Time is a flat circle and so is the number in the win column for the Kings after they were taken down Friday night by the hot shooting of the Blazers, who had 6 players score over 15 points and shot 17/34 as a team from the deep. Outside of pop-ups ads I found on my friend’s computer back in high school, I have never seen people revel in the ecstasy of being beaten like Kings fans were with every possession that end up in the hands of Trailblazers big man, Harry Giles. Snarling after blocks, shimmying after windmill dunks – Harry Giles smacked the hell out of the Kings in his debut for the Blazers with 18 points and 14 boards. The Kings deserved ever bit of it and boy did the fans of both teams rejoice.
Aaaand now, we have to see it happen all over again. That’s right! Tonight, the Sacramento Kings take on the Blazers in Portland and will be facing off against Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Stickola Jokic himself, Harry Giles. Will the Kings rally back and even the series? Can Giles put on a repeat performance? Is the game even televised?Who cares! It’s preseason right, Vivek?
When: Sunday, December 13th, 6:00 PM PST
Where: Moda Center, Portland, OR
TV: N/A , Kings.com will have a stream for viewers in Sacramento area.
Radio: KHTK Sports 1140 AM
For Your Consideration
The Light of Other Days: Rebuilding has been a topic on the minds of Kings fans for well over a decade. There’s been various incarnations of the rebuild in Sacramento, a cycle of not quite bottoming out, rising with a few young players surround by vets too quickly, disappointing end to somewhat successful starts to a season and then trading players, firing coaches or GMs and then, not quite bottoming out again. Watching Portland on Friday night was a reminder of a couple generations of rebuilding and the failure of the Kings to do it right, even just once. Famously, Damian Lillard was the pick for the Kings in 2012, right up until the moment that Thomas Robinson’s name was called. CJ McCollum was the man the next year, right up until Ben McLemore’s name came out over the loud speakers. Zach Collins was drafted by the Kings in 2017 on behalf of the Blazers, who swapped him for the picks that would end up becoming Harry Giles and Justin Jackson, instead of say, Donovan Mitchell who went #13 or De’Aaron Fox’s teammate at Kentucky, Bam Adebayo who went the pick after. The following year in 2018, the Kings traded their 37th pick, Gary Trent Jr., to Portland for two future second round picks. Mr. Trent recently found great success in the NBA Bubble, averaging 16.9 points points per game in Orlando while shooting 50.7 percent from three. I could speak further of recent bigs like Skal Labissiere, the former future draft steal who slid to the Kings in the draft and who later was sent packing up north, or rant again about the option that now infamously wasn’t picked up as a punishment to Harry Giles for his off-season workout regimen – but I’ll leave it here.
Spanning multiple general managers, multiple young Kings stars and half a dozen or so coaches, the Kings mishaps in the draft, trades and free agency manifest themselves best within the reflection of the Portland Trail Blazers. It’s tantalizing to stare into those other realities. What could DeMarcus have done with a Dame, or a CJ. How would Vlade’s tenure been different if he’d have stuck to #10, reached a bit for Mitchell or Adebayo. Even something smaller like Vlade being concerned about his job and keeping the 37th pick in Gary Trent Jr. and what help he could be, even as a trade chip or insurance. We now have to face the reality that Harry Giles is gone and while he’s just as likely to flame out as he is to catch this league on fire, the reality remains. The Kings have let talent pass through the grasp every way imaginable. Somehow, some way the Blazers seem to find themselves at the center of various incarnations of Sacramento shooting themselves repeatedly in the foot.
This is no grand conspiracy, no curse. It’s worse. It’s simple chance, distilled from one bad batch of decisions down it into one pretty damn good basketball time. The fruit of Sacramento’s woes into the wine in Portland’s toasting glasses. I don’t hate Portland, I don’t even feel jealous of them (anymore). It’s just passionless reality.
Goddamn, does it suck.
Will Discusses Relevant Basketball Now: I guess I should talk about the actual games at hand for the three of you who don’t give two shits about my ranting but have also somehow made it this far. First, I want to say that the Kings shooting fifty three pointers and hitting sixteen of them was pretty damn funny. The Kings newly revamped offense boiled down to “smoke’em if you got’em” and most of the night, the Kings didn’t have’em. This will improve with time and obviously pre-season is the time to be trying this stuff out, but I did chuckle a bit at the predictability of the shot and the result.
I was pretty pleased with the rookies that came in and played. Haliburton looked passive and was looking to get rid of the ball as soon as he could, but I think he did it with a measure of control and found guys open for shots, they just couldn’t knock them down. His defense was solid and I think he shows signs of being an absolute havoc-machine on that end if the Kings can tailor their team to be aggressive in the passing lanes. Ramsey and Woodard both looked good in garbage time. I have high hopes for both, but I really do this Ramsey could be a Bobby Jackson type off the bench for the Kings here in a few years and I don’t know about the coaching staff, but he has a green light to shoot it, deep down in my heart. Buddy dropped 23 in 23 minutes and I think we’re going to see him as a 25 points a game scorer this year. That trade value is gonna climb through the roof, even if they have to give him 30 shots a game to do it, dammit! Fox was going through the motions, looking somewhat bored but he has nothing to prove in these games. His outside shot feels like it’s regressed a bit, but he’s put on a decent amount of muscle and I think this could just be getting out the new season jitters too.
The game Sunday night should be more tinkering with the line-ups and more allowing of shots to get put up. Fox is gonna clank some threes, Buddy is going to show that he’s working very, very hard on the defensive end and I think they’ll tell Haliburton to look for his offense a little more. Or not. The head coach of the Kings is not good.
Prediction
Harry Giles tries to put on a repeat performance and we all love every moment of it. He gets in some foul trouble this time around and gets pulled for being a little too aggressive with things, but no matter, his point is proven. Haliburton records 7+ assists and gets over the double digit mark in points too. Richaun Holmes pushes in a three.
Kings: 122, Blazers: 117
We must look now to Monte McNair
For big changes, no talent to spare.
It’s another rebuild
Our dreams still unfulfilled
Dig down deep for the patience to care!
what sick sad kind of person downvotes Jman limricks? WTF is wrong with you, internet stranger?!?!?
I thought it looked like Fox tried a lot of threes just for practice. The one he made he looked more focused. Buddy is showing other teams they could get an easy 20 PPG scorer.
Your prediction from Portland:
It’s gonna be cold.
It’s gonna be grey.
It’s gonna be dark.
And none of this really matters.
Might I recommend A Charlie Brown Christmas on PBS instead?
Join or renew!
What kind of heartless Grinch downvotes Charlie Brown Christmas?!
You’d think the Kings would be looking to generate money anyway they can right now, and that would include broadcasting the game for ad revenue.
I don’t know how the broadcasting contracts work, but then wouldn’t that be one more game that they have to pay the TV crew?
Yet they paid a TV crew to announce the game remotely on Friday while it was also being broadcast on ESPN. Go figure.
Piggybacking off the camera coverage. That’s why. Or at least that’s what I think anyway.
Hey congrats on being the first member to get the 1000 comment badge!
Adamsite > Jordan > LeBron
Since I don’t have any TV/cable reception, I’m pretty stoked to have a legal stream!
Oh, shit, I just realized I’m probably just outside the ‘Sacramento area’ where the stream will be available. Same old story. Back to streaming the radio broadcast, as usual, for me.
You would think they would offer the home games in VR for a fee…You know its coming just when. Oculus anyone?
“BUDDY, WHO THE HELL WERE YOU TRYING TO THROW THAT PASS TO???”
“Outside of pop-ups ads I found on my friend’s computer back in high school, I have never seen people revel in the ecstasy of being beaten…”
Nice hook!
I feel cheated, whatever came of this person? I had to read every bit to find out more about this “friend”.
Kings. Blazers. Again?
Next.
10/10 would watch every Kings game with Jeff Goldblum announcing.
Can the Kings pull this one out?
Let’s ask Jeff Goldblum, the Pullout King:
I used to hear Kings fans say, We have the best broadcast team in the league. I tried to keep my opinion to myself on this, because I was taught to think of a contrasting opinion as something you just let go up into the room and let it fall down on the table, and you just leave it there. This strategy worked for awhile I suppose, but then the whole damn thing just kind of worked itself out, thanks to Santa Cousins, delivering a bona fide 2020 miracle.
With that being said, I’m quite certain we have the best game preview writer in the league, even if there are three of us who don’t give two shits about Will’s ranting.
I’m a big fan of brevity, which I’m ignoring here obviously. I pursue it passionately, which is probably why I like to make a story out of an image, rather than use words. I love it when someone describes something perfectly, while being as succinct as possible, sort of the opposite of young writers who need to put an impressive adjective before everything, which eventually just ends up being blocked on twitter because life is too god damn short.
This is the stuff that excites me….
The Kings have let talent pass through the grasp every way imaginable.
The Kings newly revamped offense boiled down to “smoke’em if you got’em”.
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Does “Sacramento area” mean the Kings’ entire market region or just greater Sacramento?
I guess nobody knows…?
nba.com said within 75 miles of G1C.
Your URL game is still a F-. Perfectly cromulent preview though.
When the URL game eventually starts, I’m feeling confident ‘Kingsguru’ will be in the URL somewhere.
Never underestimate Will’s understated smartassery, Kosta. It’s like not recognizing the Yeti, but actually real.
One has to wonder how bad the Kings financial situation has become. Firing staff in October, the G League looks like it has disappeared in Stockton and now they do not even broadcast their games.
I hope Sacramento does not get stuck with the cost of an arena without a paying tenant.
Dude. Their preseason broadcast schedule has always been spotty.
Maybe they have serious financial issues, maybe not. But preseason television broadcast schedules tell us nothing.
I’ve almost given up on the idea that they’ll bring back the Monarchs. 🙁
Just one more indicator.
They are broadcasting three of their four preseason games this season. I’m not sure they’ve ever hit that percentage in the preseason.
I’m going to watch Portland’s feed tonight on LP. Might as well watch the game if there’s an option.
I find watching other team’s broadcasts interesting. Get a dose of someone else’s homerism, and get an outside perspective on your team.
Pretty sure “Damian Lillard is the best leader in professional sports,” was uttered on the Blazers broadcast tonight which I can’t exactly argue with, but damn, it’s a big claim.
Is this only on kings.com or can I also get it on NBA League Pass?
It’ll be blacked out if you’re in the Kings’ market region.
1st half looked way better loved the Fox HAli, GR3 showtime there in the 1st.
So I’d be the first to admit I do not know much of the Xs and Os of basketball strategy, but can someone explain what the king’s are looking for whenever they have buddy dribble the ball up, the pull up 3 is covered so he just passes quickly to richaun holmes at the top of the arc? I feel like it puts no stress on the defense, but I’ve been seeing buddy do this all of last year, so am I missing something?
Oh boy, De’Aaron is certainly struggling this preseason so far.
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