The Rest of the Season

[SCKingsfan]

I can't help but wonder: with the trades, Cisco's return, and some new, young energy coming in: will we return to the kind of team we looked like early in the year, and maybe a few more wins?

I don't think we've become anything close to a .500 team with the moves, but I hope for a return to more of what we saw early in the season - win a few, lose a few more, but fun to watch - and most importantly - look like we are improving week to week rather than regressing, trying to figure you who should play what role, etc. I'd like to see this team gel a bit over the next couple of months. One or two key acquisitions from turning the corner?

 

[drogba]

I can't help but wonder: with the trades, Cisco's return, and some new, young energy coming in: will we return to the kind of team we looked like early in the year, and maybe a few more wins?

I don't think we've become anything close to a .500 team with the moves, but I hope for a return to more of what we saw early in the season - win a few, lose a few more, but fun to watch - and most importantly - look like we are improving week to week rather than regressing, trying to figure you who should play what role, etc. I'd like to see this team gel a bit over the next couple of months. One or two key acquisitions from turning the corner?

and first thing is to decide who is your starting line up and stick to it.
give the guys some confident, Udrich was the one that was hurt most from KM return, now he can be sure he will get his minutes, because he can play realy good if he is hot.
Casspi and Green know they will get the ball now, and maybe they will look like they did up until the beginning of last month.
even though they are looking better in the last couple of weeks.
but PW should work on the defance, that is what they should be focusing on practice.
next year the team will be a lot better, when Green,Reke,JT, and Casspi will get more expirence, it is hard to win, when both of your socring leaders are rookies.

 

[Gary]

Tyreke knows it's his team now.. No deferring to Martin.

I will say 12-17 the rest of the way.

 

[Bricklayer]

I can't help but wonder: with the trades, Cisco's return, and some new, young energy coming in: will we return to the kind of team we looked like early in the year, and maybe a few more wins?

I don't think we've become anything close to a .500 team with the moves, but I hope for a return to more of what we saw early in the season - win a few, lose a few more, but fun to watch - and most importantly - look like we are improving week to week rather than regressing, trying to figure you who should play what role, etc. I'd like to see this team gel a bit over the next couple of months. One or two key acquisitions from turning the corner?

I hope so...and fear so. We have so many young scrappy pieces now that by all rights it should be a young scrappy team after a few games to figure out the new mix. And a return to being a young scrappy team will make everyone around here a lot happier and finish the season wiht some feel good for the future buzz. On the other hand, the huge nosedive has once again posisitoned us to get a top pick in the draft, and yes, we have hit that point in the season again where you have to start thinking about that. If we could end up with another Top 5 pick, that could end up being a seriously important moment for the franchise. So...not sure how to feel about it.

 

[Tetsujin]

I hope so...and fear so. We have so many young scrappy pieces now that by all rights it should be a young scrappy team after a few games to figure out the new mix. And a return to being a young scrappy team will make everyone around here a lot happier and finish the season wiht some feel good for the future buzz. On the other hand, the huge nosedive has once again posisitoned us to get a top pick in the draft, and yes, we have hit that point in the season again where you have to start thinking about that. If we could end up with another Top 5 pick, that could end up being a seriously important moment for the franchise. So...not sure how to feel about it.

Of course, we could just win the rest of our games and luck out in the lottery. Stranger things have happened.

 

[ParniValjak]

Of course, we could just win the rest of our games and luck out in the lottery. Stranger things have happened.

That would be a first for the Kings. Hell we were favourites to get the #1 pick last year and ended up with the worst case scenario in getting pick 4.

In hindsight, it couldn't have worked out any better for us but at the time it was a worse possible scenario.

 

[Uncia03]

I hope so...and fear so. We have so many young scrappy pieces now that by all rights it should be a young scrappy team after a few games to figure out the new mix. And a return to being a young scrappy team will make everyone around here a lot happier and finish the season wiht some feel good for the future buzz. On the other hand, the huge nosedive has once again posisitoned us to get a top pick in the draft, and yes, we have hit that point in the season again where you have to start thinking about that. If we could end up with another Top 5 pick, that could end up being a seriously important moment for the franchise. So...not sure how to feel about it.

Back towards the end of November I mentioned that I was incredibly conflicted regarding the progression of the team. At the start of the season I saw us at around 35 wins with a decent draft pick and the push towards the playoffs the following season.
At that time we were playing so well, that it was conceivable that had we made a trade for a defensive big we'd maybe be in contention for the 8th spot this year, and I wasn't sure whether it would be better for this team to have one more 'down' year or to continue their winning ways.

Now, with the free-fall we've experienced, the conflict begins again. But now, it's whether or not it would be better to have 5-8 more wins for the good of the player's cohesion, or not have those wins for the potential good of getting a top 5 draft pick. I would absolutely love to get Cousins and he could be available if we continue to struggle to win games, but will almost certainly be out of reach if we go back to our early winning ways.

I think I'm going to go with the positive outlook in this situation and say it's a win/win.

If we go on a tear and end up winning 50%+ of our games it may put us in better position to land a free agent. So if we win and we land a good free agent, then all is good.

If we still struggle to win, and get a top draft pick, then that's more talent added, and also a win.

I personally believe that we'll see a return of the team we saw earlier in the season. I just think that now that this whole episode is behind us that the scrap and fight will return. When you consider that we're adding both Garcia and Landry, that's a lot of additional tenacity being added to an already tenacious bunch.
I have to really give Geoff credit on completely changing the entire culture and mentality of the team. He's put together a group of guys who have the mentality to compete and win at the highest levels. We just need to continue to add more talent and we might reach those lofty goals.

So I'll remain positive, root for all of our young players to play well, and see how things play themselves out in the coming months.

 

[steelevt]

well considering the next 3 of 5 games are against teams that are under 500, i think short term, things are gonna look good. i think the pro trade martin camp is gonna gloat, and the pro keep martin is gonna defend their argument and a couple mods are gonna tell us to get over it, whats done is done. as for the rest of the season. im thinking we can win at least 10 more games based on schedule. the important thing is how fast everyone adapts to new teammates. like most, the most important thing is seeing, competative games, chemistry being built and the team progressing even if we dont find ways to win the games we should

 

[Big Cuz 15]

i hope that we continue to play scrappy but end up with losses. no point in gaining wins when we are not going to make the playoffs. lets focus on getting that high draft pick + maybe sign a big time big man FA (bosh preferably) in the offseason.

if things go well, we could be trotting out a really nice line up next season and make some noise. lots of length and a year of experience under our young guys belts. i'm counting down the games until the season is over

 

[keflanag]

I hope so...and fear so. We have so many young scrappy pieces now that by all rights it should be a young scrappy team after a few games to figure out the new mix. And a return to being a young scrappy team will make everyone around here a lot happier and finish the season wiht some feel good for the future buzz. On the other hand, the huge nosedive has once again posisitoned us to get a top pick in the draft, and yes, we have hit that point in the season again where you have to start thinking about that. If we could end up with another Top 5 pick, that could end up being a seriously important moment for the franchise. So...not sure how to feel about it.

I see your point, but my hope is that $20 mil and a team that ends the season on a strong note will be enough for a legit FA to take a serious look at us. I put a little more faith in that than having the team tank to a point where no one will want to play here and then rely on another "Tyreke" to come out of the draft.

 

[Merdiesel]

I will always root for the Kings to win, rebuilding or not. But I am definitely ok with them loosing every single game from here on out. Reke and Wall would be an unstoppable force!

 

[Lafayette]

18-11 the rest of the way out!

 

[hammystyle]

They've got 15 more home games and 13 more road games, without going team by team I'd say they're a good bet to win 7-8 more at home and 2-4 more on the road. So I'd put the over/under for remaining wins at 10.5.

 

[pshn80]

i hope that we continue to play scrappy but end up with losses. no point in gaining wins when we are not going to make the playoffs. lets focus on getting that high draft pick + maybe sign a big time big man FA (bosh preferably) in the offseason.

if things go well, we could be trotting out a really nice line up next season and make some noise. lots of length and a year of experience under our young guys belts. i'm counting down the games until the season is over

I can't agree with that in bold. You have to hope for wins and make sure the team knows you hope for wins. Any other attitude would be deflating and not useful for our players. Our players are the ones that have to win now and next year. Kill 'em, Kings, and if you lose, know that it p***** me off.

 

[Entity]

Yeah we have no choice. usually you play all your young guys to get a better draft pick. Well we are lol. We could start Beno, Mcquire, Noc, Brockman and May but then your young guys don't grow. I will be happy with whatever happens from here really. If it happens it happens if it don't oh well.

 

[fnordius]

If we keep going at .333 (27 wins total), we're on track for 4th draft position, and have excellent chances (about 47%) of moving up to a 1-3 slot in the lottery. If we win 5 more games than that (.390), we'll be on course for 10th position, and a 4% chance of a top 3 pick.

Objectively speaking, I don't think the team's in a state where winning a single game is worth a drop of 1-2 draft positions.

 

[K F Jay]

IMO our nov/dec success had a lot to do with Thomas, Thompson, Brockman dominating the boards & playing good defense. Without that we struggle. Nocioni was playing his best basketball during that stretch. Our offense was never a problem and it only gets better with Landry & Garcia. Our bigs need to dominate the boards & play good defense again if we want to win imo. If Dorsey can play like Kenny did in nov/dec we'll need him on the floor at times and not be a forgotten player like Kenny was.

 

[SCKingsfan]

Where I see particular potential in a team change, offensively, are those times in the 3rd or 4th quarter where we just go ice cold; clanging jump shots left and right, Thomas blindly spinning into a double-team down low, Donte getting stripped of the ball going to the hoop. It's become so predictable that it's just a matter of when it's going to happen, not whether it will. With Landry as a potential "go to" guy down low, perhaps we can remedy these extended "hiccups" each game, and not dig a big hole we struggle to get out of late in the game, often unsucessfully.

 

[Arby's Roast Beef]

I think we're largely the same team, in terms of wins. Landry should shoulder the scoring load and provide some interior toughness, but he won't improve our defense. I actually like the second guy in the trade--Joey Dorsey--a lot. A defensive stud, even though he's not good offensively. But still in a team deprived of defense, that means a lot, and I'd like to see him get game action. I actually thought Rodriguez was better than most people gave him credit for, and his impact in his 13 mpg with us was subtle, but good.

To fully maximize our roster I think we should start Casspi and Greene along with Landry and Evans. All four are definitely starter quality, in terms of impact on both ends of the court. The fifth guy can be Garcia or Udrih if we want to go small, or Thompson or Hawes for size. All four are role players or varying degrees, but whatever the matchup depends on. But after hearing Westphal announce the lineup without Greene in it, I'm hoping he gets more of a chance--he really deserves it.

 

[allrightythen]

I think in some senses Coach Westphal is kind of playing for net season at this point. Cisco probably makes the most sense with Tyreke with his skill set and since he's mostly healthy might as well let them get started working together right now with the other changes too. This way at least they all get to grow together for the rest of the year and get used to each other. Will probably costs some wins since it will take some time, but we get a better draft pick and helps our chemistry in the long term. Don't know that any of the above is actually plan, just something I thought might be possible.

 

[bajaden]

First off, I think we should play it straight up. Play the people that need to play and let the chips fall where they may. Secondly, I think Westphal needs to find a rotation and stick with it. Its very hard to get cohesion with constantly changing lineups. He needs to pick a starting lineup and let them get used to playing together. There was on point in the game last night where the tallest player we had on the floor was Landry.

I also fail to understand Westphal's thinking at times. In the first half, particularly the first quarter, the only two players that were scoring were Thompson and Casspi. And yet they were the first to sit down. And then disappear until almost the end of the first half. Is there something wrong with going to the hot hand until it cools off? Dorsey played about all of 30 seconds. Greene came in and the next thing I know, he's not on the floor anymore. I think he tried to take one shot, on which he was fouled by the way. Since it happened at our end and right in front of us. As a side note. Kaman gets away with more illegal screens than just about anyone in the NBA. He also gets away with a lot fouls. Not sure why. I guess he's a superstar now...

Anyway, I just don't get the different starting lineups or some of the rotations. I'm willing to give him the rest of the year to figure things out. But I hope this isn't the norm for him.

 

[FaStRmAn]

i hope that we continue to play scrappy but end up with losses. no point in gaining wins when we are not going to make the playoffs. lets focus on getting that high draft pick + maybe sign a big time big man FA (bosh preferably) in the offseason.

if things go well, we could be trotting out a really nice line up next season and make some noise. lots of length and a year of experience under our young guys belts. i'm counting down the games until the season is over

Wow, I am of 2 minds on this subject. I'd like to see the Kings win whenever they can to get the young players in a winning state of mind. Winning helps make the hard work pay off. So I always want the Kings to win.

Now if they were to play hard and yet still lose, I don't have a problem with them getting back into the lottery yet again to try and pick up another piece (preferably the best center available) to add to this group and have them develop together. I would be sad that the Kings losing so many games would not help them mentally, but the lottery might help the Kings more in the long run.

I don't think our record will effect a free agent one way or another. NBA players are a pretty arrogant lot, and very good NBA players tend to be arrogant enough to believe they can turn any situation from bad to good. The money will be more coming from the Kings because we have to overpay regardless of being a lottery team or we win 8-10 more games and avoid the lottery. Overpaying is just the nature of doing business in Sacramento in the NBA scheme of things. So why not let the young players try their best, let the lottery position be what it is, and overpay the piece they can persuade to come to Sacto anyway.

My fear is that with the CBA coming due, the landscape is going to change pretty drastically and the money the Maloofs are not spending under the cap will be worth more after the new CBA. If that is the case, perhaps waiting one more season will net the Kings more for their money. It gives the young players even more time to gel, and we will have even more expiring contracts coming off the books. The Maloofs are in this for the long haul. Whatever makes the most business sense is what Petrie and the Maloofs will do. The threat of a more restrictive CBA might make deals this summer more cap friendly. Who really knows? My guess is after the first 5 top flight free agents (James, Wade, Bosh, Stoudemire, and Nowitzki) are settled wherever they are going, the rest of the free agents will be scrambling to find whatever teams are left with caproom to get a good deal.

Sacramento will be one of those teams that will more than likely not sign one of the top 5 and yet have caproom left to bargain for the services of the "leftovers" such as David Lee, Marvin Williams, Joe Johnson, Nazr Mohammed, Jermaine O'Neal, Brendan Haywood, Kenyon Martin, Nenad Krstic, LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Carlos Boozer, Marcus Camby, Luis Scola, Rudy Gay, Tyson Chandler just to name a few will be looking for free agent money in a dwindling pool of teams that have the money to sign a free agent. Even resigning with their own teams might not be possible because of the cap situations of many of the teams that have no cap space. So there is a possibility that it could become a buyers market after the big names have moved or signed. There is talent to be had at a decent price for those that are patient and have the guts to not spend at all if the price isn't right. The following year those players might be looking at vet minimums. Hopefully Petrie can use this leverage to bring a piece or 2 to the Kings to help the rebuild process move along...