The Sacramento Kings were defeated by the Portland Trail Blazers 123-119 Thursday night.
De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with 32 points, 12 assists and 8 rebounds. Damian Lillard was too much though as he finished with 44 points and 7 assists.
It was a hard-fought road game on the second night of a back-to-back, but the Kings go into the All-Star break with a 14-22 record.
First Half
The Kings started the first quarter strong establishing a 16-10 lead with 6 minutes left in the quarter. Marvin Bagley was active, cutting to the basket and causing disruption in the Blazers defense. The Blazers would quickly even the game at 16. De’Aaron Fox began to make an imprint on the game early by slicing to the basket. The Blazers would close out the quarter with a three-point lead.
The teams traded baskets for most of the beginning of the second quarter. The Kings took it to the Blazers in the paint and the Portland didn’t have much answer for it, a trend that would continue for most of the game. The Kings defense wasn’t exactly a wall either. The Blazers would finish with the lead going into half as well, 59-56. Marvin Bagley led the Kings at the half with 12 points to go along with 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Fox was on triple double watch with 10 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Nemanja Bjelica had a nice half off the bench with 9 points and 6 rebounds. Dame was on from the floor tallying 21 points in the first half.
The Kings dominated in the paint 38-18 and had 10 fast break points to the Blazers 2. The Kings went 28 percent from three though to the Blazers 41 percent from beyond the arc.
Second Half
Richaun Holmes and Bagley continued to make their presence felt against the Blazers front line without Jusuf NurkiÄ in the middle (Enes Kanter had a good game though 22 points and 21 rebounds). The Kings played a relatively controlled game on offense, attacking the paint, not turning the ball over, shooting well from the field and sharing the ball. The defense just couldn’t get stops with any sort of consistency.
With 3:25 left in the third quarter the game was tied at 83, and it remained close for the rest of the quarter. Harrison Barnes began to collect yet another impressive stat line and the Kings would take a one-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Fox started to take over for the Kings with Lillard on the bench to start the fourth. The Blazers just aren’t very dynamic without Dame and missing CJ McCollum and NurkiÄ. With 8:21 left, a Fox jumper put the Kings up 97-92. With the lane open for most of the night and no enforcer at the rim, it’s a recipe for Fox to cause havoc, and he did just that. Holmes played some impressive defense in the fourth as well.
With under three minutes to go in a close game and Dame on the floor everyone knows what can happen, and it happened. Lillard hit a flurry of shots to give the Blazers a 112-108 lead with 1:56 left. Combine that with the Blazers stepping up their defense down the stretch and it was looking like ball game. With around 40 seconds left in a five-point game Hield dribbled the ball off his foot for a turnover. It was looking completely over until the Kings got an opportunity with 10.9 seconds left down four. Fox took advantage of it and nailed a three. One-point game with 5.9 seconds left.
Gary Trent Jr. was fouled with 4.8 seconds left. He hit both of them. Fox was then fouled and tried to intentionally miss, but it didn’t come back to him.
Ball game.
Other Notes:
- Tyrese Haliburton stands and cheers on the team for nearly the entire game on the bench. Good to see from your rookie.
- The Blazers made 24-25 free throws. The Kings only got to the line 16 times and hit 10 of those.
- Despite being pretty banged up, Buddy Hield still played and played well 21 points, 6 rebounds,. 3 assists. You have to hand it to Buddy for how durable he is and his willingness to play through the bumps and bruises that come with the game.
- No Bagley in crunch time in the fourth.
- Fox had 22 points in the second half.
- The Kings had 7 players in double digits scoring.
- The Kings finished with 64 points in the paint.
What’s Next:
Trade rumors. Oh, and the Kings will take on the Houston Rockets on March 11 at 7 p.m.
Dame it!
🙁
I’m all about the lottery standings right now. If you are not, I don’t know what to say…
Unfortunately, the second half schedule is tailor made for the Kings to end up in the 8-10 range.
That’s why vets HAVE TO be traded. Then we can still suck while developing youth
I’ve yet to be convinced that not picking up Giles 4th year was a mistake
after telling y’all he was bad (tweener, no size for center/no ball skills or athleticism for PF – terrible advanced stats) all last year there still was hullabaloo from fans and the media this last summer?
nice game. The young players looked decent, the trade pieces that I hope aren’t here post all star break did too, good game that went to the wire with the lin
Kings would have lost by 30 if Mccollum and Nurkic had played. Like always, I expected Dame to take over when it mattered. Enes Kanter looked better then both Bagley and Holmes. Especially down the stretch. Main thing this loss is a win. Keep it going. Cade is coming to Sac.
For me I didn’t like letting a potential asset walk. Has he proven himself, no, but the Kings went out and spent money elsewhere to replace his role and minutes in guys like Whiteside and Metu, and they haven’t paid off either.
Giles was a cost with upside, Whiteside and Metu are a cost with little to no upside. Either way the Kings would be in the same place. I prefer to bet on the upside.
IMO Metu doesn’t offer less potential and didn’t after last year
Either way, I mean, it shouldn’t have been cited as a serious reason Vlade was fired or a serious mistake by radio personalities IMO. Lots of young players can carry that hint of upside
WTF(oot), Buddy?
Get out of hee!
What you don’t understand is – we need players with good handles and high bbiq.
here
Writing on the wall?
https://twitter.com/SeanCunningham/status/1367719556077129729
Seems like it’s probably either tomorrow or the offseason.
This is good
Monte explaining to Luke who’s still on the roster at their Monday meeting:
“Welcome Luke, have a seat. Let’s discuss the 2nd half of the season.”
“Monte, these are 4 tickets to Cabo.”
“Yes”
Feels like that scene from The Other Guys.
“Gentleman, two tickets to Jersey Boys.”
Our defense is a bloody disgrace. I am all for the tank, but not like this. Some of these guys have been sleepwalking on D for two years now. Good luck turning that around.
He may not be the worst culprit, or maybe he is, but Fox earns the most criticism as our franchise player with the hefty contract.
Fox, stop jogging back on D, get in front of your man and get into a defensive stance. And stop letting almost every frickin screen whipe you out of a play, for crying out loud.
Putrid.
For what it’s worth I’m not trying to make an excuse, and I know emotions are high after another loss, but
Fox has averaged 36 mpg since the start of Feb, plays 38 minutes consecutively on a back to back, carries the offensive load, pushes the pace, etc.
Just my opinion, maybe he deserves some slack. Even a little. Guys like him usually have others around him shoulder the defensive load, not the worst D in NBA history. I know it starts with him and his contract supports that even more but these guys are human, can’t D for 40 min and run the O as well. He has his spurts. But I understand your frustration.
Nah. Zero slacks given.
He’s not even in the top 25 of minutes played, many of the players above him have dealt with a shorter offseason and all teams deal with back to backs etc. He can rest tomorrow.
It is also not a thing of just tonight, it is a pattern that has been going on for several seasons. One of the worst examples was a few years ago in a game against the Nets, D’Angelo Russel was consistently burning him and for three (almost) consecutive possesions, someonbe set a screen and Fox just leaned into it. Didn’t try to go under, didn’t try to go over, just leaned into the screaner as if rleaxing against a wall.
I have been looking critically at his D ever since and he rarely stands out positively.
And because we retained Walton, this is is another wasted season where this could have been corrected.
If you’re talking about Fox over these last few seasons then look at the whole team. Has the whole team fought over screens? Cause if the whole team doesn’t do it and they switch everything then that’s not a singular thing, it’s a scheme thing. If it was 2 years ago, that Joerger team played no defense at all. If it’s this season, then Fox is supposed to switch and hang back with the screener.
On the minutes thing, I did say he was at 36-37 mpg since February started, higher than his whole season average. Of those top 25 mpg leaders, I’d argue only Lowry and Van Vleet have a good defense rep among the guards.
Typical example:
https://twitter.com/BrendenNunesNBA/status/1367316369721593859
So frustrating to see stuff like this when I coach my hs kids daily that first guy back in transition defense sprints to the hoop to prevent the easy layup.
This is BASIC coaching
I think equally frustrating in that case, isn’t just not stopping the ball, but that he isn’t even committing to the pass he clearly thinks Schroder is going to make. It’s like he purposely put himself in no-man’s land.
Fox deserves alot of the blame but this is just an outlook of the whole team. No communication at all.
Eh?
Do you know who was defending Kuzma? If it was Barnes, why was he close to Schroder?
I would also mention Bagley not sprinting to the paint as well but we know that’s Bagley.
I would not blame Bagley. He was checking Morris so he had to stay out in the perimeter.
It looks like Barnes’ fault for either not checking Schroder (because he was the closest to Schroder) or not checking Kuzma (because that was his man).
I understand that too, but the camera doesn’t show Morris, it looks like he’s already decided to walk at the start of the clip so Bagley is also covering no one as they get up the court so he should help out at the rim as a big.
But it is on Fox and Barnes first and foremost.
All bets are off on a fast break … stop the ball.
I was going to comment that this looks like they are tired and probably needed to be subbed… then I noticed it was 4 minutes into the game. Good god… the entire team trotting back on what is essentially a fast break.
Considering the team has a top-10 offense, and that offense has actually been better with Fox on the bench – perhaps he should focus his energies a bit more on the defensive end. Dunno, that seems like a team weakness right now.
Wonder what the sample size is for that? The 14 minutes per game that Fox actually sits?
They have a top 10 offense because of Fox. Take the ball out of Fox’s hands and I’m sure you watch the games to know what happens. If you’re gonna ask him to focus more on defense than on offense than tell that to the bigs getting 20-20 dropped on them every night.
Depends, when you take it out of Fox’s hands do you put it in Haliburton’s hands?
I know for a fact you watch the games too, the ball doesn’t immediately go into Haliburton’s hands all the time when Fox is not on the court.
Cory Joseph always needs to say hello time and time again.
It’s true. Though those Haliburton, Joseph lineups have actually performed decently well. The player that appears the most in the Kings best lineups is Haliburton.
But really, the points is that none of these are good reasons for Fox to continue to struggle defensively. He isn’t good enough offensively to be that guy and the Kings clearly need him to be a leader on both ends.
In general, the entire narrative about carrying and offense giving you a pass on defense is nonsense. Many of the top players in the league, from Chris Paul and Kahwi to Giannis and Embiid do all season long. If Fox is ever going to break into the elite tier of players, he’s going to have to get it done on both ends.
I agree with you wholeheartedly.
Again consider the guys you mentioned. These are their teammates: Simmons, Danny Green, Jrue, Middleton, Lopez, Bridges, Crowder, PG13, Beverly, Morris, Batum. All capable to excellent defenders and these teams have committed to defense. The Kings have neither the personnel nor the commitment.
You truly have only 10 or so elite two way players in the league. Asking Fox to become one of them is a huge stretch, because I believe the consensus around here is that he’s not a #1 option. So isn’t he miscast here?
Fox does need to get better by alot but give him a better team with better defensive players around him and then make the final judgments. Give him another offensive shot caller and then judge and single out the other aspects of his game, because then he his defense would truly stand out, until then he’s just one of 15 terrible defenders on this team.
See, I don’t think he has any “reason not to play D or be a good leader or other intangible aspects of his game” now.
I said that and I did mean it but I edited it out to prove another point. Devin Booker was seen as a stat padder, so was KAT because they were and are still on consistently bad teams. I think history supports that if their team sucks, (no matter if there’s no excuses or not, yes you’re getting paid to play offense and defense), these young guys on sucky teams are trying to get their points, secure their money, and hope for the best and then defense comes later with winning and better personnel. Boogie went thru it, Lavine is going through it now, Booker hadn’t tried on D up until now and with CP3 on his butt.
All I’m saying is to judge Fox now on a wholly bad defensive team is a bit pre-mature.
If we are using the same stat Otis uses, the offense is also better when Haliburton is not on the floor.
You know what, the offense is also better when Cory Joseph is not on the floor. We don’t need point guards apparently.
That’s why we didn’t draft Luka, because he would have taken the ball out of Fox’s hands.
Ehhhh. Guys like we want/need him to be and presumedly he wants to be play both ways. He’s going to have to get a lot better offensively if he wants to be the kind of guy that’s allowed to take time off on defense. Even guys that aren’t especially good defenders like Lillard, still put in the work.
Now you’re making it seem like Fox doesn’t put in any work at all. A few weeks ago he had the lowest defensive field goal percentage on the team. I haven’t checked the updated stats but he’s definitely not the reason this defense sucks, which yall are making it seem like if he fights over every screen then the guard isn’t immediately gonna abuse the big or manipulate the picknroll because even if Fox fights over the screen, he’s still on the tail of the ball handler and our bigs are atrocious in the PNR.
For the record, I’m not saying Fox should be a guy that is lax on D because he shoulders the load on offense, because yes he isn’t good enough, you have to be on a Dame/Kyrie/Harden level to be that kinda player, but I’m saying that’s the situation that the Kings find themselves in. He’s the only one outside Hali who consistently creates for himself and others, so if his teammates accept him in that role, than why can’t his teammates pick up the defensive slack for him. And they’re not.
As Fox matures and he gets better teammates and coaching then the defense will show because if yall are questioning his commitment to D then you should look at the whole team. Besides Hali they’ve given up on D.
Lillard put in just as much defensive work as Fox did. It just looks better because he won and Dame Time showed up again at the end.
Don’t act like Fox didn’t drop 32 and 12 on him too.
Oh, Lillard isn’t a good defender. But they have different defensive ceilings and they’re bad for different reasons. Fox has all the physical attributes to be a plus defender.
Despite Lillard being an elite offensive player, we’ve also seen and talked a ton about how his defensive shortcomings have limited the Blazers ceiling.
There’s no reason why Fox needs to be a guy that the team has to cover for on the defensive end.
Very true, I admit that I’ve been frustrated with Fox for his defense alot too. I’m defending him now but I don’t think he’s perfect or void of blame by any means. I’m not illogical.
Fox does need to step up. So does the team and the coaching and the FO to put players around him. That’s why each post-game presser is the same “it’s not the scheme it’s on the players, gotta be better, tougher yadda yadda”. Already to the all star break, this team ain’t changing. Bring some new blood.
The longer Fox is stuck in this situation the worse he’ll get. Get teammates and a coach who truly keeps others accountable.
All this is true. But the best players are intrinsically motivated. There are elements of defensive that a single player can’t control. Fox can’t do much about how Bagley plays the PnR, but there are elements that aren’t dependent on teammates. And he needs to do better at those things.
Ultimately, I think the question is what kind of player Fox is and will be. What expectations should we put on him, and what expectations he puts on himself.
I can argue that one should stop and think a bit before questioning Fox’s motivation when he’s actively trying to get the Kings a win and make things happen in the 4th in close ballgames. He has the motivation, but yes now he needs to transfer it over to defense. I agree with that.
Give him a guy to share that load with and I’m not gonna guarantee it, but I do expect his defense to be alot better.
Fox got 32 on 26 FGA. I’m sure Portland was ok with that. Lillard scored 44 on the same number of attempts.
Because Lillard shoots and makes more 3s. Fox ate in the paint and Lillard ate from 3, they’re different scorers.
The reasoning still stands, Lillard cooked Fox and Fox cooked Lillard. Don’t belittle 32 and 12 just because Lillard won the scoring battle.
I’m not belittling it, but it wasn’t an especially efficient 32, and Fox isn’t especially efficient in general.
It goes to the larger argument that this team would be better served by Fox cutting back on his offensive effort and applying it to defense (if limited energy is, indeed, the problem here).
Especially considering he seems to have the physical attributes to be a solid individual and team defender.
I raise you Holmes, Bagley, GR3, and Jabari and on other teams TWolves Wiggins, Booker, even Kevin Martin back then.
Physical attributes gets you to the court but coaching, teammates, and scheme complete the puzzle. You can’t succeed when you only have 1 of 4.
1 of 5. You forgot player effort. That’s what we’re talking about here.
Again I answer like I answered your comment below, pointing out Fox’s defensive effort when he does the heavy lifting on offense for this team is like asking why Draymond only averages 6 points per game.
You can’t expect Fox to shut down these scoring PGs when he does so much on THIS offense himself. He doesn’t have someone like others do that can pick up the defensive slack.
We’re going in circles. I’m saying the offense can survive without him “dominating” (inefficiently). And I don’t expect him to shut down opposing PGs – I’m saying there’s a level he could reach beyond “disinterested”.
Max contract = max effort required at all times
I’m one of Fox’s biggest critics, but, if you haven’t heard, the team has quit on Walton
Could be, but he’s played like that on D for years. It just got masked better by other players. He has never been any good at fighting through screens. Never really tried.
Literally every PG that would be ranked ahead of Fox besides CP3 is bad defensively. We just played one today. When have you ever thought wow, Lillard is killing it on defense? Scoring guards just aren’t expected to do that in today’s game. He isn’t even the one the team is scheming to beat. Notice how more often then not the opposition forces a switch to Bagley or Holmes on the perimeter? We just saw PJ Washington drop 42 points (he scored only 3 the next game) primarily on Bagley.
Fox is playing fast and draws a lot of contact against larger players. He has had several moments where he locks down players so the ability is obviously there. With his role, he shouldn’t be the main guy we are pointing at.
Tonight our coaching staff was late to adjust and start double teaming Lillard. We have low BBIQ overall as a team. We probably shouldn’t be running defensive schemes that involve switches to begin with. Joerger found a way to keep the game simple for them, resulting in getting the best out of them. Our core hasn’t looked better since. And we have a better starting five now then we did back then. Even Bagley was more impactful overall even though he couldn’t defend. Now all we hear is that the schemes are good we aren’t just executing. Maybe the schemes are just wrong for this team as constructed.
By RPM, of the PGs that rank ahead of Fox overall, only one has an inferior defensive RPM (Steph Curry, and his ORPM is otherworldly). There are other really good PG defenders on that list – Conley, Graham, Murray, Holiday, Mills, Beverly.
Our defensive scheme sucks, but Fox should prioritize his defense some.
Frankly, Fox isn’t a good enough player at this point to shirk one side of the court, if he wants to help his team win.
Do any of those guys shoulder the load offensively? I’d argue for Murray but Jokic runs that ship. And I’d also argue that Murray being on that list this year is an anomaly, as he’s usually a bad defender.
Those other guys are known 3rd-6th options who actually play with teammates and on a team that knows how to coach and teach defense. If you’re gonna give me numbers to compare for Fox give me Trae’s or Sexton’s or Dame’s or Beal’s cause they’re in the same situation. Big offensive load, bad defensive team.
Again, this team’s offense has been just as good with Fox on the bench. So I’m not saying he should give up the entire offensive load to focus on defense, but he probably doesn’t need to force it trying to get 30 each night. Especially not at a 55.1 TS%.
Honestly though, I think when Haliburton gets back, he’ll take a decent amount of the offensive workload. Down the road, I’d like to see Haliburton run the offense more with Fox working as more of an off-guard.
By ranking I meant the general consensus “he is a top 10 this” type ranking. So I’m looking at Curry, Dame, Kyrie/Harden, Westbrook, etc. Players who are big time but not known to be good defenders. The difference is their teams normally can afford to hide them on opposing players that just sit in the corner. Fox is playing with two other players that need to be stashed away on defense.
And this criticism of Fox is pointless to me overall because he was playing against Lillard. Who does that to everyone. We shouldn’t be expecting Fox to lead the offense and then guard a high usage point guard of Lillard’s quality well. Dame’s most iconic moment was draining a walk off 3 in the playoffs against on one of the best perimeter defenders in the league.
Glad you mentioned it but some act like running the point for 37 minutes then chasing another team’s scoring point guard (which is 90% of the league) for 37 minutes almost every game is a cake walk.
People mentioned CP3, Conley and Jrue but those are arguably the only 2 way PGs out of all 30 teams. The probability of a true 2 way guard is that low.
Exactly. And Conley plays on one of the best teams. He at least has Gobert/Favors behind him on defense. I remember what We all remember what Fox did to him when he was on the Grizzlies. Ultimately outside of CP3 no GM would take those other two over Fox. CP3 can do it all, but hasn’t been a team’s primary scoring option since he was on the Hornets. Every one of those 2 way starting PGs you mentioned has a clear primary scoring option in Booker, Mitchell, and Giannis.
No need to make up arguments, I don’t see anyone saying this.
The main comment up there points to Fox not deserving any slack for his lack of defense at times. And my argument is stop expecting him to d up for 37 straight minutes when he runs the o, pushes the pace, and is the reason this team stays competitive in games on offense.
Counters I get are “that doesn’t matter, it’s on Fox to give the effort. He’s not good enough offensively to slack on D.”
Like they expect Fox to D for the whole game and run the offense at the same time. So if one bags on Fox for not D-ing up for 37 straight minutes one is saying doing both is easy and simple to do. Give Fox a break he has no defensive help. He’s far from the problem.
Attached above is one single play of his bad defense as well, but no mentions of his steals, blocks, or any clips of him actually playing good defense.
Steals and blocks aren’t necessarily indicative of good team defense.
For me, this isn’t really just about Lillard. It’s about Lillard and Schroder to me, because those are the two most recent guys he’s been matched up with.
You’re leaning on Lillard as if this is the first time Fox has mailed in a defensive effort.
He really does need to use his speed and quickness as an advantage at that end of the floor. The “touch fouls” he received down the stretch against the Lakers were examples – they were ticky-tack, but he tried to use his pelvis to push Schroder out of his driving lane, and got called for the bump.
Doug would have noticed it if the roles were reversed. 🙂
He could be a great defensive player if he was just a little quicker.
The post break schedule looks soft, however all but the Rockets are playing better than the Kings. Hope we lose 5 of 6 to start the tank.
If only to widen the rotation by playing more young guys. Even when Hali returns this current rotation is Thibodeau-esque, which makes me worry about potential injuries for a Barnes/Buddy trade. KEEP THAT ANKLE TIGHT BUDDY! Also, Fox is running his heart out.
Not good enough to blow teams out and not bad enough to get blown out for early rest for the starters. Whoever in charge needs to make the call to tank.
I am disappointed with Mark Jones as a PBP announcer. He makes too many basic mistakes, mistaking Harry for Buddy, getting the ref calls incorrect. It is noticeable and takes away from the game. I hope they can find someone better. Doug is likable but exhausting with too many cliche phrases. No fox given and Fox force 5 is sounding more and more sophomoric and stale.
I does feel like calling the Kings is Jones’ side gig.
I’m generally okay with Mark Jones. I think he has solid command and diction; however, he gets caught up in Doug’s antics and mannerisms. Any time Doug starts spewing 10 seconds worth of corny phrases, Mark feeds into it and eggs Doug further.
I think there are alot of worse PBP out there than Mark, but Doug has regressed since last year. When he first took over for Jerry, he would bring genuine excitement mixed in with great analysis. I think that was due to Grant’s professionalism (say what you will about the man, but Grant the PBP was top notch).
It is unwatchable at times ! Mute more each game it seems ! Napear was far superior to either Mark or Kyle ( horrible ) !
I do think part of the problem is that the team has so many periods of just awful basketball. Mark has to decide how to make the show entertaining, because the on-court product many nights just ain’t that fun to watch. It is a lot of pressure on Mark and Doug both.
They’re basically announcing the games while watching it on a big screen so that might have something to do with mistaking players, not knowing what the referees are calling, etc. It’s not exactly the ideal situation so I cut them slack.
KING4LIFE LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BARN! I SEE YOU BIG FELLA, I SEE YOU!
TWO HANDS
THAT OTIS IS WET!
(Aw hell who and I kidding, everything is wet). EVERYTHING IS WET!
WET WET WET WET WET!
BUTTER!!!
I miss Jerry and Grant.
I hope when we come back this team looks quite a bit different and it sure seems like Luke Walton could be gone. I also hope Christian Wood is back for the Rockets after the break both for my fantasy team and for their chances of winning a game again.
Fun enuff game, and my Blazers are very lucky to have the record they have since they really haven’t been very good. Dame is awesome though, even on his off nights, and hopefully we get Nurk and CJ back soon (our schedule is pretty rough the rest of the way, so it might get bad).
Our defense is terrible, but we’ve been scraping by thanks to Dame. I wish Tyrese could’ve played tonight, I’ve loved watching him. I picked him to win ROY after I watched his first few games, but unfortunately LaMelo will prolly run off with it. STILL, that doesn’t matter, Tyrese is basically perfect and only just turned 21. Great great pick, and I assume it’ll make it easier to trade some of the other guards on the roster. I wanna see his role expand and for that USG to get over 20% finally!
As a non-Kings fan, I would still say Bagley has talent and is mainly just young and unfocused, but you guys know much more about him. I have no real opinion on Walton cuz I don’t really pay attention to that, but if you all want him fired then I hope he’s fired pronto. Lots of our fans want Stotts gone too, but he’s been around for a really long time considering it’s not like we’ve been contenders or something (I think he’s fine and our issues are 90% lack of talent but our defense is terrible and our ability to handle the hard traps Dame will face in the playoffs has made us look embarrassing at times and those seem like coaching thingies to me).
Fox is really cool, only 23, and I don’t see why he can’t get his 3 point shooting up to 36%+ and his FTs to at least 78%. That’ll make him quite a bit more efficient and make him a lot more dangerous, and it doesn’t seem like an outrageous jump for him to take (I’d be surprised if he doesn’t get there, or much better). Fox, Tyrese, Holmes are all rad, and to me guys like Hield and Bagley are good trading pieces.
Plus I figure lots of teams would want someone like Bjelica for the playoffs, and of course Barnes and Hield if possible, and I figure there are fun trades for the Kings in the near future (or at least I’d hope so). What’s going on with Hield this year, by the way? I just double checked his stats and it seems like a steep drop with his efficiency and USG… is he just being used differently? Has he been hurt?
I hope Tyrese is back soon dammit!
Stotts is much better than you realize but will probably find out when he is replaced !
I think the Blazers have their own site, maybe go check that out.
At least the break is here so Kayte can stop using that as an excuse for poor play. But it don’t matter none. The defense sucks, but at least the offense is somewhat entertaining which is better than nothing I guess.
Eh, tis what it tis.
Blazers 123, Kings 119 is the non-soccer mom way to report a pro sports score if you’re a legit media outlet.
The winning team’s score goes first, even if our team loses.
As for the game, LOL Kangz.
Badge Legend