The Sacramento Kings played host to the Indiana Pacers, marking the return of Tyrese Haliburton. Haliburton and Buddy Hield were traded last season for Domantas Sabonis. Both teams have been having better success this season, but win-win trades don’t fill airtime. Anticipation was high as the Kings looked to avoid extending their losing streak to four games.
Let’s see how they did:
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings 137, Pacers 114
Sacramento Kings: 137 pts, 50.5% fg, 37.2% 3pt, 86.2% ft, 28 ast, 57 reb, 18 to
Indiana Pacers: 114 pts, 40.0% fg, 32.4% 3 pt, 73.3% ft, 28 ast, 47 reb, 15 to
The Kings win! Sacramento avoided some really annoying narratives by defeating Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and the Indiana Pacers in convincing fashion. The Kings jumped out to an early lead and never really gave up. It was funny watching frustration mount on Twitter at times when the Kings lead slipped from 25 or 20 points down to just 15 points, but the Kings were in full control of this one even though there were stretches where it felt like the Kings weren’t executing well.
Tyrese Haliburton finished with just 9 points tonight, and ended his three game streak of zero turnovers, finishing with 2 tonight. Buddy Hield had 17 points on 13 shots, and was mercilessly booed every time he touched the ball. Jalen Smith had 22 points before leaving the game with a facial laceration front an inadvertent Malik Monk elbow where the refs missed the initial foul call and ended up assessing a very weak Flagrant 1 against Monk to cover their error. Stud rookie Benedict Mathurin also had 22 points, and showed why he’s received so much hype this season. That kid is special, and he and Haliburton will be a potent duo for years to come.
But enough about the Pacers. This is about Sacramento tonight. Let’s break down the bright spots. Oh and speaking of bright spots, Light The Beam!
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
THE GOOD
- De’Aaron Fox: Fox got back on track after a couple rough games. He finished with 19 points on 7-11 shooting from the field, including 1-1 from 3. Fox also had 6 assists and 5 rebounds, and did all of this in 27 minutes of play. Fox had some huge plays to help secure the lead and allow him to sit for most of the fourth quarter.
- Davion’s Defense: Davion Mitchell’s stat line isn’t going to jump off the page. He finished with 8 points, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal. But make no mistake, Davion was HUGE in this game. He checked Tyrese Haliburton early and often and was swarming. The defensive pressure in this game was great, and Davion was the tip of the spear.
THE Better
- Harrison Barnes: The Black Falcon is back! 22 points on just 9 FGAs, along with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Barnes was a huge part of this win. The Kings are just such a better team when Barnes is firing on all cylinders.
THE best
- Team Basketball: I sometimes struggle with how to put this into words, but the Kings are simply playing as a team in a way that we haven’t seen in a very long time and it is incredible. The ball movement is contagious. Everyone looks to move the ball for a better shot. The defense rotates on a string. It’s team f***ing basketball and when the Kings are executing it, it’s damn tough to beat.
The King of Kings
I’m giving this to Malik Monk. His stat line is absurd: 20 points on 9 shots, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals. And the stat line doesn’t fully capture it. Monk was everywhere in this game and was absolutely incredible. Monk is the best free agent signing the Kings have had in a long time, and he should absolutely earn discussion for 6th Man of the Year
Up Next
Saturday, December 3rd at Los Angeles Clippers, 1:00 PM PT
Tyrese couldn’t get a second of peace when Davion was on him, and Fox ran him around real good, too.
The Sacramento Kings have some incredibly entertaining players, just ridiculous.
Haliburton exposed
he still leaves his feet to pass and this hurt him
It’s amazing to see what good coaching can do for players with so much untapped talent and potential. Sorry to all the former poor first rounders who were sacrificed to sacramento to begin their careers before recently
I like when Fox put his shoulder in to Tyrese’s chest and he got launched like a rocket. That was a statement and it was nice to see from Fox
I along with coach Brown thought that this was overall the best defensive game the Kings have played this year. I keep preaching defense and if the team keeps this part up we will go to the playoffs. Time will tell. Yes this is a total team effort. Mitchell is a stud on defense and if he can do so on offense he will be someone to see. Yes the Kings play team basketball. Players play for each other and are unselfish. My favorite play was on a fast break when Davis who was wide open for a dunk passed the ball to Huerter and let him have some glory. That’s unselfish and team baskeetball. GO KINGS!
Give Monk the key to the city and extend him already now
I feel like has been the most consistent King this season, energy-wise. Even in the Atlanta loss, when most other Kings seemed drained of energy, he was playing the same way, coming out to dunk on someone.
Part of that is his minute load, though, IMO. He’s not playing as many minutes as the starters and that helps him keep his energy level a tad higher.
Good point, and he should stay that way. He’s been a career 6th man (and there is nothing wrong with that) and he’s having a career year to boot. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I’m loving his energy and workload off the bench.
Fitty aint enough but enough to make me Nostradumbass
That’s a lot of wins!
Purple Beam!
I still don’t understand how Jordan Clarkson is slept upon… I Love this guy’s game and so does the franchise…. Also the Kings destroyed some team from a place.
Pacers fell apart in the second half!
The Pacers head off to Utah next.
Beam me up!
Dance thread!
Don’t fake the funk on a nasty Monk!
It was a team win!
Uptown Monk You Up
♫ Beamers….
Beamers….
Beamers…
Beamers.. Are Gonna Kick you in the Face ♫
Did you order this Tyrese Haliburton from Wish.com?
We got one!
Hard to choose King of Kings- can’t really disagree about Malik but on reflection I’d probably go with Domas who was on fire especially in the 1st half. You can’t go wrong either way.
At the end of the 1st, I was certain Domas would have the triple-double by halftime.
Yay! They took care of business like they had to.
Call me petty or merciless but I’m liking this re Buddy
I actually like that we have the same swagger as a fan base as GS, MIA, etc. This year our fans are letting players who shit on us, bad reffing, and brutal fouls from the other team be heard just like they’re letting the good stuff be heard. It’s about time.
100%. I’m over players coming thru here for 16 years, collecting a check, padding stats, and not delivering. Lets stop being the “hey, come on, these are our guys!” type fans and start letting certain players know that they wasted our time and money.
The fan reaction tonight was perfect: tons of love for Hali as he was a total pro and wanted to be here; tons of boos for Buddy who complained to the media about wanting a better contract and played the game to hit his contract incentives.
Wanting a better contract? All he wanted was an extension, as would any player coming off his rookie deal, after leading the team in scoring, and shooting nearly 43% from three on 8 attempts per game, and helping win a playoff drought best 39 games.
Here is what he said
I don’t see any issue with what he said, do you?
There’s also this. Good for the team and team culture for a player to be insulting the org to the media?:
“Sacramento Kings shooting guard Buddy Hield continued to lash out at the team’s contract offers ahead of Monday’s deadline for rookie-scale extensions.
Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported Wednesday the Kings presented a four-year, $90 million offer, while Hield and agent Brandon Rosenthal are pushing for closer to $110 million.
Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee provided the guard’s comments following Wednesday night’s exhibition victory over Melbourne United from Australia:
“I see it like an insult. I feel like I’m worth more than that. If you say I’m your guy and you want to build around me, I just need you to show it. Actions speak louder than words. If you’re just talking and not showing nothing, I’m not going to respect it. I love playing here. I want to be here. This is my home. I’m trying to buy a house here, but everything is on stall mode because I don’t know if they’ll really commit to me.”
Again, I don’t see a problem with what he said. He wanted a fat extension and deservedly so. What he said is really no different than what have the players in the league say when they want an extension.
Go google what Tyler Herro said this offseason before his extension, or Jordan Poole. It’s a normal occurrence.
I think the problem was that the extension talks stretched into camp, where the press continually brought it up, and came close to the deadline. Had his extension come during summer, during the dark days of NBA press, we would have heard nothing.
I find it embarrassing how Hield and Bagley were treated, Buddy in particular. He did what he was asked to do, which is spread the floor, and he did it better than anyone in the league other than Steph Curry for six years.
If he sucked as a point guard, he should never have been put in that position in the first place. There are plenty of things that I wish Buddy had been better at, but that applies to any player you’d care to name.
Hield didn’t miss games, and he was out there 99% of the time, providing shooting at an elite level. Why would any player want to come to Sacramento if a player like Buddy Hield gets booed upon his return by an arena packed with fans?
16.9/4.4/2.5 on 40.2% shooting from three on very high volume. What a hump. This city welcomes back players who didn’t have half the value to the Kings as Buddy Hield.
“But the losses!” Hield was here for six of those sixteen years. I’m happy that the trade was made, because we got Sabonis. Freeing up Buddy’s salary was helpful in making other things happen, and the Kings are better off for it.
He certainly doesn’t deserve your derision for advocating for himself, or intimating that the organization was a shitshow. It was.
“Don’t tell people how to fan!”
Fuck off. Try keeping things in context.
Anytime Bagley shows up, I want to track down Vlade Divac and boo the hell out of him. But not Bagley himself…maybe his dad…
Spencer Hawes, Jason Terry, Marvin Bagley and now Buddy Hield are the only players I’ve ever seen singled out for booing like we saw Buddy get last night. Their supposed offenses were saying or doing something that offended or angered Kings fans. In the case of Hield, his mistake was taking his messy contract negotiations public and including several comments during that time suggesting the Kings should give him what he wanted because no good players would ever come to Sacramento. Suppose that has since been perceived as an unnecessary gut punch to Kings fans from someone who said he wanted to be here.
Get hold of me if you put that into action.
Can’t remember the last time I gave Andy a thumb…let alone the fifth thumb. But I agree. Buddy deserved better and the crowd last night was garbage. MVP chant style ignorance.
You are as soft as a kittens tummy.
Sacramento doesn’t do disrespectful. If you get booed here you earned it. Buddy didn’t earn it.
About 90% of the fans booed Buddy last night, so according to you, Sacramento does do disrespectful. Sorry to let you down.
Nah, I’m against booing him. He was nothing but a pro here, and a very durable one at that. Like I said in the game thread, it would be like booing Jason Thompson if he were to return.
I’m on the fence for this one. On one hand, boo if that’s your jam. If it’s not, don’t boo. I’m not a boo’er anyway (outside of being a smartass about it) so I guess that’s mostly it in my case.
Eh, it is what it is.
I agree. All basketball players are human beings and should be treated as such. I liked what Fox did in post game. Giving Buddy a big huge showed me Fox is a great player and and a great person. What Buddy said about the Kings after the game showed me some class.
But if the Kings lose, smiling at and shaking hands with opposing players shows that Fox isn’t competitive enough!
Shaking hands doesn’t show lack of competitive juices.As a coach I would like you to find someone more competitive than me.Not bragging but telling it like it was. I would make Brown sound like a mime. But after every game win or lose I went over and shook coaches and players hands. That’s what you do.
help me finish this Jack Handy sentence:
when he made the first free throw after the technical foul, I smiled and thought “good for Buddy”, but then when he missed the second …
“…I hope if dogs ever take over the world, and they chose a king, they don’t just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some good ideas.”
Comparing Buddy’s time here and JT’s isn’t fair. JT wasn’t half the distraction or disruptor that Buddy was.
When was he a distraction or disruptor? You can criticize his play at times, but IMO, he was a pro 100% of the time.
Yep. He was a PR distraction during his contract negotiation, but that was pretty much it.
Don’t downplay how bad and distracting it got during the negotiations:
Hield hinted he could push for a trade.
“If it don’t get done,” Hield said, “then I feel like, me and my team might look somewhere else and probably another home. Until then, we’ll see. We’ll what happens here.”
Distracting to whom?
A struggling franchise has one of its best players threatening to blow-up the roster if they don’t get their needs met, and they do it in the media? It certainly didn’t help the team that year.
My guess is that it had zero impact on any teammate (all of whom likely had the attitude of “go get yours!”) or the coaching staff.
It was a sandburger for fans. If they want to boo that, that is their prerogative. Personally, I don’t see the point.
Honestly, all of you guys should have been at the game last night b/c Buddy could have used some love.
Meh. If people wanted to boo, that’s their business. I’m happy that I was not counted among them.
Ha! “If people wanted to boo, that’s their business.”…but you just questioned me for the last hour about why I booed?!
When did I question you? I asked to whom you felt Hield was a distraction. Other than that, I think that I was pretty consistent in saying (a) boo if you like, (b) I really don’t see the point, and (c) I would not personally boo him.
Decaf. Consider it.
Don Rickles over here. Nice one!
I would have been busy actually rooting the Sacramento Kings in a W that the team needed for a variety of reasons.
Boo’ing Buddy probably would have been somewhere around the 1000th item on the to do list for me personally.
The boos were so hard for Buddy last night, I honestly think it would helped change the vibe if the pro-Buddy crowd would have turned out to support him.
Look it’s really this simple. I don’t care if Buddy got boo’d or not. He’s a footnote in the past for me, nothing more nothing less. I wouldn’t have boo’d but I understand that people might. I don’t really care much either way personally outside of I wouldn’t have bothered.
Because he said out loud what every single player has to do every time their contract is up?
I thought that was all a bit silly last night.
I appreciated that Buddy didn’t take any of the bait in his pre-game interview either.
Buddy never showed any basketball humility or self-awareness, and that’s really all he needed to show for Kings fans to forgive all his shortcomings and embrace him (see: Barnes, Harrison). If you’re going to take star money and (more importantly) talk and carry yourself like a star, you need to play like a star. Buddy didn’t. Nobody likes the guy with a big ego but not the skills to back it up. That guy is annoying. Buddy’s contract agitations would’ve been quickly forgotten if he’d come even close to living up to the deal he signed (which, at the time, was widely seen as a fair value based on his play the previous season).
Catch and shoot Buddy was a fan favorite. Buddy trying to be a more complete guard was an interesting experiment but both Walton and Buddy himself should have reeled that in when it was obvious that it wasn’t working.
The Buddy Chuck-its of last year though – yeesh. That was annoyingly self-centered. Going 1-11 on terrible shot selection in an obvious attempt to shoot your way into a trade (one way or another) should have pissed off everyone associated with the team.
Jesus. “Hield needs to prostrate himself before the Kingdom, and beg for forgiveness.”
Absolutely delusional.
What do you know about monarchies?
So you are upset with the contract he got, which you admit was deserving at the time, and the fact that he didn’t live up to it? And was it really star money? It was a 4 year $86M guaranteed contract. For reference, Barnes signed a 4 year $85M extension a few months earlier. Do you boo Barnes if he get traded because he hasn’t performed to his contract?
Are you upset with the even bigger extension that Fox go that he has YET to live up to? If the Kings are floundering at the deadline and Fox is traded, do you boo him too?
I’m not trying to be argumentative, but just want to know if folks are upset with Buddy the person vs. Buddy the player/contract.
If fans are butt hurt over negotiations over a deserved contract extension that spilled into the media near the deadline, than we need thicker skin.
The dude didn’t complain about his role, even when he came off the bench, never was a locker room issue, never an off the court issue, missed just a handful of games over 6 years, was the 2nd best 3pt shooter in the league during that time…but fuck him for wanting to get paid for being the leading scorer on a record setting shit franchise? I don’t get it.
Well said Adam
His interview comments and social media posts didn’t help. ““One minute I made a three they liked me, and then one minute they hate you,” That’s how Sacramento fans are, so you gotta embrace it.”
There was a twitter post complaniing about him scoring 2 points, his response was “dem checks still coming in”
Hield’s assertion in your first paragraph has been proven true, and his twitter response was a perfectly elegant fuck you to the other guy.
“You had two points in a game, loser!”
Check out the other eighty-one, genius.
So we’re booing him for defending himself? I personally like it when people troll the trolls
I’m not in the booing side just stating facts. Buddy and Bagley both implied they didn’t want to be here and got booed. Tyrese stated multiple times he like it here and got a standing ovation. Simple.
Was at the game guy in front of me was like if we’re booing Buddy you got to boo Hali too and he did every chance he got. Tyrese and his pal JJ have talked more crap then Buddy ever did.
The play that stuck out for me was when TD stole the ball and had a clear breakaway with Huerter leading and he chose to pass to Red Velvet for the dunk rather than take the clear path himself. It was true deferential team basketball.
yep
You’re right, but it broke my entire heart not getting to see what TD was going to do. The man nearly flies.
We saw him fly back to back in this one!
I wish Barnes would look to defer around the basket a bit more. He tends to get tunnel vision when driving and will take the harder shot than pass it to someone who has an easier lane alot of the time I notice
We need a Barnes to attack the basket. He gets fouled a lot and shoots great free throws. You can’t always win by shooting threes.
Barnes has a 62.4 TS% while shooting 28% on 3’s this season. He’s been exceptionally efficient since the slow start.
Not being just a spot up 3pt shooter is good for Barnes and the team. Probably the same with Murray…in time
Yep. I think we are seeing the versatility of Harrison Barnes on display this season. It’s valuable in a lot of ways.
When he drives to the basket with that ball over his head, its almost guaranteed to be 2 points, or foul shots.
He is just so damn strong. I really love when he does that.
We’re supposed to want to trade him, remember…?
Oh, we are definitely booing the absolute shit out of HB if he’s playing elsewhere next year.
Squinting from a bar in Terminado, Costa Rica and I can see The Beam.
Wonderful team basketball. The place erupted when Davion blocked the basketball on the steal and layup attempt by a Pacer.
Go Kings!
I can see it and smell it. What a perfect place to watch a Kings game. Go Kings
The elephant in the room remains, however: What needs to be done to get Keegan out of his slump?
And it is definitely a slump. It isn’t just the shooting, he’s making passes that turn the ball over. He’s a cerebral player, and at times it seems that he’s not completely present. Other times, you can literally see him overthinking, he hesitates, the brief window has closed for a shot or pass, and he may force the ball, or freeze the team’s movement.
Murray is going to be a legitimate starter, and I mean this season, but maybe bringing him in with that hyper-athletic second unit could help him find his groove. I really don’t know what ought to be done, but continuing on the same path hasn’t solved it. I doubt it’ll shake his confidence if he gets his 25-30 minutes per game outside of the starting five.
You don’t need to figure it out for him or the franchise…. Keegan is in good hands.
Murray will be fine . Patience is needed and a much better player will be the result .
I agree. He’s a ball player.
I’d be curious to see how the team would do starting Davis for Murray — that lineup has a net rating of +27.5 in 26 minutes, and the best defensive lineup of any group with over 20 minutes this season.
Davis’ shooting, athleticism, poise, and defensive versatility are making waves, and his focus has been really impressive. I think he’s earned a bigger role
You might be right but who will be better in the long haul? He needs to play and with the first unit. I really like Davis, he is a streak shooter and that’s what he is. IMO Murray plays pretty good defense and rebounds well. On offense he needs to drive more and slam it. He is a little hesitant to go all out and duck the sucker.
PS Barnes should be his mentor on this.
He should have never been inserted as a starter, one of the only bad moves coach Brown has made. He’s a rookie and most rookies need time to gain comfort and confidence transitioning to the NBA. Bring him off the bench and allow him to find his footing and to play more against backups to gain confidence.
I disagree but we all have our opinions.
Do you remember those games with KZ as starter?
To be fair, I don’t think anyone suggested that KZ should be the one to start if Murray moves to the second unit.
Did u see him play with 2nd/3rd unit during garbage time? He was better with the starting unit
Good point! Players always look their best playing with the 11-15 guys on the roster.
I very clearly said second unit.
You could make a case that he should come off the bench, but the team won 7 straight with him in the starting unit. Perhaps getting Barnes going is a bigger priority because the team does so well when he’s engaged. I think this is a good opportunity for Keegan to improve his defensive technique and rebounding. We all know he can shoot. If he can develop into a versatile defender who impacts the game even when he’s not hitting 3’s, that’s a pretty good player. He can learn a few tips from Barnes also.
I agree. When Barnes plays his normal game the will probably win more games than they lose. I would rather Murray start and play with the starting unit and learn more in this way. IMO he will be fine once he plays more with the big guys.
Murray mentioned that his first year at Iowa he had to figure out how to play with a dominant player (Luka Garza) and other juniors and seniors. He did that well, then showed he can do more when given a larger role. Be nice to see him get back to being that support player and getting easy buckets when the game comes to him.
I read that he and Garza had a contest to see who would get more rebounds.
It won’t. Brown played him with the second unit quite a bit. I think he will be okay. IMO buy the half of the schedule he will playing much better. He’ll figure it out.
I thought that he played fairly well in the first half. He was terrible in garbage time.
When I see a rookie like Mathurin look so seasoned this early on, I resist the temptation to think that all rookies should be that seasoned. And I don’t give much weight to a guy being a freshman vs. a junior or whatever. An NBA rookie is an NBA rookie, and they all seem to have varying arcs to their learning curve.
Role is a big factor as well. Mathurin came onto a team that was prepared for him to be an immediate scorer. Murray is really an afterthought on offense right now, given the productivity of Fox, Sabonis, Huerter, Monk, and at times Barnes. All of that said, Murray is still 6th on the team in ppg, 4th in rebounds, 1st in blocks (low bar is low on this one), and a potential 1st team rookie if the season ended today.
He has a lot to learn and a ways to go. And he has played 18 games.
I’ve learned this the hard way over the years. There’s no such as a ready made rookie. Either the guys adjusts or he doesn’t. Keegan is slumping for ‘whatever reason insert here’ IMO.
Should he be relegated to the bench? I’m not sure I’m ready to bring Murray off the bench again unless it’s to change his offensive role and perhaps bring out some of his offensive hub capabilities that I think he’s not able to really showcase as a starter nearly as often.
Yep, I think this is maybe why you have to bring Murray off the bench. Not because of his fit ultimately with Sabonis and Fox, but because you need him to be the hub of the 2nd unit offense with Malik Monk.
Murray also seems to be that type of complementary player, a la Harrison Barnes, that will show out based on those around him and the team’s needs. Finding his role is an important component of his development. In that regard, he might be best off right now playing with the best players, as less is asked of him. But to your point, it would be sort of interesting to see him work out of the backup 5 slot on offense. I bet that the could (eventually) do well there in this offense (defense is another matter).
I mean, ultimately Rob, I think he’s the type of guy you ask to be a #2 guy in your offense. Should he be that today? Nah, that’s so rare and unusual.
So is he better off in a stripped down role as a starter or in a souped up role off the bench? I’m not sure. The coaches and FO have an idea and they believe in the kid.
TBH, I think he’s just merely being judged against early production that was largely unsustainable. His rookie season is reminding me of Steph Curry’s, and I think once he figures it out he’ll have a similar ending as Steph’s ended. With one difference of course: The Kings’ll have won enough to make the playoffs. 🙂
Right there with you. I think that there are guys like Jaden Ivey (and maybe Mathurin to an extent) that bring their games with them, and their success is tied to their new teams onboarding and adjusting to them). Then you have guys like Murray (and I’ll use Middleton as an example) that are more complementary and find their way by adjusting to their team. I think that the latter has a less volatile and more prolonged arc. They are also guys that benefit in the long run from being on better teams.
Put another way, all of these guys come into the NBA as stars wherever they played. Guys like Shane Battier adjust and find their NBA role. Guys like Omri Casspi take a little longer to figure it out. Guys like Donte Greene never figure it out). I think that Murray is a lot like Battier when it comes to the head on his shoulders and his approach to figuring out how to contribute to a team. I have seen nothing through 18 games to give me concern over the Kings decision to select him at #4 (and I was an Ivey man).
A lot of people wanted Murray at draft time over Ivey, right or wrong, and I felt like Ivey would require a reshuffling of the roster that would take several years (time the franchise didn’t have) to sort out. If you were going to take Jaden Ivey, there’s no point in trading Tyrese Haliburton. The point would be to draft Ivey to pair with Haliburton long term. I reaiize that isnt possible, but that’s my point: You’re moving on from De’Aaron Fox by taking Jaden Ivey. I still feel that way, haven’t seen any reason to be convinced otherwise.
So, in order to take Ivey, you have to be convinced he’s a clear top 20 NBA player. I didn’t really see any convincing argument that he was that, personally.
That said, that’s I think part of the Murray concern. Ivey got people excited over the idea more than the actuality of him. Murrays value is that he is capable of alot of things starting with defending SF’s. Something Ivey could not do top 20 player or no. Murray profiles as a 3 level scorer, which he has not shown consistently, and we have seen flashes of that already.
There’s a world where Keegan Murray or Jaden Ivey end up the best player in the draft. (Not my bet at this time, but stranger things have happened.) It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if either end up 1 of the 5 best players in this draft. But it would have shocked me if Ivey had ended up in that level if he had been drafted by Sac. I just didn’t see the pathway to success for him in Sac, I still do not.
And that’s what this conversation often comes down to with rookies. Do they have a chance at success at their first stop? Often they do not. Malik Monk was not successful in Charlotte overall, and he left for the Lakers on a cheap 1 year deal. His best basketball of his career is in year 6 in Sacramento on his 3rd NBA team. That happens a lot with NBA players. Will that with Keegan Murray? I don’t know. I am not, after all, Miss Cleo.
Yep. Hell, Detroit gave up on MIddleton after his rookie year to get Brandon Jennings. Milwaukee thanks you Joe Dumars! (Of course that was in 2013 which was long before Milwaukee became a contender but details are stupid and should be ignored at all costs if they get in the way of a narrative.)
I would have been happy with Jeremy Sochan (who I wanted more than Murray; I don’t know that would have been the best idea either) or Dyson Daniels or even Bennedict Mathurin and Shaedon Sharpe. I saw paths to their success in Sac that I could never see with Jaden Ivey. But, in retrospect, I think Murray is the right pick.The only guys I take over Murray are the 3 ahead of him, and that was the consensus on draft day. Sometimes what you know the day of is accurate as you move down the line. And sometimes it’s not. And that’s the way it works.
Murray started slow at Iowa, too. (So did Kris if you look at his numbers. And I have no trouble seeing Kris as a lottery pick in 2023.) Guys need time to figure themselves out, figure out their rhythm, and I think the most intriguing thing is that Mike Brown isn’t treating Keegan as a rookie. He’s treating him as a NBA player and expecting him to perform as such. In the long run, as steep a curve as that is, that’s I think is best for Keegan’s development. He’s got the body, he’s more than athletic enough (my biggest pet peeve right now is how soft Keegan is around the rim) and the skillset is obviously there.
Player A: ORtg: 102 DRtg: 107
WS/48: .065
TS%: 52.6%
Minutes: 2058
DRB%: 14.6%
Player B: ORtg: 94 DRtg: 115
TS%: 51.4%
Minutes: 515
DRB%: 12.1%
Player A is Harrison Barnes’ rookie season. Player B is Murray.
I bet when we revisit this conversation in April (and March, and February, and January, and every day this month), Murray will have numbers very similar to Barnes rookie year in Golden State. They might even be a little better because Murray is a better shooter than Barnes is.
I’m excited to see what Keegan Murray has to offer personally, and one of the reasons I’m not concerned is that the Kings don’t need to lean on Murray to win games today. They are doing that on the backs of the other 9 players who are already NBA players themselves with Murray doing what he’s doing that particular night. At this point what Keegan offers you is a cherry on top. That’s…..encouraging. Well encouraging to me at least.
Good points, but I disagree with the idea that Murray is considered an afterthought on offense in the starting unit. He isn’t the main guy, and doesn’t need to be, but all anyone talked about was how he could spread the floor with his shot, and it isn’t happening. Keegan being a reliable scorer is a component of whether the Kings succeed.
The kid can play, and as I said, he will be a starter who has earned his place before the season is through. I don’t worry about Murray being a bust, not in the least. Over the past month, he’s not getting something that he needs. I don’t know what it is, but forcing him out there with the starting unit hasn’t solved it. I want him to play, and a lot, but when he’s not hitting shots, he’s been a drag on the team.
I’d like to see his circumstances change, and just see if maybe it gets him out of his own head, and back on track.
Rank him among starting scoring options: Fox, Sabonis, Huerter, Barnes, Murray. I would rate him 5th, which is where he should be with that group after having played 18 games. He’s actually ahead of Barnes in shots per game, but behind Monk. So he’s taking the 5th highest amount of shots on a very good offensive team, and 6th in ppg.
He’s 32-101 from 3. Hit 5 more of those and your percentage looks pretty strong for a rook. I’ll dismiss that to learning curve, inexperience, getting to know the NBA game.
18 games.
18 games.
Mathurin shot a little over 35% 6-17 on twos, 0% 0-4 from 3, 2 reb, 0 ast. He made his money at the line 10-11 and we all know Kings not getting the calls.
Davion tortured Hali in the late season win in Indiana last season . May be a pattern .
Davion tortures a lot more players than Hali. I am thrilled that the Kings have Davion Mitchell on our side. IMO Monty drafted a great defensive player.
At the time I did not understand drafting Davion. But seeing that he is a piece that a lot of good teams need, it starts to make sense now, in hindsight. Let’s hope he continues to expand his offensive game and get more comfortable in his limited yet highly important and effective role.
When it comes down to the last couple of minutes and the score is close I think you will understand why Mitchell is on the floor.
Oh, I understand why he is on the floor Dude hounds offensive players.
Was telling my son I just want a game where we get a nice 15 point lead and cruise to an easy win. This game was better than that. 7 Kings in double digits, TD and Monk electric there for a minute. Mathurin reminds me of D Wade. Kinda wish we’d taken him instead of Murray, but then we’d have 5 SGs. Watching Delly, I wondered if we should have kept Quinn Cook instead. Was disappointed in the boos for Buddy. He was a goofball, but he was our goofball.
A quarter of the way in….and the ORtg is 116 (5th in the NBA and just behind Utah by a very small smidge), DRtg is 113.6 (22nd in the NBA), and the Net Rtg is 2.4 good for 8th in the NBA. Seems fair and about right for a team, right or wrong, is 11-9 at this juncture. Over an 82 game season winning at this pace amounts to a 45 win team.
Am I happy overall? You bet. I have no complaints as I think 11-9 was a realistic record for the Kings given where they started at and how far they have left to go.
The Kings aren’t a championship contender, not yet, but they sure as shit got their attention. Devin Booker just dropped 51 on the Bulls in 3 quarters, and the Billy Donovan was talking about their lack of attention to detail. Sure that was a road game for the Bulls vs a home game for the Kings, but still. The Suns have picked it back up a bit after having a pretty so-so November. So glad the Kings caught them when they did!
And, yes, I say that last line without irony. It’s a competitive league, you want competitive players, and you want people upset when you lose to a contender even at home. You also want petty back-biting and sniping the way the Pacers universe is right now. (The notion that Malik Monk somehow committed some egregrious non-basketball act against Jalen Smith is a perfect example.) The Kings came out and dropped the bomb on the Pacers. And they pretty much did it from opening tip.
I was doing an errand and listened to parts of the game (well I was when the radio wasn’t cutting out) and it was pretty clear that early the Kings didn’t have enough offense. Then, Mitchell, Okpala subbed in for Fox and Murray and that’s when the worm turned. The Kings were up 16-12 with 6:20 left after 2 made Barnes FT’s. By the 2:44 mark of the 1st qtr (which included a Monk for Barnes substitution), the Kings are up 26-16 on the strength of a Mitchell and Huerter 3’s, a Barnes and Monk layup. Sabonis AND Fox were both off the floor for the last minute of that stretch.
The Kings were up 126-94 with 7 and 1/2 minutes to go. But here’s a fun fact that I thought extremely interesting: Rick Carlisle had burned through everyone of his timeout’s by that point. As a matter of fact, because I was curious, Rick Carlisle burned through his last timeout….with 2:05 remaining…in the third quarter. When’s the last time the Kings opponent did this? I don’t honestly remember.
There are a number of things about the early 00’s Kings teams that I remember, but quite often there were several things that stuck out (and still stick out). One was how many assists that group racked up, and two was how many players they had in double figures consistently. The Kings had 7 guys in double figures, and both Mitchell and Metu could have hit that mark as well as they were each 2 points away. Anytime you have 7-9 guys in double figures you are doing a lot of things right.
The bottom line is pretty simple. You just beat a team by 25 with either of your All-Star players not playing major minutes, tons of contributions from all over the roster, your highly touted rookie isn’t even really in the full swing of things, and your bench still has a lot of rough spots. Above and beyond all that, you still have roster construction issues.
And the Kings still could have a 45 win team, or better, by the time it’s all said and done. Goddamn right I’m happy about that.
Great comment.
Based off those net rating numbers, I’d say this team is more like 13-7 which would give them the 3rd seed in the West. Those early season losses that should’ve been wins equate to 11-9, but I see a team that is a few games better than that.
I’d like to agree with you on this one but alas I cannot. I’m not really that upset as I think the Kings, at most, are a game off the pace. The game ‘that got away’ IMO is the PDX game and well, shit, you’ll have those over the course of 82. It just is what it is. And there’s no guarantee that if you win that game you are 12-8 at this time.
Top 5 offense + mediocre to below avg defense = 45 wins. That’s what this team feels like, maybe with a bit better defense as the season moves along. Plus they light beams and chortle and pass and shoot and all that shit. It’s pretty damn fun to watch this team, and it’s a lot more fun to watch than comment during games these days for me.
Question. What did you think of their defense last night not counting the last five minutes? IMO if we discount players who aren’t normally in the game the last 5 minutes, don’t get me wrong, they should have played more, we would have held the Pacers short of 100 points. My point is we can play defense and if we buy into and implement Brown’s philosophy on defense we might even win more that 45 games.
I think the point you bring up is my biggest reason for optimism. This is a complex offense that takes a lot of teamwork and quick thinking to execute, and they are already doing it at a high level. What is it going to be in twenty five to thirty games more? By playoff/play in time? I think by then we will see a much improved Murray and Mitchell as well.
Likewise, the defense has at the very least been high effort, and there is definitely a plan. I bet this team finishes a lot closer to league average by the end of the year than the bottom of the league.
This coaching staff has done some work, and has great buy in. Look at the contribution they are getting from Metu this last month. Just terrific work all the way around, and I am excited to see how polished and potent this team gets with experience and familiarity through the season.
I thought their defense was league average last night. Which is exactly where I was hoping it would be given what the Kings are working with personnel wise.
Where this team really thrives is offensively, and where they truly thrive is when they are flying up and down the floor as an unit (especially without Fox). You need players who can play both ends as an unit and that’s what Brown is working towards developing. It takes time, and it takes time understanding that shot selection and not turning the ball over are just as much a function of good defense as defending your man or boxing out can be.
It’s a work in progress this team, no question. But I liked the effort and attitude displayed on defense by alot of guys (from what I saw). It sounded good when I heard Gary Gerould describe it last night.
If in the near future we starting to play defense as to the league’s average then I will be a happy man.
If you take out the 0-4 start, the Kings are 17th in DRtg at 112.6 which is pretty close to average. On the season, including those 4 games, the Kings are at 113.6 DRtg.
I think they’ve been alot closer to average in the aggregate than people realize Jack.
Totally agree on the timeouts. Great call!
A quarter of the way into the season.
6th in the WC
10th in the league.
6th in point differential.
So much fun.
The fans at G1C were rocking last night. Even watching on a computer screen, it just seemed bananas and loud as basketball hell.
So happy to see Kings fans enjoying a good basketball team again.
I mentioned that to my wife. I said that the game experience might be something that we will need to witness in person. It’s probably the first time since they hired Walton that I feel like buying a game ticket.
Yeah, who knows how long it’ll last, and maybe we shouldn’t take this exciting time for granted. The players have been fortunately healthy. If a big injury came along (bite my tongue)…
I was able to see the Beam in person, and the photos/videos you see don’t do it justice. When you look up at it, it seems to go on forever and so high up. It’s majestic.
The aliens will attack here first. Thanks, Vivek!
I think it takes about 4.37 light years for the BEAM to reach the next galaxy.
So Vivek has a few years to develop a defense system. Hopefully better than a 22nd-ranked defense system.
You mean, the nearest star that’s still within our galaxy.
D’oh!
I stand corrected. 🙂
Can even see it from Costa Rico.
I believe that it’s Costco Rica.
“Rich Coast”
Is that anywhere near Kosta Koufos?
That’s either near Greece, or Ohio!