bajaden
Hall of Famer
Long title! Don't really care for long titles, but what the hey, I had to describe the content of the post. There has been a lot of speculation on how good, or bad the Kings will be this year, and how that might affect Cousins future with the team. Of course I don't have a crystal ball, so what I write here, other than past facts, is pure speculation. On paper, the Kings look average to below average, depending on who is doing the looking. So I thought I take a look back and see if I could find another team that looked similar, and exceeded expectations.
The best example I could find was the 1974/75 Warriors. A team that wasn't expected to do much that year. A team that had three rookies in Jamaal Wilkes, Phil Smith, and Frank Kendrick. Of course both Wilkes and Smithe went on to become very good players. It was a team that had one super star in Rick Barry, who was 30 years old at the time and in his 9th season. They also had another aging star in Jeff Mullins who was 32 years old, and in his 11th season. Mullins best days were behind him.
The rest of the team was made up of so called rotational players. A mixture of youth and age. Players like Butch Beard, 27 yrs old and in his 5th season. Clifford Ray, 26 yr's old and in his 4th season. Charlie Johnson, or CJ as he was called, 25 yr's old and in his 3rd season. Derrek Dickey, 23 yr's old, and in his 2nd season. George Johnson, a backup center, 26 yr's old and in his 3rd season. Bill Bridges, 35 yr's old, and in his 13th season. And Charles Dudley, 24 yr's old, and in his 2nd season.
I think we can all agree that on paper, that's not a team one would expect to make the playoffs, much less win a championship. If you take a hard look at the Kings right now, they have a similar look. We have one superstar, another player in Gay, that's a borderline star, and the rest of the crew are rotational players. I grant you that what the Warriors did that year was nothing less than a miracle. They ended the regular season with a 48 and 34 record and made the playoffs.
They did it with almost everyone on the team contributing. Yeah, Barry averaged 30 ppg along with 5.7 rpg, and 6.2 apg. Wilkes surprised some people averaging 14.2 ppg as a rookie. But everybody else contributed 10 points here and 7 points there. It was truly a team effort. They scraped and clawed through every game with Clifford Ray in the middle blocking shots, and grabbing boards. They first faced Seattle in the playoffs, and it took them 6 games to win the series.
Next up was the Chicago Bulls, and it was nip and tuck with the Warriors pulling it out in the 7th game to go on and meet the Washington Bullets. The Bullets were the best team in basketball that year ending the season with a 60 and 22 record. They had the likes of Elvin Hayes, Phil Chenier, Mike Riordan, Wes Unseld, Kevin Porter, Truck Robinson, and Nick Weatherspoon on that team. This was expected to be a four game slaughter. And it was, but not the way everyone expected. The Warriors beat them four games straight.
The point of all this, is yes, hope springs eternal and miracles do happen. We can sit here and speculate about what the outcome of the season will be, but in fact, we don't know. While past history needs to be taken into account, it's not a reliable predictor of the future. With a different coach and surrounded by different players with a different mentality and in a different culture could be all that Cousins needs to lead this team to victory. I realize that the odds of that happening are slim. But as proven by the 1974 Warriors, if can happen.
Frankly, I'd be happy with something a little less, like making the playoffs, and that doesn't seem as much of a stretch to me. And of course if that happens, then keeping Cousins becomes easier. I think Cousins loves Sacramento and wants to build his legacy here. All he needs is a glimmer of hope for the future and I think that's possible.
The best example I could find was the 1974/75 Warriors. A team that wasn't expected to do much that year. A team that had three rookies in Jamaal Wilkes, Phil Smith, and Frank Kendrick. Of course both Wilkes and Smithe went on to become very good players. It was a team that had one super star in Rick Barry, who was 30 years old at the time and in his 9th season. They also had another aging star in Jeff Mullins who was 32 years old, and in his 11th season. Mullins best days were behind him.
The rest of the team was made up of so called rotational players. A mixture of youth and age. Players like Butch Beard, 27 yrs old and in his 5th season. Clifford Ray, 26 yr's old and in his 4th season. Charlie Johnson, or CJ as he was called, 25 yr's old and in his 3rd season. Derrek Dickey, 23 yr's old, and in his 2nd season. George Johnson, a backup center, 26 yr's old and in his 3rd season. Bill Bridges, 35 yr's old, and in his 13th season. And Charles Dudley, 24 yr's old, and in his 2nd season.
I think we can all agree that on paper, that's not a team one would expect to make the playoffs, much less win a championship. If you take a hard look at the Kings right now, they have a similar look. We have one superstar, another player in Gay, that's a borderline star, and the rest of the crew are rotational players. I grant you that what the Warriors did that year was nothing less than a miracle. They ended the regular season with a 48 and 34 record and made the playoffs.
They did it with almost everyone on the team contributing. Yeah, Barry averaged 30 ppg along with 5.7 rpg, and 6.2 apg. Wilkes surprised some people averaging 14.2 ppg as a rookie. But everybody else contributed 10 points here and 7 points there. It was truly a team effort. They scraped and clawed through every game with Clifford Ray in the middle blocking shots, and grabbing boards. They first faced Seattle in the playoffs, and it took them 6 games to win the series.
Next up was the Chicago Bulls, and it was nip and tuck with the Warriors pulling it out in the 7th game to go on and meet the Washington Bullets. The Bullets were the best team in basketball that year ending the season with a 60 and 22 record. They had the likes of Elvin Hayes, Phil Chenier, Mike Riordan, Wes Unseld, Kevin Porter, Truck Robinson, and Nick Weatherspoon on that team. This was expected to be a four game slaughter. And it was, but not the way everyone expected. The Warriors beat them four games straight.
The point of all this, is yes, hope springs eternal and miracles do happen. We can sit here and speculate about what the outcome of the season will be, but in fact, we don't know. While past history needs to be taken into account, it's not a reliable predictor of the future. With a different coach and surrounded by different players with a different mentality and in a different culture could be all that Cousins needs to lead this team to victory. I realize that the odds of that happening are slim. But as proven by the 1974 Warriors, if can happen.
Frankly, I'd be happy with something a little less, like making the playoffs, and that doesn't seem as much of a stretch to me. And of course if that happens, then keeping Cousins becomes easier. I think Cousins loves Sacramento and wants to build his legacy here. All he needs is a glimmer of hope for the future and I think that's possible.
