Game Day: Kings (1-2) @ Suns (0-3), Mon 10/23/17

[AmareIsGod]

Mike "King" James.

AIG, old buddy, time to change the avatar.

Not sure how...

Ha ha! That's a negative, buddy.

+100. You just broke the Internet! (or at least crashed my Chrome).

[Superbone]

Mike James sure knows this is his one shot and he is smart enough to play team ball to take advantage of it.

That drive and shot over Fox at the end was beautiful.

If we can get consistent play like this out of him, then a lot of possibilities open up as we trade Bledsoe. We do not have to get a pg back. One good player could really make a difference, especially a good defensive rebounding center.

The offense just flowed so much better with both James and Ulis than when Bledsoe was running things.

[Superbone]

Mike "King" James.

AIG, old buddy, time to change the avatar.

Not sure how...

Ha ha! That's a negative, buddy.

+100. You just broke the Internet! (or at least crashed my Chrome).

I'm seriously laughing over here.

[JustWinBaby]

This was the first game that I have watched from beginning to end in a very long time.

I actually was rooting for us to win the game not hoping for another loss to help our draft position.

If we make a deal with the Knicks and get Nitilinka, who do we sit. James or Ulis?

We will worry about it another day.

I especially love Triano's comments after the game. He thought we lost energy due to not being in shape. He thought it hurt us on defense and caused some of the turnovers. He basically said that they cannot play the way he wants to play without getting in better shape. Wow, I have been waiting for that from a head coach for a very long time.

Go Suns

[Nodack]

I never heard of James before the season and now he is our most solid player so far? Kudos to him. Maybe it won't last. It sure is a feel good story though.

I don't quite understand what makes teams win after a coaching change. Are they happy the shackles are off or are they just rattled that heads are rolling because they aren't performing up to par and thefore feel responsible? Maybe tanking last year has made them soft.

Let's see of it lasts.

[carey]

[youtube][/youtube]

My favorite play was that step back right in front of Fox. I'm also impressed by his use of his left hand.

[ShelC]

Wish I could've seen this game. Amazing what getting rid of Watson was able to do. There will be a letdown for sure and guys like James will be scouting and have the defense pay attention in the next 2-3 games but just reading about everything looking better is encouraging.

Not sure if it was this thread but I loved what Triano said about Jackson starting at the 4. Shouldn't have happened at all and wasn't fair to him. Now I think we'll see more of his overall game that he back at his natural SF position. I do wonder if Triano ever brought this up to Watson. I know it's only one game and I'm not basing this statement off of the game, but I'd be OK with Triano as head coach next year and maybe the year after as we build up and develop the young guys (should he prove himself to be competent and the guys continue to respond to him). He's the kind of coach we wanted Watson to be. He'll coach them up with good basketball Xs and Os, is player friendly, won't cost a ton to keep (probably), and can help us transition to that next level we want to get to. I'm also sure he's learned a few things since his last stint as head coach some 8-10 years ago.

Been saying since SL that James is a baller. He's just a basketball player and has instincts and a confidence that Bledsoe just never played with. The one thing that concerns me is there was talk of guys who didn't like playing with him because he shot too much? Not sure if that was ever validated. If Bledsoe does get traded and we get a PG back in return, what does that mean for James and Ulis?

Glad Chriss had a bounce back game. Hopefully he can maintain it. Good to hear Bender made some plays and was aggressive. Interesting tweet by Bledsoe. Wonder if he's second guessing himself but whatever. We're better without him.

It's clear Watson had lost the team. Guys weren't responding and didn't believe they could win. A new coach, a better coach, can be a breath of fresh air. Sucks it had to be this way but hopefully we can at least be competitive the rest of the way.

[djy2j]

Well...looks like some players wanted Watson gone.

James accomplished in 1 game what Bledsoe had been trying to do in 6 years, he ran an offense. Can't believe how he came in and made Bledsoe completely replaceable.

I like how sharp and focused they came out to start the game.

The energy and intensity was where it needs to be.

Poor TJ Warren. Dude just can't get right. Just looks a bit out of place on the court.

It felt like Garret Temple played 48 mins. I was shocked he only was credited with 23.

[O_Gardino]

Mike James sure knows this is his one shot and he is smart enough to play team ball to take advantage of it.

That drive and shot over Fox at the end was beautiful.

If we can get consistent play like this out of him, then a lot of possibilities open up as we trade Bledsoe. We do not have to get a pg back. One good player could really make a difference, especially a good defensive rebounding center.

The offense just flowed so much better with both James and Ulis than when Bledsoe was running things.

No question. It was great to see the ball moving and guys moving. I think Chriss got more touches tonight than he did all season last year. We are going to have a lot of turnovers as we get used to this new effort, but it will be worth it.

[O_Gardino]

Wish I could've seen this game. Amazing what getting rid of Watson was able to do. There will be a letdown for sure and guys like James will be scouting and have the defense pay attention in the next 2-3 games but just reading about everything looking better is encouraging.

Not sure if it was this thread but I loved what Triano said about Jackson starting at the 4. Shouldn't have happened at all and wasn't fair to him. Now I think we'll see more of his overall game that he back at his natural SF position. I do wonder if Triano ever brought this up to Watson. I know it's only one game and I'm not basing this statement off of the game, but I'd be OK with Triano as head coach next year and maybe the year after as we build up and develop the young guys (should he prove himself to be competent and the guys continue to respond to him). He's the kind of coach we wanted Watson to be. He'll coach them up with good basketball Xs and Os, is player friendly, won't cost a ton to keep (probably), and can help us transition to that next level we want to get to. I'm also sure he's learned a few things since his last stint as head coach some 8-10 years ago.

Been saying since SL that James is a baller. He's just a basketball player and has instincts and a confidence that Bledsoe just never played with. The one thing that concerns me is there was talk of guys who didn't like playing with him because he shot too much? Not sure if that was ever validated. If Bledsoe does get traded and we get a PG back in return, what does that mean for James and Ulis?

Glad Chriss had a bounce back game. Hopefully he can maintain it. Good to hear Bender made some plays and was aggressive. Interesting tweet by Bledsoe. Wonder if he's second guessing himself but whatever. We're better without him.

It's clear Watson had lost the team. Guys weren't responding and didn't believe they could win. A new coach, a better coach, can be a breath of fresh air. Sucks it had to be this way but hopefully we can at least be competitive the rest of the way.

Triano talks in that first interview like he doesn't really want to be a head coach. Someone directly asks him if he sees himself in this role going forward, and he says, "we'll see." So I'm not holding my breath about him being our coach for more than a year.

Agree that James can play. There was some disgruntlement with him in summer league, with some guys saying in interviews that they were very frustrated with the guards for not running the offense and passing the ball. But in SL, I think James was out to prove he could play and earn a contract. I also think he played with some disdain for the lazy play of some of our high draft picks. He wasn't going to deffer to guys who were playing like crap. Last night he passed the ball a lot, and I don't think anyone will complain that he shot too much.

[O_Gardino]

Poor TJ Warren. Dude just can't get right. Just looks a bit out of place on the court.

I want to say that it was just one game and everyone has an off night some times. TJ was all over the court, generally in the right place at the right time, and was physically engaged. The ball just didn't bounce his way, and he got caught shuffling his feet.

Then again, the dude seems to always have some bad luck. I hope he can get on a roll.

[In2ition]

IIRC, TJ has been called for traveling a couple times each game it feels. Someone has to work with him on that first step, it's getting annoying.

<Rant>We have to be the most cost conscience fans in the history of pro sports, maybe just behind the Oakland A's. Why should we give a F how much it's going to cost to retain a coach? Seriously, why do we even bother ourselves one millisecond thinking about that? Getting the best coach for the situation shouldn't be based on how much less than everyone else they will eventually take. That in my mind is a losers mentality, and if it's the MO of $arver, it's no wonder why we lose. </End Rant>

[In2ition]

The offense looked so much better last night and apparently they had more of a camp than shoot-a-round yesterday morning. Now this begs the question, Why didn't Triano put this in place in the offseason, training camp or pre-season? Wasn't he in charge of the offense? I know Triano couldn't be more complimentary and thankful to Watson, he even said that he felt like he failed Watson. So, was Watson holding him back on the changes he thought should take place? Did he hold out on Watson, letting him fail and fall on his face? Maybe it's none of the above.

[n4th4n]

The offense looked so much better last night and apparently they had more of a camp than shoot-a-round yesterday morning. Now this begs the question, Why didn't Triano put this in place in the offseason, training camp or pre-season? Wasn't he in charge of the offense? I know Triano couldn't be more complimentary and thankful to Watson, he even said that he felt like he failed Watson. So, was Watson holding him back on the changes he thought should take place? Did he hold out on Watson, letting him fail and fall on his face? Maybe it's none of the above.

As the head coach, everything was filtered through Watson. Triano may have had ideas about how he wanted the offense to run, but at the end of the day, Watson made all the final decisions so it is hard to say how much influence Triano really had.

One of the biggest differences about last night was the lineup change. It allowed everyone to play their natural position and restored some sanity to the rotation. It is no coincidence that we fell apart in the 2nd quarter in two of our games. Bringing in Chriss, Bender, and Len off the bench just makes no sense. Where is the offense coming from with that group? It's the same for starting Jackson and Warren. I am sure there was no clear delineation of roles, which is what young players really need. Simplifying the game for them really helps. We started games at a massive disadvantage in terms of size and rebound. Bringing Jackson off the bench and start Chriss balances everything out. Ideally, I would prefer to start Jackson and bring Warren off the bench, as I think the 6th man role is his destiny in the NBA, but we can get there in time. Make Jackson earn it.

[O_Gardino]

IIRC, TJ has been called for traveling a couple times each game it feels. Someone has to work with him on that first step, it's getting annoying.

<Rant>We have to be the most cost conscience fans in the history of pro sports, maybe just behind the Oakland A's. Why should we give a F how much it's going to cost to retain a coach? Seriously, why do we even bother ourselves one millisecond thinking about that? Getting the best coach for the situation shouldn't be based on how much less than everyone else they will eventually take. That in my mind is a losers mentality, and if it's the MO of $arver, it's no wonder why we lose. </End Rant>

+1 on the rant. We should expect a winning coach, not a cheap coach.

[O_Gardino]

A lot of us wanted to start both Jackson and Warren, but that was because Chriss was such a turd through summer league and preseason. But we anted Warren at the 4, not Jackson.

[O_Gardino]

Oh, and I meant to point out that Booker only played 28 minutes last night. I was very glad that we were able to hang on and win with him getting serious time on the bench. I think it will do wonders for his maturity to see the team compete while he rests. Booker was much better than Daniels last night, but it's not all about Booker.

[In2ition]

I felt like Booker had a rough game, but he ends with 22/3/5 on 50% shooting. It's great when that feels like a quiet night for him. Particularly like seeing that shooting percentage.

Agreed. A couple things I am going to nit pik are him shooting 2-7 from 3 and getting ripped by Brogdan. It was nice to see him have 5 assists to only 2 turnovers. Keep improving those numbers and efficiency.

[Cap]

Ideally, I would prefer to start Jackson and bring Warren off the bench, as I think the 6th man role is his destiny in the NBA, but we can get there in time. Make Jackson earn it.

Jackson's first game under Triano: 24 min, 15 pts, 5 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 6-8 FG. Keeps that up and he'll earn it in no time.

[In2ition]

A lot of us wanted to start both Jackson and Warren, but that was because Chriss was such a turd through summer league and preseason. But we anted Warren at the 4, not Jackson.

Agreed on all accounts. I'm pleased that the traditional lineup woke up the players and made it look more like a real team though. I personally didn't trust Chriss after all that's he's shown prior. I hope it continues, but even all the good vibes about AP coming to the Cards only lasted 1 game.