We are big!!

[Bricklayer]

Unless they think resigning Landry might cost too much. I think the smart thing to do is use JT as trade bait or in a sign and trade. He's got to have some pretty decent value right now.

You know...I know there are frankly not enough minutes to go around up front now, but I am not sure I want ANY moves to be made to break up our new frontcourt crew for the time being. They are all good players, all bring something to the table, and as a group could be as effective and intimidating as just about any frontcourt in the league.

I think Landry has a role, now and into the future, for his scoring ability, and we ave so covered for his rebounding issues will all of these acquisitions.

I think JT, for all his shortcomings as a guy who had to play "best big" for us last season, is a nice platoon/bench PF/C, bringing size, rebounding, and just as critiically being part of that young core chemistrywise.

And Dalembert, quickly being forgotten, is a VERY productive rebounder/shotblocker, and a proven one who can acnhor things until the kids pick up steam. And really, take him out of the lineup, and we have good length and a potentially great shotblocker in Whiteside, but we no longer have just loads of it to throw at people.

And of course Brock is a winner wiht his hustle, fan favorite, good chemistry guy, and probably great practice player.

Barring the opportunity to get a real special player, I don't see the hole that would cause me to break all that up this season. Let's have the dominant frontcourt for once. Let Whiteside grow up/mature, have Brock be the 12th man/reliable hustle chemistry guy, and with Landry and Daly's contracts coming up after next year, make the decisions then.

Here's us:

C- Dalembert
C- Cousins
PF/C - Whiteside
PF/C - Thompson
PF - Brockman
PF/SF - Landry
SF/SG/PF - Greene
SF/SG - Casspi
SG/SF - Garcia
PG/SG - Udrih
PG/SG - Evans

There's not much of a hole there. Maybe 1 SG and 1 third team PG. Could even be the same guy -- a 1/2 hybrid. But all 5 of the players we have at the PG to SF spots are good players deserving of lots of minutes, so barring the ability to package soe guys to bring back a top player, I don't see the hole to plug that would be worth blowing up our shiny new mega-frontcourt.

 

[SacTownKid]

Yeah, but how do you split up 96 minutes of playing time between 4 guys that realistically all want and quite possibly deserve starters minutes? Not even counting Whiteside.

Dalembert complained about playing time in Philly and he was predominantly a starter and played a good 25 mpg. Play them all 24 mpg and there's bound to be some trouble. Most NBA frontcourt rotations consist of 3 guys getting the bulk of the minutes and a 4th getting consistent but smaller rotational minutes. How can this work???

 

[Krunker]

How about:

C: Split with Dalembert/Cousins
PF: Mostly Thompson, backup mins for Whiteside and Brockman
SF: Mostly Landry, then Casspi
SG: Split Greene and Garcia
PG: Mostly Evans then Udrih

I like Beno and Tyreke together too though, but would like to see Donte get more minutes than last season.

I'm sure someone will be unhappy with minutes or touches. Hopefully coach can keep the peace. One criticism I read somewhere is that Evans and Cousins will dominate the ball and everyone else will get jealous.

 

[Aenadin]

Kings will do what kings are born to do... and that is to DOMINATE

Our line up once it gels will RULE over other lineups

Wonder if paul westphal is getting crazy ideas like experimenting

evans
Greene
Thompson
Whitside
Cousins

lineup? thats big at every position.... we wont need to worry about guards running inside our giants will squash em

 

[Bricklayer]

Yeah, but how do you split up 96 minutes of playing time between 4 guys that realistically all want and quite possibly deserve starters minutes? Not even counting Whiteside.

Dalembert complained about playing time in Philly and he was predominantly a starter and played a good 25 mpg. Play them all 24 mpg and there's bound to be some trouble. Most NBA frontcourt rotations consist of 3 guys getting the bulk of the minutes and a 4th getting consistent but smaller rotational minutes. How can this work???

It probably won't. You're right about the normal structure, adn fact is we abruptly have too many guys. But there is little harm in letting it play out a bit. Its all brand new, a lot fo the guys are very young, and the ones who aren't are in the final year of their contracts. Maybe Cousins or Whiteside get off to slow starts and some of their minutes end up going to the other guys. Maybe somebody gets hurt. You never know. And we have the advantage that while all of Daly, Landry, JT and Cousins can legitimately come in hoping to be 30+min guys, I don't think any of them ever have been in the NBA. Maybe daly for a year or two, but not of late. So asking guys who are used to getting 25-28 min (heck Cousins only played 23 in college) to get by on 24 each for a while in the NBA might be more practical than it would be if you told Amare the same thing.

 

[DocHolliday]

5 guys 6' 10" and above all athletic.....it's good to be a King.

 

[Kingster]

I bet Brockman is as good as gone.

Nope. They are keeping him. Brock is going to have to learn very quickly how to do teardrop hooks when he goes to practice with this team. Really, it should help his game.

 

[Kingster]

I was thinking the same thing -- after all the years of "shotblocking is overrated" and "the league is going to smaller quicker big men" etc., this had to be quite a hard weak for the old guy's little heart. Now will be the real test -- was all that nonsense part of the ultimate homer act since we of course had no size, and all of a sudden next year its going to be incessant chortline over our length? Or was all that nonsense legitimate angst left over from drafting Duane Causewell, and the poor little guy is going to be confused next season.

To be fair to Reynolds, I think he makes a distinction between a guy who makes an occassional block and that particular block's impact on the game and a guy who alter shots enough so that there is a fear factor. I don't think he would minimize the latter guy at all. Whiteside could be that guy.

 

[CruzDude]

is carl landry a free agent next year. whats his future with the kings?/

Landry is signed thru coming year ($3M) and is the starting PF. He plays much taller in traffic and is amongst the quickest PF in the league. So in his contract year we should see max output while the "new kids on the block" get their sea legs and work their way into more and more playing time.

 

[Bricklayer]

To be fair to Reynolds, I think he makes a distinction between a guy who makes an occassional block and that particular block's impact on the game and a guy who alter shots enough so that there is a fear factor. I don't think he would minimize the latter guy at all. Whiteside could be that guy.

To the contrary, he has traditionally used that line precisely to denigrate established shotblockers and their importance.

I've always particularly loved his "shotblocking is overrated because you don't always get the ball back" shtick. Which of course applies to any defense whatsoever.

I truly wish I could just write off Jerry and chuckle about his material like you do about the crazy uncle. But unfortunately as one of the voices of the Kings he not only ends up representing us by proxy, but he ends up miseducating a large portion of the fanbase, including some number of people who are only casual fans at best and may not be able to discern where the B.S. begins. Its borderline irresponsible.

 

[Kingster]

To the contrary, he has traditionally used that line precisely to denigrate established shotblockers and their importance.

I've always particularly loved his "shotblocking is overrated because you don't always get the ball back" shtick. Which of course applies to any defense whatsoever.

I truly wish I could just write off Jerry and chuckle about his material like you do about the crazy uncle. But unfortunately as one of the voices of the Kings he not only ends up representing us by proxy, but he ends up miseducating a large portion of the fanbase, including some number of people who are only casual fans at best and may not be able to discern where the B.S. begins. Its borderline irresponsible.

Yeah, I guess I don't give his shotblocking credo a lot of weight, so it just rolls off my back. Is he right factually? Yes, when you block the shot, you don't always get the ball back. (I'd really like to know what the stats show on how often a team does get the ball back when their team blocks the shot). If I play his advocate (dare I say lawyer?), then he probably believes that rebounds are a more important stat than shot blocking because then by definition you do get the ball back. Same with causing turnovers. But, on the other hand, the stats just don't show the altered shots or the shots that aren't even taken because of the fear of getting a block. The stats also don't show when the ball is retrieved by the shotblocking team what percentage of those retrievals are turned into baskets. It's probably like a turnover, very high. Now does Reynolds know all this stuff? I definitely believe so. I just think that he's been "advocating" on the other side as the Kings color guy because of the Kings deficiency in this area.

 

[NME]

Is there a reason why Cousins is being discounted as a shotblocker? People go nuts over Favors and he blocked 2.1 in 27 minutes, while Cousins blocked 1.8 in 23 minutes. He's not a leaper, but he has the same standing reach as Thabeet.

 

[jon e]

could we be the league leaders in shot blocks and rebounds? it will be fun

 

[Kingster]

Is there a reason why Cousins is being discounted as a shotblocker? People go nuts over Favors and he blocked 2.1 in 27 minutes, while Cousins blocked 1.8 in 23 minutes. He's not a leaper, but he has the same standing reach as Thabeet.

In college, he wasn't the kind of guy who came out of his area to block shots like Udoh or Whiteside. I think that's why. Now if he loses some more lbs and gets quicker, then maybe he can do more of that in the pros.

 

[NME]

In college, he wasn't the kind of guy who came out of his area to block shots like Udoh or Whiteside. I think that's why. Now if he loses some more lbs and gets quicker, then maybe he can do more of that in the pros.

I get that. It just seems to me he could be a guy who takes up space in the paint and averages around two mostly on-the-ball blocks, a la Lopez, another guy with the same reach. Throw in Whiteside flying in from off the ball, and we might still have a potent defensive combination after Dalembert moves on.