No Coachie = No Ball Movement

[Kev.in]

I don't think the problem is Carrill's absence. To me it doesn't look like the Kings are really running any plays. What is the gameplan, what is our offensive system? I don't consider it a "called play" when you dump it into Artest and watch him go to work, or when you have Bibby dribble back and forth over a Miller pick to find his own shot.

I watched the last three minutes of the Cavs-Wizards game and it was a whole new world. Both teams were running plays. A guy would catch the ball and immediately make a move because he knew where they were going with the ball and what the goal was. With the Kings last night, they had too many unfocused and aimless posessions. Is Musselman telling them to run stuff and we just have a bunch of dummies who can't execute, or is it something else?

 

[Kingsgurl]

I don't think the problem is Carrill's absence. To me it doesn't look like the Kings are really running any plays. What is the gameplan, what is our offensive system? I don't consider it a "called play" when you dump it into Artest and watch him go to work, or when you have Bibby dribble back and forth over a Miller pick to find his own shot.

Having been at the pre-season games, I have to disagree. Artest may have been free-lancing much of the 4th, but Musselman is a play calling man. I have NOT seen so many plays, names for plays, variations on plays, in YEARS here. Part of the problem may be that the Princeton (which, BTW, we haven't REALLY run since The Trade) was so much predicated on reads and taking what the defense gives you and capitolizing on it, rather than the offense running the called play, if it was there or not.

 

[SacTownKid]

It takes time to get a rhythm going with a team. The coordination isn't there yet.

I swear it's like people forgot about the start of last season already. That was some of the most horrible team ball I have ever seen. According to Rick Adelman, once we aquired Ron they never had time to work on the offense so this really is the first time this team has worked on offense.

I re-watched the game today and it really wasn't as bad as it seemed. The shots were simply not falling. They ran a lot of pick and pops with Brad and the shooter just didn't hit the wide open shot most times.

They ran one play where Kevin passed to Ron in the post and Ron mistimed his pass to a cutting Kevin and the ball went the other way. That was a play that would have resulted in a good look but the timing was a little off. I think they can eventually start running these plays with some success.

You have to crawl before you walk. This was the first game EVER for this team under Musselman. If we are still talking about that same pass missing its target 2 months from now, then we have a problem. Right now we have a team finding itself out.

On a serious positive the hustle and defense was very promising last night. When the offense comes along to match that effort it could be some very exciting times ahead.

 

[kennadog]

I didn't hear all of it, but Mark Kreidler was on KHTK this morning. He was saying something about the sheer volume of plays that Musselman has. He thinks the team may not be cohesive enought yet for so many plays. I think he thought Musselman should simplify a bit, until they get more cohesive.

I do think we have some really smart players on the team, tho. So maybe its better to throw them out there with more and let them do it in actual games. It just means it will take time. Some painful time.

 

[BigWaxer]

90% of the people on here wanted RA gone(not me btw) now you get what you wanted. Its going to be a very up and down year.

Muss will be growing just like the team. I like Muss but we are going to experience some growing pains..

 

[SacKings384]

I don't know if it's jsut Rick. Even last year for some reason, I couldn't even imagine how this team could score 100+ points. For some reason even a fluid clicking offense I just couldn't even imagine it. Unless Brad finds his shot, this offense will have a really really tough time scoring.

 

[kennadog]

90% of the people on here wanted RA gone(not me btw) now you get what you wanted. Its going to be a very up and down year.

Muss will be growing just like the team. I like Muss but we are going to experience some growing pains..

Count me in the 10%. For some reason, people can't seem to appreciate a good thing while they have it.

However, I am completely open-minded about Muss for the time being and one game is not going to make me jump all over him. When I realized a new coach would be here, I knew it would take time, and probably quite a bit of it. He works hard, he knows the game and seems to have connected with the players.

Its just going to take a lot of patience. Kings fans were greatly spoiled and quite a few seem to think topping the last 8 years should be quick and easy.

 

[Roman]

I thought RAs offense last year looked pretty similar to what we saw last night. A bunch of selfish players engaged in a fee for all "jack-a-shot" offense.

We can have this vast number of plays, but if we don't run them ... who cares?

I can count on one hand the number of post plays and post sets called in our loss to the Wolves. I can could count on a double amputees hands the number of smart post playes that created mismatches.

 

[KingsGuru]

Muss as coach

Let's be fair about it. As far as starts by a young coach, this is the worst in recent memory. Although the season is only one game old this is what has happened
1. Unlike all other teams in pre-season, Muss played them as if they were season games using his expected rotation heavily. Result : three starters getting hurt, including the most crucial component Mike Bibby. I don't recall any other team getting a key player injured in pre-season, because other teams were not playing them much
2. Thinking Mo Taylor and Loren Woods could help the Kings
3. DUI less than a week before the season opener
4. Cutting the two young big men and having what looks like the least athletic front court in recent memory in the NBA. The rebound total in the Wolves game was due to an unusual number of offensive rebounds coming from clanked threes or airballs or other strange occurrences (KM had two on BM airballs, Artest had four offensive rebounds on one play). Expect to get murdered in the front court this year. Rebounding will kill this team
5. Total lack of team play in 2nd half against the Wolves
6. No timeouts to reset when things got bad for the Kings
7. Playing only a 7-man rotation due to 2 and 4 above, resulting in everyone getting tired in the fourth quarter and having 11 turnovers and no perceptible offensive or defensive teamwork.
8. Loss of team control. He looked like a little kid on the sidelines, unable to control the team while watching two players get kicked out of the game

This is going to get ugly early in my opinion. His desperation may also result in Bibby playing major minutes, and risk a season-long nagging injury or re-injury. With Bibby out, this team won't beat anyone. Same with B Miller, who seems bothered by his pre-season injury. At end of first homestand, I predict a 2-5 record and Muss on the hotseat because of the above.

 

[Roman]

This is going to get ugly early in my opinion. His desperation may also result in Bibby playing major minutes, and risk a season-long nagging injury or re-injury. With Bibby out, this team won't beat anyone. Same with B Miller, who seems bothered by his pre-season injury. At end of first homestand, I predict a 2-5 record and Muss on the hotseat because of the above.

The only thing I disagree about is that I don't believe Bibby is the most important piece. I believe that piece is a combination of Artest and Bibby. We've seen what Bibby can do with a team without Artest and the rest of these pieces ... and it ain't pretty. We've seen what this team does with simply adding Artest to the team with no other changes ... and it resulted in a playoff push.

I don't believe this team has a chance with either player out.

Miller, SAR, KT are all replacable components and I would trade any two of them to get the right frontcourt player. Thinking Miller is integral to our success is tantamount to thinking the Sun rotates around the Earth. He's a piece that is easily replacable and I believe he should be.

 

[Smills91]

Let's be fair about it. As far as starts by a young coach, this is the worst in recent memory. Although the season is only one game old this is what has happened
1. Unlike all other teams in pre-season, Muss played them as if they were season games using his expected rotation heavily. Result : three starters getting hurt, including the most crucial component Mike Bibby. I don't recall any other team getting a key player injured in pre-season, because other teams were not playing them much
2. Thinking Mo Taylor and Loren Woods could help the Kings
3. DUI less than a week before the season opener
4. Cutting the two young big men and having what looks like the least athletic front court in recent memory in the NBA. The rebound total in the Wolves game was due to an unusual number of offensive rebounds coming from clanked threes or airballs or other strange occurrences (KM had two on BM airballs, Artest had four offensive rebounds on one play). Expect to get murdered in the front court this year. Rebounding will kill this team
5. Total lack of team play in 2nd half against the Wolves
6. No timeouts to reset when things got bad for the Kings
7. Playing only a 7-man rotation due to 2 and 4 above, resulting in everyone getting tired in the fourth quarter and having 11 turnovers and no perceptible offensive or defensive teamwork.
8. Loss of team control. He looked like a little kid on the sidelines, unable to control the team while watching two players get kicked out of the game

This is going to get ugly early in my opinion. His desperation may also result in Bibby playing major minutes, and risk a season-long nagging injury or re-injury. With Bibby out, this team won't beat anyone. Same with B Miller, who seems bothered by his pre-season injury. At end of first homestand, I predict a 2-5 record and Muss on the hotseat because of the above.

I can't help but roll my eyes at this post...you sound like chicken little...the SKY IS FALLING THE SKY IS FALLING...your post here leaves the impression that this is the standard and not the exception.
We lost ONE game. We lost one game that was VERY TIGHT while shooting awful. Bad shooting nights happen, they really do. We've played one game and lost...if we're still struggling a couple weeks from now, then a post like this might be more appropriate. And even then, take last year as an example...we sucked the vast majority of the season...then Artest came at the END of January and we turned it around. While every game counts, this is a VERY VERY LONG season.

 

[Packt]

What surprised me most was the lack of discipline on the offensive end. They need to get Bibby the ball quicker, and Bibby needs to rein his game in, even at the expense of his own shots. He was looking for teammates early on, but once the bleeding started, he went more to his own offense. It worked before, but this team doesn't have the passers it used to, so it's up to him to set plays and control the tempo. It's been said they want to be an uptempo team, but the first unit should play at a slower pace, at least until they get comfortable with the plays. Right now only Martin is suited for the uptempo style.

The interior defense is still lacking.

 

[KingsGuru]

Kings

Yes, last year when Artest came they did well. But Bonzi was the second leading rebounder of the team at the 2-guard and major offensive force. I know it is one game but Minn played horribly, giving the game away with all their turnovers. Still we lost.

Also, most teams going to athletic big men with new defensive rules. We are going to get KILLED in the interior. Look for lots of dunks and lots of offensive rebounds against us this season.

 

[Roman]

We lost ONE game. We lost one game that was VERY TIGHT while shooting awful. Bad shooting nights happen, they really do.

The flip-side to this argument is that not every night do the Kings dominate the offensive glass or have Artest grab 7 steals.

Simple observation, the Wolves aren't a top teir team, regardless of KG.

Where that places us ... I don't know.

I'm somewhere in the middle. I don't harbor a lot of hope as long as we continue to be a perimeter oriented team.

 

[Kingsgurl]

My prediction is, by the end of the season, this will be a vastly improved team, and all this early season hand-wringing will mostly be forgotten.
Of course, after every loss, there will be finger-pointing.

 

[VF21]

My prediction is, by the end of the season, this will be a vastly improved team, and all this early season hand-wringing will mostly be forgotten.
Of course, after every loss, there will be finger-pointing.

Why, you silly Kingsfan.com moderator. How can you possibly predict there will be finger-pointing? People around here are always so calm and accepting after losses...

 

[Roman]

My prediction is, by the end of the season, this will be a vastly improved team, and all this early season hand-wringing will mostly be forgotten.
Of course, after every loss, there will be finger-pointing.

I hold the opposite opinion. As long as our offense is centered around outside jump shooting and our most complex play is set a single pick we'll bleed.

I think for the entire season we will be very inconsistant. One night we'll hit our shots or someone will catch fire, the next we'll look like a bunch of orangutans running around with no direction.

That's how it goes with jump shooting teams with no interior offense.

We'll probably eek into the playoffs, because I think we'll have more on nights than off (perhaps that's just me hoping) ... but we'll get tossed in the first round.

 

[Kingsgurl]

I hold the opposite opinion. As long as our offense is centered around outside jump shooting and our most complex play is set a single pick we'll bleed.

You honestly think that we won't be able to master anything more complex then a single pick by the end of the season?

 

[VF21]

Roman - It's been mentioned in a couple of different places that Musselman may, in fact, be trying to get too much out of the players too soon. If anything, I think we'll be seeing a pretty interesting variety of plays once the team gets used to them.

 

[Roman]

You honestly think that we won't be able to master anything more complex then a single pick by the end of the season?

The way we looked? No.

It's what we did last year too. We revolved around setting 3 picks for Bibby so he could get a shot. That was one of our most used plays.

I reserve my judgement, as VF21 pointed out ... Muss might be putting too much into action too quickly. But, one way or the other, it looks like we avoid the post and each player seems to be playing for themselves (exceptions being Miller and SAR ... both of whom should be far more selfish).

 

[VF21]

Seeing a team avoid the post, with each player seeming to play for themselves is usually evident in teams that just don't know or trust each other enough yet.

I think that may well be what's happened here. With a new coach and mostly new coaching staff, several new players, etc. I think it's just going to take a while for the team to get into rhythm.

 

[Packt]

I wanted to mention the shot blocking becasue this game pretty much shows how important shotblocking is. I think partly why the offense was so out of rythm was because of the shot blocking of Minny. It meant we had to take jumpshots on a night when jumpshots weren't falling. Even when we had Ron or Shareef posting, they had to worry about a weak side defender. Kenny missed shots around the basket because Garnett was standing next to him. Kevin had a shot blocked by Garnett, then later saw Garnett coming at him and lost the ball in the air.

Our rebounding numbers are inflated by how badly we shot.

 

[IVote4Replay]

Actually what we did was panic and lose it in the 4th. Bad sign -- its what the bad teams do. Worse sign when the young coach doesn't seem to know what to do about it. But only one game. Season's just getting started + there will be good ones and bad ones along the way.

Panic they did, but I wouldn't go as far as a "Bad team." I would say more- a team still trying to find its identity, offensively. Its basically the same team from last year, minus Bonzi, which was a BIG reason that the team was MORE of a "post up" team last year...

Right now, I think they have an idea where they want to go "defensively," but as far as offensively, they're still feeling things out.... And like Brick said- ther WILL be good games & some bad... Lets hope for more good!

 

[Sac.Kings]

A loss is a loss, but besides doing poorly on offense, our other areas (except the turnovers in the 4th) were good/very good. I was impressed by our intensity and offensive rebounding (22!). Our defense was also good and at times it was really good. It will take a while, but apart from shooting 35%, we were the better team. If bibby was at full strength (if you watched carefully, he dribbled with his left hand for 75% of the game) we probably would have won. So we had an off night who cares. However, if this was in the middle of march, i would be concerned.

 

[KingsGuru]

Sorry, I predict no more than 30-some wins, no playoffs, start rebuilding era again. Early rebuilding has not worked. Garcia and Douby both appear to be busts. Douby can't even get his *** in a uniform for the first game. How many times have you seen that happen with a first round draft choice.