Grades v. Cavaliers 1/2/2013

[Kings Faithful]

It is in a way. When you really think about it, we never had our key guys firing at the same time. Now if Cuz continues this form, Tyreke comes back in the sort of form he was in before the injury, JT continuing his consistently good form, Salmons continuing to play his role and with improving Jimmer and JJ this thing really could turn. That is not even counting on MT and IT.

We really need DMC and Reke firing at the same time to be any chance. JJ, if he can get a consistent spot up jumper and is willing to be a role player is pretty much what we are after at SF. Add another shot blocking, genuine big and really good things could start happening.

I still think we need to make a move. As much as I like some of our players we still lack a smart play maker. Cousins passing surge has really helped in this department but honestly we should have abused the Cavs down low much worse than we did. When we started to let the Cavs back in it we continually ignored our advantage in the paint when Cuz was on the floor. We need the guy who is smart enough to go right back to him every time until the opponent decides to do something about it, in that kind of situation of course.

[Čarolija]

I still think we need to make a move. As much as I like some of our players we still lack a smart play maker. Cousins passing surge has really helped in this department but honestly we should have abused the Cavs down low much worse than we did. When we started to let the Cavs back in it we continually ignored our advantage in the paint when Cuz was on the floor. We need the guy who is smart enough to go right back to him every time until the opponent decides to do something about it, in that kind of situation of course.

I am not against a move as long as the 3 players I would like us to keep are not involved but a lot of what you are saying is on a coach. When you have that big an advantage and the players are not recognising it, then it is coach's responsibility to make the players aware of it.

[Kings Faithful]

I am not against a move as long as the 3 players I would like us to keep are not involved but a lot of what you are saying is on a coach. When you have that big an advantage and the players are not recognising it, then it is coach's responsibility to make the players aware of it.

True. Which is exactly why we need a player who the coach doesn't have to tell that to.

[mac]

It's time to bring back the LWVC Award!!!

[jcwkings]

The thing that IT does well is that he does get us into our sets faster than any of our other gaurds. At times he looks for his shot too much though. I don't really know what Smart should do once both Tyreke and Thornton are back. Is Tyreke your starting 2? I just have always liked Garcia as the solid defender, spot up 3 pt shooter, has always needed to be more consistent. Salmons has been playing too well lately, and is a good playmaker when the ball is swung to him. I don't see Smart benching both Brooks and IT and starting Tyreke at the 1. That leaves us in a bind because Garcia is only useful when Cousins and presumably Tyreke will be drawing so much attention that he will be the defacto spot up shooter in the corners. I can see IT being the odd man out, but he does seem to be the emotional leader (or at least one of them) of this team. I would like to see

pg: Tyreke
sg: Garcia
sf: Salmons
pf: JT
c: Cousins

but again there could be alot of issues team chemistry wise going with that lineup. Tough call for Smart in the coming week(s). A trade would make things easier.

[andremiller07]

For some reason I just really like Thomas out there in particular with Cuz, I think he plays far better with Cousins than any of the other PG's/combo guards. The guys positive energy is only good for the team maybe when Reek comes back he can be more of a spot up shooter and still when he gets the chance push the pace and hopefully run in the full court with Evans.

[UK_King]

T-rob seemed to get into coach smart at one point, there was an exchange at least.

interesting.

I think it's going to take him longer than we'd hope to realise he can't do the things he did in college anymore, he thinks he's Lebron out there.

[mac]

T-rob seemed to get into coach smart at one point, there was an exchange at least.

interesting.

I think it's going to take him longer than we'd hope to realise he can't do the things he did in college anymore, he thinks he's Lebron out there.

Indefinite suspension and TRob comes back playing like an all star?

[Kingster]

T-rob seemed to get into coach smart at one point, there was an exchange at least.

interesting.

I think it's going to take him longer than we'd hope to realise he can't do the things he did in college anymore, he thinks he's Lebron out there.

I think you're referring to when Smart yanked him from the game because of his poor D. The same thing happened two games ago: T-Rob made a terrible effort on a defensive play; Smart takes him out of the game; T-Rob yells at Smart. It's really ridiculous when you have a rookie engaging in this type of behavior. Smart is letting this go on for far too long. I'd rather yank the chain hard now than next year or the year after.

[Kingster]

With respect to Tyreke, I just want him in shape as soon as possible. He's been out of action for quite a while now and he's not exactly a cardio superman, so hopefully he can get back to where he was cardio-wise in two to three weeks. I don't want him as a point guard. He's not good at it. He should stick to the 2.

I want IT at the point. He can play with any other guard the Kings have, including Tyreke. I don't buy in the least that he can't play with Tyreke. If he can play with Jimmer (and he can), he can play with Tyreke. The ball has been moving very well the last three or four games. Let's keep it that way.

[R2D2]

It's time to bring back the LWVC Award!!!

Time to bring back piksi!!!

[LWP777]

Time to bring back piksi!!!

What happened to him?

[kupman]

If this happens, Thornton could probably be moved fairly easily. I like him but I like how the team is playing without him. Bring Reke back and I think things could get very interesting, especially with the current attitude the team seems to be bringing to the court. I do not want to get my hopes up, but I'm cautiously optimistic.

MT has never made a lot of sense for this team IMHO. A great scorer to be sure, but the only time that I think he make us significantly better is when Reke is injured (which turns out to be quite a lot). We traded Kmart because he and Reke were oil and water. I don't think Reke and MT are any better of a mixture.

Reke himself will need to figure out how to fit in with the current chemistry. This has been the best week of the season for us and it is directly tied to better ball movement and better ball care. The assist to TO ratio has been wonderful of late.

If MT could be packaged with another player (even one of our best players) to land us a very high quality SF, I would be very excited.

[Section 101]

If MT could be packaged with another player (even one of our best players) to land us a very high quality SF, I would be very excited.

People really need to look at the SF's in the league. There are only a hand full of high quality ones out there. The rest are all about the same.

[Spike]

People really need to look at the SF's in the league. There are only a hand full of high quality ones out there. The rest are all about the same.

How's this for a list? Ugh. Came out a little small.



Your point still stands, though. A quality SF would be nice, but I think trimming the roster of midgets and adding serviceable (bigger) bodies would do more for this team in the long run, especially if we could do a 2 for 1 or a 3 for 2 sort of deal...something like (IT/MT/Outlaw) but who would be willing to take it?

[Padrino]

People really need to look at the SF's in the league. There are only a hand full of high quality ones out there. The rest are all about the same.

one could say the same of just about every position in the nba. the league is star-driven. has been for a few decades now. gotta own a star or two, and a couple of those "high quality" guys, and the rest of the battle is fitting together the appropriate puzzle pieces. players of a particular position around the league may be "about the same," but it is in the measurable differences between such players where the good GMs separate themselves from the bad GMs. a bad GM (read: geoff petrie) brings in endlessly duplicative skill sets in some desperate attempt to stockpile enough scoring ability to make up for a team's dearth of talent. but in exactly zero scenarios does it make the slightest sense for tyreke evans, marcus thornton, aaron brooks, isaiah thomas, and jimmer fredette to exist on the same team. they are all ball-dominant PG/SG hybrids. and neither john salmons nor francisco garcia are true SF's, though the kings have spent enough time in the past pretending like they both are. james johnson, offensive dolt though he may be, is the kings' one legitimate SF (as is travis outlaw, when the kings play the blazers). so, package a couple of your extraneous guards to bring in another SF who can play defense and also spot up from outside, and all of a sudden it doesn't matter so much that the SF you traded for isn't any kind of world-beater. the kings will have filled a roster need, and will have tightened up their rotation through necessary subtraction. it's no coincidence that the kings are playing better team ball of late because of their injuries. the rotation is tighter, with fewer duplicative skill sets clashing against each other...

note: don't read this as any kind of indictment of tyreke evans. we all know where i stand regarding his place on this team.

[Kingster]

If this happens, Thornton could probably be moved fairly easily. I like him but I like how the team is playing without him. Bring Reke back and I think things could get very interesting, especially with the current attitude the team seems to be bringing to the court. I do not want to get my hopes up, but I'm cautiously optimistic.

Yes, teams in the hunt for the playoffs alway like to have a guy who can come off the bench and score.

I'm cautiously optimistic as well. There seems to have been a huge turn in the assist making on this team. You don't always see the execution, but the good intent seems to be there.

[Padrino]

Is it crazy to anyone else we're only 4 1/2 games out of an 8 seed right now after everything that has happened this year?

the kings record of 12-20, for a .375 win percentage, is thus far a modest improvement on their total win percentage of .333 in '11-'12. but if you want a sobering reality, golden state finished that lockout-shortened season at 23-43, for a .348 win percentage. they are 22-10 right now, for a win percentage of .688, with andrew bogut still stashed on the IR. and, apart from OKC's dominance, san antonio's fountain of youth, and the clippers living up to their promise, the western conference is wide open. dallas is as unlikely to make the playoffs as the kings are. the lakers may actually miss the playoffs altogether. it's a scrum with houston, denver, portland, minnesota, utah, and LA all vying for the final few seeds. this year was the year to make a run at the playoffs. and the kings once again stumbled out of the gate. 4.5 games is actually a lot of ground to make up. in the immediate sense, it would require the kings to go on a 9 or 10-game win streak to vault them towards the 8th seed. in a slightly more realistic vein, the kings would need to go 31-19 in their remaining games (43-82 finish, for a .524 win percentage) to get up to a win percentage worthy of that final playoff spot as it stands right now (with portland at 16-15, for a .516 win percentage)...

edit: i recognize that you were not claiming the kings had a shot at the playoffs. however, things do remain far from rosy. this team finished second-to-last in the western conference last season. they are third-to-last so far this season. i don't care about "everything that has happened this year." if the kings were to maintain last season's percentage, or were to slide backward, it would represent a total failure. as it stands, an improvement of a few games also represents a failure in my eyes. this team has been playing better of late, and if they can continue to play better, perhaps a sliver of hope will get them inching up the standings. but i don't personally find it "crazy" that the kings are currently "only" 4.5 games out of the 8th seed. it's right where they should be, given the way they've been GM'ed and coached, and given the way they've played. but their talent level begs for a better record. if they were 2.5 games out of the 8th seed, then we could talk about "crazy" outcomes...

[Capt. Factorial]

Indefinite suspension and TRob comes back playing like an all star?

I would take that.

[Bricklayer]

the kings record of 12-20, for a .375 win percentage, is thus far a modest improvement on their total win percentage of .333 in '11-'12. but if you want a sobering reality, golden state finished that lockout-shortened season at 23-43, for a .348 win percentage. they are 22-10 right now, for a win percentage of .688, with andrew bogut still stashed on the IR. and, apart from OKC's dominance, san antonio's fountain of youth, and the clippers living up to their promise, the western conference is wide open. dallas is as unlikely to make the playoffs as the kings are. the lakers may actually miss the playoffs altogether. it's a scrum with houston, denver, portland, minnesota, utah, and LA all vying for the final few seeds. this year was the year to make a run at the playoffs. and the kings once again stumbled out of the gate. 4.5 games is actually a lot of ground to make up. in the immediate sense, it would require the kings to go on a 9 or 10-game win streak to vault them towards the 8th seed. in a slightly more realistic vein, the kings would need to go 31-19 in their remaining games (43-82 finish, for a .524 win percentage) to get up to a win percentage worthy of that final playoff spot as it stands right now (with portland at 16-15, for a .516 win percentage)...

edit: i recognize that you were not claiming the kings had a shot at the playoffs. however, things do remain far from rosy. this team finished second-to-last in the western conference last season. they are third-to-last so far this season. i don't care about "everything that has happened this year." if the kings were to maintain last season's percentage, or were to slide backward, it would represent a total failure. as it stands, an improvement of a few games also represents a failure in my eyes. this team has been playing better of late, and if they can continue to play better, perhaps a sliver of hope will get them inching up the standings. but i don't personally find it "crazy" that the kings are currently "only" 4.5 games out of the 8th seed. it's right where they should be, given the way they've been GM'ed and coached, and given the way they've played. but their talent level begs for a better record. if they were 2.5 games out of the 8th seed, then we could talk about "crazy" outcomes...

You won't be laughing once we flip TRob and Travis Outlaw into Pau Gasol and go on a 32-18 tear down the stretch of the season behind our tripple tower Cousins/JT/Pau frontlline.