[Grades] Grades vs. Hawks, because why not?

#31
The main problem is, that Vlade didnt go full Hinkie at all. Hinkie was very good in selling his cap space to teams desperate for a change. Vlade just used it on vets, because he wanted to push his "Culture matters" Agenda.
Hinkies main fault was, that he was so open about the process, obviously never even thinking about the League stepping in to save its brand.

The 76ers played hard, even during the ugliest years of the process. Thats mainly on the coaching staff, but also on Hinkie, because he understood, that he needed to bring in Players, who had something left to prove.
Y’all tripping with the Hinkie Vlade stuff you need vets Vlade did the right thing it’s not his fault ZBo is getting so many minutes. Hinkie lucked into Embiid if Embiid never gets hurt he goes 1 Philly gets Wiggins and the Process isn’t all that after that.
 

Entity

Hall of Famer
#32
watching these games. Although Randolph gets production. His style seems to fly in the face of every other player on the court. Kosta is close to the same. Kosta will hustle and give you something. Randolph plods. He can't get in front of anybody on defense. He can't help on backside with on jumping ability. Outside of Him and Kosta we have alot of speed on the team. We don't utilize it at all. one of the slowest paces in the NBA. If you go out and draft a PG that is one of the fastest guys in the NBA. why not use it? its like we are playing the same offense we did with Cousins but with out the key element of a 30ppg 15reb 6ast guy in that spot.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#33
The "culture" gets an "F." When Philly ripped it down to the studs they still had players who played hard. If a "never-say-die" work ethic isn't part of the "culture" then there is no meaning to the word. (And there probably isn't a meaning to the word anyway).

Divac and Joerger better get a grip on this situation, pronto. They brought in vets to "show the way" and at this point that purpose has absolutely failed, not by virtue of the losing, but because of the tolerance for losing and the lack of professionalism and work ethic. Joerger said that the players have to be willing "to bleed" in order to win. It's all talk unless you back it up with action. Divac needs to make personnel changes to this team to send the message that a reputation of talent is worthless without the work ethic to bring it to fruition. Joerger needs to play players who play hard and sit players who don't (See WCS!). There should be a "No Tolerance" policy - no tolerance for a minute of lackadaisical play or the player is benched. Joerger has contributed to this laziness up to this point by allowing players to play who showed no energy on the court. It came to final fruition in the Atlanta debacle. It's one thing to be tolerant of the miscues of young players who will inevitably make mistakes. It's an entirely different proposition to be tolerant of a player's laziness.
 
#34
Last night was total domination by a no-name Atlanta team. The Hawks are a really good defensive team that plays hard. After awhile I was watching their defense and comparing it to the Kings. Quite different in the level of effort. The Hawks filled the passing lanes, extended to the 3 pt line, and still managed to clog the middle and rebound.

The Kings have specialized in squandering high draft choices. IT was the one player they drafted at the bottom that became an all-star. I now pay more attention to the rest of the NBA than before the Kings hit the bottom. I noticed last night that Collison got 30 points and 8 assists. Tyreke bad knees and all got 18/5/9.

Maybe the Kings have just not figured out how to develop players in the last 10 years, and certainly not in the last 5 years. Maybe they should find some new player development personnel and trade some high draft choices for two pretty high draft choices. The Celtics might be the best team to emulate. Ainge is the best in the business.

After the two wins we had some hope. The Kings broke the barrier and developed some confidence. Last night they played with none. Zero. Being in strange big cities, staying in hotels is hard for 19 yo prodigies. I hope they get used to it fast and play better at home.
 
#35
The "culture" gets an "F." When Philly ripped it down to the studs they still had players who played hard. If a "never-say-die" work ethic isn't part of the "culture" then there is no meaning to the word. (And there probably isn't a meaning to the word anyway).

Divac and Joerger better get a grip on this situation, pronto. They brought in vets to "show the way" and at this point that purpose has absolutely failed, not by virtue of the losing, but because of the tolerance for losing and the lack of professionalism and work ethic. Joerger said that the players have to be willing "to bleed" in order to win. It's all talk unless you back it up with action. Divac needs to make personnel changes to this team to send the message that a reputation of talent is worthless without the work ethic to bring it to fruition. Joerger needs to play players who play hard and sit players who don't (See WCS!). There should be a "No Tolerance" policy - no tolerance for a minute of lackadaisical play or the player is benched. Joerger has contributed to this laziness up to this point by allowing players to play who showed no energy on the court. It came to final fruition in the Atlanta debacle. It's one thing to be tolerant of the miscues of young players who will inevitably make mistakes. It's an entirely different proposition to be tolerant of a player's laziness.
The problem is that every player looks bad. Are they all lazy? Are they all checked out already? Do they all hate the system? Do they just suck no matter what? Would they be losing by 30 points a game if Karl was the coach? Hell, would they be losing by 30 points a game of Keith Smart was the coach?

It's not like we have a single player that gets on the court and shows extra hustle or ability. They all look terrible most of the time as a collective group. ZBo and Koufos are about the only ones that are playing to their normal levels. So either the Kings swung and missed with pretty much every draft pick and every free agent signing....or there is something else going on with this group. By all accounts, we've seen that these guys are gym rats that put in extra work on a consistent basis in practice and in the gym. I just can't help but think they're just mad at the system that's in place.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#36
The problem is that every player looks bad. Are they all lazy? Are they all checked out already? Do they all hate the system? Do they just suck no matter what? Would they be losing by 30 points a game if Karl was the coach? Hell, would they be losing by 30 points a game of Keith Smart was the coach?

It's not like we have a single player that gets on the court and shows extra hustle or ability. They all look terrible most of the time as a collective group. ZBo and Koufos are about the only ones that are playing to their normal levels. So either the Kings swung and missed with pretty much every draft pick and every free agent signing....or there is something else going on with this group. By all accounts, we've seen that these guys are gym rats that put in extra work on a consistent basis in practice and in the gym. I just can't help but think they're just mad at the system that's in place.
It's not a question of "looking bad." It's a question of effort. You can have effort and still look bad by making all kinds of mistakes and missing shots. All you have to do is look at what happens when the Kings get a rebound or the opposing team gets a rebound. What do you see? Do you see the players sprinting up the floor or do you see a casual jog? When you see a loose ball, do you see players flying to the ball, or do you see them "watch to see what happens"? It's not a difficult exercise, especially if you have a DVR. Joerger undoubtedly has many other benchmarks that he uses to see whether effort is expended on the floor. I don't know why he has allowed this to go on for so long. It's an affront to the game, it's creating lousy habits, and he should have nipped it in the bud several games ago.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
#39
The players are soft. There is no one willing to give a hard foul. Teams know their soft. Maybe it's time to get Papa out there cause he doesn't take crap. I wouldn't be opposed to Cooley and Jakar Sampson at this point. Skal is sooooofffft. WCS is worried about himself. This isn't scheme stuff it's about getting tougher first.
 
#40
The players are soft. There is no one willing to give a hard foul. Teams know their soft. Maybe it's time to get Papa out there cause he doesn't take crap. I wouldn't be opposed to Cooley and Jakar Sampson at this point. Skal is sooooofffft. WCS is worried about himself. This isn't scheme stuff it's about getting tougher first.
The "culture" change has a lot to do with that. Adding a bunch of nice guys that get along is great for locker room chemistry but it shows during the game when these guys are all out hustled and out muscled out there.
 
#41
How far are you going to get with a leading rebounder that gets 4 boards? Or a leading assist man with 4?
It all starts with defense. Tonight I watched Boston beat Golden State in a low scoring game with two great defensive teams. Boston shot around 34% and still beat the Warriors. They did it with defense, rebounding and making foul shots. The Kings need to watch a game like that and get serious about defense and rebounding. I agree with the concept of being too soft. Randolph and Koufus play hard, but Skal and Willie wear tuxedoes out there. the Kings have a very low level of confidence and the way to get it back is hard work.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#42
The "culture" change has a lot to do with that. Adding a bunch of nice guys that get along is great for locker room chemistry but it shows during the game when these guys are all out hustled and out muscled out there.
they are teenagers so yeah, they will get out muscled. However, the outhustle part is unacceptable considering the speed and athletic ability of the players. It's all mental with them. They need to break that barrier.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#43
How far are you going to get with a leading rebounder that gets 4 boards? Or a leading assist man with 4?
It all starts with defense. Tonight I watched Boston beat Golden State in a low scoring game with two great defensive teams. Boston shot around 34% and still beat the Warriors. They did it with defense, rebounding and making foul shots. The Kings need to watch a game like that and get serious about defense and rebounding. I agree with the concept of being too soft. Randolph and Koufus play hard, but Skal and Willie wear tuxedoes out there. the Kings have a very low level of confidence and the way to get it back is hard work.
It's not as if Joerger doesn't preach defense and all the pretty things we want to hear. It's a different animal going out there and actually doing it. You can't all of a sudden teach a player to play tough and physical, it's something that is within them. I'm not saying there haven't been players that have turned it around from a physical standpoint but when your two other bigs beside Koufos & Randolph are paper tissue soft, then there are some serious issues that need to be addressed and it doesn't all start in the weight room either.