Kings continued misuse of talent

I don’t think I would go that far. Yeah, he hasn’t looked particularly strong down low. But he has shown flashes of potential post moves—an offensive array that even Dirk doesn’t have down low. Shock, who looks to be a rebounder, hustler, and a banger in the paint, doesn’t much in the way of inside offense other than dunks and put backs. If this team is to go anywhere, it will need someone who can create in the post. Maybe Reke can be that guy if we choose to exploit his size advantage at the point. But I think Spencer has a lot of potential, based on some flashes he’s shown so far, of being a good offensive player inside as well.

Now, using his perimeter game and inside game don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Look at Vlade, for example. We loved his passing out of the high post, but he had his crafty post up moves as well. Spencer could be used in a similar fashion.

OK, to be fair, I have lots of issues. But specifically, I have a couple of issues with this post.

First, the title. You state that the KIngs continue to misuse talent, but you give no historical examples.

2nd, Hawes and JT played less than a half-season together in the starting lineup, under an interim head coach. That’s an awfully small sample size to make the declaration of "misuse of talent, in my opinion.

Now, to your question, I think that it depends on the matchup. Against Utah, for example, Hawes would cover Okur and JT would cover Boozer. By definition, Hawes is covering the opposing center. But that center is playing the on the perimeter, so Hawes is basically defending in the high post and JT in the low post.

Offensively, I think that Webber and Divac proved that the designation of "center’ or “power forward” didn’t mean much. They alternated in the high and low post. Divac was called the center and Webber was called the power forward, but they roamed the floor freely.

Also lost in your analysis is the fact that Hawes is easily the best shot blocker on the team (Francisco Garcia is the 2nd best shot blocker). So, if you are talking about setting up defensively from a zone point of view, Hawes would be your best defender at the basket.

Bottom line, I don’t think that it matters who is the “center” on this team. What matters is who is on the floor, and how the match ups play out.

JT has no low post game other than the tip drill. He’s got a good midrange jumper and is learning to put the ball on the floor & drive to the rim where he finishes strong. But, flat footed under the rim, I have yet to see him put the ball in the basket with any authority while defended. I’m not sure he ever will, because of his lack of vertical jumping ability. He has the perfect skill set for a PF, but could be a decent backup center in time with improvement in his low post moves, expecially his left hand.

Spence is a center. He is prone to lose the ball when he dribble penetrates. Which makes him a poor choice for PF because away from the rim his only viable option is the jumpshoot. In his limited PT he’s shown to be a decent scorer in the low post, who will undoubtedly improve with time. He’s also taller & a better leaper than JT. Also, JT is 3yrs older, so allow Spence a few more year to bulk up, I see Hawes being a stonger defensive presence. Plus as 214 mentioned, he’s already the best shoot blocker we’ve had in years expecially from the weakside.

And, although I agree with Section that both players & positions are interchangeable on this team, Spencer is far better equiped to play center than JT, even though JT had more experience playing the position in college. Don’t let Spence’s ability to hit the outside shot cloud the issue.

that I didn’t make explicit is not as much about how they are playing now, but in terms of thinking how each player will develop and what should the coaching focus on developing. IMHO I think Spence, with the right work, could develop more into a Dirk type of player and less than a Dampier type and JT could more easily develop into the reverse.

I just hope the coaching staff don’t try to mash these kids into molds and let their strengths play. Granted we had REALLY bad coaching who did not know how to use what they had in the past and that given this teams history it would seem that we can do better and use talent accordingly.

I think that this is how the two guys will be used regardless of their designated letters. More like the example the 214 gives of Webber and Vlade. IMHO I think it will just naturally work out that way and yeah we can hope the coaching staff can match these guys up well. I just hope that the coaching staff can get past forcing people into roles that they cannot fill. I think this has happened a lot, but again Westphal should be able to do better.

A lot of my frustration was not with Spence and JT in the mismatched use of talent and may have been more due the limited roster. There really wasn’t sufficient depth at PG with anybody who could pass well. For example, in pushing Douby and Garcia into that role, or trying, they could not set them up as outside shooters. It was just weird to see this team play half the time.