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BasslineSpin.com June 28, 2007 ...
My
final NBA Draft board is here! June 25, 2007 ...Of
the known players that have worked out for Sacramento in advance of the
draft—here is how I rank them…1. Julian Wright—Kansas, 2. Yi Jian Lian -
China, 3. Al Thornton - Florida St., , 4. Corey Brewer - Florida, , 5. Aaron
Gray - Pittsburgh, 6. Spencer Hawes - Washington, 7. Sun Yue - China, 8. Ron
Lewis, 9. Alan Wiggins Jr. ...
The
NBA draft names of international players are pronounced like this... June 20, 2007 ...I
must admit to being surprised at the Kings choosing Reggie Theus to be their next head coach. I feel
certain that Reggie has many good qualities—I just thought the Kings would
pick a guy with NBA bench coaching experience. Theus played the game and he
has coached in the minors and in major D-I college hoops. ...I have spent
time with Theus and I always found him engaging and entertaining. He doesn’t
take himself nearly as seriously as his rep may lead you to believe. ...It
was a scene straight from the 80’s. Reggie - shag and all - used to let me
tag along to post game meals at the Peppermill on Arden during the 1985-86,
and 1986-87 seasons. I was between 17 and 19 years old then. Riding shotgun
in Reggie’s gold Mercedes made me feel like a part of his entourage. He would
tell me outrageous stories not suited for re-print. We shot pool at his spot
near Campus Commons. We dined with David Greenwood one
night and later I served as ticket agent to a concert in Oakland. He has always had the ‘pretty’ tag but I
witnessed him playing in pain as a member of the Kings. I respect his recent
pursuit of coaching. He must really love it to have given up Los Angeles real
estate to live in Kentucky, and New Mexico. The bottom line—is that the Kings
aren’t going to be contending for anything as presently constituted. Maybe
the Maloof’s
–who’s hands are seemingly all over this hire, figured , “why not have a good
guy as a coach? “ Theus likes to hunt
and fish. Sacramento is good for that.
Brad Miller will
like that about his new coach. Reggie was never one for long practices. All
players will appreciate that. He recruited Francisco Garcia so he knows his strengths. ...On the
questionable side - as a player - Theus routinely waived off the coaches
plays. It was my observation that he wasn’t respected as a player’s player.
That guy was Eddie Johnson.
...Finally - let’s judge Theus over an extended period of time—not before he has coached
his first game. ...Kudos to News 10 in Sacramento—the local ABC affiliate for
being the first to report the Theus hiring. However Dana Howard’s Theus piece was hard to stomach with
Howard referencing a 2008 championship and using the tired ‘4-1-1’ term.
...Sports Illustrated did a report on NBADRAFT.net and DraftExpress.com that
included some false statements. They said no one had Renaldo Balkman in the first round of a draft list
prior to the Knicks selecting him. Ummmm, actually we did. I guess they don’t
read BasslineSpin.com at SI. I had Balkman in my top-30 all year. …In this year’s draft I have to question
one international prospect. So far I don’t see why Marco Belinelli is supposed to be so good. I ran the
numbers and I don’t think he is much more than a shooter. ...I believe most
scouts have under appreciated Reyshawn Terry of
North Carolina. I’d take him all day over Jeff Green. ...I
like two international guys quite a bit for what I can dig up on them. Ali Traore and Marc Gasol are bigs that are efficient. ...I
like Jason Smith
better than Spencer Hawes. ...Mario Boggan can play. Someone should pick him. June 13, 2007 ...The
Kings coaching search goes on. Here is why I would go with Scott Brooks. Looking back on this Kings season
past—Eric Musselman—new
to the Kings player personnel—took too long to recognize the merits of Francisco Garcia’s game.
That being just a small example of why Sacramento would be best served
to hire someone already truly familiar with the roster. Justin Williams needs playing time. You don’t want a
coach that doesn’t have an understanding of each player’s strengths and
weaknesses. I also like Terry Porter based
on his integrity and grit. He was a pro’s pro as a player. I believe that
that translates well when a respected player becomes a coach. I thought
Porter got ‘jobbed’ in Milwaukee. ...I hope it is not Kurt Rambis or Bill Cartwright. Rambis just doesn’t do it for me.
Cartwright was the worst minutes-manager in the NBA as head coach in Chicago.
Everybody played 20-24 minutes. In the NBA you have to play the most
efficient players as many minutes as possible to have any chance at winning.
For the record - I do not think the Kings can win more than they lose with
any coach. The roster is a relative disaster. Ron Artest is Sac’s best player but he is hard
to coach and harder to trade. Kevin Martin and Mike Bibby are a solid guard tandem crying for
some help defensively. If Justin Williams plays - he can provide backside help. The draft
pick (#10 in the 2007 NBA draft) will help seemingly somehow. ...San Antonio
now leads Cleveland 3-0 in the NBA Finals. I was wrong about the Spurs
winning with Jacque Vaughn as
backup point guard. Sorry Jacque. ...I enjoy Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson together on NBA telecasts. |