The Titan Experiment

[Suicide King]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1047311673227280384

This type of line up was always intriguing to me when it became evident just how many athletic bigs we would have going into the season.

As Joerger alluded to, "it's how we're made" , at the least it allows him to get minutes somehow for more of the developing bigs who need it.

The comment may also have been a not so subtle hint to the front office, but that's not relevant here. I think Bogdan would be our best ball handler for line ups featuring 4 bigs. Bjelica would also probably be great to plug in, in place of one of either WCS, Skal, Marvin or Harry.


Curious what everyone else think of this possible 4 bigs 1 guard line up in spurts? At least until we prune the roster down the line.

 

[jcwkings]

I think it's a big middle finger to Vivek and the front office for it's roster construction.

 

[Iced Espresso]

I think it's a big middle finger to Vivek and the front office for it's roster construction.

I doubt it, but that made me laugh. We do have a peculiar roster construction no doubt about it. At least some of our bigs expire though.

 

[HndsmCelt]

You go war to with the army you have for shure, but someone BUILT this army. Wheather that was Vlade alone or with Coach as part of the team someone is responsable. If it works they need credit, but dam it if it doesn't they need to be acountalbe for what they did. Now obviously I am a size matters guy so I found/find the prospect of a bone crushing front court interesting, but I also get that the the modern game requires defending and shooting on the perimter as key parts of the game, so colur me an optimistic skeptic. Success will hinge on if our long bigs are actually able to successfuly defend on the permiter.

 

[Iced Espresso]

Out of all our bigs, being serious, I think WCS could guard some of the combo guards under-whelmingly but do a decent job with most 3's.

Skal, Bagley, Giles I don't think so.

 

[dude12]

I think it's a big middle finger to Vivek and the front office for it's roster construction.

No

 

[King Baller]

Zone defense?

 

[ockingsfan]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1047311673227280384

This type of line up was always intriguing to me when it became evident just how many athletic bigs we would have going into the season.

As Joerger alluded to, "it's how we're made" , at the least it allows him to get minutes somehow for more of the developing bigs who need it.

The comment may also have been a not so subtle hint to the front office, but that's not relevant here. I think Bogdan would be our best ball handler for line ups featuring 4 bigs. Bjelica would also probably be great to plug in, in place of one of either WCS, Skal, Marvin or Harry.

Curious what everyone else think of this possible 4 bigs 1 guard line up in spurts? At least until we prune the roster down the line.

Having an "All Timber" team might work if we have 2 excellent ball handlers and 3-point shooters at the PG and SG, so a Yogi(PG) and Bogdan (SG) on the floor handling the ball with Bagley (SF), Giles (PF), and WCS or Skal at Center may work.

Otherwise, you can't have Bagley at SF, unless you have two great ball handlers and shooters in the backcourt.

There is NO WAY you should have all 4 bigs on the floor at the same time though.

 

[Suicide King]

Having an "All Timber" team might work if we have 2 excellent ball handlers and 3-point shooters at the PG and SG, so a Yogi(PG) and Bogdan (SG) on the floor handling the ball with Bagley (SF), Giles (PF), and WCS or Skal at Center may work.

Otherwise, you can't have Bagley at SF, unless you have two great ball handlers and shooters in the backcourt.

There is NO WAY you should have all 4 bigs on the floor at the same time though.

I think Bogdan and Bjelica in the line up would give good ball handling as well as 3 point shooting. Also, as others have hinted on these forums, perhaps getting Marvin some time at the 5 for easy putbacks and lobs to get him acclimated wouldn't be a bad idea in the early goings of the season.

 

[The Effort Police]

Ooh, potshot at the FO for it's terrible roster construction, lol.

And, lol this dude's idea of development is to play them in a joke lineup and out of position. There's a lot easier solution to the big logjam and I'm sure it hasn't occurred to anyone who works for this organization.

 

[dude12]

Having an "All Timber" team might work if we have 2 excellent ball handlers and 3-point shooters at the PG and SG, so a Yogi(PG) and Bogdan (SG) on the floor handling the ball with Bagley (SF), Giles (PF), and WCS or Skal at Center may work.

Otherwise, you can't have Bagley at SF, unless you have two great ball handlers and shooters in the backcourt.

There is NO WAY you should have all 4 bigs on the floor at the same time though.

Exactly...we should have 5 on the floor!

 

[DesertFox]

Well, the team has 7 bigs are better than the current starting small forward.
That is a pretty horrible roster construction.

 

[Joshoua]

It’s crap like this that makes me wonder if we’ll ever have a meaningful game past February again. The 4 on 5 stuff was better than this

Don’t even blame other fans for making fun of us anymore

 

[kingsboi]

and that's why there needs to be a trade, too many redundant players. Skal, Willie and Bagley all want to play in the post. Giles is the one that has the capability to space the floor more than the other three.

 

[Joshoua]

Also Joerger said I’m that quote that “we have a lot of guys that need to develop and play”

One of the dumbest things I’ve heard, you think running Bagley at SG does anything but hurt his game.

 

[Turgenev]

Coach can play everyone out of position (tedious), someone (and friends?) could get traded, or coach can distribute some DNPs.

The first option is the least appealing and hopefully once the season starts and wins + losses carry a bit more weight this becomes less likely.

 

[SacKings123]

Give it a shot. What do we have to lose? We just have to make sure we have those in the right positions defense wise

 

[King Baller]

This was just a transitional lineup while doing substitutions IMO.

 

[SacTownKid]

I don't know about Frank with those guys though. It nullifies most switching which is the only realistic defense you can play with them out there together. When Bogi comes back he'd be perfect to put up front with that unit.

 

[SacTownKid]

Coach can play everyone out of position (tedious), someone (and friends?) could get traded, or coach can distribute some DNPs.

The first option is the least appealing and hopefully once the season starts and wins + losses carry a bit more weight this becomes less likely.

Coach needs to cut the rotation down to 9 guys. Playing players out of position will likely have it's own negative effect but lumping that on top of more platooning drastically increases the chances of the entire bench (coaches) and FO being cleaned out from top to bottom sooner than later.

 

[mac]

Problem is none of the 4 bigs are proven outside shooters. Or even scorers of any sort for that matter. They are pretty agile, long and athletic though, but if you can't space the floor you're not going to have success in today's NBA, regardless whether that's 5 bigs or 5 guards. The SF situation is a problem though, and Justin Jackson continues to bewilder

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I feel like this is acceptable in pre-season not so much in the regular season. But if we win those games all bets are off. I don't think we'll see it though.

 

[biltalent]

It’s crap like this that makes me wonder if we’ll ever have a meaningful game past February again. The 4 on 5 stuff was better than this

Don’t even blame other fans for making fun of us anymore

Exactly. National media and other fans are again laughing at this team but I can't blame them. During the summer everyone is talking and laughing about the Bagley at SF comments and the Kings playing three bigs (rightfully so) and of course what do they do? They play 4 of them. Its hilarous.
Not to mention the whiteboard leak thing. So its week 1 of Preseason and the Kings have been the laughing stock two times. Impressive!

 

[LPKingsFan]

Can't say the quotes from the players in today's Sacbee article on the lineup make me feel better about it:

With all the size on the court, it wasn’t clear who was playing each position. Giles was asked where he fit in during the stretch.

“I have no idea, that was the problem,” he said. “We were trying to figure that one out, but with time it’ll come together.”

De’Aaron Fox called the lineup “interesting” and said he didn’t look at it as players being in certain positions.

https://www.sacbee.com/sports/nba/sacramento-kings/article219447810.html

 

[TaxMan]

Can't say the quotes from the players in today's Sacbee article on the lineup make me feel better about it:



https://www.sacbee.com/sports/nba/sacramento-kings/article219447810.html

It was a preseason game (and only a couple minutes) so not freaking out about it, but it doesn't give me confidence that they are working to get all these guys comfortable in well defined roles. I don't want to hear "positionless basketball" when we are most lacking in swing players that have allowed that philosophy to thrive in the current NBA. Experimenting with a potential oversized front line is one thing, but creating confusion for the sake of a lineup that nobody believes could be a success is just foolish.

I'd like to think all of this was really a result of signals getting crossed during the game and the 4 bigs accidentally in the game at one time, and now everyone is just sort of making light of it. Honestly, if we see it again in a game, I think we need to start questioning coach's strategic and development goals for the team.

 

[Joshoua]

All the bigs in that rotation looking at each other like bro I’m the PF/C

 

[ESP47]

I don't mind them trying it out in preseason for the hell of it but hopefully they've practiced it some because it's not like Skal/Giles/Bagley just know how to slide over to the 2 guard spot by instinct.

 

[Iced Espresso]

View attachment 8323


All the bigs in that rotation looking at each other like bro I’m the PF/C

I noticed some bumps during free throws on who would be the one to go down low to box out. Was kind of amusing.

 

[ppine]

This is the era of small ball and shooting threes.
The position that most NBA players get is determined by who they can stop on defense.
Most big men have trouble with the 1,2 and 3 positions. Willie maybe. Draymond Green maybe, but not our 4 biggest guys at once.
This is a fantasy.

 

[Suicide King]

This is the era of small ball and shooting threes.
The position that most NBA players get is determined by who they can stop on defense.
Most big men have trouble with the 1,2 and 3 positions. Willie maybe. Draymond Green maybe, but not our 4 biggest guys at once.
This is a fantasy.

While I agree with you in principle, the line I bolded was also a fantasy not very long ago.

I am not advocating that we run Joerger's "4-7s" line up often, however I think with some tweaking ( i.e. Bogdan or Fox rather than Mason, Bjelica instead of one of the other bigs ) it is at least worth exploring to a degree.

Giles said he liked the idea, just that they had never ran it before and that next time they would be prepared.