It feels as if I have not had to write about this team for fifteen years. In reality, I just somehow weaseled my way out of the last three recaps and the Kings got to enjoy a full three days off. Has it been a nice little personal respite? Definitely. Do I feel refreshed? Somewhat. Am I ready to get back to talking all things Kangz with the best fan base in the world? Always. The Kings entered tonight following two impressive wins over the Los Angeles Clippers and looked to extend their winning streak (two games is technically a streak) by defeating the Orlando Magic. This felt like a perfectly winnable game – the Kings had just had three days off, they had some momentum behind them, the Magic had won only five games so far this season, and they were coming off of a 31-point loss to the Warriors. The stars felt aligned for a happy hump day. Let’s see how the Kings responded:
Quick Stats
Outcome: Kings win, 142-130
Sacramento Kings: 142 pts, 54.6% fg, 44.1% 3 pt, 84.0% ft, 24 ast, 43 reb, 8 to
Orlando Magic: 130 pts, 49.5% fg, 47.1% 3 pt, 78.3% ft, 29 ast, 43 reb, 12 to
Oh, happy hump day to all us Muggles! Cole Anthony used every spell he could tonight, finishing with 33 points and six made 3s, but the Kings brought more firepower with seven players finishing in double digits. As the score reveals, defense was a rarity, but the Kings’ offense never stopped rolling. De’Aaron Fox led with 33 points of his own, followed by 18 a piece from Tyrese Haliburton and Davion Mitchell.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good
- Shot Selection: The first thing I noticed in this game was that the Kings weren’t settling for outside looks. Terence Davis got the start tonight after his big game against the Clippers, and I was afraid he would come out firing, looking to continue his hot shooting streak. However, he showed an intentional approach on offense where he first looked to probe the defense and attack the paint for easy baskets. This kind of attention to shot selection resulted in the Kings finishing 44.1% (15-34) from deep and getting to the free throw line 25 times.
- Third Quarter Response: I’ll talk more about the first half defense later, but spoiler alert: it was ugly. The third quarter has been a haunting place for the Kings in the past, so I was fearful that their 3-point lead may turn into a 30-point deficit after the half. Instead, we got a rejuvenated team out of the break who finally started to show some alertness on the defensive end. The Kings forced seven turnovers and turned many of these opportunities into fast break points. After keeping it close in the first half, the Kings were finally able to create some significant separation from the Magic in the third, finishing the quarter with a 12-point lead. This was an important step for this team. They identified a problem (albeit a BIG, glaring one), calculated an adjustment, and put forth the effort to address it.
- Bench Mob: The Kings’ bench came up big for them tonight. Davion Mitchell finished with 18 points, Marvin Bagley III contributed 12 points, and after Richaun Holmes went down with yet ANOTHER eye injury, Tristan Thompson stepped in to give the Kings 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bad
- Read the Room, Buddy: While many players have shown improvement in their individual performance under Alvin Gentry (i.e. De’Aaron Fox, Terence Davis, & Marvin Bagley III), Buddy Hield has struggled to find a rhythm in this new system. He had a rough night, going 1-10 from 3-point land and playing only 17 minutes. While the Kings were finding early success by giving up outside looks for paint touches, Buddy failed to fit into this flow. Instead of hunting for open 3s within the flow of the offense, Buddy tried to create his own looks off the dribble and often early in the shot clock. The final straw was a desperate logo heave with 30 seconds left on the clock at the end of the third quarter.
The Ugly
- First Half Defense: I won’t spend much time here because we all know what ugly Kings defense looks like. The Magic spent the first half taking what the Kings’ defense was giving them and that happened to be a lot of open looks and easy baskets. Cole Anthony and Gary Harris enjoyed open lanes and looks to combine for 30 points.
The King of Kings
De’Aaron Fox had what felt like an official John Wick “yeah I’m thinking I’m back” game, but the person I want to crown tonight is Tyrese Haliburton, who finished with a double double (18 points & 11 assists). What impressed me beyond this stat line was Tyrese’s takeover in the fourth quarter. While Fox was getting his rest, Tyrese became a Leader with a capital L for this team. He was handing out alley oops left and right, calling for the ball in transition, and vocally energizing this team. Once Fox made his return, he was able to ride the momentum and flow created by Tyrese and cash in his final 10 points.
Up Next
Friday, December 10th @ Charlotte Hornets – 4:00 P.M.
We’re streaking!
Dance!
I’d be remiss not to point out that there are still 57 games left to play and we’re only 9.5 games back from the #1 seed. Also, Gentry has the 2nd highest winning percentage in franchise history. On to Charlotte to sting the Hornets.
Let’s go folks!!
Should be a lot of buzz going into the Charlotte game!
Accio win streak!!!
Avoided a loss in a trap game. Poor defense- sometimes excellent but just not consistent.
Man, that Buddy will not turn down a shot.
AG has revived TD and he is a poor man’s buddy or Buddy is a poor man’s TD.
Not sure about Holmes injury- eye again?
Holmes next game.
Captain Ron’d.
Plissken’d
Eh, needs more automatic weapons for that.
Bamba accidentally slapped down across Holmes’ face on a pump fake. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious.
Mini win streaks like this are where Lucy tees up the football for us again.
The only counter to this is how they do in this 3 game in 4 day stretch. I think they are capable of 2-1, but we’ll see.
The way the Kings killed the Hornets at G1C, I have a feeling those guys are going to be gunning on Friday. Hope the Kings can weather that storm.
They haven’t forgotten. But it’s really about how well they’re playing and how well the Kings are playing tomorrow night. Are the Kings to give in to excuses and play like shit because they had a 5 hour cross country flight the day before? Are the Hornets able to get better shots without LaMelo Ball than they did against Philly?
The Hornets aren’t also-rans. They have talented players there. It’s their homecourt. They are going to come to play. What would be surprising is if they didn’t. The question is whether the Kings can match and exceed that energy and execute their plays on both ends. Do the Kings have the appropriate attitude and energy? Will they let the Hornets zone them up that so many teams (especially the Clippers) got away with recently?
Guess we’ll find out.
I would be a lot more optimistic if the Kings were defensively tough. Defense can be learned. Even what Davion does in on-the-ball defense was learned through practice and commitment. The Kings were very bad in how they defended against screens, consistently leaving shooters open. Team defense can be coached and practiced. I will believe in this team when they start to show defensive consistency.
Bags and Fox building up value in time for trade deadline. Buddy secretly want to remain Kangz4LifeInHell
Seriously, have we started building the Gentry statue yet?
This is an attempt at humor but rather lame in reality.
2nd highest winning percentage in Seagrams/Pros/Royals/Kings franchise History.
This joke is also beneath you.
I beg to differ. Some would say that actually following this team is beneath us all, but here we are.
Fair.
Waffles.
Waffles are amazeballs. Those jokes….. were not.
While this is not debatable, I think your normal jokes are better than that. Simple.
Your comment is beneath his!
My comment is beneath yours!
Could you pimp slap this dumbass championship banner for me? I’m getting tired of his existence.
So who’s trading Fox for Simmons now?
Please?
FUCK NO TO THE ABSOLUTE FUCK NO TO IT’S FULLEST.
Me.
Anybody who’s watched any decent amount of basketball?
Certainly not Morey.
Not unless he loses both Maxey and Curry to injury during this season. Embiid’s window is short (propensity for injury is also a factor in this) and if Morey absolutely needed a good guard, Fox might be in the convo for a Simmons deal.
This game made me smile
(except the defense)
I’ll just be sitting here, waiting for Sims to defend Buddy again…
He has a short memory.
I’ll not forget this shit, though.
….King of Kings—Tyrese was also snatching passes from the Magic out of thin air!
He seemed like the sparkplug to pull the Kings ahead and away.
Interest is piqued! Let’s go! Murder the hornets!
WHAT?
Winning is always good. Orlando are a bad team though.
How our Kings play over the next five games will show their goodness or badness for sure
The Kings are now 9-6 with Kyle Draper as the play-by-play guy!
What Kings fans don’t understand is Kayte sits right next to Kyle.
Holy shi were in the play-in
Did the play-in already occur?
What would it take to trade for Myles Turner?
Seems like he is highly underutilized by the Pacers. Given his ability to space the floor as a big he would theoretically fit snuggly next to Holmes and the havoc those two could cause on defense would be something.
Fox
Hali
Barnes
Holmes
Turner
That’d be a solid starting five.
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/12/8/22823195/myles-turner-domatas-sabonis-indiana-pacers-trade-deadline
It would appear he’d likely be the one on the move from Indy as well.
https://twitter.com/TimMaxwell22/status/1468950001078308864
He’d be so great here. I’d think that the Pacers would insist on Haliburton, and realistically, it would also make sense for Holmes to go out with him. Holmes deserves minutes, as would Turner, and trying to thread the needle on that would probably not make either of them happy.
I don’t think I’d take that deal, but I’d sure do whatever I could to get Turner, he’s a real one.
And six centers?
Turner for Bagley and Thompson works in the trade machine. If the Pacers want to tank the season and get $20M of instant salary relief afterwards they might actually go for that.
That was my thought. Two expirings and a first round pick. If they want Mitchell included, so be it.
No. This is Myles Turner we’re talking about, not Kareem Abdul Jabbar. An exaggerated example, but the grass is not greener in Indiana. Myles Turner isn’t that good. Better than Bagley and Thompson of course, but not good enough to include Mitchell.
Thankfully Monte McNair isn’t that blind and seems to have a good feel for what players should and are actually worth.
I have NO interest in Myles Turner, and suspect neither does our GM.
Nice win…
really good and feel nice to see Tyrese keep doing the PG job……..
and of course, Mitchell starting to hit some shots……..
So last night was one of those good/bad deals. On one hand, the Kings won. On the other, it was a bad win. Orlando’s bad, and 18 minutes of solid defensive basketball was essentially the difference in the game. Can you win doing that in Charlotte, Cleveland or Toronto? Of course you can’t.
It’s also equally true that if the Kings won by 25, it would be written off as beating a bad team. And, that’s equally true too. Nothing happened last night that was going to change the minds of anyone. That’s just the reality of what happens with a bad team like Orlando. They come in, you either dominate them or do just enough to beat them and you move on to the games that matter.
Which is, of course, subtext for my real point. What’s going to happen over the next 3 weeks is likely to determine the season.
Starting Friday, which includes one of two sets of times you play outside the Pacific time zone over the next 5 weeks, you play a total of 15 home games and 7 road games. The other ‘time’ you play outside of the Pacific TZ is in Denver for a single road game. The other road games, besides the 3 coming up, are in Frisco, LA & PDX. Here’s the schedule:
Fri, Dec 10, 2021 @Charlotte Hornets
Sat, Dec 11, 2021 @Cleveland Cavaliers
Mon, Dec 13, 2021 @Toronto Raptors
Wed, Dec 15, 2021 Washington Wizards
Fri, Dec 17, 2021 Memphis Grizzlies
Sun, Dec 19, 2021 San Antonio Spurs
Mon, Dec 20, 2021 @Golden State Warriors
Wed, Dec 22, 2021 Los Angeles Clippers
Sun, Dec 26, 2021 Memphis Grizzlies
Tue, Dec 28, 2021 Oklahoma City Thunder
Wed, Dec 29, 2021 Dallas Mavericks
Fri, Dec 31, 2021 Dallas Mavericks
Sun, Jan 2, 2022 Miami Heat
Tue, Jan 4, 2022 @Los Angeles Lakers
Wed, Jan 5, 2022 Atlanta Hawks
Fri, Jan 7, 2022 @Denver Nuggets
Sun, Jan 9, 2022 @Portland Trail Blazers
Mon, Jan 10, 2022 Cleveland Cavaliers
Wed, Jan 12, 2022 Los Angeles Lakers
Sun, Jan 16, 2022 Houston Rockets
Wed, Jan 19, 20221 Detroit Pistons
Which will require this team to focus, pay attention to detail, do the little things, get to the 50 50 balls, all the normal stuff that gets talked about.
This is a typical NBA schedule for a West Coast team. You play heavy stretches at home and on the road. (Middle earth teams play a mix of home and road consistently. East teams play heavier batches of home and road like the West Coast teams. Generally.)
At the end of the day, this group is Rorschach test. If you don’t believe in them, they’ll give you reasons why. If you want to believe in them, they’ll give you reasons why. That’s not atypical of most teams, but I don’t say that about the Kings usually. I expected them to be bad last year, and before the trades, they were for the most part. Especially defensively. They were very heavily dependent on a few things going well every night to win. This year? Not so much.
How much impact has Alvin Gentry had? Some cherry picked numbers for you.
De’Aaron Fox has had 35.5 3PT% on a tick under 4 attempts a game. He’s also shooting 81% rom the FT line on a tick over 6 attempts a game.
Tyrese Haliburton is a tick under 41% on 5.5 3PA a night.
Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes don’t factor much because of the games missed and the two Holmes left due to the eye issue. (I hope that doesn’t linger. Richaun Holmes is one of my favorite players in the league to watch.)
Terence Davis has hit (after the hot streak) 37% of his 3’s on 7.2 attempts a night.
Chimezie Metu has grabbed 6 defensive boards (although he was doing that under Walton).
Marvin Bagley (can’t believe I’m typing this but it’s been that kind of season) has had some very interesting numbers all the way around under Gentry. A bit under 42% on 2 3PA a game. 62.5% on 6 FGA. 5 defensive boards and a tick under 2 offensive rebounds a night. 4 Assists……. to 4 turnovers. (Didn’t see that one coming. Especially with a big man not known for passing.)
I could bring up Davion Mitchell and Buddy Hield, but I don’t think you could have expected everything to be happy happy joy joy with every player in the rotation. In a make or miss league, Buddy is missing shots. He’ll also make some for you, and might help you win a game or two on this road trip if he gets hot. Davion’s offense in the last several weeks has ticked up and his defense is still awesome. Davion is proving to be quite the valuable young player for this team.
This team has a ton of interesting depth pieces but it still comes down to what it always comes down to: You need star pieces at the top to make it all work. De’Aaron and Tyrese both have not been those guys consistently this year. Maybe they are making adjustments and improvements (and that seems evident in some ways) and maybe this is just another flash in the pan moment.
But 5 weeks from now, we’ll find out where this team is likely going for the next year or two. It’ll be interesting to see what team shows up, and whether tuning them out or tuning in is the better idea. I’m hoping it’s tuning in, but with this group and their recent very bad history odds are it’s tuning out.
Let it be said though: The opportunity is there. They just have to play the right way to cash it in.
So last night was one of those good/bad deals…
Hey, get your own shtick!
DeAaron is back.
Fox is DeError’n no more.
A lot of the pretend pundits around here, bless their little hearts, had written off TD, as an afterthought or worse. I never lost faith. TD is saving our season!
I wasn’t sure what Coach Alvin would do with the return of HB , whether that meant Metu or TD to the bench , but I did know the three guard set, Holmes and Barnes, creates space and pace most conducive for Fox to thrive, to be our superstar get that easy breezy 30 PPG with takeover in the crunch. Have you noticed he does not have that round face with the chubby cheeks, that has not hurt either!
The first and foremost consideration when deciding lineups is what enables Fox to fluorish most? Every other consideration is secondary. Well , that is TD as a starter. Ty likes to be on the floor with TD too. The tempo and energy is synergistic. It is a better version of last year with Buddy as a starter.
The (fatal) mistake the former coach made is he did not accentuate teams strengths, too preoccupied trying to address weaknesses. In trying to fix what we did poorly, rebound and defend and run half court, he neutralized and negated what we did well, that is, run, scrap, and unleash Fox.
This woebegone appraoch was reflected in Fox sour demeanor, NO love loss, NO tears shed when Fluke was canned. Fox was miserable, not meeting his expectations, and because he was trying to make it work with this fraud of a coach throwing shit on the wall, Mo Scoreless, idling in place in a shrunken floor.
Fox was bloated too. Bloat will rarely cause a cheerful disposition.
The revelation is this. The three guard set is going to help Ty and Fox be their best, and as TD and Davion continue to make their mark with hustle hops defending up, and, YES, make their 3s at a league average or better , we do NOT need Buddy Yield.
He does not fit. He’s the odd man out. We are trying to win and we don’t need his proven loser tendencies. I have been saying this for two years!
I have called Buddy a madman, borderline insane with the way he plays. After last night embarassing display, who can argue?
He played 17 minutes, a season low, but his time on the court felt interminable.
What was he doing pulling up in transition launching from near center court logo?
So pathetic!
So thirsty!
I have seen middle aged men at the club with a rug on their head and $5 cologne conduct themselves with more self respect.
Buddy was missing everything while we were shredding ORL with drive and kicks, yet he has to try deliver the dagger when he was goose eggs all night?
Buddy wants to win but on his terms, where he can hit and flex before the crowd.
Buddy is 4-33 over the last 5 games from deep, 12%. Over 6 games, he is 7-46 for 15%.
The defenders of Buddy will say this ” Well he is in a slump. He will break out of it”.
My response is “who cares”, I don’t care if he breaks out of the slump.
The best of Buddy is NOT worth waiting for.
Jamius Ramsay or Louie King are better options than Buddy.
***
Sabonis would be perfect with our three guard set at PF, to get all the boards and set picks.
We need frontline playmaking too.
HB is suboptimal at PF.
We give up so much size there and with Holmes undersized too.
We need Sabonis or the future version of Neemias Queta.
You can play HB at 4 if you have this monster in the middle, the actualized version of Queta.
Who Queta can be is exciting, but this beast in training is 9-12 months away, minimum.
So we need to go HARD for Sabonis.
I like him more than Siakam for this team.
How about Marvin, 2022 unprotected pick, 2024 unprotected pick and we will sweeten the pot by giving you Queta to facilitate your rebuild ?
Of course you would like to get rid of Buddy in this deal but IND is hanging up the phone at mention of his name so lets not go there.
This deal is probably a pipe dream because IND is going to say well, if you are keeping the players we want (Davion and / or Ty and / or Fox) then the unprotected picks are not going to be as valauble.
The asset I would be willing to surrender in a Sabonis deal is HB. But since HB is probably not appealing to a team going into rebuild mode, we would need to get a third team involved.
Make it happen McGenius!
I know you aren’t a salary cap guy (and yes I know you’re a guy despite what the dumbass championship banner said), but I’m going to point out that your proposed trade CANNOT happen under the CBA. It would have to be tweaked in a number of ways.
First, because both the Pacers and Kings are over the cap, the rules of the traded player exception apply. (All links are to that Larry guy’s FAQ or Spotrac for salary info.)
Second, Queta could not be traded due to the fact he’s a TWP. The Kings, in theory, could convert his contract using the Mid Level or Minimum Salary exceptions and then trade Queta once the trade restriction was lifted. But that’s highly unlikely and would need to be done in the next week or so. That’s just so not likely.
Third, you almost assuredly would need to move one of Buddy Hield, Tristan Thompson or Harrison Barnes to make the money work. Chances are other players get involved. Think, quite likely, somebody like Caris LeVert coming to the Kings.
Sabas Jr, LeVert for Buddy, Bagley, Jah’mius Ramsey plus the 2 unprotected firsts in ’22 and ’24. Perhaps the Kings really try to move LeVert to a 3rd team. I probably would in that scenario unless you think LeVert works here differently than Buddy Hield. I don’t necessarily. Or, if Ramsey isn’t the guy you’re interested in moving, Damian Jones is a possibility as well. He’s a depth piece, and the Kings can use Queta in those moments that Jones was getting minutes in the current setup.
Both teams are both at 15 players so either Ramsey gets taken out of the deal entirely (not impossible) or somebody like Brad Wanamaker, Kelan Martin, Oshae Brisset, or Isaiah Jackson gets put in the deal to make it work. Remember K4E, roster limits always apply, and during the season it’s limited to the maximum of players (15) you can put out there. Also keep in mind Two Way Contracts (TWC) do not apply to the roster as they are hybrid G-League/NBA players and are paid under a different scale and set of circumstances. That’s why you cannot trade Queta. That is a setup to help develop a player, like Queta and King, and quite simply nothing else.
Either way, I think you’re on the money with a Sabas trade. He makes a lot of sense with this group even though I think that’s a tough fit with Holmes defensively.
Let me offer an addendum on Queta because I forgot the rule of signing a FA is either trade him 3 months after signing or Dec 15th (whichever is later). Which means, simply, that the Kings cannot trade Queta this season to anyone until at least their season ends, and that’s assuming he’s signed by mid January.
Either way, the whole point of signing Queta will be to keep him in all likelihood due to the low cost and his development upside. I think the bigger point is that he’s a long term project that they plan to, if all goes well due to having his draft rights, they can sign to a longer term contract next off-season when it’s more feasible and prudent to do so.
I should point out that I was wrong about trading Queta. He can be traded as a Two Way Contract player, but not as a standard exhibit 10 NBA contract player.
That said, I see no reason for the Kings to do that.
Was that middle-aged guy with the rug on his head, by any chance, someone from this site?
Cannot get myself to enjoy the wins over bad teams anymore.
This team is garbage. They have relied on mediocre play occasionally beating bad teams to keep the fans interested.
Time to actually be a real team.
I’m curious, but what if the Kings were to win 2 of 3 this weekend/Monday against Charlotte, Cleveland and Toronto? They are all about the same quality of teams, and in the case of the Hornets they don’t have LaMelo Ball due to COVID protocols. Cavs don’t have Sexton, but they’re still doing alright. Raps are all over the place (except when they play Sacramento apparently).
So I’m curious, what would it take to change your POV towards this team?
Consistently put out a legitimate effort to win games. Consistently bench players that are not putting effort into the game. Consistently bench players that are not playing team basketball. Alvin Gentry continuing to call out the players for not doing enough. Change the roster until there is core that will play to win.
Pursuing the play in after 15 years of stupidity is a joke. Setting the bar at mediocrity is part of the cultural problem. “It’s ok guys. We can still make the play in…..”. Like telling a third grader that reading is optional…..as long as you can say half of the alphabet we are making progress….
Overall this organization needs to reset the standard that is acceptable.
I’ll never understand the concept of hate-watching/following. People will try and sell you on something by telling you that life is short, but they’re wrong. It’s long, often difficult and painful, and to voluntarily spend any of it on a leisure activity that just adds to that?
I get self-loathing, trust me. But this kind of self-abuse?* What would need to happen for you to put down this heavy-ass bag of rocks that you’ve chosen to tote around?
*This is not a blanket condemnation of self-abuse. Like I said, life is long.
Not hate watching. Just rarely watch an entire game anymore. I watch other teams play.
Not much to celebrate when you beat a bad 5-21 team. More concerning is that Orlando scored 130 points when they normally average 101 points. This victory is a golf clap at best.
It’s more about the player performances than the result. A lot of guys seemed to be showing their best selves, albeit mainly on offense.
Really loved Fox’s effort on D, though. He’s just so damned quick, and he studies hard. If he can bring that consistently, it won’t matter if his offensive numbers drop, we’re not hurting for players who can score.
Yeah, seeing Fox, TD, Haliburton, Mitchell playing well was good to see, even if it’s against a mediocre foe. And seeing Bagley play good teamball is very encouraging.
I don’t think we’ll see it much, if at all, but if there’s a quicker and faster lineup than one that includes Fox, Mitchell, and Davis, I can’t imagine it. Waterbugs, all.
Disappointed that Anthony got 33 with Mitchell and Fox the primary defenders
Meh, bad defense, but also Magic hit some shots they would not normally hit. They have beaten Denver so they can turn it on from time to time.
Oh, and PS: We won, as a Kings fan you should be happy.
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