Sitting the starters?

C

Cojc

Bench
#1
#1
Okay does everyone think the coach will continue to make moves by putting in players who are performing and sitting anybody who isn’t following what he perceives as the way they should play?

His moving Holmes into the starting roll and sitting arguably our two best players in the last game are eye opening for me.

He will be roasted around here if it cost us a game or two but at this point I like what he did.

Those 3rd quarter antics giving up big leads and having players like Buddy arguing with the coach doesn’t cut it.
 
King Baller

King Baller

All-Star
#2
#2
IMO it is going to be game by game, quarter by quarter and play by play decisions. What is the score? Who has the hot hand? Who performs the best in the clutch?

Walton has options because the Kings are a deep team. The Players he has has have different skills. Walton does seem to lean toward bigger, more defensive lineups.

Holmes in particular has improved the defense. So has Ariza and CoJo. Add in Barnes and Bogie and that is a good lineup for team defense.

As the rest of the team grasps the defensive strategies Walton wants to employ the Kings should get better.

Defense matters.
 
P

ppine

Starter
#3
#3
A smart coach plays the guys that he thinks give his team the best chance to win. Malone is a great defensive coach. Joerger was good, but focused more on the speed of play. Walton does seem to be a defensive minded coach. I think that is the key to getting better. There is no magic formula about who gets to start. The salaries do not have that much to do with it. Starting Holmes over Dedmon is the first big and important move Walton has made. Players like Barnes, Ariza and Joseph are good defenders. I lot of people don't see it, but that does not diminish their importance when it comes to winning.
 
S

Sactown ExPat

Starter
#4
#4
Buddy? Yeah, he’s going to enjoy a lot of 4th Q pine. Bjelica? Matchup dependent, as ever. Fox? Case of riding the hot hand(s) initially, then rewarding the guys who re-built the huge lead.
 
Kingster

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#5
#5
Cojc said:
Okay does everyone think the coach will continue to make moves by putting in players who are performing and sitting anybody who isn’t following what he perceives as the way they should play?

His moving Holmes into the starting roll and sitting arguably our two best players in the last game are eye opening for me.

He will be roasted around here if it cost us a game or two but at this point I like what he did.

Those 3rd quarter antics giving up big leads and having players like Buddy arguing with the coach doesn’t cut it.
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Yes, I do. The key part of your question, though, is "how they should play?" If a player is obviously being stubborn and doing what he wants on the floor, not what the coach wants, then he's going to be outathere in a hurry just like we saw with Buddy. On the other hand, if a player is trying to do what the coach wants, but is having a rough patch in doing it, I think Walton has patience with him and leaves him in to get it right. There is another situation in which maybe the starters just don't have the energy for whatever reason, in which case Walton takes most or all of them out. In sum, it just depends on the situation, but the surest way to be sitting on the bench is to be stubbornly playing "your way" and not the "right way." I love this kind of coaching, by the way. You've got to have a coach with a backbone. As Christie has said, the guys who get moved a lot in their career are oftentimes the guys who aren't amenable to learning how to play the game correctly; they want to just keep on playing the game as they used to play the game.
 
jcassio

jcassio

Starter
#6
#6
I like what I'm seeing. I want all the players to think that if they are having a great game (for team success), they have a good chance at playing at the end of the game. That almost seems like an impossible dream. But lacking any big ego superstars, it just might become our calling card.
 
SacTownKid

SacTownKid

Hall of Famer
#7
#7
Look, in the end it comes down to talent and the bulk of the Kings talent is tied to 5 names, no more. I would hope only if in necessary and if the Kings want to be anything close to a decent team this year it can't be very often. The Kings are a deep team, but not even the Warriors of the last few years were deep enough to sit their best players and have their bench handle things. Platoons don't work unless you are running team USA or something like the All star team.
 
jcassio

jcassio

Starter
#8
#8
SacTownKid said:
Look, in the end it comes down to talent and the bulk of the Kings talent is tied to 5 names, no more. I would hope only if in necessary and if the Kings want to be anything close to a decent team this year it can't be very often. The Kings are a deep team, but not even the Warriors of the last few years were deep enough to sit their best players and have their bench handle things. Platoons don't work unless you are running team USA or something like the All star team.
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The Kings talent is tied to five names?
I have 12 names that I think can each have a great game on any given night and, with a coach like Walton, can reasonably expect to be in the game at the end if the coach thinks they give us our best chance at winning:
Ariza, Bagley, Barnes, Bjelica, Bogdanovic, Dedmon, Ferrell, Fox, Giles, Hield, Holmes and Joseph.
I'm not saying our core has grown to 12 players. But our core and our best players in a given game are not necessarily one and the same.
 
SacTownKid

SacTownKid

Hall of Famer
#10
#10
jcassio said:
The Kings talent is tied to five names?
I have 12 names that I think can each have a great game on any given night and, with a coach like Walton, can reasonably expect to be in the game at the end if the coach thinks they give us our best chance at winning:
Ariza, Bagley, Barnes, Bjelica, Bogdanovic, Dedmon, Ferrell, Fox, Giles, Hield, Holmes and Joseph.
I'm not saying our core has grown to 12 players. But our core and our best players in a given game are not necessarily one and the same.
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The post is titled "sitting the starters" which holds a different weight than saying he can find a few players every night to help things move along from game to game. Every team has a core and yes, that "core" is situation around 5 players with this squad. Relying on anything outside of that depending on how routine it becomes or sitting one for the other on average won't work just like it never works long term for teams that have tried it. Sitting your best players on average in the crunch is not a wise idea. This is the NBA, you hitch your wagons and ride. Getting through short term is fine, but again, as a routine thing? Nah.
 
SacTownKid

SacTownKid

Hall of Famer
#11
#11
Bfreeman said:
Bottom line this team desperately needs to win whoever has the hot should get the burn, they aren’t good enough to be demanding playing to or is it just me?
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Vlade has built this team as a talent core and then a group of role players to fit that core. From time to time that role group might get you through but long term putting the players on an equal field will likely just create confusion as to role and opportunity. Things are still being sorted out and they just need wins, but they'll have to settle in if they expect any consistent results.
 
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