Summer League

[RIPskaterdude]

Ugh...12 assists total. We need to pass the ball around more. Evans was obviously hurt today, but losing the D-Leagues like we did was pretty sad...although we didn't play our regulars very much. Still, would be nice to get a win in the SUMMER LEAGUE

[KF10]

I saw the game and it wasn't pretty. But the bright spot is that Thompson rebounded back! I think he is out of the funk. And Evans' play may have to do with his torn ligament on his right index finger.

[dub010]

Wow. JT put up a 31/10/2 to answer the Randolph 42/3 yesterday. But we lost to the DLeaguers. We need a balanced team to win. Thompson should be getting 15 touches a game not 20 plus and Evans should be getting around 15 touches also. This team got to figure out how to use all the weapons they have Evans, Martin, JT and Hawes plus the bench. If they can though they will be very good. The passing still needs a lot of work and defense needs to improve also.

I was looking at the playoff teams from last year. Houston down the tubes, Phoenix lost Shaq and has an old Nash, Dallas has an ancient Kidd and Marion, Charlotte is losing Chandler, Utah may lose Boozer. There is just so much turnover and the Clips, Grizz, GS, Minny and OKC aren't head and shoulders better than the Kings. There is a chance we can make the playoffs next year like Chicago did last year if Evans and Westphal can figure out how to balance the Martin-JT-Hawes firepower.

IM sorry but I just do not see any scenario in which the Kings make the play offs. We are obviously gonna be a little better this year, but I dont see us as being a play off team. I still think we are the worst team in the pacific division. Barring a major deal of a trade by Petrie(which wont happen due to lack of tradable commodities) we will not be a play off team.

[sl1mshad33]

Being that I am in Israel, I can't follow the games as easily as you guys over there. But I think the Kings are VERY close to being a very solid team. Clearly, they aren't going to be one of the best teams in the Western Conference this season. But I really like their young talent---- a core of Tyreke, Kevin, Nocioni, JT, and Spencer is nothing to sniff at. First off, a back court of Tyreke and Kevin is going to be a nightmare for other teams to guard. Having Tyreke playing alongside Kevin is going to force opposing defenses to pick their poison, which should make for easy scoring opportunities for the Kings' players on the court. I am really high on both JT and Spencer and if either one of those guys (preferably both) can get it together this season, then the Kings are going to have a very talented and dyanmic frontcourt to complement their backcourt. And as for Chapu- he's one of my favorite players.

I don't really know much about the other Kings' players, but it will be interesting to see if Donte Green can consistently perform at a high level. And I like Casspi and Brockman coming off the bench. Brockman seems like a pail-and-lunchbox kind of a guy who will (attempt to) overcome his shortcomings with effort and determination, which as fans, is what we want to get from players. I think that you will really see Casspi pick up his game and make positive contributions to the team. He has performed at a consistently high level in international basketball for the past few years, including against top American players in his age group. I think he needs some time to get adjusted to the American game; I also don't think that you're going to see him comfortable in the Summer League setting. It's completely different from the type of basketball that he's used to playing in Europe/Israel, especially with a lot of guys trying to dominate the ball and to put up good stats. He has a lot of pride for his country and for being the first from Israel to play in the NBA and I think (I hope) he's going to bust his behind to make sure that he doesn't embarrass himself or his country.

Things are looking up for the Kings, just wait and see!

[Smills91]

Guys listen to the radio more!

The Kings are well aware that Evans needs to grow as a decision maker and as a PG as a whole, but make no mistake about it HE WILL BE A POINT GUARD. He's not playing off the ball or playing SG so if you feel it's a mistake then so be it. Someone was on the radio last night and they basically said the status of the franchise rests on if Reke learns how to play the PG. I think he can do it. Even PG's that came into the league as PG's had horrible 1st seasons for similar reasons as fans are already pinning on Evans (see Deron Williams).

Rubio wasn't coming over unless he was a top three pick IMO so Rubio really was never an option. We can't wait two years for him. Stop talking about the dude. People say we need leadership and I think it's true, but we need it from the head coach. Even after Adelman left and we had veterans we had NO identity. That was with Mike Bibby on the team who is perfectly capable of running a team. We also need to have people who can rebound the basketball. We need people to score the basketball. We need people to play defense. We needed a point guard. Of all of these areas of need Tyreke Evans is a way better fit than Ricky Rubio anyway. We score the ball well, and in fact it's probably the only thing we do fairly well so I don't think we needed a guy to distribute the rock. We do need a guy who can score in the 4th.

As more time passes the better I feel about this pick. I've said this from day one the Kings don't need a pure passing pg. The way the ball runs through the bigs it's redundancy.

Evans NEEDS to play the 1 position. Defensively. Offensively, it can be so interchangeable, but on defense we need him at the 1. Tyreke can bring the ball up, Martin can bring the ball up. But what I want the Kings to get is a POINT FORWARD type to play the 3. Noc, I feel is a TERRIBLE fit next to Reke and K$. He'd be fine off the bench, but Garcia is actually a better fit at SF than Noc for our starting line-up.

I don't want to lose the mis-match that Evans brings at the 1 for us defensively. Moving him to the 2 or the 3 just completely WASTES that, even if he's able to do that.

There's quite a few players I feel will be good fits for us at the 3, we just need to go out and get 1. One of which is Tony Allen(for off the bench) from Boston. I'd LOVE to see Noc to Boston for Tony Allen/Brian Scalabrine.

[darkadun]

eh, I'm not a fan of T Allen or Scal. I like your idea of Diaw much better, he is more athletic.

[ICMTM]

Guys listen to the radio more!

The Kings are well aware that Evans needs to grow as a decision maker and as a PG as a whole, but make no mistake about it HE WILL BE A POINT GUARD. He's not playing off the ball or playing SG so if you feel it's a mistake then so be it. Someone was on the radio last night and they basically said the status of the franchise rests on if Reke learns how to play the PG. I think he can do it. Even PG's that came into the league as PG's had horrible 1st seasons for similar reasons as fans are already pinning on Evans (see Deron Williams).

Rubio wasn't coming over unless he was a top three pick IMO so Rubio really was never an option. We can't wait two years for him. Stop talking about the dude. People say we need leadership and I think it's true, but we need it from the head coach. Even after Adelman left and we had veterans we had NO identity. That was with Mike Bibby on the team who is perfectly capable of running a team. We also need to have people who can rebound the basketball. We need people to score the basketball. We need people to play defense. We needed a point guard. Of all of these areas of need Tyreke Evans is a way better fit than Ricky Rubio anyway. We score the ball well, and in fact it's probably the only thing we do fairly well so I don't think we needed a guy to distribute the rock. We do need a guy who can score in the 4th.

As more time passes the better I feel about this pick. I've said this from day one the Kings don't need a pure passing pg. The way the ball runs through the bigs it's redundancy.

Evans NEEDS to play the 1 position. Defensively. Offensively, it can be so interchangeable, but on defense we need him at the 1. Tyreke can bring the ball up, Martin can bring the ball up. But what I want the Kings to get is a POINT FORWARD type to play the 3. Noc, I feel is a TERRIBLE fit next to Reke and K$. He'd be fine off the bench, but Garcia is actually a better fit at SF than Noc for our starting line-up.

I don't want to lose the mis-match that Evans brings at the 1 for us defensively. Moving him to the 2 or the 3 just completely WASTES that, even if he's able to do that.

There's quite a few players I feel will be good fits for us at the 3, we just need to go out and get 1. One of which is Tony Allen(for off the bench) from Boston. I'd LOVE to see Noc to Boston for Tony Allen/Brian Scalabrine.

That color is hideous...

I completely agree with the Tyreke Evans @ the 1 assessment, and when the Kings were drafting a PG I said they didn't need the prototypical PG that passed 1st.

I know the assists are down in Summer League and I think the ball movement in general will be down for a while until Evans gets used to the NBA, but when we figure it out I see mismatches all day out there.

[BMF Jet Jaguar]

evans/thompson/kmart is a good young core. Kmart will be the perfect 2nd option to tyreke in a couple years, and jason will be a great complimentary big.

[pillwenney]

I don't get why a Point Forward would seem to fit next to Tyreke. That would just move him off the ball, where he hasn't proven to be effective at all.

[Nicky Nix Nook]

That's what I said. We need our SF to be very good at defense, be able to spread the floor and at least an adequate rebounder.

Having a playmaker makes no sense with a) Evans and b) our bigs have playmaking ability.

[Fola314]

Yay. We won a game.