Natt uses Magic 8 Ball

by HighTops on Jan 10, 2009 9:35 AM PST Comment 7 comments

I watch the Miami game and had I hard time figuring out what criteria Kenny Natt uses to set up his rotations and offensive & defensive strategies. There really doesn't seem to be any logical reason for some of the decisions. Let me elaborate.

Miami has a 6' 8" center. The Kings have three 7 footers and a 6' 10" PF. Yet, Miami out scored us in the paint. Spencer scored one low post basket in the first half and a total of 8 points. Yet in the second half he didn't get the ball until the final two possessions. Mean while BJax, Cisco, & Martin are jacking up brick after brick.

We scored 62 points in the 1st half with Beno & Brown getting the majority of the PG minutes. We score 42 points in the 2nd half, but Beno & Brown hardly leave the bench. Now, I can see bring in BJax for defensive purposes, but Chalmers and Quinn weren't hurting us with their 15 pts in 50 minutes. On the other hand Jackson's 1 for 7 field and 1 for 6 from the 3pt line wasn't helping. In fact, I see 5 missed 3pt shots as the same as 5 turnovers.

Wade & Beasley killed us for 64 pts, all game long. We tried Martin, Salmons, & Cisco defending Wade. You'd think by the end of the game someone on the bench should have figured out that one guy couldn't do the job. In fact the only guy on the team that stopped Wade all game was Hawes, and the ref's took that stop away from us. Now, Beasley was a different situation, the guy is 6' 9" and quick and has a deadly jumper. So, we put K9 & Hawes on him, and let Greene, who's size might have been an advantage, sit on the bench.

So, after careful consideration, I've come to the conclusion that Natt is using a Magic 8 Ball to make all of his decisions. Now, I've checked the game tapes and can't really see him pulling it out, but then the camera isn't always on him. So, I'm wondering if anyone at the game has seen him us it.

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

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Rec'd for the Magic 8 ball reference

Don’t forget that Bjax also waaay overdribbled several times, not gving up the ball until 10 or 8 seconds left, leading to quick forced shots….

"You keep on using that word
I do not think it mean what you think it means"

by lietothegirls on Jan 10, 2009 11:43 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Amazing how differently people can see things

1) Natt pulled Beno when Chalmers embarrassed him several times with steals and Chalmers’ defense. Beno can’t be counted on to get the ball over half court against Chalmers’ defense, this has been illustrated in both Miami games.

2) The Kings have no players with an NBA quality postup game right now. Hawes and JT are a work in progress, but they can’t get anything done in the first or second quarter, there’s no reason to believe they will get it done in the 4th when defense is tight.

3) Bobby Jackson came back because Cisco couldn’t get the team into the offense in the 4th quarter. Beno was not an option because Chalmers owns him. Bobby Brown might be an option, but he is a rookie, and choosing Bobby Jackson for the 4th quarter intensity rather than a rookie is pretty defensible. Honestly, we’re nowhere near in that game without Bobby J’s contribution in the 4th quarter.

4) Salmons did a pretty decent job on Wade, but Wade was amazing in the 4th quarter / OT. The concept that Donte of all people should have been tried on him is just laughable. The same Donte who admits he never played man-to-man defense before he got to Sacramento. You’re going to put that guy on the possible MVP? Salmons is 1000x the defender Donte Greene is today. Honestly, if Donte was a better defender, he wouldn’t be in Reno.

People really need to look at our players as they are today, not as what you hope they will be several years from now. Our guys are making steady progress, which is good, but thinking the young guys are the answer today is just fantasy land. They’ll get their chances; they’ll get more as they mature (witness JT starting), give them some time so they have a chance to succeed.

The more you guys work the trade machine, the happier I am GP is our GM.

by ForThree on Jan 10, 2009 12:33 PM PST reply actions 3 recs

Word

Rocks are free, and slingshots easily stolen.

by andy sims on Jan 10, 2009 12:36 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Word (squared) or w to the 2nd power :)

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 Jan 10, 2009 7:04 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Oops

HighTops said that Greene should’ve been given a try on Beasley, not Wade (though the point remains that Donte is not a good defender). He said that Wade should’ve seen more double teams.

Otherwise most of your criticism seems on point, the exception being that Hawes had a good offensive game and probably should’ve taken more shots against the undersized Heat frontline.

by furious.d on Jan 10, 2009 12:51 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe you have a better TV than I do

1. If Natt was right for pulling Beno after Chalmers stole the ball from him, then shouldn’t he have pulled Salmons when Wade stole the ball from Salmon? I’ll have to go back and watch the replay because I only remember Chalmers stealing the ball once from Beno.

2 I disagree with your assessment of Hawes low post capabilities. But, since either Natt or the players running the point choose not to get him the ball in the low post the entire 4th quarter, I have no way of proving you wrong. But, if you are correct and Hawes who was drafted based on his low post offense skill, can’t score over Miami’s bigs then this team is in a world of hurt.

3 Totally different opinion. BJax add nothing to the team this game. And, if you put any credence in the +/- numbers, the NBA boxscore has him rated the worst of the Kings with a minus 11.

4 You misread this. I said that they should have tried Greene on Beasley. He’s not the best defender but he’s tall and he’s faster than Thomas & Hawes. At some point you have to try something different. They couldn’t stop Beasley or Wade in the first half, and did nothing different in the second half.

As to your final comment: what is the purpose of starting JT if he gets the same minutes that he got coming off the bench. Aren’t the starters your best players and therefore should be getting the majority of the PT. To me this is just another example of Natt indecisiveness.

"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom

by HighTops on Jan 10, 2009 1:29 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

A couple quick notes to clarify some of your points

Chalmers did steal the ball from Beno once and went for the dunk as Beno watched and didn’t even try to chase him. Not knocking on Beno, but it did happen.

On the point about Greene. You may want to go back to the tape and see that Greene was in street clothes and not suit up for the game.

I agree with the indecisiveness of Natt and I think he may be ‘coaching’ too hard to give a good impression. At least I like the accountability factor. We’re getting a little bit better, we just gotta get a win to help the teams confidence

by eduardo_m7 on Jan 10, 2009 1:38 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs