He's Nick f'ing King. A very smart student and a superb BB player with a lot of heart.

:)

(08-18-2014 10:54 AM)snowtiger Wrote:  

(08-18-2014 10:45 AM)BigTigerMike Wrote:  

(08-18-2014 10:32 AM)Stammers Wrote:  King has gotten stronger and seems more confident. I haven't seen if he has improved his right hand at all. It is encouraging to see him fill up the stat sheet, but I wouldn't put too much stock into his Canada stats. A lot of those rebounds and baskets might not happen against players that are 4" taller and 25 pounds heavier. Having said that, his mid range and outside game have been quite good and that should work out fine when we play for real.

But then again, we have seen King mix it up with the big boys last year as a freshmen and do very well so we have to see but this could be a huge year for him

King just knows where the ball will be. He has a knack. I don't think you can teach it. Not many players have it.

He definitely has that knack for knowing where to go for rebounds. He also does a great job of cutting, slashing, and sliding into open spots around the rim for easy buckets. He seems to have a very good understanding of spacing and of the game in general.

All he needed was to get more minutes

(08-18-2014 10:32 AM)Stammers Wrote:  King has gotten stronger and seems more confident. I haven't seen if he has improved his right hand at all. It is encouraging to see him fill up the stat sheet, but I wouldn't put too much stock into his Canada stats. A lot of those rebounds and baskets might not happen against players that are 4" taller and 25 pounds heavier. Having said that, his mid range and outside game have been quite good and that should work out fine when we play for real.

Is he exclusively playing and guarding the 3? Or more of a combo 3/4?

(08-18-2014 11:36 AM)Brother Bluto Wrote:  All he needed was to get more minutes

(08-18-2014 11:36 AM)Brother Bluto Wrote:  All he needed was to get more minutes

Secretaries get to take the most minutes. I always preferred Treasurer.

(08-18-2014 11:38 AM)Tigerbluesky Wrote:  

(08-18-2014 10:32 AM)Stammers Wrote:  King has gotten stronger and seems more confident. I haven't seen if he has improved his right hand at all. It is encouraging to see him fill up the stat sheet, but I wouldn't put too much stock into his Canada stats. A lot of those rebounds and baskets might not happen against players that are 4" taller and 25 pounds heavier. Having said that, his mid range and outside game have been quite good and that should work out fine when we play for real.

Is he exclusively playing and guarding the 3? Or more of a combo 3/4?

Good question. When the full cast of players is there, I would have to hope he's the 3, almost exclusively. That's really his natural position, IMO.

(08-18-2014 11:38 AM)Tigerbluesky Wrote:  

(08-18-2014 10:32 AM)Stammers Wrote:  King has gotten stronger and seems more confident. I haven't seen if he has improved his right hand at all. It is encouraging to see him fill up the stat sheet, but I wouldn't put too much stock into his Canada stats. A lot of those rebounds and baskets might not happen against players that are 4" taller and 25 pounds heavier. Having said that, his mid range and outside game have been quite good and that should work out fine when we play for real.

Is he exclusively playing and guarding the 3? Or more of a combo 3/4?

He seems to be guarding both the 3 and 4 on defense. On the offensive end he seems to be playing the 3 more often than not in offensive sets; but a lot of his baskets have been on drives, short shots and putbacks. I would say both; same with Hawkins.

(08-18-2014 01:12 PM)450bench Wrote:  

(08-18-2014 11:38 AM)Tigerbluesky Wrote:  

(08-18-2014 10:32 AM)Stammers Wrote:  King has gotten stronger and seems more confident. I haven't seen if he has improved his right hand at all. It is encouraging to see him fill up the stat sheet, but I wouldn't put too much stock into his Canada stats. A lot of those rebounds and baskets might not happen against players that are 4" taller and 25 pounds heavier. Having said that, his mid range and outside game have been quite good and that should work out fine when we play for real.

Is he exclusively playing and guarding the 3? Or more of a combo 3/4?

Good question. When the full cast of players is there, I would have to hope he's the 3, almost exclusively. That's really his natural position, IMO.

I don't know if he can stay in front of a 3. Shawne Williams should have been a 3 but mostly played the 4 for the same reason. Shawne was bigger and more polished than King was, but King is a better rebounder.

I think if King can sort out his shooting, his game should be very similar to Shawne's. So far he is scoring a lot of different ways, and his shot looks really good.

(08-18-2014 02:01 PM)Stammers Wrote:  

(08-18-2014 01:12 PM)450bench Wrote:  

(08-18-2014 11:38 AM)Tigerbluesky Wrote:  

(08-18-2014 10:32 AM)Stammers Wrote:  King has gotten stronger and seems more confident. I haven't seen if he has improved his right hand at all. It is encouraging to see him fill up the stat sheet, but I wouldn't put too much stock into his Canada stats. A lot of those rebounds and baskets might not happen against players that are 4" taller and 25 pounds heavier. Having said that, his mid range and outside game have been quite good and that should work out fine when we play for real.

Is he exclusively playing and guarding the 3? Or more of a combo 3/4?

Good question. When the full cast of players is there, I would have to hope he's the 3, almost exclusively. That's really his natural position, IMO.

I don't know if he can stay in front of a 3. Shawne Williams should have been a 3 but mostly played the 4 for the same reason. Shawne was bigger and more polished than King was, but King is a better rebounder.

I think if King can sort out his shooting, his game should be very similar to Shawne's. So far he is scoring a lot of different ways, and his shot looks really good.

Honestly it all depends on matchups...

But if he has not improved his right hand...Hell I can stay in front of King...Priority #1...But if his shot has improved greatly he won't need it.

(08-18-2014 10:32 AM)Stammers Wrote:  King has gotten stronger and seems more confident. I haven't seen if he has improved his right hand at all. It is encouraging to see him fill up the stat sheet, but I wouldn't put too much stock into his Canada stats. A lot of those rebounds and baskets might not happen against players that are 4" taller and 25 pounds heavier. Having said that, his mid range and outside game have been quite good and that should work out fine when we play for real.

he's been our leading scorer all 3 games and leading rebounder 2/3 I think. It seems he's our best player currently playing. If we can't put stock in his performance then we can't put it in anybody else's.

(08-18-2014 09:23 PM)jgardne Wrote:  

(08-18-2014 10:32 AM)Stammers Wrote:  King has gotten stronger and seems more confident. I haven't seen if he has improved his right hand at all. It is encouraging to see him fill up the stat sheet, but I wouldn't put too much stock into his Canada stats. A lot of those rebounds and baskets might not happen against players that are 4" taller and 25 pounds heavier. Having said that, his mid range and outside game have been quite good and that should work out fine when we play for real.

he's been our leading scorer all 3 games and leading rebounder 2/3 I think. It seems he's our best player currently playing. If we can't put stock in his performance then we can't put it in anybody else's.

Agreed...I remember Barham being on fire in the Bahamas.

Sounds like King may be our most impactful player on the offensive end this season.

However, I'm disappointed to hear that his troubles defending the perimeter have carried over to this year (at least, as of August). I remember when I pointed this out last season as a reason that he wasn't getting as many minutes, and a few folks around here lost their minds. I was hoping that the staff would've spent a significant amount of time instructing him over the summer to get him up to speed re: guarding the 3 spot.

If he can put that piece of the puzzle in place, it'll go a long way to shoring up our defensive concerns this season.

(08-18-2014 01:11 PM)snowtiger Wrote:  

(08-18-2014 11:36 AM)Brother Bluto Wrote:  All he needed was to get more minutes

Secretaries get to take the most minutes. I always preferred Treasurer.

Melvin?

I think Nichols will be our go to guy.

(08-19-2014 08:33 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Sounds like King may be our most impactful player on the offensive end this season.

However, I'm disappointed to hear that his troubles defending the perimeter have carried over to this year (at least, as of August). I remember when I pointed this out last season as a reason that he wasn't getting as many minutes, and a few folks around here lost their minds. I was hoping that the staff would've spent a significant amount of time instructing him over the summer to get him up to speed re: guarding the 3 spot.

If he can put that piece of the puzzle in place, it'll go a long way to shoring up our defensive concerns this season.

His perimeter D is mostly a footwork problem which is very hard to correct at this point. Probably why he backs off so much to defend the drive as his footwork makes him a 'slow" defender. He comes very close to crossing his feet sometimes-something taught to 6-7 year olds-probably never put in the work to correct it.

(08-19-2014 09:21 AM)tigers1125 Wrote:  

(08-19-2014 08:33 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Sounds like King may be our most impactful player on the offensive end this season.

However, I'm disappointed to hear that his troubles defending the perimeter have carried over to this year (at least, as of August). I remember when I pointed this out last season as a reason that he wasn't getting as many minutes, and a few folks around here lost their minds. I was hoping that the staff would've spent a significant amount of time instructing him over the summer to get him up to speed re: guarding the 3 spot.

If he can put that piece of the puzzle in place, it'll go a long way to shoring up our defensive concerns this season.

His perimeter D is mostly a footwork problem which is very hard to correct at this point. Probably why he backs off so much to defend the drive as his footwork makes him a 'slow" defender. He comes very close to crossing his feet sometimes-something taught to 6-7 year olds-probably never put in the work to correct it.

Nah, maybe a bit of unlearning some bad habits. But you get his hip flexors stronger, get him doing some workouts to get a bit more fluidity in his hips, make sure he's extremely conditioned and he'll be an adequate defender at worst.

Let's hope he can become as good a defender as Chris Crawford.

(08-19-2014 09:11 AM)450bench Wrote:  I think Nichols will be our go to guy.

I agree

(08-18-2014 10:54 AM)snowtiger Wrote:  

(08-18-2014 10:45 AM)BigTigerMike Wrote:  

(08-18-2014 10:32 AM)Stammers Wrote:  King has gotten stronger and seems more confident. I haven't seen if he has improved his right hand at all. It is encouraging to see him fill up the stat sheet, but I wouldn't put too much stock into his Canada stats. A lot of those rebounds and baskets might not happen against players that are 4" taller and 25 pounds heavier. Having said that, his mid range and outside game have been quite good and that should work out fine when we play for real.

But then again, we have seen King mix it up with the big boys last year as a freshmen and do very well so we have to see but this could be a huge year for him

King just knows where the ball will be. He has a knack. I don't think you can teach it. Not many players have it.

Exactly what I was going to say from what I saw last year, a lot like Will Barton in that respect.