SB Nation User Blog: coachtheus

Artest gone?

coachtheus — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:29:30 -0000

Artest gone?

As if today wasn't crazy enough...

Sonics-Clippers trade

coachtheus — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:09:40 -0000

Clippers trade #7 and a 2009 protected 1st rounder to the Sonics for their #4 - presumably, to make sure the Clippers get their choice of Gordon/Westbrook/Bayless. The Sonics, then, are probably targeting Lopez, knowing that they could safely move down and still take him at #7.

Not sure how this affects the Kings. It might result in the Knicks taking Gallinari at #6 if the Clips take Westbrook. Which might lead to the Nets taking a point at #10, which would be bad news for those of us who want Augustin or Bayless.

notes from Kings/Rockets

coachtheus — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 05:48:08 -0000

I had the opportunity to work as a PR lackey yesterday as part of my internship at the Sacramento Bee. Thus, I got to talk to a few semi-important people and get a really good view of the game...just a few things I noticed, certainly nothing earth-shattering -

Ron Artest is really vocal when it comes to getting the ball or running the play that he wants to run. And it seems like the rest of the Kings would rather defer to his will than deal with the consequences. He doesn't demand the ball every time down but when he does, the offense better run through him. This worked out better than expected last night, with the exception of the atrocious pass to Mikki with 10 seconds left.

Reggie Theus is also more vocal than he appears to be, especially when the Kings are on defense. Most of that was probably a product of the fact that the Kings forgot how to rebound yesterday.

Kevin Martin's legs are about the size of my forearms.

Marty Mac is a really, really, really funny dude.

And finally, I got the chance to ask Jim Kozimor if he really calls Grant "Peaches". Unfortunately, it seems that it is not the case. He seemed legitimately confused and said that he'd heard that rumor from someone else and didn't know anything about it until then.

I was going to call Grant "Peaches", but I (rather wisely I think) played it safe.

when was the last win this good?

coachtheus — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 06:15:06 -0000

I can't really remember one that felt this good since Martin's buzzer-beater against San Antonio in the playoffs in 2006. This one pretty much had it all. What an exhilarating (and frustrating) last couple of minutes.

Couple of points, then I'll get out of here;

This team is finally exciting to watch again. And we really aren't doing it with any stars (except for Martin, who had a fantastic game tonight...while he's one dimensional, I wouldn't trade him for any young SG in the game), just a really solid team effort. They forced a lot of turnovers tonight and they were fantastic at running the fast break after getting a steal. And it looks like we might finally be getting a new Bench Mob. Assuming that Artest and Bibby start when they get back, we have Udrih, Garcia, Salmons (who should probably be starting at SF with Ron at PF to be honest, he's earned it), Hawes, Jones coming off the bench. All of those guys can play and they all bring another dimension to the game that we don't get from our starters. And that's what made our original Bench Mob so appealing in the first place. Maxwell was the instant offense that J-Will never was. Barry and Peja could shoot the three better than Abdul-Wahad and Corliss could. Even Pollard was the banger to compliment Vlade's finesse. And I see that here for the most part in our bench (well, Hawes is Miller Lite. Heh. but other than that.)
I've been a really big Artest supporter ever since he came here. I've never wanted to trade him, even when we were struggling earlier this year or even when he got in trouble for his domestic dispute last March. But let's just say that I'm entertaining the possibility right now. It'd be nice to have five swingmen that can all contribute, but that's really not feasible. Artest will probably take a lot of minutes away from Moore, which is fine with me. But I'm not sure he'll spend a whole lot of time at the 4, which means that Salmons and Garcia (both of whom have played excellently lately) are both going to be getting under 25 minutes a game.

Again - having too much talent is not a bad thing. It sure as hell wasn't the problem that we faced at the start of the season when we had no point guard or inside force. And we should probably let the team gel for a month and see if we can get back in the playoff race (which is definitely possible - we're talented enough to be there), but if things don't work out, and we have Salmons on for another three years for cheap, and Garcia will likewise be pretty cheap to bring back, maybe we look at moving Artest. Although I'd prefer that we move him to the four spot.

Thoughts? I was just really excited after this one, I had to post something.

The Beno kool-aid

coachtheus — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 04:35:22 -0000

I think we can all agree that Beno's producing about 70-80% of what Bibby would be, and for a significantly cheaper price. It makes sense then, if our season is going nowhere by the trade deadline, to trade Bibby on the cheap for whatever you can get. (Hey, that Miami #1 and J-Will doesn't look too bad right now, right?)

But Udrih's not a long-term solution by any means. I know we have a really small sample size this year (he's only played in 14 games and only started in 12) but he's posting a 15/3.5/4 this year in 35 minutes per game. I'd like those numbers from a shooting guard maybe, but not a point. It's pretty difficult to have a winning team when your point guard is only having 4 assists a game. Hell, Ron "I'll take any shot" Artest is leading the team in assists. Not a real good sign.

Do I think he's a good player? Yeah. But we're going to need a better passer at the point to bring our team to the next level. The obvious choice would be to take Rose/Mayo in the lottery but I don't think we'll be that bad. Maybe we could even get a stopgap point guard who passes better. There's even one that would be available who has 5.6 assists per game over 33 minutes per game. Not fantastic, but better than what we've got. We could even have a little change of pace - Udrih to score, and this guy to feed the big guys and K-Mart.

Who, you ask? Well...as I said, J-Will and that Miami #1 doesn't look so bad right now.