SacBee: Kings Thomas Needs To Find Balance

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
http://www.sacbee.com/2014/02/10/6146139/kings-thomas-needs-to-find-balance.html


I saw the article pop up, it seemed directly on point to the topic which has been monopolizing conversation on this board, and so thought it would make a good anchor for a catch all IT thread that might suck some of the poison out of all the other threads.

There are no great insights here, but James Jones very lack of interest/ambition can make him useful once he finally gets around to writing what everybody else has been writing for months. He doesn't care enough to have a rooting interest, and so can toss out an article like this in fairly just the facts fashion. He even borrowed some of our stats from around here.
 
That's really a "just the facts" analysis isn't it? There isn't a person here capable of that kind of detached analysis. Myself included.

I've been as hard on the guy as anyone. Unfairly at times. The losing is tough.

Not to harp on the play more than is needed, but does anyone have a clip of the 2 on 1 play in question featured prominently in this article? The wall block on the fast break? It feels like it's needed to go with the article.

http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos/isaiah-thomas-postgame-2914
 
The timing of the article is questionable at best. The Washington game was one of IT's best, one in which I thought he did find a lot of balance. Without him, they get blown out by 30+ points. Easy. It wasn't a bad performance to keep the Kings in the game with no-shows by Gay and Cousins. Also, the stats provided by the Bee are misleading. Cause and Effect? Or effect and cause? Are the shots over 20 really *causing* the win-loss ratio, or are they simply the effect of others not making shots, and primary scorers (Gay & Cousins) being injured or not showing up to play? It's simplistic and lazy analysis. Typical of the Bee, I might add. If it were that simple, then an easy solution is for Malone is just to prohibit IT from shooting at all. Voila! More wins!:rolleyes: How about the fact that there is no bench, which in turn puts added pressure on Malone to play him more minutes? Not mentioned either. No wonder I cancelled the Bee a long time ago. They don't have much in brains over there.
 
The timing of the article is questionable at best. The Washington game was one of IT's best, one in which I thought he did find a lot of balance. Without him, they get blown out by 30+ points. Easy. It wasn't a bad performance to keep the Kings in the game with no-shows by Gay and Cousins. Also, the stats provided by the Bee are misleading. Cause and Effect? Or effect and cause? Are the shots over 20 really *causing* the win-loss ratio, or are they simply the effect of others not making shots, and primary scorers (Gay & Cousins) being injured or not showing up to play? It's simplistic and lazy analysis. Typical of the Bee, I might add. If it were that simple, then an easy solution is for Malone is just to prohibit IT from shooting at all. Voila! More wins!:rolleyes: How about the fact that there is no bench, which in turn puts added pressure on Malone to play him more minutes? Not mentioned either. No wonder I cancelled the Bee a long time ago. They don't have much in brains over there.

i have to admit, it's kinda fun to watch you squirm over every legitimate criticism leveled at isaiah thomas. i'll grant that, as one of the pizza guys, you have every right to gnash your teeth at the hyperbole. however, it is in no way dubious to criticize the team's starting PG after a loss in which the team's #1 and #2 options were struggling to get easy baskets. now, don't get it twisted; i'm not blaming thomas for the kings' loss to the wizards. demarcus cousins and rudy gay played very poorly that night. they have to own it. their lack of success in one-on-one situations and against double teams was startling, given that they're both fairly reliable isolation options. but, when a team's top 2 talents are struggling, what does a good PG do, particularly on a team dreadfully lacking in secondary ballhandlers and additional playmakers? does he look out for himself? does he abandon his high profile teammates to isolation basketball? or does he attempt to get easier shots for his teammates, knowing full well that the team needs its best players at their best in order to get a win?

some of this may fall at malone's feet. he's given IT an incredibly long leash, and such a gameplan can easily backfire. thomas consistently looks for his shot first, and, in my opinion, it is a problem given the make-up of this team, just as it was a problem when tyreke evans was the starting PG of the sacramento kings, the major differences of course being that evans was a full-sized SG attempting to learn how to play the point, an elite-level rim attacker, and a reliable two-way presence. regardless, the kings couldn't make it work with evans. demarcus cousins was still in the middle of massive growing pains. ownership was packing their bags to seattle. management was in a state of malaise. coaching was nothing more than a bad joke. and there was simply a dearth of talent available on the roster to compensate for those conditions...

however, isaiah thomas is playing with a version of DMC that is arguably the best center in the entire nba, as well as a top-5 SF in the revitalized rudy gay. new ownership is on board and cares very much about properly constructing this team. new management is on board and is attempting to improve the roster. the new coach appears to have at least some idea of what he's doing. thomas simply can't be out for himself as often as he is. the team concept has never been more important to the rebuilding of this franchise. the developing of chemistry has never been more important. and i seriously question the integrity of shrugged-off statements like "without [thomas], they get blown out by 30+ points."

there is no way to prove such a claim. but, as the bee lazily points out (just as a great many kf.com members have repeatedly, and i guess, lazily pointed out), the kings are, indeed, 0-9 when thomas takes 20 or more shots, and 4-1 when he has 10 or more assists. it's not a large sample size, but the correlation is certainly worth noting, and it's more useful than assuming that "without [thomas' scoring (which is what you're really getting at)], they get blown out by 30+ points." one could just as easily argue "with a role player at PG who's more interested in helping to make his high profile teammates even better, cousins and gay don't struggle so mightily to score, and the kings blowout the wizards by 30+ points."
 
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The timing of the article is questionable at best. The Washington game was one of IT's best, one in which I thought he did find a lot of balance. Without him, they get blown out by 30+ points. Easy. It wasn't a bad performance to keep the Kings in the game with no-shows by Gay and Cousins. Also, the stats provided by the Bee are misleading. Cause and Effect? Or effect and cause? Are the shots over 20 really *causing* the win-loss ratio, or are they simply the effect of others not making shots, and primary scorers (Gay & Cousins) being injured or not showing up to play? It's simplistic and lazy analysis. Typical of the Bee, I might add. If it were that simple, then an easy solution is for Malone is just to prohibit IT from shooting at all. Voila! More wins!:rolleyes: How about the fact that there is no bench, which in turn puts added pressure on Malone to play him more minutes? Not mentioned either. No wonder I cancelled the Bee a long time ago. They don't have much in brains over there.


If your favorite player had "one of his best games" in a loss, as Mr. Slim might say, we have different working definitions of "best".

The Bee was extremely even handed on this one. They didn't actually say he had a bad game in Washington, nor that he was the cause of the loss. Just one specific play and then general talk of what he needs to do, find a balance. Pretty obvious stuff that people have been saying here for months. The shots thing? Again, the article did NOT say too many shots by our pg are CAUSING losses. It just didn't. Hey brick, when the bee steals your stats, do you get royalties? Again, I don't think when those stats were presented here they stated a cause and effect either. Some people just see it however they want to suit their bias.

To be fair, the people against our pg also twisted an article about looking for a pass first pg into "the kings are desperately trying to trade our current pg" when the article said no such thing. So it goes both ways.

I do find this amusing. Just waiting for the other minions to twist and contort the bees article into things it never said. I always enjoy the show.
 
I don't think there's any denying IT needs to find a balance. The 6th man version of himself at the beginning of the year correlated to him being one of the most valuable players in the NBA. But he got to be Iverson on the bench. He's now expected to be Nash or Rondo, especially with 2 ball-dominant, high USG% players with him in the starting 5. But there's also more to the story than IT being a "selfish stat monger" or whatever you kids call him these days.

Why does Malone let him operate the way he does? Why so many minutes? Why have we not tried something different from the 1-4 flat at the end of the games? We're obviously missing pieces to the puzzle with this story and the signs point to us simply not having any other option but to hope he learns to adjust his game. It's not like we have a huge $10mil salary attached to Thomas (yet) where we have to get value out of him. He's the 2nd best bargain contract in the NBA under Parsons currently.

However, we have seen signs of him coming around. When he wants to be, he's a top-tier passer and creator for others. He's shown the ability to have restraint and get others involved. There's been moments of defensive excellence. It's just not Consistent right now. As with developing any PG, there are going to be growing pains. And like most of our hold-overs from the previous regime, it's hard to really count those years as "development" for them.
 
Why does Malone let him operate the way he does? Why so many minutes? Why have we not tried something different from the 1-4 flat at the end of the games? We're obviously missing pieces to the puzzle with this story and the signs point to us simply not having any other option but to hope he learns to adjust his game. It's not like we have a huge $10mil salary attached to Thomas (yet) where we have to get value out of him. He's the 2nd best bargain contract in the NBA under Parsons currently.
This part doesn't make sense to me either. Now, I am admittedly a Jimmer fan and would like to see him get more minutes but what Malone is doing just isn't working. It doesn't really work for the team or for the other players not names Isaiah Thomas. It doesn't lead to wins and it isn't building a team. Why does he continue to allow Thomas to come down and take shots when no one else has even touched the ball? Why does he play Thomas 40+ minutes a game when he is largely ineffective in the 4th quarter of every game?
 
I dont understand t
This part doesn't make sense to me either. Now, I am admittedly a Jimmer fan and would like to see him get more minutes but what Malone is doing just isn't working. It doesn't really work for the team or for the other players not names Isaiah Thomas. It doesn't lead to wins and it isn't building a team. Why does he continue to allow Thomas to come down and take shots when no one else has even touched the ball? Why does he play Thomas 40+ minutes a game when he is largely ineffective in the 4th quarter of every game?

I just don't think Malone has any viable options other than IT. I believe that is why all reports have them searching for a veteran point guard. I think IT is a very good player. I don't see him as the PG of the future or as a consistent starting PG. I see him as a spark plug off the bench. He has energy and is a decent shooter. On the bench squad he could be the #1 or #2 option. But this team needs a veteran pass first PG who can defend at a higher level. One who can stretch the defense with a 3 point shot. T-minus 9 days before the Trade Deadline.
 
I dont understand t


I just don't think Malone has any viable options other than IT. I believe that is why all reports have them searching for a veteran point guard. I think IT is a very good player. I don't see him as the PG of the future or as a consistent starting PG. I see him as a spark plug off the bench. He has energy and is a decent shooter. On the bench squad he could be the #1 or #2 option. But this team needs a veteran pass first PG who can defend at a higher level. One who can stretch the defense with a 3 point shot. T-minus 9 days before the Trade Deadline.
How many times has Jimmer been given extended minutes with the starters?
 
This part doesn't make sense to me either. Now, I am admittedly a Jimmer fan and would like to see him get more minutes but what Malone is doing just isn't working. It doesn't really work for the team or for the other players not names Isaiah Thomas. It doesn't lead to wins and it isn't building a team. Why does he continue to allow Thomas to come down and take shots when no one else has even touched the ball? Why does he play Thomas 40+ minutes a game when he is largely ineffective in the 4th quarter of every game?

I am admittedly a Jimmer fan as well, but I don't see Jimmer as being a huge benefit to this roster. There are times when he comes in and makes a big positive contribution, but just as often, he comes in and the offense stagnates or the other team makes a run and Malone responds by bringing the starters back in to stop the run. I wish Malone trusted Jimmer a little bit more and/or played him with either Cousins or Gay consistently to make sure that there is another big scoring threat on the floor, but at the deepest level, Jimmer doesn't fit the roster and needs a change of scenery where he is a secondary ballhandler/ spot-up shooter.

In the meantime, the Kings do need a backup point guard to get easy looks for Williams, Acy, and, most importantly, Landry. If Landry can get back to being a 10-14 point per game guy off the bench, this team's bench outlook is far different than it is currently.
 
Not to harp on the play more than is needed, but does anyone have a clip of the 2 on 1 play in question featured prominently in this article? The wall block on the fast break? It feels like it's needed to go with the article.

As for this discussion, there were two defining plays in the last game against Washington, that I would like to see again. At the end of the 2nd quarter, with the ball in IT's hands, Malone swinging his arm emphatically, motioning to get the ball to Rudy Gay. The entry pass was then made, and Rudy turned around and shot over the top for a clean make.

We just witnessed an assisted high percentage attempt and make at the end of a quarter. (nearly in shock)

Then there was the play where IT had the ball with a defender closing in on him, with Ben wide open on the other side, in a rhythm jog towards the rim. That's an easy lob to a guy who climbs above the rim like Ben. No Sir. He was "looked off" and the shot was missed.

We've got a high flyer getting ready for the dunk contest, but our PG decides not to make the open obvious pass for an easy dunk attempt. (scratching head, again)
 
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Brick, I don't know whether you did a public service or not by posting this Bee article. I read the first several posts until I got to a long one and quit after the first paragraph. Same posts but maybe bunching them is useful, at least til the all move to another thread. In the meantime has anything changed with IT? Don't think so. Go Kings against Cavs this afternoon ( for me in Sacramento).

PS: I thought Jason Jones did a pretty good job of summing up what was going on with IT, Malone and the Kings.
 
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blah blah blah jimmer blah. nobody cares
So, never. Is that your answer?

To say that there are no viable options may or may not be true. I am not saying that Jimmer should split time with IT what I am saying is that there is really no way to know. He has never been given a chance to play with the starters.
 
This part doesn't make sense to me either. Now, I am admittedly a Jimmer fan and would like to see him get more minutes but what Malone is doing just isn't working. It doesn't really work for the team or for the other players not names Isaiah Thomas. It doesn't lead to wins and it isn't building a team. Why does he continue to allow Thomas to come down and take shots when no one else has even touched the ball? Why does he play Thomas 40+ minutes a game when he is largely ineffective in the 4th quarter of every game?

IT is being showcased.
 
I thought that the article was even handed - probably because it closely represents my opinion on IT.

He is good to very good. I could care less if he starts or not, but if he remains with the Kings I think that he should be getting 25-30 minutes per game. Less than 25 I think we are not using him to his full potential and more than 30 results in fatigue, poorer play and decision making. 40/game is just asking for trouble.

He clearly has areas that need improvement. Improved passing and court vision will only make him a better play maker and will also result in easier shots for himself as defenders become afraid of his passing. He could start averaging 18-20/ game on 12-14 shots and still be getting 6+ assists/game. He could be a great assest for this team and I would pay 8-9 mil/year to keep him here, even if it is off the bench.

He is our best playmaker since Bobby Jackson and he could improve further from where he is right now.
 
IT is being showcased.
Uh....I just don't think he is. GM's know who he is by now. Him playing poorly for 40 minutes a night would change anybody's mind.

I think the whole "showcased" concept is way, way, way overplayed. I would bet a lot of money that coaches almost never make rotational changes or give minutes based on trying to trade a player. That is a fan creation.
 
So, never. Is that your answer?

To say that there are no viable options may or may not be true. I am not saying that Jimmer should split time with IT what I am saying is that there is really no way to know. He has never been given a chance to play with the starters.

There's a reason guys are never given a chance. The Jeremy Lin case is one in a million. That, and him being Asian, are the reason he created such a hoopla in the basketball world.

Jimmer's not being given a chance to get big minutes, because he hasn't shown it to coach that he can do so. Whether that be on the floor, in practice, whatever. What he has shown he can do is be a reliable bench shooter mediocre play-making skills. There's certainly a place for that in the NBA. It just doesn't translate him into being a starter or getting big minutes
 
This part doesn't make sense to me either. Now, I am admittedly a Jimmer fan and would like to see him get more minutes but what Malone is doing just isn't working. It doesn't really work for the team or for the other players not names Isaiah Thomas. It doesn't lead to wins and it isn't building a team. Why does he continue to allow Thomas to come down and take shots when no one else has even touched the ball? Why does he play Thomas 40+ minutes a game when he is largely ineffective in the 4th quarter of every game?
It's fairly simple. Jimmer isn't very good. My theory is they've been trying to showcase Jimmer, but they've done it very carefully, only against backups. Malone doesn't trust him one bit if the other team has their starter in or tries to pressure him. I don't either.

Or, throw the showcase concept out, and you're just left with the fact jimmer just can't play bigger minutes. Again, he's just not very good.
 
And like most of our hold-overs from the previous regime, it's hard to really count those years as "development" for them.

The_Jamal said:
Jimmer's not being given a chance to get big minutes, because he hasn't shown it to coach that he can do so. Whether that be on the floor, in practice, whatever. What he has shown he can do is be a reliable bench shooter mediocre play-making skills. There's certainly a place for that in the NBA. It just doesn't translate him into being a starter or getting big minutes

Is it possible that Jimmer might develop with a little more PT as well? I mean, he also didn't develop under the previous regime. I think what Jimmer brings (outside shooting, the ability to set people up for easy looks, defensive positioning) helps the team quite a bit. What IT brings (scoring) doesn't help the team in the same way. Maybe we should also see if he could be developed. You know, the knife cuts both ways.

That said, Jimmer is slow of foot and weak of handle. I don't know if that can improve to where we need it to be.
 
Uh....I just don't think he is. GM's know who he is by now. Him playing poorly for 40 minutes a night would change anybody's mind.

I think the whole "showcased" concept is way, way, way overplayed. I would bet a lot of money that coaches almost never make rotational changes or give minutes based on trying to trade a player. That is a fan creation.

I am partially joking because that's the answer I hear whenever any player gets more minutes than he deserves. Yes, I think the concept is overplayed. Absolutely. At the same time, there are a lot of people wondering way Jimmer and Ray get so few minutes in a season that is going nowhere and there are many comments that say that IT is on the longest leash on the Kings. There are many reasons for IT's minutes but "showcasing" may be one of the reasons. It's just a thought as I don't believe anyone has said this before (except me yesterday.)

I don't think IT is playing poorly 40 minutes a game, BTW, he plays poorly periodically but he is showing remarkable stamina and an ability to score. That's worth a lot and many GMs might ignore his defense if they need scoring. Isaiah will never stop being a scorer as he says:

“I think I’m getting better, but at the same time coach always tells me, ‘If you’ve got a shot, take it. I don’t want you to not be aggressive,’ ” Thomas said. “But at the same, it’s a learning process for me because I feel I can make every shot.”​

I have always stated that IT's problem is a matter of judgment. The fact he thinks he can make every shot is part of the judgment problem. Some shots are better than others. Always has been and always will be.

As to the oddity of the timing of the article, it was written the same day a rumor was leaked from the FO saying the Kings are looking for a more traditional pg. This article simply presented the "why."



Edit: I'm going to shoot Chubbs for pointing out my error re: saying IT was going to be traded. Now, I think he is going to be traded but no one in the FO said that. Just me. :)
 
There's a reason guys are never given a chance. The Jeremy Lin case is one in a million. That, and him being Asian, are the reason he created such a hoopla in the basketball world.

Jimmer's not being given a chance to get big minutes, because he hasn't shown it to coach that he can do so. Whether that be on the floor, in practice, whatever. What he has shown he can do is be a reliable bench shooter mediocre play-making skills. There's certainly a place for that in the NBA. It just doesn't translate him into being a starter or getting big minutes
His stats, along with his obvious improvement say otherwise.
 
His stats, along with his obvious improvement say otherwise.

James Ham has been raising an interesting point in the cowbellkingdom post-game reviews. He pointed out that everytime the bench comes in, the offense just stops. As in, nobody sets screens to free Jimmer up. The opposing PG is told to go and harass Jimmer into a TO, and Jimmer regularly receives no help from the bigs and isn't being used. He questions why Malone doesn't put Jimmer out there with Cousins or Gray more. To put a long story short - he's not being put in a position to succeed, and that hurts both him and the team. I too share your view and want to see him play more with the starters, or at least a few of the starters. Malone has been starting the even quarters with a complete bench lineup that features a inconsistent McLemore and Jimmer who can't even get free for a shot because the offense doesn't do diddly squat. Carl Landry has proven to be absolutely useless thus far, and Acy also isn't much of a pnr threat with limits Jimmer's space coming off screens set by him. Even if Rudy Gay is in with that lineup the offense deteriorates to just giving him the ball and letting him go 1 on 1. That's right on par with Keith Smart level coaching.
 
Malone needs his version of Yoda (Pete Carril), an offensive genius. Malone may learn offense but he needs help. Either that or the team is ignoring him. And maybe the team needs more time together and a variety of other explanations for the lack of offensive subtlety but get a good offensive mind on the bench. Saying we have a good offensive team is really easy to say as we score a lot but it is iso ball to a great extent. Throw the ball to Rudy, throw it to Cuz, or dribble until you find what you perceive to be a decent shot. Very predictable.
 
James Ham has been raising an interesting point in the cowbellkingdom post-game reviews. He pointed out that everytime the bench comes in, the offense just stops. As in, nobody sets screens to free Jimmer up. The opposing PG is told to go and harass Jimmer into a TO, and Jimmer regularly receives no help from the bigs and isn't being used. He questions why Malone doesn't put Jimmer out there with Cousins or Gray more. To put a long story short - he's not being put in a position to succeed, and that hurts both him and the team. I too share your view and want to see him play more with the starters, or at least a few of the starters. Malone has been starting the even quarters with a complete bench lineup that features a inconsistent McLemore and Jimmer who can't even get free for a shot because the offense doesn't do diddly squat. Carl Landry has proven to be absolutely useless thus far, and Acy also isn't much of a pnr threat with limits Jimmer's space coming off screens set by him. Even if Rudy Gay is in with that lineup the offense deteriorates to just giving him the ball and letting him go 1 on 1. That's right on par with Keith Smart level coaching.
Are we far enough into landry's tenure to start in on him? Does he deserve his own topic? Cause I'd like to know what is going on there. Will he ever score in double digits? I mean, in one game, not over a week.

I'm fine with moving some heat off our pg, cause at least he's a productive nba player. But Landry? Is he healthy? Cause he's a been invisible so far. That's our big free agent signing folks! Remember, this offseason? He's not left over from the maloof era, although it sure seems like it.

If this FO will throw 28 million at a 30 year old undersized whatever he is, what will they toss at a 24 year old 5'9 guy putting up huge numbers? A max contract? That's only partially a joke.
 
James Ham has been raising an interesting point in the cowbellkingdom post-game reviews. He pointed out that everytime the bench comes in, the offense just stops. As in, nobody sets screens to free Jimmer up. The opposing PG is told to go and harass Jimmer into a TO, and Jimmer regularly receives no help from the bigs and isn't being used. He questions why Malone doesn't put Jimmer out there with Cousins or Gray more. To put a long story short - he's not being put in a position to succeed, and that hurts both him and the team. I too share your view and want to see him play more with the starters, or at least a few of the starters. Malone has been starting the even quarters with a complete bench lineup that features a inconsistent McLemore and Jimmer who can't even get free for a shot because the offense doesn't do diddly squat. Carl Landry has proven to be absolutely useless thus far, and Acy also isn't much of a pnr threat with limits Jimmer's space coming off screens set by him. Even if Rudy Gay is in with that lineup the offense deteriorates to just giving him the ball and letting him go 1 on 1. That's right on par with Keith Smart level coaching.

It makes me wonder how much of our offense with the starters is predicated on IT/Cousins and Gay creating one on one rather than through team motion. Our PnR sets are generally pretty weak in that there is very little off-ball movement weak side to free up Thornton and Gay for corner/wing threes. Our flex sets generally consist of IT or a wing holding the ball while Cousins gets position and then making an entry pass to let Cousins work.

I am certain part of the problem is the major roster change after training camp. I think the other part of the problem is a lack of discipline by the players or direction from the coach on how/where/when to get someone other than Gay/Cousins/Thomas a look at the rim.

I like Malone a lot, but he is still a rookie coach dealing with a set of mismatched parts that changed in a major way halfway through his tenure. I think there is room to improve the way the offense runs to take pressure off of Cousins and Gay and it may take until this summer to get a chance to make those improvements. Who knows, maybe IT could be the pg of the future after those changes are made.
 
.....Very predictable.

As a whole, to me that is what is most bothersome and annoying. When the other team knows exactly what is going to happen, our chances of succeeding at even a .500 clip go way down. Despite talented players.

That was what was so good and entertaining about our "golden era" teams. The ball movement and offensive creativity was so good, it made some players who would otherwise be considered "role players", into top flight pieces of a championship caliber team.

It would have been interesting to see what a player like Jimmer could have possibly done with those teams. Odds are Rick Adelman would have figured out a way to get the most out of his offensive talent, just like he did with Peja. Different players, but same idea. The style of play makes all the difference in their chance to be consistently successful
 
It makes me wonder how much of our offense with the starters is predicated on IT/Cousins and Gay creating one on one rather than through team motion. Our PnR sets are generally pretty weak in that there is very little off-ball movement weak side to free up Thornton and Gay for corner/wing threes. Our flex sets generally consist of IT or a wing holding the ball while Cousins gets position and then making an entry pass to let Cousins work.

I am certain part of the problem is the major roster change after training camp. I think the other part of the problem is a lack of discipline by the players or direction from the coach on how/where/when to get someone other than Gay/Cousins/Thomas a look at the rim.

I like Malone a lot, but he is still a rookie coach dealing with a set of mismatched parts that changed in a major way halfway through his tenure. I think there is room to improve the way the offense runs to take pressure off of Cousins and Gay and it may take until this summer to get a chance to make those improvements. Who knows, maybe IT could be the pg of the future after those changes are made.

Yea I mean no offense to Malone, but he was offensive coordinator on a Cavs team infamous for just having James go 1 on 5
 
Yea I mean no offense to Malone, but he was offensive coordinator on a Cavs team infamous for just having James go 1 on 5

Yeah, but that worked for that team. You had James, one of the few players in history capable carrying a load like that.
 
As a whole, to me that is what is most bothersome and annoying. When the other team knows exactly what is going to happen, our chances of succeeding at even a .500 clip go way down. Despite talented players.

That was what was so good and entertaining about our "golden era" teams. The ball movement and offensive creativity was so good, it made some players who would otherwise be considered "role players", into top flight pieces of a championship caliber team.

It would have been interesting to see what a player like Jimmer could have possibly done with those teams. Odds are Rick Adelman would have figured out a way to get the most out of his offensive talent, just like he did with Peja. Different players, but same idea. The style of play makes all the difference in their chance to be consistently successful

I miss Adelman which does not make me unique. He was boring to listen to but always, always, always he was tinkering with the team to make things better. The players had to appreciate that. Poor Malone is hanging on to keep the team from imploding or at least that is my impression. Adelman was a thinking player's coach and we had thinking players. Well, most! Ah, well.

Let us not underestimate what Rudy Gay means to this team. He can do a little of everything. He seems calm which is a fine balance to Cuz. He is resurrecting his career and his name may soon not be the punchline to a joke about high salaries. I hate to continue the bashing of IT but Gay has to get the ball more often. IT has to be willing to give it to him to run the offense. Malone needs to insist on it.

What I fear is like IT's response to the 2 on 1 attack of the basket, instead of accepting some blame on NOT passing the ball to Ben, he says he does not see him and says Ben should say something. That's true. Ben needs to speak up but IT needs to look. I think that is a huge problem when a pg can't see other members of the team and there are multiple examples. Let's see Rudy be in charge a little more. I think the longer he is with the team, the more assertive he may be. In his defense, he is on a team with Cuz being the designated team leader and a pg who declares himself the team leader. It's an odd situation.
 
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