Glass Half Empty Pt 2: Is this a pattern?
by Quisp on Apr 23, 2011 10:14 PM PDT
in Backseat Driving
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2010 Playoffs, round one, Kings vs. Canucks
The Kings lose the first game in OT, win the second game in OT, win the third game and are leading at the end of the second period of the fourth game, with a chance to go up 3-1 in the series. More than a chance. Because the Kings hadn't blown a lead after two periods all season. They are a defensive team that knows how to shut it down, protect the lead. Except this time they don't. Uncharacteristically, they fall apart in the third period and lose the game. The series, which might have been 3-1 Kings, or even (but for Michal Handzus celebrating in OT when he should have been making sure the puck was over the line) 4-0, is now tied 2-2.
Game Five is a blow-out. Quick is pulled. Ersberg comes in and is worse and Quick is put back in. Before we know it, the Kings are down 3-2. Two days later, the series is over.
November 15, 2010
New season. The Kings are 12-3-0. 2nd in the league in points, 1st in the league by WIN% (Washington is 3 points ahead but has played three more games). They have allowed 7 goals-against in their last 7 games. There is lots of talk of the Kings' new greatness. All of Brayden Schenn's, Oscar Moller's (until his recent recall) and Scott Parse's games are played in that first stretch. Schenn is then sent to Brandon. Parse has surgery. But that's okay; after all, the Kings have managed the 12-3 record with Drew Doughty out nearly half of those games with a concussion. Now he's back. The sky's the limit.
[much much more after the jump]
The Kings respond by going 1-7 over the next 8 games, their only win coming in a shoot-out against Boston. by the end of this 1-7 run, they are 13-10-0, tied for 10th place with...San Jose.
December 27, 2010 - Kings v. Sharks
Anze Kopitar's superhuman aerial pass to Dustin Brown is probably the one goal that every Kings fan remembers from this season. It was the high water mark, the highlight reel goal in the highlight reel game, the 4-0 domination of the supposedly superior Sharks, cited by many, including Terry Murray and Dean Lombardi, as a "statement" game, a game that, in effect, announced the arrival of the new Kings, or the real Kings, or some kind of Kings that at least wouldn't play like Kings teams in history had played.
At the conclusion of that victory, the Kings are 22-12-1. 4th in the Conference, 1 point behind Dallas, who is then 1st in the Pacific. At that point, the Kings are 13-2-1 at home.
And what do the Kings do after making that "statement"?
After giving up 6 goals-against in their previous 6 games, they give up 13 in their next two. They lose 5 straight in regulation on the way to a 2-10-0 run, at the end of which the Kings are in a three-way tie for 11th in the West.
February 28, 2011 - Trade Deadline Day
The Kings are in the middle of an historic hot streak, which ultimately will see them putting up a record of 21-5-5 from mid-January to the beginning of April. In that entire run of 31 games, there is but one game that is an unmitigated mess, and that's the 2/28 7-4 loss to the Red Wings. The Kings of course had been all over the news that day because of the big splash Dean Lombardi made by trading for Dustin Penner. Understandably, the Kings play like they're distracted. All the excitement has gotten them off their game, for a night anyway.
April 6, 2011 - Kings beat Coyotes, clinch playoff berth
The Kings have completed a highly improbable journey by coming back from 11th place to clinch a playoff spot. Emotions are high. Two games left, and the Kings have a chance to finish as high as 4th place. They lose both games and drop to 7th. Were it not for Chicago crapping out at the same time, it could have been 8th.
April 19, 2011, approximately 8:40PM - Game 3, Kings vs. Sharks
A few minutes into the second period, the Kings are up 4-0. The series is tied 1-1 though it could easily have been 2-0 Kings (I'm thinking of Brad Richardson's near goal in OT of game one). The Kings routed the Sharks in game two, and now have scored 8 unanswered goals over four-plus periods. The crowd at Staples is delirious. The Kings have "arrived."
And having arrived, they lose focus and before you know it, it's a 6-5 loss in OT. As with last season's blown chance against Vancouver, the Kings follow a nail-biter disappointment with an embarrassment. They lose their cool twice in one game, and before you know it the Kings are facing elimination.
Rob Scuderi, who knows a thing or two, calls the performance "immature."
I'm No Psychiatrist
but it's hard not to notice that virtually every time the Kings do something reasonably big, they lose focus and fall apart. By "reasonably big" I don't mean "a win" or "a good record." But if it's big enough to make them Big National News -- like being number one in the league, or clinching the playoffs, or making the biggest splash on deadline day, or pushing a cup favorite to the brink -- they suddenly stop doing what they were doing to get themselves to those various lofty heights, and play more or less like kids playing street hockey each with his own Stanley Cup Final play-by-play running in his head. Like when my son is practicing snap shots in the backyard and I step a little closer and can hear him mumbling "Messier with the one-timer."
So if the issue is losing focus, who is to blame for that? The stock answer: the Kings are young. They're making youthful mistakes. Is that it?
Handzus, Stoll, Smyth, Williams, Greene, Scuderi, Mitchell, Ponikarovsky, Penner, Richardson, Parse, Westgarth, Brown, Drewiske and Harrold are all 26 or older. That's 15 guys. So, no. Youth is not the problem.
Besides, we're not talking about one incident. What happened in the Vancouver series, I was more than willing to write off as a learning experience. The several versions of "we've arrived/not-so-fast" that transpired over the course of this season: at best, I can consider those laboratories for learning, banking the wisdom they will then apply when they get to the playoffs again.
But that's where we are now, and the Kings are somehow having to learn the same lesson yet again. Which suggests to me that the lesson simply isn't sinking in.
Sometimes a team comes into a playoff series and they're just dominated from start to finish. Then you can say the team was simply over-matched; they didn't have the skill to compete with an overwhelmingly better team. But I really don't think you can say that when the teams are separated by one point in the standings (Vancouver and LA last year) or seven points (the Kings and Sharks this year). You can't say the Canucks or Sharks were/are undeniably and far-and-away the better team when in both cases there were multiple overtime games and in both cases the supposedly inferior team was in a position not only to win the series. I'm not saying the Kings are better than either of those teams; the only way to demonstrate that is to actually win the series. And the Kings haven't done that.
In both series the Kings were in a position to close and didn't close. And closing, in both cases, meant doing the very thing they had been doing all season, the very thing that was their calling card: playing solid defense. As I said ad nauseum in the last post: sticking to the system.
Doing that doesn't require superhuman ability or in fact superhuman anything, except possibly this: focus.
Coaches can't play the game for the players.
We hear that all the time. But they can guide the focus of their players. In fact, that's all they can do. That, in a nutshell, is their job. If it seems like I'm over-bludgeoning (mostly in part one of this post) the whole "step up" logic, it's because I think what the Kings do is not something that "stepping up" can help. Kirk Gibson, in 1988, stepped up. Certain quarterbacks. Derek Fisher. Etc. (My examples may suck; sorry; I'm really mostly a hockey fan.)
You wouldn't tell the Flying Wallendas (or pick your favorite flying trapeze artists) that what they've been doing for the last few years has been great, but now it's time to step up and really take it to the next level. Because there is no next level, other than death. Plummeting to your death.
The message should be, should have been, don't change anything. The playoffs are no different than what you've been doing all year. Just keep doing that. Because it works. It's what we do better than almost everybody. You don't have to be something more in order to rise to some fictitious occasion.
I would probably also add, turn off the TV, don't read the paper, turn off the phone and (probably above all) don't read blogs.
(Wow. Ryan Smyth diving back-check poke check just saved the game. That's how you do it.)
(Jonathan Quick bicycle kick save...)
(two shots at the open net...)
(make that three)
(why do I feel Bob Miller is taking a HUGE risk by saying we'll see you at Staples when there's still 20 seconds to go?)
(consider this your recap; the Fragile Psyche Cup goes to six games...)
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Ummmm well it’s time to get get drunk
Quite possibly the only LA Kings fan living in Brooklyn, New York.
The only way I can WATCH this...
is by getting drunk. Beforehand.
The message should be, should have been, don’t change anything. The playoffs are no different than what you’ve been doing all year. Just keep doing that. Because it works. It’s what we do better than almost everybody. You don’t have to be something more in order to rise to some fictitious occasion.
The thing is that the playoffs are different. Obviously none of us here on the blogs has played in them but every player or coach from every single team in the league will tell you that it is entirely different from the regular season.
System-wise the Kings need to stick to what they do best which is being responsible defensively and going to work on the cycle and forecheck offensively. A lot of their wins come from simply outworking their opponents. When Murray says players need to step up, part of it is that some players like Stoll and then Lewis for game 2 need to take the opportunity for more minutes and better linemates to take advantage of that and help be a little more offensive. Other players it means simply compete even harder every single shift to win any one-on-one battle you are in for energy guys like Simmonds and Clifford.
As to Doughty and Johnson, I think that part of the message was for them to step up and make special plays but they have to be smart about when to do so. When you enter the zone one on three, then it is ok to try a special move and take a risk because guys are back covering you if you lose the puck. If you are in your defensive zone being pressured then it is time to just get the puck out and not be too crazy.
If Murray’s directions really were confusing the players, then we would have heard about it. Every person’s quotes all have the same message of just playing better within the system. I don’t think Murray is perfect and there have been things I would like him to do differently, but I still think he has done a pretty good job with the team and bringing along some of the younger players in order to get us to the point we are at now.
My interpretation of TM’s “step up” is roughly equal to “dig deep” plus “be more accurate”. Granted, I interpret it this way because it is the only way it makes sense to me; for it to mean anything else would indicate TM is a babbling fool, or at least spatting nonsense. Which he may be, I don’t really know since all my Kings info comes from this site (there — gloss over my lack of knowledge and be distracted by the flattery!).
#feelinacertaintypeofway
But can they win a playoff game at home?
They are 1-4 in two seasons, with 4 straight home losses. They had leads in 3 of the four games…
Riddle me THAT, Q-man!
I'd venture to say that Quick "stepped it up" tonight :-)
But otherwise, I’m going to exercise my right (to paraphrase Quisp) to contradict myself in that I’m going to spend of this comment emphasizing Kopitar’s absence. I think Murray’s admonition has to be taken in that context, and also that lacking Kopitar kind of makes this series terra incognito for this team in a way that circumscribes the usefulness of comparing their situation now with where they’ve been before.
I know that I argued that the Kings could still succeed without Kopitar. I still believe that they can, but I don’t think I ever argued that it wouldn’t be more difficult without him. I think that when TM talks about “stepping up,” what lingers in the background is the fact that Kopi’s absence leaves a vacuum that no one player can be expected to fill. Various players will share the minutes that he would ordinarily be playing, and they have to play their very best during those minutes, or the team suffers noticeably. But it’s not just a matter of offensive production, because he was also playing such sound defense — remarkably, he had found a way to be very effective within TM’s system. Just before he got hurt, our own Rick Knickle floated his name for Selke, and earlier, I recall Rudy comparing Kopi to Mats Sundin (i.e., a top-notch 2-way center).
Basically, I can’t help but wonder if the defensive breakdowns in Games 2 and 3 would have been quite so bad if Kopitar had been around. Maybe he would have made a difference, maybe he would have been just as stampeded as everyone else. But when you have a scoring forward who also plays defense well enough to have his named linked to the Selke, you have to wonder.
The Kings can still pull out this series, but as Bako just said, they need to win a damned home game. But — unless Quick plays crazy out of his head again — the only way they can do that is to live up to the example that Kopitar set for them, playing sound defense first.
"Prepare your bladder for imminent release!" — Invader Zim
by DougX on Apr 24, 2011 12:07 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
I understand what he means by "step up"
I just think it’s not something anyone can act on. especially since the full directive is step up but don’t fuck up. frankly, I think that’s 80% of the reason Penner is so tentative out there. He knows better than to just “go for it” and “bring the energy.” Yes, of course he has to bring the energy, but mistakes equal goals.
You remember a couple of weeks back when Doughty made a couple of questionable reads and Murray said, “we want drew to keep doing that…” meaning that more often than not doing that leads to good things, not breakdowns.
I wish he had never said that.
I agree with you that the playoffs are different. But they are different in a way that only emphasizes my point. Which is that the margin for error is zero.
Wait till this year.
"Never mistake activity for achievement." - John Wooden
This quote is oft repeated but ill practiced.
Quite possibly the only LA Kings fan living in Brooklyn, New York.
also
i like terry murray. i am a huge believer in everything he preaches. I was a defenseman and I am buying what he’s selling, that adherence to the system by all 20 guys will win out. And conversely, stepping outside of the system is a recipe for disaster.
I just think that the way he’s characterizing “the challenge of playing playoff hockey” (or whatever you want to call it) has unintended effects.
Wait till this year.
I get what you’re saying. The one thing to remember though as well is that these are comments made to the media also often based on questions that they ask him like “Who is going to fill Kopitar’s void?” and such. I just think that when talking to the players and doing the actually coaching part he is more clear and explains what he wants them to do better during film studies and team meetings.
Penner scored and the Kings win. I’ve given up trying to figure out this team. Each team has won more games on the road than at home. Time for the Kings to get one at Staples. No matter what happens the rest of the way, I’m so proud of the way the Kings have fought back. Whether it is an injury to your best player, a suspension, or a historic meltdown, it seems like this team thrives against adversity.
Don’t forget that Westgarth had a pretty damn good game too (that hooking penalty was total b.s.). And now has 2 points in the playoffs while getting only 3 all year long in the regular season. Plus he has had scoring opportunities himself most of the games. I’m actually starting to kinda like him and if he keeps working on his skating and puck handling, he could maybe develop into a George Parros type player as he has had times where he uses his body well on the cycle to shield the puck.
Yes, Westgarth played well. I was a proponent for benching him based on the fact he was getting less than 5 mins a game. I think for the first four games of the series, he averaged less than 5. In game fiive, he got almost 8 mins, made a nice pass on the Penner goal, and basically played the Parros type of game you mentioned.
Trend or aberration?
I agree. I don’t see how you can ice a player in the playoffs when you aren’t willing to play him more than 5 mins./game. But Westy has clearly exceeded most of our expectations for him. The question is, has his game really matured to get him to this point, or is it just another playoff flash in the pan?
"Prepare your bladder for imminent release!" — Invader Zim
So let me see if I can figure this out
We play defense on the road better…
Aha! Maybe the Kings should stay in the visiting locker room… Or maybe they should wear white… Or maybe the fans should boo when they come out for skate-around…
Go away, or pass away. Your choice.
Barca Blaugranes
They should use the Purple jerseys and knock off this alternate nonsense!
by DodgersKings323 on Apr 24, 2011 2:04 AM PDT up reply actions
Or stay at a hotel instead of at home. I wonder if the issue — perhaps for both teams — is that home life has distractions all its own, whereas on the road, you’re basically living with your teammates and are somewhat limited in what you can do outside of hockey.
Those of us who have been following the Kings a long time are no doubt familiar with the old knock that playing in Los Angeles is problematic compared to other hockey cities because of the number of distractions here. I never credited it myself (like New York, for instance, has no distractions?), but maybe there is a hint of truth there.
"Prepare your bladder for imminent release!" — Invader Zim
Playoff hockey is one hell of a drug! I can’t wait for another heart attack game on Monday!
by DodgersKings323 on Apr 24, 2011 1:56 AM PDT reply actions
Handzus, Stoll, Smyth, Williams, Greene, Scuderi, Mitchell, Ponikarovsky, Penner, Richardson, Parse, Westgarth, Brown, Drewiske and Harrold are all 26 or older. That’s 15 guys. So, no. Youth is not the problem.
True but six regular King players are young, rookies or both.
Mistakes are made. Most of the goals in this series were a direct result of a Shark or King mistake. I feel the Kings have been more guilty in this area then the Sharks.
Regardless the Kings are hanging and Smyth seems to be cured, so another shot of tequila and Monday.
Are Teemu Selanne and Melanie Griffith Twins?
It's not that there are a lot of veterans on the team
It’s the top six forward roles and the top two pairing roles that DD, JJ, Parse and Lewis are playing. Throw in key minutes for Simmonds, Richardson, and Westgarth, and you can’t get away from the team’s youth.
This pattern has followed this coach.
"The Kings are somehow having to learn the same lesson yet again. Which suggests to me that the lesson simply isn’t sinking in."
This implies there is even a lesson. There certainly can be a lesson in getting completely embarrassed or it can just be a humiliation to be repeated if it’s not addressed effectively.
Jim Kelly took the Buffalo Bills to 4 consecutive super bowls…and lost every one. Back to back to back to back humiliation. That’s about as brutal an example of a lesson not learned as it gets.
"The playoffs are no different than what you’ve been doing all year."
While this message is the desired result, it is not the solution. You detailed how the Kings continue to find themselves in this position going back to last season. It is, indeed, a pattern. "Stepping-up" wasn’t the message then, Kopi was there, yet the same thing happened over and over again. The pattern isn’t caused by the playoffs, it is accentuated by them.
You’re on the right track though. It is coaching. What you’re alluding to IMO is the inability of Murray to prepare this team in this one particular area. As you said, it isn’t age, but it is a form of immaturity as Scuds said.
On an ideal team, the rise in the level of intensity or adversity in a game should be met with an equal rise in the level of calmness and focus, i.e. play the system and foster natural, instinctive play under the most difficult circumstances.
I pointed out yesterday in my blog my general admiration for what Phil Jackson has accomplished. One thing he has been able to achieve is constantly teaching his teams to remain calm at all times. It is a regular part of practice and games. His non-use of timeouts is legendary and it stems from his countless hours of mental preparation he puts his team through in fighting through those situations themselves. He gives them the tools to deal with it as a team and individually.
A lot of coaches are limited in this area IMO, but Murray is particularly so. I don’t think he has much of a grasp on the day-to-day requirements to get a team to behave like it’s just another game when the game (or series of games) starts going to shit.
The team concept is great, as you said. And I love it too. It’s everything I admire and enjoy about hockey. But teaching system play, which is mandatory, only goes so far when the system breaks down.
You need to also teach what to precisely do when it does break down. Saying, "back to basics" and "stick to the system" is the obvious desire. The trick is how you mentally get a group of people to do it under duress.
Murray has, IMO, clearly demonstrated he does not know how to do this. It happened in Philly and it’s happening here. I’d love to know what Hextall thinks of this situation. He was in the middle of the storm when Detroit demolished the Flyers in the finals, which got Murray fired.
Those Bills never had a huge lead to choke away
I’m sure it also helps the “Zen master” to have the highest paid team in the NBA
by DodgersKings323 on Apr 24, 2011 12:13 PM PDT up reply actions
I’m sure it also helps the "Zen master" to have the highest paid team in the NBA
IIRC, until his second tenure with the Lakers, he openly admitted that the wasn’t going to take on a coaching job unless he knew he had the personnel to win the Championship, and that explains a great deal about the success that he has had. Of course, coaching a team full of stars has challenges all its own, but still….
The more I observe Murray, the more I am convinced that Lombardi brought him in to manage a specific phase in the team’s development, rather than as the coach who would bring a Stanley Cup to LA. Just like Crawford was hired as the coach who was supposed to squeeze respectability out of the veteran “bridge players” who filled the “boxes” until the young studs were ready; he was fired when the kids came along ahead of schedule, and crazy, edgy Craw was longer the right man for the job at hand.
At some point, Lombardi will have to make a judgment about whether TM is the right coach to guide the team as they turn into veterans — and perhaps, as they add more skill players like Schenn, Toffoli and Moller.
But, looking at the big picture, I really don’t see how you can argue against what he has accomplished with this team to date.
"Prepare your bladder for imminent release!" — Invader Zim
My glass half full...
…is that the Ducks just fell to the Preds. Yay!
Nothing is full-proof for a sufficiently talented fool.
Two ways to "step up" your game in the playoffs.
I’ve been thinking about this for a couple of days, and while I totally get your point, there are ways to “step up” your game come playoffs. Two things in particular. First is skating speed. Skate faster all the time. The need for pacing yourself through a long season is over. Second is increase your hitting. Hit everybody every time cuz it’s a long series and you want to wear the other team out physicially and let them know they’ve got pain to look forward to for the next 4-7 games. It takes both a physical toll on the recipient and puts hesitation into their play. I remember last year watching even Frolov “step up” his game by hitting a few people; it was rather awkward and poorly-executed, but the intent at least was there.
re speed...maybe...
but the other side of that coin is that young players can run headlong into the playoffs at full tilt, and burn themselves out over the course of even one game. There’s still pacing involved. if their bodies are not used to what they’re doing, they may find themselves … gasp … making mental mistakes out of fatigue … say in the second period maybe?
I don’t disagree with you that playoff hockey is more amped up, but pace is important, too.
Wait till this year.
I think "stepping up" is important, but requires a specific definition.
Mine is: redouble your efforts to execute your job description, decisively, 100% of the time. Or to put it another way, do all the good things you do.
I don’t know. I could have a different opinion tomorrow.
Wait till this year.
Since we are talking psychology (which I know nothing about)
It’s just been bugging me that Terry Murray has this persona that seems so emotionless and buttoned down all of the time on the surface, and yet, his behavior says something completely different. I’m going to make my point first, before I give examples. I think he has a blind spot about himself that is a weakness in his coaching style and is probably confusing the team. Ok, having said that, let me make my case:
On second thought, I think I should just put myself to bed now. Who really gives a shit if the Kings just win tomorrow? Right? Go Kings!
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