Kings lose at the wire. Vent away.
Full recap to follow.
Dec 16, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) shoots the ball against Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan (10) during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
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This like the complete opposite of 22/23 – they can blow teams out but can’t close for shit
good fight
Jokic and Domas went at it all game long!
Wow, that hurt. Incredibly entertaining game with a tragic ending. MB finally decides to play some defensive players and Kings actually show some toughness/physicality. Bottom line is we’re 13-14 and it’s an L. They blew that lead and were horrible in first quarter. Gotta sustain these good stretches for a whole game not just parts.
Colby Jones is better than many have whined about on here. Defensive players value are underrated, there is nothing wrong with defensive specialists. This game gives me hope we can put together another win streak but you never know with this team.
Colby has been playing much better the last couple of weeks and definitely directly influenced the run in the mid 4th to get the Kings up by 10. Thought that his swarming defense was so effective that he ought to have closed the game out despite not scoring.
Big fan of Chris Duarte too, are ya?
Colby needs consistent minutes if he is going to develop. I sure hope he does. He was not looking so good this season up until about a week or so ago.
Why? Because he hasn’t played enough and IMO you can’t do anything in 2 or 3 minutes. You have to play more in order to be effective.
Yes. Like I wrote, he needs consistent minutes. He did fine last night. Brought some energy off the bench with Keon and helped to turn things around in the 2nd quarter. His stats don’t really look like he helped, but he seemed to make a positive impact in my opinion.
yup, he looks better this year. his head is in the game. would like to see a couple shots go down. hit his floater that he made in college. stick the open three.
All of these close losses are going to put the kings out of playoff reach by the all-star break.
Mike Brown really had to choose between two guys who weren’t even in the league anymore to start today because McNair did such a poor job of building out this team.
As many commenters have stated, there is no depth on this team and an injury to a starter is damn near crippling.
Kings don’t have a real difficult schedule the rest of Dec. Other than Dallas. Over the next 6.
Kings really need to get over .500 by Jan.
Jan looks incredibly rough. Mostly playoff teams on the dock.
Their schedule last 49 games starting in Jan.
32 games teams over .500
17 games teams under .500
Jan 9 of 15
Feb 5 of 11
Mar 14 of 17
Apr 4 of 7
I thought the bench played their hearts out last night especially Ellis, Jones and to some extent McDermoot but as anyone can see this is a really weak bench. This puts the load on Monty McNair. If he desn’t do something then with what we now have isn’t going to cut it. It isn’t the benches fault last night. Monty does have little talent to use as trade chips but he has picks ( not lottery picks) but first and second round picks he can combine to maybe get one or two good bench pieces. And for heavens sake don’t use those and trade Keon Ellis. He has to be the catalyst last night when he was on the floor. Just one statistic 5 BLOCKS. Ca’t do much better.
Fucking Mike Brown … taking responsibility for nothing, throwing players under the bus. In post-game interview, asked about the first quarter debacle, says there’s nothing the coaches could do about it, blames the players for not boxing out. Look who you started, dumbass. Of course Dougie is not boxing out.
who should have he started instead? Crowder is equally as washed. It’s not like he’s got options
I was hoping to see more of Isaac Jones, especially in the first when Gordon was bullying DeRozan.
What does it matter? This team has consistently come into the games unprepared. As a coach, you can say 4 or 5 times that it’s up to the players to come in prepared. By the 6th time, you have to recognize it’s a pattern and start addressing it as a coach.
Also, by now it is abundandly clear to the whole world except Brown that with all his faults, Keon Ellis needs a bigger role. Only injuries “forced” Brown to play him tonight.
Can’t wait until they fire that dumb ass.
I agree. For as little as Crowder played he got beat almost every time on drives and back doors.
Boy do I agree there. He played little and had no time to be effective.
This comment is on the comment below. Sorry.
I’d say that starting I. Jones probably would’ve been the best option.
It takes zero talent to box out. It’s a mindset and effort thing. That’s it. Any player at any level is capable of boxing out.
I felt pretty lucky to watch good basketball in the 2nd half after that first quarter. This was a fun game and the Nuggets just out-executed us when it mattered. We were down three rotation players tonight, and you immediately noticed Keegan’s absence in that we had no answer for Aaron Gordon. I don’t expect the team’s 3rd PF to be great, but we were just so outmatched with McDermott and Crowder.
Way too sensible a take. Need some more outrage!!!
wait for it…
No excuses. We should have won with what we had on the roster last night. One of my biggest concerns is this year we get a lead and can’t build on it. Last night 3 minutes left and up by 8 and fall apart. Some games this year we would build a big lead( 10 or more points and instead of building on that lead completely lose it. Again attention to details. Missed wide open shots. Missed free throws. Big turnovers. Fouls. Not boxing out. No defense at the point of attack allowing straight line drives. On and on. I felt somewhat sorry for Derozan last night. Miss handling the ball didn’t in the long run lose the game but he is supposed to be the big clutch player. I hope the Kings don’t have the mentallity that when the game is close they won’t win. So far as Matt George said in 11 games where the score was 5 points or less the Kings are 3 and 8. Are they playing to win or not to lose?
It would’ve been nice to have I. Jones play more against Gordon.
I’m sick of DDR.
Barring some major trade. With Huerter and Lyles as trade bait. LOl! Something tells me you won’t get much for either or both.
Currently, This is a play in team at best.
There will be whispers of DFS,
‘Cam, Kuzma. And Kings interest in trading for. Cam and DFS will get better offers than what the kings can put on the table.
Kuzma is a possibility. But I am
sure Wizards will be looking for at least 1
first rounder. They have no use for Lyles or Huerter if rebuilding.
Wizards will probably ask for Ellis,
Kuzma doesn’t elevate them to Top 4 in the west regardless. Not even sure it gets the Kings in the top 6. If Kawhi comes
back next week and Durant stays healthy.
But it may get them a first round playoff series.
DFS seems intriguing. I haven’t followed him closely but his player profile fits team needs. wouldn’t mind someone on this site to post a scouting report on him.
back-up 4 is a weak spot. Aaron Gordon pushed Demar under the basket every time and blew by Crowder. After Keegan and Lyles, I think the next best player to guard 4’s might be Devin Carter.
YouTube TV recorded the Westminster Dog Show instead of the Nuggets game. Second time that’s happened this season!
Woof!
Yea my pirate site was showing Corgis and I had to just give up. Being an old man the 7pm games do run late though. Frustrating night.
7 lead changes in the final 1:15. DeMar just a bit off balance on that last shot. No idea what kind of final play that was supposed to be to be.
Full stop: That was was the most entertaining Kings game I have seen in years. I’m not upset by the loss because the was fun as all get out.
1) Domas is a top 10 MVP candidate, and that’s not even debatable. He was superhuman tonight. Would it surprise anyone if he finished the 2nd half with some cracked ribs?
2) Keon Ellis should never be given a DNP/CD by Brown ever again. He needs to be part of the core rotation every night.
3) Kings really missed Keegan’s size an versatility on the boards and on the defensive end, as evidenced by Aaron Gordon destroying smaller guys in the paint.
4) Monk is more than capable of running the point. The guy is averaging more the 7 assists (a team best) since named a starter.
Disagree. Domas won’t get any votes for MVP. He’s never proven he can put a team on his back. Ever. MVP? Kings have a losing record. Wemby, Shai, Tatum, Doncic, Edwards, Freak, Jokic, Mitchell, Durant all significantly better players. Most importantly are on winning teams playing winning basketball
9th season. 12pts 7 boards lifetime in the 5 playoff appearances. I would say that’s pretty awful. He’s a great stat filler. In the regular season. He cannot take over a game and win in the spotlight. Never has.
Look at the stats tonite. You would think Sabonis played amazing. Jokic won the war. In the clutch, the 3x MvP got the job done. He put the team on his back like he always does.
Thats
Jokic. Sabonis does not have that capacity. Sabonis put up nice offensive numbers. No team will ever win a chip with Sabonis as a lead role in your offense.
Former Piston legend Isiah Thomas said it right. One team has a bunch of stat fillers. Another team plays winning basketball
Sadly, he is !
Strangely enough, I had an opposite reaction to that game. After the 20 point deficit, i wholly expected a fake hustle comeback once the Nuggets would take their feet of the gas and I was 99% sure that they would lose in the end.
Seeing them play well and get a respectable lead while still sure about the negative outcome, it was just a frustrating game to watch.
Clutch Brothers? Clanking shots and fumbling balls away (especially DDR)?
More like Klutz Brothers.
Seriously??? De’Aaron was awesome the last couple minutes, on both ends. Murray just matched him. Tip your hat.
DDR made a good play to get the dunk…then he dropped a ball final play. Play was run perfectly. Shit happens. It doesn’t have to be some type of referendum
Referendum? This goes beyond this game.
This season, in games decided by 5 points or less, the Kings are 3-9…
That’s not just “shit happens” territory.
That’s “we got a guy to address this particular problem (while ignoring bigger problems) and it’s not working” territory.
Call me silly, but I am a result-oriented guy when it comes to sports and so far the clutch results are what they are.
I focused on DDR who was 1 for 6 in the final quarter. But yeah, Fox was okay but it was too little, too late.
That is a solid point. 3-9 in games decided by 5 points or less all while you have two of the most clutch players in the game today is serious cause for concern. I still lay a lot of that blame on Coach Brown. He’s the captain of the ship calling out the plays and the 4th quarter execution has been more than subpar this season.
IMO he called the last play. It would have worked if Derozan miss handled the ball but he could have also missed the shot.
i am a result guy too. When I asked my players what is the end game they always say to WIN. Next they say they love to play the game but the result was always to WIN. Hated to lose. I hope that’s what the Kings want.
I’m not sure it is for some of them. If winning was the “end game”, then they would come out and play like it. Most of them walked through the 1st quarter last night.
Clutch is pretty noisy even from year to year, much less a 12 game sample size. You should not pay much attention to it. Though there are some issues that need to be addressed.
A big issue is still how to integrate Demar into the offense. He does not space the floor and the way that he gets to his spots is deliberate and slow that it seems to bog down the offense at times.
But yesterday was a step forward. The ball should always be in Fox’s hand in the clutch. The high pick and roll between Fox Domas is likely the most efficient play in the clutch. Demar was in the corner and even though he does not space the floor, he still got a dunk and then almost the last shot to win had he not bobbled the pass.
But the real issue in this game is really the defense or lack of physicality, especially in the starting lineup. Need size upgrade from either Monk or Demar. I really hope Devin Carter is a hit because he is the perfect fit with Fox and Domas.
IMO, during clutch time I would have the ball in Monk’s hands more than Fox. Monk has better PG skills than Fox. The two man game with Monk and Sabonis is the most efficient combo the Kings have.
Use 10-12 seconds to get a quality look from that combo, if it’s not there the ball can be dumped to Fox or DDR for an iso play. At the end of games the ball stops moving too often.
Yeah he is better passer but only to the roll man.
What’s important is the ability to get to his spot quickly and efficiently. Fox is really one of the few that can do that. Besides, Fox is better at drawing fouls.
Not really. You want to set your offense up quickly. Fox is not an isolation player. That’s really just a last resort.
I meant get into the offense by getting the ball to Monk early, look for a Sabonis screen, if there is a roll, open drive or open shot take it. If it gets down to 8-10 seconds on the clock give it to Fox and let him do his thing. Too often, they just dump it to Fox and that’s it with no ball movement, everyone watching.
You are right Fox isn’t an iso guy (DDR is) but in that moment Fox is not going to create anything besides a shot for himself.
Sabonis is pretty much maxed out in terms of pick and roll finishing.
He already has 4.4 possessions P&R finish, 5th in the league. Embiid, who is first, has more than 6 possession per game but he is small sample size; only play 6 games.
If you exclude Embiid, the next guy is 4.8 possessions which is quite close to Sabonis.
And then if you look at other teams that’s have high usage of roll guys finishing, they have multiple finishers. We only have Sabonis.
We need a quality back up center so that Monk or Fox can run pick and roll with when Sabonis sits.
My point is you see them run the PnR throughout the game and it works which is backed up by your stats, but then they seem to abandon it in the last half of the fourth quarter so everyone can watch Fox or DDR go solo.
Fox got a driving layup after Monk-Sabonis P&R
Fox got a spot up 3 after Monk-Sabonis P&R
The last play was a Fox-Sabonis P&R which Sabonis decided to pass to Demar on a short roll.
There were plenty of P&R possessions the last few minutes. It does not always have to end up with Sabonis finishing the possessions.
Besides, it was not the offensive problem last night. It was defense.
So all those PnR plays with Monk worked, even the last play DDR catches and finishes that 90 times out of 100. My main point is I want to see this 4th quarter action instead of Fox or DDR playing solo.
And, duh, the biggest issue on this team has been defense for years.
When DeMar has a mismatch, I see him get to his spot fairly quickly at times, and the shot is up early in the clock. That is fine. When he takes 5-10 seconds to establish position, do some fancy footwork, pump fake a few times, then take the shot, the entire game becomes bogged down.
Yeah I agree. I don’t mind Demar and his playing style. Though I think his playing style has some negative effects on Keegan and Huerter, who depend on the flow of offense to get their shots.
Even if he is a hit we still don’t have the size. I saw on Bleacher report the Kings might draft a point guard from Oklahoma. Yes you read it right a point guard. Heaven forbid.
He is about the same size as Monk but longer wingspan and heavier.
He provides the physicality on the perimeter. If he hits, he is Keon with better ball handling and better rebounding.
Ideally, you also want to upgrade from Demar but that’s in the future.
So far I haven’t seen much clutch from either Derozan or Fox.
I agree . It was one on the most intertaining games this year but I still went to bed and couldn’t sleep the first 2 hours. I wonder why?
Keon is so important for this team
Keon covers a lot of ground
And McNair will probably trade him.
I was at this one with Ms. UTQ and it had us go the full range of emotions:
aggravation to fascination to glee to chagrin.
A tug of war battle. Certainly, the Kings had this one down the stretch, but just lost with some missed opportunities. Credit to the coaching staff to get the team back in the game because it seemed all was lost in that 1st quarter Kings righted their sinking ship and despite the too often 3 point shooting woes, were again saved by the stellar free throw performance.
Hat tip to McBuckets, and bow of respect to Keon. Alex Len and DeAndre Jordan cancelled each other out. Strawther and Tyson had some flashes. I blinked and almost missed Isaac Jones and Jae Crowder. I just don’t get Colby Jones – can’t see it. What am I missing? He is a big negative on offense and defensively decent.
Sabonis impresses every time he’s on the court. He’s Timex- takes a licking and keeps on ticking.
Fox and DeRozan were their average – that is, 20 point reliable. Monk is that now as well in his stint as a starter.
Denver pulled it out for the win- but truly this could have gone either way.
Do you really think so?
IF
Deebo hadn’t bobbled the pass, a steadied short jumper or foul could’ve put the Kings on the Beam. Kings couldn’t get a stop, and neither could Denver, lead change after lead change. It came down to a bobble. A one point loss. So yes, I really (and truly) think so.
I’m glad we’re back to full Kangz this season. Had almost forgotten what it was like.
Was interesting to see the reaction of Monk and Fox in the post-game presser. They were asked about Brown’s comments that the players need to do a better job of locking in defensively, which led to a ten second silence and both players looking at each other.
What was their response?
“Coach just said you guys are not locking into the details, and that’s why you’re possibly slipping in some of these games that are very close. How do you guys lock in better?”
Answer:
Monk then says “That’s a hard question man”, somehow not showing in the gif
There has seemed to be this disconnect with Brown and the players, from what u have seen, this season. Not sure about previous seasons, but this one it is apparent.
Brown was correct in his assessment about the start of the game and how the players weren’t executing.
The public address of the player’s effort and lack of execution seems desperate of a coach who has players that aren’t listening to him. “I’m fine, it’s them”, basically.
Now, Brown did mention that he needed to find a way to communicate his message to the players better.
Calling timeouts in the last 5 minutes of the game when shit isn’t going right would be a great way for Brown to start communicating better to players – not to mention the rest of the audience – that he has the confidence to coach in crunch time and make the right substitutions. Brown’s coaching imprint seems to disappear at the end of the game as he never calls timely timeouts when things start going wrong. Brown would just prefer to offer “cerebrally woke” comments after the game with some half-cooked idea to guilt-trip his players into performing better “next time.” Has Brown “lost the team”? He sure seems to shrink in the most important situations, like the end of the basketball game. Its your job to coach and make changes there buddy, not point fingers at players when you took a back seat at YOUR JOB.
I agree whole heartedly on the coach needs to coach in crunch time. When the Nuggets hit a bucket to make it 121 to 122, the Kings had 2 timeouts left and maybe 2-3 minutes left on the clock and hadn’t gotten a bucket in the last 3 trips; Every other coach in the league would have called the timeout after that bucket to calm his team and get them organized and make sure his squad had a good play for an easy bucket to stay in front.
I don’t recall if Denver got a turnover or if we just jacked a 3 but we did not get a bucket and Denver came back on the next play and took the lead. That’s Bush League coaching.
Players also need to be accountable. Spotting a team 20 is not all on Brown. Monk is a good player. Not the guy you want to be asking for leadership
I wouldn’t infer too much from that pause. a decent answer would be a synonym, like “focus” or “try hard” … and eventually, Monk answers it by saying “just be locked in from the get go.” and without waiting for a follow-up question, Monk talks about boxing out, get on the floor for loose balls, getting rebounds, second chance points, not fouling, things like that, be on our toes
…
nothing wrong with the answer. what other kind of answer would you want? should he say, “well, in order to lock in, I like to think of that bully in grammar school who picked on me and threw me in the dumpster and it gets me mad and then I can really lock in”. come on dude.
My question would be “What is the barrier for you and team to be able to be locked in from the opening tip?”
Why does it take 2 or 3 quarters for this team to figure out that there is a basketball game happening?
I would just ask coach Brown why he started McDermott. and then ask how that starting unit would rank defensively in the nba? and who in that starting five is expected to guard Gordon? and who is McDermott supposed to guard?
I know this probably won’t set well with most of you but IMO played Issac Jones more at least in the first half. You wanted length and physicality he might have done better that McDermott or Crowdwe both of whom can’t play defense or rebound like he can.
yeah, I would have liked to see how he matches up with Gordon. would be tough assignment for a rookie, but a good learning experience also.
NoT a surprise. None of the players are vocal leaders. Ideally, great players want to speak up if they are underperforming.
So if the players aren’t vocal leaders, and they aren’t being held accountable, who would that be on, would ya think…?
https://x.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/1869038295084310648
I don’t care how good your opponent executes. If you can’t make one single stop during 4 minutes of crunch time, you’re simply not that good at defending (in case giving up 130 points at hoime isn’t a clear indication of that).
Damn, that’s an ugly stat line.
That is brutal
Jokic and Murray cooked the Kings in the last couple minutes. It was beautiful basketball by the Nuggets, and the Kings vomitted all over themselves.
It’s brutal, but it isn’t surprising.
Although we lost, that was the most entertaining game I have watched so far this year. We battled tough with a great team. I loved the physicality of the game and the fight. Came down to one missed shot that could have gone either way. Hopefully they can build on this game. GO KINGS!
It came down to falling behind by 23 in the 1st quarter. Tough to come back from that large of a deficit against a team that knows how to win and has a 3x MVP.
I am disturbed at how often this team comes out flat and gives up 20 point leads in half a quarter. It was good they battled back and made it a game.
I see a lot of small errors that add up to losing basketball way too often for a team that is in win now mode (supposedly).
Example, Alex Len and Colby Jones getting 3 fouls in a minute to start the 4th allowing DEN to get to the bonus quickly. Jones gets more of a pass from me because he is a young player, Len should know better or MB should not put him in there.
They do not run an offense in crunch time consistently. It is mostly hand it to Fox or DDR and see what happens.
I am thinking more and more at least one of the starters needs to be on the table. A fringe move is not going to do much for this team IMO.
Hard to have high expectations from players who only see the floor every 5th game or so, and even then for only 2 or 3 minutes. Sure, you have to be ready, but you also need some regular context. Case in point, Colby Jones actually looked like he might be an NBA player some day last night. Likely because he’s been given more minutes in the last 2 weeks than he’s seen his whole career. Those minutes help generate confidence and consistency of play. Again, hard to do when the coach has no idea how to balance minutes.
I agree. CJ has been looking better recently, not sure if he is a legit NBA player or not but I do think he has earned a longer look to find out.
There is a definite chicken or the egg question with the Kings right now, meaning is the bigger issue the roster (Monte) or coaching (MB)?
IMO, like most things it is some of both. I would lean more towards roster/Monte. I don’t think MB is a great coach but he is a real NBA coach (unlike some clowns we have had). With the flaws this roster has I doubt any coach would have them as a top 6 seed.
It is a three headed monster of fault:
The solution? Who freaking knows.
Agreed
If I had to choose the biggest issue I would say roster. It starts there. Like Jerry Reynolds likes to say it’s a talent league.
MB is not great and maybe not even good but if you don’t have the players the coach doesn’t make a huge difference.
I agree on you assessment of the 3 headed monster.These are NBA caliber players ( even the bench to a degree) and they don’t know what to do out there? I played a lot of basketball in my lifetime I knew most of the time what was going on. When I was a coach I thought I knew what to do and if things weren’t going well I called timeout and for the most part I was not a soft spoken coach and made sure the players made eye contact before they left the bench. I know players in the NBA don’t look the coach or coaches in the eye so how do you know they really understand if things got across. We need someone to maybe get in some faces but in the NBA players don’t allow that. Too bad.
IMO we have a good starting five or six but beyond that we have one on the weakess benches in the NBA. That’s on Monty. Other than Ellis we have no one to help when starters are playing almost the whole game. This in itself will destroy us in the long run. And heaven forbid we don’t have any major injuries to one or two of the top 6 players. If so forget it. In all of the teams we have played so far 90% have really good benches. It shows in the games. IMO if we stand pat on our bench we can forget the playoffs and the playing.
DUH?
I am thinking more and more that I liked Doug Christie’s coaching style and the way he lead the team in the handful of games he coached a couple of seasons ago in January 2023. He made tangible moves and had an actual “floor presence”. This team needs someone to snap the team out of the pattern of iso-ball as soon as it starts happening instead of ghosting the team of active leadership when difficult decisions need to be made. If the Kings acquired new players, would Brown even sub the right players at the right time? Why play McDermott at the end of the game last night when we are up by 10 and Colby’s defense was obviously much more effective?
Really?
I have seen nothing yet to make me believe he’s head coach material.
I wonder in general how much of the Christie love has to do with our admiration of anyone to do with the Kings “golden age”. I still remember how extatic everyone was with the Vlade hire and his allleged track record as chairman of the Serbian Olympic Committee…
Likely 100%
I have appreciated Coach Brown’s leadership in turning this program around and making it one that this city can be proud of. The Kings have been relatively good for the last 3 years and its been mostly a joy. Players have a lot to do with that, of course, but Mike Brown made this city believe. He seems to be a genuinely good person and I like that. A lot. I also want the Kings to win a championship before I die and I’m afraid that won’t be with Coach Brown at the helm.
I don’t understand how you reach the upper coaching ranks of the NBA without a quality command of the timeout. Or understanding that to keep role players consistent you give them consistent minutes. Or recognizing how and when to motivate / enable your players when they show a complete lack of fire on the court. Or hold them accountable when they’re underperforming.
I have no idea who would do better. I don’t care right now. I’m still just kinda wallowing in the revelation at the moment but I think its difficult to ignore at this point; it’s time for a new coach.
Great thoughts and wonder why the coach does not seem to get the idea that motivation is somehow all on the players but not the coach ! Always assumed that was job one .
But who motivates the coaches?
That didn’t motivate Monty Williams in Detroit.
Badge Legend