Westphal announces starting 5 on 1140 (CARL TO START @ THE 4!)

I like it. Not sure if I'm a fan of JT starting because I think he's been absolutely awful lately, but I guess I'll accept it.
Jason Thompson is averaging 10.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in the month of February, against season averages of 12.9, 8.8 and 1.0, and career averages of 11.8, 8.0 and 0.8. Additionally, his season averages of 12.9 points and 8.8 rebounds are significantly above the league average for a forward.

You are either using a previously undiscovered definition of the word "awful," or a previously undiscovered definition of the word "lately."
 
With Sergio gone , I dont want Beno in the starting line up just because we wont have a legit backup pg.

Id wish we still started Hawes with Landry but it doest matter we added some bodies to the front court it will be fun to watch some of the pairings on the floor.
 
What are his league averages compared to players that play over 30 minutes a game though?


More importantly he's been shooting the ball at about a 40% clip the last two months and turning it over like mad. Got so bad that basically he got benched. But I do think things have gotten a little better since he got back from the family tragedy. Whether he or Hawes is currently in favor goes back and forth, but right now I would say he's trending back upwards.
 
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More importantly he's been shooting the ball at about a 40% clip the last two months and turning it over like mad.
I'll concede the field goal percentage, but his turnovers are down in February (1.7 for the month against 2.0 for the season). So, again, either a new definition of "awful," or a new definition of "lately."
 
I'm just looking forward to the toughness that Landry and the rest bring, not just as individuals but they also force people like Spencer to play tough. Spencer by the way, has really stepped up the last few games in terms of aggressiveness on the defensive end IMO.
 
The way I look at it Evans, Casspi and Thompson can make up for Carl's lack of rebounds.

the funny part to me is our pf will now shoot the techs?? lol hes a 84% ft shooter. I think that he leads our team now.


It's only the defensive rebounds too.. From what I saw he's up on his guy too much that he tends to be out of position for that rebound. You would think it's as easy as just turning around and running in but it's not. He tends to not face the basket on the defensive end until it's too late. Offensively he's got his eye on the prize (missed shot) and grabs it with ease for the putback.

We really don't have a great guy on the defensive boards.. Scares me a bit actually.. Dorsey has the potential, but in the NBA he might come up short, no pun intended.
 
It's only the defensive rebounds too.. From what I saw he's up on his guy too much that he tends to be out of position for that rebound. You would think it's as easy as just turning around and running in but it's not. He tends to not face the basket on the defensive end until it's too late. Offensively he's got his eye on the prize (missed shot) and grabs it with ease for the putback.

We really don't have a great guy on the defensive boards.. Scares me a bit actually.. Dorsey has the potential, but in the NBA he might come up short, no pun intended.

I think Truck will help his rebounding also.
 
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I think the starting lineup is terrible simply because JT is involved. I was excited about Landry starting because I assumed it would mean JT would come off the bench and not feel as "pressured" to do so well. JT should not be a starter.

IMO

PG - Beno
SG - Evans
SF - Casspi
PF - Landry
C - Hawes

JT can come off the bench and show us why he DESERVES to be a starter, and D. Greene would be KILLER off the bench for Casspi or Landry. I'd also rather see D. Greene start over JT any day and see Hawes play Center.
 
I think Donte deserved to be a starter

I agree 100% It's hard to recall a time when I jumped off the couch and said: "WTF ARE YOU DOING DONTE!"

Where as I recall doing that ATLEAST 10 times a game with Jason Thompson.... I hope the coach figures this out soon enough so we can still shoot for an 8th seed dream this year! :eek:
 
Reasonable experimentation in the short term -- Cisco in as the natural 2-guard is key too. Eventually I think Landry is better as bench lightning in a bottle. Like that Donte is going back to the 2/3 where we can have prohibitive size advantages.

Big thing is that Reke, Cisco, Casspi, Landry, Donte...these are all guys that you would go to war with. Tough and scrappy crew. You might go to war with Jason too, except he might accidentally shoot you in the foot or fumble a grenade he was trying to throw and blow up your bunker. Only Beno and Spencer of the main rotation have questions about their toughness. And then of course deeper on the bench you have another wave of tough guys in Noc, Udoka, Brockman and Dorsey.

We've just about bleached the soft out of this franchise. Now if we could jsut start seeing some results on defense.


LMFAO! Funny thing is you gave me a visual and I can totally picture it...
 
I agree with you. Landry has to be tried as the starter. I assume he is better all around now than either big man. And as for Westphal playing musical chairs with starters and replacements - we have to have that if we want to see Greene play. He is still too far away from being a legitimate starter IMO. He has to be more reliable and consistent to play predictable minutes. I know I'm fighting upstream with this opinion but that is the way I see it.

Oh you mean like Jason Thompson? :o (sarcasm) incase you didn't pick that up...
 
Where is the center we needed to trade for?

This trade, while it gets us a tough customer in Landry at the forward position, according to this lineup we move our problem we had at the 4 over to the 5 thereby eliminating our problem at the 5....NOT! JT is strong enough to hang with the big boys, but they will back him up and dunk over him with ease. Not very likely but he certainly will have trouble especially if they clear a space out and they try to send their center one on one with JT, Just seems to me at some point Hawes needs to grow a pair. He is the only player who can get in the weight room,and bulk up because he likes to eat right? If Spencer were able to gain 25-35 lbs of muscle, we would be set at the center position, Hey Kings Players, look at what the team is doing! They are acquiring players to REPLACE YOU!! Are you ready to wake up and smell the coffee? I sure hope so. This might be Hawes very last chance to get stronger and dominate at the center position! All he needs is 25-35 lbs of muscle! That is easier than what JT has to do. Hawes needs to eat protein and push weights! JT needs help pulling his head out of his own azz!! He has his head so firmly planted up his own butt!!! How someone gets their own head planted up their own butt is anyone's guess. But lets hope he sees that the problem is him and works very hard to play work his way out of the mess he has made with his career,

Because in truth, the Kings are bringing in replacements. Valuable solid replacements that are great players. Landry is a possible 20/10 guy with a lot of upside, He is already our best front court guy and he hasn't taken the court yet for the Kings. Dorsey is young, he's hungry, and he has rebounding skills that you cant teach players, If he is able to play the 5 and Landry the 4, JT and Hawes are backups who have no one to blame but themselves because they were given more than half a season to shape up and they didn't. I have no idea what happened to Spencer Hawes the beginning of the season but he looked bad. He had played much better offensively but is still getting beaten like a rug on defense. Hawes needs to improve on defense or he will be on the second string. JT started the season strong, in fact he was a main reason for our strong starting record, but then he started complaining to the refs and pointing the fingers at everyone else, and he let it effect his game and now his game sucks (recent resurgence notwithstanding). If he doesnt focus on basketball and get his head out of his KAZOO, they are gonna replace him permanently.You only get so many shots in the NBA and they you are put on the bench and called upon every now and then till they can get rid of you.... sad, I had big hopes for both Hawes and Jason Thompson for them to get their games right and compete. But they need to put aside any problem they have now and fight for their nba careers!! No one is gonna fight for their NBA careers!!!
 
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Someone said starting JT to offset Landry's rebounding deficiency?? Landry is a VERY decent rebounder. Unless he's matched against an extreme big, which there aren't many of.

On a side note Mike Lamb said "Why go after Lee when you have Landry", to someone who was talking about free agency. Why go after Lee?? Because Landry JT isn't a championship combo at the 4. A 1, 2 punch of Lee and Landry would be awesome!!. JT could be shipped off in a package with a NOC, or something for another deal that gets us something we want/need.
 
Because of the mistakes and propensity for fouls, JT will not work as a starter.

JT is better off getting the majority of his minutes against the opponents second team, where his skills will be an advantage and the fouls will not affect the game so dramatically.

Hawes, as bad as he was, is starting to play solidly once again and should start at C. Maybe Landry, Casspi's, and Donte's scrappy play will inspire him to do a little more.

JT in my mind needs to earn back his spot by getting his head back into the game.
 
Someone said starting JT to offset Landry's rebounding deficiency?? Landry is a VERY decent rebounder. Unless he's matched against an extreme big, which there aren't many of.

On a side note Mike Lamb said "Why go after Lee when you have Landry", to someone who was talking about free agency. Why go after Lee?? Because Landry JT isn't a championship combo at the 4. A 1, 2 punch of Lee and Landry would be awesome!!. JT could be shipped off in a package with a NOC, or something for another deal that gets us something we want/need.


I watch Lee play a lot. And it really wouldn't. He is a one man walking sieve back there on defense, and hsi numbers are infalted by D'Antoni's chuck and duck. And he's in a contract push. He probably is a legit 17-9/10 type guy in a normal system, with crap defense. That's a good player, but I have a hrad time seeing it as a high level winning player.
 
I don't know why everyone always hates on JT. He's the best post player we have. He may not always be consistent but he is much more consistent than Hawes or May. JT averages more points, rebounds, steals, blocks, and better FT percentage then them.

JT SHOULD be in the starting line up over Hawes. Hawes is just a BIG tall disappointment.
Everytime Hawes has a twenty point game all of you freak out and act like he's been "playing the way we know he can." BUT then, the next game he has 4 points and 3 rebounds. JT may get into foul trouble and not always have 15-10 nights but, he is much more consistent than the rollercoaster of a player in Hawes.

I actually think Hawes and JT should continue to start and Landy can come in and fill for the both of them when JT gets into foul trouble or when Hawes is playing like a little girl.


BUT PLEASE, don't hate on JT for being better than Hawes.
 
Why is that?

Dante does alot out there I notice when he can get alot of minutes. He is very inconsistent but he's also hella young I see him starting to get it and he's even been taking a bigger hand in getting the offense going.

I think he desrves to be in there somewhere and since Cisco isn't ready yet he should atleast be the 2 since Omri is doing his part well as our starting 3.
 
I'm happy for Landry getting the start.

Just because Landry was a good backup for Houston doesnt mean He should be a backup here. He's progressively getting better every year in just 2 1/2 seasons in the nba. He could possibly still get better at the rate He's going and is young enough to be a core part for our team. I believe there is a physcological difference in being a starter and a sixth man depending on the situation you are in. Jason Thompson hasn't proved to be a reliable starter. Landry deserves starter minutes over JT, the title of being a starter and everything that comes with it. If I was Coach I would let Landry choose His role for now.
 
I'm happy for Landry getting the start.

Just because Landry was a good backup for Houston doesnt mean He should be a backup here. He's progressively getting better every year in just 2 1/2 seasons in the nba. He could possibly still get better at the rate He's going and is young enough to be a core part for our team. I believe there is a psychological difference in being a starter and a sixth man depending on the situation you are in. Jason Thompson hasn't proved to be a reliable starter. Landry deserves starter minutes over JT, the title of being a starter and everything that comes with it. If I was Coach I would let Landry choose His role for now.

The psychological thing works both ways though -- part of the reason that Landry is so effective off the bench is that he has the calssic bench player mentality of coming in firing and going all out from the moment he hits the floor. Really in a lot of ways is a blown up BJax figure. But now put that into the starting lineup and it has to be muted. Becomes less effective, less "punchy".
 
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I just read the last few posts.

Has anyone suggested this sort of depth chart?:

1. Evans / Udrih
2. Garcia / Evans / Casspi / Udrih
3. Casspi / Donte / Garcia / Udoka
4. Donte / Landry / Thompson
5. Hawes / Thompson / Brockman

What is that, a 9 man rotation? I like it right now.
 
I just read the last few posts.

Has anyone suggested this sort of depth chart?:

1. Evans / Udrih
2. Garcia / Evans / Casspi / Udrih
3. Casspi / Donte / Garcia / Udoka
4. Donte / Landry / Thompson
5. Hawes / Thompson / Brockman

What is that, a 9 man rotation? I like it right now.
I prefer Donte at the 2 then at the 4. He can get back on D faster to prevent a fast break.
 
I think the starting lineup is terrible simply because JT is involved. I was excited about Landry starting because I assumed it would mean JT would come off the bench and not feel as "pressured" to do so well. JT should not be a starter.

IMO

PG - Beno
SG - Evans
SF - Casspi
PF - Landry
C - Hawes

JT can come off the bench and show us why he DESERVES to be a starter, and D. Greene would be KILLER off the bench for Casspi or Landry. I'd also rather see D. Greene start over JT any day and see Hawes play Center.
You've got my vote. I agree with your comments.
 
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