The Sacramento Kings are back in action Sunday after an entertaining Game 1 of the California Classic yesterday.
The Kings defeated the Brooklyn Nets 79-76 after a last-second three by Nique Clifford. Darius Acuff Jr. finished with 25 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds. He had rough shooting outing (9-29 from the field), but played through it and turned it up in the second half. He made some really nice shots after breaking guys down off the dribble. The first half had everyone a little on edge, but Acuff Jr. was able to shake the rust or nerves off that caused him the slow start.
Emanuel Sharp looked impressive on defense and finished with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist. Dylan Cardwell looked rough on offense, but was his usual aggressive, fun self, finishing with 8 points, 8 rebound, 4 blocks and 2 steals. Clifford had 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists. Jonathan Mogbo was a nice surprise, finishing with 5 blocks, 7 rebounds, and 6 points.
The Kings take on the Warriors today at 2 pm. The game will be on ESPN+, Prime Video, and NBA TV.
It will be fun to see what Acuff can do once he settles in with this team/the NBA. There were some seriously jaw dropping plays amongst a whole lot of first game jitters plays.
The thing that still baffles me is how he can see the court so well on offense, but misplay defensive assignments so badly. He was hustling most of the time, unlike a lot of offense first players. But just out of position.
If Doug can somehow teach him to understand his defensive assignments the way he understands the offensive flow, he could be something special.
The thing that bugs me the most about this team is that you can see how some of these younger players, combined with the salary cap space we’ll have next year if we let that play out, and owning our our first round picks could lead to something good.
But Vivek is like a little kid tearing open the presents under the Christmas tree, because he needs everything now. You just know he’s going to screw this up again.
Vivek in staff meetings…
Rob, if you pull that Stauskas GIF again, i swear…
I really hope Doug and Bobby can impart their wisdom and knowledge about defense with Acuff.
If Acuff can be at least average on defense, then that would be wonderful. We already saw the Nets target him in his first, technically, NBA action.
The fans love seeing a steal that turns into a transition dunk or 3pt shot. We see how the defense created that offensive play. But I think Vivek only see the offensive play and the how the crowd reacts, so he thinks offense/flashy plays are what the fans want.
Remember his pitched 4 vs 5 strategy to cherry pick on offense? It really is all he cares about. Thinks he can outsmart all the basketball minds of the past 100 years.
He needs to be forced to watch the Knicks/Spurs finals series with the basketball ops team so they can show him that defense matters.
In a couple of years there won’t be any talk about his defense. Nobody talks about Brunsons defense.
Maybe that is because Brunson shares the court with 4 other very good defenders?
Doncic, Joker, Harden. Many others with that tag. He will be fine. What he does on the offensive end of the court will define his career. You can dominate the ball like Luka then expect to go balls out on defense for 40 minutes. They will all play defense when called upon in crunch time. I’ve seen them all perform at times. Acuff has great feet, quick hands. He just hasn’t devoted himself to that side of the ball. He will get better in time. The question is whether he’ll become a prolific scorer and ball distributor at the NBA level. To be determined but I like his chances better than the two guys picked before him.
This is the first time I’ve read KAT being labeled as a very good defender, as he was criticized as being a slouch in MIN before (the Gobert effect?). Maybe it has to do with the system he is in. I wonder who his coach is…
I suspect they will not play Darius today as he played yesterday, but i dont mind as SL games are meaningless anyway. I was hoping though that the Kangz were playing Dubs blue so that i can see how Yaxel performs. Unfortunately, it is Dubs gold team today featuring…uh…Colby Jones.
Let Flagler, E#, and J# (see what i did there) get some more burn and lets see what more they got.
I’d be shocked if he didn’t get another heavy load. After his 1H performance yesterday I’m sure he’s eager to show out today.
Welp.
Well, no real point in watching that game today.
Why not? There are other players we need to see besides Acuff, Clifford, or Cardwell. It’s called team basketball. I can’t believe some of you guys. Kings fans? I don’t think so.
Know what’s really shitty, Jack? Kings fans bought tickets to today’s game with the intent seeing those guys listed above, then 45 minutes before the game they announce they aren’t playing. Only Karaban is listed as injured.
Just let Jack tell you how to fan. He seems to know the only way of being a fan.
Lighten up. You never know what you’re going to get when you buy a summer league ticket. I wouldn’t be overplaying Acuff in this.
While I’m sure there was disappointment that fans didn’t get to see Acuff, Nique, and Cardwell today, I like the fact that we have now seen virtually everyone on the Summer squad play meaningful minutes over the course of the two games. Two come-from-behind wins built largely on gritty defense offered at least a small glimmer of hope for better things to come.
This. I was one of them. Lol Family and I still had fun though but really wanted to see Acuff play in person. Sigh.
Okay, Jack. Guess I’m not fanning right. Why don’t you tell me how I should be a fan.
Watching random players in a summer league game that most likely won’t make the team isn’t interesting to me.
Calling out Kings fans that take the time to offer their opinion on a SUMMER LEAGUE GAME. Fucking amazeballs.
The professional regurgitater playing to the consensus again.
Smug, stupid comment. Why don’t you just stop posting. This doesn’t seem to be the right forum for you. Go find your version of “Kings fans” somewhere else.
Funny isn’t it? Now you are telling me what to do. Smug stupid comment.
Not funny. Your strange behavior of acting superior to others is getting tiring. If you don’t want people calling you out for it, don’t do it.
Isn’t one of the things on this site you’re not supposed to do is tell people how a fan? I don’t understand why you continue to do it. You don’t like negativity, but these kinds of comments bring a negative and antagonistic bent to the discussion
What are they doing?!
this is our only chance at a championship!!!
No Acuff…back to soccer
No Acuff? The Kings are ripping off the fans that purchased a ticket today to watch the first round draft pick. Same as it ever was.
“That must be jelly because jam don’t shake like that.”
It’s like nails on the chalkboard, my god.
Want a little fish grease with that?
Just put him in the weight room!
Absolutely awful.
And we’ll get him for every game this year. No Draper relief.
World Cup is more interesting.
2nd SL game i’ve watched and i think i’m starting to see what Perry is moving towards: active defenders that can also shoot in the mold of OG, Dort, Derrick White, Hart, etc. Seems like height is not a pre-requisite as long as you defend. E#, Mogbo, Clifford, and to an extent Flagler are examples. Have these players surround your (future) prime core offensive players like Acuff, Max, Keegs to hide their faults. Trying to snatch Duren now makes a lot of sense since he can be the defensive anchor we have been pining for. There is one more two way spot open and i hope that they give it to Lakhin because he hustles on defense, is a little foul prone, but he can be useful with those 6 fouls to give. And who doesn’t want a Russian enforcer in the middle, eh?
I’m guessing they start Acuff at PG in October, with Monk and E# doing relief PG duties. Assuming DDR gets waived, Zach is your SG, Keegs SF, Precious the PF, and Sabo in the middle. 3 years away from being 2 years away.
At least the color analysts for both games was a clear upgrade .
I feel like Emanuel Sharp’s game is what we hoped to get from Devin Carter. Hustles on defense and hits his funky looking jumper.
SLSSS approved.
Agreed. Sharp has been a delight.
He could be the Bobby Jackson style of player this team has needed. Solid offense, tough defender, does the dirty work in the backcourt.
Yes, and even better than Carter in terms of balance and body control. Carter always seemed to fall every time he drove to the basket or backpedalled on defense. No wonder he injured his shoulder.
A better comp IMHO, is a taller and better shooting Davion. Both are relentless POA dedenders.
In his post-game interview Sharp said he is trying to pattern his game on what he sees from Lu Dort and Jrue Holiday!
Dunno bout you guys, but you think Scoot is worth prying from PDX? They have a crowded back court with now with Ja. Or maybe Shaedon? Jrue is there too, unless he gets traded. Worth kicking the tires? My fave would be Deni or Toumani, but those are not happening.
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around what PDX is doing and I sure as hell can’t figure it out. Part of me thinks they were accumulating players and contracts to make a run at Jaylen Brown, but Philly swooped in first.
From all that, I don’t know who is available up there. I can’t imagine they are going to bring all three of Scoot, Sharpe, and Holiday off the bench. That just seems stupid.
Seems like Scoot’s 26-27 is team option from his rookie contract. He obviously wont get the max rookie, so he is the most likely one traded or waived. Sharpe signed a 5 yr rookie extension so forget about that. Interestingly, one-time-King-for-a-few-days Siddy Cissoko’s standard 2 yr contract expires at the 26-27 season. Same timeline and he was serviceable at PDX (i didnt say good or great). Both of them can be injury insurance at the PG slot.
That owner is in the running for taking the crown of worse, owner and organization from Vivek
I think he’s a true villain, but I bet he’s at least competent and effective at being evil…Vivek couldn’t do so even if he tried.
Pump the breaks here. He has a lot of ground to cove before he can compete with Vivek.
That is a very high bar (or very low bar) to hurdle. But he is on the right path. 12 SL players only to save costs. wtf!
Two there always are: a master and an apprentice. That is the way of the Sith. Darth Vivek and Darth Dundon.
Can’t shoot. No
I’ve been a huge Shaedon fan before he entered the league. Fits the timeline well, but not sure he’d provide the defense needed in the backcourt to play alongside Acuff.
Acuff is the steal of the draft at this moment. Time will tell for sure but it took the Kings 15 seconds to choose him after the Nets passed up on him. It was similar to when Haliburton fell on our laps. Subsequent to that, I think what they did with their two second round picks was a mini disaster although not catastrophic to the future. Still am perplexed about the Karaban move.
You think E Sharp is a “mini disaster?” Why do you say that? He might actually be the steal of the draft.
It’s interesting that basically every known/highly regarded draft analysts gave the Kings very high marks for their draft. Yet I have read many comments about how they reached for Karaban, Sharp doesn’t do enough and is too small, etc. There is a discrepancy amongst fans and draft analysts. Only time will tell.
This isn’t specific to Kings-Rebuild’s comment, it has been many others as well.
Acuff wasn’t the pick I wanted, but I think he will be fine. The players drafted around his spot all have some improvement areas.
To be determined but no at the moment, I said prior to the draft that I thought he might be Dort like. It’s the Karaban move that makes no sense. By all accounts he would have been there at 34 but even then I didn’t like him there. Whether Karaban will be a good pick is subjective but what’s not subjective is giving up anything to move up to get a guy that was very likely to be there when we picked.
Anybody watching the FIBA qualifiers? How is Max doing?
His French team has played only 1 game so far.
End of an error.
Nah, just part of an ongoing error.
Now we have to re-sign Russ or our broadcasts will be without HOF lifetime stats updates!!?!?!!
LOL! Truth.
It’ll 100% be replaced with RotY stats updates.
20-5-5!!!
Okay, just don’t go and do anything stupid now. They seem to be below the aprons if they stretch DDR. Just do that, sign a vet minimum PG or Wing to be an actual backup (not like Russ last season), and let the young guys get some time on the court together.
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