But Miller and Moore have to play, Salmons has been the team’s best player this season, and Beno showed signs of breaking out before last night, admittedly the end of a tiring stretch. You know how much I love the young guys … but so long Shock is above 20 minutes and Hawes gets 28-30+, and Greene sees the court before garbage time … I’m fine with some vet minutes.

I agree that Shock, Hawes and Greene’s minutes are fine – they are all getting significant time and should continue to develop throughout this season. If this season serves as nothing else, it should be a training ground for those guys to cut their teeth.

With regard to Udrih and Brown though, I agree more with Coolcat. Beno is playing almost twice as many minutes as Bobby (31 to 15) with relatively the same level of production if you equal out the minutes. Beno is the better rebounder, Bobby the better 3 pt shooter. Beno is better at the line, Bobby the better ballhandler. Defensively, Beno is more physical, Bobby is quicker.

To me though, while Bobby doesn’t necessarily need to play more than Beno, he needs to be playing as much as Beno. He is younger and I believe has more potential than Udrih, and like the other young guys, needs to get more significant floor time. Haven’t we seen enough of Beno’s two signature moves, 1. spinning like a ballerina through the lane, wildly tossing the ball at the rim, or 2. trying to split the defenders on a pick and roll by throwing the ball through the gap in the defenders and then getting knocked sideways as he jumps through in pursuit, leading to the off balance shot or bad pass…

In Beno, we know we have a solid backup point guard who occasionally shows flashes of brillance. In Bobby, we have potential. Just like the other young players, we need to find out if that potential can be realized…

Salmons is hogging the ball because he’s the only guy with the balls to take the game right at the defense. Bring back Martin, and that will change. Until I see someone on the Kings who plays better SF, there is no way we bench him. In all liklihood he is part of the future.

Beno is turning the ball over too much, but he is driving, which Brown seems afraid to do more often than not. Brown and Bobby are camping at the 3 pt line way too much. Which I don’t want from my PG. I like Brown, but I don’t know that he is my starting PG.

JT has lost his jumper. He is cleaning up well around the board, but he can’t make a twelve footer to save his life.

I will watch Hawes on the floor all day. Even when his shot is off, the guy hustles. he still looks like a rookie half the time, but 5 freaking blocks! Play this guy more.

Double E has to learn to play up to his size. I want to see rebounds, defense, and drives before I give him more minutes. He is a WIP.

Sheldon is a nice guy, but very, very one dimensional. If he plays more than 5-7 minutes a game, we are in trouble. He is a good come off the bench guy.

Garcia is inconsistent, but I will take him as a sixth man. High energy.

In a perfect world, Salmons would be a better passer. But he’s clearly the best scoring option on the Kings as long as Martin is out. His numbers compare favorably with guys like Michael Redd and Rip Hamilton. To put it bluntly, John Salmons is the least of the Sacramento Kings’ problems.

Burying him on the bench not only makes the Kings a much worse team immediately, it also wrecks his trade value. So even if you think we should focus 100% of this season on developing for 2010 and beyond, this is still a bad idea. Donte Greene is 20 and built like a whip, having to practice his way to PT won’t hurt him or the team’s future. And he seems to be enjoying himself regardless. Cisco has found his niche, asking him to carry the scoring load (the way that Salmons is now) would not be a good idea.

Will Salmons be on the next great Kings team? I don’t know. But if he is too old to contribute to its development, either as a player or a trade piece, then we should be focusing on CP3 and the 2013 free-agent class, rather than 2010.

Kenny Natt has already lost the troops, if he ever had them in the first place.

This team does not trust one another, let alone Kenny Natt. And he’s not doing himself any favors with his substitution patterns (Donte Greene covering Ray Allen????). It’s little wonder that nobody knows their role on this team.

You look at other teams, and they bring the basics. For example, Brad Miller is covering Jermaine O’Neal with Bosh out of the game with foul trouble, and nobody is doubling O’Neal when he goes to the rack. So they milk O’Neal until you take that away by doubling. And if you take it away, they go to Plan B (a Bargnani 3?), then C (a Kapono 3?), then D (some creativity from Calderon?), then Plan E (OK, Parker, go ahead and hoist one). And they execute around simple values and concepts.

The Kings, on the other hand, have no plan A, no core go-to scheme. So you get a cold Spencer Hawes jacking up a three ball in crunch time of a winnable ballgame against the Raptors when he’s cold as ice and hasn’t shot a three all game.

And now Kenny Natt has them counting passes before they take a shot. Brilliant.

How about this: everyone develop one shot or aspect of their game, maybe two tops, and we take the first good shot that’s available.

Last point: these bigs and young players we have so much of our future planned around are starting to look lost because we are jerking their chain. Give them some steady playing time and a clearcut role, run some plays for them, treat them with the care they deserve.