The Golden State Warriors trounced the Sacramento Kings 137-106 Monday night by simply playing a better brand of basketball. The Warriors played fast, they were physical, they executed on defense and they shared the ball.
Oh, and they have a first-ballot Hall of Famer playing at an elite level.
First Half
The Kings were completely outclassed in the first half. The lead had already ballooned to double digits midway through the first quarter as the stagnant offense from the second half against the Houston Rockets crept into this game. The lack of ball movement and little push-back on defense, mixed with the speed and force the Warriors were playing with, got the Kings all out of sorts.
The only offense came from Fox pushing the pace and getting to the basket. They found themselves down by 17 after the first.
In the second quarter, the Kings tried a zone defense that the Warriors quickly figured out. The Kings got a little offense going through Hassan Whiteside, who had 8 points and three blocks in the first half. They simply dumped it into Whiteside and let him use his size to try to score. The offense continued to stagnate everywhere else (only 9 assists in the half and 31 percent from the field). Buddy Hield went 1-6 from the field and 1-5 from three.
The Kings were, however, able to get to line in the first half, going 18-25. Curry was Curry and had the Kings defense in a tailspin all half. He finished the first half with 23 points.
The Warriors pushed the Kings around and took them completely out of any offense they wanted to run, forcing them into 8 turnovers. The Warriors dropped 32 points in the paint to the Kings 14.
They were down 68-48 at the half.
Second Half
In the third quarter, the Kings came out with more energy on defense and offense. They were moving better and playing more aggressive and Hield’s shot began to fall. They got the lead down to 15 with 6:15 left in the third.
Kelly Oubre suddenly learned how to shoot again and started nailing threes. Holmes picked up his fifth foul with three minutes left and the lead jumped back up to 21 shortly after. The Kings defense continued to have little answers for the Warriors speed and physicality.
Steph was up to 30 points by the end of the third with four other Warriors in double-digit scoring. The lead had jumped up to 25. Harrison Barnes did what he could to carry the load on offense in the third, but it just wasn’t nearly enough.
This one was pretty much over before a second ticked off the clock in the fourth.
Walton unloaded the bench a little past the midway point of the fourth as the bleeding never stopped. Curry finished with 30 points, 8 assists and 9 rebounds.
Player of the Game
Harrison Barnes, who did what he could to keep the Kings afloat with 18 points and 9 rebounds. His impressive season continues. Fox had a decent game stats wise, but never really was able to put his imprint on the game.
Trivia for the Night
This game sucked. As the game got out of hand, I decided to go back and look at past games the Kings have played on Jan. 4:
- Jan. 4, 2013: DeMarcus Cousins dropped 31 points and 20 rebounds on the Toronto Raptors. He had some help from Mr. John Salmons who had 20 points on 7-14 from the field! (He was a +23 on the night!) The Kings won 105-96.
- Jan. 4, 2000: Chris Webber went for 37 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Jason Williams dropped 18 DIMES to go along with 18 points, and the Kings beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 111-107.
Other Notes
- Marvin Bagley had a really bad night with only 5 points on 2-9 from the field. He did have 9 rebounds, but he was a whopping -27 in the +/- column.
- Richaun Holmes had five fouls, which kept him on the bench and out of the flow of the game.
- James Wiseman looks pretty good and worthy of a top pick in the draft. He is big, athletic and skilled. He finished with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 assist in 17 minutes.
- Kyle Guy got 16 minutes and had 7 points with 5 assists.
- Robert Woodard had 4 points and 6 rebounds in only 5 minutes during garbage time.
- 41 assists for the Warriors. Only 20 for the Kings.
- Get well soon Tyrese!
Next Up
The Kings will take on the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Metu out scores Bagley!
#FreeMetu
DNP coaches decision for Bagley next game, start Bejelica, and give Metu Bagley’s minutes.
Both of these yes. Bags just needs a reset. Or cut bait
I think I find myself agreeing with Bags’ dad (and probably MBIII for that matter) that it’s probably best for him if he’s playing somewhere else.
Honestly, Metu has looked better than Bagley at every opportunity. And he doesn’t look that much smaller, although he’s listed at just 6’9″. He certainly can’t be worse than Bags at this point.
I love how everyone: Mark, Doug, replay editor…EVERYONE straight up ignored Marvin Bagley FACE PLANTING while trying to keep up with Fox on a fast break in the 1st.
It was a hilarious metaphor that they all looked the other way like, Well, I’m not gonna say it.
He flat out tripped over himself as Fox runs by and Marvin disappears off the screen. No mention at all LOL!
This is good
Marvin faceplanting probably defines his week.
Does someone have a video/gif?
The two games without Halli were just not exciting. Small sample size, I know, but I truly believe he can elevate the guys around him.
I hope he’s not two games away from being two games away
I saw a Hornets writer pitching the idea of a Monk + heavily protected first for Marvin trade to their fans. Monks got a year left on his contract. I think I’d do it and then we could run a fox,Hali,buddy, Barnes and Holmes line up and see if Monk can get the Kentucky touch again as a 6th man.
That is too much for Bagley.
Do it yesterday
Oh my god I’d do that in a split second.
Si, for favor.
Hey..you guys had been unfair to me…
I have proposed this trade a few days before, but getting down-voted….
that’s pretty epic
Yikes!!!
Maybe this feels a bit like that season when the Kangz had a good start, Boogie got meningitis, and Joerger got canned.
Instead Hali gets hurt ð and ….. Lose Alton gets canned ð
It’s so Kangsy that it was a different good coach who got fired that season! RIP Kings Coach Malone ð
Lol. Yep
I wonder if Walton and Malone get fired at the same time Malone would agree to return to Sacramento?
It’s our only hope lol
Not with Jazz Hands still as majority owner.
In my dreams I see Coach Malone and Luka Doncic together, elevating this franchise to multiple championships … then I wake up, stare into the abyss and see nothing but Lavar Bagley tweets about his son Pervis.
Sounds like a Charles Grodin line from The Lonely Guy.
Well that was an unexpected reference.
It has some hilarious moments.
That’s what I was going for, exactly that.
You are insane ð¤£ð¤£ð¤£
Yes Haliburton has missed these last two games and it will get better, but the same message will exist after game 40 as it does after game 7. Get rid of the Vlade holdovers McNair and make your own team!
Cojo, Buddy, Bjelica, Bagley.
Probably won’t happen until the deadline, so I can wait. I’d rather see our young guys make mistakes than these veterans and Bagley over and over again. Will it be ugly? Will there be losses? Yes, but I’d be more excited about our team than I am now.
nice to see Fox working the midrange. It was suggested in episode 5 of the herald show podcast (recommended) that he utilize it more often. We all look at his low three point shooting percentage and sometimes forget about his midrange. That might be his bread and butter, and maybe we can forgive his low three point shooting percentage like everyone forgives Doncic’s low three percentage.
It feels like Tyrese is to the Kings what Draymond is to the Warriors (or has the potential to be). The ultimate glue guys who make everyone around them play better.
As much as I like Burt, I suggest that we temper our expectations of his influence on the team. The sample size is small.
It is, but… it’s the way he looks when he’s out there. It goes waaaaaaay beyond the box score. Unless his IQ somehow gets worse, I don’t know why he won’t continue to be an asset.
I’ll also add that a lot of very smart basketball folks are losing their minds over him and I don’t remember the last time that happened with a Kings prospect. I’m not sure it’s happened once during the playoff drought. That gives me hope that he’s the real deal.
The last Kings draft pick people lost their fucking minds over was Luka Doncic.
I wish we could fire Valde again.
I agree, I don’t think that Burt will get worse (although his shooting percentages may drop) and I think he’s the real deal.
But I wrote about his influence on the team, not his individual play.
He obviously helps ball movement, but that effect will be minimized if others have sticky fingers or don’t move without the ball. He is excellent on D, but what is that worth if others are caught ball watching or don’t know when and where to rotate? He can run plays, but will they break down if others don’t know how to set a proper pick?
How much can Burt do to make others play smarter and better? Not that much, I fear. The onus is mainly on other playmakers, especially Fox but also Buddy, CoJo and Barnes, to start to play better team ball (on both sides of the court) consistently.
It’s all we got. Let us fans fan. Way to go Eeyore.
I’m just hoping for a good draft pick.
Me watching this game with Curry and Oubre on my fantasy team:
The team I’m playing agaist has Buddy and Bagley. I have Brogdon.
I had Holmes against Embiid.
Doh!
I watched Marvin pretty closely tonight. His off-ball contribution could best be described as a pothole. I feel like an entire article could be written about it. I’m not sure what they’re building over there, but Vivek got his four on five.
Sadly his horrendous showing tonight might not be called out, due to the overall poor play from everyone
opposing guards just get a switch onto Bagley, and attack him relentlessly.
I think he had more offensive fouls than points. For fucks sake, Pervis, figure it out!
Let’s be clear here: Pervis was a fundamentally sound player with injury issues. Bagley is only halfway to that description.
Coming out of Duke (and left handed), I’ve always thought of Bagley as Okafor 2.0. Now, even that’s a stretch.
Massive fart noise.
Things were moving in the right direction until someone tweeted something they should have kept to themself. Walton needs to get his team back on the same page before this situation gets out of control.
Your boy Draper said the same thing after the game. No they weren’t. The Kings were a few shots away from two additional losses and if Murray had of showed up to start the season it’d be a different story.
I like Draper keeping it real
What does “your boy” mean? I don’t understand.
Because he always say “hey Kings fans, it’s your boy Kyle Draper” on the commercials and it sounds goofy.
lol. I’m in the military and the part of the world I’m in I live stream the games when I can and don’t get to see the commercials.
On the bright side; DeMarcus Cousins was tossed in the first 3 minutes of the game tonight for Houston. At least we’re not dealing with that still…
ð¤·ð»ï¸
I got nothing.
I would much rather have Dearest DeMarcus over Bagley
OHHH! Foley was involved!
Does Foley not like Cousins? That double tech was weak. So was that BS second tech.
That’s at least entertaining to watch. Way better than this game.
Agreed, say what you will about DeMarcus, he was never boring.
That’s not at all how the narrative went while DMC was still here, y’all need to just stop that nonsense. And the “Foley”, the guy who coined that deserved the ban hammer if for nothing other than it should be FOLLY. Just dumb. Stop. Please.
Does this surprise anyone?
Once a POS..,
This going to sound really dumb, BUT the Kings are actually doing fairly well, from a four factors perspective, as long as you exclude the shooting efficiency discrepancy (-6.4% net eFG%). That’s the type of thing that should balance out as the season goes along.
Takeaways:
In Haliburton we trust.
Bagley needs to take a step back for a week or two and clear his head. He is just not playing NBA basketball. Literally every big we play > Bagley. I don’t know if this is the coaching staff, his dad, or what. But he is writing checks his body can’t cash right now.
This team is full of streaky shooters. We need to dominate the paint in order to give ourselves a puncher’s chance at victory.
I think Bagley has taken enough steps back. He should take a step or two forward.
Lol that is true.
I agree with rey. Bagley needs to play within himself and some pine maybe good for him. As Eastwood says… a man must know his limitations I am feeling lucky for the kid he just needs to step out of that shadow or as said above…cut bait
Just make sure he doesn’t trip and faceplant when he takes two steps forward.
He tried adding the “step back” to his arsenal, but he clearly misinterpreted what that meant
All this Bagley noise’n’bullshit is making people forget how Buddy Hield is a terrible basketbal player.
He have the wosrt contract in the NBA.
You haven’t seen Al Hoford played these days have you?
He’s hot and cold. You can sort of predict it just looking at his energy level and body language. I was thinking, if he’s looking sluggish or aloof, do you just yank him for 10 minutes? I’m normally a believer in a consistent rotation pattern, but if he’s not dialed in … sort of a dilemma …
“All this Bagley noise’n’bullshit is making people forget how Buddy Hield is a terrible basketbal player.”
Is it, though…?
Did Bagley play in the fourth quarter?
That should tell you the state of this team then
I mean, it would be a great troll job by Walton if he would let him play the entire 4th quarter in a blowout loss.
Don’t worry. Luke Walton will fix this!
How did we get so lucky?
Screw Bagley.
We should play Woodard & Metu and maybe some Ramsey and Guy. Next game, I’d do this:
Fox
Hield
Barnes
Bjelica
Holmes
Haliburton
Joseph
Woodard
Metu
Bagley
And if the other teams have bigger dudes, I’m putting Whiteside in Bagley’s spot. And if this team had a halfway decent ballhandler on the bench, I’d HAPPILY start Haliburton over Hield. But the bench needs Hali. And I’ll let CoJo keep his spot for now, but I’d be looking over at Ramsey give him a go pretty soon.
ooops
In the long run, no
Bagley’s presence is ruining team chemistry
Hali’s absence can’t be overcome
those who want a high pick want Hali taken precaution with
Watching Bagley play is like a daily reminder of how stupid and incompetent Vlade was as a GM. The damage he did to this franchise with his 2018 draft will take years to recover from.
Unretire Vlade’s jersey.
I wonder if we replace divac’s jersey with Luka’s would fix our misery-including that tip rebound to Horry….
ugh too soon…
He deserves so much blame still for the way he built this roster, he spent two high picks on players who can’t shoot well nor complement each other in any way. Fox is not a great PnR player due to players always going under on him and his limited playmaking, Bagley can’t set a real screen nor stretch the floor.
Unfortunately, his tenure as GM has permanently stained my nostalgia of his time as a Kings player.
I didn’t have much nostalgia for him before he was hired. Most of my nostalgia for that time is for CWebb & Peja.
you know what got the Kings out of a funk last season? Moving Buddy to the bench, so they can add a second playmaker to the starting lineup. Imagine the hot streak they’d go on if they moved two underachievers to the bench this time!
Or SF. Buddy is strong enough and a solid rebounder for a Sg
fox/Hali/Hield/Barnes/Holmes is the team’s death lineup
buddy wont accept being benched
team isnt serious about winning til Hali starts
Buddy accepted coming off the bench with Joerger. He said it at least once. No problem at all. Happy with it.
Until Hali comes back they don’t have a another play maker sadly.
Ham acted like Haliburton is close to returning, so I’m banking on a quick recovery.
Gotta be honest he’s really the only reason to watch this year. This is just boring when he isn’t playing.
Can’t wait to see Haliburton in the starting lineup.
The offseason?
We must now un-ironically post this gif.
After sucking for 14 years can you say something else other than again?
We never stopped sucking? We’re a vacuum, basically.
or my ex-wife!
LOL
Lucky you!
Wait. . .
We consistently suck?????
No??
Do the Kings ever get above .500 again this season? After possibly going back to .500 next game, I don’t see them touching it again.
I don’t either. The fun basketball to start the season was so refreshing though!
I’m excited! Today it only took me 25 rolls to get a top 5 pick.
https://ibb.co/7gGqM7x
Don’t worry it’s going to get easier real soon.
If they take their sweet time with Hali and keep Bagley
I’m convinced we won’t be bad enough to land Cade, BUT there are lots of good wings in this draft. Please mother of god find a way to trade Bagley and Buddy Hield so we can move on with our lives. Honestly, I’m digging Harrison Barnes but if you can get 1st rounders for him too DO IT. KEEP HOLMES AT ALL COSTS.
Imagine:
PG: Fox, VETERAN NON-COJO FREE AGENT
SG: Haliburton, VETERAN NON-COJO FREE AGENT
SF: Kuminga/Johnson?, Woodard
PF: Barnes?, Bjelica
C: Holmes, VETERAN BIG BOY ANY WILL DO
I’d be ECSTATIC. Gosh if we can get a 1st rounder somehow for Bagley/Hield, god damn I’d be in nirvana. Alperen Sengun somehow? Gosh, the idea of a Fox/Hali/2021 top 7 pick/Holmes starting lineup would make me very happy.
Well I don’t know about you guys but everything seems fine to me! Seriously though it’s clear that the locker room is broken now. Something tells me a couple more performances like that and they have to make some type of move.
Anybody else surprised the team fell apart this quickly? I figured they’d wait at least a couple more weeks. The Hali injury put the nail in the coffin. He really is the best player on the team already which is telling.
Oh, yes. A players only meeting! We haven’t had one of those in a while.
Or a parents only meeting?
How about we combine them? Parent-teacher meeting!
Bagley is playing like a steaming pile of radioactive dookie. He is toxic.
Agree. Let’s trade Bagley ASAP.
He’s toxic off it now. He’s destroying team chemistry
Who’s the bigger bust?
Bagley (thus far) or Thomas Robinson?
Bagley, easily, because of who we passed up to get him at 2 … remember, all our other draft busts were/are in the 7-10 range, meaning the elite were already gone by then. Doncic fell in our laps and we gave the basketball gods double middle fingers.
What is amazing is the Kings have the #2 pick in a loaded draft and there isn’t a single GM in the league that would trade this years #2 pick in a weak draft for him.
Wiseman is already miles better than Bagley.
That’s why the rust thing excuse with Bagley is so funny to me. Wiseman played 3 meaningless college games in November 2019, and looks more competent than Bagley at this point.
With Bags people were saying it was a cant miss draft, so many options even if you dont take Luca. Well, the people saying that didn’t expect the Kings to Kang.
Technically, ThRob was the #5 pick, but your point stands.
Bagley. Purely because he got taken before Luka, who is already getting all nba nods and already looking like has an MVP, a Jersey retirement, and HOF speech in his future. He is our curse for denying the prophecy.
Thomas Robinson was an epic flame out though don’t get me wrong. And actually he was a pick before Lillard. So it’s close. But Lillard isn’t in MVP convos the way Luka is. and most likely never will be given his age. Lillard is more of an era great and GOAT Blazer, while Luka is a potential NBA all time great.
Also on Lillard, he was a sleeper pick, who no one saw becoming what he became. Everyone saw Doncic coming. He was such a brainless pick. But nooo Vlade and his foot fetish got in the way. Bagley has fast feet my a**. That draft taught me to value skilled, high IQ players who can succeed playing at their own pace (Hali fits this criteria) more than the boom or bust athletic freaks who most likely don’t have a jumper and are raw offensively.
Vlade is the bigger bust.
At this point I’d trade the entire roster for a couple of new ball racks and I’d trade Walton for one well-fitting face mask.
I watch a lot of games on DVR. Sometimes I fast forward after the first quarter. This one I hit fast forward about 3 minutes into the game. I kept getting worse and worse.
Yeah, watching that game felt like being one of those Nazis at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Truth be told, since Haliburton wasn’t playing tonight I didn’t watch a single minute of tonight’s game. Looks like it was a smart decision on my part.
I will follow suit. That was two games too many. We all know:
Fox will get his, but be too passive
Barnes and Holmes will do something positive
Buddy’s going to have just as many turnovers as threes made
Cory is going to deflate the ball
Bjelica is going to run off the three point line as soon as a defender breathes in his direction FROM AS FAR AS THE KEY
Bagley is going to Bagley
We will most likely be in the game long enough to avoid getting our younger end of bench players Guy, Woodard, Ramsey, and Metu any playing time.
Its like there’s no point in watching any games this season. Sweet.
There’s no point in watching games without Haliburton. The games are more fun when we are watching him develop and come into his own. There is actually an entertaining product on the floor.
Metu outscores Bagley, 7-5
Bagley minutes: 24
Metu minutes: 5
Oh yeah, and while I’m checkin’ box scores around the league:
Luka: 33 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists ¦ holy crap, that’s another triple double!
Career triple doubles:
Luka 26
Pervis Bagley 0
One other fun fact:
All-NBA First Team Selections –
Luka Doncic 1, in two total NBA seasons
Sacramento era franchise 1 (Webber), in 35 seasons and counting
Other hilarious note:
Former Kangz greats DeSuckus Cousins of the Rockets and Willie Completely-Sucks of the Mavericks get into an altercation in tonight’s game.
What are they arguing about, who was the biggest disappointment in Sacramento?
While I wholeheartedly condemn the slander against Dearest DeMarcus, Willie Completely-Sucks is hilarious.
Welcome to the Metu era
#metu
Metu World Peace!
The highlight of the game was Kyle Guy almost dunked that ball but got fouled.
Would love to see Guy get Joseph’s minutes and Whiteside get Bagley’s. I know Whiteside and Holmes together would be redundant so maybe start Jelly at the 4 and let Holmes and Whiteside split the 5.
Hell, Metu looked like he had a clue out there, give him some run.
What about…no …that was the best part.
The fact that Walton is making Buddy and Bagley to be the kind of player he was should warrant a firing by now.
Slightly unrelated: I only vaguely know who Tim Kawakami is through the Athletic, but he blocked me on Twitter tonight within 30 seconds of asking him to clarify a weird-ass rant wherein he claims the Kings drafted Buddy Hield.
Dude has the weirdest hate-boner for Kings fans I’ve ever seen. He must have been there for the Arco West days.
Thin-skin Tim, editor-in-chief of the Athletic. When he’s wrong about anything and gets called out, his embarrassed response is to make it go away by using his stubby finger on the delete key.
Ugh, he’s an editor-in-chief? Wish I could cancel my subscription and stop feeding that knob any of my money, but I don’t want to punish any of the good writers who actually know something about anything.
Whole Team looked garbage. Not just Bagley. Bagley’s got an amazing amount of skill and athleticism for a 21 year old big. He does however appear to be in short supply of intensity, grit, and tenacity. Tonight he seemed lackadaisical overall and lollygagging in transition. Failed to contest shots around the rim. He’s got to pickup the intensity if he wants to be good and get better.
You would think there is no need to tell a 3rd year player to bring it or else they will be shown the door to China. But I don’t know, Bagley is basketball god’s gift to the world according to Bagley Jr
Yeah, Bagley is basketball’s gift to the world; he’ll get to play in China and Greece and Australia in a couple years.
He had all of those characteristics his first season, if I remember correctly ( intensity, grit, tenacity). I admired that about him.
He’s probably lacking some confidence as of late.
What are his skills?
Not physical attributes such as jumping ability and speed. Skills.
He has a nice hookshot and a spin move. I struggle to think about a third one. Help me out.
THIS. Bagley was touted as a player with “high potential.” Translation: He was a great athlete who didn’t actually know how to play basketball. “High potential” players like this (also sometimes described as “raw”) RARELY reach their so-called potential, because they don’t actually HAVE that potential. Look, if a prospect can’t dribble reliably with both hands or take a decent jump shot by the time they finish high school, there’s a big problem. After all, the average high school player can dribble with both hands and take a decent jump shot. So many of these “raw” prospects with “potential” are just tall high-jumpers with little basketball skill or IQ. Teams need to stop blowing picks on “potential,” and start drafting actual skills and smarts. This is why we love Tyrese Haliburton. He’s not the greatest athlete, but it doesn’t matter because he’s already the smartest (BBIQ-wise) player on the roster and has a ton of actual skills that you can see. Insane athleticism combined with little skill and court awareness indicates the player lacks a work ethic, BBIQ (which can’t be taught), or both. The lack of either one is a huge red flag.
Wish I could go back in time, break into Golden One and tack a version of this excellent post on Vlade’s corkboard.
I often wonder what the hoops credentials and pedigree are of people floating around BBIQ as a measuring stick for player judgment. In a lot of ways it reminds me of High School Joe who thinks he’s a pandemic and vaccine expert online.
You, of course, realize you’re part of the online “expert” crew as well, right? Though I’m sure your hoops credentials and pedigree are impeccable.
You don’t see me questioning NBA players BBIQ though. There’s some things people won’t get about basketball unless they’ve played it at a high level.
He’s got a nice handle on the ball for a big. He’s got a nice soft touch on midrange and close shots. He has a fluid shooting motion with good mechanics on his deep ball. He’s a good rebounder. Skill isn’t the issue IMO, it’s the grit…this is the setting of weak screens, and lack of rim protection, lack of sprinting full speed in transition, and getting lethargic with help D.
https://www.thestepien.com/marvin-bagley/
If only one could happen right now would you rather see Bagley traded for a first or Walton fired
Walton fired, not much hope for redemption there.
This was a team trying to act like there was no distraction going on.
Their approach was I don’t want to look selfish so I will pass, but if they pass me the ball I’m taking it.
Marvin plays so thirsty to get his points, like a horny fat chick at closing time, it is literally all he can think about.
Somebody please tell Buddy that he is much better at catch and shoot than anything else. It’s an all world carrying skill. Please! Try to emphasize that.
Somebody else tell Holmes to stop fouling so damn much. Seriously, I’ll be the first one to pile on Marvin for lack of improvement, so I’ll be fair and point out that you can’t play basketball from the bench Mr. Holmes.
Fox is Sacramento great, not for real great. That other guy playing tonight…he is great.
Another solid game for HB. If you’d have told me that he was going to play to his contract this year I’d have probably called you an idiot.
Nice to see some of the young Kings get on the court, though the results were mixed.
No way in Hell I’d want to coach in the NBA right now, but I’m not sure if having a spoiled rich kid coaching slightly younger rich kids is really the answer for this roster.
To paraphrase Jerry Jones. There must by 1000 basketball minds that could be mixing this cocktail of success and growth at least this good.
Cant play team basketball without a team.
I’m not a super pro Bjelica guy, but considering Bagley and Bjelly are both zeros on defense, maybe start the guy who can shoot?
Is our data for Bagley’s experiment enough for analysis yet ?
I can ensure that by analysis, with eye test…Bagley is a liability on court….
I hope after those analysis, Monte can inform Coach Walton to change the starting lineup by next game.
Once Bagley is off the court, the team had come alive, and with more ball movement.
The question (for me) isn’t whether Bagley has been playing poorly or whether he’s currently a liability on the court. That’s clearly the case. The question IS whether he can get better and look more like the first year guy we saw (who was universally praised around these parts, oh 500 minutes and one head coach ago).
So no, there isn’t enough analysis yet. Frankly, I’d prefer to see him under a different HC, but that’s not going to happen – so may as well keep giving him minutes to see if he figures it out.
It’s a fine point. The whole team (without Haliburton) looks pretty bad under this coach and has for a vast majority of his tenure.
Nothing was falling Bags last night (or the rest of the team) and he made some bad plays, but that doesn’t mean they never will. I might move him to the bench though. Bjelly’s ball movement and ability to read defenses really helps the team in the half court offense.
Bjelica is actually a solid team defender. I’m unsure why he gets lumped into the negatives by so many here. Dude’s a good, solid veteran who knows what he’s doing on the floor.
All I can say to do the best for the team
Priority:
Trade Bagley (get Monk) > Bench Bagley (Play Metu or Parker) > Limit Bagley’s minutes
I have watched the whole team, and can sense all teammates on this roster don’t like Bagley…all teammates know he is a selfish player and never pass and is a turnover machine.
I think 99% of Kings fans would know this definitely end up with an offensive foul.
(But just look at Hield, he slowed down, and just watch, no one is moving without the ball…and after Bagley turned it over, all teammates frustrated)
Also, Bagley is soft, as he wanted to stay on the floor to get his own stat, he never “hard-fouled” the opponent…..
Looney is a poor FT shooter, no easy basket should be allowed…let him earn from FT line, but Bagley….he just simply moved away and let Looney scored the basket effortlessly.
I really really want this guy out of the team ASAP….I just cannot stand Bagley…
p.s. KDsBurnerAccount is right, Bagley did not get his ball stripped…his strike of ball being stripped ends
I agree with Carmichael Dave on this one: Accept that this year is a wash and ride Bagley into the ground to see if there is anything there. He has no trade value now, so trading him wouldn’t be a smart move. We need to make a decision on this guy in the next year or so, so lets see if its a worthwhile investment or wash our hands of another Vlade mistake.
At some point he will need to have that “aha” moment or hit rock bottom before he changes. Right now he is trying to do way too much. Ben McLemore eventually found a role after a couple stops, but even he is barely hanging on in the league. I just don’t see Bagley having the mentality of a guy that wants to change.
Or let’s make a decision now and fill his spot with a known commodity or future asset.
This Hope for Transformation period has driven me BATSHITCRAZY
LOL. Yet that was pretty much the Sixers motto for a few seasons and you were totally on board.
the Sixers ended up trading Okafor for Trevor Booker 28 games into Okafor’s 3rd season. I’m trying to figure out what a similar trade for Bagley would look like. Maybe Bagley and a second rounder to Orlando for Al-Farouq Aminu?
With whom?
There’s a major difference between hoping for development of skills in evidence and holding out for a player to become a totally different person.
?
We hoped for losses and picks.
Christ, agreeing with Carmichael Dave makes me want to rethink my position.
Welcome to Basketball Hell
Uninspired defense, lousy offense and locker room drama?
Here’s our starting lineup next year:
PG: Fox
SG: Haliburton
SF: Cunningham
PF: Aaron Gordon
C: Holmes
Dosunmu, Dinwiddie, Barnes, Woodard, Jefferies, & Noel are our bench and we make the playoffs! I saw the future!
As much as I think Gordon is a mediocre-to-bad player (his decision-making with the ball is downright Bagley-esque), he could be a good target as a negative or neutral asset.
Meanwhile, Bogi is trashing the Kings on The Athletic. When it rains…
Really? Tell us more, please.
Joe and Vivek told him he was part of the future, he puts all the blame on the Kings for the botched trade, said he heard nothing from the Kings after the Woj tweet went out, etc..
it was kind of a weird interview. Here’s the points that stuck out to me:
It’s hard to really get a good sense of what actually happened. Bogi is obviously being careful about how active he and his agent were in pursuing the Bucks deal. If I had to guess it went something like this:
I didn’t read that as trashing the Kings. Just Vivek and Dumars.
As soon as I saw that headline drop I thought Vivek’s name is going to come up, isn’t it? Sure as shit…
Also, there are still pieces of that story missing. Bogi’s agent didn’t know what was going on? Spare me.
/peeks in.
So, uh, everybody doing okay in here?
Doing good now. Was getting too optimistic for a week or two, there, which can’t be good for the heart.
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