ESPN Predicts Kings finish 30-52
- Thread starter rainmaker
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I agree. Of course it isn't likely the Kings will make the playoffs. But it obviously isn't a 100% certainty. There are a lot of old teams in the west, and we have no idea what kind of an impact injuries will have, nor do we know what will happen at the trade deadline, nor or any of us certain how guys like Tyreke, Donte, Omri, and Cousins will start and finish the season.
If I was betting, I would say we miss the playoffs by about 5 games, and finish between 9-11 in the west. But no one knows how it will turn out. It's August 12th for christ sake.
If I was betting, I would say we miss the playoffs by about 5 games, and finish between 9-11 in the west. But no one knows how it will turn out. It's August 12th for christ sake.
K
Well it was almost a certainty that OKC wasn't going to make the playoffs last year and look what happened there. And Milwaukie was predicted to finish dead last. Just saying, you don't know until you know. Hell Reke and DMC could come out tearing stuff up, Cisco could be the player we always wanted him to be (Doug Christie), Landry could come out and beast, JT could finally 'get it', Dalembert could patrol the paint and add toughness, Beno could play like he did last year, Greene and Casspi could take the next step. You just never know on a team that has as much potential as the Kings, if they DO put it together at some point next season they could go on a serious run and turn heads.
35 would be a good goal to achieve. We have some of the best young talents in the game--Evans, Greene and Casspi are keepers from last season, although for some reason I'm starting to get a Rudy Fernandez-type vibe from Casspi, and if Greene is to play SF in the future Casspi might be the odd man out in the near future. Dalembert is seriously underrated as a defensive presence, and Cousins looks to be a keeper as well. Whiteside can be a steal with a budding Keon Clark-type game. I'm not sure if we'll have an OKC-type strike on the league (OKC's Westbrook-Durant-Green tormented older legs with their athleticism) and we're not that athletic as a team at all. In terms of skills that can mesh however our team really looks to be budding. We'll see.
K
I find it interesting that you say this. Tyreke is athletic in a body control way, Garcia is fairly athletic. Beno is very athletic for what he is, Greene is pretty athletic, Casspi is pretty athletic, JT is fairly athletic, Landry is fairly athletic, Dalembert is pretty athletic, Cousins is fairly athletic, very athletic body control wise, and Whiteside is tremendously athletic. Exactly how are we not that athletic?
I believe the SUBTRACTION of Hawes is worth 7-10 games at the very least. Hawes could not defend his grandma in the post. Add to our team Cousins and Dalembert to form a decent rebounding front court that has defensive potential and you are looking at an additional 8 games. So I think a 40-45 win total it completely doable and really is the next step up the ladder of respectability. We wont get a lot of calls this year, the rookie will get a lot of foul calls against him because he is young and enthusiastic. He might be in foul trouble for the first HALF of the season. But as long as he keeps his cool and doesn't turn into JT 2.0, Boogie should give Blake a run for his money in the ROY race. I don't pay much attention to the prognosticators Who not only try to predict an NBA players career as a rookie who hasn't even played one NBA game, but then try to extrapolate that guesstimation of rookie play over an 82 game schedule.
The GURU's never factor in the fact that the rookie season for most young players will be a long learning experience. For Big Men like Demarcus, the test is to play and not get frustrated. Learn what he can and can not do. Learn to play defense with his feet and not his arms. THAT will be Cousins most IMPORTANT thing to learn. Offense will come eventually, but defense will take time to allow the refs to see your game and watch you play "D". If he whines about every call, he'll be lumped into the "Brad Miller" group who get called for sneezing on the court. If Cousins is smart, if he gets whistled he raises his arms, no smirks or grins, and casually march back up the floor and get on defense. The sooner Boogie realizes that the refs do NOT have a personal vendetta against him. Refs treat Rookies differently. The league treats Rooks different when they sign. Lets face it. Tyreke Evans earned respect from the Refs last season playing stellar defense and allowing the refs to see his game and call the dumb fouls early in the season.
I believe that the way Evans handled the refs last season was very good and near the end of the season Evans got respect from the refs as the season drew to a close. If Boogie has a smile on his face,and saves his intensity for the huddle and the locker room, then I can see Boogie having a great time as a Sacramento King. If Boogie gets the Chris Webber treatment over time the Kings will become a competitive team. If you look at Hassan Whiteside, you have to be amazed by the Kings draft this year. Cousins is arguably the best big man taken in the draft, but Whiteside has the possibility of being the best big player in the 2010 draft barring injury. AND the Kings have the luxury of bringing the kid up slowly to allow the Kings to teach about Defense and Footwork. Whiteside is a fantastic shot blocker, but his defense is shakey and he needs to bulk up because like Dalembert, Whiteside is as thin as a reed. I think all Kings fans are guardedly optimistic this season. I still believe that the Kings are going to pull off a blockbuster deal where the Kings get a good 2 guard who can score and play defense. The Kings are really lacking that outside threat who can put the ball on the floor and shoot off the dribble. I think if the Kings can acquire a good 2 guard to put into a rotation with Evans-Beno-Garcia-Newplayer, the Kings would have enough horsepower to compete with the deep rosters that we dont have.
The bottom line is the Kings are on there way back to the Promised Land. Petrie has done a decent job of finding players in the draft. Problem is, Petrie must not be very good at swinging back room deals for free agency and bringing in talent via trade. I just hope Petrie has his plan and stays with the plan. Again, championship looks pretty far outta reach. So Petrie needs to wheel and deal for the help that the Kings need. I think next season they will be a solid franchise who keeps within their budget and spends money over time. I think the Kings are SET in the front court barring injuries for at leafy 5 years. Big Men are the hardest to come bye, so credit Petrie for looking past this year and the next season for his long term future coals because the way the league is set up the team you build today, teams have about a 3-4 year window to either succeed or fail and start over. Right now the Kings are still in a dumping phase, but are starting to enter the young big man core phase!
I believe after next season it will be the add piece here and there phase and the team could return to the respectability! It has been a long road, but Petrie has done a pretty good job! You have to give Petrie the credit! If the Kings turn the team around this season or start heading in the right direction with the light at the end of the tunnel in site, Petrie will deserve the title GENIUS! I think the Kings are one outside shooting guard of being competitive THIS season. But like all moves the Kings make, it will be slow and calculated. GO KINGS !!
The GURU's never factor in the fact that the rookie season for most young players will be a long learning experience. For Big Men like Demarcus, the test is to play and not get frustrated. Learn what he can and can not do. Learn to play defense with his feet and not his arms. THAT will be Cousins most IMPORTANT thing to learn. Offense will come eventually, but defense will take time to allow the refs to see your game and watch you play "D". If he whines about every call, he'll be lumped into the "Brad Miller" group who get called for sneezing on the court. If Cousins is smart, if he gets whistled he raises his arms, no smirks or grins, and casually march back up the floor and get on defense. The sooner Boogie realizes that the refs do NOT have a personal vendetta against him. Refs treat Rookies differently. The league treats Rooks different when they sign. Lets face it. Tyreke Evans earned respect from the Refs last season playing stellar defense and allowing the refs to see his game and call the dumb fouls early in the season.
I believe that the way Evans handled the refs last season was very good and near the end of the season Evans got respect from the refs as the season drew to a close. If Boogie has a smile on his face,and saves his intensity for the huddle and the locker room, then I can see Boogie having a great time as a Sacramento King. If Boogie gets the Chris Webber treatment over time the Kings will become a competitive team. If you look at Hassan Whiteside, you have to be amazed by the Kings draft this year. Cousins is arguably the best big man taken in the draft, but Whiteside has the possibility of being the best big player in the 2010 draft barring injury. AND the Kings have the luxury of bringing the kid up slowly to allow the Kings to teach about Defense and Footwork. Whiteside is a fantastic shot blocker, but his defense is shakey and he needs to bulk up because like Dalembert, Whiteside is as thin as a reed. I think all Kings fans are guardedly optimistic this season. I still believe that the Kings are going to pull off a blockbuster deal where the Kings get a good 2 guard who can score and play defense. The Kings are really lacking that outside threat who can put the ball on the floor and shoot off the dribble. I think if the Kings can acquire a good 2 guard to put into a rotation with Evans-Beno-Garcia-Newplayer, the Kings would have enough horsepower to compete with the deep rosters that we dont have.
The bottom line is the Kings are on there way back to the Promised Land. Petrie has done a decent job of finding players in the draft. Problem is, Petrie must not be very good at swinging back room deals for free agency and bringing in talent via trade. I just hope Petrie has his plan and stays with the plan. Again, championship looks pretty far outta reach. So Petrie needs to wheel and deal for the help that the Kings need. I think next season they will be a solid franchise who keeps within their budget and spends money over time. I think the Kings are SET in the front court barring injuries for at leafy 5 years. Big Men are the hardest to come bye, so credit Petrie for looking past this year and the next season for his long term future coals because the way the league is set up the team you build today, teams have about a 3-4 year window to either succeed or fail and start over. Right now the Kings are still in a dumping phase, but are starting to enter the young big man core phase!
I believe after next season it will be the add piece here and there phase and the team could return to the respectability! It has been a long road, but Petrie has done a pretty good job! You have to give Petrie the credit! If the Kings turn the team around this season or start heading in the right direction with the light at the end of the tunnel in site, Petrie will deserve the title GENIUS! I think the Kings are one outside shooting guard of being competitive THIS season. But like all moves the Kings make, it will be slow and calculated. GO KINGS !!
Yeah, I was going to clarify this comment but I got sidetracked a little yesterday. That's not a condemnation on our athleticism at all--OKC's Durant, Green, Ibaka, and Westbrook combine youth with ups and length utilized on both ends of the court--and their offensive game was based on transition game-dunking and supplementary skills. They literally won with athleticism/youth, in that order, and played well against the aging/fading? playoff teams of the West because of that.
Our team possesses athletic markers, certainly, but in a different sense. It still will be a big boon for us, but I think our team will be what I call more "skill-based athletcism." Which is fine, because there are different ways to win. Reke is athletic in that he's physically imposing and has the first step/mentality to get to the basket at will, but he's not as vertically athletic as OKC's mentioned four (won't be a problem anyway). But Reke's game is largely predicated on athleticism for sure and his ability to get to the basket. Cousins' length accentuates the athleticism but it would be hard to argue that he's more skilled than athletic, as he's an inside-outside relatively groundbound scoring type. Greene is definitely what I would call athletic but the real talent for him is his versatility and swiss-knife potential on both ends of the court, a la Odom. Casspi and Garcia are what I would call lengthy athletic, but not freak athletic. Whiteside's freakish length accentuates the athleticism. As for the rest, I'd say they're ordinary to poor relative to league standards.
But I'm don't want to belabor the point--our team is young and athletic relative to most of the playoff teams which stock up on older players, and overall definitely has athletic tools, but we don't have any top gun freaks like OKC does. But that's the intrigue about this team--we have players good but not great athleticism, but have the sort of skills that mesh well together. The "good athleticism" is just a complement to those skills, and I think if we click it will be based on this "skill-based athleticism" rather than out-and-out athleticism.
Our team possesses athletic markers, certainly, but in a different sense. It still will be a big boon for us, but I think our team will be what I call more "skill-based athletcism." Which is fine, because there are different ways to win. Reke is athletic in that he's physically imposing and has the first step/mentality to get to the basket at will, but he's not as vertically athletic as OKC's mentioned four (won't be a problem anyway). But Reke's game is largely predicated on athleticism for sure and his ability to get to the basket. Cousins' length accentuates the athleticism but it would be hard to argue that he's more skilled than athletic, as he's an inside-outside relatively groundbound scoring type. Greene is definitely what I would call athletic but the real talent for him is his versatility and swiss-knife potential on both ends of the court, a la Odom. Casspi and Garcia are what I would call lengthy athletic, but not freak athletic. Whiteside's freakish length accentuates the athleticism. As for the rest, I'd say they're ordinary to poor relative to league standards.
But I'm don't want to belabor the point--our team is young and athletic relative to most of the playoff teams which stock up on older players, and overall definitely has athletic tools, but we don't have any top gun freaks like OKC does. But that's the intrigue about this team--we have players good but not great athleticism, but have the sort of skills that mesh well together. The "good athleticism" is just a complement to those skills, and I think if we click it will be based on this "skill-based athleticism" rather than out-and-out athleticism.
K
Makes perfect sense. Realistically, the Kings are not a top tier jump out the roof athletic squad, point taken. However, I think they are at least middle road when it comes to the entire league, and I think you are right in that their athletic ability coincides nicely with their skill sets. It's interesting to wait and see the prodcut that Petrie has put together and how it will mesh on the court....
I really don't want to get into another athleticism argument. But I think the Kings match up fairly well with the Thunder in that dept. I don't think they give you extra points for dunking the ball on every offensive set. So I don't see the advantage of a so called high flyer over a player like Tyreke who may not have the hops, but certainly gets the ball into the basket on a regular basis. I also think the Kings open court game will change dramaticly this season with the addition of Cousins. As some saw in preseason, he's not only a very good rebounder on the defensive side of the ball, but has great court vision and a very good outlet pass. Which many times leads to easy baskets.
As for ESPN. Well, I sure there are people there that think Bibby is still our point guard, so I wouldn't place too much value on thier poll. Personally I'm going with a 42/40 season. There is no way this team isn't considerablly better than last years team. I also think its riduculous to think the Suns are going to be as good as they were a year ago. Ditto the Spur's
As for ESPN. Well, I sure there are people there that think Bibby is still our point guard, so I wouldn't place too much value on thier poll. Personally I'm going with a 42/40 season. There is no way this team isn't considerablly better than last years team. I also think its riduculous to think the Suns are going to be as good as they were a year ago. Ditto the Spur's
In terms of quickness:
Westbrook > Reke
Green > Thompson/Landry
Durant > Greene/Casspi
Dalembert should help some in negating the overwhelming advantage that OKC has in quickness, but until Kings get Cousins to be dominant offensive force demanding the double team and Whiteside a dominant weak side shot blocker, the OKC quickness advantage is going continue the trend of OKC > Kings.
Longer term, Kings need to add some ultra quickness to the lineup.
Westbrook > Reke
Green > Thompson/Landry
Durant > Greene/Casspi
Dalembert should help some in negating the overwhelming advantage that OKC has in quickness, but until Kings get Cousins to be dominant offensive force demanding the double team and Whiteside a dominant weak side shot blocker, the OKC quickness advantage is going continue the trend of OKC > Kings.
Longer term, Kings need to add some ultra quickness to the lineup.
I don't see why.
OKC will have a quickness advantage. So?
The Kings will have a size/strength advantage.
In terms of size/strength:
Cousins/Dalembert > Aldrich
Thompson/Landry > Green
Greene/Casspi about the same as Durant
Evans >> Westbrook
The Kings aren't going to be a speed demon, fastbreaking team. With Evans and Cousins they are being built as a halfcourt, grind it out, physical squad. I'd MUCH rather have that as it's the type of team that should do well in the playoffs.
The Kings have enough athleticism and youth to not get run out of the gym and it never hurts to have some athleticism on the bench, but I don't see any reason to try and change the team's makeup because OKC is a young team on the rise and they happen to be smaller and quicker than the Kings.
The Thunder might have given the Lakers a bit of a scare in the first round, but the Lakers/Celtics finals matchup certainly wasn't a foot race. And after losing to LA (by every measure a big team) the Celtics didn't look to get quicker, they added Shaq to be another big body.
OKC will have a quickness advantage. So?
The Kings will have a size/strength advantage.
In terms of size/strength:
Cousins/Dalembert > Aldrich
Thompson/Landry > Green
Greene/Casspi about the same as Durant
Evans >> Westbrook
The Kings aren't going to be a speed demon, fastbreaking team. With Evans and Cousins they are being built as a halfcourt, grind it out, physical squad. I'd MUCH rather have that as it's the type of team that should do well in the playoffs.
The Kings have enough athleticism and youth to not get run out of the gym and it never hurts to have some athleticism on the bench, but I don't see any reason to try and change the team's makeup because OKC is a young team on the rise and they happen to be smaller and quicker than the Kings.
The Thunder might have given the Lakers a bit of a scare in the first round, but the Lakers/Celtics finals matchup certainly wasn't a foot race. And after losing to LA (by every measure a big team) the Celtics didn't look to get quicker, they added Shaq to be another big body.
I never said that. The Thunder are at least a year ahead of the Kings in terms of development. Until shown otherwise they are simply a better team.
But your argument seems to revolve around the idea that they are better because they are quicker, which just doesn't hold much merit.
The Thunder have had more time to gel as a team, have superstar who last year truly arrived as an NBA force to be reckoned with and flat out played better basketball than the Kings.
I simply disagree with the idea that for the Kings to be better than them they need to get "quicker".
To be be better than them, or at least reach their level, the Kings need to continue to develop as a team, have Tyreke take another step toward being a star player, for Cousins to be the impact player we hope he will be (which means improved conditioning among other things) and for them to continue to push towards being a physical, halfcourt team with hopefully very solid team and individual defense.
But your argument seems to revolve around the idea that they are better because they are quicker, which just doesn't hold much merit.
The Thunder have had more time to gel as a team, have superstar who last year truly arrived as an NBA force to be reckoned with and flat out played better basketball than the Kings.
I simply disagree with the idea that for the Kings to be better than them they need to get "quicker".
To be be better than them, or at least reach their level, the Kings need to continue to develop as a team, have Tyreke take another step toward being a star player, for Cousins to be the impact player we hope he will be (which means improved conditioning among other things) and for them to continue to push towards being a physical, halfcourt team with hopefully very solid team and individual defense.
I think were quibling over very small advantages here. Is Westbrook quicker than Tyreke? Sure! Is Tyreke taller and stronger than Westbrook? Yep! So its a push in my mind, and if anything I would give the advantage to Tyreke. I love Green, and I would call him a strech PF in todays game. But I wouldn't give him an advantage over either Thompson or Landry. The big advantage the Thunder has over the Kings is Durant, and experience. Neither to be taken lightly. So I give the overall advantage to the Thunder. For now. Down the road, I think the Kings may have the long term advantage when you look at Cousins and Whiteside, and the upside of Green, Casspi, Thompson, and Tyreke.
My hope is that a couple of years from now the spotlight will be on the Kings and the Thunder fighting it out in the west. I don't know why, but I expect the Trailblazers to fade a little. Just a gut thing. But my gut is seldom wrong.
My hope is that a couple of years from now the spotlight will be on the Kings and the Thunder fighting it out in the west. I don't know why, but I expect the Trailblazers to fade a little. Just a gut thing. But my gut is seldom wrong.
We had two three rookies and a bunch of young guys with a new coach all gelling and winning 8 more games than the prev year. I forgot to add landry who came in at the end of the year. So, why would we only win 30 games when we added cousins, dalembert and omri and tyreke getting better by the second. We had no big men last year and now this year we will have three! This alone makes our defense alot better. When you cut our ppg allowed from between 2 to 4 points, that is 5 more wins already. ESPN people are not experts, they either state the obvious or undercut the small market teams on purpose cuz that is the safe route. Then when some of those small teams do well, they say wow, wew didn't see that coming. IDIOTS!
Truth is, a fan of a particular team probably has a better read on his team than anyone at ESPN. Of you course there is the bias factor, but to think that the pundits at ESPN don't have a bias is ridiculous. So as a result I think my opinion and the opinons of most knowledgeable fans on this fourm is just as good as anyone at ESPN. Rose colored lenses or not..
There is no way we only improve by 5 wins from last year... we would have had 30 wins LAST YEAR if players like Noc and Udoka could hit wide open last second shots. We could have had 30 wins last year if the Refs didn't royally screw us in a couple... We had no big men that could defend last year and until Landry came along, no one Tyreke could pass to on the inside.
We didn't just improve in talent dramatically, we filled pretty much every need we had. If we can keep the injuries and TO's low were fighting for the 8th seed imo. I won't be dissapointed if we end up 9th or 10th but anything less than that will be an underachievement for me.
We didn't just improve in talent dramatically, we filled pretty much every need we had. If we can keep the injuries and TO's low were fighting for the 8th seed imo. I won't be dissapointed if we end up 9th or 10th but anything less than that will be an underachievement for me.
I didn't mean we will only improve by five games. What the end of the my paragraph said that by adding the 3 shot blockers in the offseason alone, that will improve our wins by 5 cuz our ppg allowed will decrease by 2 to 4 points. Then, when u add the unity of the players and growth of another year in the league, that should improve our wins by 5 to 8 games. So in total 10 to 13 games improvement. so im guessing 35 to 38 wins in 2011