My Diagnosis

StR has had a wide array of discussions about what's the matter with the Kings. We have discussed the turnover on the roster, and having half of the roster playing elsewhere last year certainly doesn't help with the chemistry.

Others have pointed to the youth, which, again, has certainly to contributed to the overall lack of execution.

And, yet others have pointed the finger squarely at the coach, Paul Westphal, and his tendency to rotate players in and out of lineup at an alarming rate. Again, can't argue that this also contributes to the breakdowns on the court as the players just don't look like they know one another.

That being said, I have a different take on why our squad has done so poorly to open the season.

It pretty much starts and ends with Tyreke. Last year, Tyreke took the league by storm and we benefitted from it (as much as a twenty-something-win team can benefit). As a result, by the end of the season, our offensive schemes all revolved around Tyreke, and this was good and bad.

It was good because we obviously had a talented player, and he was learning on the job being thrown into the fire every night. However, it was bad because, at times, I felt the team concept went out the door in favor of marketing Tyreke, as a player and rookie of the year candidate. And, this year, we are paying the price.

As Tyreke struggles with foot and ankle issues, we are left with an offense built around the one-on-one play of a player that isn't 100%. Even when he was healthy, we weren't a great team, and now that he is a nicked up, we have a big problem.

As I stated in a different thread, we need to re-evaluate what we have in terms of weapons on offense. To put it more bluntly, now that we have traded for Carl Landry and drafted DeMarcus Cousins, we need to use them. The offense needs to run from the inside out.

We need to quickly get the ball into the low post. And, by low post, I don't mean get them the ball 15 feet from the rim, where they can face up against a defender (and when they drive have to beat multiple defenders). No, we need them to get the ball down low with their back to the basket. The ball needs to come in from the wing (not the top of the key). And we need to let them go to work on their defenders.

I believe they are good enough to beat their men most of the time. They are good enough to force most teams to double. Once they do double, we then pass the ball out and force the defense to rotate (and good things usually happen when you force the opposition's defense to move around and rotate).

Then our shooters get to take open jumpers and Tyreke gets to drive with people running at him and without the entire team packed into the key waiting for him.

By simply starting at a different point, the offense should become more effecient and more effective. (This is easier said than done, but I really believe it would help our squad, especially Tyreke).

If I were Paul, I would tell my team unless we have numbers on a fast break, every possession needs to start in the post in Carl or DeMarcus' hands.