Player Notes for 2008-09

by ForThree on Jul 30, 2008 1:14 PM PDT

To: Kings Management

From: Concerned Fan

Please pass on the notes that follow at your earliest convenience:

Beno Udrih - Congratulations on the contract, I have faith you'll earn the money and I enjoyed most of your work last year. Please note however that dribbling into 3 guys 6'10'' or taller for your left handed layup isn't always the best play.
Quincy Douby - I get that its not your fault Management seems determined to make you a PG when clearly its not your thing. Do you're best and hope they give you a chance to play off-guard / small guard stopper / Vinny Johnson'esque offensive ingiter sometime before this year is out. I think you're an NBA player, we just need to give you time and a chance to succeed in a role that suits your abilities.
Kevin Martin - Ready or not, here comes responsibility. Play hard, be yourself, don't take stardom too seriously and please have fun out there. We're all ok that there's going to be some rough moments this year, just help us keep faith something worthwhile is getting built; we'll be patient.
Francisco Garcia - I don't understand the venom you get around here occasionally. To my mind, your ratio of abysmally stupid plays dropped from about 1 in 3 a couple of years ago to 1 in 10. And when you're open and shoot it, I have confidence. Keep growing, starting small forward for a good team is not out of the question.
Shelden Williams - You have a lot of my personal game, except I have better touch around the basket and you are a lot taller. That's not a compliment. At this point people are hoping you'll grow up to be Reggie Evans without the nut-punch skills...that's a big problem. I presume there are some basketball skills in you somewhere, please demonstrate some of them sometime.
Spencer Hawes - You have basketball skills that few centers possess; I'm happy for you. Please understand, Quincy Douby destroys you as a shooter, and he's a marginal NBA player right now. You are an NBA player because you are 7 feet tall, let's start working on some skills for big players. Watching the Summer League and seeing you get offensive rebounds over guys 6 inches shorter than you, and then seeing you have no idea whatsoever what to do at that point makes me want to tear my hair out. Please get in the paint and learn how to finish within 6 feet of the basket with either hand. Did you know the dropstep and dunk or shot off the backboard is still a legal move in the NBA? I didn't think you did; ask a big man coach to teach you how to finish around the basket and use the backboard please. Its not sexy, except for that dunking stuff, but it will add tons more to your game then launching 25 footers. For defense, let's make a deal. You stop jumping to block shots when your man is shooting, and I promise you'll get more playing time. You are 7 feet tall, good position will go a tremendous ways towards defending the basket. If you want to block shots, do so as a help defender.

(This is a FanPost from a member of the Sactown Royalty community. The views expressed come from the member, and not Sactown Royalty staff.)

Tweet Comment 14 comments | 6 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

I like this alot ForThree

Excellent stuff all the way around. Definitely Rec’d.

No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. It's simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get tangled, you tango on

by pookeyguru on Jul 30, 2008 4:41 PM PDT reply actions

I definetly agree with your assessment of Spencer Hawes. Sometimes when I am watching him, it feels as if he is not aware that he is 7 ft tall. I notice this even when he shoots jumpshots. He fires them up with a quick release, sometimes a little off balanced. In comparison, Brad is always squared up and with a high, slower release. Jumpshots aside, I’ve seen the amazing footwork Spencer possesses and would much rather him develop as a back-to-the-basket big man rather than a face up guy.

by Ball in Cup on Jul 30, 2008 5:11 PM PDT reply actions

Give the kid

a chance to grow into his body a bit. He just finished his sophomore year in college. After he fills out a bit, if he still plays the same way, then I’m all for complaining about it. But right now it’s just too early. Let’s discuss it again when he’s 22. That’s about the time we should start to get a solid idea of what kind of player he can become.

Ball movement ... is like jogging for most people: They do it occasionally, and it makes them happy. Then they go back to not doing it. - Henry Abbott

by Kfan in Korea on Jul 30, 2008 6:06 PM PDT up reply actions

2 years, mark it in your calender..j/k

I agree completly with everything you are saying. I don’t feel I am being overly harsh on Shawes, though. I’m not really complaining. I hope it didn’t come off like that. I’m fairly optimistic about his future and have been pleaslantly suprised by how he has performed so far. I will remain concerned, however, because I can easily picture him developing a more “Brad” like offensive game than a “(healthy) Shareef” like game that I think the Kings have more need for. I will admit, it is too early to make any judgments about which direction his game might go.

by Ball in Cup on Jul 30, 2008 6:30 PM PDT up reply actions

I agree

My response was really both to you and to the original poster. I agree he’s been taking way to many long jumpers. But I’ve also seen the beginnings of a post game, some hooks and such. Problem is at this point he can’t really get post position, so he ends up taking 10-12 foot hooks. Hopefully in a year or two he’ll beef up enough to turn those into 5-6 footers.

He showed some flashes last year, and i think he improved over the course of the season. All I’m hoping for this year is continued improvement and effort.

Ball movement ... is like jogging for most people: They do it occasionally, and it makes them happy. Then they go back to not doing it. - Henry Abbott

by Kfan in Korea on Jul 30, 2008 6:51 PM PDT up reply actions

I agree with you Kfan

I wasn’t really trying to complain, I’m really just begging the coaching staff to help him grow his game in the skills you expect a center to have. SHawes last name isn’t Olajuwon, so the fade away 15 footer off the Dream Shake shouldn’t be his only post move. He can do better in terms of getting good shots near the rim.

My post wasn’t intended to be, “Spencer’s terrible and his game never grows, I’m disappointed”, more of “Let’s please help him get a normal big man’s skillset before we try to turn him into Brad II”.

Thanks for the comments.

by ForThree on Jul 31, 2008 5:35 AM PDT up reply actions

Sounds good

I agree with that take. I also agree with your notes on the other and especially Cisco. Nice post.

Ball movement ... is like jogging for most people: They do it occasionally, and it makes them happy. Then they go back to not doing it. - Henry Abbott

by Kfan in Korea on Jul 31, 2008 5:49 AM PDT up reply actions

A little harsh

On SWilliams – but he probably needs a kick in the ass.

Garcia, I couldn’t agree more. Apparently sactown hasn’t been watching carefully, because he developed a LOT last season.

Hawes – please give him another year, I think he’s doing fine for a VERY young big man.

eternal skeptical optimist

by lietothegirls on Jul 31, 2008 10:03 AM PDT reply actions

Just curious...

When you say “sactown hasn’t been watching” . . . do you mean StR or the city in general? In the original post ForThree calls out StR for being too hard on Garcia, so I was curious to know if you were seconding this opinion.

I ask because the general consensus when I read StR is that Garcia is one of the players that StR would like to see the team built around. He’s usually listed in the second tier (Martin being alone in the first) of players not to trade (along with Hawes, Thompson since the draft, and I imagine Greene after it’s official). I don’t get the “anti”-Garcia vibe here at all.

The worst thing I can think of is that he’s fairly universally regarded here as a 6th man or that he should be signed for no more than around $5-6M per year. I’ve never read that as a criticism of his ability, but more of an affirmation of his wide skill-set and flexibility to play multiple positions (while not crippling the salary cap).

I’ve seen specific complaints about individual events, but again, the general consensus (as I read it) has been in favor of Garcia for a while now.

by smgmatt on Jul 31, 2008 10:24 AM PDT up reply actions

Cisco

smgmatt: I’ve been lurking here for close to a year or so, and in the middle of last year I kind of got a negative vibe from a lot of people around here for Francisco. It could be entirely me reading too much into otherwise more innocent comments.

I guess I think Cisco is potentially part of the answer when we are good again. I enjoy watching him play, he plays really hard, and he doesn’t seem afraid of the moment. I’m sure everyone here has memories of big moments missed or players, whom we of course love, but still have painful memories of them not living up to our expectations when the cards were all out on the table.

I look at it this way, those 3s that James Posey made for the Celtics this summer…those were big shots in big situations, and when we are good again and have shots that matter, I could see Cisco making those. He is part of the solution, imo, even if he’s never a star.

Regarding Spencer; I’m really not down on him, just….there’s so much there to work with in terms of abilities, I hope the coaching staff is helping with the right things.

Shelden…I’d be as happy as anyone if he pans out, he just doesn’t look like a basketball player to me very often, other than in stature. I hope he’s given a reasonable chance to prove himself, and I very much hope to be proven wrong.

by ForThree on Jul 31, 2008 11:23 AM PDT reply actions

I agree

I even Rec’d your original post long before I commented.

I was just curious about the Garcia comments in regards to StR specifically, because I recall seeing more “future 6th man of the year” comments here than negative ones. Again, I’ve seen plenty of complaints about specific mistakes, but those are universal for everyone on the Kings (even Martin).

I’d personally be thrilled if Garcia stuck around as an annual 6th Man of the Year candidate and just filled in holes wherever they were needed (steal here, big 3 there, assists sprinkled in, good D and energy off the bench . . . what’s not to like about that?).

I think the Kings would be better off if Cisco never becomes a “star”, because he could be that glue guy (at a reasonable salary) that’s necessary – but hard to find – for good teams to get over the hump.

Here’s hoping he’s still around when the team is good enough for him to make that contribution.

by smgmatt on Jul 31, 2008 11:37 AM PDT up reply actions

Me likey Cisco

and he is the guy whose value cannot be judged by stats alone

SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!

by section214 on Jul 31, 2008 12:36 PM PDT up reply actions

Your not crazy, there has been some negative talk aimed at Garcia.

I love the guy but I know that I have gotten in serious discussions about his ability with at least one person around the trade deadline. I remember a trade idea regarding Garcia and Artest for Mike Miller and Hakim Warrick. Honestly, a lot of the hate came from the same guy who recommended a T-Mac trade and I will just leave it at that.

Hot dogs, get your hot dogs.

by jjham15 on Jul 31, 2008 1:54 PM PDT up reply actions

I know it wasn't me

There is about much chance of me proposing a trade for T-Mac as there is a chance for me to propose to Artest.

No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. It's simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get tangled, you tango on

by pookeyguru on Jul 31, 2008 3:53 PM PDT up reply actions