Mail Sac Wednesday begins with Steven: "Why don't the Kings share the ball? A successful NBA team passes first but the Kings shoot first or drive into lane clogged with defensive players. Will Michael Malone be able to instill in them a true team concept?"
One thing that I think we have to remember is the level of personnel turnover from last year to this year. To wit, the Ranadivé group has replaced the Maloofs, D'Alessandro has replaced Petrie, Malone and his coaching staff has replaced Smart and his coaching staff, and no fewer than eight players that wore Kings purple last year (Aldrich, Brooks, Douglas, Evans, Garcia, Honeycutt, Johnson, and Robinson) are gone, with Landry, Mbah a Moute, McLemore, Vasquez and McCallum in their place. Only Thornton, Salmons, Hayes, Thompson, Cousins, Outlaw, Fredette and Thomas were on this team at the beginning of last year, and one could project that only Thornton, Thompson, Cousins and Thomas project as being core rotation guys right now. So it is really difficult to apply past performance to this new Kings team.
It appears that this team is really being built around DeMarcus Cousins right now. And whether or not you agree with that direction, it is a distinct departure from Cousins>Evans or Evans>Cousins dynamic of the past couple of years. Cousins looks to be the primary offensive weapon, with Marcus Thornton projecting to be offensive weapon 1A. I don't know that you are going to see a lot of volume passing, but I'm guessing/hoping that you are going to see better ball and player movement, with the primary objective being a good shot opportunity primarily for Cousins or Thornton. I am also guessing that Malone will want to install an aggressive transition game, as "easy" baskets will be critical for this team, and a weapon like Vasquez should help facilitate such opportunities.
I don't know that we will see "golden age" Kings passing, but we should see a system that at least conveys passing with a purpose.
Our next question comes from adamsite: "With the recent changes and expected changes to NBA team names and the newly anointed Republic FC, I have to ask this blasphemous question. If Ranadivé had the knot in his undies to change the team name, mascot and logo what would you like it to become if the Kings were no longer an option?"
"Chico's Bail Bonds" is the first name that springs to mind. "The Sacramento River Otters" for absolutely no good reason whatsoever. "The Official Basketball Club of the State of California." Or just name ‘em the titmice.
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Pick & Droll is presented by Madzillagd: "If you could attend a sporting event of your choosing for free anywhere in the world, what would it be? The Masters, NBA Finals, Man U game, Super Bowl, Olympics (which event), etc.?"
I'm not a huge hockey fan, but I'd love to attend the Stanley Cup finals for an entire series. I think that it would be fantastic.
I'd like to attend the NCAA final for football, basketball and baseball. I've been to the College World Series for semi-final games, and I've seen Elite Eight of the basketball tourney. The emotion of the crowds at those games made the events memorable. I've never been to a college bowl game.
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