Personal messages such as this are best handled in PM form. There is no reason to drag personalities or personal observations into a public forum unless it is to criticize or belittle, even if it be passively. I would urge a moderator to delete this post (and mine as well) while encouraging the poster to take the conversation to a private arena.
Why Isn't Sasha Playing?
- Thread starter Kraft
- Start date
I haven't been following this conversation closely but I will say here that you can safely ignore anything Gilbert Arenas has to say. He's an idiot who managed to get himself kicked out of the NBA for smuggling guns into the locker room. The only reason he has a public platform to spout off on is because he has a knack for saying crazy things that attract attention. With 4 of the last 5 MVP awards going to international players and the early career success of Luka Doncic, I think even casual NBA fans are moving beyond the stereotype that players from Europe aren't skilled or athletic enough to headline an NBA team.
I said in the play-in thread that I thought Sasha Vezenkov was disappointing this season. To elaborate a bit, what was disappointing to me is how Monte made him the only significant free agent signing of the previous off-season and by the end of this season he had yet to establish himself as a regular rotation player. Now a lot of that had to do with lack of opportunity. His shooting was as-advertised, generally pretty good. I also thought he made some good reads with the ball and he was one of the better rebounders on the team. The adjustment he had to go through learning a new system, potentially feeling isolated in the U.S. with his family and girlfriend living overseas, and trying to find a role on a playoff team with the coach really emphasizing defense this season -- would have been challenging for any player to navigate.
I really hope this isn't the last we see of Vezenkov on the Kings though. I think there's too much focus on age in general with NBA players but especially when we're talking about skilled role-players. There's no reason why Vezenkov can't have a 10 year career in the NBA as a shooter, rebounder, passer who makes good decisions and gets the most out of his athleticism with smart positioning. I feel like too much has been made out of Mike Brown supposedly having poor communication with his players. We've seen him yell at players before and then laugh it off afterwards. It's part of his personality to demand a lot but also be generous with praise when his players deserve it. If we can continue to be patient -- with Monte as he explores ways to improve this roster, with Mike Brown as he learns how best to utilize all of his bench players, and with Vezenkov as he adjusts to the speed of the NBA and the grind of a long season -- I think we'll be rewarded with a lot of moments to cheer for in the coming years.
I said in the play-in thread that I thought Sasha Vezenkov was disappointing this season. To elaborate a bit, what was disappointing to me is how Monte made him the only significant free agent signing of the previous off-season and by the end of this season he had yet to establish himself as a regular rotation player. Now a lot of that had to do with lack of opportunity. His shooting was as-advertised, generally pretty good. I also thought he made some good reads with the ball and he was one of the better rebounders on the team. The adjustment he had to go through learning a new system, potentially feeling isolated in the U.S. with his family and girlfriend living overseas, and trying to find a role on a playoff team with the coach really emphasizing defense this season -- would have been challenging for any player to navigate.
I really hope this isn't the last we see of Vezenkov on the Kings though. I think there's too much focus on age in general with NBA players but especially when we're talking about skilled role-players. There's no reason why Vezenkov can't have a 10 year career in the NBA as a shooter, rebounder, passer who makes good decisions and gets the most out of his athleticism with smart positioning. I feel like too much has been made out of Mike Brown supposedly having poor communication with his players. We've seen him yell at players before and then laugh it off afterwards. It's part of his personality to demand a lot but also be generous with praise when his players deserve it. If we can continue to be patient -- with Monte as he explores ways to improve this roster, with Mike Brown as he learns how best to utilize all of his bench players, and with Vezenkov as he adjusts to the speed of the NBA and the grind of a long season -- I think we'll be rewarded with a lot of moments to cheer for in the coming years.
normally I will agree on you 100% if only there weren’t the last 10 games ….
After he got back from the injury , MB is just screwing with him , mate ….
A bit of a bad game against the best team in the league and you got frozen for a decade …
You score more then half points of your team for a period of some time (3 min in that case ) you got frozen !? Why !? You reached the 10 min mark !?
all players of your position are 2/17 in shooting at HT, are you going to get a chance !? NO … how do they finish ? 7/33 , game !? Lost by few points…
And the cherry of the top in game where you lead most of the time with 40 plus point you get garbage time with the C squad , and not a second in the first 3 with the starters …
All that speaks only one - you are not under Coach’s radar as valuable member of the team ….
Let’s be honest ( I hope we will enter the playoffs at the end ) will Vezenkov get minutes in play in and play offs - NOPE … or least meaningful minutes
After he got back from the injury , MB is just screwing with him , mate ….
A bit of a bad game against the best team in the league and you got frozen for a decade …
You score more then half points of your team for a period of some time (3 min in that case ) you got frozen !? Why !? You reached the 10 min mark !?
all players of your position are 2/17 in shooting at HT, are you going to get a chance !? NO … how do they finish ? 7/33 , game !? Lost by few points…
And the cherry of the top in game where you lead most of the time with 40 plus point you get garbage time with the C squad , and not a second in the first 3 with the starters …
All that speaks only one - you are not under Coach’s radar as valuable member of the team ….
Let’s be honest ( I hope we will enter the playoffs at the end ) will Vezenkov get minutes in play in and play offs - NOPE … or least meaningful minutes
The quoted part meant to be ironic but let me add some more details about the whole Sasha thing for people here to get some more insight of what's going on.
1. As a basketball player he is not a "pure shooter" but yet without Sabonis on the floor he is used like this, just waiting for the corner as if he is Jason Kapono. He has a high basketball IQ and despite not being so much athletic (not so physical strength can't jump high etc) he knows when to get close to the basket, is good at rebounding and he is a team player, not looking to play just for himself. Also a bit like Keegan so to get an idea, he is not dirty at all, doesn't flop, doesn't have that "mean thing" to "kill the opponent", he is a nice guy in and out of the court.
2. As a human, recently there was a Sacramento Kings social team video asking the players who they don't want to be roommates with and I think Slawson told "Sasha because he is the whole time at his phone". His family is in Bulgaria, his girlfriend is in Greece, so he tries to contact them as long as possible despite that not being so easy due to the time difference. The tricky part is that media in Greece (and I assume in Bulgaria too) "repost" every single news/rumors/articles that are related with Sasha. Being so far from home, I think it's impossible for him to "shut down social media" and I am sure that all those things come back to him either by reading them himself or via his friends/girlfriend/family. A month ago or so there was a huge criticism because his gf won a medal with the Greece National Waterpolo team and the headlines of the news instead of her name (I think she is the captain of the team) she was mentioned as "Sasha Vezenkov's girlfriend" that caused a mess how "demoting" that is, "disrespectful" and well you can understand. Sasha was sidelined for two whole months so I am sure he had more time to read all those stories about him.
3. In one of his interviews he told that "he is ready to return" yet there were 2 more weeks after that without him entering the court and when he finally did he barely got a chance to play, despite contributing and trying on defense (had steals, blocks, won some "charging" fouls) and even though Kings had injury issues and HB was underperforming. He didn't get the chance to play when Lyles was OUT (though he told that he was fit) and after Trey returned he was the one spending more time from the 2nd unit regarding the forward positions. During the beginning of the season he was active on the bench celebrating baskets, high fives in timeouts etc. Still I haven't seen him talking to anybody when sitting on the bench apart from Domas. I don't know if Sasha speaks Spanish (spent some time in Barcelona) that Domas is more fluent to, but he's the only one I saw him speaking. In 2024 after he had a "run" of DNP-CD his mood is went "down" for sure and his injury (twice) later on made things even worse.
4. In fb groups there are people talking about him like he is the responsible that Kings are not doing well, as if he has a big salary and Kings should have signed someone better, criticize every thing he does, make fun of him in any chance they get. There are many people, toxic fans, that have the "Arenas mentality" in a way, it's a good thing I haven't seen anyone being like that in this forum. Writing that he hasn't been good or hasn't matched the expectations is ok, but "attacking" him is a whole different thing. Even the worst comments regarding HB here (by myself included) are nothing with what they write over there. I think a guy called "Nakamura" is the one that does that each time. But ok I left all those groups and never wrote anything myself not to get involved in a "war".
5. Sometimes I feel empathy for Sasha because he is a 28 year old rookie, at the same age I was in the army (all men have to go through this in Greece) but since I was studying and then working I postponed it as much as possible but couldn't escape it. So I went at 28 and had to do all the same things that 18-19 year old boys did, treated the same and had to take orders from people that were younger than me or had to face other boys that had longer time in the army that are supposed to be superior (Greek army is similar with how prison works, people that have been there before you do seem to have more rights than the guys that just showed up there). I don't mean that he is mistreated but it must have been hard for him to be considered someone that has to wait to prove who he is after the Kings had months and months of negotiations in order to bring him to the club last year, dozens of trips to Greece to watch him play, even MB himself traveled a couple of times.
Anyway, I am sure we won't get to see him playing this season again unless there is a big margin at the last minutes of the game, hopefully in favor of the Kings. Regardless of what will happen with him in the future, I wish him the best and perhaps it's better if he will be traded to get a chance of playing time like Micic did, another former Euroleague MVP moving to the NBA not so young as well.
1. As a basketball player he is not a "pure shooter" but yet without Sabonis on the floor he is used like this, just waiting for the corner as if he is Jason Kapono. He has a high basketball IQ and despite not being so much athletic (not so physical strength can't jump high etc) he knows when to get close to the basket, is good at rebounding and he is a team player, not looking to play just for himself. Also a bit like Keegan so to get an idea, he is not dirty at all, doesn't flop, doesn't have that "mean thing" to "kill the opponent", he is a nice guy in and out of the court.
2. As a human, recently there was a Sacramento Kings social team video asking the players who they don't want to be roommates with and I think Slawson told "Sasha because he is the whole time at his phone". His family is in Bulgaria, his girlfriend is in Greece, so he tries to contact them as long as possible despite that not being so easy due to the time difference. The tricky part is that media in Greece (and I assume in Bulgaria too) "repost" every single news/rumors/articles that are related with Sasha. Being so far from home, I think it's impossible for him to "shut down social media" and I am sure that all those things come back to him either by reading them himself or via his friends/girlfriend/family. A month ago or so there was a huge criticism because his gf won a medal with the Greece National Waterpolo team and the headlines of the news instead of her name (I think she is the captain of the team) she was mentioned as "Sasha Vezenkov's girlfriend" that caused a mess how "demoting" that is, "disrespectful" and well you can understand. Sasha was sidelined for two whole months so I am sure he had more time to read all those stories about him.
3. In one of his interviews he told that "he is ready to return" yet there were 2 more weeks after that without him entering the court and when he finally did he barely got a chance to play, despite contributing and trying on defense (had steals, blocks, won some "charging" fouls) and even though Kings had injury issues and HB was underperforming. He didn't get the chance to play when Lyles was OUT (though he told that he was fit) and after Trey returned he was the one spending more time from the 2nd unit regarding the forward positions. During the beginning of the season he was active on the bench celebrating baskets, high fives in timeouts etc. Still I haven't seen him talking to anybody when sitting on the bench apart from Domas. I don't know if Sasha speaks Spanish (spent some time in Barcelona) that Domas is more fluent to, but he's the only one I saw him speaking. In 2024 after he had a "run" of DNP-CD his mood is went "down" for sure and his injury (twice) later on made things even worse.
4. In fb groups there are people talking about him like he is the responsible that Kings are not doing well, as if he has a big salary and Kings should have signed someone better, criticize every thing he does, make fun of him in any chance they get. There are many people, toxic fans, that have the "Arenas mentality" in a way, it's a good thing I haven't seen anyone being like that in this forum. Writing that he hasn't been good or hasn't matched the expectations is ok, but "attacking" him is a whole different thing. Even the worst comments regarding HB here (by myself included) are nothing with what they write over there. I think a guy called "Nakamura" is the one that does that each time. But ok I left all those groups and never wrote anything myself not to get involved in a "war".
5. Sometimes I feel empathy for Sasha because he is a 28 year old rookie, at the same age I was in the army (all men have to go through this in Greece) but since I was studying and then working I postponed it as much as possible but couldn't escape it. So I went at 28 and had to do all the same things that 18-19 year old boys did, treated the same and had to take orders from people that were younger than me or had to face other boys that had longer time in the army that are supposed to be superior (Greek army is similar with how prison works, people that have been there before you do seem to have more rights than the guys that just showed up there). I don't mean that he is mistreated but it must have been hard for him to be considered someone that has to wait to prove who he is after the Kings had months and months of negotiations in order to bring him to the club last year, dozens of trips to Greece to watch him play, even MB himself traveled a couple of times.
Anyway, I am sure we won't get to see him playing this season again unless there is a big margin at the last minutes of the game, hopefully in favor of the Kings. Regardless of what will happen with him in the future, I wish him the best and perhaps it's better if he will be traded to get a chance of playing time like Micic did, another former Euroleague MVP moving to the NBA not so young as well.
I understand that it's frustrating to watch these lineup decisions when there's nothing you or I can do to change things. I'm not going to pretend like there weren't moments this season when I questioned Mike Brown's rotation decisions as well. As you might recall, I even started a thread in part to complain about Davion Mitchell not getting minutes in the middle of the season which is something I've never done for another player before.
But ultimately this is for Sasha and Mike Brown to work out between themselves. They're both adults being paid to do a job that they love. Either they'll clear the air, find some common ground, and move forward in their relationship this summer or they won't. It's been a long, long slog for us Sacramento Kings fans just to experience a taste of the playoffs again. This is maybe the 50th time in the last 20 years that a player we had high hopes for found themselves frozen out of the rotation. Eventually you just have to realize that this is not our fight. Players play, coaches coach, fans cheer, and at the end of it all there's far more meaningful ways to spend your time than worrying about who is or is not getting minutes/shots/awards.
Respectfully, it is just a game in the end.
Whatever happens there will always be another season. Everyone starts over at 0-0 in 6 months and we do it all again. Unless someone takes our team away (which almost happened too).
But ultimately this is for Sasha and Mike Brown to work out between themselves. They're both adults being paid to do a job that they love. Either they'll clear the air, find some common ground, and move forward in their relationship this summer or they won't. It's been a long, long slog for us Sacramento Kings fans just to experience a taste of the playoffs again. This is maybe the 50th time in the last 20 years that a player we had high hopes for found themselves frozen out of the rotation. Eventually you just have to realize that this is not our fight. Players play, coaches coach, fans cheer, and at the end of it all there's far more meaningful ways to spend your time than worrying about who is or is not getting minutes/shots/awards.
Respectfully, it is just a game in the end.
Whatever happens there will always be another season. Everyone starts over at 0-0 in 6 months and we do it all again. Unless someone takes our team away (which almost happened too).
I understand that it's frustrating to watch these lineup decisions when there's nothing you or I can do to change things. I'm not going to pretend like there weren't moments this season when I questioned Mike Brown's rotation decisions as well. As you might recall, I even started a thread in part to complain about Davion Mitchell not getting minutes in the middle of the season which is something I've never done for another player before.
But ultimately this is for Sasha and Mike Brown to work out between themselves. They're both adults being paid to do a job that they love. Either they'll clear the air, find some common ground, and move forward in their relationship this summer or they won't. It's been a long, long slog for us Sacramento Kings fans just to experience a taste of the playoffs again. This is maybe the 50th time in the last 20 years that a player we had high hopes for found themselves frozen out of the rotation. Eventually you just have to realize that this is not our fight. Players play, coaches coach, fans cheer, and at the end of it all there's far more meaningful ways to spend your time than worrying about who is or is not getting minutes/shots/awards.
Respectfully, it is just a game in the end. Whatever happens there will always be another season. Everyone starts over at 0-0 in 6 months and we do it all again. Unless someone takes our team away (which almost happened too).
But ultimately this is for Sasha and Mike Brown to work out between themselves. They're both adults being paid to do a job that they love. Either they'll clear the air, find some common ground, and move forward in their relationship this summer or they won't. It's been a long, long slog for us Sacramento Kings fans just to experience a taste of the playoffs again. This is maybe the 50th time in the last 20 years that a player we had high hopes for found themselves frozen out of the rotation. Eventually you just have to realize that this is not our fight. Players play, coaches coach, fans cheer, and at the end of it all there's far more meaningful ways to spend your time than worrying about who is or is not getting minutes/shots/awards.
Respectfully, it is just a game in the end.
Whatever happens there will always be another season. Everyone starts over at 0-0 in 6 months and we do it all again. Unless someone takes our team away (which almost happened too).
You pretty much put end of the discussion
Totally agree by all you said … at the end of the day we can write whatever we want , but they are the once making decisions ….
Let’s cheer up and hope for long run into the playoffs , hopefully ….
I'll give you my perspective on the points you've raised:
1. Unfortunately this is the direction the NBA has gone in the current era. Everyone is treated like a spot-up shooter now. A lot of highly ranked prospects are fighting for the careers in the G-League or overseas instead of the NBA simply because they haven't been able to consistently make 40% of their catch and shoot three pointers. Some games all a bench player is going to get is 3 or 4 shots and if they can't make them count, that's it. Their NBA career could be over that fast. Nobody thinks this is fair.
2. We've seen this before with other international players. There's a lot of pride that comes with representing your country in the NBA but that often means players take on a lot more pressure too, feeling like they're letting down their whole country if they have a bad game. Then articles come out which are either mistranslated or heavily biased and resentment can develop between that player and the rest of the team. I hope Sasha is able to tune most of this out but you're probably right that a lot of it is unavoidable.
3. I would just remind you that there's a whole lot more that we don't see. How do they interact in the locker room? How do they interact on the team bus/plane? Some guys are just quiet and prefer to stay focused during the game. That doesn't mean they aren't happy for their teammates or that they're being excluded in some way. Maybe that is what's happening here -- I guess we'll find out soon enough. But it could also just be fans projecting their own frustrations onto Sasha.
4. No doubt there are many toxic fans on other platforms. There are also people who just feed off of antagonizing others. We have a running joke here on the forum about waiting to see which players will be blamed for everything year to year. It's always somebody. And when that player is traded, the "honor" just moves on to someone else. This year alone we had HB, Davion, Kevin Huerter, Trey Lyles, and even De'Aaron Fox at various times taking turns as the fan scapegoat of choice. I haven't seen much of the finger pointing aimed at Sasha this season but I'm not on Facebook or Twitter/X. I also hate it when our own fans boo the Kings at home. But that's just how passion works (and/or alcohol). We all deal with frustration in our own way. I hope that you don't judge us all for this kind of behavior.
5. The good news here is that Sasha isn't a rookie anymore! He's put that behind him and now he's got a whole off-season to reflect on what's worked, what hasn't worked, and what he wants to work on before next season. I hope we have a long playoff run this year and he starts to find some confidence that way. Playoff basketball is a lot different than the regular season. One truly great game, even one great moment can turn a role-player into a hero. If not, well, we try again next year.
1. Unfortunately this is the direction the NBA has gone in the current era. Everyone is treated like a spot-up shooter now. A lot of highly ranked prospects are fighting for the careers in the G-League or overseas instead of the NBA simply because they haven't been able to consistently make 40% of their catch and shoot three pointers. Some games all a bench player is going to get is 3 or 4 shots and if they can't make them count, that's it. Their NBA career could be over that fast. Nobody thinks this is fair.
2. We've seen this before with other international players. There's a lot of pride that comes with representing your country in the NBA but that often means players take on a lot more pressure too, feeling like they're letting down their whole country if they have a bad game. Then articles come out which are either mistranslated or heavily biased and resentment can develop between that player and the rest of the team. I hope Sasha is able to tune most of this out but you're probably right that a lot of it is unavoidable.
3. I would just remind you that there's a whole lot more that we don't see. How do they interact in the locker room? How do they interact on the team bus/plane? Some guys are just quiet and prefer to stay focused during the game. That doesn't mean they aren't happy for their teammates or that they're being excluded in some way. Maybe that is what's happening here -- I guess we'll find out soon enough. But it could also just be fans projecting their own frustrations onto Sasha.
4. No doubt there are many toxic fans on other platforms. There are also people who just feed off of antagonizing others. We have a running joke here on the forum about waiting to see which players will be blamed for everything year to year. It's always somebody. And when that player is traded, the "honor" just moves on to someone else. This year alone we had HB, Davion, Kevin Huerter, Trey Lyles, and even De'Aaron Fox at various times taking turns as the fan scapegoat of choice. I haven't seen much of the finger pointing aimed at Sasha this season but I'm not on Facebook or Twitter/X. I also hate it when our own fans boo the Kings at home. But that's just how passion works (and/or alcohol). We all deal with frustration in our own way. I hope that you don't judge us all for this kind of behavior.
5. The good news here is that Sasha isn't a rookie anymore! He's put that behind him and now he's got a whole off-season to reflect on what's worked, what hasn't worked, and what he wants to work on before next season. I hope we have a long playoff run this year and he starts to find some confidence that way. Playoff basketball is a lot different than the regular season. One truly great game, even one great moment can turn a role-player into a hero. If not, well, we try again next year.
I've watched the last game live on tv for a first time in a while (usually I watch the game recorded the next day). The bulgarian commentators are not like Kayte. The're not glued to the team and they can say anything. And this commentator completely destroyed Mike Brown. He reminded me of multiple interviews with coaches, saying that MB misses even some basics in the game. It's normal to hear on the Balkans that Brown's poor strategy costed about 20 games to the Kings. I don't agree with this high number, but I agree overall that there is something quite bizarre in the way he is choosing his strategies.
One of the main criticisms around here is that the coach was unable to unlock Sasha's shooting. Coming in with history of even more than 40% 3pt shooting, and having 38 % in the end of january, means you have a shooter in the middle of his first year in NBA who, while still adjusting to the league, is close to his previous numbers. If being let go out there, he will most probably reach them. So, try and let him loose for two-three games and see what happens. You have 82 games, man! Around the world you'll have less than 40 games, and coaches are still doing this. "I'm judged by one shot" - said Sasha not a while ago. This is "killing" your shooter.
The most annoying thing is that Keegan and Huerter got all the time in the world to miss hundreds of shots to reach their form and I don't think Kevin did it. It's very odd to stumble on this american way of thinking - "HB is a respected vet, he can't just not play". Well, it's not ok to have an F with 12 pts and 3 rebounds instead of Sasha, who I would bet will easily keep 16 pts and 5 rebounds as a starter, not to mention he is stealing the ball quite often. I'm not even mentioning Trey, who will be around 9-10 boards a game. It looks like that in the NBA It's better to keep your shiniest players around instead of winning.
If MB was to be coaching around here, without a doubt he would be fired around December. Not even trying to upgrade what you have and to stick to things that are not working for a long periods of time is plain loser mentality.
Sasha has grown in Europe, so all of this is in his head as well. I think that Brown looks more guilty to him than american fans can imagine. And still, he's a very nice guy and I don't think he'll act badly towards his coach.
It's common thinking in Europe that Euroleague MVP's entering the NBA will definitely be benched, just to show how superior the league is. And then, probably in the second season, the coach finally tries using the player as he should. This "superior" explanation is probably not true, because you can see that very good non-american players get more minutes in their second seasons. I think the same rule will apply for Sasha and he knows that. Maybe he'll give it a try with the Kings one more season. Also, being traded somewhere in the NBA, where he can get at least 15 min regurarly, so he can prove he has a place in the league, is tempting for him too.
But overall, IMO and from what I know Sasha can do, giving him in the hands of Brown is like giving a musician a new instrument. MB just couldn't learn how to tune him. I personally prefer for him to be traded, because MB really messed up the rotation at some point and threw bench players into confusion to where they stand. Sasha would be on edge if this doesn't repeat again the next season.
Btw, at the beginning of the season, a bulgarian living in the US explained on some podcast that in NBA it is "very important for an organisation to play their most expensive players. Otherwise, the people in the organisation would look as if they don't understand the game. So, with Sasha's salary and the competition on his position, expect him to fall out of the rotation often." It turned out to be true.
One of the main criticisms around here is that the coach was unable to unlock Sasha's shooting. Coming in with history of even more than 40% 3pt shooting, and having 38 % in the end of january, means you have a shooter in the middle of his first year in NBA who, while still adjusting to the league, is close to his previous numbers. If being let go out there, he will most probably reach them. So, try and let him loose for two-three games and see what happens. You have 82 games, man! Around the world you'll have less than 40 games, and coaches are still doing this. "I'm judged by one shot" - said Sasha not a while ago. This is "killing" your shooter.
The most annoying thing is that Keegan and Huerter got all the time in the world to miss hundreds of shots to reach their form and I don't think Kevin did it. It's very odd to stumble on this american way of thinking - "HB is a respected vet, he can't just not play". Well, it's not ok to have an F with 12 pts and 3 rebounds instead of Sasha, who I would bet will easily keep 16 pts and 5 rebounds as a starter, not to mention he is stealing the ball quite often. I'm not even mentioning Trey, who will be around 9-10 boards a game. It looks like that in the NBA It's better to keep your shiniest players around instead of winning.
If MB was to be coaching around here, without a doubt he would be fired around December. Not even trying to upgrade what you have and to stick to things that are not working for a long periods of time is plain loser mentality.
Sasha has grown in Europe, so all of this is in his head as well. I think that Brown looks more guilty to him than american fans can imagine. And still, he's a very nice guy and I don't think he'll act badly towards his coach.
It's common thinking in Europe that Euroleague MVP's entering the NBA will definitely be benched, just to show how superior the league is. And then, probably in the second season, the coach finally tries using the player as he should. This "superior" explanation is probably not true, because you can see that very good non-american players get more minutes in their second seasons. I think the same rule will apply for Sasha and he knows that. Maybe he'll give it a try with the Kings one more season. Also, being traded somewhere in the NBA, where he can get at least 15 min regurarly, so he can prove he has a place in the league, is tempting for him too.
But overall, IMO and from what I know Sasha can do, giving him in the hands of Brown is like giving a musician a new instrument. MB just couldn't learn how to tune him. I personally prefer for him to be traded, because MB really messed up the rotation at some point and threw bench players into confusion to where they stand. Sasha would be on edge if this doesn't repeat again the next season.
Btw, at the beginning of the season, a bulgarian living in the US explained on some podcast that in NBA it is "very important for an organisation to play their most expensive players. Otherwise, the people in the organisation would look as if they don't understand the game. So, with Sasha's salary and the competition on his position, expect him to fall out of the rotation often." It turned out to be true.
I can think of one counter to that generalization. In the 2021-22 season, Frank Vogel got fed up with his "star" point guard, Russell Westbrook, who at the beginning of th season refused to let other players bring the ball up the court. He finally benched Westbrook and a few others, and started the young guys from Arkansas who played with skill and passion: Austin Reaves and Malik Monk. And the team got better.
Of course, it made the GM look like an idiot, which he is, and Frank Vogel got fired. He was the designated fall guy.
Of course, it made the GM look like an idiot, which he is, and Frank Vogel got fired. He was the designated fall guy.
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I'm not ok with generalizations myself, sometimes they are true, but most times they're not.
But I was trying to point out what goes around in this part of the world, not because I think you might be curious, but because Sasha is definitely influenced by it.
I've been trying to justify some of Brown's decisions this season - after all, he's the COY. But some of them seem like mini seppukus. The whole psychology work with his team, especially the bench, seems very odd. To me, Vezenkov is just the center of the issue.
But I was trying to point out what goes around in this part of the world, not because I think you might be curious, but because Sasha is definitely influenced by it.
I've been trying to justify some of Brown's decisions this season - after all, he's the COY. But some of them seem like mini seppukus. The whole psychology work with his team, especially the bench, seems very odd. To me, Vezenkov is just the center of the issue.
I like Sasha tenacity and IQ...even though he's not athletic and lengthy...but he play winning basket, which mean he does the little things to win...like the ability to recognize a defensive player that need help or in a position to take charge....I think he can help the Kings next year if he keep working.