Terrence Williams at Point Forward

[HighFlyingMonkey]

With all of the depressing arena talk going around, lets talk basketball for this thread. More specifically, the potential of a really dynamic Twill/Tyreke duo in the starting lineup.

The Tyreke Evans PG experiment is dead. He takes way too long to set up the offense and is clearly more comfortable in the halfcourt when a teammate brings it up and gets it to him early in the shot clock. Its in the Kings' best interest to give PG duties to someone else.

Also, the three guard lineup IT/Thornton/Reke has been a disaster. Ever since Smart went with those three, the defense has gone to hell. Its time to end this experiment.

That being said, I believe that Twill can run the PG position full time from the SF spot. Anyone who has been watching the games has seen how reliable and unselfish Twill has been running the backup PG alongside Jimmer. Anyone who hasn't can see an example of how he's done in this video:

Tyreke and Twill have shown really good chemistry on the court together. They're a defensive nightmare on the perimeter (for the other team) and play off eachother well on offense. They should be starting together.

I love IT, but he's too ball dominant to be paired with Tyreke and Twill. He would be best off the bench as a 6th man sparkplug to gun to his heart's content. Some people may say Thornton should go to the bench, but Thornton's style as an aggressive scorer off the ball and in motion meshes better with a Tyreke/Twill duo that will do most of the ballhandling. He moves better without the ball than IT and is a more natural catch-and-shoot player.

Ultimately, you lose a certain amount of shooting by benching IT for Twill, but I think defensively its going to change the entire team. I would also argue that Twill is more of a "pass first" guy than IT is, which is far more important when you have scorers like Cousins and Tyreke who need their shots. With Twill in the lineup, everyone has a defined role on offense:

Cousins: First option out of the mid-low post as a scorer/passer
Tyreke: Second option in isos and pick and rolls as a scorer/passer
Thornton: Third option, move without the ball, attack in motion out of curls, spot up gunner
Twill: Bring the ball up the court, call out plays, spot up shooter, crash offensive glass
Thompson: Move without the ball, midrange Js, get garbage buckets, crash the offensive glass.

Whereas right now, its not clear who the ball should go to with IT/Tyreke/Thornton all initiating their own stuff, Cousins needing touches and not getting them... there is no clear set-up man who gets the ball where players want it. With Twill in the lineup, there is a clear hierarchy of touches, and with certainty comes consistency.

I'm not even going to talk about the obvious defensive issues it addresses.

There's only 5 games left in the season, and its worthwhile experiment if it works. Thornton/Reke/Twill/Thompson/Cousins. But of course it will never happen because it would interfere with IT's ROY "campaign".

 

[Bricklayer]

I do not believe this coach will do that, but I have been hintng at that for several weeks now. that ws the whole idea with Salmons -- wanted a defensive SF who could help Reke with the ballhandling/running the offense, since Beno had been downgraded (in that respect) to Thornton. Salmosn utterly failed at that. But then walking in off the waiver wire comes a player that might be almsot tottally suited for the role. What's more, he's shown excellent chemistry with Reke on both sides of the ball. Would really like to see that experiment, but Smart won't do it, and who knows what kind of mess we could make of things over this summer.

 

[sidney]

no....if we try this we might start playing some defense and winning games.

It is amazing to me that this has not been tried. Before we go into an offseason where we are drafting players, making trades, and signing FAs why we would not experiment with this to see what we have is beyond comprehension. I think you got it though...the faux ROY campaign is the reason.

 

[HighFlyingMonkey]

I do not believe this coach will do that, but I have been hintng at that for several weeks now. that ws the whole idea with Salmons -- wanted a defensive SF who could help Reke with the ballhandling/running the offense, since Beno had been downgraded (in that respect) to Thornton. Salmosn utterly failed at that. But then walking in off the waiver wire comes a player that might be almsot tottally suited for the role. What's more, he's shown excellent chemistry with Reke on both sides of the ball. Would really like to see that experiment, but Smart won't do it, and who knows what kind of mess we could make of things over this summer.

There was problems from the beginning with Johnny boy being that relief ballhandler:

1. Salmons was garbage offensively and defensively.
2. Reke should only bring it up on a contingency basis
3. He's not really a set up man. He's a playmaking guard, a poor man's Reke. He can make plays, but he doesn't set up a team's offense. Twill IS the latter, he thinks pass first, get my man the ball where he wants it. Theres a reason Salmons flourished when he went to the bench; he got to make plays with Jimmer off the ball.

 

[Arkitect]

The only problem with TWill starting is that we have no 3 point shooting on the floor. We need to have a 3pt shooting SF beside them and still need that defensive anchor next to Cousins. If you can get those two pieces though, you have a big, defensive lineup. Would just dominate every other team in the league.

 

[Spike]

The only problem with TWill starting is that we have no 3 point shooting on the floor. We need to have a 3pt shooting SF beside them and still need that defensive anchor next to Cousins. If you can get those two pieces though, you have a big, defensive lineup. Would just dominate every other team in the league.

You do if the backcourt is Evans and Thornton.

 

[KingsCitizen]

Coming off the bench, T-Will is actually doing the same stuff that Salmons used to do to compensate Jimmer's limitations. It's the same system Smart has done except that T-Will is superbly athletic and easily gets everyone excited for him starting.

But I'm not into the Thornton/TWill/Reke combo starting. IMO, TWill-Evans at both guard position with a legit size SF is how the backcourt should be. A guy like young Bruce Bowen, a younger Prince, or Batum could be exactly what we need here. That'll be a lock-up perimeter defense especially if we get really intelligent defensive coach.

 

[rainmaker]

Obviously it's intriguing, and a few here have been suggesting trying it for a little while now. Makes sense to anyone who likes balance, and realizes defense is considerably more important than a few pretty passes.

But, Smart does not fall into the intelligent category, and any thought of what a legit NBA head coach would do isn't relevant to this conversation for the time being. It's the same conversation as us asking what would legit NBA owners do with this team.

 

[vikinginferno]

T-Will is really best suited at the SG position. I love him next to Jimmer, being able to take some of the ballhandling responsibility and cover him defensively while Jimmer's shooting helps T-Will's subpar shooting. I'm going to get destroyed for this, but I think Terrence Williams could become a better player than Tyreke in a couple years.

 

[Sac.1989]

If thornton doesnt accept moving to the bench for the greater good then trading him and signing TWill to a long term deal on the cheap is an option.

It prob wont happen under coach smart but its what we should be looking at. Losing isnt bad now but our ineffective lineups are killing me

 

[jcwkings]

stopped reading at "Tyreke is better in the halfcourt"

 

[ESP47]

You can't have Williams and Evans playing the two guard positions. There just aren't any sucessful teams that have two guards who can't shoot. They're essentially two players with almost the same skillsets except Williams can distribute a little better and Tyreke can score a bit better.

I wouldn't mind pairing Williams, Thornton and an SF in the starting lineup with Tyreke and IT off the bench. That way each guy is paired with someone who can shoot.

 

[Bricklayer]

You can't have Williams and Evans playing the two guard positions. There just aren't any sucessful teams that have two guards who can't shoot. They're essentially two players with almost the same skillsets except Williams can distribute a little better and Tyreke can score a bit better.

I wouldn't mind pairing Williams, Thornton and an SF in the starting lineup with Tyreke and IT off the bench. That way each guy is paired with someone who can shoot.

The proposal is more often to make the backcourt Reke/Thonrton again, with TWill at SF (has strength and athleticism, although still undersized). IT as 6th man off bench.

 

[Kingster]

With all of the depressing arena talk going around, lets talk basketball for this thread. More specifically, the potential of a really dynamic Twill/Tyreke duo in the starting lineup.

The Tyreke Evans PG experiment is dead. He takes way too long to set up the offense and is clearly more comfortable in the halfcourt when a teammate brings it up and gets it to him early in the shot clock. Its in the Kings' best interest to give PG duties to someone else.

Also, the three guard lineup IT/Thornton/Reke has been a disaster. Ever since Smart went with those three, the defense has gone to hell. Its time to end this experiment.

That being said, I believe that Twill can run the PG position full time from the SF spot. Anyone who has been watching the games has seen how reliable and unselfish Twill has been running the backup PG alongside Jimmer. Anyone who hasn't can see an example of how he's done in this video:

Tyreke and Twill have shown really good chemistry on the court together. They're a defensive nightmare on the perimeter (for the other team) and play off eachother well on offense. They should be starting together.

I love IT, but he's too ball dominant to be paired with Tyreke and Twill. He would be best off the bench as a 6th man sparkplug to gun to his heart's content. Some people may say Thornton should go to the bench, but Thornton's style as an aggressive scorer off the ball and in motion meshes better with a Tyreke/Twill duo that will do most of the ballhandling. He moves better without the ball than IT and is a more natural catch-and-shoot player.

Ultimately, you lose a certain amount of shooting by benching IT for Twill, but I think defensively its going to change the entire team. I would also argue that Twill is more of a "pass first" guy than IT is, which is far more important when you have scorers like Cousins and Tyreke who need their shots. With Twill in the lineup, everyone has a defined role on offense:

Cousins: First option out of the mid-low post as a scorer/passer
Tyreke: Second option in isos and pick and rolls as a scorer/passer
Thornton: Third option, move without the ball, attack in motion out of curls, spot up gunner
Twill: Bring the ball up the court, call out plays, spot up shooter, crash offensive glass
Thompson: Move without the ball, midrange Js, get garbage buckets, crash the offensive glass.

Whereas right now, its not clear who the ball should go to with IT/Tyreke/Thornton all initiating their own stuff, Cousins needing touches and not getting them... there is no clear set-up man who gets the ball where players want it. With Twill in the lineup, there is a clear hierarchy of touches, and with certainty comes consistency.

I'm not even going to talk about the obvious defensive issues it addresses.

There's only 5 games left in the season, and its worthwhile experiment if it works. Thornton/Reke/Twill/Thompson/Cousins. But of course it will never happen because it would interfere with IT's ROY "campaign".

Nope. This is a continuation of trying to fit the square peg into the round hole argument. Forget about it. Get rid of the pieces that don't fit and add pieces that do and then we can stop this madness of trying to find the "right" lineup that will magically fix the offensive and defensive indadequacies of this team. Note: Tyreke can't run a pick and roll. Note: There is no way in hell I make the best shooter on this team (Thornton) into a third option. Note: Having a lineup that includes Tyreke, T-Will and Thornton will not come close to fix the defensive inadequacies of this team.

 

[Bricklayer]

Note: Having a lineup that includes Tyreke, T-Will and Thornton will not come close to fix the defensive inadequacies of this team.

Having that lineup and adding a shotblocker at PF would actually go a considerable way, assuming we could combine it with playing real basketball again at a reasonable pace.

 

[mac]

Having that lineup and adding a shotblocker at PF would actually go a considerable way, assuming we could combine it with playing real basketball again at a reasonable pace.

At this point I've given up bothering to talk about lineups. Give Smart a lineup of Thomas, Kobe Bryant, Shane Battier, Cousins and Tyson Chandler and his offense will be run and gun or ISO-ing any one of those guys at any time. I seriously hope Smart is just tanking because if he isn't I'm going to start a petition for him to change his last name.

 

[ESP47]

The proposal is more often to make the backcourt Reke/Thonrton again, with TWill at SF (has strength and athleticism, although still undersized). IT as 6th man off bench.

I'm just not a big fan of having Reke and TWill out there at the same time. Neither guy can shoot worth a lick. We're basically running out a lineup with one shooter and a center who can hit 16foot shots. The rest of the lineup relies on layups and dunks. Unless Reke and TWill develop some kind of insane chemistry, I don't see how they can coexist on the court together without taking one completely out of his game.

Our defense would pick up for sure, but we would go back to scoring 90 a game.

 

[Tyndel]

Nope. This is a continuation of trying to fit the square peg into the round hole argument. Forget about it. Get rid of the pieces that don't fit and add pieces that do and then we can stop this madness of trying to find the "right" lineup that will magically fix the offensive and defensive indadequacies of this team. Note: Tyreke can't run a pick and roll. Note: There is no way in hell I make the best shooter on this team (Thornton) into a third option. Note: Having a lineup that includes Tyreke, T-Will and Thornton will not come close to fix the defensive inadequacies of this team.

I hate this argument. Yes square peg round hole we hear it alot around here... Meanwhile in the real world no two people fit together perfectly. It requires work no matter the context to get a relationship to work right sure some fit better then others but they have other issues. People have to make adjustments and understand their own and others limitations on the court an offensive system needs to take into account what you have not require the players you have to ignore their strengths and rely on the weakest parts of their games. Maybe you have different offensive systems depending who is on the floor maybe different plays are run maybe you give your second unit more freedom if they have a purer point guard but if you don't have a pure PG all you really need to run plays is someone to bring the ball up and call out a play number( and they don't have to be the same guy).


/note I said the argument not a particular person on this board.

 

[Uncia03]

At this point I'm tired of our team being a joke.
Teams know they can waltz in and score 20 points above their average because we can't play any sort of defense.
The only way we have any hope of winning any sort of game is from one of two scenarios:
1.) Our offense is firing on all cylinders. We are getting tons of steals/deflections and are able to get out and run to get easy baskets.
2.) The other team has a miserable game.

That's it. We aren't going to win unless one of those two scenarios take place, which is just a complete shame considering the talent we have on this team. It's just sickening to me.

I'm ready to go the complete opposite way of what we've been seeing since we went small-ball.

Give me a team who has a whole bunch of talent but might not be the best shooting team that is going to dare the other team to sniff 90 points a game.

If you have a whole lot of talent, which we do, and you bring in a coach who can teach how to execute in the half-court set using multiple screens and hard cuts, and you combine it with an elite scoring big man and a power guard who is phenominal at getting to the rim, I think you can score enough points if you're also a monster team on the defensive end.

1.) I want Tyreke and Terrence to start together at the guard spots.
2.) I want a full-sized 'non-defensive-liabilty' SF playing next to them. (Give me MKG, Barnes, Taylor, AK, Batum, or Gerald)
3.) I want a defensive big next to Cousins. (Give me Camby for a year or two while we try to groom Whiteside, or I'll take Anthony Davis as well.)
4.) I want a coach who will emphasize defense and play a grind-it-out half-court type of game which will allow a line-up consisting of Tyreke & Williams at the guards and Cousins at Center to play to their strengths to physically dominate their opponents through a 48 minute game.

We have the talent to be competing for a playoff spot. Unfortunately we've completely squandered this season. This season was supposed be all about our main guys getting the chemistry needed to become a winning basketball team. As it is, we're far worse off now at the end of this season than we were at the end of last season.

If you have a monster defensive team, then have IT, MT, Jimmer, Salmons/Garcia, JT, Whiteside coming off the bench...that's a lot of fire-power and a complete change of pace from the gritty starting line-up, and that's a bench that could probably have good success against other team's 2nd units. Oh, and I don't mean subbing them in all at once, but bringing in the pieces to mesh with the 1st unit depending on what the situation needs.

None of this will happen though.

I've been able to deal with all the losing as we've been rebuilding the last few years, but it's hard to stomach watching the organization completely mis-handle the talent that we've struggled to finally obtain.

If things don't change drastically, and by that I mean more along the lines of changing how our players are handled rather than changing the players, I don't see any hope of us getting out of the lottery for the foreseeable future, and it's just hard to accept.

 

[Padrino]

Nope. This is a continuation of trying to fit the square peg into the round hole argument. Forget about it. Get rid of the pieces that don't fit and add pieces that do and then we can stop this madness of trying to find the "right" lineup that will magically fix the offensive and defensive indadequacies of this team. Note: Tyreke can't run a pick and roll. Note: There is no way in hell I make the best shooter on this team (Thornton) into a third option. Note: Having a lineup that includes Tyreke, T-Will and Thornton will not come close to fix the defensive inadequacies of this team.

in response to your first note: how exactly do you know that? the kings don't run nearly enough pick and roll to make any determination about whether or not a player like tyreke can effectively execute them on a consistent basis. and if he has trouble with it, you coach him through it. the head coach of the youngest team in the nba must actually coach his young players? wow, what a novel idea, right?

in response to your second note: why not? most shooters on talented teams are third options. ray allen is much further down in boston's offensive pecking order than most people realize. in fact, he's been coming off the bench of late to inject some scoring into boston's second unit, and its worked wonders for the balance of their rotation. since thomas' emergence, i've been lobbying for thornton to come off the bench. it'd solve problems that are right in front of you. "get rid of the pieces that don't fit and add pieces that do" is a wonderful philosophy, in theory. but its much more difficult, in practice, and its the business of the offseason either way. so, what do you do right now to solve some of your problems, internally? i have ideas about that, and you're free to disagree, but i'll tell you exactly what you do not do: you don't just sit on your hands and hope your problems disappear at the waving of geoff petrie's wand, which doesn't contain near the magic it used to...

in response to your third note: no, it will not come close to fixing the defensive inadequacies of the entire team. but it likely would shore up some of the defensive issues in the starting unit. there would still be plenty of defensive weaknesses in the frontline, but thompson and cousins, two poor defensive players, are having to do way too much covering for thomas/thornton/evans when they start together. again, you do not just sit on your hands when you are last or near last in the nba in most major defensive categories. it gets you nowhere. its a waste of time, and a waste of the potential development of your young players...

 

[Spike]

Note: There is no way in hell I make the best shooter on this team (Thornton) into a third option.

You would be playing to everyone's strength. Who do you think Evans's first option on a kick out would be? Ditto on a pick and roll if Cousins is covered. It's not making Thornton a third option - it's maximizing what he does best. In fact, a good half-court offense maximizes all three of our big guns without minimizing anyone. It looked pretty good when we actually ran things this way earlier in the year. How much better would it look with TWill at the SF instead of Salmons? Infinitely better. We have the answer on this roster to improve in a meaningful way.

 

[mr. moustache]

I do not believe this coach will do that, but I have been hintng at that for several weeks now. that ws the whole idea with Salmons -- wanted a defensive SF who could help Reke with the ballhandling/running the offense, since Beno had been downgraded (in that respect) to Thornton. Salmosn utterly failed at that. But then walking in off the waiver wire comes a player that might be almsot tottally suited for the role. What's more, he's shown excellent chemistry with Reke on both sides of the ball. Would really like to see that experiment, but Smart won't do it, and who knows what kind of mess we could make of things over this summer.

I want TWILL at the 2.

 

[twslam07]

At this point I'm tired of our team being a joke.
Teams know they can waltz in and score 20 points above their average because we can't play any sort of defense.
The only way we have any hope of winning any sort of game is from one of two scenarios:
1.) Our offense is firing on all cylinders. We are getting tons of steals/deflections and are able to get out and run to get easy baskets.
2.) The other team has a miserable game.

That's it. We aren't going to win unless one of those two scenarios take place, which is just a complete shame considering the talent we have on this team. It's just sickening to me.

I'm ready to go the complete opposite way of what we've been seeing since we went small-ball.

Give me a team who has a whole bunch of talent but might not be the best shooting team that is going to dare the other team to sniff 90 points a game.

If you have a whole lot of talent, which we do, and you bring in a coach who can teach how to execute in the half-court set using multiple screens and hard cuts, and you combine it with an elite scoring big man and a power guard who is phenominal at getting to the rim, I think you can score enough points if you're also a monster team on the defensive end.

1.) I want Tyreke and Terrence to start together at the guard spots.
2.) I want a full-sized 'non-defensive-liabilty' SF playing next to them. (Give me MKG, Barnes, Taylor, AK, Batum, or Gerald)
3.) I want a defensive big next to Cousins. (Give me Camby for a year or two while we try to groom Whiteside, or I'll take Anthony Davis as well.)
4.) I want a coach who will emphasize defense and play a grind-it-out half-court type of game which will allow a line-up consisting of Tyreke & Williams at the guards and Cousins at Center to play to their strengths to physically dominate their opponents through a 48 minute game.

We have the talent to be competing for a playoff spot. Unfortunately we've completely squandered this season. This season was supposed be all about our main guys getting the chemistry needed to become a winning basketball team. As it is, we're far worse off now at the end of this season than we were at the end of last season.

If you have a monster defensive team, then have IT, MT, Jimmer, Salmons/Garcia, JT, Whiteside coming off the bench...that's a lot of fire-power and a complete change of pace from the gritty starting line-up, and that's a bench that could probably have good success against other team's 2nd units. Oh, and I don't mean subbing them in all at once, but bringing in the pieces to mesh with the 1st unit depending on what the situation needs.

None of this will happen though.

I've been able to deal with all the losing as we've been rebuilding the last few years, but it's hard to stomach watching the organization completely mis-handle the talent that we've struggled to finally obtain.

If things don't change drastically, and by that I mean more along the lines of changing how our players are handled rather than changing the players, I don't see any hope of us getting out of the lottery for the foreseeable future, and it's just hard to accept.

I have been recently thinking of a starting lineup that would consist of Evans, Williams, and Gilchrist on the perimeter. The defense, size, length, and athleticism would be outstanding. All 3 of those guys could easily guard all 3 positions which makes it convenient when players have to switch onto other players. The only problem with these 3 would be the 3 point shooting. It's possible that the passing ability of all 3 of these players makes up for the lack of 3 point shooting, but that is a big assumption. No doubt this group would be fun to watch though.

 

[bajaden]

I do not believe this coach will do that, but I have been hintng at that for several weeks now. that ws the whole idea with Salmons -- wanted a defensive SF who could help Reke with the ballhandling/running the offense, since Beno had been downgraded (in that respect) to Thornton. Salmosn utterly failed at that. But then walking in off the waiver wire comes a player that might be almsot tottally suited for the role. What's more, he's shown excellent chemistry with Reke on both sides of the ball. Would really like to see that experiment, but Smart won't do it, and who knows what kind of mess we could make of things over this summer.

We are in total agreement. Its a good idea, and Smart won't do it...

 

[bajaden]

I have been recently thinking of a starting lineup that would consist of Evans, Williams, and Gilchrist on the perimeter. The defense, size, length, and athleticism would be outstanding. All 3 of those guys could easily guard all 3 positions which makes it convenient when players have to switch onto other players. The only problem with these 3 would be the 3 point shooting. It's possible that the passing ability of all 3 of these players makes up for the lack of 3 point shooting, but that is a big assumption. No doubt this group would be fun to watch though.

Give those three guys, along with Cousins, and a Camby type player, to a good solid coach with proven credentals, and I'm a happy man. Gilchrist has a good midrange jumper, and I think Terrence Williams shot has improved quite a bit since he came into the league. Especially his midrange game. The defense on that team would more than make up for the lack of 3 pt shooting. Which, by the way you could go to the bench for in Thornton, IT, and Jimmer.

 

[mac]

I hate this argument. Yes square peg round hole we hear it alot around here... Meanwhile in the real world no two people fit together perfectly. It requires work no matter the context to get a relationship to work right sure some fit better then others but they have other issues. People have to make adjustments and understand their own and others limitations on the court an offensive system needs to take into account what you have not require the players you have to ignore their strengths and rely on the weakest parts of their games. Maybe you have different offensive systems depending who is on the floor maybe different plays are run maybe you give your second unit more freedom if they have a purer point guard but if you don't have a pure PG all you really need to run plays is someone to bring the ball up and call out a play number( and they don't have to be the same guy).


/note I said the argument not a particular person on this board.

Well we needn't look any further than coach Popovich. What were people saying a few years ago? Spurs were getting old, they're declining. What does Pop do? Gets new young guys - Patty Mills, Gary Neal, Danny Green, Dejuan Blair, Tiago Splitter, George Hill at one point. None of these guys were even high lottery picks. Keeps the core of Parker, Ginobili and Duncan, but changes from a pure defensive, battle-it-out halfcourt team to one that scores at a higher pace but still defends pretty well. Result? This "old, declining" team has the best record in the West. And again, who makes up this team? Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, Stephen Jackson, Bonner, Diaw (who people said was out of shape, days behind him) are the vets. Mills, Green, Neal, Blair, Splitter, Leonard are all young guys who play important roles on the team. Why is it then that more than half the team consists of young, not very talented guys but these "scrubs" can execute better than any of our youngsters or veterans? It's because the Spurs actually has a coach who coaches, who teaches them to become real NBA players, who designs his systems to maximise the strengths of his players. You know what would have happened if he had insisted on them remaining a pure defensive team? They would not be as good, because it is very, very difficult to have an elite defensive team when more than half of your players are young guys.

Now we have our brilliant, COY candidate Keith Smart. Coach Smart insists on playing an uptempo, running style of play when our best player is a 260lb center. Coach Smart insists on taking the ball out of Evans' hands after clearly saying that Evans is not an SF. Coach Smart runs plays for us to isolate Jason Thompson, the future of post-players in the NBA. Coach Smart comes in as Kings head coach saying that he emphasizes defense first, but that due to the team's natural offensive talent he would have to find a balance, and proceeds to develop one of the worst defensive teams in the league. Coach Smart says he learnt to "put players in the perfect position to succeed", by putting them into their strength areas, and goes on to play Tyreke at SF.

Of course it helps that Pop can assemble the players he wants to fit his style.

So either you get a good coach like Pop who can make the most of what he's given, or you assemble a team made to run and gun and gamble on steals and hire Keith Smart and maybe make the 7-8th spot in the playoffs for 2 years.

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/01/06/coach-keith-smart-talks-with-grant-napear/
http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/07/kings-hope-change-is-for-the-better/

Really pisses me off how he came in saying all the right things but hasn't lived up to all that he was preaching.

 

[Gary]

Give those three guys, along with Cousins, and a Camby type player, to a good solid coach with proven credentals, and I'm a happy man. Gilchrist has a good midrange jumper, and I think Terrence Williams shot has improved quite a bit since he came into the league. Especially his midrange game. The defense on that team would more than make up for the lack of 3 pt shooting. Which, by the way you could go to the bench for in Thornton, IT, and Jimmer.

We need a guy out there that can see the floor good enough to find the open man. As it stands now none of those players can do it consistently. Personally I would rather do IT/Evans/TWill/Defensive PF/Cousins. That lineup would not really skip a beat defensive wise. IT is a fine defender if he sticks to PGs. If he has to switch he might be undersized but he has VERY quick hands and can get the steal off the bigger player if they put it on the floor.

 

[Bricklayer]

We need a guy out there that can see the floor good enough to find the open man. As it stands now none of those players can do it consistently. Personally I would rather do IT/Evans/TWill/Defensive PF/Cousins. That lineup would not really skip a beat defensive wise. IT is a fine defender if he sticks to PGs. If he has to switch he might be undersized but he has VERY quick hands and can get the steal off the bigger player if they put it on the floor.

Too many ballhandlers/guys who are better with it in the backcourt.

 

[Gary]

Too many ballhandlers/guys who are better with it in the backcourt.

Ball handlers that cannot see the floor very well, unless you count Cousins. I see a lot of 1 on 1 ball with the worst assist tally. Evans/Williams/MKG/Camby/Cousins. Sure the score would be 89-81 or something there about, but we would still be losing because we don't have a PG out there. Yes, our defense would be better, but no our team probably wouldn't be much better in regards to fitting pieces together. Rather than put Evans back at PG where he has not looked good, I would rather give him a year at SG.

 

[Gary]

Was just thinking.. I saw Collison and his injury problems as a blessing in disguise because George Hill has been playing very well, and the Pacers have a win streak going with Hill..

What if we could pry Collison away from Indiana and attempt to draft a guy like MKG, and then sign a veteran big like Camby? Would it settle some people down with a PG that has more than a year worth of experience. He's only 6' tall so would people complain he's too small still or that he's not a 100% pure PG (although he's getting closer).