Overworked starting lineup, under use of Bagley, no backup for Barnes

A

ARockmon

Prospect
Doesn’t it seem like the King’s are over working Fox, Holmes, Barnes, and Hield?
I was watching their great victory over the Pelicans last night (2/1/21), and it seemed like those four guys were really looking tired the last 4 minutes or so, but Walton didn’t give them a break. The Pelicans coach was rotating guys and they looked fresh down the stretch. I think we were just very fortunate that Fox played so unbelievably great the last two minutes.

Also the last few games it seems that Bagley has not been used at crunch time, the last few minutes of the game. He is a great scorer and very hard to defend. It sure seems he should be in at crunch time.

It seems like we have no backup for Barnes. I think he needs a rest now and then. But it seems we have no backup for him. He’s expected to play small forward and power forward. That’s asking a lot.

Also the King’s seem to be using 3 guards at a time a lot (Fox, Hield, and Haliburton). I’m not sure why. It must be putting Buddy in a small forward role. Kinda confusing for me and I haven’t heard it mentioned on the telecasts.

Also, it’s weird when they substitute Halliburton for Bagley. I’m sure there are a lot of defensive reassignments going on at those times, but that‘s losing a lot of height in the lineup.
 
One of Waltons issues is always seemingly missing the mark on true small ball. Small ball is about playing with consistent size from SG-PF. Guys in that versatility range. However, Fox, Haliburton, and Buddy is working. Buddy has shown his ability to switch even onto centers and for the most part it's worked. Buddy is using his bulk to his advantage. Haliburton is working his tail off and fighting opposing bigs for rebounds. Fox uses his new found size and long arms extremely well to impede bigs trying to handle the ball anywhere in his vicinity. Going back to the true small ball thing, I think DaQuan being out has been a HUGE detriment. Walton relied on him last year, as well as Baze, to close that gap. A gap he apparently has no interest in filling with Woodard for some reason and hasn't found much success in filling it with GR3. Hopefully DaQuan gets back soon because he can be the answer to the small ball problems.
 
Walton seems to be a coach that rides the "hot" hands in the fourth, unless it's Bagley (for some reason). He's also has a tight/short rotation that he stubbornly sticks with at times.

My sense is Bagley is not getting 4th quarter minutes because Walton doesn't trust his defense.
 
Id like to see Woodard get a Metu trial run with the main rotation pretty soon since Little Dog appears to be in the pound. I’ve noticed the guy we traded for Woodard is looking pretty good in Memphis. Let’s see what we have,

Bagley is likely to have these 4th quarter DNP’s throughout barring injury or a massive breakout, I prefer having Fox, Ty, Buddy, and HB in the crunch time..but I’d like Bagley to start getting in there in games where he’s playing better than Holmes, or Holmes simply isn’t having a good game...but it really hasn’t mattered how well he’s played. Walton doesn’t like him in the 4th
 
HB is playing a lot of min and ends up chasing 3's or trying to defend in the post against bigger, often stronger 4's. Yeah, a lot to ask, esp. given the frenetic way the Kings seem to have to play to be effective defensively.
 
Kingz19 said:
Id like to see Woodard get a Metu trial run with the main rotation pretty soon since Little Dog appears to be in the pound. I’ve noticed the guy we traded for Woodard is looking pretty good in Memphis. Let’s see what we have,

Bagley is likely to have these 4th quarter DNP’s throughout barring injury or a massive breakout, I prefer having Fox, Ty, Buddy, and HB in the crunch time..but I’d like Bagley to start getting in there in games where he’s playing better than Holmes, or Holmes simply isn’t having a good game...but it really hasn’t mattered how well he’s played. Walton doesn’t like him in the 4th
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True, if you are going to give Guy and Metu trial runs, see what Woodard (or James) can or cannot do in extended short stints.
 
Kingz19 said:
Id like to see Woodard get a Metu trial run with the main rotation pretty soon since Little Dog appears to be in the pound.

Bagley is likely to have these 4th quarter DNP’s throughout barring injury or a massive breakout, I prefer having Fox, Ty, Buddy, and HB in the crunch time..but I’d like Bagley to start getting in there in games where he’s playing better than Holmes, or Holmes simply isn’t having a good game.
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I def hear you about Bags needing some crunch time minutes. But, first, his 50% free throw rate doesn't exactly inspire confidence down the stretch of a competitive game. Second, Holmes is someone I mosdef want in there late. That guy has often played HUGE in those circumstances, including in games when his start hasn't been strong.
 
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I'm not defending Walton but the roster is not exactly oozing talent 1-9 right now and I don't except much to change before draft night. We need to acquire a legitimate 3.
 
Luke isn't going very deep into his bench and as a result you will have the starting five logging heavy minutes and as the season goes on, they will have games where they will lose by 20 or 30 due to fatigue. Monte definitely needs to add some bench depth to the roster. Lots of value all over the league, just have to find a team willing to sell
 
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kingsboi said:
Luke isn't going very deep into his bench and as a result you will have the starting five logging heavy minutes and as the season goes on, they will have games where they will lose by 20 or 30 due to fatigue. Monte definitely needs to add some bench depth to the roster. Lots of value all over the league, just have to a team willing to sell
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I have to assume both Jefferies and Parker will be back at some point. Daquan in particular gives us some versatility. Kyle is another Guy that could be getting more run.
 
iowamcnabb said:
I have to assume both Jefferies and Parker will be back at some point. Daquan in particular gives us some versatility. Kyle is another Guy that could be getting more run.
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Parker is just a roster spot, I don't see him playing any minutes but then again with Luke you never know. I would like to see Jeffries back and healthy and see if he is worth keeping around as a defender or not.
 
kingsboi said:
Luke isn't going very deep into his bench and as a result you will have the starting five logging heavy minutes and as the season goes on, they will have games where they will lose by 20 or 30 due to fatigue. Monte definitely needs to add some bench depth to the roster. Lots of value all over the league, just have to a team willing to sell
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Yeah, I talked about it on another thread but this bench needs another one or two scorers on it, one at the guard spot and other possibly at the big spot. In house, Bjelica and Parker are both bigs who could fill that role but are pretty obviously not in this team's longterm plans going forward. At guard, Guy is the only in-house option that seems like a possibility to become a consistent bench scorer type (Ramsey is still a couple of years away from possibly filling that role) but one dimensional streak shooting guards are actually not too hard to find.
 
Thanks for the input.
It is too bad Parker and Bjelica aren’t in the rotation. I’m sure they would really help. But both are out with personal issues? Maybe Jabari has a bad back still? Frustrating!
 
We have a thin guard rotation - with Cojo 4th best (or 4th most preferred) - and our backup 3 is on a one year vet minimum. Luke could try to develop/ squeeze 10-15 minutes a game out of Guy and Woodard, but we are not a genuinely deep team. Having a guy like DJ, who can play the 2 and the 3, would help. This season an especially tough one to be thin given the compact schedule and the degree of off-court control players have to deal with.
 
parker said:
Walton seems to be a coach that rides the "hot" hands in the fourth, unless it's Bagley (for some reason). He's also has a tight/short rotation that he stubbornly sticks with at times.

My sense is Bagley is not getting 4th quarter minutes because Walton doesn't trust his defense.
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I don't think Walton likes change and he is comfortable with Holmes and that's pretty much all there is to it.
 
ppine said:
Second guessing winning is a losing strategy.
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You always second guess. Even when you're a championship contender. Not being prepared for the eventual adjustment is some of what has gotten Walton into the problems he's found himself in. That said, historically 8 1/2 man rotations is winning strategy. Usually you'd rather stave it off until the playoffs but you have to do what you can to get where you need to. 36 mpg is real starters minutes and so far only Barnes is around that number 20 games in. Waltons rotations don't often maximize rest and they never have but they have been much better lately.
 
I mean the team is young. They can run around for 38 Minutes no problem. Knowing how and winning games is more important for the long term imo.
 
Worth revisiting after today's game, featuring an evidently worn-out HB.

Rounding to the nearest minute, before playing 35 min against the Clips (and a tough matchup against Kawhi much of the game), HB logged 38 min yesterday, and 37, 40, 37, 37, 38 in the 5 before that. 37+ min every night, including a B2B, for a player defending the toughest opponent wing and/or 4 every night - too much.

Buddy and Fox also playing too many minutes.

Tough situation for Walton. It's not like the guys are blowing teams out during this win streak. They're playing tight, intense, high-energy games and need that energy defensively to win. Big mins from Fox and HB, in particular, seem indispensable. I'd LOVE to see them earn a playoff berth, but HATE to see them get there too fried to give it their best shot.
 
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I wonder if we will see Belly start logging minutes again. I’m sure Monte is hoping to erase Nemanja’s start from the other Gm’s memory but they could use his savvy presence right now in spot minutes. I think McNair will wait another 10 games or so before making any changes
 
Definitely a bit concerning to be playing rotations this tight only 20 something games in but I don't think Bjeli is a part of this team any longer. I don't know if it's behind the scenes stuff with fallout from the Bogi stuff or what, there was said to be a personal issue that may not mean personal between the player and coach as well. But if he is not going to get minutes and is good to go he needs to be moved so we can have someone who can get on the court.
 
Woot! said:
Worth revisiting after today's game, featuring an evidently worn-out HB.

Rounding to the nearest minute, before playing 35 min against the Clips (and a tough matchup against Kawhi much of the game), HB logged 38 min yesterday, and 37, 40, 37, 37, 38 in the 5 before that. 37+ min every night, including a B2B, for a player defending the toughest opponent wing and/or 4 every night it's just too much.

Buddy and Fox also playing too many minutes.

Tough situation for Walton. It's not like the guys are blowing teams out during this win streak. They're playing tight, intense, high-energy games and need that energy defensively to win. Big mins from Fox and HB, in particular, seems indispensable. I'd LOVE to see them earn a playoffs berth, but HATTE to see them get there too fried to give it their best shot.
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Check minutes/game for the season. Barnes is tied for 13th, heild is 24th and Fox is at 51st.

They've logged some heavy minute games recently but many of those games have come after a 5 day layoff.

A couple more back to backs coming up though, so Walton is going to have to extend the bench over the next couple of weeks.
 
parker said:
Check minutes/game for the season. Barnes is tied for 13th, heild is 24th and Fox is at 51st.

They've logged some heavy minute games recently but many of those games have come after a 5 day layoff.

A couple more back to backs coming up though, so Walton is going to have to extend the bench over the next couple of weeks.
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After a 5-day layoff, yes, but - more to the point, I think - coinciding with the current winning streak. Extending the bench would be great, but the key is to extend it in a way that keeps Buddy's/HB's/Fox's minutes at a sustainable level. Really might not be easy to do w/Fox and HB and keep winning close games.
 
parker said:
True, if you are going to give Guy and Metu trial runs, see what Woodard (or James) can or cannot do in extended short stints.
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Woodard has been correctly optioned to the G league Bubble I believe so he isn’t really an option.

James has been given chances with little result. It would be nice if Bagley could play better defense but he just isn’t there yet.
 
Was good to see Kyle getting some minutes. If that continues, hopefully CoJo's minutes can be reduced, and eventually Fox's.

Anyone knows when DQJ is coming back?

And yes, this is a concern, and a big one. The guys are playing hard, and clearly want to win, but they clearly need help. The unforgiving West doesn't help either. They would be 5th seed in the East if the season ended today :-(
 
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