CruzDude
Senior Member sharing a brew with bajaden
Progress, like it or not
Sort of my take on where the Kings are at the All Star Break but from a progression perspective, not an absolute good or bad view.
SCORING
For the entire month of January, the Kings scored over 100 points ONCE!, and it was a win. In the last 11 games in February, they have scored over 100 points 7 times. Four of the loses in those last 11 games in February were by 2, 6, 6 and 1 points. They were in each game in the last few minutes but mistakes and dumb moves, like driving into a crowd of 3-4 defenders in the paint and not passing out, or dribbling too much and not setting up team mates, or making not smart passes. Or making free throws!
Going back to January, all loses were by 7 pts or more except for the last 2 in January, both 3 pt loses to the Jazz and the Warriors. Then they won 4 of the next 5 games. Progress for sure.
CONSISTENCY
Perhaps the biggest deficiency on the team. But for a team to be consistent at winning requires a lot of things to happen every quarter of every game. A 5-man choreography if you will. When they play as coached, it tends to work. When suddenly one regresses back to old habits, wanting to take the game on and win it himself, then it breaks down and doesn't work.
It is showing up a bit more now than in January. Lack of practice and changing rotations due to injury were killers.
LEADERSHIP
Tyreke tends to be a leader by example and is a quiet personality. Works for the team at times but not all the time. The youngest team in the NBA needs leadership like a busy intersection without lights needs a traffic cop. Once Isaiah started some 10 games ago, the personality of the team changed. There was a flow and a definite increase in energy and hustle. There was direction and traffic control. Success was rather immediate.
IT is a rookie but a was a 3 year starter in college and a team leader there as well. He is providing leadership on the floor as a cop will do at an intersection. This has been in just the last 10-12 games but the overall benefit has shown on the scoreboard and in the number of winnable games now that were let slip when old habits came back late in games.
It all takes time. This year is like no other since 1998, and the Kings had a couple of pretty good players new on the roster then as well. Choreography is by the coach is tough enough. Getting the players to but into the routine is tough then each individual player contributing as they are supposed to do is toughest of all. The younger the player(s) the tougher the task these days.
We are seeing progress. The team is getting better. It just takes time. Practice time and playing time. Staying injury free. Becoming consistent in individual tasks then becoming consistent in team tasks. Look at Oklahoma City. Perfect example. Same basic team going into their 3rd year. Top of the league only 2 years after a 23 win season.
BENCH
Ahh, the achilles heal of the team so far. And the biggest disappointment. Not much improvement at all so far this year. Still waiting for Donte to exhibit what he is really capable of. Hoping that Outlaw and JJ will live up to their expectations. So far they have not. Jimmer is a big hope and has the better upside on the bench but it will take him time to adapt his game to the NBA. Good for 6-10 pts a night and becoming a better PG on the floor and sometimes working well when the Kings go small with he and IT together.
Salmons is sulking, not visibly but he is just not providing. Cisco seems lost on the bench but comes out to spearhead a win now and then. Somehow the bench has to put up 25-30 points a night and play some defense. Personally, I think Honeycutt needs to get his chance now on the bench. No one else has stepped up. Jeremy Lin and IT stepped up, why not Honey??
Sort of my take on where the Kings are at the All Star Break but from a progression perspective, not an absolute good or bad view.
SCORING
For the entire month of January, the Kings scored over 100 points ONCE!, and it was a win. In the last 11 games in February, they have scored over 100 points 7 times. Four of the loses in those last 11 games in February were by 2, 6, 6 and 1 points. They were in each game in the last few minutes but mistakes and dumb moves, like driving into a crowd of 3-4 defenders in the paint and not passing out, or dribbling too much and not setting up team mates, or making not smart passes. Or making free throws!
Going back to January, all loses were by 7 pts or more except for the last 2 in January, both 3 pt loses to the Jazz and the Warriors. Then they won 4 of the next 5 games. Progress for sure.
CONSISTENCY
Perhaps the biggest deficiency on the team. But for a team to be consistent at winning requires a lot of things to happen every quarter of every game. A 5-man choreography if you will. When they play as coached, it tends to work. When suddenly one regresses back to old habits, wanting to take the game on and win it himself, then it breaks down and doesn't work.
It is showing up a bit more now than in January. Lack of practice and changing rotations due to injury were killers.
LEADERSHIP
Tyreke tends to be a leader by example and is a quiet personality. Works for the team at times but not all the time. The youngest team in the NBA needs leadership like a busy intersection without lights needs a traffic cop. Once Isaiah started some 10 games ago, the personality of the team changed. There was a flow and a definite increase in energy and hustle. There was direction and traffic control. Success was rather immediate.
IT is a rookie but a was a 3 year starter in college and a team leader there as well. He is providing leadership on the floor as a cop will do at an intersection. This has been in just the last 10-12 games but the overall benefit has shown on the scoreboard and in the number of winnable games now that were let slip when old habits came back late in games.
It all takes time. This year is like no other since 1998, and the Kings had a couple of pretty good players new on the roster then as well. Choreography is by the coach is tough enough. Getting the players to but into the routine is tough then each individual player contributing as they are supposed to do is toughest of all. The younger the player(s) the tougher the task these days.
We are seeing progress. The team is getting better. It just takes time. Practice time and playing time. Staying injury free. Becoming consistent in individual tasks then becoming consistent in team tasks. Look at Oklahoma City. Perfect example. Same basic team going into their 3rd year. Top of the league only 2 years after a 23 win season.
BENCH
Ahh, the achilles heal of the team so far. And the biggest disappointment. Not much improvement at all so far this year. Still waiting for Donte to exhibit what he is really capable of. Hoping that Outlaw and JJ will live up to their expectations. So far they have not. Jimmer is a big hope and has the better upside on the bench but it will take him time to adapt his game to the NBA. Good for 6-10 pts a night and becoming a better PG on the floor and sometimes working well when the Kings go small with he and IT together.
Salmons is sulking, not visibly but he is just not providing. Cisco seems lost on the bench but comes out to spearhead a win now and then. Somehow the bench has to put up 25-30 points a night and play some defense. Personally, I think Honeycutt needs to get his chance now on the bench. No one else has stepped up. Jeremy Lin and IT stepped up, why not Honey??
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