Tag: Dave Joerger

James Ham: These Kings Are a “Breath of Fresh Air”

December 3, 2018 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Coach Dave Joerger has led the Sacramento Kings to a promising start to the season, but not one without drama. (Jrcla2/Wikimedia Commons)

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The Sacramento Kings are off to a strong beginning after most expected them to finish at or near the conference’s cellar. And second-year point guard De’Aaron Fox’s seismic leap is a huge reason why. James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California stops by to break down the Kings’ sizzling start, the organization’s coach-executive drama and where the Kings go from here as they aim to get back into the playoffs for the first time in 13 years.

Here are some particularly regal clips (*Due to dynamic advertising, time stamps may vary per listener):

11:39-12:14: “He [De’Aaron Fox] is incredibly talented. The way that he’s able to change speed and change direction in traffic while people are all around him, his handles, everything else is just next level. The Kings saw it the second he stepped foot on the practice floor before training camp. He lost one game of pickup in like two or three weeks leading up to training camp. He was just dominant. And they were like, ‘Holy cow. This is a different player, a completely different player.’”

13:56 -16:16: “The team is really designed around De’Aaron Fox. Previous years with the Kings that I’ve covered, it was always designed around DeMarcus Cousins…I think they had the wrong ingredients last year, and then they come into this offseason, and, really, they made three moves, but it’s really their two moves that they made that have made a huge impact. And that is the drafting of Marvin Bagley…and then the second is Nemanja Bjelica.”

Joe Morgan on Pro Scout School and “Belief in the (Kings’) Future”

July 15, 2017 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

A commitment to the youth movement and De’Aaron Fox’s impressive summer league performance give Joe Morgan optimism for the Kings’ future (Photo: Joe Morgan).

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The NBA world has taken over Las Vegas for the last two weeks, and while the main attraction has obviously been Las Vegas Summer League, where teams test out and try to develop their new talent, with so much of the top brass in one city, there are bound to be auxiliary events as well. One such event is TPG Sport Group’s Pro Scout School, which our guest, Joe Morgan, was able to attend this week. He details the highlights of what he learned there, from experts like Fran Fraschilla, Bobby Marks, Tony Ronzone, Drew Hanlen and more. Of course, Joe is also co-host of The Kings Court and covers the Kings for SacKingsNation.com, so we’d be remiss if we didn’t also get his views on Sacramento’s eventful offseason so far. Scout out these royal excerpts below:

7:15-8:11 Joe speaks on gaining an insider’s perspective from front-office personnel and other experts: “They talk to you more openly than they would during the season when they’re busy. They give you that insider’s view of ‘Why did this move happen?’ …I could not figure out why Oladipo went to Indiana, and somebody made the point in the class that he’s a Hoosier alumnus. So do you think that helps them sell tickets for the team that was 22nd in attendance last year?… Basketball teams only convene to do two things: win games and make money. As a fan and even on the commentating side of it, generally, you only look at the game-winning side of it. We forget to add in that this is a business.”

11:26-12:20 On how modern teams are able to use both advanced analytics and traditional scouting in conjunction for player evaluation: “In the class, one of my favorite sentences that came out of the whole thing was: ‘Analytics is just evidence-based decision making.’ A guy has to pass the eye-test; you can’t watch a guy and think he’s horrible and then want him on your team. But analytics gives you something that helps you watch for specific patterns… It gives you another way to fine-tune what you’re looking for. A lot of these guys, you only get to watch once or twice… so if you have an analytics team give you some notes beforehand, it really helps you out as a scout.”

Morgan Ragan: Defenders’ Best Strategy Against Cousins? “Get in His Head”

December 7, 2016 / Joshua Fischman / 0 Comments

Guest Morgan Ragan does not envision DeMarcus Cousins’ current role as being conducive to future Kings success.

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With a new defensive-minded head coach, the Sacramento Kings are hoping to halt their 10-year playoff drought, but they continue to struggle, especially on the defensive end. However, our guest, Morgan Ragan, host of The Deuce and Mo Podcast, Kings digital contributor and local Sacramento reporter, explains why coach Dave Joerger should be afforded job security unlike many of his Kings predecessors. Other topics covered in the episode include how to guard DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay’s future in Sacramento, the front office’s perpetual draft blunders and what the team needs from the point guard position. Enjoy some selected excerpts from the interview below:

6:55 – 7:23: Ragan starts by asserting that the Kings’ center is better suited for a situation in which he’s no longer the franchise cornerstone: “He gets away with a lot of stuff…because he’s DeMarcus Cousins. He’s the best player on the team. He’s the one producing the most points, the most rebounds. So if he wasn’t that guy and didn’t have that power, he would be even better somewhere else.”

Hasseltine: Amid Randolph Decline, a “Lot More on Marc Gasol’s Shoulders”

December 23, 2015 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

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Although the Memphis Grizzlies find themselves better than .500, they’ve struggled to beat the league’s upper-echelon teams. Grizzlies radio play-by-play announcer Eric Hasseltine joins the show to discuss Memphis’ early struggles, caused primarily by uncharacteristically poor defense and a lack of perimeter shooting. With Zach Randolph really showing his age and Mike Conley Jr. starting slow, Eric believes Marc Gasol needs to consistently be aggressive for this team to succeed. Many other fascinating topics are discussed, including Mario Chalmers’ impact, these juicy bites below and much more:

6:40-8:00: On why the Grizzlies have struggled: “They feel like their defense can get better. They’ve certainly faced some of the elite teams right off the bat. They’ve played Golden State twice, San Antonio twice, Dallas twice, Oklahoma City twice, the Clippers and the Rockets twice. They haven’t faced the teams that you’d think you can pile up wins on. Nonetheless, they’ve got to do a better job against the good teams. They’re not trusting each other the way they used to. Their offensive sets are not crisp…not solid when they’re moving the ball, so they don’t get a bucket, and then they give up a bucket. Next thing you know, you’re down six, eight points. Now you’re gonna press offensively…and that puts a lot of pressure on the defensive end.”

9:45-10:35: On the need for Marc Gasol’s leadership: “Some nights, he is uber-aggressive and wants to be the lead dog…other nights he’s so team-oriented that he feels like he needs to get other guys involved. When Marc catches, turns, and shoots from 17, 18 feet…it’s hard to stop him. When he does that on a regular basis, it makes teams have to come out on him. But Marc is so basketball savvy and team-oriented that he doesn’t want it to be all about him. The problem is (Memphis has) paid him to be one of those guys…He’s learning how to be that guy, because he’s never been in his career. It’s always been a 1-2-3 punch of Randolph, Gasol and Conley sharing those duties. Now it’s a lot more on Marc’s shoulders. I think he’s ready and willing to take that on.”

Tag: Dave Joerger

James Ham: These Kings Are a “Breath of Fresh Air”

Joe Morgan on Pro Scout School and “Belief in the (Kings’) Future”

Morgan Ragan: Defenders’ Best Strategy Against Cousins? “Get in His Head”

Hasseltine: Amid Randolph Decline, a “Lot More on Marc Gasol’s Shoulders”

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