SAC Season Outlook with James Ham

Semi

Semi

Bench
Jon Krawczynski of the AP joins for the Minnesota Timberwolves Season Outlook. We discuss the move to acquire Jimmy Butler, why the Wolves weren't really in the Kyrie Irving sweepstakes, and how all the new pieces fit together We also hit on potential breakout and regression candidates, playing time and lineup issues, key questions for success this year, and give our predictions for the Wolves season. Then James Ham of NBC Sports California joins to give the same treatment for the Sacramento Kings. What can we expect from their mix of newly signed veterans and a young core including De'Aaron Fox?

Kings talk starts at 68:54.
https://percolate.blogtalkradio.com/offsiteplayer?hostId=890713&episodeId=10227943#

Future is bright, go Kings!
 
Hmm are me and Ham the same person? I agreed with 90% of his takes...


Kingsfan23 said:
Not liking Hams treatment of Buddy..
Click to expand...
Ham praises Buddy a lot in this podcast. He's right about his defensive deficiencies. He was Jimmer bad, but hopefully he'll learn to get better.
 
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While, I am not an advocate of Ham's fanboy style, I will agree with him on Hield. Buddy will be a decent, servicable 2. I cannot envision him being a game changer.

Besides, Fox. I am curious to see what JJ brings to the table consistently. Giles is the one guy that I am rooting for. I think he could end up being very special.
 
206Fan said:
Hmm are me and Ham the same person? I agreed with 90% of his takes...



Ham praises Buddy a lot in this podcast. He's right about his defensive deficiencies. He was Jimmer bad, but hopefully he'll learn to get better.
Click to expand...

I don't think he is (though listening to Ham he agrees). he does have slightly less than average athleticism, and needs to work on his overall awareness, but I didn't notice it as a blatant problem or something he doesn't try on. Infact I thought his work rate was fine. Ham suggested effort too.. not personally a fan of Ham
 
If Buddy's defense doesn't improve by year 3 I'm starting Bogdan oblver him. Bogdan isn't a negative on defense and yes I'm basing this off his play vs Team USA. And just as important Bogdan can play point and you need multiple ball handlers on the floor at all times
 
I happen to like James Ham and have listened to many of his podcasts. I'm not sure what a fanboy style is, but whatever his style is, I don't personally have a problem with it. What I know is that he's fairly close to the Kings organization, and that his reports are usually very accurate. But hey, if everyone liked the same thing, it would be a boring world. I thought his appraisal of Hield was fair. I'd be very happy if Hield turns into a 18 pts a game player, and if that ends up being off the bench, I'm OK with that. That would mean that despite that production, someone beat him out of the starting job, and presumably that would be Bog's. Not a bad problem to have.

All in all, I thought he covered all the players about as well as you can at this stage. There's really very little to go on with most of them other than Hield and Willie. And with Hield, its fair to question which Hield he is. The one with the Pelicans, or the one with the Kings. Which Willie is the real Willie. The one for the first two thirds of the season, or the one for the final third. A lot of questions that hopefully will be answered by years end. Can't wait for training camp.
 
Joshoua said:
If Buddy's defense doesn't improve by year 3 I'm starting Bogdan oblver him. Bogdan isn't a negative on defense and yes I'm basing this off his play vs Team USA. And just as important Bogdan can play point and you need multiple ball handlers on the floor at all times
Click to expand...

I don't think it's a given that Hield starts at SG this season. I wouldn't be surprised to see Bog's beat him out of the job. Bog's is as good a shooter, at least with what we have to compare, a far better passer, rebounder, and according to what I've read, a better defender. When you add in that he's bigger, taller and longer, and likely a better overall athlete, who has been playing against more experienced grown men for the last few years, I think it's more likely than not.
 
bajaden said:
I don't think it's a given that Hield starts at SG this season. I wouldn't be surprised to see Bog's beat him out of the job. Bog's is as good a shooter, at least with what we have to compare, a far better passer, rebounder, and according to what I've read, a better defender. When you add in that he's bigger, taller and longer, and likely a better overall athlete, who has been playing against more experienced grown men for the last few years, I think it's more likely than not.
Click to expand...

Ya I agree as mush as I love Buddy I want my SG to be able to pass, play defense, and as important be able to handle the ball.
 
Kingsfan23 said:
Not liking Hams treatment of Buddy..
Click to expand...
I didn't hear anything wrong with what they said about Buddy. He's not perfect. There are some major holes in his game that he needs to improve. Defense is number one. They also praised him for his scoring and his work ethic and said there is no reason not to think he can't improve in those areas.
KingsSelecao said:
While, I am not an advocate of Ham's fanboy style, I will agree with him on Hield. Buddy will be a decent, servicable 2. I cannot envision him being a game changer.

Besides, Fox. I am curious to see what JJ brings to the table consistently. Giles is the one guy that I am rooting for. I think he could end up being very special.
Click to expand...
I didn't see much fanboy style in this podcast. I heard quite alot of criticism actually but I felt alot if not all is justified.



There also was alot more talked about than Buddy's deficiencies on defense. Like bajaden said,
bajaden said:
I happen to like James Ham and have listened to many of his podcasts. I'm not sure what a fanboy style is, but whatever his style is, I don't personally have a problem with it. What I know is that he's fairly close to the Kings organization, and that his reports are usually very accurate. But hey, if everyone liked the same thing, it would be a boring world. I thought his appraisal of Hield was fair. I'd be very happy if Hield turns into a 18 pts a game player, and if that ends up being off the bench, I'm OK with that. That would mean that despite that production, someone beat him out of the starting job, and presumably that would be Bog's. Not a bad problem to have.

All in all, I thought he covered all the players about as well as you can at this stage. There's really very little to go on with most of them other than Hield and Willie. And with Hield, its fair to question which Hield he is. The one with the Pelicans, or the one with the Kings. Which Willie is the real Willie. The one for the first two thirds of the season, or the one for the final third. A lot of questions that hopefully will be answered by years end. Can't wait for training camp.
Click to expand...

I found their analysis to be filled with constructed criticism with very little fanboy. Being optimistic about certain things of your team isn't a fanboy. We are a team full of a bunch of young kids who have yet to prove themselves. They talked about the realistic expectation of how many will turn out to be serviceable players. They talked about the amount of salary cap we will have a in a few years with all of those young guys ready to win. They talked about the whole Randolph ordeal. They talked about the luxury of having Hill on the team to mentor Fox and bring him up along the right way in a position to succeed and to limit his opportunities to fail. They talked about lineups and projected records. They talked about much more as best they could at this stage and it got me more excited to get this season underway.

Go Kings!
 
Guys it's almost September and this horrid baseball season is almost over, and it's almost KINGS time again. As a bonus, the season is starting two weeks earlier! Training camp is right around the corner and we're going to be watching Kings basketball before you know it. Oct 2, first pre-season game. Training camp starts in three weeks. Okay fine 4 weeks but it will feel like three so might as well call it three weeks. Heck let's call it two.
 
The Hammer said:
Guys it's almost September and this horrid baseball season is almost over, and it's almost KINGS time again. As a bonus, the season is starting two weeks earlier! Training camp is right around the corner and we're going to be watching Kings basketball before you know it. Oct 2, first pre-season game. Training camp starts in three weeks. Okay fine 4 weeks but it will feel like three so might as well call it three weeks. Heck let's call it two.
Click to expand...

I'm curious, does anyone know what date the Kings open training camp? I've tried googling it, and it's like pulling teeth. I can't find it anywhere. No problem finding the dates of our preseason games, but not when training camp opens.
 
bajaden said:
I'm curious, does anyone know what date the Kings open training camp? I've tried googling it, and it's like pulling teeth. I can't find it anywhere. No problem finding the dates of our preseason games, but not when training camp opens.
Click to expand...

Sept 27 was last year's date.

Given two week earlier season starting date, we can guess somewhere around the 15th- 20th.
 
The Hammer said:
Sept 27 was last year's date.

Given two week earlier season starting date, we can guess somewhere around the 15th- 20th.
Click to expand...

That was going to be my guess going on their first preseason game. They usually have at least a week or so of training camp before their first game. So somewhere between the 15th and the 20th sounds about right. Can't come soon enough.
 
Regarding Ham, I agree 100% with the fan boy thing. It sometimes impacts his content but always impacts his delivery. To me, it's the combination of both the lack of gravitas based upon fanboydom ... yet the irrational self confidence that he's KILLING IT. Rough combo.
 
Larry David said:
Regarding Ham, I agree 100% with the fan boy thing. It sometimes impacts his content but always impacts his delivery. To me, it's the combination of both the lack of gravitas based upon fanboydom ... yet the irrational self confidence that he's KILLING IT. Rough combo.
Click to expand...

I think because Ham receives an actual salary the fanboy label does not apply:)
 
The Hammer said:
Guys it's almost September and this horrid baseball season is almost over, and it's almost KINGS time again. As a bonus, the season is starting two weeks earlier! Training camp is right around the corner and we're going to be watching Kings basketball before you know it. Oct 2, first pre-season game. Training camp starts in three weeks. Okay fine 4 weeks but it will feel like three so might as well call it three weeks. Heck let's call it two.
Click to expand...

Would the NBA ever consider moving the season so it overlapss more of the baseball season and less of the football and hockey season?
 
kingsfan1984 said:
Would the NBA ever consider moving the season so it overlapss more of the baseball season and less of the football and hockey season?
Click to expand...
I don't know but my opinion is that that is not a bad idea. By the time the NBA finals roll around, it's often mid-late June and a lot of people kind of have basketball fatigue. This two week bump up may be a test case to see if they can go to more weeks next year.

No doubt they'll have in-depth year over year ratings analysis mapped onto every (day) (week) and (month) of the season, comparing to not only last years but likely an average of the last several years, as well as mapped against projected would-be trends if schedule hadn't been moved, etc. My guess is it'll be a ratings success particularly for the playoffs.
 
KingsSelecao said:
While, I am not an advocate of Ham's fanboy style, I will agree with him on Hield. Buddy will be a decent, servicable 2. I cannot envision him being a game changer.

Besides, Fox. I am curious to see what JJ brings to the table consistently. Giles is the one guy that I am rooting for. I think he could end up being very special.
Click to expand...

I look to the Clippers win at the end of last season. That is what I think is in Hield's future for us. I'm looking forward to it.
 
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