THE SACRAMENTO KINGS HAVE WON 40 GAMES. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
Hey, remember this great moment of fun from the preseason?
Kings fans didn’t know how to act after winning two summer league games
“WE’RE GETTING 40 WINS THIS YEAR” pic.twitter.com/yHplVfHnR5
— SB Nation (@SBNation) July 3, 2022
Turns out Sean Chew and his friends weren’t just overhyped fans enjoying Keegan Murray, they were prophets.
WE DID IT YALLLLLL pic.twitter.com/6c3gncQUg3
— Sean Chew (@chewislin) March 12, 2023
The Sacramento Kings secured their 40th win of the season tonight, defeating the Phoenix Suns 128-119 in a contest that was neck-and-neck until the very end. The Kings had solid contribution from the whole squad, with seven players finishing with double-digit scoring, but despite the usual De’Aaron Fox heroics (18 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds), this will be known as the Kessler Edwards Game.
Devin Booker was going off in the first quarter, with 10 points when the Kings as a team has scored just 6 points. Mike Brown subbed in Kessler Edwards, and the tide of the game shifted. Edwards ended up playing 26 minutes tonight after playing just 29 minutes for the Kings up to this point. Edwards finished with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal and a ton of great defensive effort. Devin Booker has always given the Kings fits, and he still ended the night with a game-high 28 points, but Edwards frustrated Booker and made him earn every bucket.
It’s worth taking a moment to remember that the Kings acquired Edwards in a salary dump from the Brooklyn Nets, in which the Nets PAID THE KINGS to take Edwards. He’s a 22 year old win who plays defense, grabs rebounds, and was able to contribute on the offensive end, including a huge three in final minutes of the game.
There’s so much more I could say about this game, but really the biggest thing is winning the 40th game of the season. It’s a benchmark the Kings haven’t hit in the 16 years of the playoff drought. Mike Brown becomes only the second coach in Sacramento Kings history to win 40 games in a season, joining Rick Adelman.
Go nuts, Kings fans. We won 40 games.
L. T. B.!
Will enjoy seeing Kessler get the chance to defend Chris Middleton and Michael Porter Jr,, among others…
Kessler Edwards man…what a game he had. That redeem he had hitting that three pointer late in the game after having that turnover that ended up being an And-1. I really hope we found ourselves another solid player.
Look out TD. He might replace you on the roster as a solid defensive bench player. TD will have his chance simply because he can light it up at times but Kessler can play defense.
Having TD when we need buckets and Edwards when we need a stop, is a beautiful thing.
Guys, Be The Ball specifically asked for no spoilers. This is so disappointing.
Thank you Rik. It was still spoiled, but it was via text and not by anyone here. You all held up your end of the bargain!
Who are these Kings? What is reality?!
They are The Hunters.
Exactly.
Brown and his staff have a lot of cards to play, and I do not think the Kings have peaked yet.
They just find ways to win. Excellent analysis up thread.
Monte has certainly brought in an awful lot of good players-talent. Coach
It’s weird having all legit NBA players on the Kings squad.
Out of the darkness.
We are already here.
Only took 16 years.
Also, think about the off-season: Sacramento has become a destination!
This makes it easier to re-sign HB and Trey, attract Sasha, extend Domas, and possibly bring in another veteran who would also be a good locker room presence.
Dare we think championship?
We dare!
The Kings, right now.
I’m excited to find out how far this team can actually go because I agree, they have been steadily improving the whole season. Now Davion is starting to play better and we might have a new rotational piece in Edwards. We aren’t gonna be an easy out in the playoffs because of the consistency and reps these guys have built with one another for 82 games.
The Huerters
A couple of comments. Monte has done a terrific job as GM. Every player from Mitchell, Lyles, Huerter Monk Murray Edwards even Ellis and Queta are doing a solid job of playing in the big league and the G league. IMO Queta and Ellis will both be Kings next season.Other than Edwards he has kept the core together and didn’t upset the apple cart. What I saw last night was a total team effort. Anybody who came into the game contributed in some way. It didn’t have to be a Fox and Ox show although both were great last night. Fox still controlled the fourth quarter and Sabonis isn’t afraid to attack anybody in this league. Right now IMO the Hali Sabonis trade isn’t even close. I love Haliburton but Monte did the right call. He also got Lyles in a trade for who? I am so impressed with Lyles. So steady. Brown and his staff were the right choice by Monte. Playing Kessler was a great move and keeping Lyles in for Murray was another. I’m not worried about Murray. He has shown so much improvement in so many areas since the begging of the year. He will just be fine. We were worried about a backup center to Sabonis but IMO Metu has done a great job as backup mostly since the all star break. Really nice pick pocket on Ayton last night. Lastly I am hoping the defense the last couple of games is not a fluke but they are starting to buy in and playing defense together. GO KINGS!!! PS If they start playing defense even in the tune as in the middle of the league watch out. The sky just might be the limit or beyond.
Lyles being more productive here than a certain #2 pick in a shorter time is awesome. I love that we’re kind of like the island of misfit toys. Players who weren’t living up to projection in their situations have came here and flourished. Change of scenery? Opportunities? Coaching? All yes. It’s beautiful basketball in Sac
Wasn’t Lyles basically one of the throw-ins to make the 4-team swap work with the hype really finally getting DDV from the Bucks?
No, I think they wanted both DDV and Lyles.
Poetic because fuck the Suns. Chris Paul is still a bitch.
Kings in 4
LOL, perfect.
Booker takes after Paul, too. Can’t stand his play on the court. Elbow push offs, cries about any small amount of contact, tries to talk shit every time he scores.
Let’s dedicate this 40th win to #40 Harrison Barnes!
And next win to #41 Trey Lyles!
(Neemias Queta says “I’ll wait till next season. 88 wins, regular season plus playoffs!)
The sun isn’t beaming
as bright as this…
What’s crazy is 10-6 the rest of the way gets the Kings to 50 wins. After going 8-1 since the ASG, it’s not inconceivable.
I want to thank the Kings for an early birthday present. Gonna be 60 in a few hours.
Happy Birthday!
Happy 60th, and 40th!
I turned 80 a month ago, and I am learning to better understand and watch basketball from TKH comments.
Let’s get Daydreamer a championship!
Yes!
Let’s all daydream for a championship!!!
Let’s make it for real! Not just daydreaming.
Boom! Congrats Daydreamer.
Cheers to commenter BlueJohn as well, he turned 71 just a few days ago.
I will say this…….sometimes 71 feels like 80…….but not often
Congratulations DayDreamer!!!!
Congratulations to you too.
Congrats Mike!
Cheers Mike!!
Woot woot! I think there is still a very real chance they get to 60+ wins…if we are counting playoffs!
16 wins in the playoffs let’s gooooo!!!
They say it’s your birthday! Gonna have a good time!! Hope it’s fabulous!!!
Happy Birthday.
Daylight Savings Time lose an hour night, might as well go full Monty and do 60 shots of Fireball, take two aspirins and call us in the morning.
or two shots of Fireball and 60 aspirin
Where is the anti-Daylight Savings post?!
Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday Buddy!
Happy birthday bro. So glad you still have your youth. Enjoy it! I turned 71 yesterday and an ex lady friend texted me “71 is the new 70!” I quickly remembered why we broke up. Happy Birthday Mike. BTW 60 is the new 47……..until you hit 65.
Big Birthday Ups to you BlueJohn!
BlueJohn, also a big congratulations to you, my man.
I’m gonna speak it to existence. Wanna live to 102. Not just make it to 100. My oldest aunt is 100 so the genes are there.
I’m 72, and I definitely had more fun being 20 something in the 70’s than 70 something in the 20’s.
I want to thank Kings for a late by one day March 10- birthday present. I was 60 a while back.
And you congrats!
Congrats!
40 you say
“Records are made to be broken, Dave. It’s all good.”
Klassic Kosta
What I really like on this team, besides getting the 40-win milestone after 16 years, is that every player is likeable. No low-IQ players like Hield who makes dumb errors in crunch time
that oftentimes cost the tram a victory. Or that All-star guy who was always in the running for most technicals in a season and a cancer in the locker room.
On likable:
I lived in Chicago for 30 years and, being a geographical chameleon, was a Bulls fan during the Jordan years. Jordan may have been the greatest player ever. But he was not likable.
The Kings are very, very good and becoming very tough. And they are LIKABLE.
I think the likability part is what is putting some extra shine on a really remarkable season. You just feel these guys.
Ditto. Love MJ and the Bulls.
But personality-wise? Na ah.
I’ll take Sir Charles anytime.
Maybe more importantly, they all seem to like each other. These are the No-drama Kings. I’m beginning to think this maybe a reason why Monte didn’t make any moves at the deadline. The locker room may have more chemistry then we could possibly realize.
You can really see that now. There is something special cooking. Smart to see what happens in the playoffs, and address it this summer.
Exactly, Mike.
100% Adam.
No moves at the deadline. We may get to the 2nd round of the playoffs and that’s it, which will then lead Monty and his staff to evaluate what players to add next season to improve the roster.
But not breaking the camaraderie in the locker room is a feat in itself already!
And didn’t we steal Kessler Edwards? another likeable and effective wing?
KINGS! Thank you for a turn-around season.
We’ve been tortured for 16 years by stupid former Fakers!
Oh definitely, and you add the fact that a lot of other teams haven’t had the continuity we’ve had. It’s a big advantage come playoff time
Monk and Davis can do some inexplicable shit on occasion but that’s mostly just trying too hard to make something happen, which is a lot easier to swallow than Hield dribbling off his foot.
As Adamsite says, though, nobody really seems to mind too much – everyone understands that the high variance players will be high variance and there is no drama about it.
Good take on Davis and Monk.
passable mistakes from time to time, but not BuddyHield-level.
And we have a good coach to rein over them!
And when they start cookin’, get the F oit of the kitchen.
Yea Monk has high BBIQ, he’s just a bit chaotic sometimes. If you don’t have Davion or Fox in there to kinda handle his ADHD a bit, he’s gonna whiff a few TOs.
TD has all the talent in the world but I think out of everyone in the squad, he has the lowest BBIQ. Though that isn’t saying much as collectively they’re a smart bunch.
Well put Sonny
After last night, shouldn’t you change your name to Kingy?
To paraphrase the legendary Jeff Goldblum, the Kings find a way.
128 points against a good team without one player getting twenty.
Value add player before the deadline in Kessler making an impact against an All-NBA guard and closing the game, whilst adding 12 pst and 7 rebounds.
Trey Lyles adding to his resume in his 8th Man of the Year campaign.
Davion showing out on the offensive end as well as making his usual appearance in the opposing team’s soup.
Mike Brown and his staff pushing buttons and a brilliant use of the challenge.
Malik going nuclear in a six minute stretch, previewing how he is going to win us at least one game in the playoffs on his own.
The Kings have the 4th toughest schedule after the break? Please. Eight wins and one loss baby.
The Kings are formidable. The Kings are the Danger.
BlueJohn celebrating his birthday?
Nope. It’s Mike on his 60th!
I wish I had that much hair!
Did Brad Miller get a perm?
“Mike Brown and his staff pushing buttons and a brilliant use of the challenge.”
I missed the challenge while tending to to my daughter. What happened?
Davion had an and-one which the refs initially called a charge. 3-point swing and good for momentum. It was a cool play actually. Davion was aware that the defender’s feet were in the restricted area when he decided to explode to the hoop and draw a foul. High level awareness. After the call, he pointed to the restricted area (while getting back to play D).
Hunted ? or Hunter?
I was mentally calculating the best and worst teams to face in the playoffs but now I think they should try to avoid us.
Suns trying to catch up to us in the standings? No way! We’re number 2!
Is this what optimistic RPO looks like? LOL
I thoroughly expected us to be 4th place or worse in the West at this point, so yeah kinda the optimistic me.
The bench is playing a really good job…
Davion knocking down 3….
and Lyles did what he always did………
Monk assisting and hitting some big shots…
and Metu, key steal on Ayton
(of course…K. Edwards)
Kessler erupted with a lot of flare!
Chris Paul was like:
“There’s nothing I can do…a total eclipse of the Suns.”
Maybe that was his brother out there tonight!
I love this team
Kings Win! Dance!
&ct=g
This is one of the strongest wins of 2023 to me. I’ve been harboring sone envy at the Warriors, without Steph, and now the Grizzlies without Ja, Adams and Brandon Clarke because their second units and bench mobs have risen to the occasion.
This game was carried by Sacramento’s second unit – Davion was awesome, Lyles as well, Metu had it going, and Monk was, well, Monk was Monk (Funny seeing Terrence Ross and Monk as opponents) and OMG! what about Kessler Frikkin’ Edwards!? He was a game changer. The Wave cooled the Suns.
In a game where Heurter was off and Keegan was mostly absent, and PHX concentrated their energies, effectively, on the All-Stars, Fox and The Ox, the second unit never let up. And another solid performance by Harrison Barnes btw.
Awesome Win!
LIGHT THE BEAM!
And 1 –
For Phoenix, this was the type of loss the Kangz would experience over the last 16 years, where some guy you never heard of, who was acquired a few weeks ago, comes in and takes the game over to win it against Sacramento.
Kessler frikkin’ Edwards- helluva game! And he’s a SF! He was what we were hoping to see with KZ and still hope to also see with Keon Ellis.
It’s just one game and he’s got to bring consistency, but damn- nice ballin’. Hard to see TD off the bench before Edwards when he plays like that.
I know
do-do-doo
I know
do-do-do-do-do-do-doo
I know
mmm-mmm-mm-mmm-mm
I…know
THE WAVE… I love that nickname for this year’s bench crew!
Dance! Also all the 60+ guys out there!
The center of the basketball universe this season is in Sacramento.
When Malik banked in that 3-pointer, I started singing this song in my best Scottish voice:
I was going to yell at my screen at first because I thought it was too rushed and that he would miss. He shut me up pretty fast.
Malik is live-by-the-sword-die-by-the-sword, ride-or-die, chaos. He’s the loose cannon in Lethal Weapon. I bet he got kicked out of Top Gun flight academy for taking it to the limit.
I love him.
Exactly.
I think that is the luxury of TD.
If Monk is going full Monk, then ride that wave.
If that knife is dull, then roll out TD and see what that roll of the dice produces.
I am trying to think of a film equivalent for him:
Ebby “Nuke” Calvin. Laloosh (Bull Durham)?
Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn (Major League)
Neither?
Wild Thing is a good comp!
Never heard this before and now can’t get it out of my head…
I no longer doubt that this team can win 50 and maybe Denver should be a little scared about that 1 seed (not too much though)
What’s wild to me is that the starters played pretty poorly all things considered and the bench just went OFF. Man, if the bench can play like that and Edwards can be a solid bigger rotation wing, watch out.
Oh and it goes without saying, HUGE win for the standings.
Davion being an offensive threat is a game changer, and Kessler being able to put some pressure on opposing wings is icing on the cake.
Brown has some real cards to play.
Tonight he played like the 3 n’ D wing we’ve been drooling over on other teams (Luguentz Dort, Finney-Smith, Royce O’Neal, Herb Jones, Jaden McDaniels, Josh Okogie, etc.)
Yeah he’s 22 and has the right toolkit to be a solid player. I liked him the last couple years in his short stints with Brooklyn. Hoping we see a little more of him to close the year.
Torrey Craig, M. Bridges, Yuta Watanabe (who the Nets kept) and the other McDaniels. and OG and Precious
Yeah if we can get anything on the offensive end from Davion or Edwards it just changes the equation. Makes us a lot more dangerous.
It’s also increasingly important since the Kings have 6 games in the next 10 days including a 5 of 7 stretch starting Wednesday in Chicago.
Another (+) for King Kess – rebounding!
The Kings sorely need another strong rebounder to join League leader Domas.
If #17 can board to the tune of 6-8 rpg that will go along way towards improving the Kings D, particularly their more obvious deficit on offensive rebounding. He snagged those boards, they didn’t fall into his hands.
Again, it’s one game, but that sip has me a bit drunk with hope. It was a very uplifting coming out for Edwards.
“Drunk with hope.” After many of our signature wins I find myself not wanting the night to end and feel both DRUNK w HOPE and HYPED w HOPE. Can’t sleep, can only think about the game and about what it all means and whether this is a dream or reality. Seriously
Defensive Player of the Game!
https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/1634791429980692482
https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/1634799394523430914?s=20
King Kess, I like that.
FUCK IT (!) 40 WINS (!!!!!) AND COUNTING (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
LIGHT THE BEAM!
I bought a “fuck it we deserve this” shirt after that houston game, and I was waiting until the Kings made the playoffs to actually wear it. But NOW IS THE TIME!
Now that milestone has been reached in getting 40 wins. I want the Kings to aim for 50! They need to go 10-6 the rest of the way and I think it is pretty much doable. GO KINGS!
What’s crazy is that barring injuries, getting to 50 wins doesn’t seem like a longshot anymore.
32 more wins needs to be the goal. They’re actually *good*.
Yeah! If we just beat the teams below us in the standings…oh wait, that’s almost every team!
What a world…
Statement game Motherfarkers!
Yo Kfan!
Still in Korea?
Hey all! No longer in Korea. Am back in Sca for now. Been around, just a lurker.
Kfan in Karmichael?
That’s just mean, Gonzo. That’s just mean.
Long time no see, Kfan!
Holy moly!
Now it’s LIT.
The beam did seem to burn a bit brighter after the win We can thank KFan for the extra beam mojo
Great to see you here in forever bro.
Another one. And more to come
Milestones in the near future:
Today – Kings get 40 wins
41 wins = .500 first non-losing season in 4ever
42 wins = > .500 first winning season in forever
43 wins = first season with less than 40 losses since forever
When on the road- now with 19-13 road record:
next road win: 20th road win since forever
another road win: >.500 road record since forever
and of course the ultimate for this regular season:
x-Sacramento in the standings since 2006.
This team is exactly why me and Naismith invented basketball.
Spring(field) Forward!
Oh shit, just realized I lost an hour. Oh well…
Lost an hour, but won a game!
Fair trade!
You’re the one who told him to cut the bottom out of the wicker baskets, right?
I believe ElRon invented the wicker basket.
ElRon said, “LET THERE BE LIGHT.”
Hell, we think he may have invented wicker…
Do you guys know that 40 is the answer to a non-sports trivia question?
What is the only number that is spelled in alphabetical order?
F-O-R-T-Y
Greatest Show on Court. If/when we figure out how to play 4 quarters of the D we play in the 2nd half, sky is the limit. God bless this whole staff for what they made happen in basketball hell this season
If we pick up our D, we can finally say the se famous words to visiting opponents:
“Welcome to Basketball Hell!”
Am a bit late to the party, but Kessler Edwards was sensational this game. I was a bit sceptical when I saw him and Mitchell check-in, due to lack of shooting, but they derailed the Suns at times.
This play was so impressive:
I don’t know if we’ll see him again next game, but Edwards was really impressive tonight. Kudos.
Thank you for yet another excellent vid!
Awh thanks! Will try and do one every game, but am always late to the party due to different timezones
Your, Kosta and many others vids are always welcome the time zones be damned. Thanks. This one is excellent as was the vid
you posted on HB poking the ball away from Randle in the Knicks game.
No worries, at least your timezones don’t change twice a year.
Kings Film Room on Twitter (if you dont’ follow him, highly suggested) highlighted the very next clip Dutch. If you watch it a few times (I have), there’s a ton of great switching going on in this clip just as there was in your clip you posted.
Anyhoo, I love these flim clips. Keep posting them when you can!
This is the team we’ve been hoping for. They are fun, like each other, and play very hard.
Think about all the options at the 3/4. We’ve begged for a SF and now look at it. Barnes, Keegan, Trey, Edwards, TD, and then maybe even Keon or Vaskenkov.
The roster malleability (other than at PG) is going to be crucial come playoff time and been a huge plus. There might even be a Holmes or Len game at some point too (depending on matchups).
Fun team and enjoying the ride. We’ve waited so long for this in Sacramento.
And I thinkwe can keep this going for several years. The team is young and talented, the coach is grand, and the GM is highly capable. Just need Vivek to let the professionals do their jobs.
little bitch [ lit-l bich ]
noun
1. Devon Booker
That player on the Suns is a little bitch.
Can’t stand him. Complains at everything, whines, talks trash when he makes a bucket. Love seeing those types of players lose.
The Entitlement Gene runs strong in that one
Their fans too. They acted like the refs gifted the Kings all of those fouls despite many of them just poor reach fouls on the Suns players (bench especially) part. I listened to Eddie Johnson all night saying on the Suns broadcast “You just can’t do that.”
There’s a tad bit of entitlement whining going on in the Valley of the Sun atm.
I love Eddie.
He really did mention dumb fouls and too much whining all night.
The Kings would not have gotten so many free throws if their bench did not reach so many times, especially the second quarter.
EJ mentioned the Suns did a very bad job of letting the officiating dictate things instead of just playing their game. I’d agree.
But, I’d also say the Kings were frustrating the hell out of the Suns all night (outside of the first 6 minutes of each half really) and things that they were accustomed to going their way were really just not.
See also: Chris Paul.
Loved it when Fox pressed CP3 near the start of the game. CP3 smirked at the Kings bench, but moments later Fox nearly picked his pocket at the half-court line as CP3 fell to his knees!
Not to take anything away from this season’s achievements, but health has been a big part of it.
Of course, staying healthy is an achievement in itself.
If we still had Bagley, we’d be a red bubble the size of Uranus.
The first part of the quote is inarguable. Health matters, most of us around here say something at one point or another to the effect of: “Health permitting….”
The 2nd part is what intrigues me. Some of it is guys like Sabonis are just fucking A tough Dutchman. That’s all that really is. There’s no magical mystery scientfiical explanation for it. Barnes also has a long history of playing, too. I’m wont to not give anyone credit but to those two for being so available this season. But everybody else, the medical staff has to be doing something right.
Lots of buttons are being pushed right, and I suspect there’s the occasional pang of luck in there as well. I’ll take it!
Sabonis is a cyborg. I am convinced of it.
I think the same of his Ames Iowa brother from another mother as well. I really don’t understand how those two are able to play almost every night.
What’s more astounding about Barnes is to my recollection, he’s left a a game ONCE due to injury. ONCE! Barnes hasn’t even gotten sick yet! Domas at least got sick once! I mean, to be fair, even cyborg’s should be allowed a rest day once in awhile.
Also, I’m convinced the Kings are just resting De’Aaron because they know they have to……and with the games they have left it’s quite conceivable they have things wrapped up by Apr 2nd (SA game at G1C).
3/13 Milwaukee
3/15 @Chicago
3/16 @Brooklyn (SEGABABA rest disadvantage Sac)
3/18 @Washington
3/20 @Utah
3/21 Boston (SEGABABA rest disadvantage Sac)
3/24 Phoenix (front half of a b2b for both; Phx is playing Philly in Phx on 3/25)
3/25 Utah (Utah is in SLC on 3/24 against Milwaukee)
3/27 Minnesota (SEGABABA for Minny; in GSW 3/26)
3/29 @Portland
3/31 @Portland
4/2 San Antonio
4/4 @New Orleans (front half of a b2b for both teams; NOP plays Memphis on 4/5)
4/5 @Dallas (SEGABABA rest disadvantage for Sac)
4/7 Golden State
4/9 @Denver
(That’s the only time they end up in Denver all season, too. LOL)
If there was ever a time to use your newfound depth, reduce minutes and wear on tear on your starters whom you’ve played more than anyone else all year, this is the time. 8 games in 13 days is…. a lot. This week is going to be really bad in the sense of 3 time zones in 4 days.
Ay ay ay. But sometimes, this stuff all gets thrown out the window if the team is rocking and rolling like they have been post ASB. I’ve had the SA on 4/2 game bookmarked as the tipping point of where we likely know what seed the Kings finish at.
I’ll be thrilled if the Kings manage to go 7-4 over this stretch.
Barnes’ durability/availability has always been a vastly underrated quality and benefit. He played the first 127 straight games after getting traded here, and his current streak is at 124. Overall he has played 301 of 320 games as a King (94%), and 11 of his 19 games missed came at the end of ’21 season, after the Kings had pretty much been bounced from a chance at the playoffs.
Barnes is the perfect 5th starter for an elite team, and the perfect 4th starter for a very good team. On this team, it could be reasonably argued that he has been the 3rd most important player on the team when you look at the season as a whole.
You made a comment a month ago or so about the next step for this team regarding improvement. And as we’ve seen over the last month or so since then, replacing Barnes is really, really hard to do. It’s hard to truly understand how valuable he is, but last night is a perfect example.
The Kings scored 128 points……and the only guy who played and didn’t score was Keegan Murray. Probably the worst game of his career. But, the flip side of that, they had 9 guys score between 9 and 19 points. Harrison Barnes led the team in scoring last night with that 19.
What’s even more unusual is that of those 9 guys, only 1 took more than 11 shots and it’s the guy you want taking those shots. De’Aaron just didn’t have a good shooting game last night.
But 3 guys took 10 shots, Sabonis, Monk and Barnes, and Barnes made 6 of his 10 shots. What’s more spectacular is that he was 5-6 from 2 pt range and 6-6 from the line. And only 1-4 from 3pt range. I’ve been tracking Barnes TS%, 3pt%, 2pt% in particular. Barnes is still on track to have a career high in TS%, his 2pt% has dropped but is still the 2nd highest single season total for his career, and his 3pt% is below his career average and his average in Sacramento in particular.
When the Suns were trapping hard at the end of the game? The ball went to Barnes and Booker shoved him and Barnes barely moved off his spot. (That’s a reason among a few I really don’t care for Booker. That crap annoys me.) Barnes hits 2 FT’s, game over. Calmly. Like Booker didn’t shove him.
Fox and Sabonis are the two best, most important players. But as you point out Rob, it’s hard to imagine anyone more important or valuable consistently to this team than Harrison Barnes. It’s getting even tougher how the organization can realistically consider a S&T (which I think was likely on the table before the season) of Barnes this off-season unless he just simply wants out (which there is literally no indication of either).
This is going to be a fun down the stretch and playoff season. For a change. 🙂
Agreed fully. I now think the best thing for this roster is to not futz with the core. If you can bring Veznekov over, re-sign Barnes and Lyles, add a guy like Plumlee or Naz Reid or such behind Sabonis, what you’re left with is seeing if you can find a 3-D bench wing that is legit better than Kessler or Ellis. The rest of it is backfill, really. Training camp would be largely about the perimeter defenders funneling their assignments to the baseline and not giving them free passes through the center of the floor. That in itself would save Sabonis a foul or two a game.
Are you sure Domas is a Dutchman? I thought our own Rik Smits was one of the toughest Dutchmen around…….not as a player but as a fan. Even though I’m sure he crushes some dandelions on his bike ride to his law practise.
Yeah and our all star big has had a broken thumb for months and he just keeps playing. Injury bug stats are deceptive when your guys just play through them. Just sayin
I love how far this team has come in literally 3 years.
Weve gone from this
https://ibb.co/1MLbPtC
to this
https://ibb.co/NN7Zn8j
Chew knew!
can we put up a statue of the courtside vomiter who may have singlehandedly changed the course of the franchise by so clearly demonstrating how Kings fans felt about Luke Walton?
We can title it “Great Expectorations.”
UpChucky Brown.
single-mouthedly
Bobby Hurl-ey
Saved by Mike Pepto-lowski.
That’s enough to make Sampson, ralph
Something something Kelly Tripucka something.
uh… Spewd Webb agrees? Ok, ok, I admit it, that was a st retch.
Purges Ellison.
From Brightside of the Sun
My favorite is further down the thread the CP3Clutch commentator said the NBA officiating is so horrible he’ll stop watching the NBA.
That was funny to me.
What a win! That was an awesome game
I think the Legend of Kessler started with that one. He was fantastic! Welcome to Sac, dude. We love you already!
Kessler and Davion shutting Suns down all night. Beautiful…
Throw in Ellis next year and you have three really good defensive ball players. It might be that Ellis is a small forward but remember he played point at Alabama. He could also be a third point guard.
Thread notes first:
Happy birthday, Mike120 & Daydreamer!
I really look forward to Michael Mack’s post-game observations. Always something new to think about, always fresh takes, never disappoints. Thanks, Michael!
Also, whoever had the Kings going 8-1 out of the break can stop by Morty’s office – you’ve just won a brand new Chrysler Cordoba (yes, the one with rich Corinthian leather).
Go Kings!
I always used to predict mostly Kings losses in the Nostradumbass predictions. Crazy that I’ve been predicting wins almost every single time now (and more often than not being correct!).
I was predicting 32-35 wins during preseason LOL…
37-45, a 23% improvement over last year.
I, me, predicted a 45 win season and a top 7 ORtg and I find it surprising.
This is an extraordinarily rare occurrence what this team is doing, but this is an extraordinarily rare team, too.
Yes you did sir , I had 41-43 wins and always liked your number better
I also had them at 43 wins but I like your number better. Might even go beyond 45.
I was hoping but not expecting 38 wins. For too many seasons, too many times in a row, Lucy and her football I’ve over predicted wins, even at my most cynical. I’ve never equalled nor under-predicted a season win total – and I joined STR after the 2008 Jason Thompson draft.
This is simply absolutely frikkin fantasy level crazy. And they haven’t even won a darn thing.
And even typing these words, I am still expecting I’ve cursed hexed and jinxed any further success
Yeah, I’m too lazy to do the research, but a team improving by 15+ games without adding a top ten player (or sitting them for the entire year, San Antonio) has got to be pretty rare air.
That must be rare. I can’t wait to see what Guru finds when he does the research.
Crazy thing is Mike, I’m not sure there’s a comparable that makes sense. Are De’Aaron or Domas top 15 players? Maybe, but that’s a stretch at this point. Especially if you’re talking national discourse. At times, their impact is so much greater than it gets credit for (De’Aaron especially these days).
Phoenix in ’21 might be the closest, and that’s debatable as well.
Boston in ’08 doesn’t work IMO. Ditto San Antonio in ’98.
As I said this offseason, I’m not sure we had a baseline for this group. I still think last season doesn’t work as they mostly used post trade deadline to figure out how they were going to build this roster out.
Having said all that, you turned a position of weakness into strength from last season to this year (SG/SF), you added depth both last deadline and offseason, and you drafted a player who has the makings of a core piece. Typically you don’tsee this type of turnaround because usually franchises aren’t this bad.
The surprise isn’t that the Kings are better, it’s that their significantly better than anybody thought possible.
you hit the nail on the head.
The expectation/hope was that the Kings would improve – maybe a reasonable 5 or 6 games this season, maybe just maybe 7 or 8 and with momentum of good decision making and luck, add another 5 or 6 the season next to finally bring them up to respectability in those two seasons to become a 7th or 8th seed with a 40 -44 win season in 2024. If it all fell into place just right.
Remember, I am using reasonable as the perspective and Kangz 30 win 2022 as the baseline and Vivek ownership filtered into the speculation.
Given all of that, this season is beyond belief. It defies explanation.
As an aside:
beyond the vast improvement of the Kings – how did most all of last year’s playoff teams get worse and not better?
And for any of you who pledged to shave your head if the Kings make the playoffs,
Hippity hop
to the
Barbershop.
Rob, we are going to need 40 Chryslers quick.
I prefer purple as my color.
It’s nuts to think that we have an 0.889 winning percentage post-ASB with this schedule. Yeah, injuries to other teams has something to do with it but the team is taking care of business when it needs to. I think the team is jelling together more also, and finding out new things about itself (e.g., Kessler Edwards may be a keeper, Davion can occasionally play O, etc.). This feels like a (<gulp>) team getting ready for the playoffs.
I have to go with what one of my grandsons said. Its the team coming into the playoffs the hottest at the time will do the most damage’ He is also a very good shooting guard.
A Cordoba! I hope you sprung for a Landau top there Rob.
Nets are up by 9 late 3rd in Denver right now…..hoo buddy.
It’s doable.
Holy cow, the Nuggets lost today!
Heck of a game too. Nuggets nearly came back but couldn’t quite get over the hump.
The demise of the Nets has been vastly overstated.
Joe Mazzulla has done a terrific job in Boston, but I think Jacque Vaughn should get more COTY votes than Mazzulla. Vaughn’s doing a spectacular job RN.
Can’t argue that. Dude was without major components of his roster for much of the season, and then had to do a complete makeover. Jeebus, just for dealing with the egos he deserves a medal.
I think the Nets are going to be more than alright. Plenty of assets, some really interesting building blocks.
An amazing reset to the enviable position they were in a few years ago before they gambled it all on Durant/Irving.
Betting that Bridges is both an all-star and all-d for them next year.
The kings are the only team in the west have a winning road record and have the 4th best road record in the NBA
So that will be a factor for the oddsmakers during the NBA Finals
I like that.
Badge Legend