Pass the Ball to Donte, and let him shoot.

I'd say give the ball to Donte Greene and let him develop into a good shooter he wants himself to be. This kid has the perfect raw small forward-talent anyways and it is apparent in his first game in the NBA that he believes in himself.

Just think of it. He made 11 shot attempts in his first NBA game. This kid has the guts and is not shy to show what he believes he can do. And with that kind of attitude/confidence in himself - I give him credit.

Donte Greene at 6' 10" is tall and very athletic - which makes him a very special small forward in the making very much like Peja and Hedo.

I think the Kings just found their future starter/STAR at the small forward position.



.
 
I think we all agree that the future looks bright for Greene. If he works hard and continues to develop, we may have a future star on our hands at best and just a good player at worst.

Its the premise of this thread that I want to address. To endorse the idea that Greene should forget his teammates and become more selfish is the antithesis of everything that management is trying to build. Artest was traded for a variety of reasons. One of which is that he didn't fit into the style of play that the team wanted to empliment.

The main reason the Kings of old were so popular was that they beat you as a team. They had stars such as Bibby and Webber etc. But they were unselfish. Christie once said, that he got as much pleasure from a winning assist as he did from a winning shot. Thats the kind of team I want to see again. Not one player jacking up shot after shot, and telling us later he was having a heat check.
 
this is ridiculous, piksi gets called out because after ONE PRESEASON game, some people are already saying greene > peja?

give me a f****** break.
 
Whoah, hold on. A preseason game doesn't win you a trip to Springfield. What happens in pre-season? For veteran teams, it's all about conditioning. You see a lot of the bench and players who you won't see during the regular season.

A young team like the Kings? You'll see players trying to prove that they belong in the lineup. Does it lead to excessive shots? Probably. In fact, I'd wager that 4-11 is not a pretty good night at all. Take away the 2-6 from 3 pt land, and you're at 2-5. Meh.

It's certainly cool to get excited about the new kids, but 18 pts from this type of performance just doesn't do it for me - especially in a 30 pt loss. I'll just have to wait for more data points.
 
We already know Donte can shoot but what I want to see more of is the intangibles and toughness. I also want to see how well he does on the offense besides just shooting the three like taking it to the rim and making plays. But I have my hopes up high on Donte.

If there's one player I feel the most comfortable with scoring out of our rookies this year it would have to be Donte. Now his defense is another story.
 
Man, there's been a lot of piksi hate lately.

I still love you man, you're the only one around (the only one) who has a real objective view of the Kings at all times. Keep it up.

1. There's no need to bring out the "h" word.

2. Piksi is totally and completely competent to stand up for himself.

:)

On a general note, let's try and keep this about the topic at hand and not make it about one person vs. another.
 
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I know we all want to read as much as possible into the portents and signs, but after one silly little pre-season game???? Come on, folks. These are nothing more than intermural scrimmages. Aside from the obvious fact that Greg Oden is, in fact, the real deal, there's not much else to be garnered from the Portland game.

bajaden, Jerryaki and Spike all brought up good points. It's great to discuss/debate/compare, but to draw comparisons between a player like Peja and someone like Donte Greene after Greene has a total of ONE PRE-SEASON NBA GAME under his belt is just way off the chart.
 
Remember how fans reacted after Jason Hart's first preseason game? Lol. Ah memories. I'm not saying that Jason Hart and Donte Greene are similar in anyway, if anyone was wondering.
 
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Greene > PEJA because peja lacks post game. Peja lacks a # of abilities Greene has trumped. If he stays healthy, and two or three other rookies dont, greene is a ROY canidate.

If he slows his game down and hits a elbow and posts proper, he could be better than brad miller.
 
the media picks rookie of the year. even if greene or thompson put up 15/10 stats or whatever, rose, mayo, or beasley would get it. its bull crap
 
Greene > PEJA because peja lacks post game. Peja lacks a # of abilities Greene has trumped. If he stays healthy, and two or three other rookies dont, greene is a ROY canidate.

If he slows his game down and hits a elbow and posts proper, he could be better than brad miller.

I think this is what people are objecting too. FI, you might be right that Greene has the POTENTIAL to be better than Peja, because of his physical gifts. However, that could be said about a lot of players. As of today, 10.10.08, Peja has proven way more.

With that said, there is plenty of reason to be3 excited about Greene and your enthusiasm for the team is a breath of fresh air around here. However, you are not going to get a lot of respect if you declare a rookie with one pre-season game better than a former all star caliber player.
 
To be honest, record indicates you might be right. But my whole being stresses to me how wrong you very much are. WE COULD, argue about pejas record, but that would be fruitless. I would instead ask you who you would draft first, today? Greene or Pedrag. Since youalready said greene is a better prospect, ill assume you share my centiments. Peja's laundry list of royal ball breakers has more respect around here than busters. AKRITE, vid.
 
. I would instead ask you who you would draft first, today? Greene or Pedrag. Since youalready said greene is a better prospect, ill assume you share my centiments. Peja's laundry list of royal ball breakers has more respect around here than busters. AKRITE, vid.


Pedja. I would draft him if we were to pick today. Pre injury Pedja was a lot more quicker when he was younger then he broke his leg he lost what athleticism he had.
 
To whatever degree this is a Donte vs. Peja thing...please. You don't annoint somebody better than a Peja Stojakovic level player after one preseason game. What you can say is that he maybe has more tools, or at least more variety of tools. But whether that ever amounts to a hill of beans is going to take years to find out, not one preseason game.
 
But whether that ever amounts to a hill of beans is going to take years to find out, not one preseason game.

But this is our hill...and these are OUR beans!

If Greene is up for ROY consideration, that means:

- Salmons/Garcia didn't cut it as a starter, giving Greene minutes some of us didn't expect this year. (I'm looking at 10 mins tops.) As such, he is taking shots away from others who are more likely to get the points (Martin, etc.)

- Thompson defers to Greene to allow him to get ROY consideration. I don't want to start a Thompson vs. Greene thread, because that's not where I'm going. Whether or not Thompson/Greene were 1/2 on Petrie's board, Thompson was still the first pick. He should definitely be the starting PF, getting starter minutes, touches, etc. It's kinda like the Minard/Martin discussions a while ago.

The players listed earlier - Mayo, Rose, Beasley, etc. - are in the media's mind because they, in a sense, will be entrusted to help carry their team. Not so with our picks.
 
With that said, there is plenty of reason to be3 excited about Greene and your enthusiasm for the team is a breath of fresh air around here. However, you are not going to get a lot of respect if you declare a rookie with one pre-season game better than a former all star caliber player.

Is that really necessary? I mean, really? There are a lot of very dedicated Kings fans around here who may be a little less openly enthusiastic about the team, wanting to actually see something happen before they get their hopes up, but that doesn't mean they don't love the team and want them to return to the Glory Days.

I think we have a pretty darned good cross-section of fans around here. We've got the blatant homers, the blatant pessimists, and just about everything in between.

GO KINGS!!!
 
Is that really necessary? I mean, really? There are a lot of very dedicated Kings fans around here who may be a little less openly enthusiastic about the team, wanting to actually see something happen before they get their hopes up, but that doesn't mean they don't love the team and want them to return to the Glory Days.

I think we have a pretty darned good cross-section of fans around here. We've got the blatant homers, the blatant pessimists, and just about everything in between.

GO KINGS!!!

Come on VF, now you're making a controversy out of nothing. I did not criticize anyone, I just said his enthusiasm was good if not over the top. It was a bit of coaching top a newbie who was rubbing some people the wrong way with extreme language.
 
Sorry if I misunderstood. I wasn't trying to make a controversy. I was, in fact, pointing out that we have a wide variety of fans here. Piksi and Bricklayer, as examples only, can both be hyper-critical and yet they have very valid points. I've seen them both when the Kings do good and when they stink up the joint and while I may not always be anywhere near as tough on our Kings as they are, they bring a bit of balance.

On the other hand, I am the stereotypical homer at time and I know my enthusiasm can be grating.

It's the balance that makes it all worth while. Let the newbie find his/her way. I think he/she will be just fine.

:)
 
To whatever degree this is a Donte vs. Peja thing...please. You don't annoint somebody better than a Peja Stojakovic level player after one preseason game. What you can say is that he maybe has more tools, or at least more variety of tools. But whether that ever amounts to a hill of beans is going to take years to find out, not one preseason game.

I on the other hand hope that Peja is not the ceiling in which everybody hopes for around here. I want bigger and better things than that. Is Greene there? NO will he be there who knows?
 
I don't think anyone said Peja is "the ceiling in which everybody hopes for." You cannot deny, however, that he was good just flawed, like pretty much everyone else. The point is, I believe, that comparing Donte Greene after one silly little pre-season game to Predrag Stojakovic is just ridiculous.

Peja was a part - an intergral part - of the team that took our breath away. This apparent idea by some that he wasn't any good is revisionist history at its best.
 
I don't think anyone said Peja is "the ceiling in which everybody hopes for." You cannot deny, however, that he was good just flawed, like pretty much everyone else. The point is, I believe, that comparing Donte Greene after one silly little pre-season game to Predrag Stojakovic is just ridiculous.

Peja was a part - an intergral part - of the team that took our breath away. This apparent idea by some that he wasn't any good is revisionist history at its best.

VF you pretty much finished my thought about the flaws and such and that he was good. I had to cut it short to run after my 2 year old.
 
Greene is gonna be one of those players this season that will have those one or two or maybe even a few more games where he is unstoppable. With his shooting, quickness, size, and athleticism there will be times that even all-NBA defenders won't slow him down. But that's not my concern. My concern is his wits right now. He's not experienced enough to be given the ball and allowed to work his magic. In 3-4 years, he might very well be our first option lets not force him into a selfish role right now. We don't need top scorers now, we've got one. What we need is a team and great passing.


Id agree with that, think it pretty much sums up the whole Greene situation
 
Since I didn't watch the game - maybe someone can tell me wheather he is the lock on ROY or maybe even Lebron has to worry
 
I've never been quite sure why people got down on Peja. It seems all it took were a few vague comments from Webber and constant criticism from the rise guys to turn him from beloved to hated. Peja is, what he is, and he never tried to be more than that. He knew his limitations.

He tried to rebound. It was frustrating to see him with good position, getting his hands on the ball and seeing someone else take it away from him. He was a great scorer, and a relentless cutter without the ball. He was a much better defender than people give him credit for. He also was a team player and very unselfish with the ball.

I think the worst thing that ever happened to him was the year he was asked to carry the load and he averaged 24 + pts a game and almost won the scoring title. It seemed that after that, people expected him to be more than he was and the old Peja wan't good enough anymore. People say that he couldn't create his own shot. Thats nonsense, unless he had to play against Bruce Bowen every night.

There are players that get respect for finding their nitch. Look at Robert Horry. He really wasn't much of an offensive player. The highest he ever averaged was 12 pts a game and has a career average around 7 pts. He was noted for his defense and toughness. But he wasn't a very good rebounder either with a career average of 4.8 a game. Peja has a career average of 5 boards a game. I'm not really trying to compare the two. They're entirely different players.

My point is that people seem to appreciate what Horry was and what he brought to the game and not criticize him for what he wasn't. The opposite seems to be true about Peja. Some people don't seem to appreciate what he was and want to criticize what he wasn't. I'm not trying to be an apologist for Peja. He had his flaws, but most players do, and those that don't, are usually superstars. I just think he should get the respect he deserves.
 
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