The last few years, from the all-star break on has sucked bad... because half the fan base or more is actively rooting for the team to lose games. The post-game chat on twitter and radio is negative as hell... "how could Joerger be so stupid as to win that game"... even from CD. And that is such a horrible state of things.. when you're at a game you paid $200 per seat for, and you feel this pressure from the "smarter than thous" to root for a loss.
If the reform can shave a little off of that dynamic I am 100% for it. The whole "Heinke is a great genius - Kings should give a 3 year concentrated tank effort"... this is unpleasant. Not saying those people advocating for it aren't trying to play the game by the rules... but when you pay for tickets and go to the games - it freaking blows.
I want to have the team trying hard to be 35-47 instead of 29-53, not the other way around.
Please reform the freaking lottery - Godspeed Adam Silver get it done!!!
As a fan who buys tickets to watch the Kings, I agree with you. However, as a Kings fan in general, I disagree. I'll use the season 2 years ago as an example. We went 20-23 at one point, and even gained control of 8th seed for a few days.... then...it blew up. Completely blew up at the end of January. Dysfunction, arguments, all out media brawl with Cousins, Karl, and lockerroom. Became clear that Karl-Cousins would not co-exist, and Karl will be fired. After going 20-23, we went 6-19. Leaving us with a record of 26-42. For the 8th seed competition, the Rockets were already at 34-34, with the Jazz at 33-35. We were completely out of the playoff race right at that moment. Prior to this, both Houston and Utah finished their last 6 games, 4-2, while the Kings finished 1-5. As you can see, this was the point of the season where the entire year was done for. Playoffs were out the window. Karl experiment was over. The future of this team was in question marks. We'd need to focus on a lottery prospect. We'd need to completely retool the entire coaching staff. We'd need to find a new headcoach. We'd need to figure out what we wanted to do with Cousins. Oh, and I didn't even mention that god-awful Vlade trade with the 6ers which resulted in the lost of the 2019 1st round pick for.....cap space.
Going back to the Kings, they're 26-42 with a completely lost season. All attention should be shifted from the playoffs, to the draft. 14 games left..and we proceed to go 7-7. Why? Did I not just emphasize how much of a lost season this already was? lol I've seen the ridiculous argument about how this was supposed to "teach" Cousins how to win.
So not only do we finish the season off with a nice .500 to end the last 14 games, we also get trapped in a 3-way tie for 8th pick. We had the same odds of having the 10th position, as the 8th. To make matters even worse, our pick was only
top 10 protected. If we ended up with the 10th slot instead, there would be a 0.88% chance of the Kings losing the pick. While those are great odds for us, I'd like to remind you that Cleveland only had a 1.7% chance of winning the lotto back in 2014.
So... by "winning" 7 of the last 14 games, we went from being on pace for the #4 pick, to being on pace for the #10 pick. Not to mention how bad this could've hurt us if we did lose our 1st round pick to Chicago. All we needed was 2 more wins to lose our entire 1st round pick.
What a horrible trip back on memory lane. -sigh. Should I go on about the past season too? Kings traded Cousins and go for a complete youth rebuild. Our best player on the roster is now Darren Collison. However, Joerger goes ahead and gives all these vets big minutes despite them being in absolutely 0 future plans. Darren Collison 30mpg. Ty Lawson nearly 30mpg. Afflalo nearly 30mpg. Anthony Tolliver 20mpg. Fast forward 3 months later, all 4 of these 30yearolds+ are no longer on the Kings. Temple, another 31yearold journey man was also getting nearly 30mpg. Koufos' 23mpg are much more forgivable.
What's the reason for Joerger playing a bunch of vets that wouldn't even be on the team 2 years from now? You might see it differently, but I personally did not enjoy watching the group of Lawson-Collison-Temple-Tolliver-Koufos playing 30mpg. Even in the games we won, what the hell did moral victories give to us? Teaching the young guys how to win? The 4-5 wins to 15 loses definitely made a difference?
The Kings were clearly moving towards a youth rebuild. I want to see what the future of the Kings hold. I want to see our future franchise players. No offense, but I don't want to see a 31yearold Anthony Tolliver struggle his ass off to grab a single rebound, let alone guard anyone on the opposing team. Nor do I want to see 31yearold Arron Afflalo struggle to keep up against younger guards.
We ended up with the 8th lotto slot. The 3 extra wins given to us by the vets was the difference between the 8th slot and the 4th slot. Oh, did I forget to mention that our pick this year's was also....-gasp
TOP 10 PROTECTED. All we needed was 4 more wins to lose our entire 1st round pick. no biggie.
Now, I hope you see where the frustrations of winning meaningless games pee a chunk of fans off. This has been our biggest problem for the past 7-8 years. We've constantly been one of the worst teams in the NBA, but we've never been horrible enough outside of 2008 to warrant a top 3 pick. We screw our own odds over by winning the most meaningless games at the ends of seasons. Don't believe me? In
2011, we finished 8-7....In
2012, we finished 3-3. The 3 extra wins was the difference between picking #5 and potentially #2. In 2013, we were horrible. In 2014, we were horrible. In
2015, we also finished 3-3. No movements since teams were tanking extra hard. Then there's
2016 and
2017.
I understand your frustration as a season ticket holder. You're paying good money to watch professional basketball. When the Kings put out crap product year after year, all you want to see is wins. It's pathetic that they've only reached 30 wins 3 times in the past 10 years. I think we can all agree that winning is what this team needs. However, I personally don't think there's a big difference between 35 wins and 29 wins except draft position. Draft position is extremely important for a team like us. You don't need the #1 pick to build a championship team, just look at Golden State. Curry #7, Klay #11, Barnes #7, and Draymond #35. However, you'd need a competent organization who knows how to scout, develop, manage, etc. The Kings can't even go 2 years without firing their head coach... So for a team like us, having a sure-fire star at the #1 pick is much more vital to our success than good teams. As a cherry on the top, small market teams will
always be a stepping stone in FA. Andre Iguodala used the Kings as contract leverage twice against the Warriors. KD would never consider the Kings even if we were a top 3 team(exactly what OKC was). Adding a more positive light. In regards to present time, it seems like the Kings are in much better hands. It wasn't too long ago where there was another dysfunctional team 90miles away while the other was the best team in the league.
To end my entire awful rant, I hope we go 10-72 and get the #1 overall pick.