Calipari's take on the Cousins trade

[ozwego15]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zacUqk5iJaU

interesting take since he's coached both of them.

[N.O.Bronco]

He seems like a guy that if you can put him in the right culture, winning games, you are going to get a really good kid.

And perhaps bringing together two guys who have struggled with frustration dealing with losing their whole NBA careers, playing positions that the league and everyone keeps saying are less relevant, can create an alchemy that will motivate the heck out of them in a way they can feed off each other and turn this franchise around in the process.

From what Cal said, it sounds like they are meeting up at the perfect time in their careers to be successful together.



....though I LOL'ed pretty hard at him talking about Davis at the three. Not because its implausible but Cal has been saying that since AD was heading to the draft. If we hired him I think AD would be playing the three at some point whether AD wants to or not haha.

[endlessHIMdark]

This is a really refreshing take. For as much as everyone talks about boogie as a team cancer, one of the more respected basketball professionals (though biased) doesn't see him in that way. Sure, losing always makes a situation worse, but I just don't see how we lose long term if both of these guys are willing to sacrifice to win. My main concern was the whole Lebron/Wade who's taking the crunch time shot idea with Boogie getting hot headed over it, but Calipari really doesn't seem to think that this will be an issue.

[luckyman]

Z Bo and Rasheed were problem children until they left Portland. They seemed just fine in Memphis and Detroit. Maybe the same can happen here.

[N.O.Bronco]

This is a really refreshing take. For as much as everyone talks about boogie as a team cancer, one of the more respected basketball professionals (though biased) doesn't see him in that way. Sure, losing always makes a situation worse, but I just don't see how we lose long term if both of these guys are willing to sacrifice to win. My main concern was the whole Lebron/Wade who's taking the crunch time shot idea with Boogie getting hot headed over it, but Calipari really doesn't seem to think that this will be an issue.

Mike Malone had a similar view on Cousins and likewise gave him lots of praise and came to his defense.

I think he is always going to be a guy that will have ups and downs on and off the court but if he is winning, for a coach he can respect, with teammates he likes and respects, he will be a mostly positive force. But I think the key is to start winning games.

Cal talked about getting their feet under them, but I do worry that if we aren't stringing together streaks and finishing the season on a high note, even if we don't make the playoffs, that is when things could get sticky. Or some scenario where we are losing but Cousins falls in love with Gentry but Demps wants to fire him. Or vice versa. We win but Gentry and Cousins butt heads.

But that's just me playing devils advocate. I think both want to win, like each other, respect each other and they will put in real effort to make things work between them. Which is half the battle.

[UNO Gracias]

Z Bo and Rasheed were problem children until they left Portland. They seemed just fine in Memphis and Detroit. Maybe the same can happen here.

Agreed. I think we will see a much different Boogie. He will still be vocal, but I think now he has some structure around him.

The Kings are the Cleveland Browns of the NBA.

[bahmamamba]

Mike Malone had a similar view on Cousins and likewise gave him lots of praise and came to his defense.

I think he is always going to be a guy that will have ups and downs on and off the court but if he is winning, for a coach he can respect, with teammates he likes and respects, he will be a mostly positive force. But I think the key is to start winning games.

Cal talked about getting their feet under them, but I do worry that if we aren't stringing together streaks and finishing the season on a high note, even if we don't make the playoffs, that is when things could get sticky. Or some scenario where we are losing but Cousins falls in love with Gentry but Demps wants to fire him. Or vice versa. We win but Gentry and Cousins butt heads.

But that's just me playing devils advocate. I think both want to win, like each other, respect each other and they will put in real effort to make things work between them. Which is half the battle.

Yeah I worry about them firing gentry too with all of the coaches boogie has been through and the only way I could see it being all good is bc they do to bring in coach cal

[Nola3]

Another thing to consider about Boogie is how good of a person he seems to be off the court. Everyone is Sacramento used to talk about how active he was in the community and how he really connected with the city. I think a lot of his outbursts were because of a mix of immaturity and a complete lack of organizational stability, not because he's a bad guy. Hopefully a change of scenery brings out the best in him.

[endlessHIMdark]

Mike Malone had a similar view on Cousins and likewise gave him lots of praise and came to his defense.

I think he is always going to be a guy that will have ups and downs on and off the court but if he is winning, for a coach he can respect, with teammates he likes and respects, he will be a mostly positive force. But I think the key is to start winning games.

Cal talked about getting their feet under them, but I do worry that if we aren't stringing together streaks and finishing the season on a high note, even if we don't make the playoffs, that is when things could get sticky. Or some scenario where we are losing but Cousins falls in love with Gentry but Demps wants to fire him. Or vice versa. We win but Gentry and Cousins butt heads.

But that's just me playing devils advocate. I think both want to win, like each other, respect each other and they will put in real effort to make things work between them. Which is half the battle.

I'm not so worried about this. The way I see it playing out, we will definitely struggle early on and probably miss the playoffs. However, I don't see any way we don't end the season hot and playing better than .500 ball (hell even .500 ball is better than Boogie is used to and that AD hasn't experienced that much in the pros). That should be enough to alleviate concern going into the offseason IMO. Now if we put together a ******** team going into next season and we don't see improvement, that's when I will get concerned. Like a lot of people have said though, if the experiment fails we can just flip Boogie later on for a similar haul. Talent will always get you something.

With the amount of talent that they have, along with Jrue and anyone else we manage to bring in, I just can't see things floundering if they do manage to buy in and work to bring out the best between them.

Yeah I worry about them firing gentry too with all of the coaches boogie has been through and the only way I could see it being all good is bc they do to bring in coach cal

Yeah, that's a big concern I have to. Seems like we're probably locked into Gentry for the stability we want to offer these guys, unless there is an option everyone can agree on like Coach Cal.

[Champ]

Is step 2 Getting rid of Gentry and hiring Cal?

[Bricklayer]

Yeah I worry about them firing gentry too with all of the coaches boogie has been through and the only way I could see it being all good is bc they do to bring in coach cal

Howdy all.

Just signed up to your board. Been the longest serving mod at Kingsfans, which is the oldest Kings board on the net (dating back to 1997), for I guess 17 years now. Which amazes me, but hey. Time flies. And it's an utterly repulsive clown show in Sac, so I wouldn't be surprised if I become a permanent resident here.

Anyway, thought at the very least I would sign up here and pass on a bunch of Boogie knowledge, this seemed as good a place to start as any.

So, the Boogie coaching problems are both probably overstated and understated -- the Kings I think in all their blinding ignorance have often made it harder than it had to be. And what I mean by that is this:

Boogie has some great friends among former coaches -- not just as coaches or acquaintances, but as actual friends that will give each other a hug and go out to dinner together. But he also has blood enemies amongst his former coaches. It's not that he's a universal coach killer at all. Rather I would argue that he has a highly developed, maybe you could say overdeveloped, B.S./dishonesty detector. If he smells it on a coach, or anyone else, oh boy. He has real problems with authoritarians, game players, backstabbers. Sees them all as snakes and openly, and loudly rebels. That's where the rep comes from. He's got no filter if he decides you are an enemy. If he decides a guy is his enemy, he will flat scream obscenities at him.

But on the other hand, he absolutely loves straight shooters, and he loves guys who make it family. And if he likes and, critically, trusts a guy? He'll run through a wall for a friend. Big part of who he is. So you get this real sharp break between coaches who he has a great relationship with -- like friends off the court, see you for dinner, keep in touch and be at your wedding friends -- and coaches he has a terrible relationship with. There's not much in between, although I suppose Corbin (who he liked personally but probably did not really respect), and Smart (who he had issues with) were at least not extreme cases.

Anyway, going forward you don't need to hire a special Boogie-only coach. You just need to hire (or I suppose retain if Gentry shocks me here) a straight shooter who forms bonds with his players. When you get down to it the coaches Cousins has got along with and indeed swears by, and they swear by him, are some of the best/biggest names in the biz: Calipari, Coach K and Thibodeau from U.S.A. Basketball, Mike Malone, he and Dave Joerger had a strong relationship...he's not THAT high maintenance. He's not a universal problem at all for every coach or anything. But he does have real trust issues, and if you try to put a manipulative game player, or demeaning screamer and yeller, or something like that? You are toast. There's no chance.

Going forward with the remainder of the season I would fully expect him to be deferential to A.D. just out of respect, but the coach relationship is up to Gentry. Is he a good guy players love to play for? If he is, its really unlikely Cuz will have a problem with him, and he may really like him. Is he a straight shooter, firm but fair? Can Cuz trust him? If these things are true, then Gentry should not have any problem. But if he's a guy who plays games to motivate people, or screams at them, talks them down in the press...well, that won't work.

[Gilles]

Gentry might not know, what to do with 2 big men this talented being on the court simultaneously, but Cal doesn't know, what to do with bigs outside of low post, either. It might be lack of spacing in college or Cats' perennial lack of shooting, but Cal managed to hide perimeter/high post games of all his talented freshmen bigs.

[Tin_Food]

Howdy all.

Just signed up to your board. Been the longest serving mod at Kingsfans, which is the oldest Kings board on the net (dating back to 1997), for I guess 17 years now. Which amazes me, but hey. Time flies. And it's an utterly repulsive clown show in Sac, so I wouldn't be surprised if I become a permanent resident here.

Anyway, thought at the very least I would sign up here and pass on a bunch of Boogie knowledge, this seemed as good a place to start as any.

So, the Boogie coaching problems are both probably overstated and understated -- the Kings I think in all their blinding ignorance have often made it harder than it had to be. And what I mean by that is this:

Boogie has some great friends among former coaches -- not just as coaches or acquaintances, but as actual friends that will give each other a hug and go out to dinner together. But he also has blood enemies amongst his former coaches. It's not that he's a universal coach killer at all. Rather I would argue that he has a highly developed, maybe you could say overdeveloped, B.S./dishonesty detector. If he smells it on a coach, or anyone else, oh boy. He has real problems with authoritarians, game players, backstabbers. Sees them all as snakes and openly, and loudly rebels. That's where the rep comes from. He's got no filter if he decides you are an enemy. If he decides a guy is his enemy, he will flat scream obscenities at him.

But on the other hand, he absolutely loves straight shooters, and he loves guys who make it family. And if he likes and, critically, trusts a guy? He'll run through a wall for a friend. Big part of who he is. So you get this real sharp break between coaches who he has a great relationship with -- like friends off the court, see you for dinner, keep in touch and be at your wedding friends -- and coaches he has a terrible relationship with. There's not much in between, although I suppose Corbin (who he liked personally but probably did not really respect), and Smart (who he had issues with) were at least not extreme cases.

Anyway, going forward you don't need to hire a special Boogie-only coach. You just need to hire (or I suppose retain if Gentry shocks me here) a straight shooter who forms bonds with his players. When you get down to it the coaches Cousins has got along with and indeed swears by, and they swear by him, are some of the best/biggest names in the biz: Calipari, Coach K and Thibodeau from U.S.A. Basketball, Mike Malone, he and Dave Joerger had a strong relationship...he's not THAT high maintenance. He's not a universal problem at all for every coach or anything. But he does have real trust issues, and if you try to put a manipulative game player, or demeaning screamer and yeller, or something like that? You are toast. There's no chance.

Going forward with the remainder of the season I would fully expect him to be deferential to A.D. just out of respect, but the coach relationship is up to Gentry. Is he a good guy players love to play for? If he is, its really unlikely Cuz will have a problem with him, and he may really like him. Is he a straight shooter, firm but fair? Can Cuz trust him? If these things are true, then Gentry should not have any problem. But if he's a guy who plays games to motivate people, or screams at them, talks them down in the press...well, that won't work.

Welcome bro, seems like we'll be getting a few ex-kings fans jumping ship, and can't really blame you guys by the looks of it. One of the few franchises that is even MORE dysfunctional than ours? Man that's tough living.

I think Gentry isn't going to be the type of coach that will be able to get the most out of Cousins, off the court he'll be ok, on the court I can still see him getting a few technicals because we don't have anyone that can control him. I'm really keen on gettin Caliperri in the offseason if Gentry doesn't do well with this squad, he's one of those guys that I think can reign in Cousins in the games, and that alone could be the factor that makes us a borderline contender from being a low playoff seed.

[SilkySlim]

Nice to see Brick here. The board will be lucky to have him if he chooses to stick around.

He's right about Boogie's coachability. If you're a straight shooter but respectful you'll get on fine with him. If you make it personal or talk to him in a way he takes it as demeaning or personal, you'll have a problem.

I hope Boogie's not passive as he immediately is a better option to run offense thru than AD.

[Gilles]

Nice to see Brick here. The board will be lucky to have him if he chooses to stick around.

He's right about Boogie's coachability. If you're a straight shooter but respectful you'll get on fine with him. If you make it personal or talk to him in a way he takes it as demeaning or personal, you'll have a problem.

I hope Boogie's not passive as he immediately is a better option to run offense thru than AD.

I see you signed up at the same time, Slim.
Alternating between AD/Jrue P&R and Boogie drives/posts would be the way to go in the middle of the season. Anything more complicated will have to wait for next year's training camp.

[alonshin]

Howdy all.

Just signed up to your board. Been the longest serving mod at Kingsfans, which is the oldest Kings board on the net (dating back to 1997), for I guess 17 years now. Which amazes me, but hey. Time flies. And it's an utterly repulsive clown show in Sac, so I wouldn't be surprised if I become a permanent resident here.

Anyway, thought at the very least I would sign up here and pass on a bunch of Boogie knowledge, this seemed as good a place to start as any.

So, the Boogie coaching problems are both probably overstated and understated -- the Kings I think in all their blinding ignorance have often made it harder than it had to be. And what I mean by that is this:

Boogie has some great friends among former coaches -- not just as coaches or acquaintances, but as actual friends that will give each other a hug and go out to dinner together. But he also has blood enemies amongst his former coaches. It's not that he's a universal coach killer at all. Rather I would argue that he has a highly developed, maybe you could say overdeveloped, B.S./dishonesty detector. If he smells it on a coach, or anyone else, oh boy. He has real problems with authoritarians, game players, backstabbers. Sees them all as snakes and openly, and loudly rebels. That's where the rep comes from. He's got no filter if he decides you are an enemy. If he decides a guy is his enemy, he will flat scream obscenities at him.

But on the other hand, he absolutely loves straight shooters, and he loves guys who make it family. And if he likes and, critically, trusts a guy? He'll run through a wall for a friend. Big part of who he is. So you get this real sharp break between coaches who he has a great relationship with -- like friends off the court, see you for dinner, keep in touch and be at your wedding friends -- and coaches he has a terrible relationship with. There's not much in between, although I suppose Corbin (who he liked personally but probably did not really respect), and Smart (who he had issues with) were at least not extreme cases.

Anyway, going forward you don't need to hire a special Boogie-only coach. You just need to hire (or I suppose retain if Gentry shocks me here) a straight shooter who forms bonds with his players. When you get down to it the coaches Cousins has got along with and indeed swears by, and they swear by him, are some of the best/biggest names in the biz: Calipari, Coach K and Thibodeau from U.S.A. Basketball, Mike Malone, he and Dave Joerger had a strong relationship...he's not THAT high maintenance. He's not a universal problem at all for every coach or anything. But he does have real trust issues, and if you try to put a manipulative game player, or demeaning screamer and yeller, or something like that? You are toast. There's no chance.

Going forward with the remainder of the season I would fully expect him to be deferential to A.D. just out of respect, but the coach relationship is up to Gentry. Is he a good guy players love to play for? If he is, its really unlikely Cuz will have a problem with him, and he may really like him. Is he a straight shooter, firm but fair? Can Cuz trust him? If these things are true, then Gentry should not have any problem. But if he's a guy who plays games to motivate people, or screams at them, talks them down in the press...well, that won't work.

Wow, nice to see you here! Are you leaving KingsFans.com? Would be nice to read your posts here.
I will try to be on both forums, but with both Cousins and Casspi in New Orleans, It's more likely that I stay here :-)

[SilkySlim]

Let's just hope VF21 doesn't come over.

Kings fans are stuck in a really tough place. Why stick around and wait 10 yrs for even the hope of another Boogie level talent when Vivek might wake up one morning and decide to blow it all up....again. Someone needs to give that clown a one way ticket back to India. Then we hear Vlade was actually the snake behind the scenes this whole time. He can't be trusted either. I figure even Peja was on board with Vlade. Then Vlade's BFF in Napear is character assassinating Boogie around the clock.

How can anyone stay and support that crap? NBA should step in and force an ownership change.