Antoine Wright blasts Kings

[pillwenney]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/w ... index.html

"My rift, really, with the organization was that I don't think they prepared the guys enough to win basketball games," Wright said. "We were probably the only team in the NBA that didn't have a scouting report. How do you expect a young team to go out and carry a game plan? Every team I've been on, they give you a scouting report on every guy on the team, a couple paragraphs about each guy before you go out there and play against him.

"Coming on the court before the game was chaos -- no structure whatsoever, and we kind of had a laid-back coach. Westphal was pretty laid back, and with a group of young guys, you've got to have somebody who comes in and disciplines them."

Wright wasn't even close to done yet.

"I'm not going to throw any of their players under the bus, but one of the main players who was a big part of our team, his attitude was really, really bad -- I'm pretty sure you can figure out who that guy is," he said before confirming that he was speaking of then-rookie forward-center DeMarcus Cousins. "Tyreke [Evans] had a pretty good attitude. His work ethic wasn't great, but he's a good young player. I believed in him completely. I just don't think the coaches did enough to prepare us to win games."

The Kings declined numerous requests to comment for this story, a decision that speaks volumes about how they perceive this particular player. Elie could not be reached for comment. As for Wright, he discounted the notion that he handled the situation poorly in large part because he insists he continued to maintain a solid work ethic.

Oof.

[Wolfay]

I don't think we should care what a butthurt scrub playing in China says.

[pillwenney]

Well if he's speaking the truth, then it's a very big concern, regardless of whether or not he is a scrub.

[Wolfay]

I don't think he is telling the truth, or at least he's exaggerating it a bit. He's butthurt that he got waived, and he's known to have character issues himself. He was also waived just two months into the season, so who knows what's gone on since.

The only thing we know for sure is that the Kings were playing pretty good towards the end of the season. I'm not worried.

[City of Trees]

Take what Wright says with a grain of salt. He wasn't with the team all year as his b**ch a** was let go.

Cousins did have an attitude problem in the first part of the season. Eventually he adjusted to the NBA we all remember that. We also remember Cousins maturing somewhat as the season ended, appearing to understand what is required to play in the league.

As for everything Wright said the only alarming thing that stands out to me is the scouting report, or lack there of. More than likely this is the only real "truth" to this rant. That accusation is not up for debate like attitudes, its either players had a scouting report given to them or they didnt.

With such a young team I would hope our management would be doing all things possible to turn these young players into pros. Scouting out your opponent on a nightly basis is one of those things.

[pillwenney]

He's certainly not the most reliable source, but I don't think that means we should dismiss him. It wasn't just objective stuff, but things that are a matter of fact. He would have to flat out make up the fact that we don't have scouting reports. If that's true, that's a huge problem.

And it's always discouraging to hear bad things about your players, especially when Wright said he had nothing against the players.

[jcwkings]

I can't see why anyone would even care about what this guy says. I do agree though that that the kings actually need a coach who can discipline their young players. I would consider bringing back adelman or bringing in someone who can discipline tyreke and cousins. these guys have alot of talent in their hands but both of them need get their head straights.

[SacKingZZZ]

Hmmm....no way! Who would have thought this to be the case?

Good to see the 'ol "walks like a duck" line was pretty much on the dot, again.

[SacKingZZZ]

I don't think he is telling the truth, or at least he's exaggerating it a bit. He's butthurt that he got waived, and he's known to have character issues himself. He was also waived just two months into the season, so who knows what's gone on since.

The only thing we know for sure is that the Kings were playing pretty good towards the end of the season. I'm not worried.

Uh, did ANY of you watch this team at the beginning of the year when some of us were calling for heads to roll!?

However, it should be noted, as the season went on CLEARLY things started to improve. It seemed like Westphal and co. really turned a corner. Don't forget, this is all toward the start of these issues that eventually boiled over, but we won't go into that mess again.

The season most certainly seemed to end on a positive note so I'd rather hear about the improved environment as opposed to the darker times which seem like eons ago. Westphal started to get things more under control to his credit which is certainly something to look forward to and give at least a tiny hint of optimism for any fan. Just hope he doesn't return to his "old ways". Don't know if the preparation aspect is improved but he was using a semi-reliable rotation towards the end of the year and it should be no wonder why at least some of the "issues" seemed to dissipate.

[SacKingZZZ]

He's certainly not the most reliable source, but I don't think that means we should dismiss him. It wasn't just objective stuff, but things that are a matter of fact. He would have to flat out make up the fact that we don't have scouting reports. If that's true, that's a huge problem.

And it's always discouraging to hear bad things about your players, especially when Wright said he had nothing against the players.

Here's the thing, and yes, I'm playing devils advocate here for Westphal. It just might be that Westphal was more worried about his own players and finding out how THEY played rather than focusing on the individual games, which might not be a bad thing. That could also explain why he ran through the most rotations, some inexplicably ridiculous BTW, ever seen!

[SacKingZZZ]

I can't see why anyone would even care about what this guy says. I do agree though that that the kings actually need a coach who can discipline their young players. I would consider bringing back adelman or bringing in someone who can discipline tyreke and cousins. these guys have alot of talent in their hands but both of them need get their head straights.

Adelman has never been the "discipline" type. He's a lot like Westphal, a players coach. I personally think that it's the best type of coach for the kind of players this team has right now. The only issues I had with Westphal is that he has a rather sordid track record with handling difficult players, and his rotations and game plan looked like they were mapped out by Bobo the monkey. As it turns out they weren't handled improperly, they just didn't exist.

[ADoaN17]

I actually don't not remember Wright even playing for the Kings. I remember that he was on the team but I though that was the 2009-2010 season.
How did he get on the Kings again? Was it a second round pick?

[RIPskaterdude]

Not a big surprise; Westfail was always a terrible choice for young players. Laid back veteran coaches should be teaching veteran filled teams, not a team filled with players that would still be in college.

That being said, Wright should worry more about avoiding more DUIs, and less about his two month experience in Sacramento.

[PaKwAn]

if im not mistaken ime udoka also complained that there where not much plays in the system and more on just standing there....

[bjax24]

I'm guessing this attitude is part of the reason he's in China and not the NBA.

[SadKingsFan]

He sounds bitter. Poor guy

We all know the Kings had major issues in the first 2-3 months of the season, but my main focus is how much better we looked towards the end of it, with Dalembert and Cousins FINALLY starting in the frontcourt together, and the of course the trade of Landry for Thornton.

A training camp with a healthy Thornton, Evans, Cousins and Dalembert really excites me. That's all I'm thinking about right now.

Rewinding all the way back to November with Scrubtastic Antione Wright, is the last thing i wanna do.

[Wolfay]

He sounds bitter. Poor guy

We all know the Kings had major issues in the first 2-3 months of the season, but my main focus is how much better we looked towards the end of it, with Dalembert and Cousins FINALLY starting in the frontcourt together, and the of course the trade of Landry for Thornton.

A training camp with a healthy Thornton, Evans, Cousins and Dalembert really excites me. That's all I'm thinking about right now.

Rewinding all the way back to November with Scrubtastic Antione Wright, is the last thing i wanna do.

This.

[BadWolf]

gwiss Greg Wissinger
by TrueHoop@
@TrueHoop Actually @sam_amick clarified that. Scouting reports are delivered verbally in practice, just no hard copy.

[SadKingsFan]

Do people honestly believe the Kings just say "Screw it lets roll out onto the court and see what happens"? I mean, Lets get real here.

Bubba burrage is on the staff, and his ONLY job title is Advanced scout. That's what he is, That's what he does.

[SacKingZZZ]

Do people honestly believe the Kings just say "Screw it lets roll out onto the court and see what happens"? I mean, Lets get real here.

Bubba burrage is on the staff, and his ONLY job title is Advanced scout. That's what he is, That's what he does.

They just about had to from the looks of it for those first few months. I myself pictured a dart board with players faces on it, wherever the dart hit, there's your rotation for the night.