TZ’s blurb conveyed about the same information with fewer words yet more panache.

Still, Burns was fair and accurate, I think, in his assessment.

First off I’m going to tackle this section by section (and this is to partly augment the Neurotic Itchy trigger finger post that’s missing some clear points I wanted to make in that post, and may re-work to get in there at some point. Probably not though.)

I agree with his points about Kevin Martin. I think he’s leaving out the leadership, improvement of defense (if it comes) and whether his passing is either an asset, neglible or a detriment to his game.

The #2 point I’m going to attack point by point:

2. More continuity. Despite a slew of injuries/suspensions to key rotation players, and the trade of Mike Bibby, the Kings managed to win 38 games last season under rookie coach Theus. It represented a five-game improvement over the 2006-07 season, and signaled that the rebuilding plan was on course. With nearly his entire roster back, including point guard Beno Udrih, Theus should benefit from another year of implementing his system.

First off what continuity? You have 3-6 new rotation players that weren’t there at the start of the season. The only player who came, and stayed after mid-season was Shelden Williams. How the fuck is that continuity?

Next, most of that is stock filler to not make a point. I hate that more than anything. He gets 60 words to write about what hope outside of Kevin Martin exists for this team. He then starts talking about last season’s issues with a different set of players, and now talks about continuity. I don’t get it. Terrible writing on Burns’ part.

The last part of this I take exception to is that the Kings had a system with Artest in place. We all know he was a ball pounder. How you gonna run any offensive system based on ball movement if one guy has it in his hands anywhere from 40-70% of the entire shot clock?

The third point is about the Artest distraction. That’s just yet another example of a national writer using stock filler to try and hide how little he knows.

1. No defensive stopper. The downside to losing Artest is that the Kings will miss him on the court — especially on the defensive end. Sacramento ranked 23rd in points allowed and field-goal-percentage defense and 29th in rebounding last season, numbers that don’t figure to improve with so many young players on the roster and Artest not available to help slow opposing perimeter scorers.

Loo,, and I talked about this yesterday in my EC Neurotic fan post too, but there was a post in Late January by TZ that basically rebuffed the idea that there is a massive drop-off in defense when Salmons and Garcia are in the game as opposed to Artest Garcia and Salmons. One positive is that Shelden Williams and Jason Thompson are proving to be effective offensive rebounders in pre-season (hat tip to High Tops for pointing that out in another thread) which means (to me) that when you’re scoring off those opportunities it gives the defense an easier time to get set on the ensuing D possesion. Unless you’re playnig the Suns. And I doubt the 7 second or less philosphy will exist with D’Antoni in NYC.

The other part of this is the other point I’ll make below with the young player bit. That’s a really irritating thing to me, and he does it several times. It’s just stock filler people!

2. Beno is a question. Udrih did a solid job running the team in Bibby’s absence, averaging 12.8 points and 4.3 assists while shooting 38.7 percent from three-point range. As a result, the former Spurs backup, who was picked up early last season, was rewarded with a five-year, $32 million contract over the summer. But Theus has made it a primary goal this season to improve Sacramento’s league-worst 1.19 assist-to-turnover ratio, and it remains to be seen whether the 26-year-old Udrih can improve his playmaking enough to become a top-flight distributor.

2 things going on here that are important. Theus wants to improve the turnover to assist ratio which means he wants more passing going on. I don’t think Theus is that stupid because he probably expects the turnovers to rise with younger players and a new rotation being implemented. I do think what Theus is more realistically after is the attempt to get TO’s to Ast’s to a reliable ratio by March and see it improve marginally in April. That would be a realistic and worthwhile goal to shoot for. I can’t see how that statistic, particularly if any injury happens to Miller or Martin, is any way for Turnovers to decrease.

The other part of this is that Beno’s ballhandling and passing abilities are questions marks. I think the ball handling is fine. I think the passing abilities are there and will need some improvement, and probably some focus on, but otherwise they aren’t a huge concern. I think Beno’s health IS the main concern here. Why a single word isn’t mentioned, but the fact he used to play on the Spurs, is just yet another terrible example of Burns not using the space to write appropriate comments.

3. Too much youth. The Kings have some promising young talent in Martin, Udrih, Spencer Hawes, Francisco Garcia, Thompson, Greene, Shelden Williams and Quincy Douby. But all of those players have no more than four years of experience, meaning there are going to be some severe growing pains. Sacramento better hope veterans Brad Miller, Mikki Moore, Jackson and John Salmons stay healthy and productive, or it could get ugly.

This is another stock response, and one that really irritates the shit out of me. First is that he mentions how young all these guys are, but so what? Isn’t that what a youth movement is? If Martin is a potential first time all-star how can he be a liability? The severe growing pains is what really gets me. Yes, Martin is gong to have make adjustments. Every player in the NBA has to make adjustments. That’s part of improving on the pro level. It comes with the territory. While I realize what Burns statement was ATTEMPTING, it’s so poorly stated that he might have well said 40 words explaining that he’s a national writing hack who would be better off getting a BJ in the Philips Arena in December or something. Seriously, nothing of substance was said there. These types of things are usually written for a casual fan who doesn’t think of analysis and knows so little that it makes sense. So the next time they’re around the water cooler in the office (assuming they’re lucky to still have that job), they can say well I think this that and the other. And 90% of is pure crap and has little to do with the matter. It’s the same type of writing that made Dan Shaugnessy so popular with stupid ass networks like FOX when hyping a game, while simultaneously driving Red Sox fans with actual knowledge of the franchise to plot his death. It isn’t that extreme because there isn’t any real national focus on the Kings this season, or probably a few I would imagine, but still the same principle applies. Shaughnessy wrote a book, and then it became fact. Nevermind that it was entirely bullshit to begin with, but that’s how this crap gets started. And it irritates me. So now my soapbox is away on this.

Keep an eye on …

Theus. Since taking the Kings’ job before last season, he has seen Bibby and Artest dealt away for mostly prospects and draft picks. Theus probably isn’t thrilled about the rebuilding, especially since he is entering the final guaranteed year of his contract. It could lead to conflict with management as Theus tries to win games now instead of building for the future.

I already talked about this in my Theus fan post. The job of a head coach is to win. With young players it’s less likely, unless they’re making a great impact, that this will happen. That being said the Kings have players with less than 4 years experience, but that doesn’t mean there is going to be a huge dropoff in production from what Artest gave to the players who are taking his place (Salmons and Garcia primarily) at this point. Greene may even prove to be an upgrade given it’s unlikely he’ll create the type of distractions that Artest was consistently doing.

Bottom line

The Artest trade means that the rebuilding plan is now in full swing. General manager Geoff Petrie is collecting young talent, draft picks and cap space that could pay off in 2010, but it looks like another long season for Kings fans.

This is the “no shit sherlock” comment. Except for the last part. I’m really looking forward to the whole season and I plan to enjoy every moment of it I can. I think Jason Thompson will be a major upgrade if he can learn to just play without exactly doing everything right (as it seems to be the case to a degree during the pre-season). I think the Kings may even deal Moore, Douby, or Thomas at some point to free up some cap space to bring a veteran in that can help improve the ballclub in some way in the interim.

The unknowns are so obviously unknown at this point that no one can really do other than guess at how the Kings will perform – importantly – against the Western conference competition. The starting five are all reasonably well tested in most respects and could perform very well if healthy.
2ndly, i just think the West is going to be very different this year. There are only three teams that I don’t think have a real possibility of taking a step backwards. I’ve said it before but I’ll bet a lunch that one or more of PHX, SA or Dallas actually collapse enough that they don’t make the playoffs. Denver is a real question as well. Can GS win more than 40 games without a PG? I don’t know.
That being said, the Kings would have to have a very healthy year and several young players would really have to step up and suprise for us to make the playoffs. So far the kids do seem to be just promising kids – perhaps not ready for significant game minutes.
One of the real keys besides health is I think Sheldon Williams. He needs to step up both for himself and the team. He’s looked pretty good in paint D and rebounding (you know we need those!) though his offense looks nervous. Can he run the floor and still rebound and defend? Maybe, he looks more fit this year. Can he score enough to keep himself on the floor? I just don’t know.

PS: I agree that the article was mostly boilerplate, ‘anybody could have said it’ analysis.
Hey, we’re a footnote nationally at this point and thats just the way it is.