go a long way for the non-stop layup drills. I'm so tired of peaches saying, "Oh that was too easy."
A shot blocking big would also go a long way for the non-stop layup drills. I'm so tired of peaches saying, "Oh that was too easy."
Kingz19
Hall of Famer
The Bogdan injury “narrative” is there because Kayte mentioned shortly after his winner vs the Lakers that he had been battling a nagging foot problem for weeks and she thought it was apparent. It made sense to me. At that point I was constantly noticing how little lift he was getting on his jumper but not so much trouble with his mid range game. I’m guessing she didn’t ass pull that, I know they make excuses but they also know stuff. He also had knee surgery in the offseason and he’s comsiderably slower and unable to get past defenders which means over dribbling into traffic or bad settling for low percentage jumpers. It’s the eye test. Nobody just becomes slower and the latter is more worrisome obviously because it indicates it could possibly be a new norm rather than just a certain problem that’s clouding his season. Good news is that I don’t think it’s that really.
I think it’s the former since while his long ball has been pretty bad since he came back, initially he was still effortlessly penetrating, getting good mid range shots and setting up teammates like last season over the first couple of months he played. We don’t really see too much of that over the last two months either and especially not since the all star break(except Milwaukee) So, there’s something there. ..and it’s a considerably less lazy explanation than “he got figured out” or “he was never any good” and as noted, it isn’t just a theory snatched out of thin air. It was mentioned but Bogdan has kept playing and it stops being mentioned. Just like
all of Fox’s ailments(shoulder, thigh, finger, rib) that can’t possibly be healed by the one game of rest he has had but not something you want to continuously see him cradling all game all season long if he’s not going to let it heal.
I think the last couple of games he was trying to work his way back up and lowering his usage but he thought a 25 point lead was safe time to try to get his full game right..honestly, it should’ve been a safe time to try that but...
I’m still fuming about last night but it’s remarkable that anybody is trying to choose a single player to blame. No one player can be bad enough to blow a 25 point lead in 12 minutes. A group of them can be and unfortunately were.
I think it’s the former since while his long ball has been pretty bad since he came back, initially he was still effortlessly penetrating, getting good mid range shots and setting up teammates like last season over the first couple of months he played. We don’t really see too much of that over the last two months either and especially not since the all star break(except Milwaukee) So, there’s something there. ..and it’s a considerably less lazy explanation than “he got figured out” or “he was never any good” and as noted, it isn’t just a theory snatched out of thin air. It was mentioned but Bogdan has kept playing and it stops being mentioned. Just like
all of Fox’s ailments(shoulder, thigh, finger, rib) that can’t possibly be healed by the one game of rest he has had but not something you want to continuously see him cradling all game all season long if he’s not going to let it heal.
I think the last couple of games he was trying to work his way back up and lowering his usage but he thought a 25 point lead was safe time to try to get his full game right..honestly, it should’ve been a safe time to try that but...
I’m still fuming about last night but it’s remarkable that anybody is trying to choose a single player to blame. No one player can be bad enough to blow a 25 point lead in 12 minutes. A group of them can be and unfortunately were.
Last edited:
In that posters world, nobody can do any wrong. Be careful or he might throw some fg% stats at you. Not sure which is worse, thrashing a few players for costing us the game, or saying everybody including the coach was superb and yet we blew a 28 point lead.
Btw, we are 4-10 or something in our last 14 games. I for one don't think that's good.
Livinthedream
All-Star
Poorly designed and/or executed play. How do you run an iso for someone and have two players hanging out in the paint. Buddy running his man into Marvin essentially creates a triple team and nobody is open to pass to.
burekijogurt
Starter
Bjelica looks wide open to me in that still shot.
Hot takes thread is one stop below this thread
burekijogurt
Starter
FG percentages don't bite. They are statements of fact that can be used to defend a point made. By the same token, they can be argued against as misused/irrelevant/etc in the context of that point
Choosing to ignore the statements themselves, and instead focusing on the mental state of the statement maker (he is too much of a homer), or their motivation (he is from the same country as the player he is defending) are weak forms of argument IMO. It is certainly a weaker form of forum participation.
Every team gets a do over in a long season.
I think what we saw last night was the result of fatigue. It was mostly mental except for maybe Bogdan and his nagging unjury.
Young players are not used to this. The Kings have played around 70 games. That is close to a 4 year career in college which might include 25-28 games a year. It is a grind, and players have to learn to deal with it. The Kings' were worn out by some of their recent close games that they lost. They know that their playoff hopes are about over. They will figure this out.
I think what we saw last night was the result of fatigue. It was mostly mental except for maybe Bogdan and his nagging unjury.
Young players are not used to this. The Kings have played around 70 games. That is close to a 4 year career in college which might include 25-28 games a year. It is a grind, and players have to learn to deal with it. The Kings' were worn out by some of their recent close games that they lost. They know that their playoff hopes are about over. They will figure this out.
sactowndog
All-Star
Or Willy Coyote defending the roadrunner
But, how is that on Bjelly? If your expectation Bjelly is quick enough to guard Russell than sure. But Russell was hot and Bjelly gave him as much space as he could.
Yes the Nets were killing the Kings with Dudley’s screen and getting Russell on Bjelly. So, where was the time-out and adjustment by the coach? If your defensive game plan is to switch the pick and put Bjelly on Russell it probably isn’t going to work. It’s the coaches job to find mismatches and defend against mismatches.
The other problem is the lack of long wing defenders on this roster. That problem is on Vlade.
If Bjelly was giving up baskets down low he wasn’t doing his job. But Bjelly giving up baskets to Russell on the pick and roll was either on Joeger (for not making adjustments) or Vlade for not having enough long wings on the team.
sactowndog
All-Star
WCS has been decent in some areas. The problem with WCS is he today is a horrendous fit with Marvin because his man doesn’t guard WCS and waits to help with Marvin in the paint.
sactowndog
All-Star
While I agree with that point why use that clip to substantiate it? We all know Marvin gets off shots against double teams often. Bjelly is coming down for a possible putback.
But why don’t we have a person up top that can move to a kick-out. The spacing on this play design looks horrible. Every player is moving from a spot below the free throw line and not a single player is above the free throw line. I don’t know if that’s on Joeger or the players but that’s horrible spacing and options for Marvin.
sactowndog
All-Star
Right but no angle to get him the ball. Where is the player up top?
burekijogurt
Starter
they all figured Marvin is shooting this no matter what and were crashing the paint.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
- Poll
