D(G)-League thread

#1
Sorry but it's hard for me to call it the G League. Since when does a sponsor change the entire name of a sports league? Anyway...

Jack Cooley with 36pts and 11 reb!!! Goes 15-17 from the field and 1-1 from three. Wow.

Jakarr Sampson adds in 16 and 9

Former popular Kentucky star Aaron Harrison adds in 24 of his own.

Will be watching to see if Malachi, Papa, Mason or Giles spend some time in Reno at some point this year.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
#5
Jack Cooley did what? Not a lot of talent other than playing his ass off and maximizing what he can do......could use that toughness to be honest.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#6
Jack Cooley did what? Not a lot of talent other than playing his ass off and maximizing what he can do......could use that toughness to be honest.
I think that's why so many of us liked him at Summer League. He's the plowhorse who never wins the race but is always there when you need somebody to do the heavy lifting.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
#7
I think that's why so many of us liked him at Summer League. He's the plowhorse who never wins the race but is always there when you need somebody to do the heavy lifting.
He's not soft nor is Papa nor is Jakar Sampson which makes it frustrating when our 2 more talented, athletic bigs, WCS and Skal, are soft.
 
#8
Malachi and JJ debut in Reno tonight with Papa joining them. They all got off to a hot start. Game can be watched here. No need for a facebook account.

https://www.facebook.com/nbagleague/videos/vb.55070120288/10155668830700289/?type=3&theater

edit - Got to watch some of the game. Jackson looked really smooth out there. Still played incredibly soft but he was really good. Malachi was awesome in the first half and did nothing in the second half. Papa is still really slow to react to nearly everything but he did a good job of cleaning up around the paint. Does a good job of passing out of the post. Stockton's defense is what will keep him from ever getting minutes in the NBA.
 
Last edited:
#15
Add Skal to the list

@SacramentoKings Assign Labissiere To Reno Bighorns, Recall Papagiannis.
On the one hand I think a stint in Reno will be good for Skal. He's regressed rather than build on the very promising play we saw at the end of last season. On the other hand, I do worry about whether it negativily affects him mentally. More than most young players, Labissiere's game seems very dependent on his confidence level.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#16
On the one hand I think a stint in Reno will be good for Skal. He's regressed rather than build on the very promising play we saw at the end of last season. On the other hand, I do worry about whether it negativily affects him mentally. More than most young players, Labissiere's game seems very dependent on his confidence level.
not to sound like a douche but if he is a mentally weak player, then the Kings shouldn't have him in their future plans IMO. This team needs confident players that are willing to put in the work despite the circumstances and only grow from the roadblocks along the way.
 
#18
Honestly, I see this as a way to try to light a fuse under him. He won't tear the G-League up or anything but this is good for him if Joerger feels he doesn't deserve minutes at this point in the season.
My guess is Jakarr takes his place as a small ball 4. Itd be nice to get Giles back
 
#19
IF HE'S A MENTALLY WEAK player?

The guy came to Kentucky with an inside track for a mega millions contract and flushed it away because he wouldn't compete. Flat wouldn't compete. He lost his starting job quickly. He eventually got his but kicked enough in practice that his minutes were reduced. In the games, as it was said during the draft, he got pushed around by guys who get pushed around. And all along that process, clearly people were trying to intervene saying "Skal, you are costing yourself a fortune. You have to try harder and get more physical." But, nope.

Based upon the red flags above, he fell like a stone in the draft. The Kings made him a reclamation project. Skal talked about getting a mental toughness coach. He played in the D-League for 2/3 of the season. Then, when the Kings were in free fall and often playing teams that were taking, he got extended NBA burn. For about 20 games, he put up some raw numbers. As I said this summer, I still had issues with how he competed on defense and for rebounds in traffic during those 20 or so games.

Now, it sure looks like he's fallen back into the Kentucky rut. They've sent him down to see whether they can wake him up. When you've got major effort issues 2 out 3 years ... that seems like a thing.
 
#20
I actually like how the Kings are using the G-League to give the young guys playing time, that they wouldn't get on the NBA roster. Much like what they did last year.

This also thins out the Kings roster, so the players should get more consistent minutes on the big league squad.

They really need to use both the G-League and the NBA roster to give enough minutes to so many young guys.

The cream will eventually rise to the top! :)
 
#22
Grant, Hamm, about 1/2 of this board, they all looked right past what caused a ton of teams to pass on Skal based upon 20 dog day games. Based upon a handful of games, Skal was the real deal. He was part of the "young core"

Skal still has time and the talent to move from project to quality starter. But, he's a project that seems to have a major flaw.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
#23
Skal either has a low motor or he's just physically underdeveloped........maybe a combo of both. For sure, he's a slow twitch, not strong enough guy who has a nice shooting touch. The slow twitchyness does have me worried about his future.
 

gunks

Hall of Famer
#24
Skal has been a bummer this year. Papa was always a ???! pick. But I still think Bogs is going to be a better pro than Chriss. So while it may not be a total coup, I still think Vlade eek'd out a win on that trade.

I'm hoping the G-league will be good for all the kids, get em some burn. That's what's it there for.
 
#25
I'd rather Skal at least get some burn in the G League rather than waste away on the bench but Papa is worse than Skal in nearly every way. Should have brought Sampson back up and let Papa get more playing time in Reno.
 
#26
Skal has been a bummer this year. Papa was always a ???! pick. But I still think Bogs is going to be a better pro than Chriss. So while it may not be a total coup, I still think Vlade eek'd out a win on that trade.

I'm hoping the G-league will be good for all the kids, get em some burn. That's what's it there for.
Skal and Chriss are essentially in the same boat right now as far as their sophomore seasons are going. There's a lot of similarities between the two actually in terms of their weaknesses.

If we remove Skal and Papa from the equation and think about it from a drafting perspective, then you take Chriss every day of the week. Because even if Chriss busts and Bogdanovic turns into a good pro, the most you gave away to gamble on Chriss was a role player.

I'd trade Bogdanovic for Chriss straight up and not even think about it.
 
#28
IF HE'S A MENTALLY WEAK player?

The guy came to Kentucky with an inside track for a mega millions contract and flushed it away because he wouldn't compete. Flat wouldn't compete. He lost his starting job quickly. He eventually got his but kicked enough in practice that his minutes were reduced. In the games, as it was said during the draft, he got pushed around by guys who get pushed around. And all along that process, clearly people were trying to intervene saying "Skal, you are costing yourself a fortune. You have to try harder and get more physical." But, nope.

Based upon the red flags above, he fell like a stone in the draft. The Kings made him a reclamation project. Skal talked about getting a mental toughness coach. He played in the D-League for 2/3 of the season. Then, when the Kings were in free fall and often playing teams that were taking, he got extended NBA burn. For about 20 games, he put up some raw numbers. As I said this summer, I still had issues with how he competed on defense and for rebounds in traffic during those 20 or so games.

Now, it sure looks like he's fallen back into the Kentucky rut. They've sent him down to see whether they can wake him up. When you've got major effort issues 2 out 3 years ... that seems like a thing.
Being really tough on him, but Skal falls into the low ball IQ boat. He's new to basketball and he's going to be a project. He doesn't have enough strength or IQ on defense. He gets pushed around by anyone and as you said, he's not aggressive enough going up for boards. Lots of work needs to be done on Skal's front. Our disappointment in Skal comes from the product of how much the Kings and local media have hyped him. Got to sell tickets somehow right?
 
#29
Skal either has a low motor or he's just physically underdeveloped........maybe a combo of both. For sure, he's a slow twitch, not strong enough guy who has a nice shooting touch. The slow twitchyness does have me worried about his future.
For some odd reason, I thought he could grow out of that slow twitch.. I feel like if he's ever able to process the game at NBA speed, he'll be faster in general. But now, I'm starting to see his future in the NBA as a C instead of PF.

I'm marking Skal as a project player now. The Kings need to get him on a serious training program.