Kings used to be a fun and exciting team to watch. The last three losses in four games have been uninspiring to say the least. I don't see the energy and effort like before. Our team chemistry is not what it was. What the **** is wrong with this team? Kings need to turn it around like it was before!
What happened to our team? (merged)
- Thread starter K F Jay
- Start date
we ARE fielding a young starting line up out there.. it is possible evans and casspi have hit their rookie walls, no denying it. that they will hit it some time and its a test of their abilities and talent on how to adjust to it
the early games of course would be fun casspi, and evans are kind of "unknown" commodities they werent the focal point of the defense but lately tyreke has been getting the double team, and casspi's shot has been watched over carefully. other than that like i said a young team. a sophomore, a 3rd year man, and 2 rooks are part of your starting line up, it will take a summer to get used to each other. martin on the other hand as prolific a scorer he is if the offense and ball stops moving the team suffers.
the kings are still exciting and fun to watch.. they just hit that funk. its up to them to get out of it. and like i said they arent paying Coach westphal enough in working with such things. were asking him to make lemonade out of apples people
give it 3/4ths of the season to say we arent exciting. or that we arent good enough. since we are better than we are fielding and showing out there.
go kings
the early games of course would be fun casspi, and evans are kind of "unknown" commodities they werent the focal point of the defense but lately tyreke has been getting the double team, and casspi's shot has been watched over carefully. other than that like i said a young team. a sophomore, a 3rd year man, and 2 rooks are part of your starting line up, it will take a summer to get used to each other. martin on the other hand as prolific a scorer he is if the offense and ball stops moving the team suffers.
the kings are still exciting and fun to watch.. they just hit that funk. its up to them to get out of it. and like i said they arent paying Coach westphal enough in working with such things. were asking him to make lemonade out of apples people
give it 3/4ths of the season to say we arent exciting. or that we arent good enough. since we are better than we are fielding and showing out there. go kings
the coach is no longer a novel thing. the team is hitting the mid season wall, and everyone is getting comfortable. Nobody wants to expend themselves too much on one game, and that is why nobody is expending themselves on one game. 1 game at a time BS. I don't blame them, they just aren't at the point where being professional basketball players is about making the hoops and getting the wins. Right now, the kings are about collecting cheques and makes homies with the other teams' veterans. I can't hate, because it is exactly what i would do. Time for a new coach? JK yea This funk is to be expected after 10+ games lost by like one possession of something like that. Technically the kings could have won like 10 more games than they have, and these guys are literally sitting on that laurel. The coach said to them, "we are a .500+ team" and they believe him, so they stopped thinking about the win, and are more focused on the next game, and their futures. Whatever.
I'm actually a little concerned with Westphal's constant lineup juggling as well, and wonder if it hasn't finally begun to break us down. Changing starting lineups and roles every night will mess anybody up. Dropping guys to the deep bench who were getting minutes, starting one guy one night, the other the next really inspires uncertainty. And now of course we just inserted a huge minute/shot muncher which of course really sends the pins aflyin'.
So you begin to hit the dog days of the season, you suffered a long stretch fo tough tough games/losses. The lineup is being juggled. Enthusiasm is hard to sustain, and now with all kinds of people's minutes under threat the all for one mentality is even harder to sustain. Just something they will have to fight through and hopefully be stronger on the backside.
So you begin to hit the dog days of the season, you suffered a long stretch fo tough tough games/losses. The lineup is being juggled. Enthusiasm is hard to sustain, and now with all kinds of people's minutes under threat the all for one mentality is even harder to sustain. Just something they will have to fight through and hopefully be stronger on the backside.
I'm not depressed or upset as most people about the Kings lately. I know they have been losing a lot of close games but they have done better than anyone really anticipated so far. It would be different if the Kings were getting blown out in every game but really a majority of the games they lose are in the 4th quarter. Just wait until this team starts to close out their games, oh man..
a young team being blown out is ok as long as they are learning and are getting their pt.
a team consisting of vets being blown out is frustrating we are 10 times better than last years kings.... this kings team is fighting, its got heart. and i have seen my share of pretty girls in the grades just to ease the season.
like i said rookies hit their wall. and spence and jt are erratic at best. going through new faces in the coaching staff... that must be difficult
a team consisting of vets being blown out is frustrating we are 10 times better than last years kings.... this kings team is fighting, its got heart. and i have seen my share of pretty girls in the grades just to ease the season.
like i said rookies hit their wall. and spence and jt are erratic at best. going through new faces in the coaching staff... that must be difficult
Aenadin's first post hit the nail on the head: kids have hit the rookie wall. Fact not excuse. For all of them it's more games/minutes played in 2-1/2 months than most have played in a year. Plus the physical side of the NBA is college times 5!
They are tired, physically as well as mentally. Every team is playing tighter defense on them now and it is tough especially on Tyreke. Gonna happen to every rook. Gotta be patient. It takes time.
They are tired, physically as well as mentally. Every team is playing tighter defense on them now and it is tough especially on Tyreke. Gonna happen to every rook. Gotta be patient. It takes time.
Since the miraculous Chicago comeback win, the Kings are 2-9. However 4 of those losses Cleveland, both Laker games and the Golden State game, were exciting, and right there to be won. But our ROOKIE-NESS and lack of close-ability did not allow that to happen.
That is going to change at some point, but not right now. It is unfair to ask a team where Donte, Tyreke, Hawes, Thompson, Caspi, Brockman (virtually 2/3 of your regular rotation) has a combined 10 years of NBA experience. Then you throw in the presence of Martin after a 32 game absence and you get what we are getting right now. If this were just Evans and a group of veterans, that is one thing. BUT NOT THIS GROUP!!
I am still thouroughly entertained, very encouraged, very engaged with this coach and this group of players.
That is going to change at some point, but not right now. It is unfair to ask a team where Donte, Tyreke, Hawes, Thompson, Caspi, Brockman (virtually 2/3 of your regular rotation) has a combined 10 years of NBA experience. Then you throw in the presence of Martin after a 32 game absence and you get what we are getting right now. If this were just Evans and a group of veterans, that is one thing. BUT NOT THIS GROUP!!
I am still thouroughly entertained, very encouraged, very engaged with this coach and this group of players.
I've always been one of those guys that likes a set rotation. I especially like a set starting lineup. But, I've been willing to give Westphal the benefit of the doubt because of the youth on the team, and having some of the peices missing due to injury. But I think you do reach a point where you need stability in the lineup. Martin's return only causes more instability. Now thats not Martins fault, and once again I'm willing to wait and see how it all works out. But my gut tells me, Houston, we have a problem.
got to agree with you.
just look what Casspi said in his last article:
"Personally, I have to admit that lately my shots have been a little off; I think it's a matter of cumulative fatigue. But I believe in my shot and my ability to score. I'm trying to focus more on rebounding the ball but unfortunately that wasn't enough against Orlando. I try to rest as much as possible, we played a lot of games already and it's not easy. I feel the decline in energy, but if it's because I've been getting more minutes and it's letting me establish my role more, then I'm happy about it. The pace of play is non-stop, but in the end I believe that the body gets used to it and I've learned quite a bit so far. Even right now we are up against six very tough games, lets hope we can get some more wins on the road."
guess it's time to play more with the bench and get the startest a little more rest
just look what Casspi said in his last article:
"Personally, I have to admit that lately my shots have been a little off; I think it's a matter of cumulative fatigue. But I believe in my shot and my ability to score. I'm trying to focus more on rebounding the ball but unfortunately that wasn't enough against Orlando. I try to rest as much as possible, we played a lot of games already and it's not easy. I feel the decline in energy, but if it's because I've been getting more minutes and it's letting me establish my role more, then I'm happy about it. The pace of play is non-stop, but in the end I believe that the body gets used to it and I've learned quite a bit so far. Even right now we are up against six very tough games, lets hope we can get some more wins on the road."
guess it's time to play more with the bench and get the startest a little more rest
Yeah, the losing gets frustrating, but the schedule has been much tougher. This team is worlds better than last year. It's unlikely that a team could go from 17-65 to the 8th seed in the West. The Kings are still better than what we expected and with all of the youth you have to expect a slump. Heck Evans and Brockman's season would normally be over after 38 games. College can only do so much to prepare guys for the marathon that is the NBA.
Where did our "exciting young team" go?
In the past couple of months, the kings were playing pretty much game with a admirable level of intensity and working their butts off every game. Every time i turned on the tv it was exciting to watch and support the kings even if they lost just because you could see the amount of effort and heart everyone on the team was putting into the game. Recently tho it seems like our team has lost their drive and motivation and they just aren't as exciting to watch anymore. In addition With tyreke not playing as well as he was before his ankle injury I don't see anybody really stepping up to help out the team and take some of the burden off of reke.(except martin of course) It's just been so frustrating watching these kings play the way they have been playing the last couple of games. Wats even more frustrating is their desicion making and ball handling late in the game after having remained competitive for the first 3 quarters. they have been getting even more sloppy late in the game instead of doing wat they need to do: taking care of the ball and keeping their head in the game. Pls don't tell me I'm the only one feeling this change of tone with these kings..
In the past couple of months, the kings were playing pretty much game with a admirable level of intensity and working their butts off every game. Every time i turned on the tv it was exciting to watch and support the kings even if they lost just because you could see the amount of effort and heart everyone on the team was putting into the game. Recently tho it seems like our team has lost their drive and motivation and they just aren't as exciting to watch anymore. In addition With tyreke not playing as well as he was before his ankle injury I don't see anybody really stepping up to help out the team and take some of the burden off of reke.(except martin of course) It's just been so frustrating watching these kings play the way they have been playing the last couple of games. Wats even more frustrating is their desicion making and ball handling late in the game after having remained competitive for the first 3 quarters. they have been getting even more sloppy late in the game instead of doing wat they need to do: taking care of the ball and keeping their head in the game. Pls don't tell me I'm the only one feeling this change of tone with these kings..
too much negativity going around right now..... rookies hit the wall. we already have a thread discussing it. i know its disappointing, we just have to trust the guys to get out of their funk and play.
i wont complain if I see effort, and willingness to play. i wouldnt mind if we lost but saw the ball movement and the energy the young ones bring every single night.
the long nba season has taken its toll on our young group they are exhausted. back to back games, travelling cross country. not to mention the practice and oh the work outs. it will take a lot out of you. They will get better they will find their groove. I also understand a lot of people frustrated with the line up westphal has been experimenting, we will never know what happens in the practice games and how indepth his knowledge about the players are. we can postulate a lot of line up ideas and rotation but it boils down to what we see.. and what he has seen behind the game time.
look on the bright side of things my friend.
1. are we the clippers? no were not
2. Are we the worst team on the league... no were not the nets are
3. Do we have very bad contracts no..some teams have (other than noc no one else)
4. Do we have a superstar that will probably bail on us this summer? no every one's pretty much inked for the next 3 years... but cleveland, miami, and toronto have a problem.
5. are the kings moving? Not after the arena proposal.
there are so many positives going around the kings we just fail to see it sometimes
i wont complain if I see effort, and willingness to play. i wouldnt mind if we lost but saw the ball movement and the energy the young ones bring every single night.
the long nba season has taken its toll on our young group they are exhausted. back to back games, travelling cross country. not to mention the practice and oh the work outs. it will take a lot out of you. They will get better they will find their groove. I also understand a lot of people frustrated with the line up westphal has been experimenting, we will never know what happens in the practice games and how indepth his knowledge about the players are. we can postulate a lot of line up ideas and rotation but it boils down to what we see.. and what he has seen behind the game time.
look on the bright side of things my friend.
1. are we the clippers? no were not
2. Are we the worst team on the league... no were not the nets are
3. Do we have very bad contracts no..some teams have (other than noc no one else)
4. Do we have a superstar that will probably bail on us this summer? no every one's pretty much inked for the next 3 years... but cleveland, miami, and toronto have a problem.
5. are the kings moving? Not after the arena proposal.
there are so many positives going around the kings we just fail to see it sometimes
I do not believe that they have hit any kind of wall its almost a 100% having to do with Martin coming back if you have watched the first couple of games this season and the last couple of games they are almost identical they do not mesh well with Kmart back its plain and simple you can not have two dominant ball handlers in the backcourt it almost never works and it will never work on a championship team right now kmart needs to keep playing to showcase his ability and look for possible trade for a top pick and some expiring contracts I would not go after any of the bigs available like bosh and jefferson as much as I like there offensive ability i dislike there defensive ability and I like the defensive minded kids we have had out there the first part of the season(especially Donte) we are in one of those rare situations were are younger players put us in the best position to win not only now but in the future If we were to get to lottery picks saying we dont make the playoffs and trade for one i would love to pick up some more youngsters in the draft like Jarvis Varnado who would be a great addition to are defensive movement and Derrick Favors is another guy I really like although getting him would be far fetched I would really like a deal with Utah for NYK pick.
No doubt K-Mart's presence has altered the team in the last two games but to say that there is no evidence of a rookie wall seems kind of ignorant. All three of our rooks have dropped several rungs down the productivity ladder. Omri looks plain lost out there sometimes and his stroke is quite simply not there. Teams are beginning to clue in on the fact that Jon Brockman lacks offensive abilities and it's starting to hurt the team when he's in there. Tyreke has quite honestly been struggling. He can't seem to finish around the rim like earlier in the year and there are plenty of instances where he seems lethargic and playing in slow motion. His defense has also seemed to have dropped significantly the past few games (he's been getting the Kevin Martin-style invisible man steals).
So you seriously would not trade for Chris friggen' Bosh? I can understand the whole "his contract is expiring" sentiment but that didn't seem to be your case. You say that you like our current defensive mindset. This "mindset" is completely not there in our young bigs. I find it hard to think that Bosh or Jefferson could possibly do worse than JT and Hawes have been doing on D over the past few games.
If Utah's trying to unload their salary cap overload why would they trade their First round pick for more salary?
So you seriously would not trade for Chris friggen' Bosh? I can understand the whole "his contract is expiring" sentiment but that didn't seem to be your case. You say that you like our current defensive mindset. This "mindset" is completely not there in our young bigs. I find it hard to think that Bosh or Jefferson could possibly do worse than JT and Hawes have been doing on D over the past few games.
If Utah's trying to unload their salary cap overload why would they trade their First round pick for more salary?
I wouldn't blame Kevin for these two matches- it's true and I agree he has disrupted the team chemistry, but what I see it's the team has slowed down since he is back, so it's more on Westphal.
We don't run as much as we ran before, and thats why we have averaged 80ppg instead of 100+ ppg. We try to squeeze every possesion trying to search Kevin, and slowing down the rythm only to integrate Martin it's a bad idea. Because the point it's our bigs have much more trouble to score against static deffense; they don't have a great catalogue of post movements or tools in attack if the deffense is already set. It's not about seeing his throw attemps and saying they aren't having this best nights, the point is they will never have their night if they have to play static offense 99% of the time.
This team is going no-where if they're trying to play a half-court game, because the overall deffense still sucks, and half-court offenses are great when you have an atonishing deffense and at least one big who can score by himself, but we don't have any of these things. Even if Martin scored a three in every possesion, it doesn't worth it.
We don't run as much as we ran before, and thats why we have averaged 80ppg instead of 100+ ppg. We try to squeeze every possesion trying to search Kevin, and slowing down the rythm only to integrate Martin it's a bad idea. Because the point it's our bigs have much more trouble to score against static deffense; they don't have a great catalogue of post movements or tools in attack if the deffense is already set. It's not about seeing his throw attemps and saying they aren't having this best nights, the point is they will never have their night if they have to play static offense 99% of the time.
This team is going no-where if they're trying to play a half-court game, because the overall deffense still sucks, and half-court offenses are great when you have an atonishing deffense and at least one big who can score by himself, but we don't have any of these things. Even if Martin scored a three in every possesion, it doesn't worth it.