Summer League Team : Russell smooth 21 (1-4)

Yeah the system they're implementing might make sense in the long-run with older guys who aren't able to run, but now? It's limiting what they can do in a big way. Madsen is either a great coach sticking to his principles or, much more likely, he's a horrible coach. He said before Summer League it's about putting each and every player in a position to maximize their talents... So who is being maximized right now? Jordan is about it. Randle is being put in positions that are awkward to score from. Black and Upshaw are setting screens without getting rewarded. Russell has turnovers like a bakery. This system is killing their confidence. Open it up and let them run what they want. Simple post-ups for Randle. High screen and rolls for the guards.

Thank goodness for Jabari's ability to draw fouls in that last game. It's the only thing that kept us in the game. He's definitely earning some minutes next season if he plays like that. I'd like to see more versatility though.

Hopefully we start going in another direction soon because that last game, at least if I was the coach, would be the nail in the coffin. I'd have a frank discussion with them on what they want to run and whether or not this Princeton thing is a waste of their time. Implementing a system is great, but if they're not doing it then there's no point. Scrap it and move on.

The good news is I still see the overall talent of these guys. It just needs to get brought out.

 

I don't even think Clarkson has been maximized, real. I think he's just that good, so he can create for himself, get to the hoop, shake guys and blow by them off the dribble, and make even this system work for gin against summer league competition. But I think it caught up to even him yesterday, the Knicks played some good team defense and shut even that down, made how bad our offensive "system" is really stand out.

I don't think we're trying to make excuses for our players either, because they have been flat out bad at times that is all on them, but the system is not helping that at all. The Knicks looked like they'd been playing together for years the way they were moving the ball, and for us it was all ISO plays, nothing but one on one crap, so much so that it was all that Thompson and Worthy were talking about for like 5 mins at one point. Byron sucks at X's and O's, he sucks. I think he's a good motivator and he got our guys last season to play hard til the end, unlike 'Antoni, and he might be decent defensive coach too, but offensively he's clueless.

So unless we pick up an offensive assistant coach soon, we're gonna struggle this season. Too much will be asked of Kobe again, of Russell, and of others. Randle will not progress or be used right, and a lot of guys won't be put in positions to succeed.

 

For the young guys? Yes.

Definitely

Absolutely. The guys either don't know the Princeton very well or don't want to run it. Their off-ball screens are just terrible. No one is getting free on them.

Considering he's one of the better coaches in the league DEFINITELY. But remember you're comparing Madsen to Adelman so... Adelman wins with all of his limbs tied together, blindfolded, and underwater like Houdini.

 

Well to be fair, it's just Summer League. Some teams use this as a time to implement their systems at the cost of games. Personally I find that idiotic, but I understand their idea. The problem isn't necessarily Byron, it's Madsen. I know we're running Byron's offense, but Madsen is the decision maker right now. If he wants to go away from it, he can. He's the coach. It's up to him to get guys buying in and get guys the ball in positions to be successful.

You're probably right about Jordan not being maximized, but the point is still totally valid: we're not maximizing the value of our players. Why run Princeton if you've got two guards capable of handling the ball? This just SMACKS of Mark Jackson in Golden State. Why are you posting up Klay Thompson when he's one of the best shooters in the league? Mark and Byron may as well be the same guy.

And no one is making excuses for our players, that's ridiculous. Who is making excuses for these guys on this site? I haven't seen a single person say "well if it wasn't for this offense Russell would be averaging a 19/10!" or "Randle would look so much better without this offense, he'd be averaging 20/10!". No one is excusing the way these guys have played. Both of them are young and they're making young mistakes. Just because I'm not bashing them incessantly doesn't mean I'm excusing them. You can be constructive with your criticism and you can see positivity in otherwise negative situations. You just have to look for it.

 

No, I wasn't saying we are making excuses for the players to lessen how bad they've looked or make ourselves feel better or something. I was qualifying my complaining about the system by saying "and I don't think we're making excuses for the players", the system is that bad. In other words, bashing the system and being disappointed in how our guys have played don't have to be exclusive from eachother (if I'm say that right). That's all I meant, like I said, I don't think it's making excuses for the players to say that the offensive system isn't helping them, might even be hindering them. That doesn't excuse terrible passes and missing gimmes, or charging toward the hoop out of control and going 1 on 3, etc..

And yeah, it is just summer league. Guys that tear up summer league usually end up the D-League. That's why I'm not worried about our guys. I AM worried about our system if this is what we're looking to run in the regular season though, getting Russell and progressing Randle is supposed to be about taking pressure off Kobe, not using a system that will lead to the same old one on one stuff.

 

Wasn't accusing you at all, just venting!

And I think the only use for the Princeton as it applies to our actual roster is with getting Kobe the ball in the mid-post area. That's it though. Everyone else is basically going to get worse if we ONLY run these awful half-Princeton sets. I don't know if it's the coaching staff not teaching them properly or if the players simply aren't responding to it, but if it's not working you FIX it. Run something else. Run ANYTHING else.