Buddy is a hard worker and pissed at the state of the Kings. But if he never learns to play average NBA defense, he will never be a winning player. He has lots of tools and I don’t think his basketball IQ is the problem. Perspective is one of the most valuable things in life. I hope he realizes how some small changes to his game can lead to huge success for the Kings.
Open mouth; Insert Foot - Buddy Hield Edition
- Thread starter SLAB
- Start date
Barnes has always been very diplomatic in his approach, which works for him. He knows the right thing to say and otherwise keeps his mouth shut. I respect that but I also don't know what he's actually thinking because his filter is always on in public. Buddy is more a guy who'll say whatever is on his mind regardless of expectation. I don't have a problem with athletes dropping the act and just being real though. Yeah, he wants to get paid. Who doesn't? Everybody in the league does get scored on. Look at the average PPG this year.... you don't stop teams right now, you disrupt them just enough to make your baskets add up to more before time runs out. It's a battle of attrition. Buddy is here to take shots. They're not all going to go in but the minute he loses confidence and stops shooting, then he actually becomes irrelevant. He could be more like Barnes and find the diplomatic team-first spin to all of these questions but that's not going to tell us what he really thinks, only what he thinks we want to hear. In fact, I prefer it when professional athletes just get real and say what they're thinking. They're all human beings first and basketball players second. Obviously if he's going to paint the target on his back he'd better push himself to get better to outrun the heat he's created for himself but maybe he needs that extra mental push. We're half a season past his rookie contract, it's not reasonable to expect him to instantly be that $20 million a year guy. Teams sign those contracts with young players expecting them to grow into it over a couple years. Lose money on production up front but gain money on the back end. Like any other long term investment. Is a little more patience too much to ask?
And yes, of course his contact is relevant to the team. If he's taking a larger slice of the pie than hopefully his production scales up appropriately, but that's for the GM and the owners to worry about. It's funny to me that I get criticized for just saying how I feel instead of hyping up every guy we draft just because they're now on the Kings and yet so many of those same "loyal" fans are the loudest in their criticism of veterans on the team for failing to live up to their own lofty standards. Even if you have season tickets and buy a new jersey every year, you're not paying for these players' salaries anyway, advertising is. Your money is a very small drop in a very large bucket.
I've mostly stopped watching the games because I'm thoroughly exhausted with the entire Sacramento Kings fan experience at this point. I like a lot of the players on the team but I don't think this coach's style is going to lead them anywhere and I'm not going to wait how ever many years it takes the front office to wake up and realize that. We've already done this a half dozen times over. We had a fantastic coach already named Mike Malone and fired him for no reason at all. Now I'm supposed to wait for lightning to strike again? And I now know for a fact that the draft isn't going to save us so there's little silver lining to be found in yet another losing season. And yet... and yet... My negativity is confined to the people who ought to know better. Every time I see these comments about how Buddy needs to be gone or Giles is somehow worse now than when he sat out his entire rookie season or Fox needs to be more of a leader etc I just think to myself, "would I even enjoy playing for these people?! All you do is find reasons to criticize players". Is that better than wishing our GM did his damn job and scouted some prospects once in awhile? So we're booing Buddy Hield now? This is what we've come to? I certainly get the frustration and I'm there with you. I'm fed up. They're not even the Kings anymore to me, they're "that team" but c'mon people. Choose your targets better. Maybe the guy who took one of the most exciting offenses in the league a year ago and turned it into a slog should get booed first. Or the guy who supposedly watched the best player of this generation and thought "naww, not good enough for my team"... Maybe he should get booed?
Or maybe none of them. Cause it's just basketball. If it no longer brings you joy, find something else that will? The 49ers have a fun team right now filled with guys who are great athletes and love playing together. That'd be a fun bandwagon to hop aboard. The Oakland A's have won 97 games for the last 2 seasons without elaborate hidden camera setups and trash cans in the dugout and currently employ one of the most astoundingly good third basemen ever to play the game and a fleet of elite rookie starting pitchers. That could be fun. Maybe read Dune for the first time or play a campaign of Gloomhaven or, I don't know, start a rec league basketball team or learn to play the guitar or go watch 1917 a bunch of times. Maybe a half empty arena isn't a bad thing if it's half full of people who actually want to be there instead of this simmering stew of finger pointing and negativity?
And yes, of course his contact is relevant to the team. If he's taking a larger slice of the pie than hopefully his production scales up appropriately, but that's for the GM and the owners to worry about. It's funny to me that I get criticized for just saying how I feel instead of hyping up every guy we draft just because they're now on the Kings and yet so many of those same "loyal" fans are the loudest in their criticism of veterans on the team for failing to live up to their own lofty standards. Even if you have season tickets and buy a new jersey every year, you're not paying for these players' salaries anyway, advertising is. Your money is a very small drop in a very large bucket.
I've mostly stopped watching the games because I'm thoroughly exhausted with the entire Sacramento Kings fan experience at this point. I like a lot of the players on the team but I don't think this coach's style is going to lead them anywhere and I'm not going to wait how ever many years it takes the front office to wake up and realize that. We've already done this a half dozen times over. We had a fantastic coach already named Mike Malone and fired him for no reason at all. Now I'm supposed to wait for lightning to strike again? And I now know for a fact that the draft isn't going to save us so there's little silver lining to be found in yet another losing season. And yet... and yet... My negativity is confined to the people who ought to know better. Every time I see these comments about how Buddy needs to be gone or Giles is somehow worse now than when he sat out his entire rookie season or Fox needs to be more of a leader etc I just think to myself, "would I even enjoy playing for these people?! All you do is find reasons to criticize players". Is that better than wishing our GM did his damn job and scouted some prospects once in awhile? So we're booing Buddy Hield now? This is what we've come to? I certainly get the frustration and I'm there with you. I'm fed up. They're not even the Kings anymore to me, they're "that team" but c'mon people. Choose your targets better. Maybe the guy who took one of the most exciting offenses in the league a year ago and turned it into a slog should get booed first. Or the guy who supposedly watched the best player of this generation and thought "naww, not good enough for my team"... Maybe he should get booed?
Or maybe none of them. Cause it's just basketball. If it no longer brings you joy, find something else that will? The 49ers have a fun team right now filled with guys who are great athletes and love playing together. That'd be a fun bandwagon to hop aboard. The Oakland A's have won 97 games for the last 2 seasons without elaborate hidden camera setups and trash cans in the dugout and currently employ one of the most astoundingly good third basemen ever to play the game and a fleet of elite rookie starting pitchers. That could be fun. Maybe read Dune for the first time or play a campaign of Gloomhaven or, I don't know, start a rec league basketball team or learn to play the guitar or go watch 1917 a bunch of times. Maybe a half empty arena isn't a bad thing if it's half full of people who actually want to be there instead of this simmering stew of finger pointing and negativity?
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When Bogi comes back it might be a good time for he and Buddy to swap roles. It would be good to see what Bogi looks like in the starting role and what Buddy looks like as a Super Sub. I'm not sure one is better than the other but at this point I'm thinking switching things up could not hurt.
Right now my eye test says Bogi is the better defender. My priorities for a 2 guard are #1 locking down his assignment and #2 hitting a good percentage of 3 pointers.
I still like Buddy but have to admit being perplexed why Walton has him handing the ball so much. IMO Buddy plays best when he limits his dribbling to sidestepping a defender to get open or obvious open drives to the hoop.
Right now my eye test says Bogi is the better defender. My priorities for a 2 guard are #1 locking down his assignment and #2 hitting a good percentage of 3 pointers.
I still like Buddy but have to admit being perplexed why Walton has him handing the ball so much. IMO Buddy plays best when he limits his dribbling to sidestepping a defender to get open or obvious open drives to the hoop.
Oh yeah, thanks. 
I'd forgotten what the timeline was on that. So he's not even making $20 million this year. I understood why WCS was a skapegoat last year, he talked like he was an elite big man but wouldn't even rebound the ball when it landed in front of him. Seeing the crowd turn on Buddy though has been a bit of a shocker. In the few games I have seen this year he's been benched in crunch time but didn't he help carry the team in the stretch where they actually were winning?
I've already seen the fans turn on CWebb when he was trying to come back from injury (not his fault), on Bibby when he tried to carry the load after everyone else was traded, on Kevin Martin when he became the leading scorer on a sub .500 team, on Tyreke and DeMarcus for failing to lead us to the playoffs... I just wish this segment of the fan base that needs to find someone to blame would realize that it's usually not the players who are responsible. The problems are systemic and bigger than any one person.
I'd forgotten what the timeline was on that. So he's not even making $20 million this year. I understood why WCS was a skapegoat last year, he talked like he was an elite big man but wouldn't even rebound the ball when it landed in front of him. Seeing the crowd turn on Buddy though has been a bit of a shocker. In the few games I have seen this year he's been benched in crunch time but didn't he help carry the team in the stretch where they actually were winning? I've already seen the fans turn on CWebb when he was trying to come back from injury (not his fault), on Bibby when he tried to carry the load after everyone else was traded, on Kevin Martin when he became the leading scorer on a sub .500 team, on Tyreke and DeMarcus for failing to lead us to the playoffs... I just wish this segment of the fan base that needs to find someone to blame would realize that it's usually not the players who are responsible. The problems are systemic and bigger than any one person.
Oh yeah, thanks. I'd forgotten what the timeline was on that. So he's not even making $20 million this year. I understood why WCS was a skapegoat last year, he talked like he was an elite big man but wouldn't even rebound the ball when it landed in front of him. Seeing the crowd turn on Buddy though has been a bit of a shocker. In the few games I have seen this year he's been benched in crunch time but didn't he help carry the team in the stretch where they actually were winning?
I've already seen the fans turn on CWebb when he was trying to come back from injury (not his fault), on Bibby when he tried to carry the load after everyone else was traded, on Kevin Martin when he became the leading scorer on a sub .500 team, on Tyreke and DeMarcus for failing to lead us to the playoffs... I just wish this segment of the fan base that needs to find someone to blame would realize that it's usually not the players who are responsible. The problems are systemic and bigger than any one person.
I'd forgotten what the timeline was on that. So he's not even making $20 million this year. I understood why WCS was a skapegoat last year, he talked like he was an elite big man but wouldn't even rebound the ball when it landed in front of him. Seeing the crowd turn on Buddy though has been a bit of a shocker. In the few games I have seen this year he's been benched in crunch time but didn't he help carry the team in the stretch where they actually were winning?I've already seen the fans turn on CWebb when he was trying to come back from injury (not his fault), on Bibby when he tried to carry the load after everyone else was traded, on Kevin Martin when he became the leading scorer on a sub .500 team, on Tyreke and DeMarcus for failing to lead us to the playoffs... I just wish this segment of the fan base that needs to find someone to blame would realize that it's usually not the players who are responsible. The problems are systemic and bigger than any one person.
It's not about feel. He's resistant to coaching. It doesn't take feel to know that instead of dribble dribble dribble and take a contested 3 point shot you should pass to a wide open Fox, nor does it take feel to catch, pass and cut, not dribble dribble dribble at the 3 point line and take a contested 3 pointer. It takes will, not feel.
I don't agree that it's all perception on this board. However, for those who do just look at a player and make an assumption, they probably shouldn't act as though it's a fact. There is very little fact and analysis in people's complaints with Hield.
Basketball is a fluid sport. Buddy doesn't get to count his dribbles 1, 2, 3..and the defense then obliges by making sure on that 3rd dribble there is either an open man or an open shot for Buddy. Someone may have posted a stat saying Buddy is better when he takes 3 dribbles or less, but Buddy not doing that doesn't make him uncoachable if the actual coaches haven't made that a priority. Watch the game and you see players clear out many times during the game to allow Buddy to advance the ball and initiate the offense. This is what it looks like he's being asked to do by the actual coaches. When a player handles the ball more and initiates plays, the inevitable result is that turnovers will increase. So getting mad at Buddy for dribbling the ball is placing blame on the wrong person.
Basketball is a fluid sport. Buddy doesn't get to count his dribbles 1, 2, 3..and the defense then obliges by making sure on that 3rd dribble there is either an open man or an open shot for Buddy. Someone may have posted a stat saying Buddy is better when he takes 3 dribbles or less, but Buddy not doing that doesn't make him uncoachable if the actual coaches haven't made that a priority. Watch the game and you see players clear out many times during the game to allow Buddy to advance the ball and initiate the offense. This is what it looks like he's being asked to do by the actual coaches. When a player handles the ball more and initiates plays, the inevitable result is that turnovers will increase. So getting mad at Buddy for dribbling the ball is placing blame on the wrong person.
Buddy has the BBIQ of a brick!!! It's not perception when I see him making the same mistake over and over and over again. The casual pass that never reaches its target. The impossible pass in traffic that never had a chance. The one on three fast break without the pass to a teammate. The drive to the basket in traffic and throwing up a wild shot with no chance. And that's not even mentioning the contested three's after dribbling away most of the shot clock.
And I might add, a lot of these things happen at the most inopportune times. Like when the Kings are making a comeback run. A lot of these things were tolerable when he was shooting 42% from the three, and when he started to limit those mistakes in the second half of last season. But this season, Walton, asked him to become more of a play maker. My first thought was, WHY? There's nothing worse in any sport than a player who thinks he.s better than he is. And worse than that, is to encourage him to believe that.
Nope, the criticism of Buddy is warranted, and as I stated in a different thread, if I were going to trade someone, it would be Buddy, not Bogi.
And I might add, a lot of these things happen at the most inopportune times. Like when the Kings are making a comeback run. A lot of these things were tolerable when he was shooting 42% from the three, and when he started to limit those mistakes in the second half of last season. But this season, Walton, asked him to become more of a play maker. My first thought was, WHY? There's nothing worse in any sport than a player who thinks he.s better than he is. And worse than that, is to encourage him to believe that.
Nope, the criticism of Buddy is warranted, and as I stated in a different thread, if I were going to trade someone, it would be Buddy, not Bogi.
Ok. We see what we want. The turnovers you described are ones that Luka makes too, just about every game. Uh oh...I probably shouldn't have pointed that out. Because, we like Luka and he plays with the flash and style we like, it's acceptable. He can't play defense either, but it's acceptable, because.....look at his passes. Luka is great, so nobody come at me trying to convince me about some generational BS. I don't care. My point is, our opinions are shaded. If you want to focus on the negative you'll find it in absolutely every player. Have at it though. Somebody has to be at fault.
On the one hand, professional athletes (and other public figures) always have a camera and a microphone in their faces and catch a lot of flak for verbal “gaffes” made in the spur of the moment. On the other hand, Buddy has shown a pattern of saying some really dumb things to the press. Sacramento fans are as loyal and supportive as they come and they RARELY boo the home team from what I have experienced at the arena. Buddy should have just said “we love our fans, we understand their frustration, and this team is gonna keep fighting hard to win.”
These are not new revelations though. The same thing happened when we tried to make Ben McLemore a facilitator/defensive stopper. Buddy was shooting 42% from three consistently when his job was to come off screens and spot up at the three point line. Creating shots one on one and setting up teammates is not what he does. Like you said, Walton is trying to shove a square peg through a round hole and as a result we've seen him struggle to produce at the level he already was producing (chiefly because he's taking much tougher shots) and instead all of his weaknesses have been even more apparent. A good head coach will design the offense and defense to take advantage of the talent he has, give guys roles they're capable of filling, and teach them (when possible) the skills they need to excel in those roles. You can't just tell a guy to go out there, read the floor, and create. Those are specific skills that not everyone has developed and I don't believe that every player can learn them at the NBA level unless they already have some aptitude developed with experience on previous teams or at least some natural feel for playmaking. Ironic that we now hire a coach who wants everybody on the floor to be a playmaker just a year and a half after we don't draft an elite playmaker because we already have a PG we like. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.
Certainly we could trade Buddy, he's not a perfect player and anybody is expendable for the right return. But then we're faced with the problem of replacing his shooting which is going to be almost impossible at the volume he gave us last year. That was the whole point of extending him in the first place. He's not a superstar but he's a productive player within the role he's best suited and we're Sacramento -- we don't get superstars demanding trades to play here and most likely never will. If we get a solid starter we probably shouldn't be moaning about their flaws because the alternative is usually a revolving door of Justin Jacksons, Donte Greenes, Arron Afflalos, Travis Outlaws, etc.
Certainly we could trade Buddy, he's not a perfect player and anybody is expendable for the right return. But then we're faced with the problem of replacing his shooting which is going to be almost impossible at the volume he gave us last year. That was the whole point of extending him in the first place. He's not a superstar but he's a productive player within the role he's best suited and we're Sacramento -- we don't get superstars demanding trades to play here and most likely never will. If we get a solid starter we probably shouldn't be moaning about their flaws because the alternative is usually a revolving door of Justin Jacksons, Donte Greenes, Arron Afflalos, Travis Outlaws, etc.
I'm sorry, I thought I was talking about Buddy. How in the hell did Luka get involved in the conversation, or am I supposed to mention every player in the NBA that turns the ball over? You want me to critique Luka? I can do that, but I thought we were talking about Buddy, because he's the one on our team!!!!!!!!
