Smart needs to clarify some things, apparently.

[Warhawk]

I don't get too caught up in preseason stuff. I figure the coach will be trying out some new combinations, etc. But this has me a bit worried. Preaseason is over and apparently at least one major player doesn't know what his role is? I hope he is being somewhat sarcastic in the last quote, but the earlier part is perturbing.

Small snip from a larger article:

The Kings still have some things to sort out before the season opener – for one, coach Keith Smart hasn't announced his starting lineup.

....

Cousins said there hasn't been much dialogue among players about the starting lineup. Smart has committed to playing at least 10 players most nights, so there should be time for the regulars.

"That's not our job," Cousins said. "Whoever (the coaches) decide to put out there, that's who they go with. That's not really something we talk about."

Evans sounds as if he'd like some clarity. He began last season as the starting point guard, was moved to small forward and filled in at shooting guard because of an injury to Marcus Thornton.

"I don't know what position I'm playing yet, first of all," Evans said. "I might play the four, I might start at five. I'm just going to work with it and do whatever I can do whenever I'm out there."

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/27/4942132/preseason-not-bad-now-its-for.html#storylink=cpy​

 

[mac]

I don't get too caught up in preseason stuff. I figure the coach will be trying out some new combinations, etc. But this has me a bit worried. Preaseason is over and apparently at least one major player doesn't know what his role is? I hope he is being somewhat sarcastic in the last quote, but the earlier part is perturbing.

Small snip from a larger article:

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/27/4942132/preseason-not-bad-now-its-for.html#storylink=cpy​

If I was Cousins I wouldn't be worried either. Smart basically has to suck up to him at all costs or he'll be out of a job. Rest of the team? Doesn't matter.

 

[Bricklayer]

Smart's mismanagement of Reke is approaching criminal levels. And it sounds like Reke is actually irked by it. Too bad since I had hoped that last game was a sign the coaches had finally figured it out.

 

[Kingster]

Smart better have some straight talk with Tyreke. Tyreke might as well have ended that quote with: "I don't know if they want me to stand on my head at the end of the bench or not." Seriously, give the guy some direction. He may not like all of it, but at least be clear on what you want from him, what position(s) you want him to play, when you're going to play him, etc. I'd rather for Smart to be wrong and clear rather than right and muddled. At least then Tyreke can know what is expected of him.

 

[bajaden]

Smart's mismanagement of Reke is approaching criminal levels. And it sounds like Reke is actually irked by it. Too bad since I had hoped that last game was a sign the coaches had finally figured it out.

I'm a little puzzled by this as well. One of Smarts attributes seemed to be his ability to communicate with the players, and susposedly he has an open door policy. If so, why then is Tyreke in doubt as to his role on the team and what position he'll play? On the surface, it appears that the obvious position is SG, except for some spot duty at PG. I guess I can see Smart trying to get Tyreke and Thornton on the floor at the same time whenever possible, and that would put Tyreke at either PG or SF.

Tyreke's problem, is that he's yet to grab hold of a position and claim it for his own. Now thats not all his fault. He was told he was the PG of the future when he arrived. And to a large degree, a lot of his natural abilities, penetration, and ballhandling, lent themselves to that position. Unfortunately, his tendecy to overdribble and run too much clock in a selfserving way lost him that position. Putting him at SF on a permanent basis takes away a lot of his strengths. Personally, when I watched him play in college, I thought he would make a great SG if he could develop a jumpshot. And I still feel that way.

Here's the quandry as I see it. The Kings want to run a motion offense, which I happen to like. However, I don't think that kind of offense is the best offense for Tyreke. Tyreke is an iso, dribble drive type of player. So how do you run a motion offense, and still totally utilize Tyreke's unique skills? Either Tyreke has to change his game and adapt, or the offense has to be designed around him, and to some degree Cousins. I say that about Cousins because he's so talented that I think you can plug him into just about any type of offense and he'll still thrive.

Now I know its easy for us to say, just give him the ball and get out of the way. Not many teams have won doing that. Neither Kobe or Jordan could win a championship without sacrificing some of their game for the sake of the team. And I might add that both those guys could shoot the ball. Now thats not a fair comparison. I realize that. But thats an even bigger reason for Tyreke to adapt to a different approach to the game. Maybe thats Smarts problem. Maybe he hasn't told Tyreke his role, because he's not sure himself how to best use him. I wonder what Phil Jackson would do?

 

[UK_King]

^^ good post.

 

[sdballer]

I'm a little puzzled by this as well. One of Smarts attributes seemed to be his ability to communicate with the players, and susposedly he has an open door policy. If so, why then is Tyreke in doubt as to his role on the team and what position he'll play? On the surface, it appears that the obvious position is SG, except for some spot duty at PG. I guess I can see Smart trying to get Tyreke and Thornton on the floor at the same time whenever possible, and that would put Tyreke at either PG or SF.

Tyreke's problem, is that he's yet to grab hold of a position and claim it for his own. Now thats not all his fault. He was told he was the PG of the future when he arrived. And to a large degree, a lot of his natural abilities, penetration, and ballhandling, lent themselves to that position. Unfortunately, his tendecy to overdribble and run too much clock in a selfserving way lost him that position. Putting him at SF on a permanent basis takes away a lot of his strengths. Personally, when I watched him play in college, I thought he would make a great SG if he could develop a jumpshot. And I still feel that way.

Here's the quandry as I see it. The Kings want to run a motion offense, which I happen to like. However, I don't think that kind of offense is the best offense for Tyreke. Tyreke is an iso, dribble drive type of player. So how do you run a motion offense, and still totally utilize Tyreke's unique skills? Either Tyreke has to change his game and adapt, or the offense has to be designed around him, and to some degree Cousins. I say that about Cousins because he's so talented that I think you can plug him into just about any type of offense and he'll still thrive.

Now I know its easy for us to say, just give him the ball and get out of the way. Not many teams have won doing that. Neither Kobe or Jordan could win a championship without sacrificing some of their game for the sake of the team. And I might add that both those guys could shoot the ball. Now thats not a fair comparison. I realize that. But thats an even bigger reason for Tyreke to adapt to a different approach to the game. Maybe thats Smarts problem. Maybe he hasn't told Tyreke his role, because he's not sure himself how to best use him. I wonder what Phil Jackson would do?

My bigger challenge is that even when Reke isn't in the game, the team really doesn't seem to run any kind of motion offense. It's one thing for Smart to talk about it but the team doesn't really run anything consistently but post ups and iso's. I keep hearing (not just from you) how Reke needs to adapt his game and I agree he needs to develop a more well rounded offensive mindset but I think the bigger problem is the lack of a real system for him to find a place.

 

[Telemachus]

My bigger challenge is that even when Reke isn't in the game, the team really doesn't seem to run any kind of motion offense. It's one thing for Smart to talk about it but the team doesn't really run anything consistently but post ups and iso's. I keep hearing (not just from you) how Reke needs to adapt his game and I agree he needs to develop a more well rounded offensive mindset but I think the bigger problem is the lack of a real system for him to find a place.

When Smart was on with Grant this week, he mentioned that they had primarily focused on defense throughout training camp. while they have worked on offense, they haven't worked on it nearly as much as the defense. He also mentioned that it is much easier to catch up on offense during the season than it is on defense (which I agree with). My guess is that we won't see the Kings' offense start to really hit it's stride until mid-December sometime.

 

[SacTownKid]

Ah, another year of catch the tiger by the toe coaching. Good teams just don't do this. C'mon Smart, I know the situation is tough with so many iso scorers but it's rather obvious who should be in this 9 man rotation.

 

[Gary]

Smart's mismanagement of Reke is approaching criminal levels. And it sounds like Reke is actually irked by it. Too bad since I had hoped that last game was a sign the coaches had finally figured it out.

It can be fixed in an instant if he puts him at SG and then the team starts winning, not to mention if the team is better defensively than the debacle last year.

Personally I thin Evans is the best all purpose player on the team, but I think that Smart believes there is a better position player at each position and he's pressured by the upstairs to showcase Evans since the big rant and rave at the draft party when we picked Evans and how he was supposed to be the future and savior of the franchise and stuff.

Not sure, but that's the way it sounds since we have all this backpedaling by Smart in the terms of a starting lineup. I wouldn't be surprised if Smart wants Cousins/Thompson/Johnson/MT/IT with Evans, Hayes, Brooks as your main men off the bench and the management and ownership of the team would rather have Cousins/Thompson/Johnson/Evans/IT with MT, Brooks, Robinson as your guys off the bench.

 

[Kingster]

I'm a little puzzled by this as well. One of Smarts attributes seemed to be his ability to communicate with the players, and susposedly he has an open door policy. If so, why then is Tyreke in doubt as to his role on the team and what position he'll play? On the surface, it appears that the obvious position is SG, except for some spot duty at PG. I guess I can see Smart trying to get Tyreke and Thornton on the floor at the same time whenever possible, and that would put Tyreke at either PG or SF.

Tyreke's problem, is that he's yet to grab hold of a position and claim it for his own. Now thats not all his fault. He was told he was the PG of the future when he arrived. And to a large degree, a lot of his natural abilities, penetration, and ballhandling, lent themselves to that position. Unfortunately, his tendecy to overdribble and run too much clock in a selfserving way lost him that position. Putting him at SF on a permanent basis takes away a lot of his strengths. Personally, when I watched him play in college, I thought he would make a great SG if he could develop a jumpshot. And I still feel that way.

Here's the quandry as I see it. The Kings want to run a motion offense, which I happen to like. However, I don't think that kind of offense is the best offense for Tyreke. Tyreke is an iso, dribble drive type of player. So how do you run a motion offense, and still totally utilize Tyreke's unique skills? Either Tyreke has to change his game and adapt, or the offense has to be designed around him, and to some degree Cousins. I say that about Cousins because he's so talented that I think you can plug him into just about any type of offense and he'll still thrive.

Now I know its easy for us to say, just give him the ball and get out of the way. Not many teams have won doing that. Neither Kobe or Jordan could win a championship without sacrificing some of their game for the sake of the team. And I might add that both those guys could shoot the ball. Now thats not a fair comparison. I realize that. But thats an even bigger reason for Tyreke to adapt to a different approach to the game. Maybe thats Smarts problem. Maybe he hasn't told Tyreke his role, because he's not sure himself how to best use him. I wonder what Phil Jackson would do?

Smart obviously doesn't want to orient the offense around Tyreke. If he did, he's go back to a Westpahl type offense and just open the floor and have Tyeke dominate the ball. It's pretty evident to me that Smart believes that sharing the ball as a team is worth more to long run success than having Tyreke dominate the ball. He's said several times that there are no superstars on this team, implying that he's just not going to allow one or two guys to dominate the ball. That, along with the offensive strategy, along with summer-long emphasis on "team", tells me that he wants Tyreke (and everybody else) to adapt to the offense and share the ball. That doesn't mean Tyreke can't be very successful in his offense; it just means that's it not going to be just oriented around him.

 

[ElRey]

I don't get too caught up in preseason stuff. I figure the coach will be trying out some new combinations, etc. But this has me a bit worried. Preaseason is over and apparently at least one major player doesn't know what his role is? I hope he is being somewhat sarcastic in the last quote, but the earlier part is perturbing.

Small snip from a larger article:

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/27/4942132/preseason-not-bad-now-its-for.html#storylink=cpy​

Dang it, this just doesn't sound good...

 

[rainmaker]

Smart obviously doesn't want to orient the offense around Tyreke. If he did, he's go back to a Westpahl type offense and just open the floor and have Tyeke dominate the ball. It's pretty evident to me that Smart believes that sharing the ball as a team is worth more to long run success than having Tyreke dominate the ball. He's said several times that there are no superstars on this team, implying that he's just not going to allow one or two guys to dominate the ball. That, along with the offensive strategy, along with summer-long emphasis on "team", tells me that he wants Tyreke (and everybody else) to adapt to the offense and share the ball. That doesn't mean Tyreke can't be very successful in his offense; it just means that's it not going to be just oriented around him.

You didn't see the last game did you, so I'd take what you say with a grain of salt. Smart did put the ball in Reke's hands, and guess what? Ball movement didn't stop. Offense didn't stall. In fact, it was largely successful, and Reke even though being more a facilitator of the offense than IT didn't blow the team concept out of the water but instead set up IT and Cuz repeatedly.

This anti-Reke crowd is so caught up with extremes, either he handles the ball and the offense completely stops, or he completely plays off the ball and needs to learn to be a spot up shooter, that they don't acknowledge the middle ground. Reke can handle the ball, can be a focal point, can set up others, and the ball still moves and the ball is shared. That's exactly what happened in the last game which most of us saw, except for apparently the anti-Reke crowd.

I mean, does Reke having 5 assists to IT's 1 last game, while taking a backseat to IT scoring wise, where IT got up more shots and Reke appeared happy to set him up time and time again coincide with everything you just said? Unfortunately for you, no.

 

[Bricklayer]

It can be fixed in an instant if he puts him at SG and then the team starts winning, not to mention if the team is better defensively than the debacle last year.

Personally I thin Evans is the best all purpose player on the team, but I think that Smart believes there is a better position player at each position and he's pressured by the upstairs to showcase Evans since the big rant and rave at the draft party when we picked Evans and how he was supposed to be the future and savior of the franchise and stuff.

Not sure, but that's the way it sounds since we have all this backpedaling by Smart in the terms of a starting lineup. I wouldn't be surprised if Smart wants Cousins/Thompson/Johnson/MT/IT with Evans, Hayes, Brooks as your main men off the bench and the management and ownership of the team would rather have Cousins/Thompson/Johnson/Evans/IT with MT, Brooks, Robinson as your guys off the bench.

Its fortunate for Smart that I don't have $500mil stuffed under a mattress somewhere, because if I owned the team and he screwed up the start of this season with random blabbing and playing favorites I'd clarify things for him real fast.

 

[rainmaker]

As for Smart, this is only a surprise to those who haven't followed his career. He does some things well and others poorly. Defining roles and sub patterns, overall game management are his greatest weaknesses. History shows us this. His attributes fall in line with what you'd want from a lead or second assistant on your bench, and he'd make a very good assistant coach. Head coach, not so much.

I would however love to eat a huge plate of crow while watching us in the playoffs come April.

 

[blackice]

Is this going to be another hair pulling type of season? hmm....can't wait to see who he throws out there on opening night.

 

[CruzDude]

Tyreke is only one of the things Smart needs to clarify. The rotation when Cuz and others come out is as important so as not to throw away big starter leads as in the last two games. True, he was "experimenting" but it wasn't working. Tryeke needs to know his role as do the bench rotation.

 

[Kingster]

You didn't see the last game did you, so I'd take what you say with a grain of salt. Smart did put the ball in Reke's hands, and guess what? Ball movement didn't stop. Offense didn't stall. In fact, it was largely successful, and Reke even though being more a facilitator of the offense than IT didn't blow the team concept out of the water but instead set up IT and Cuz repeatedly.

This anti-Reke crowd is so caught up with extremes, either he handles the ball and the offense completely stops, or he completely plays off the ball and needs to learn to be a spot up shooter, that they don't acknowledge the middle ground. Reke can handle the ball, can be a focal point, can set up others, and the ball still moves and the ball is shared. That's exactly what happened in the last game which most of us saw, except for apparently the anti-Reke crowd.

I think that's what Smart wants and that's what I want. It's winning basketball.
I mean, does Reke having 5 assists to IT's 1 last game, while taking a backseat to IT scoring wise, where IT got up more shots and Reke appeared happy to set him up time and time again coincide with everything you just said? Unfortunately for you, no.

You're missing the point. Don't let your pro-Tyreke bias get in the way of reading the post. Tyreke can get his touches and not dominate the ball and play winning basketball. I think that's what Smart wants and that's what I want. It's very ironic to me that you're talking about the extremes of the anti-Tyreke crowd when you are projecting that to my post when it doesn't even exist.

 

[Gilles]

It's all a matter of degrees, I guess, when talking about dominating the ball and getting touches but is there example of such strategy ever working? At least some glimpses that it might work?
Tyreke is not a great finisher due to lack of hops and not even an average shooter, which pretty much means he sucks off the ball. That's for me the end of discussion. Don't like the output from him when he has the ball? Ship him out because you're not getting anything exceptional out of him off the ball. I'm not 100% sure but I suspect not having the ball affects his confidence, which brings his already suspect shooting to bottom level, and his activity and interest in D becomes average at best.

 

[rainmaker]

You're missing the point. Don't let your pro-Tyreke bias get in the way of reading the post. Tyreke can get his touches and not dominate the ball and play winning basketball. I think that's what Smart wants and that's what I want. It's very ironic to me that you're talking about the extremes of the anti-Tyreke crowd when you are projecting that to my post when it doesn't even exist.

Lol.

Reke did dominate the ball at times, the ball was shared, he repeatedly set guys up, and we had success. It goes against everything in your previous post which leaves no grey area. Obviously if Smart was intent on doing what you proposed, his role would have been quite different against LA. The perimeter aspect of the offense obviously was orientated around Reke handling it. Everyone who watched knows that.

Of course there's the option though that it was all an accident and it just happened to work out that way.

 

[CruzDude]

PLEASE, NO MORE TYREKE SPECIFIC ARGUMENTS. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. GO TO THE "TYREKE PRESEASON" THREAD TO CONTINUE THIS SPECIFIC LINE OF DIALOG.

THIS THREAD WAS INTENDED TO BE RELATED TO THINGS COACH NEEDS TO CLARIFY. WE ALL AGREE, I THINK, THAT TYREKE NEEDS TO DEVELOP A RELIABLE JUMPSHOT. LETS GET ON TO OTHER THINGS WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE COACH "CLARIFY". SUCH AS:

The rotation

Jimmers role

 

[HereWeBoogie]

wow. so much for Smart saying he likes to have a close knit team. season is about to start and one of his major players doesnt even know what position to prepare himself to play this season? im glad we gave this guy a contract extension without making him prove himself in his first full season as a NBA coach first.......................

 

[CruzDude]

So is the Tyreke situation the only item needing clarification? the only item holding them back from sniffing at a successful season?

Or because of the Tyreke situation there now other items that must be clarified?

 

[Gilles]

Jimmer has no role right now because there's no place for him in the rotation.
Even for Brooks minutes are lacking.
The moment you more or less define Tyreke's role, you lose a lot of flexibility and everything else more or less falls into place with some guys firmly on the outside and that might be the reason Smart is hesitant.