Hey, Good morning afternoon! We’re not going to talk about last game! We’ve grow too much in these last few years in Kings basketball and seen too much to go back to doom posting and as such, we’re just not going to talk about last game! The Nets are in town, which means the return of coaches Jordi Fernandez, Deividas Dulkys and Dutch Gaitley for the first time since moving over to the Brooklyn bench and I’m sure a call or two from the peanut gallery that we should have fired Brown and kept Jordi, especially after the display we all saw on… We’re NOT going to be talking about last game! Cam Thomas, a scoring extraordinaire! Cam Johnson, the swiss army knife power forward! How about CAM the Nets leave a couple of guys for us when they leave town tonight??
Let’s talk Kings basketball (just not about last game)!
When: Sunday, November 24th, 6:00 PM PST
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
TV: NBCSCA
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140 AM
For Your Consideration
Three The Hard Way: We’re cutting the entire breakdown of last game here because, I still just don’t want to talk about it. Don’t want to talk about 29 points at half time on three days rest, don’t want to talk about coming back to cut it to eight and then literally giving up the ghost right then and there, we’re just, no, nope, sorry… the days have passed and the memory is short.
Tonight’s game against the Nets is another one of those games that on paper the Kings should be decently favored in – better top end talent, better supporting cast, more experience yadayadayada. The Kings have been out of sorts for a week and change now, roller-coastering from decent on little rest and without three of their best players to garbage with three days rest and two of them back. Mike Brown is out of sorts, the rotations are wonky, the defense is shaky at best. I can say that the shooting is consistent in that, I can rely on it most nights to be shit. There is no cake walk in Sactown right now so remove all hope of a blow out until the 48th minute of the game is played and the final buzzer has sounded. Cam Thomas, averaging 24 points on 45% from two and 38% from deep, can decide to go for 50 against a Kings squad whose defense is catering to shooters right now. Hell, don’t put it past Ben Simmons to get up a couple of deep balls in the hopes of getting hot tonight. Forwards like Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith are going to make the night long and frustrating for Keegan Murray, and I’d have felt that way before his game has gone into a tailspin. Dennis Schroder is pesky, Nic Claxton can gum up the works for Sabonis. The Kings are better than the Nets on paper, in theory, but in a league where vibes an confidence can ruin the balance, these two teams are closer than they appear. I’d like to say that the Kings should come out pissed off and smelling blood in the water from a Brooklyn team that’s lost six of their last eight games, but I’m not so sure that Jordi Fernandez won’t have his young guys feeling like they’re the ones going hunting.
Let’s give you some numbers to spout during the game tonight: the Nets are the worst rebounding team in the league, second worst team when it comes to fouls and steals alike and the worst team in the league when it comes to blocks per game. They can’t take the ball from you in any meaningful way and when they try, they foul. The attempt the fewest shots in the NBA, running at the slowest pace as well, but they attempt the 7th most threes, and hit them at the 8th best percentage. Nearly half of their shots are from deep and they hit them at a 37.6% clip. This is the ball game here. Kings don’t guard it well, Nets love taking them. Guard the line or die.
Alright, that’s it for me today. Happy Sunday, don’t talk about the Clippers game and we’ll see you on the other side.
The Small Stuff
Taking Joy Where You Can Find It: The Kings are going to be in their classic uniforms tonight, and also debuting the court that goes along with it, with the old school Kings logo, black and purple key… everything but a sponsorship from an oil company to accompany it. I already miss the old days, but here’s to that nostalgia being kept at bay by a competent team tonight!
Prediction
I’m going to spend the whole game annoyed at the Clippers game.
Kings: 117, Nets:114
Really hoped we’d get Malik back
As we’re facing the Nets here in Sac.
Two starters returned,
Yet still we got burned.
Need a win to get back on track!
+1 Shut down the Nets!
we should have fired Brown and kept Jordi
So you’re saying the Nets will outrebound the Kings, commit less fouls, get more steals and blocks than the Kings, will outpace the Kings and take more shots than the Kings?
I don’t expect a Kings win at this point, nor do I expect overall great effort. I work hard at staying positive, but this team makes it harder every game.
You forgot assists. Those are a key indicator of win or lose.
There is nothing on paper that says this team should beat any basketball team. The record and teams that they have lost is the paper.
Nobody holds the Kings to 29 points in the first half twice in a row.
Fox goes for 65 and we lose by 3?
So it will be the 2nd half tonight?
Cam Thomas Legacy game on Kevin Huerters lack of defense. Im calling it.
Start keon and let Kev earn his damn minutes. We be playing 4 on 5 with him as the starting sg at this point. Its the reason why they can load on fox all the time. They let this shooter with a lack of shooting chuck up 5-9 3’s a game.
Play through keegan early, let him get rolling. We play best when keegan be looking for his shot early. Look at that play in tournament vs the dubs.
Take advantage of the sabonis simmons physical mismatch. Let fox conserve his energy until the 3rd and 4th.
Sounds like a pretty good gameplan to me.
I’d rather we give the minutes to someone who can prove he can shoot the ball this season(Keon – 9 3’s) AND play defense then stubbornly start Kev for continuity purposes. The guy has proven that that 1st year was a fluke. He helped get us into the playoffs because his shooting opened up a lot for Fox, but it has simply been non existent this year. Fox plays best with a damn shooting guard who can actually shoot.
Sign danny green to a 10 day, anyone? I kid.
When Huerter starts, they try to get him going early, usually, which takes shots away from the other 4.
Let him come off the bench and get his shots with Lyles, Len and J-Mac/Colby on the floor. Make him and Monk, when healthy, be the lead bench shooters.
But Brown is set in his ways, until he has no other options like last season when the injuries happened.
33 points one time in his life. Many 0’s and 4’s. Huerter many 20 plus and very few zeros. Huerter also gets rebounds. A consistent Keon scoring 10 a night with his defense then there is a solid argument to start him.
Keon got rolling last year when he got consistent minutes coupled with the kev injury. He wasnt perfect, but he made some shots.
Its different when youre a role player with no defined role(keon right now) vs a role player starting(keon last year)
At this point, kev has shown me nothing that makes him a starting sg in this league. He may be better suited as a heater type of bench player like the Atlanta days. Remember that Philly game in the playoffs when he won them that game and they went to the ECF? I see him more in that role.
Bottomline is we have no good SG. They differ too much to the big 3(keegan does as well)
They’re supposed to be spot up shooters. Question for brown is, who would you much rather prefer spotting up at the corner. Keon or Kev?
I say Keon(this year, atleast 10 games in)
Keon has not rolled in months. I think Keon is at a point in his career where he needs to learn how to participate in an NBA offense. He won’t shoot the ball. He won’t force the other team to guard him instead of other players. Keon is one dimensional at this point.
Using single game flashes of brilliance Colby Jones is the guy. What do you think?
I dont think all 3 players are the answers really.
But in terms of fit, would you like to have an andre robertson(keon) type of player who plays defense and you live with his offense beside fox or would you prefer kev who doesnt play defense AND cant make shots?
That transition defense by kev last game, the one where he was jogging back when we were making a run, and he let that one guy slip behind him for a fast break dunk, that was the last straw for me.
Kev always ends up fouling someone bigger then him. He gets blown by easily. He’s just an offensive and defensive liability right now and its frustrating.
On that regard, any sg that comes to mind that you guys think can play well with fox as a spot up?
Where the hell are the Danny Green’s man.
Any player next to Fox will struggle because Fox is a one man show. I think we need a four more than a shooting guard. We have plenty with all kinds of potential.
But you still need some sort of production from your SG. You cant have a starting SG and have him miss the few opportunities he gets. KCP won denver a championship and he was with murray and jokic.
A SG that goes 0-5 man why even call yourself a SG.
Agree. We have Monk and Derozan as well. Both can and do play the two. Keon is pretty consistent at being 0 for 5. He can play for 20 minutes and only shoot the ball one time. Huerter is rarely a zero and he will at least shoot the ball forcing the other team to defend him.
Boy, you Kangz better not lose this one…
Ben Simmons throw back game. 20pts, 10 rebounds, 12 assists, some steals and blocks, lol
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