[Game] Kings @ Thunder - 3/18/17 - 12PT/3ET

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Jerry, What does Galloway need to improve on?

Well Grant, his salary is too damn high and he's signed for another year.
Just for the record, his salary won't be a problem as far as cap space goes. We'll have money coming out our wazzo this offseason. His 5 mil will be chump change. Can't believe I'm saying that. What I couldn't so with..............:rolleyes:
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
You're not alone. The thing that made me hyped for wcs was that he was hyped as a guy who could possibly guard 5 positions. His defense has looked horrible since he was drafted and it seems like he is using more energy trying to be an offensive threat. His game is becoming the opposite of what I hoped for with him.
I know you don't like him, but either you don't know squat about defense, or you just like making up things. I guess we all see what we want to see. How about Willies assist ability? How about the fact he hardly turns the ball over. Oh, and lets just ignore his good games, and exploit his bad one's. Right!
 

bajaden

Hall of Famer
Maybe they meant he could guard 5 positions equally bad?



Kosta was never a back-to-the-basket center. The Jazz destroyed him as an offensive player.
If Kosta isn't a back to the basket center, please tell me just what kind of center he is? Huh? Lets see, most of the time he scores, he has his back to the basket. How many times in a game does he shoot jumpers? ZERO! End of discussion!
 
WCS played like a wuss today. Probably couldn't even have brought down 10 rebounds on Vivek's girls team. If Skal winds up being the PF of the future, I don't think you can start WCS next to him. WCS will develop nice offensive moves but he will never be that anchor down in the paint that you need next to a guy like Skal.

Skal started slow but turned it up. Think he had what, 11 in the 2nd half? That turnaround jumper is so sweet to watch. His baseline dunk was awesome as well. I didn't think he'd be able to get up to the rim at that angle. Usually players just throw the ball up and wait for the whistle.

Big Papa brought in some toughness that was sorely needed. Congrats to the big fella on his first career grown mans game. Never would have thought he could have done it this season. He also did it against legitimate players in Adams and Kanter. It's not like he was just dunking and rebounding over a 6'6" Chuck Hayes. These are full sized, high level players. I was impressed.
 
If Kosta isn't a back to the basket center, please tell me just what kind of center he is? Huh? Lets see, most of the time he scores, he has his back to the basket. How many times in a game does he shoot jumpers? ZERO! End of discussion!
Did you read my whole post? He didn't have a post up game before he was drafted. The Jazz tried to make him a heavy center, and destroyed his game. End of discussion!!!11one

Did'nt Papa draw comparisons to Marc Gasol as a youngster. Gasol also took time to develop so maybe thats not too far off. I'm real happy with todays stats. We have some very promising bigs and all young enough to grow together.
I really despised Marc when he was a youngster, always thought it was a clear case of nepotism that he played in the Spanish NT, and I was not alone with that belief. He was the most awkward young center I've ever seen.
 
I dont get to watch games much lately due to technical difficulties. That said:

I am glad our youth are taking turns showing improved skill from game to game. It is a testament to the players for hard work. The coaching staff for their developmental approach. As well as Vlade and Ken for their scouting eye.

On another note. It is quite odd seeing how quickly our players are annointed succesful then deemed a bust a few games later. These guys under 27 or so have not hit their primes yet. Just as a good game shouldnt cement one player a rising star, the same should go for one not making the leap to lofty expectations as fast as we would like. Not trying to be preachy, just hate to see another player drafted by us excel years later as our opponent .
 
I dont get to watch games much lately due to technical difficulties. That said:

I am glad our youth are taking turns showing improved skill from game to game. It is a testament to the players for hard work. The coaching staff for their developmental approach. As well as Vlade and Ken for their scouting eye.

On another note. It is quite odd seeing how quickly our players are annointed succesful then deemed a bust a few games later. These guys under 27 or so have not hit their primes yet. Just as a good game shouldnt cement one player a rising star, the same should go for one not making the leap to lofty expectations as fast as we would like. Not trying to be preachy, just hate to see another player drafted by us excel years later as our opponent .
27, that is old for our team.

These guys (WCS, Buddy, Skal, Papa, Malachi) are 23 and under!

It is impossible to predict the ceiling, but I dare anyone to claim that each one of them will not be at least a 'solid NBA bench player on the playoff team' level.
 
Good to see Papa out there. I really like his offensive game even though it's raw. I see a lot of potential there.

It's still early to make a statement like this, but I finally feel like we have a competent enough coaching staff to develop the young guys. For years our coaching staffs seemed to have a negative effect on players, however impossible that might be.
 
I know you don't like him, but either you don't know squat about defense, or you just like making up things. I guess we all see what we want to see. How about Willies assist ability? How about the fact he hardly turns the ball over. Oh, and lets just ignore his good games, and exploit his bad one's. Right!
Sorry I upset you so bad with my comment. I truly didn't mean to ruin anyones day. I've watched every Kings game since the Cousins trade. WCS has had some good games, but overall I haven't been thrilled with what I've seen. He's been getting outworked, out muscled, and generally outplayed on defense. I don't know how you can't see that if you're looking objectively. He's late on his blocks, he's been missing switches in the pick and roll left and right, he's been letting his man get around way to easily, etc, etc. It's not lack of ability either because some possessions, like his stop on Kanter today, show that the ability is there, but he just doesn't stay in gear throughout the game. He'll get beat in the post, try and recover with a late swat and miss, then attack the basket hard on offense. Passing ability is fine. Low turnovers are great, even though his game isn't predicated on ball handling. I just want to see that gear he shows on offense translate more over to the defensive end. Right now he hasn't been the defender I, and a lot of people, hoped for. He's shown flashes here and there, but overall his defense has been poor. Sorry if you disagree, but it is what it is.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
Not going to lie....glad for the loss because I'd like for this coaching staff to get 2 more lottery picks next year to work with after seeing some of these prospects in the NCAA tourney and seeing how this staff develops its players.
 
Sorry I upset you so bad with my comment. I truly didn't mean to ruin anyones day. I've watched every Kings game since the Cousins trade. WCS has had some good games, but overall I haven't been thrilled with what I've seen. He's been getting outworked, out muscled, and generally outplayed on defense. I don't know how you can't see that if you're looking objectively. He's late on his blocks, he's been missing switches in the pick and roll left and right, he's been letting his man get around way to easily, etc, etc. It's not lack of ability either because some possessions, like his stop on Kanter today, show that the ability is there, but he just doesn't stay in gear throughout the game. He'll get beat in the post, try and recover with a late swat and miss, then attack the basket hard on offense. Passing ability is fine. Low turnovers are great, even though his game isn't predicated on ball handling. I just want to see that gear he shows on offense translate more over to the defensive end. Right now he hasn't been the defender I, and a lot of people, hoped for. He's shown flashes here and there, but overall his defense has been poor. Sorry if you disagree, but it is what it is.
I agree with you. WCS needs to bring it every night, but he doesn't. He was thought of as a defensive PF coming out of college who could immediately switch onto guards and protect the rim.

As of right now, neither skill has become a strength for him.

Willie is such an inconsistent player, and a lot of it has to do with his motor... or lack of one. He doesn't bring it every night, and I think that's his biggest weakness.
 
Sorry I upset you so bad with my comment. I truly didn't mean to ruin anyones day. I've watched every Kings game since the Cousins trade. WCS has had some good games, but overall I haven't been thrilled with what I've seen. He's been getting outworked, out muscled, and generally outplayed on defense. I don't know how you can't see that if you're looking objectively. He's late on his blocks, he's been missing switches in the pick and roll left and right, he's been letting his man get around way to easily, etc, etc. It's not lack of ability either because some possessions, like his stop on Kanter today, show that the ability is there, but he just doesn't stay in gear throughout the game. He'll get beat in the post, try and recover with a late swat and miss, then attack the basket hard on offense. Passing ability is fine. Low turnovers are great, even though his game isn't predicated on ball handling. I just want to see that gear he shows on offense translate more over to the defensive end. Right now he hasn't been the defender I, and a lot of people, hoped for. He's shown flashes here and there, but overall his defense has been poor. Sorry if you disagree, but it is what it is.
It's true. And motor is the one thing I don't know if you can do anything with..
 

gunks

Hall of Famer
Pat yourself on the back if you voted for WCS in the "Sacramento Kings' Next Scapegoat" Pool
I dunno if anyone is really scapegoating him. I think some of us are just frustrated with the inconsistency.

He's improving though. Definitely has come a long way from where he was early on in the year. Dude was looking like a bust until a few months ago.
 
Pat yourself on the back if you voted for WCS in the "Sacramento Kings' Next Scapegoat" Pool
A lot of problematic things with him that I don't think he'll rectify to be a true staple in a successful starting five. I'm convinced he will be a consistent rotation guy once more playmakers are around him. I view him as a double figure scoring backup with energy boosts and defensive ability(25 minutes on average, 30 on a good night) once he hits his peak, hopefully coinciding with a playoff caliber Kings roster.
 
I agree with you. WCS needs to bring it every night, but he doesn't. He was thought of as a defensive PF coming out of college who could immediately switch onto guards and protect the rim.

As of right now, neither skill has become a strength for him.

Willie is such an inconsistent player, and a lot of it has to do with his motor... or lack of one. He doesn't bring it every night, and I think that's his biggest weakness.
He's definitely shown improvement, but in areas we don't need him to improve in. His post game has gotten better, his jumper has shown improvement, he's softened up his touch around the rim, but none of those skills were what we needed him for when we drafted him. Like you said, his scouting report that stated that he could guard the 5 and immediately switch out to the pg was such a tantalizing skill to have that I was thrilled when we drafted him. But he seems to have neglected that part of his game entirely. I guess him showing improvement on the offensive side of the ball is nothing to complain about, but the fact that he has been a poor defender so far is definitely a downer.
 
He's definitely shown improvement, but in areas we don't need him to improve in. His post game has gotten better, his jumper has shown improvement, he's softened up his touch around the rim, but none of those skills were what we needed him for when we drafted him. Like you said, his scouting report that stated that he could guard the 5 and immediately switch out to the pg was such a tantalizing skill to have that I was thrilled when we drafted him. But he seems to have neglected that part of his game entirely. I guess him showing improvement on the offensive side of the ball is nothing to complain about, but the fact that he has been a poor defender so far is definitely a downer.
We need them now that Boogie's gone.

But yes, obviously needs to fulfill his defensive potential. I can imagine he'll get some "coaching" on that for the offseason.
 
I thought WCS was better last season than he's been this season. I liked the trajectory he was on. He was rebounding better, blocking shots and improving his offensive game as the season went on. His defense was also pretty damn solid for a rookie.

Fast forward to this year and he seems to have caught the offensive bug that some players get where they just want to go out and score. In turn, his rebounding and shot blocking has dropped by quite a bit while his offensive arsenal and passing has gotten better. But that's not really what we need at the moment as much as we need a guy who can protect the rim and protect the glass. As a non stretch big man, you have to be able to excel at the fundamentals before you can start trying to become Olajuwon. It's kind of why the Sixers couldn't trade Jhalil Okafor. It's just very difficult to win with a guy that can't do the fundamentals required for his position.