[Game] Kings v. Bucks - 3/22/17 - 7:30PT/10:30ET

"Boy, isn't it nice seeing these young big fellas actually run the floor instead of arguing with refs?"
It'd be a lot more fun if those young big fellas could put up consistent numbers of 28/11/5 and help the team win more games. Hell, the team isn't even competitive anymore and the defense has gotten worse. But apparently that's the true definition of "fun". And we beat Boston and Denver and looked like a real team doing it, so there's that.

The fact that a 3-11 record and numerous non-competitive games since Cousins left town is so much more enjoyable than seeing him argue with refs and possibly earn a playoff spot in the process says all you need to know about the read headed step child. He's not to be taken seriously.
 
We lost our first game against Bucks by 26. We lost tonight by only 18 points. That makes us 8 points better without Cousins. ;) As far as Joerger picking apart Willie's rebounding I didn't hear it but I would guess he said 7 of his mighty rebounds in 27 minutes fell into his lap off missed free throws and the other ones were uncontested too. Where's the O board work? Where's the rebounds in traffic? He's gotten maybe 5 tough rebounds all year. I don't need more than one hand to count em. Maybe he's improving a little bit with his interior passing and O aggressiveness but you have to squint pretty hard.

Willie is mostly a catch and dunk guy. (When he catches it that is) He's scoring off athleticism and that's about it. No low post game. No face up game. No shooting touch. His chance to shine has been a flicker since Boogie trade. Buddy has capitalized on his chance. Not so much for Willie. This kid has a lot of work to do. Jason Terry said at the halftime "that team provides zero resistance" That's a slap in the face to Kings and Willie and they should take it personally. I want to like Willie as a player but he makes it hard.
 
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Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
It'd be a lot more fun if those young big fellas could put up consistent numbers of 28/11/5 and help the team win more games. Hell, the team isn't even competitive anymore and the defense has gotten worse. But apparently that's the true definition of "fun". And we beat Boston and Denver and looked like a real team doing it, so there's that.

The fact that a 3-11 record and numerous non-competitive games since Cousins left town is so much more enjoyable than seeing him argue with refs and possibly earn a playoff spot in the process says all you need to know about the read headed step child. He's not to be taken seriously.
No worries, mate! Once the Kings pick up MacGuffin and Phlebotinum in the draft, it's nothing but smooth sailing!
 
I was @ the game last night.. Willie was alright I thought. Some of you are pretty quick to hate on his play but I see positive stuff that he does every game. Should he be a little further along in his development than he is rn? Yeah but I'm okay with where he is at this point. This offseason and next year will determine more his role in the nba going forward. I still think he has plenty of upside and talent. Our coaching staff has shown me in limited time that they can develop players so I'm optimistic in that ongoing as well.

PapaG is the guy I've been intrigued with the last week or so. As others have said, he looked aweful last summer, but has showed me recently that he could be a real nice player in a couple years given that he continues to lose weight and gain strength.

People on here are still butthurt about the trade obviously too lol.. Just my fandom speaking here but I definitely enjoy watching these young guys way more than I ever did DMC play the last two years or so. It was the same ol crap game in and game out w him and it made me feel like not watching most of the time because any hope that the team would display was usually dashed within a few games. At least, in my view, now I can root for exciting plays and the potential these guys have in the league along with future picks & FA moves this summer. Honestly did anyone really think we were going to win a bunch of games after the trade anyway? Who cares about wins losses the rest of this year except for lottery reasons?
 
I didn't think WCS was too bad last night. The 4 blocks were nice to see.

Skal and Papa were pretty bad. Not sure what Joerger was doing by having Skal go against the Greek Freak. That pretty much went as bad as anyone would think. Papa was pretty bad as well. Missed a couple of gimmies and showed some bad hands.

Hield is starting to become the guy who goes out and puts up the first 6 points of the game, then disappears until the team is down 20 in the third. At that point he will score 12 the rest of the way and have a good looking 20pt stat line that really didn't affect the game at all. Seems like he does this a lot. Hopefully it's just a coincidence lately.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
... Honestly did anyone really think we were going to win a bunch of games after the trade anyway? Who cares about wins losses the rest of this year except for lottery reasons?
Like I keep asking, what's the timetable, though? You want to stand behind, "It's not about this year"? Fine. What year is it about? If it's not reasonable for fans to expect wins this year, which year will it be reasonable to expect wins? If the Kings still can't get any quality free agents, and the draft picks don't work out, then what?
 
Like I keep asking, what's the timetable, though? You want to stand behind, "It's not about this year"? Fine. What year is it about? If it's not reasonable for fans to expect wins this year, which year will it be reasonable to expect wins? If the Kings still can't get any quality free agents, and the draft picks don't work out, then what?
Fair questions. We basically hit the full reset button so I would say after next season wins matter again. I'm not saying next year its okay to lose its just I dont have expectations to win is all. I do want to see that we're playing the right kind of basketball for sure though, fighting and scrapping and continual youth development that shows they're learning from mistakes game in game out.
 
Like I keep asking, what's the timetable, though? You want to stand behind, "It's not about this year"? Fine. What year is it about? If it's not reasonable for fans to expect wins this year, which year will it be reasonable to expect wins? If the Kings still can't get any quality free agents, and the draft picks don't work out, then what?
For me the timetable is 2019... Our pick is gone that year so there's no incentive to lose whatsoever. Play the kids all of next year. Buddy, Skal, Papa, and Malachi will all be entering year three with a good bit of NBA experience. I'm hoping for a good season then.
 
After watching the talented and improving Bucks team, the Kings look pretty good on offense. They get up and down the floor. Rebounding is okay. The defense is a glaring weakness and needs a lot of work. This is the same old story for young players in the NBA. It is the defense that takes time to develop.
 
Like I keep asking, what's the timetable, though? You want to stand behind, "It's not about this year"? Fine. What year is it about? If it's not reasonable for fans to expect wins this year, which year will it be reasonable to expect wins? If the Kings still can't get any quality free agents, and the draft picks don't work out, then what?
I would go with basically 2 year reset:
If Kings are not in conversation about the playoff during the 2018-2019 season around the all star break I would call it a fail from the talent evaluation/development point.
If Kings actually make playoff that season I will call it a success.
If Kings fight for playoff but do not make it in 2018-2019, then everything short of the playoff in 2019-2020 would be fail.

If Kings win the first round in 2018-2019 or the following year, I will forgive Vlade.

Maybe not a person to answer though, since I hated the trade.
 
Hield is starting to become the guy who goes out and puts up the first 6 points of the game, then disappears until the team is down 20 in the third. At that point he will score 12 the rest of the way and have a good looking 20pt stat line that really didn't affect the game at all.
You want to criticize Buddy for "disappearing"? He has logged a better stretch than Ben ever has in 4 years. He's had two bad games out of 14 since trade (@ PHX @ OKC) and shooting 63% TS 14PPG and 45% on 3s. He cut back dramatically his TOs when fans were saying he couldn't dribble and I said holdup he's get used to system and teammates. There's plenty of guys to criticize on this team. Buddy is not one of them. As far as his stats line "not affecting the game at all", these 20 point losses would be closer to 30 point losses if he was shooting 40% FGs instead of 50% FGs.
 
I would go with basically 2 year reset:
If Kings are not in conversation about the playoff during the 2018-2019 season around the all star break I would call it a fail from the talent evaluation/development point.
If Kings actually make playoff that season I will call it a success.
If Kings fight for playoff but do not make it in 2018-2019, then everything short of the playoff in 2019-2020 would be fail.

If Kings win the first round in 2018-2019 or the following year, I will forgive Vlade.

Maybe not a person to answer though, since I hated the trade.
Can we find some examples, were teams went from lottery bound to playoffs in 2 years with a full scale youth movement taking place?
 
You want to criticize Buddy for "disappearing"? He has logged a better stretch than Ben ever has in 4 years. He's had two bad games out of 14 since trade (@ PHX @ OKC) and shooting 63% TS 14PPG and 45% on 3s. He cut back dramatically his TOs when fans were saying he couldn't dribble and I said holdup he's get used to system and teammates. There's plenty of guys to criticize on this team. Buddy is not one of them. As far as his stats line "not affecting the game at all", these 20 point losses would be closer to 30 point losses if he was shooting 40% FGs instead of 50% FGs.
I'm not jumping all over the kid or anything. I'm just going off of what I see. It seems as if nearly every game he scores the first two or three baskets in the first couple minutes and then you don't really notice him until the game is out of hand. I'd like to see him being more aggressive during the middle stages of the game to try and help us not get down by 20 in the first place. I'm pulling for him as hard as anyone, I just don't want him to become an empty stat line guy who looks good on paper but doesn't affect the game in any significant way. He's a significant part of the Cousins trade so we're going to have to rely on this guy pretty heavily in the next few years if we want to turn this thing around.
 
Can we find some examples, were teams went from lottery bound to playoffs in 2 years with a full scale youth movement taking place?
Memphis, depending how to define the starting points, comes close -- they traded Pau in Feb. 2008, and finished 22-60 that season. They went 24-58 the next season, won 40 games the next season, and were in the playoffs at 46-36 the season after. Now, they had been in the lotto before trading Pau, but so were we with Cousins.
 
Can we find some examples, were teams went from lottery bound to playoffs in 2 years with a full scale youth movement taking place?
Heck, actually, you don't need to look much farther than the other team named in this thread. After going 38-44 in 2012-13, the Bucks gutted most of their team. They won only 15 games the next season, but were in the playoffs at 41-41 in 2014-15. According to win shares, their three most important players in that turnaround season were Middleton, Giannis, and Knight -- all 23 or under.