D(G)-League thread

#61
Three ways in which Papa is not worse than Skal:
1. He rebounds (gets good position and battles).
2. He’s quick with the outlet pass (thinks ahead).
3. He doesn’t back down from anyone (even when he should).
They rebound at basically the same rate and Skal doesn't back down either. He's just not as strong as the guys he's going against.

Papa can't receive the ball correctly in the high post without it getting swatted.
Uses a hook shot from way further out than he should be doing.
Has no clue where to be on defense half the time.
Is out of position way more than Skal is.
Wastes way too much time trying to back guys down. Doesn't back them down and gets the ball stolen while he's at it.

I'm rooting for Papa but he's even further behind on nearly all aspects of the game. The only thing Papa has going for him is his attitude at the moment because while he's a massive guy, he's not very strong at all and his IQ is very low on the court right now. You'll see it if he gets to play 15-20minutes. It will be a layup drill right by him because he doesn't know where to be and rotates too slowly on defense because he's not thinking quick enough. I like that he has an edge to him but his physicality needs to match his mental strength or else it's just kind of pointless.
 
#63
There's someone on this forum (i'm not sure who), that's always saying "big guys take longer to develop" and overall, I would say I agree, and in this case, I just think Skal is going to take a long time to develop.

He's young, didn't start playing organized basketball until later in life, and might even still be growing into his frame a bit. He seems to have decently good instincts on offense (shooting/rebounding), but I would venture to guess he's still having trouble figuring out how to play within Joerger's system. He looks lost out there.

If you look at a guy like Hassan Whiteside, some guys are just late bloomers, and instinctually, I would say big guys are often later bloomers compared to smaller players. I've read so many times about X player "growing 8 inches in his senior year of high school" and stuff like that. Skal didn't grow up playing AAU and organized basketball. Overall, I think he probably still has a lot of development ahead of him both mentally and physically, and I personally think it's just going to take a while for things to click.

Give him some time to grow and learn, and I think we're going to have a good pro on our hands if the organization can be patient with him. #iBelieve
 
#64
He all ready put on muscle in the off season, you can see it. If he were to put on more muscle, that would in return make him more bulky and slower, I don't see many 6'11 sprinters out there.
Maybe Skal needs to eat some red meat?
One thing that worries me about Skal is he's maxed out his frame. I had these same concerns last year. Skal looks buff as ****, but he's still not that strong. Kings need to get him into a better strength program.

Just fyi, Skal is a vegetarian or vegan I think. EXPLAINS IT ALL! jk
 
#65
There's someone on this forum (i'm not sure who), that's always saying "big guys take longer to develop" and overall, I would say I agree, and in this case, I just think Skal is going to take a long time to develop.

He's young, didn't start playing organized basketball until later in life, and might even still be growing into his frame a bit. He seems to have decently good instincts on offense (shooting/rebounding), but I would venture to guess he's still having trouble figuring out how to play within Joerger's system. He looks lost out there.

If you look at a guy like Hassan Whiteside, some guys are just late bloomers, and instinctually, I would say big guys are often later bloomers compared to smaller players. I've read so many times about X player "growing 8 inches in his senior year of high school" and stuff like that. Skal didn't grow up playing AAU and organized basketball. Overall, I think he probably still has a lot of development ahead of him both mentally and physically, and I personally think it's just going to take a while for things to click.

Give him some time to grow and learn, and I think we're going to have a good pro on our hands if the organization can be patient with him. #iBelieve
That's Bajaden.

With Skal, he's arguably regressed since last year. If you view him as a project big, then that's ok. If you view him as part of your future core, then that's where the disappointment comes in.
 
#67
Since when can a project big not be part of the future core? One does not exclude the other.
I met if you viewed him as an absolute lock for your future core like Fox and Buddy. Would you say Papagiannis is part of our future core? Probably not because we have no clue if he's capable of being one. I'm starting to hold the same idea for Skal. If you consider Skal as part of the future core, and he turns out to be a bust, that's just another unneeded headache. Skal should be looked in the light where if he succeeds, then great. If he fails, then it's fine. That's what project players are. Future core players are different.
 
#68
I met if you viewed him as an absolute lock for your future core like Fox and Buddy. Would you say Papagiannis is part of our future core? Probably not because we have no clue if he's capable of being one. I'm starting to hold the same idea for Skal. If you consider Skal as part of the future core, and he turns out to be a bust, that's just another unneeded headache. Skal should be looked in the light where if he succeeds, then great. If he fails, then it's fine. That's what project players are. Future core players are different.
With prospects you almost never have an absolute lock on someone being part of your future core, only educated guesses.

If you don't think a project can be part of the future then by all means cut ties with them now instead of wasting time and money. Of course not all will work out for various reasons. Some will get it is the first year, some the 2nd or 3rd, some with a different team and some not at all. That is the nature of the NBA.
 
#70
With prospects you almost never have an absolute lock on someone being part of your future core, only educated guesses.

If you don't think a project can be part of the future then by all means cut ties with them now instead of wasting time and money. Of course not all will work out for various reasons. Some will get it is the first year, some the 2nd or 3rd, some with a different team and some not at all. That is the nature of the NBA.
I think he means like lets say we go back to Cousins rookie season. By the end of the season we were all like ok, this guy has a lot of work to do but he's doing some things out there that tell you that he's on the road to becoming a franchise player. It was obvious. Same with John Wall. He turned the ball over and was inefficient but you could tell he was more than likely going to turn into a franchise guy.

Skal hasn't shown that. No one on the entire team has shown that. The only guy I'd put in that category right now is Fox but his odds of reaching the point of being a franchise player have lessened quite a bit from what we thought they were at the beginning of the season because he isn't having a Cousins/Wall type of season where he's doing some really good things mixed with some bad things. He's just doing some decent things, mixed with some bad things, mixed with doing nothing half the time. He doesn't have to have a Ben Simmons type rookie season but we would all feel a lot better if he was able to take a game over once every couple weeks and that has yet to happen.

Obviously not every player that turns out to be a franchise player has a solid rookie season but it would put the fanbase at ease and make us and the front office feel better about where to go in the future. So if the draft comes up and there's a really good PF that is slated to go where we're picking, do you pass up on him because you have Skal still developing or do you take him because you feel like he will end up being the guy? If they both develop, then it's a redundant mistake but if Skal never develops then you're left with a hole in that position and may have taken a lesser player at a different position because you were counting on Skal.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#72
One thing that worries me about Skal is he's maxed out his frame. I had these same concerns last year. I'Skal looks buff as ****, but he's still not that strong. Kings need to get him into a better strength program.

Just fyi, Skal is a vegetarian or vegan I think. EXPLAINS IT ALL! jk
Maxed out his frame? He is 21 years old. he doesn't have that grown man strength quite yet, which will come with time and lots of weight room work. I'm not really concerned about his progression in strength, I'm concerned about his basketball abilities more than anything.
 
#75
I think he means like lets say we go back to Cousins rookie season. By the end of the season we were all like ok, this guy has a lot of work to do but he's doing some things out there that tell you that he's on the road to becoming a franchise player. It was obvious. Same with John Wall. He turned the ball over and was inefficient but you could tell he was more than likely going to turn into a franchise guy.

Skal hasn't shown that. No one on the entire team has shown that. The only guy I'd put in that category right now is Fox but his odds of reaching the point of being a franchise player have lessened quite a bit from what we thought they were at the beginning of the season because he isn't having a Cousins/Wall type of season where he's doing some really good things mixed with some bad things. He's just doing some decent things, mixed with some bad things, mixed with doing nothing half the time. He doesn't have to have a Ben Simmons type rookie season but we would all feel a lot better if he was able to take a game over once every couple weeks and that has yet to happen.

Obviously not every player that turns out to be a franchise player has a solid rookie season but it would put the fanbase at ease and make us and the front office feel better about where to go in the future. So if the draft comes up and there's a really good PF that is slated to go where we're picking, do you pass up on him because you have Skal still developing or do you take him because you feel like he will end up being the guy? If they both develop, then it's a redundant mistake but if Skal never develops then you're left with a hole in that position and may have taken a lesser player at a different position because you were counting on Skal.
I understand that we want someone to go out and have his play scream franchise player, but not everyone does that in the first 20 games of their rookie season (especially pgs & c). Time will tell how good they will become.
 
#79
I don’t worry about Skal.. he’s skilled you can’t teach at 7 foot, and his body is filling out. He’ll at minimum be a solid role player, just a 21 yr old without confidence
 
#81
On the Grant and Doug show yesterday, Joerger was on and Doug asked him about sending the guys down to the G League and what he wanted them to work on.

Joerger said nothing in particular. To just go down there and play basketball.

Do you guys think this is coachspeak or is this really how they're running things? I would think that they would want them to work on specific things to make them better NBA players, on top of just getting minutes on the court.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
#82
On the Grant and Doug show yesterday, Joerger was on and Doug asked him about sending the guys down to the G League and what he wanted them to work on.

Joerger said nothing in particular. To just go down there and play basketball.

Do you guys think this is coachspeak or is this really how they're running things? I would think that they would want them to work on specific things to make them better NBA players, on top of just getting minutes on the court.
I think Joerger is not one to go into detail on things....doesn't come across as liking interviews all that much.

More than likely might mean that Skal just needs to go down and play without thinking about anything in particular. Trust your instincts and play the game, clear your mind.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#83
On the Grant and Doug show yesterday, Joerger was on and Doug asked him about sending the guys down to the G League and what he wanted them to work on.

Joerger said nothing in particular. To just go down there and play basketball.

Do you guys think this is coachspeak or is this really how they're running things? I would think that they would want them to work on specific things to make them better NBA players, on top of just getting minutes on the court.
"It can be real positive," Joerger said of the opportunity in Reno. "Sometimes people are, ‘oh, it's a demotion,' but once you get there and you're realizing (that) you're going to like your teammates, you're going to like your coaches, you love playing basketball and it's an opportunity to play. Once that ball goes up, I think it's a lot easier for everybody."

There's more but he may not have said much on Grant's because he'd already addressed the question.

http://www.kingsfans.com/threads/wh...eague-demotion-is-a-positive-for-kings.68453/
 
#84
Skal, Malachi and Justin getting hammered in G league. Justin and Malachi are a combined 2-12 from 3. Starting to think the Jackson pick will be a big missed opportunity with guys like Kuzma and OG, and Collins all drafted behind them.
 
#85
Skal, Malachi and Justin getting hammered in G league. Justin and Malachi are a combined 2-12 from 3. Starting to think the Jackson pick will be a big missed opportunity with guys like Kuzma and OG, and Collins all drafted behind them.
Hindsight is one thing I hate we weren’t like anybody else entertaining Kuzma where we picked JJ. And we can’t draft OG and Giles 2 all guys stop it Vlade would’ve been killed and nobody knew OG would comeback this early and good.
 
#88
Hindsight is one thing I hate we weren’t like anybody else entertaining Kuzma where we picked JJ. And we can’t draft OG and Giles 2 all guys stop it Vlade would’ve been killed and nobody knew OG would comeback this early and good.
No one entertained Kuzma but no one would killed Vlade had they taken OG and Giles (maybe they would've questioned taking two injury risks), because OG was in play as high as even 10. He slipped due to injury but was a lottery talent; lots of people could've predicted his return.
 
#90
No one entertained Kuzma but no one would killed Vlade had they taken OG and Giles (maybe they would've questioned taking two injury risks), because OG was in play as high as even 10. He slipped due to injury but was a lottery talent; lots of people could've predicted his return.
At the time of the draft, all the medical reports about OG were projecting that he might not play at all this season (definitely not until the 2nd half).