Rosen previews Pacific
- Thread starter Gargamel
- Start date
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
Why thank you so very much Gargamel -- as you know we take Rosen's word as the Lord's own gospel around here (even those of us who don't believe in the Lord). 
loopymitch
All-Star
I only read the kings part and actually most of it was pretty accurate.
mcsluggo
Starter
There isn't a single player on the Kings' roster who can play better-than-average defense — not even Mike Bibby. (Stephen Dunn / Getty Images)
The guards — Mike Bibby isn't the best athlete on the team, but he's steady, unselfish and not afraid to take big shots. Bonzi Wells is a dynamic scorer, particularly from the right baseline and in the post. He's strong, determined and a little wacky — yet he'll be a good citizen as long as he gets his minutes and his shots.
Jason Hart is an adequate backup at the point — quick, active, looking to drive (right) and dish and with limited shooting range. Kevin Martin was a prolific scorer at Western Carolina and is still learning his way around the NBA — not yet ready for primetime.
The forwards — Peja Stojakovic is an outstanding shooter with remarkable range. He's also stronger than he looks and makes clever and forceful backdoor cuts. His problems have always revolved around his inability to make big shots in big games and to play more than token defense.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim always wants to score but needs lots of time and space to do so. Among his other effective maneuvers, he likes to spin, crossover and drive right. But he lacks the strength to establish solid post-up position against bigger players, and his defense is altogether inferior. Despite being 6-foot-9, 230, Abdur-Rahim is a 'tweener — not quick enough to be comfortable playing the small forward and not strong enough to be an effective four guy.
Kenny Thomas is a wonderful scorer off the bench, as is Corliss Williamson. Both of them are power players, not celebrated for their defensive prowess.
The center — Brad Miller is strictly a hustle player. He can hit open mid-range jumpers and is an accomplished passer. But he isn't nearly as athletic as any of his opponents, is incapable of playing effective screen/roll (or any other) defense, has no lateral quickness (which means that his defensive rotations are usually tardy) and is slow transitioning from offense to defense.
Brian Skinner can run, rebound (especially on offense), bag open jumpers up to 18 feet, score inside with jump hooks, reverse pivots, and turnaround jumpers and exhibit extreme physicality in the paint. In lieu of playing solid interior defense, Skinner will block careless shots. Jamal Sampson is quick and weak, shows bad hands but can make short jumpers and jump hooks.
The coach — Rick Adelman has always gotten the best out of his teams. Too bad his teams have all been fatally flawed. An underrated coach and an all-around nice man, nevertheless, Adelman has to produce a winner or his tenure in Sacramento will be over. The outlook — A typical Adelman-Sacramento team — loaded with players who can score lots of points in lots of ways from lots of different places. Too bad there's isn't a single player on the entire roster who can play better-than-average defense. Not one! Oh, well — it's back to the hurry-up-and-score-so-we-can-score game plan. Whichever team has the last possession in a tight ball game will most likely win. Entertaining? Yes. Winning basketball? Never.
Mostly agree with him. However, his read on Peja is a bit off. D isn't his prob anymore, and I have seen very little evidence of this hidden strength (forceful ANYTHING) he speaks of.
As far as overall D. Bonzi has the potential to be an above average defender. Potential. THe chance of him realizing the potential on this team are about zero. He strikes me as the type that might put forth the defensive effort on a team of good defenders (say S.A.), since everyone else was doing it, but would NOT be the kind to take a "leadership position" on D by identifying it as a weakness and thus taking it upon himself to make a difference. I hope I'm wrong.
beyond Bonzi and peja, yuck.
Miller- below average defender
SAR/KT- nothing to excited aout there either, below average.
Bibby- way WAY below average defender.
like I said. Yuck.
O
ONEZERO
Guest
I'm not looking for the kings to play above average D. I don't think anyone is and if you do, you're setting yourself up for a major dissapointment. I'm looking forward for the kings to play with heart, passion, and most of all, something to prove.
T
thesanityannex
Guest
The outlook — A typical Adelman-Sacramento team — loaded with players who can score lots of points in lots of ways from lots of different places. Too bad there's isn't a single player on the entire roster who can play better-than-average defense. Not one! Oh, well — it's back to the hurry-up-and-score-so-we-can-score game plan. Whichever team has the last possession in a tight ball game will most likely win. Entertaining? Yes. Winning basketball? Never
What a load of ****. Hart is an amazing defender, and I'd say Wells is above average, barely. Garcia can also play "d". According to Rosen, the only man who can play D is Bruce Bowen.
What a load of ****. Hart is an amazing defender, and I'd say Wells is above average, barely. Garcia can also play "d". According to Rosen, the only man who can play D is Bruce Bowen.
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SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Don't take what this guy says even remotely seriously. If it were up to this guy every team in the league would be in the lottery.
N
Netguy115
Guest
Rosen said:
What games is this guy watching? I've never seen Brian Skinner take a shot outside of the key?
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Wow, you're right. I didn't notice that. What bozo, Skinner hitting 18 footers, HA!
Be nice if it was true but it most likely won't be any time soon.
Be nice if it was true but it most likely won't be any time soon.
Packt
Starter
thesanityannex said:
I've never liked Rosen's stuff, and this article seems to indicate he still must be high from Phil's return to the NBA, but Garcia probably was left out because who relies on a rookie to make a difference in their defense. That’s much more of a negative than a positive.
He did compliment Adelman somewhere in there. I wonder how long that'll last. Most likely the second Adelman's team has a better record than Phil's, Rosen will dig in and replace "underrated" with something like "underachiever".
Bricklayer
Don't Make Me Use The Bat
I'm just going to mention this agin -- Garcia picks up defensive STATS. Blocks, steals etc. But he is actually not much of a defender man on man, or at least was not in college, where he could be beat consistently by quickness or strength. On our team the mere fact he cares enough to play help defense has to be considered a positive, but he wasn't stopping anybody in college, and now he's jumped up to a league where the players are that much bigger, quicker, and stronger.
Rosen is a nasty pessimist about everyone, and picks out certain players of whom he's a flat out hater -- see Webb, Christopher, or in this article, Baron Davis. So he's going to sell almost everybody on every team a little short. But the only guy on the team I think he sold CONSIDERABLY short defensively may have been Jason Hart. Who is not a stopper either, but is known for his defense. Definitely above average for a PG. I think Skinner and Bonzi are above average too, but I will take his point about Skinner blocking shots without making a defensive impact under advisment (as it tracks somewhat with concerns I have had myself) and Bonzi has always been focused on offense, whatever his defensive abilities.
In any case, I think Rick is likely gone after this year. Even if they want him back, I get the distinct feeling the trust is broken, and frankly he has too much pride to be treated like that and he's going to go on the open market and take the biggest mercenary contract he can get. But if in the meantime he gets fired for lack of defense, its hard to avoid the conclusion its his friend the GM who got him fired.
Rosen is a nasty pessimist about everyone, and picks out certain players of whom he's a flat out hater -- see Webb, Christopher, or in this article, Baron Davis. So he's going to sell almost everybody on every team a little short. But the only guy on the team I think he sold CONSIDERABLY short defensively may have been Jason Hart. Who is not a stopper either, but is known for his defense. Definitely above average for a PG. I think Skinner and Bonzi are above average too, but I will take his point about Skinner blocking shots without making a defensive impact under advisment (as it tracks somewhat with concerns I have had myself) and Bonzi has always been focused on offense, whatever his defensive abilities.
In any case, I think Rick is likely gone after this year. Even if they want him back, I get the distinct feeling the trust is broken, and frankly he has too much pride to be treated like that and he's going to go on the open market and take the biggest mercenary contract he can get. But if in the meantime he gets fired for lack of defense, its hard to avoid the conclusion its his friend the GM who got him fired.
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lakaboy42
Guest
yeah don't listen to this guy, he's biased and just writes stuff to stir controversy so people will listen to him
