Well David, if this really is your plan, you're doing it horribly wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.
First off, the Kings had two of the best passing big men to ever play the game in Vlade Divac and Chris Webber. Kahn actually dared to compare Darko Milicic's passing to Divac, and Webber was noticeably skeptical, as he should've been. If Milicic has this kind of passing ability, he definitely hasn't shown much of it in an NBA game yet. Assist Percentage, an advanced statistic that shows the percentage of plays a player has in which he creates an assist, tells us that Darko has a career AST% of 7.2%. His highest single-season AST% was 10.7%, which happened this past year (it was at 11.0% just with the Wolves as he spent some of the season with New York). Darko has played 7 seasons and over 369 games. If he was such a great passer, he would've shown it by now. Hell, he's not even the best passing big man on his own team. That honor belongs to Kevin Love, who sported an AST% of 12.9% last year (in only his 2nd season).
Webber and Divac were always phenomenal passers. Webber sports a career AST% of 20.2%, and while Vlade often is considered the better passer, he has an inferior career rate of 16.0% (still great for a big man). Webber's highest single season AST% was 24.6% in 02-03 (he did have a 24.9% rate in his 3rd season, but he only played 15 games that year due to a shoulder injury) while Vlade's was in 03-04 when he had a 28.7% rate. Both of these guys are way out of Darko's league when it comes to being a passing big man.
Another thing the Kings had were Wings that could handle the ball and shoot. Jason Williams was a terrific passer in his time with the Kings, but he was also a turnover machine. It wasn't until the Kings traded Williams' flash to the Grizzlies for Mike Bibby's substance that they became relevant. Kahn feels that he has a Williams type player in Ricky Rubio (who hasn't played for the team yet and has shown no real indication of ever playing for Minnesota), and Rubio is no doubt a terrific passer, but he can't really shoot the ball, something that Williams was inconsistent with as well early in his career, and something that Bibby rectified. Peja Stojakovic was a lights out shooter as well, and also grew to be a decent defender and rebounder for his position. But why did the Kings need marksmen like Bibby and Stojakovic? They had a dominant big man in Webber who commanded double teams, and both big men were skilled enough to find the open shooter, especially because the Kings played a lot of the time off the ball in order to free up one of the shooters. Often the Kings would surrender the ball to Webber or Divac in the high post and ask for them to create, while the guards and wing would cut and roll to free themselves because they knew they'd be found if they could get open.
Minnesota doesn't have a guy that demands attention like that. In fact they traded their main offensive weapon in Al Jefferson for picks and Kosta Koufos (a jump shooting center who is also a poor rebounder). Who is Minnesota going to throw the ball to to make decisions? Milicic? Nobody respects him, nor has he shown any reason for people to. At best he's a decent defensive center.
Finally, the Kings ran a version of the famed Princeton Offense, and had the master on hand himself in Pete Carril to teach it. Minnesota is employing Kurt Rambis and Reggie Theus, disciples of the Triangle offense, an offense that tends not to favor your point guard (I believe the Triangle is the biggest reason for Ramon Sessions' regression on joining the Wolves, and Jonny Flynn's rocky Rookie year).
The Wolves have ball handlers who can create, but who play an offense that limits their effectiveness. They have plenty of guys who can shoot now (Wesley Johnson, Corey Brewer, Lazar Haywood, Wayne Ellington), but none of those guys can really create their own offense or pass the ball. They have two young bigs, but only one has shown a propensity for passing (Love), while the other is a black hole on offense (Beasley, who likes to shoot as often as possible).
It's hard to see where a comparison lies between the Glory Day Kings that I will forever cherish and love and this mixing of seemingly similar players the Timberwolves have thrown together. Kahn mentioned that the Wolves time would be in two years. If so, he has a lot of work ahead of him, especially if he wants to try to duplicate Kings success of old.
But for now...
First, Webber spent a great deal of his time in the high post. Not a ton of double teams there.
ReplyDeleteSecond, if you notice the stats, Milicic's passing was at an all-time high last season with 'Sota. Maybe he has the skill, he was the #2 pick overall after all, but did not play in a system that really used his passing skills until he arrived in 'Sota.
Finally, the Ridnour signing seems to signal a realization that signing sessions was a mistake because he does not fit the system.
If you read my post you'll see that Milicic's "all-time high" isn't that good.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm skeptical that Darko can pass as well as Divac, I'm not necessarily of the belief that Darko can't do it either. The interesting thing that Kahn said (which I can't say one way or the other) that Vlade Divac hasn't taken issue with the comparison.
ReplyDeleteI thought the interesting stuff was what Kahn said about Al Jefferson (one of the more overrated players right now) and that the best trade he could get for Al was picks and the cap space. (Which Minny can use down the road or next off-season.) I tend to agree. The problem in the modern NBA is that post players like Al J that play in slow systems and use a lot of possessions while taking a lot of time (trust me on this--ask anyone who has seen a lot of Al) is not as valuable as they once were. If Al Jefferson were on the Blazers and they wanted to throw the ball to him half the time while throwing the ball to Brandon Roy, that might work. Although, the defensive aspect is something else entirely. Al can't really defend anyone. You can't win if Al Jefferson is your #1 or #2 option (although Utah might utilize him that way).
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jeffeal01.html
He's never sported a TS% of 56. Not once. In Minny, he's never sported a TS% of 54. This is Kobe Bryant territory without effectiveness.
Dwight Howard, for instance, has never sported a TS% as low as Al Jefferson's highest season (his rookie season) in sparse minutes. Jefferson the efficient offensive player he is not. (Most will concede that Dwight is a far superior defensive player to that of an offensive player. But, still, I'd take Dwight's offense over Al's offense by the same token. Even with Dwight's lack of "skill".)
If the Wolves were winning with Al J around, t hat would be one thing. But they were 15-67 and he played 76 games. That isn't exactly the stuff dreams are made of.
I feel like Jerry Reynolds now.
Al Jefferson isn't the point of my article though Pookey. The point is that with or without Jefferson, if Kahn wants to be like the Kings of yesteryear, he's doing it wrong.
ReplyDeleteAs for Vlade not taking issue with the comparison, I can't find any record of that comparison ever being made before tonight, other than the fact that they're both Serbs.
Great points, Aykis. I enjoy your work at SacTown Royalty, good luck with the blog.
ReplyDeleteWhen he drafted Rubio and Flynn, he compared them to Isiah and Dumars, and then installed the triangle, a system that marginalizes point guards. He then trades for Sessions and signs Ridnour, and now he's talking about the Princeton Offense Kings, another system where point guards do not carry much playmaking responsibility. He still has coaches that are running the triangle, however. Does he realize how crazy this seems?
ReplyDeleteVlade is a nice guy and I'm sure he supports his contryman as best he can. 'Nuff said. And slow and methodical interior play seems to win Championships.
ReplyDelete