Kings 85, Sixers 112: Another Road Game, Another Blowout Loss

that’ll be when we play the Wizards

I also worry that putting together a package may be difficult, as most of our problem players are at the 3. Throwing one subpar player into a multiplayer trade is common, but finding a team willing to take on three bad players who all run at the same position is going to be difficult.

We could end up with another head on the hydra next season, but if it’s Gilchrist or Barnes noboody will be complaining.

That dude is pretty damn athletic.

I don’t blame you, I try to forget about last season too.

It is about LEADERSHIP. Telling your teammates where to. Not allowing PG penetration on EVERY play. About not turning the ball over, running the fast break properly, not forcing up prayers in the face of a 7 foot shot blocker. It is about making wise decisions and having a high basketball IQ. Fighting through screens. Those are all qualities that Tyreke does NOT have and Devon Harris could bring. The only thing that makes Tyreke a PG is that he can actually guard them when he tries (which isn’t often).

Who’s our better option? Who on this team could currently step up and do a better job running the floor?

He’s a great rebounder because he uses his big body to gain position and then grab the ball out of the air with one hand. Without the position he doesn’t have the lift to reach over someone and steal the ball out of the air. I don’t know if it was Hawes or their rookie center but DMC got an over the back last night because he tried to rebound out of position.

And, that big body make it hard to dribble more than once or twice driving to the rim. And when he’s out defending away from the basket, don’t expect him to come flying in for the defensive rebound like JJ can.

The team needs a PF who can play away from the basket to spread the floor, which DMC can do. But, where is the dominant big center going to come from? It’s much easier to find a PF who can play outside than to find a dominant center. So, why take one of the few players in the league that could be a great center and play him at PF.

Without any reliable offense from him, his defense needs to stand out and it isn’t. But I always thought his defense was a lot better when checking SGs.

I wish we got Josh Howard and stayed away from Salmons

to call jimmers NBA career a failure. Every rookie has a huge learning curve especially the slower guys. Even kemba is struggling. At BYU he went through the same thing. As much as everyone hates to hear this..give him time.He works to hard and is to determined to fail. And to be honest its not like he’s been an absolute failure. He’s had his moments.

We have 4 or 5 players that drive into the paint with no real purpose or fore thought. There are no plays called or picks set or anybody screening off their man to create a lane to the basket. It was bad enough two years ago when Tyreke did it on every play. Now we have Salmons, Thornton, Garcia, Jimmer and Thomas all doing the same thing. But, just like in Tyreke’s rookie season, teams are giving us the outside shot and packing the lanes.

Jimmer and Thomas get in the paint and there’s too many defenders and no passing lanes even when the defense doubles the ball. Tyreke, Salmons and Thornton have no mid range shot so they’re committed to go all the way to the rim once they dribble into the paint.

The beginning of the offense shouldn’t be the guard dribbling into the paint and expecting to get off a shot or a short pass in the tall timber. First you need the defense to come out and guard their man by passing the ball. You create spacing by making the defense have to play their man. If the ball is never touched by their man, or their man isn’t a threat to take the shot, the defenders are just going to pack the paint.

Pass the ball quickly around the horn or side to side and make the defense move, then you can attack the paint. And, if anyone wants to know what Coach Smart means when he say cut hard after the pass, just look at the Sixers offense. They were setting back picks to create lane, then the player with the ball would pass into the high post, cut down the lane and get the ball back with a clear path to the rim.

Philly has a pretty young team also, but they run set plays every time down the court because their young guys aren’t any smarter than our young guys. So, Collins gives them structure until they get the experience where they can manage on their own. We run one play at the start of a quarter or out of the time outs, that look pretty good and work even if we don’t always get the basket. After that it’s back to street ball, and mindless drives into the paint. That’s not what a play making PG does.

Salmons, the buck really stopped at Petrie. I really hold him responsible for the Salmons deal. I’m sure his hands have been tied to a certain degree by the Magoofs, but still he pulled the trigger. Who could replace Petrie though?

Though I place roster blame on Petrie. Still think we have a talented, young roster. Showed the last two games beating a decent Bucks team and taking Magic to the final minute. Hopefully Smart gets a chance to install a bit of a system over the next couple of weeks.

Then again, neither were/are Kobe, Wade, Roy and a host of others who initiate their teams offense. They had guys like Fisher, Blake, Chalmers next to them.

What we need is a system and better spacing and off ball movement. That’s what those teams have (and had) that we don’t.

*groans

No basketball skills whatsoever

What a horrrrrrible draft pick, amnesty him

those types of players typically have more of a learning curve because of how athletic NBA players are. Stephon curry faced the same adjustment. Hopefully jimmer has the potential to be a curry like player.

some come from behind after his man blows by him. Garcia isn’t the same player he was and while he’s not the dregs of the earth he never was that great either. Or, am I misremembering the “Good Cisco, Bad Cisco” mantra.

At this point I would rather have JT than JJ next year

but you’re not.

Petrie keeps scraping up shitty-ass players from shitty-ass teams. I think he over-analyzes players stats to look for good deals for the cheap-ass Maloofs. The problem with scraping up shitty-ass players from shitty-ass teams is that 1) the teams (that the players acquired were from) were shitty-ass partially because of the said shitty-ass player, 2) the stats of the players acquired are over-inflated (the players only played a lot and had decent stats because there was nobody better at that position on the team, and 3) acquiring players from shitty-ass teams brings in players that are used to losing and accept losing. Evidence: Hickson, Outlaw, Salmons

Conclusion: A real GM would bring in players who have experience at winning.

Petrie NaGM

PPG 4.1
RPG 1.1
APG 2.6

I don’t know what his EFF was but he averaged 13.4 mpg over 62 games last season.

I don’t think IT is the answer to any of our problems just yet. Especially not with a Assist to turnover ratio of 1:1 and a FG% under .310. But, like Jimmer and Tyreke, I think most of the PG problems rest with the other 4 players on the court not knowing where to be or what to do. Until they do, IT’s role should be the defensive stopper for those quick on quick guards we come up against and to slow the opponent offense with his full court pressure. And, like Pooh he needs to restrict his attempts at the rim and dribble THRU the lane looking for the pass.

Its the way we are losing.

Salmons is 0-17 in the last 4 games, Outlaw 2-17 on the season, yaaaouchh

It’s part of the reason Evans and Cousins look like they don’t move the ball. Not only are people not cutting and creating easy buckets, but players aren’t even moving to create easier passing lanes. John Salmons is freaking sedentary. It’s insane.

Our team sits and waits for Evans/Cousins/Thornton to bail out the O. Its a testament to their skill level that they are able to as much as they do.