Hoops

Jeff Van Groningen - All spin, no ding

Cadee is the equivalent of Adnam. Streaky shooter but not NBL material. Humphries can be a star in the future for sure.
JVG is solely responsible for losing Moller. The Kings simply stuffed him around with making a quick decision on his signing.
Lisch is seriously a great player but getting old. Yet another JVG 'coup' that failed. Newley is back in Australia for a good reason. Passed it in the EU and questionable at the NBL level now.
The amazing assistant (Vickerman) left because he showed up Gaze's inadequacies.
The Tigers nepotism deserves a Royal commission honestly.
"Gaze should stay because he's popular" What Utter Bullshit, Is that you JVG? Get a popular coach who can coach rather than recruit the best Ozzie player EVER that can't even coach kids or SEABL.

Yes the Kings were one game short off finals last season, the neucleous of the team was there, Blanchfield has added nothing so far, Humphries just starting to play ok but Maric should've stayed. The best point guard available before season started should've been added and Ellis is a good fit with Garlepp as back up four. Moller should've been kept on as back up three and Cadee and Lisch sharing the point and two guard. Still would've left one spot open for a quality scorer if required. To many changes for early success. Jvg should probably bare the blame for most this as he claims he puts the team together but Gaze should've had his view heard if he's not happy with the selections.

Still don’t see much sign of improvement in the team. One good performance from Tyler, and Randle’s quality in general, doesn’t change my mind that JvG and AG need to go.

Yup, all very key points in the last couple of posts... We had an amazing assistant last season, but Gaze was obviously not listening to him and actually looked to rebuff him at times late in the season, so while it sounds like a great idea to get an experienced coach behind the scenes to ghost-coach the team, Gaze has got to accept it... Look who they signed as an assistant to replace Vickerman this season... Someone who would never overrule or get the credit for any wins...

Maybe Gaze would be more open to the idea now after such a shit start to the season and obviously needing the help, but do you think he would be as happy with "so-and-so joins as an assistant and Kings start to win again! bravo, so-and-so!" as much as "it's obviously Vickerman who is coaching, look how well they're going! Gaze is obviously the puppet!" A coincidence the slide coincided with Gaze seeming to ignore DV more and more?

And yes, the Goorjian era Kings experienced a drop in average attendance each year they won a championship, BUT with each championship, it was said that they engaged the community less and less... I agree with the sentiment that just winning isn't enough, Kings fans need a bit of flash as well, but winning WOULD be a great start...

The thing is though, if Gaze IS a casualty, who is there to replace him? People have thrown McLeod around, but what's he been doing since being assistant in Cairns? I didn't pay much attention to him as a head coach, but he really didn't strike me as the style of coach that the Kings would need?

If Drewey is going to be the first casualty, I hope Van WrongAgain is close behind for his poor decisions and inability to admit he screwed up.

If Drewey and any replacement coach can't turn things around quickly then you'd want to think that the owner has the light-bulb moment to get rid of JvG rather than just take the easy way out and fold the franchise.

Do you need your old knees to coach?

I'm Jeff Van Groningen AMA!

No Curb Your Enthusiasm fans in this thread. Disappointing

I'm Jeff Van Groningen AMA!

There's that Jesse Sanders love again.

When the Kings are posting the interview on their social media, you know you probably haven't asked tough enough questions.

Reminds me of years ago when the 36ers were in a hole and the admin then did a bit of a soft and fluffy Q&A to placate fans.

Love Jesse Sanders

There's that Jesse Sanders love again.

No idea what Jois' asking price was, but if they cut and paid Tommy out like they should have if they weren't going to use him, then that's a decent chunk of change... They avoid the uproar of the fans and the bad publicity that has stemmed from it...

I've said it before, but...

Sanders* / Daly
Lisch / Cadee
Newls / Blanchfield
Ellis* / Jois
Maric / Humphries

and then add your project big like Pineau or Singh... Probably Dane, because at least his salary would go towards the minimum 4 player contract $ requirement and like has been said elsewhere, more chance he will be around next season, compared to Singh...

Sanders wouldn't have been expensive but helps out a lot with the defensive side of things and ball handling... Still can't shoot from outside, but apart from shot clock violations, with teh team above, do you really need him to shoot from outside?

Daly is that promoted DP that people wanted, and is a pretty good project from how he played in the pre-season...

Lisch is freed up to his more natural spot and the Sanders, the pressure is off Cadee to defend any of teh better guards on opposition teams and frees him up to play his more natural game, which is NOT as a defensive powerhouse...

Newls is Newls, and if they HAD to have Blanchfield, it frees up newls to get more rest and play at his faster pace for longer throughout the season and each individual game if he's not required to play 33+mpg... Blanchfield can always fill in at SG or PF if they go small or there's foul trouble, but at least he's not starting and playing significant minutes out of position...

Ellis is gonna Ellis... With this team around him it takes the pressure off of him to do things that aren't in his natural game and still makes the most of his usually very good FG%

Jois would bring a hell of a lot of hustle and energy and we wouldn't be in this rebounding hole... using what $$$ Tommy would have been on (since he got a contract upgrade last time) would surely have gone a long way to paying for his asking price and it fills a pretty integral part of the puzzle...

They should have kept Maric from the start, those that really understand what he has brought and can bring to the team would get it, and would have been an awesome mentor for Isaac... banging against him every day in training would have been much better value than getting Bradtke up for a few days to say "this is how you rebound gooderer" and it takes the pressure off of Isaac to HAVE to perform at a higher level than he is at, but no doubt getting him minutes to prove himself...

JvG wouldn't go ahead with the interview unless he had assurances re: line of questioning. He wasn't born yesterday.

Dan Boyce podcast interview with JVG was a waste of time. He let the perfect opportunity to use the Open letter writer's and the Kings FB anger question as an excuse to ask JVG direct straight forward questions. But instead acknowledge he was a kings fan then had worthless conversation like
they are mates allowing JVG to spin so much Bull Sh%t I nearly vomited!!

After that waste of 40+ minutes the Kings fans will feel nothing will change and the team will continue to lose games and linger at the bottom of the ladder.

Total waste of an interview!!

So Moller is a true 4? Lmao. Has to be a 3.
And Wookie, now I know you're off the mark! Venky? Yeah I'm sure he was a big available for minimum. Do you actually know what his asking price was? #conspiracy hahahaha

Should've tried for Randle. Would suit Sydney to a t. Should kept Maric too.
Then go for an import big. At the risk of becoming Adelaide mk2 Jacobsen would've been worth a shot.

@Steve, yup, exactly... and it's not like you have to go hard at him to potentially burn any bridges either, but going in, it was clear what information there should have been to pull out of the interview and not to let him get away with...

The interview took place after Olgun's interview was released (they even referenced it at one point), so there was plenty of other information available for the interviewer to use and seek clarification on as well...

I don't get how Moller taking too long would allow Melbourne to snap him up and not the Kings?

Singh has shown skills and talent. He sets good picks, has way better touch than Humphries has international experience. I think the Kings should actually start him at the Pivot. Having 6-7 6-8 Perry Ellis who is actually a 3 basically playing center is just not going to cut it. If Sigh played 20 minutes a game he would give you 7 and 7 maybe block a shot or 2. I like his upside.

There's no @ its all $%, don't start putting symbols into people's mouth Thunder Jam!

Whatever AH/Dan Boyce tried to do with the interview, it has become a PR platform for JVG by failing to ask some clarifying questions and failing to refrain from voicing your opinion as the host.

Its not that difficult to avoid stepping on toes by letting them know in advance that you are going to ask some tough questions. If they refuse the interview or particular question, you can also relay that fact to your audience without attaching your view.

Did the interview take place after Uluc's piece? If so, there is not much new information there for the non 'happy clappers'.

Wow! Someone's off their $%@%$ meds.

Thank you smart Anon... The perfect example of already starting to develop a young big and have him already improve and show his potential, plus he's a local kid and a great story to build on... But did they follow through? No...

Also, an even better option would have been Venky Jois... I mentioned him early on and then we hear that he could have been an option... Not a great shot maybe, but all hustle, and he's leading his league in rebounds at 11rpg isn't he? Hmm...

Leaving an import spot to sign them later sounds long sighted on the surface but really it is so short sighted.

His 3 examples of late signings, Cotton, Ware and Boone, were all in preseason this year. hmmm wonder why the teams did that..

Also although Ware and Boone are great players and were great additions, Melbourne didnt make playoffs last season.

Lisch is a SG not a PG. JvG thinks he's smart and we're all dumb. Finally he is getting a reality check.

Ok, Wookie
Give me a young development 4 other than Dane they could have gone with?

JVG "There's been a disturbance in the kitchen"

Ok, Mrs Pineau... Not saying his old man gets him minutes, just that it helped get him signed... JvG, Gaze, Copes, now Bradtke... I'm not the only one seeing patterns...

Like in the Foxsports article and like you say, why, when all was lost, did they not just chuck our young guys in to give them more experience? It would be fine if we had one project-level big and some more experience, but we've got at least three... taking up full roster spots...

Having an import spot spare is obviously a great idea, if you recruit properly in the first place... Which they didn't...

Not sure how much of that win against the Hawks was the Kings playing good or the Hawks still being shook from Perth game and playing bad...

I think teams hold onto a spare import spot if they suspect their roster without it might be enough. So, they elevate a DP and wait to see what they need or who gets injured. Unfortunately, they have a need and suffered an injury, then rushed a replacement that doesn't really solve either.

Seems to me they gambled on Humphries being better than he is, and Ellis being serviceable on the boards. In those cases, Singh is probably handy as a reserve. He's looked OK to me, and he's huge - makes Ogilvy look small.

I was at the Kings-Hawks game and they looked good there, but that appears to have been an aberration.

Furthermore, 6-8 mins a game for a 9th man is hardly a stretch for Pineau, (Thoseby10th Singh 11th).
Stop the crap conspiracy theory.

Wookie, that's a bogus cop out saying Pineau's dad gives him NBl minutes. If that was the case, Dane would have played a lot more in the Adelaide blowout. Not many good Aussie bigs available, and he is one worth developing. He has a very good J and needs to continue developing his offensive game.

So to me, that implies the criticism of Singh is race-based, not talent based

JVG said the criticism of Singh was racist?

He's jumped the shark....

Not if the cover was in place of Leslie.

*mutes $%$% Wayne $%$%*

@Paul... I'm looking close enough to notice that the team looks like they couldn't organise a threesome at a swingers party... The difference in the numbers you're throwing around are negligible and not taking into account that the teams that they've played so far have included Adelaide twice and an uncharacteristically defence-deficient Hawks...

Numbers don't tell the story of how disorganised they are... Players have scored points and the pass before them scoring has been attributed to that player as an assist, but there's a difference between being an organised TEAM and just accumulating stats...

What are the stats on how many points are being scored on the Kings? Even when Lisch was on the team, how many points did he and his fellow guards allow to be scored past them in the paint? How does our backcourt stack up against other backcourts?

Just because they are currently making their shots better than they did at the end of last season, doesn't prove anything...

Not if the cover was in place of Leslie.

Whether you believe JVG or not just alters how they screwed it up, there's no version of events that actually makes him look competent.

Which wasn't the plan (apparently), so yes, they did need to cover that at the start of the year. If they had, they'd be able to go out and get the big they were always planning on getting. Instead, they're stuck with Kendle for eight weeks, and have to wait until then to bring the big in.

Not to mention the time it takes for the import to get here on his flying pig.

There was no need to cover that at the start of the season if they were leaving an import spot free (selecting the right replacement is another matter).

I'm not blaming Pineau and I actually agree that we should be blooding young talent, I'm blaming his dad's ex-teammate... Pineau and Singh are getting minutes over an experienced player and we're losing games...

It's great that we have young talent coming through (even though they lowballed and lost a fantastic local talent that actually had developed really well in a short amount of time in Moller, but it's ok for an ex-teammates son?) but it would be better to do that with an EXPERIENCED BIG in the middle taking the majority of the minutes... you don't through a bunch of kids in against experienced NBL frontlines, it's just stupid...

So Dane's 6-8 mins per game is having a huge impact on Tommy? Dane actually is a player you want to develop, so you can start blooding a young core of Aussie's. Singh will be moved out of rotation when the import arrives.
Could they find minutes for Garlepp? Yes, theynstill could, but blaming Pineau is not your answer.

The 'we didn't run out of money, we have a budget' spiel makes no sense. It's literally 'no, we haven't hit our limit on spending because we have a limit on spending'.

I can only assume the Anons holding this up as a prime example of unbiased journalism were on the podcast.