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Kings send Skal Labissiere down to Reno

Admittedly I haven’t watched much of the kings recently, but I thought the general consensus was skal was playing fairly well? Bizarre move if so.

His eFG% is about six points below the league average. Last year it was slightly above league average. That’s the main issue I think. Also heard someone, maybe it was Zach Lowe saying he was like in the bottom 10% of players in the league in finishing in the post.
 
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He had been a starter for most of the year. Might not be a bad move, keep giving him lots of minutes without hurting the teams chances of winning.
 
Obviously Sacramento is "misusing" Skal.

Has he not been allowed to play his natural SF face up role? Obviously the problem is lack of teaching by Cal.
 
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Obviously Sacramento is "misusing" Skal.

Has he not been allowed to play his natural SF face up role? Obviously the problem is lack of teaching by Cal.

Exactly! I mean, Skal is 6'11" and I hear he can shoot 3-pointers. That makes him the GOAT, right? What do the idiot Kings expect out of a big? Rebounding, defense, interior scoring? Come on, I mean the guy can hit a 3-pointer - what else could you want?
 
Lol Skal is my least favorite player of the Cal era.

It may sound rough but I genuinely don't care how his career goes.

He's also terrible defensively and REALLLLLY SLOW. He will not be anything more than a bench player in the NBA if that.
 
Lol Skal is my least favorite player of the Cal era.

It may sound rough but I genuinely don't care how his career goes.

He's also terrible defensively and REALLLLLY SLOW. He will not be anything more than a bench player in the NBA if that.

I still hope he does well, seems like a good guy - but I agree he is my least favorite player of the Cal era by far. Most frustrating guy to watch.
 
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I agree that Skal's time here wasn't spectacular, but I believe alot of that was due to unreal expectations and the fact that he had to sit out his senioryear of high school. I actually am somewhat surprised by his 8pg and 4 rbs per game shooting 44%. I hope he gets more minutes in the G-League and continues to improve.
 
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Obviously Sacramento is "misusing" Skal.

Has he not been allowed to play his natural SF face up role? Obviously the problem is lack of teaching by Cal.

Actually according to basketball reference, he's played like 38% of his time at C this year. Clearly not his spot, he's a stretch 4 ala Channing Frye. His midrange shot has cratered which is the real issue, though he's actually hitting better on threes. Probably just sending him down to work on that shot, and hopefully never play him at C again.
 
I agree that Skal's time here wasn't spectacular, but I believe alot of that was due to unreal expectations and the fact that he had to sit out his senioryear of high school. I actually am somewhat surprised by his 8pg and 4 rbs per game shooting 44%. I hope he gets more minutes in the G-League and continues to improve.

To play devils advocate: do you think if a player thinks they’re good enough to be in the nba, they should be able to produce somewhat in college?

I think if you ask the majority of Kentucky fans: the one and done rule is similar to “I’ll scratch your back and you scratch mine”. If you 100% give that effort, and you leave, then great, thanks for giving us a full effort for a year....it’s just the one(s) that really dont and end up going pro...
 
He resembles a dook player, in the league, more than a UK player.
 
Exactly! I mean, Skal is 6'11" and I hear he can shoot 3-pointers. That makes him the GOAT, right? What do the idiot Kings expect out of a big? Rebounding, defense, interior scoring? Come on, I mean the guy can hit a 3-pointer - what else could you want?
Exactly. That's why Golden State should force KD to play on the block and defend and rebound like a big is supossed to.
 
If all you do is stare at Skal's offensive numbers you miss his warts bigtime.

He is still a slow reacting defensive player, not a good rebounder, not good on pick and roll/moving his feet and will never stick his nose in for tough plays/balls/rebounds. He has a few wow moments with dunks and then 5 in a row he just gets abused by guys....
 
I watch almost all of the Kings games (because of Fox). Skal is awful at finishing through contact, out of area rebounds and seems content to shoot jumpers
 
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Seemed like he was playing to not get hurt.

Good call. That may be the reason why. Or maybe he was just soft.

All I know is he came across as the most "afraid of physical contact" big man I can just about ever remember here. Seemed like he'd lose the ball every time he got bumped, lost countless rebounds because he avoided mixing it up inside, and was a horrible defender for much the same reason. Backing away from physical contact seemed the source of so many of his problems on both sides of the floor here.

He's actually done far better in the NBA than I expected. I'm really surprised, I thought any big man that soft was sure to fail miserably at the next level. But maybe he toughened up after he left UK, I don't know.
 
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That may be the worst franchise in the NBA. The best thing that could happen to Skal would be to be traded somewhere else. I never had a lot of hope for him in the NBA, but even less so out there.
 
http://www.sacbee.com/sports/nba/sacramento-kings/kings-blog/article188459434.html

"Skal Labissiere, who started at power forward two games ago, was sent to the Bighorns on Tuesday, when Papagiannis was recalled.

“I don’t know that he’ll see a lot of action the next two games,” Kings coach Dave Joerger said of Papagiannis. “It’s an opportunity, organizational decision and I’m a team guy so we’ll play a little smaller and it’s opportunity for Skal as well.”

----------------
Seems like the emergence of Jakaar Sampson, possible trade bait in Papagiannis, and an opportunity for Skal to work on his game.
 
Exactly. That's why Golden State should force KD to play on the block and defend and rebound like a big is supossed to.

But, is Kevin Durant a PF or a Center? His profile says he plays SF; and I see that in his last game KD had a triple double (35 points/11 rebounds/10 assists). I also assume that KD is willing and able to guard his position. So, it looks like he’s doing what GS needs him to do to make them a top team, right?
 
But, is Kevin Durant a PF or a Center? His profile says he plays SF; and I see that in his last game KD had a triple double (35 points/11 rebounds/10 assists). I also assume that KD is willing and able to guard his position. So, it looks like he’s doing what GS needs him to do to make them a top team, right?
Yeah, because KD isn't asked to do something he doesn't do. Y'all love the phrase square peg in a round hole, forcing Skal to play on the block or like a traditional big man is forcing a square peg in a round d hole. It's just not his game. Adapt to his skill set or have a severely limited big.
 
Yeah, because KD isn't asked to do something he doesn't do. Y'all love the phrase square peg in a round hole, forcing Skal to play on the block or like a traditional big man is forcing a square peg in a round d hole. It's just not his game. Adapt to his skill set or have a severely limited big.

So if Skal can't guard the 3, 4, or 5 position, the round peg will be not be playing. Skill set is more than shooting jumpers.
 
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But, is Kevin Durant a PF or a Center? His profile says he plays SF; and I see that in his last game KD had a triple double (35 points/11 rebounds/10 assists). I also assume that KD is willing and able to guard his position. So, it looks like he’s doing what GS needs him to do to make them a top team, right?

What KD is depends on what lineup Kerr is going with at the moment. When he goes with the smaller lineups (which, with the Warriors, is most of the time) he guards the Center or PF positions. But he starts their games at the SF spot.

Both of the Ws forwards epitomize the "position-less basketball" concept. Both KD and Draymond Green can be anything from a 3 to a 5, and can play all three positions in the same game.
 
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What KD is depends on what lineup Kerr is going with at the moment. When he goes with the smaller lineups (which, with the Warriors, is most of the time) he guards the Center or PF positions. But he starts their games at the SF spot.

Both of the Ws forwards epitomize the "position-less basketball" concept. Both KD and Draymond Green can be anything from a 3 to a 5, and can play all three positions in the same game.

Thanks. I don’t watch a lot of NBA games to be honest - mostly highlights. But am I correct that somebody (maybe multiple players) on that GS team is rebounding and defending in the post for the team; or does GS win without defense and despite getting killed on the boards?
 
Yeah, because KD isn't asked to do something he doesn't do. Y'all love the phrase square peg in a round hole, forcing Skal to play on the block or like a traditional big man is forcing a square peg in a round d hole. It's just not his game. Adapt to his skill set or have a severely limited big.

Are you saying Skal is a misused Kevin Durant clone; and the problem is that no one will turn him loose to show all those skills? Because I don’t think he fits that description.

Look, I hope Skal has great success. His story is compelling, and he seems like a good guy. I just don’t think perimeter shooting - while nice to have in the bag of tricks - is at the top of the things I would want from my PF or Center. I also never saw any reason to believe that Skal couldn’t provide more than that – but, if that’s the case, he needs to show it. Because, if a perimeter shooter is all he is, I wouldn’t like the chances of any team where he plays significant minutes at the PF or Center position.

My point is I believe there are many aspects of the game important to a team winning beyond perimeter shooting. For example, I think rebounding and interior defense are crucial to winning? Maybe some don’t think so, but I do. And PFs and Centers are generally best suited physically to provide those aspects? If you think it’s ok that your team doesn’t get things like rebounding and interior defense from their Bigs, as long as they can shoot decent from the perimeter – then we just disagree about what makes for a winning team.
 
Thanks. I don’t watch a lot of NBA games to be honest - mostly highlights. But am I correct that somebody (maybe multiple players) on that GS team is rebounding and defending in the post for the team; or does GS win without defense and despite getting killed on the boards?

Well, it's sure as hell not the "without defense" thing. Draymond Green is merely the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. Klay Thompson is also a tremendous defender. Their 6th man (Iguadala) is a superb defender who's made past All Defense teams. Hell, even Steph Curry once led the league in steals. Rest assured, the Warriors play serious defense.

As for who their center is, it's a bit of a tricky question. Pachulia starts there, but that's only a token thing, he barely plays 14 minutes a game. They rotate various guys at the five spot during games (Green, West, McGee, even Durant). Honestly, the guy who plays the best for them at the 5 spot is Draymond Green in their small lineup--despite him only being 6'7".

And, NO, they don't get killed rebounding with that lineup. it's been kind of an enlightening thing changing minds about the importance of a center--the best lineup in basketball over the last five years has been one that essentially uses no center at all.
 
Lol. Cal recruited Skal to be a BIG.He was not recruited to UK to be a backup shooting guard and "Kevin Durant" SF my God.

Skal was never going to be a good pro. I'm surprised hes done as well as he did Cal didn't misuse Skal at all, had he done what some here wanted we would have been even worse.
 
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