If you heard Joerger talking to press after day two he says he sees Cousins playing sometimes with Barnes, sometimes with Koufos, tells you where he is leaning as of right now, and why not? Kosta and Matt are vets that he has coached/trusts, we all want Willie to take the spot by the horns(though I will cautiously keep my eye on Skal), but coaches are going to go with guys they can trust, it's up to Willie to impress.
As of now I put the starting lineup in coaches eyes as:
Collison
Afflalo
Gay
Barnes
Cousins
Very early but obviously. The positive of that lineup is that Afflalo, Barnes and Gay can all cover each other's men for the most part.
Interesting, hadn't had a chance to watch our media day at all..will do that.
I'm not a big fan of Barnes getting heavy minutes at all, and especially at PF. Yes Barnes can still contribute, but you have a big disadvantage if he's your starting PF. Hell, the Clippers even constantly tried to get someone better than him. I'd rather have Barnes at SG than PF.
Joerger does favor playing vets over younger guys, so I could see him favoring Barnes. I hope he changes that mentality this season.
Slow grinding is what helped Joerger win in Memphis. He wanted to move away from that. With the Kings, I'm anticipating a fast pace, so it'll be interesting to see whether or not Joerger will be able to succeed with it. If not, let's see if he's willing to adjust his gameplan mid-way.
If we're playing at a faster pace, this is going to hang the players out to dry. Joerger is a defensive coach who puts a lot of focus, timing, effort, etc on that end. You're really going to have to grasp his defensive concepts and put 100% in every possession. However, then you have to go back on offense and play a higher tempo.
I don't know if that'll work with Cousins. Especially a guy with such a huge offensive load for a team like ours. Yeah, someone like Bogut was able to do it and be ok, but Bogut is only a defensive player. That's the only end he had to focus on. The only thing he really had to do for the GSW offense was set screens.
With all this being said, Joerger is a playoff coach. I could see him being successful with these group of guys. He's extremely qualified, so I have faith in behind his gameplan. I'm really excited to start this season.