After two straight disappointing losses in the Orlando Bubble, Luke Walton decided to make a change in his starting lineup for Tuesday’s afternoon contest with the Luka Doncic led Dallas Mavericks.
Walton made what I would consider an unorthodox change, opting to start Cory Joseph with De’Aaron Fox, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Harrison Barnes, and Richaun Holmes. Nemanja Bjelica moved to the bench after struggling defensively vs. the Spurs and Magic.
To Walton’s credit, the change worked. Joseph knocked down two threes in the opening quarter, and the Sacramento Kings offense looked much better than it has at any other point in the Orlando restart. De’Aaron Fox came out aggressive, and looked more like the guy that dropped 39 vs. the Spurs than 13 vs. the Magic.
The offense kept rolling when Walton went to the bench thanks to much needed early contributions from Buddy Hield. His handle was still pretty sloppy, but 9 points in 8 minutes with good efficiency is a huge upgrade from what we’ve seen recently. The Kings won the first quarter 37-27.
The 2nd quarter wasn’t as kind to the Kings. The offense ground to a halt, and the Mavericks slowly chipped away at the lead at the free throw line. Hield left his efficiency in the 1st quarter, and the Kings did too much settling for jumpers and not enough attacking the rim until the final minutes of the first half. The Mavericks teased taking the lead at several points in the 2nd quarter, but the Kings counter punched just enough to secure a 60-56 advantage heading into the infamous 3rd quarter.
Cory Joseph started the 3rd with a nice defensive stop vs. Luka Doncic in the post, and another three from the wing. Luke Walton’s new starting unit extended the lead and continued to outplay a considerably more talented Mavericks lineup to open up the 2nd half, but Sacramento’s newfound 10-point lead quickly evaporated once the bench unit checked in.
The Kings and Mavericks traded buckets for most of the third quarter with Sacramento coming out on top thanks to a quick flurry to close it out. Kings 82, Mavericks 75, and on to the 4th quarter we go.
The Mavericks continued to try and close the gap throughout the 4th quarter with Luka Doncic making several plays that I personally did not appreciate on his way to a triple double. The Kings did a pretty good job of preventing the Mavericks from getting over the hump and taking the lead, but at roughly the two minute mark, Dallas tied the game at 95 from the free throw line.
The Kings and Mavericks went scoreless for the final two minutes of regulation with both teams squandering plenty of opportunities to win it. Next up, overtime.
De’Aaron Fox opened overtime with a much-needed mid-range jumper, but the Mavericks quickly answered with a three to take the lead for the first time since the first quarter. Luke Walton went with Buddy Hield over Bogdan Bogdanovic in overtime due to Bogi’s overwhelming ineffectiveness (0-14 from the field at the time) and Buddy responded with several offensive and defensive lapses.
The Kings relied heavily on isolation offense throughout overtime, and to nobodies surprise, it didn’t work. The Mavericks got timely buckets from Doncic and Maxi Kleber, and that was game. The Kings move to 0-3 in the bubble.
Effort wasn’t really the problem today, and Walton made a few adjustments, namely replacing Bjelica with Joseph in the starting lineup, and that worked to a degree, but the late-game execution was brutal. The Kings had several chances to win this game and came up empty every time.
There are certainly basketball reasons why the Kings lost today. They had no answer for Luka Doncic, who finished with an insane 34 points, 20 rebounds, and 12 assists. Bogdanovic, Barnes, and Holmes gave them nothing. Dallas won the FTA battle 50-12, and was the more aggressive team attacking the basket all game, but the details feel sort of insignificant right now. The Kings needed a win, and they didn’t get it.
We are way past moral victories here. The Kings lost. They have been downright embarrassing in the bubble. I don’t have anything else to say at this point. Maybe someone will be held accountable for this mess.
I reached the point of apathy and lost faith in this team long ago, but anyone that still thinks that this organization is going to head in the right direction with THESE people in charge….I have no words.
reposting this from earlier….
Luke Walton disliked your comment.
Luke:
“Let me be sick… I want to get up. Get me something to be sick in… Stop the film… Please stop it… I can’t stand it any more. Stop it please… please.”
I have been out of touch with this, what is the current status of the Billboard? (I donated to the original movement, but lost touch since earlier in the year).
The billboard went up off I-50 I believe. It was there the week of the game against the Pels that was cancelled.
Let it buuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If the idea this whole time was to collect moral victories out of painful embarrassing losses, why not change the name to the Sacramento Crusaders?
I love the history joke!
Tell that to the Canterbury Crusaders, that’s a winning team
We are back to where we were at the end of the Cousins era. The Kings have committed too much money to a mediocre team and there is little chance at a playoff run in the next three years. It looks like another rebuild is coming up. Maybe by 2030 we can reach that elusive 8th seed.
The Kings are still a threat to teams competing for the playoffs …
.
.
.
as potential Covid carriers!
Even when were up by 7 or whatever in the 4th, I knew we’d lose. Truth be told, I haven’t been confident that the Kings would win any game since Ron Artest was here. Remember the tear we went on after he arrived? Fire. Gumption. Heart. Solid coaching. Smart rotations. We snatched victory from defeat a few times, and earned our playoff berth.
Every single word there is about a thousand miles away from this current team. They’re not void of talent, mind you. But they are hopelessly lost. An organization sets the tone from the top. Good or bad, that’s what happens. The feckless performances we see are emblematic of the distorted fiefdom Vivek rules over, and the self contained belief that is fostered through people like Matina down to Vlade that there not only IS a plan, but that said plan is working brilliantly.
There is no plan. They don’t know what they’re doing. It isn’t working. They did screw up. They don’t deserve any more chances. We all know that if any of us routinely guessed and missed this badly in our jobs we would be shown the door. This current lot deserves nothing different.
It’s a completely failing enterprise. Clean house immediately.
I’m officially over Buddy. Sure, he made a few shots in the first half, but his BBQ IQ or lack thereof is asinine. That foul on the three point shot near the end of the game pretty much sealed the game in my mind. Even though that only allowed them to tie the game, I knew it was over at that point. And it’s laughable that it’s almost guaranteed to be a turnover when he handles the basketball. My positivity for this team is not infinite and I’m nearing my end. Damn, Luka is fun to watch. And we couldn’t find any minutes for Jeffries?
Why am I not surprised?
I love it when we have our $12.5M back-up PG on the court, and Luke still has Buddy bring the ball up for a guaranteed turnover, stupid play, etc.. That’s just great!
$80M for Barnes and $80M for Buddy, YIKES!
That’ll buy you a four year extension as GM!
How does one become a GM? It can’t be that difficult giving out big contracts!
Buddy at least is partially a coaching issue – even if that is also on the FO.
That Barnes contract was a disaster from the second the ink dried.
Even with today’s cap dollars (or the ones in 4 years barring a massive leap) – you don’t pay a role player like a semi-star. Look at players around his pay grade on basketball reference – it’s three categories of players:
1 – Legitimate stars / semi-stars: Giannis, Gobert, Gallo, Oladipo
2 – High risk / reward young players on 2nd contracts: LaVine, Gordon, Drummond
3 – Bad contracts for role playing vets teams wish they could shed: Barnes, Batum, Bazemore, Teague
We are paying Barnes more than Houston is paying for Roco + Tucker – who arguably are both better versions of Barnes.
Barnes is not a bad deal, really. he is their Swiss army knife. You can’t compare to Houston in that they are CONTENDERS, backwater teams with a F’d up front office need to overpay! We are not and wont be contenders as long as this group is in charge. The problem with Barnes and the Kings in general is the only reliable weapons they possess are an expensive, aging swiss army knife, and a small omnivorous animal. Just not going to get it done!
Indiana is paying TJ Warren ~11M per season.
NY is paying Harkless 11.5M
Philly is paying Richardson 10.8M
Memphis is paying Kyle Anderson 9M and Winslow 10M
Miami is paying Crowder 7.8M
We are doing a massive overpay. Houston is a contender now, but they aren’t some glamorous NY or LA market. Part of the reason they are contenders is that they paid their stars and acquired good role players on reasonable contracts.
Houston is the 3rd largest market in the league I believe. Probably close between them and Chicago.
Good size market, but it has never been a top FA destination.
Let’s be fair and wait until Luke looks at the tape.
Basketball Hell.
Kings fandom:
Blow it up.
I feel like I’ve been arrogantly hopeful for so long, but I can’t take it anymore. I’ve reached my breaking point seeing Luka drop 34/20/12 on us.
Fire Vlade.
Fire Luke.
Lets do are best to get some proven people in this organization.
I can’t tell if Luke is this dumb or does he think that the fanbase is dumb enough to swallow his reasoning
If we still had that one radio host that used to be employed by the Kings, he would just call us idiots.
Listen, if Luka was Soooooo great, Dallas would have won in regulation! Alright?!
Now that he’s been fired, I wonder if he still follows the Kings? That would be torture.
Hopefully he’s back in New York following the Knicks. 🙂
He probably got a huge settlement and is relaxing in El Dorado Hills with his family.
Luka would have taken away Fox’s shot at the end of regulation.
Exactly! The shot that Fox missed at the end of regulation…. would have been made by Luka. We can’t have that!
That’s it! Ruined the late season chemistry by Grant quitting, give Vlade and the guys 4 more years to get a rapport with the new guy! Then we will be
CHAMPIONSHIP8th seed bound!Fire Vlade, unretire his jersey, remove his jersey from the team store, completely eliminate any association of him from the franchise. His 2018 draft decision was franchise crippling.
I dislike Vlade as a GM and think he has earned being fired.
However; you cannot discredit what he did as a player for this team, the culture, and this city.
Vlade is an awful GM, but as a player…he has meant a lot. Did he defend or rebound well against the Lakers, no. But he had a good career here and we should keep his jersey retired and still respect him as a player.
Actually we should re-retire his jersey except let’s not put it back up in the rafters. For safekeeping.
I was utterly confused when his jersey was retired before Peja’s jersey. Peja was a much better player. Bibby was just as Vlade & he never
West keeps getting better and better while the Kings just get worse. Mavs passed them up in one offseason because they added a generational talent, and now it looks like we can add the Grizzlies and Pelicans as teams passing Sacramento up. Suns look like they’re on the verge of doing so next.
When I look at the West now.
Kings could be the worst in the conference next year.
Suns finally look like they’re are starting to buy in to Monty Williams. The talent was already there. Booker, Ayton, Oubre, Baynes, Etc.
The Dubs core will be returning,
plus a Top 3 pick.
Wolves have DLo, KAT and High Draft pick.
The Kings have Fox. 160 million in Hield/Barnes. Marvelous Marvin.
Seven Years.
What is, how long does it take Vivek Ranadive to burn through 30 years of good will?
Seven Years.
How long will Vlade’s next contract extension be for, when Vivek renews it?
“Will the Kings ever be a good team again?”
Kings fans in 2018:
“L ……….. U ………….. K –Oh my god, we’re getting DONCIC!!!!!!!!!”
Kings fans:
You are tearing me apart, Kings!
Hiyoooo!
“Pets.com….Enron….and Pan Am Airlines”
“What are three things that will find success again before the Sacramento Kings.”
Which comes first:
a) Kings make the playoffs
b) Raiders move back to Oakland
c) Walton watches the tape
D.) Walton considering for a nanosecond he got something wrong and needs to watch tape.
Honestly that feels most remote.
So wrong, but soo good!
It would have been faster if the Kings hadn’t forbid him and the Kings affiliated media from speaking to each other about basketball. Every time he opened up his mouth, he was digging the hole so fast. Thus, he’s been in a media bubble for years. Mr. Basketball 3.0 made a popular former player him GM to take the bullets and that part works. But, the unqualified GM screwed them both of them with brutal moves. But, the owner can no longer afford to fire the GM that he negligently allowed to wreck the team (again). I get dude put up the dollars, but after 3 other crap owner (including another ownership group that got devoured by a real estate deal that turned on them) … you’d think 50% of the fans could see the writing on the wall and the problems that are coming soon. Now, Ron Burkle, Kings fans one shot at a real owner that was blocked by the Maloofs, will run the first pro team to compete with the Kings for fan dollars in a couple of years. It’s all so screwed up and like something out of a greek play.
Haha, and the Suns won of course.
Destroy everything. Burn it all down. Hell, right now I’d be down with taking out the temporary hospital up at Arco and going back up there if it meant things eventually getting better.
I had asked this during the GDT but it might’ve gotten missed cuz I was replying to one of the first comments– how come Giles’s options weren’t picked up? Is it for injury reasons? I always thought he seemed very solid (and only 21 of course) and promising. I saw a comment mentioning Vlade didn’t pick up the 3rd year of his rookie deal and I’m confused as to why (assuming it’s not just a flat out dumb move… maybe it is!).
Sorry for the annoying loss, I thought the Kings had this one. I don’t have a handle on the situation so I dunno if each loss actually helps the fans since it’ll help get rid of the people in charge and responsible for the disappointing teams, or if those guys are here to stay no matter what so it’d obviously be better to just win.
Giles dad and Vlade don’t get along.
ducks…
Serious answer: he was told by Vlade that he had to earn it, and then stuff was floated to the press indicating that he came out of the offseason while being out of shape, though there were pics of him that seemed to indicate otherwise. (Which must have happened with Vlade’s knowledge, you know, that shining beacon of bridge-building humanity).
So instead of having full control over his future at a very reasonable price, Vlade did this and you were actually right: it is a flat out dumb move, with a bit of sleaziness sprinkled in.
Sanjesh, if you’re gonna watch the tape on this one, maybe take a good look at Fox’s D? We have all been angry at Buddy for losing his man, but that happened at least 3 times to Fox tonight…
/shrugging elmo GIF
At this point the only news that matters is a real regime change.
I’m just about there. Normally at this point in the season I’m looking up draft profiles. Now, I’m numb to the fact that the Kings will just fuck up everything they do so why pay attention.
I’ve got the A’s. And if all else fails Flip or Flop. Or Rust Valley. Or Rust to Riches. Genefied was awesome, can’t wait for the next season of that. And many others I don’t know or haven’t gotten to.
I don’t need the Kings. But it’s fun when they’re fun. Apparently, though, the FO simply doesn’t get it or doesn’t care or their fiefdoms are too critical to their well being.
Whatever. I still don’t care. I’m not going to rip my hair out to be a fan. (If I had hair, that is. An advantage of shaving your head, I suppose. )
It is what it is. In 30 minutes the A’s will start their series with the Rangers with the highest regarded young pitcher to come off the farm in a decade. That’s fun. Complaining about lame brain drama, fiefdoms, and the Kings being the literal picture under the definition insanity in the dictionary not so much. And it’s been like this since 2013, really. Different faces, names, but the same bullshit. Clean house or remain irrelevant. It’s their choice. They’ll make the wrong one in all likelihood so it’s going to take awhile to sort out.
And, /shrugging Elmo GIF. It’s the way it goes these days.
Fuck Vlade and Vivek. Biggest bone heads in the NBA.
Glad I found my way back here. Too bad it is the same old Kings.
Welcome to hell
I’ll just leave this here from the game preview thread…
Youngest player to ever get a triple-double with at least 30 pts and 20 rebounds. He is going to haunt us forever.
Forever? I give it 10-15 years, tops…
At age 61, I am coming to grips with the very real possibility that this team may not again become relevant in my lifetime.
Portland hasn’t won a title since passing on Jordan, and will never live that down, right? This has all the makings of “passing on Jordan” type of failure. Still early to tell, but it isn’t looking good.
What stinks is that at least when Portland passed on Bowie – conventional wisdom was that you won with dominant bigs.
With us, GMs and most fans even knew that you tend to win with great perimeter players. The night of the draft, it was already a joke what a big mistake the Kings were making.
Portland clearly made a mistake in retrospect. We made one that was clear 10 years sooner.
True, and many didn’t question the Bowie pick at the time. Only time told the tale of passing on Jordan, but when Vlade passed on Luka the other 29 GMs knew it was a bonehead decision.
The real mistake Portland made was passing on Barkley. But that’s my opinion. I will always believe that.
I’m 66. I guess I’m really screwed.
Ha! Try 71
and you’re also the best at spittin’ rhymes this side of the Kingdom, Jman!
I’ve got nothing but time
To come up with each rhyme.
I’m 40 and I’m just generally already there.
Once Vlade is fired, nothing to talk about. Wasn’t meant to be. We weren’t meant to jump from 7 to 2 anymore than we weren’t supposed to have a GM who had the intellect to scout Doncic talent ahead of fit
If Doncic ever gets a 30, 20 and 20 game, it will be against the Kings. He almost did that to us last season.
The thing is, watching the game he could have pretty easily have gotten 20 assists. He set up his teammates for several open shots that they just missed.
Beautiful, Marty.
That one horrible gaff changed the trajectory of this franchise for the next 10 years.
It really did.
ONE horrible gaff?
Tremendous.
I have to say, the last five minutes of regulation were some of the worst coaching by Walton that I have eve seen. There were zero offense sets or significant timeouts to draw up a play. If I didn’t know better I would think he was trying to lose the game. He seems completely indifferent to his job.
Wait…could…could Luke be trying to get himself fired?
We could only hope.
“Pssst, wanna know the secret to being paid millions to do nothing Luke? Just sign a multiyear deal with the Kings and get fired in the middle of your contract! Take it from those who have been there!”
?w=620
Players not excluded, insert: Zach Randolph, George Hill, Trevor Ariza, Dwayne Dedmon, Harrison Barnes, Duje Dukan, Georgis Papagiannis, and Buddy Hield
Corey Brewer is on the fence! Lol my guy is getting paid to sit the bench in Orlando. Sign me up!
Soon to be included: Marvin Bagley
Add to that Matt Barnes and Anthony Tolliver. Yes, they are still on the Kings dead cap sheet.
Yeah but they come off after this season thankfully.
And Tolliver is only there because he was a throw-in as part of the Ariza-Bazemore trade earlier this season.
Luke has a line on a 3rd assistant spot on Fenerbahce, I heard he knows a guy
I vote for Jackie Daytona to be our next GM. I know he’s just a regular yankee doodle dandy but at least he cares
Just so there’s a wider pool to choose from, I’ll toss Jackie Moon in there as well. Vivek likes hiring former players:
I think I’d rather watch the documentary about Rob:
THE LAST PANTS
So the only suspense for now is can we actually go 0-8.
The Kings will F that up, too.
We’ll probably go 1-7. And that 1 will give a glimmer of hope to Vivek that this could all possibly work still.
And likely a contract extension for Walton.
Wait for the “If only Marvin wasn’t injured…” Yeah. And if frogs croaked gold coins we’d be doing well too.
Against the Lakers for sure. I/2 their team will be riding the Matterhorn, but it along with lost chemistry from “losing” Grant will be reasons for hope.
So Mavs go small and Walton counteracts by starting Joseph, and he did ok to start with. But at one point, both Barnes and Bazemore had 4 fouls each and Bogi was 0/11, yet Brewer or DaQuan couldn’t get 5 minutes of game time?
Luka had his way inside, at ease. Throwing Brewer at him for 5 minutes would have maybe helped disrupt him. Walton asks for more physicality and we respond with 37 fouls? The two guys who played with the most enthusiasm vs Magic – Giles and Brewer – got 13 total mins today. I don’t get it at all.
Giles needs to earn it. He should have come into camp in shape.
I think Giles has earned playing time, and it is unfair to the rest of the team to remove a facilitating big man from the floor. Both Buddy and Fox are missing Cauley-Stein on offense. We see Fox trying to toss lobs to Holmes and it just doesn’t work. We see Hield trying to do give and go’s with Holmes and it’s not quite as effective. We see Bogi probing the defense and putting up more difficult contested shots than normal. All three guys benefit from a big man that they can work with and Giles is the only player on this roster who does that. Perhaps Bjelica could also if asked to, and I think some people hinted at that while practicing in Orlando. One facilitating big man is the difference from that fun, optimistic competitive Kings team we’ve seen flashes of the last couple years and the uninspired team we saw the last three games. One facilitating big man who passes, gets people involved, spaces the floor, frees up shooters, cuts to the basket, and with this roster, that player is Harry Giles.
I turned 30 today. Let me give you a perspective on when was the last time this organization was beating the postseason drums:
I was a sophomore in High School.
Happy birthday!
I turn 30 in November. Literally the last three months being in my 20s. I truly wonder how old I will be by the time the Kings make the post season again.
Probably be as old as Section or Elron lol. Thanks for the bday greeting!
How many losing seasons does it require before we are “venerable” like the Cubs were? Maybe Vivek is looking at the national losers merch angle. Light years Baby!
If they hire Hinkie, all of this woe will go away (at least for me) because by then for the first time in a decade we actually have a plan.
Happy birthday man.
Thanks man!
Sorry, a bit late but congrats anyway!
Happy birthday!
I feel you there. I turn 38 next month. The last time the Kings were in the postseason, I hadn’t graduated from college yet. /facepalm
The only hope at this point is that the pandemic makes the Kings finances so bad that Matina and Vivek realize they can kill two birds with one stone by getting rid of Vlade, and bringing someone in to do a full rebuild. They can tell fans they hear their concerns, and are going to build the right way, while operating at the salary floor for a few years to offset their losses on the revenue side.
Cornerstones of the full rebuild?…
#BringOnHinkie
Matina must go also. She’s part of the problem.
I kinda feel like she’s the herpes of the org. You can do some things to mitigate her presence, but you can’t get rid of her.
Then Vivek is Syphilis. Herpes is annoying but Syphilis kills.
Agreed. How long has she been there? Over 20 years, right? She must know where the bodies are buried.
I’ve always suspected she also has some skeletons in her closet. Building an arena in downtown Sac would increase the property value around the arena. Her husband just so happens to develop a lot of real estate in downtown Sac. It’s almost as if her self-interest was in conflict with her employer during the relocation saga. If I was a conspiracy guy I’d think that might have something to do with why she got to retain her role, and expand her power, under the new regime.
When in doubt, follow the money.
I doubt Matina……alot.
She’s bad news…. heard that from a few people
in the org.
The Kings are a bad mix of poor approach (Vlade), a fiefdom that serves a singular purpose (Matina), and the managing partner who tolerates this dynamic (Vivek).
What I’ve never been able to figure out is why. I’m still confused on that but I doubt we ever get an answer that makes sense. I’ll settle for it being in the rear view at this point.
Need to rebuild next year, with new GM
nothing else to say.
I know ownership is small pockets who won’t be making revenue, but that’s what needs to happen (Luke can be kept for financial concerns, but need new personnel voice)
I’m in this camp. Bring in a GM and have him give Walton the ultimatum…playoffs or you are fired. Let the new GM pick his new coach after a year of “watching the tape” of his team.
Just fire him. Walton has earned nothing.
I agree with that, but I want things in a certain order. I feel a new GM needs time to evaluate things. There isn’t going to much of an offseason (or new season for that matter). I’d rather a new GM take his or her time with things. I think it also looks good from an optics stand point and saves some face for the franchise.
unless the new GM can bring in Atkinson or some other great developer of talent.
No need to worry folks! Coach Luke stated two times in the postgame interview that he planned to watch the tape!
I’m absolutely sick of this sorry excuse for a team. What kind of coach allows his players to go down and do 5 iso plays in a row resulting in bricks and airballs. I also getting really annoyed by buddy bricks. His shot selection is horrible.
The two gifs my buddy and I send to each other most often after a kAnGz game
Dammit. Didn’t work. Still can’t figure out how to post a gif. I’m as good at it as the Kings are at putting out a watchable basketball product
I think you just need to copy the URL as opposed to the embedded link.
Who was worse today, Bogi or Walton’s coaching ?
Bogi was at least was trying and didn’t give up. I can’t say the same about Walton, especially in the last 5 minutes of regulation.
here you all are. I was hanging out in Sactown Royalty by myself. How about them Kings?
According to the POTUS, if you’re last on something you’re actually first so really we are much closer to our goal.
Watching Portland v. Houston:
Huh. Look how solid of a role player Ben McLemore has become after getting some actual coaching and development.
Gary Trent Jr. looks like a 2nd round steal. Man, if only we could’ve drafted him!
Jusuf Nurkic might lead the NBA in “number of falls per game”, which is concerning for his long-term health after recovering from a broken leg. He’s damn good though. 2nd round steal by the Nuggets, great trade by the Blazers.
Slim Melo is actually a thing.
The Blazers are going to make the playoffs. Lillard and McCollum have the drive and the experience to pull it off. Roster looks much better when healthy.
but those teams have the top tier talent to allow role players to be just that. The Kings have always signed good role players. They have just asked them to do too much because they keep missing on top tier talent in the draft.
Bogi pulling a Giles with this stinker- he really hopes the Kings don’t match his offer sheet. Vlade will try to secretly put Buddy on the market but Buddy can’t keep his mouth shut about it, crushing his trade value and making it hard for Vivek to sign off on the trade. Kings will trade down to get “their guy” that no one else had in the 1st round and some additional 2nd rounders in the future. Fox will sign the mega extension and then ask his agent to get him out of here by next spring.
Can you really trust this front office to accurately judge the talent on its own roster yet alone judge others rosters to get fair value? That Buddy was seen as proof that the Kings “won” the Boogie trade and now it appears that he is one his way out of town. The sad thing is no one who good he is our could be as he appears to misused in his current role
Remember when we were pissed at Dave for running high-post offense through WCS?
At least that was a semblance of an offensive scheme.
The last 5 minutes were such a pain to watch.
Luke is singlehandedly killing Steve Kerr’s coaching legacy.
To be fair to Kerr, as soon as he lost a couple of MVPs from his rotation, his coaching percentage came back down to earth. I still want to see him coach an ordinary team. He’s no Pops, Charlisle, or Spolstra. At least no yet.
If we bum out on all games (which is a realistically possibility), what draft range does that put us in?
With so much bad luck/incompetance, perhaps we can luck out on an under the rader solid prospect.
If a full rebuild were to occur, I hope we keep Fox, because for so long we have been without a starting caliber PG. He is perhaps one of our best PG in history at this point (which says a lot in itself).
When can Buddy Hield realize he sucks at ball handling, can he just STOP all his dribbling?
Costly turnover by Hield…………
I once thought with the lineup change by Walton, he might use Buddy Hield in a different way, but I was wrong….it was the same Buddy Hield, Dribbling, dribbling and dribbling and turnover………
Below is “PLAY OF THE DAY” and my feeling towards the game
whenever 1) Buddy Hield handling the ball
or 2)Fox going 1-on-1 and opt not to drive inside the paint towards end of regulation
or 3) Coach Walton is STILL coaching the team
or 4) Bodgan is still shooting the ball from distance when he was not shooting well
and 5) no minutes for Jeffrey is a JOKE………
I think the number 1 problem of all Kings problems is Vivek meddling with On-court operational decisions.
Everyone else needs to go as well, however they will probably say a bunch of bs that it is thier decision etc, when I believe half the time it is not.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he is telling Walton to play Buddy the way he is. Either that or they are tanking, which makes me sick. Or could I too be fooled by giving them too much credit to have that in their ‘planning’.
OK, so Luke shows some integrity and doesn’t listen to Vivek: He gets fired and gets paid to sit on the beach for the next 3 years. He’s not hurting his reputation since he’s not getting another HC gig after Sacramento.
I don’t disagree with this.
Walton has proven to be a terrible coach thus far (although he is getting paid to be a bad coach, which probably suites him fine).
My point was regarding the root cause of the Kangz issues. Vivek. Starts from the top.
The top clip there isn’t a bad play by itself, but it’s the equivalent of a QB staring at his number one option and not going through his projections. Anyone could see that play formulating. That drive and kick play only works if the defense converges on Hield, which nobody did.
That is 100% on Luke. As soon as Buddy makes himself the primary ball-handler(especially with Fox on the court for both of those plays), Luke needs to yank him.
And you will never ever win a game with such poor defense……first by Buddy Hield…the second one by Fox……
Just one cut…and no screen was even set……….
Just blow this team up please…Trade everyone….even Fox and Holmes…..
and start with New owner, new GM, new Coach and new players…and move on..
Yeah, that last video was one of at least 3 times when Fox lost his man. It was pathetic.
Joseph and Bjelica didn’t help Fox out any either. They gave up the direct to the basket passing lane to guard the safe pass. Also pethetic.
Coaching?
So¦2 minutes to go in the 4th. 95-95. The Kings on two consecutive plays go ISOLATION with De’Aaron Fox and he misses both shots. Then, with 20 seconds to go, they get the rebound and instead of calling a time-out, Walton lets the Kings come up the floor and GO ISOLATION AGAIN with Fox and guess what? SAME result.
Look, there are NO COACHES in the NBA who would have not called a timeout there. Why? Because coaches well, they LIKE TO COACH. What’s the point of having a coach if he’s not going to coach. Call a timeout and draw up a play. What are we paying him for!?!? FIRE Walton.
I was shocked he didn’t call a timeout in the last 20 seconds. If the team had been hot or on the break I might understand it. But the team had been stagnant and were walking the ball up the court. Call a timeout, draw up a play, bleed the clock to get the last shot.
Was it possible they were out of timeouts?
Nope, we had a timeout. And I 100% agree with you Adam. I was listening to Doug and Jason on the radio after the game and Doug was talking about how he didn’t necessarily mind us not calling a timeout because it meant Dallas didn’t have a chance to get their defense set. But when you just dribble the ball out for 17 of 20 seconds and don’t pass the ball or run any motions but an ISO you’re not taking advantage of anything. Call a timeout, run a play. Walton said we settled for too many jumpers without a shotblocker on the floor. Well call a time out and run a play by attacking the rim! Fox should have tried to do that himself, but it’s up to the coach to put his players in a position to succeed. Immensely frustrating loss.
Or as Rob Hessing would probably say: “just another Tuesday”.
100% agree with you and Doug. I didn’t mind that we let the players run up the court to see if we could get a quick strike or favorable matchup against an unset defense.
But there was a point in time where Dallas’ defense was set and Fox was dribbling while everyone else was standing around and we just looked off.
We really should have called a timeout there and drawn up a final play.
Good for Luka.
The social media comments on Kings accounts is getting real fun right now.
Welp, I guess our team showed up as expected in the bubble. That late season glimmer as always turns into the mirage it was. I thought the team was fired up because the national media glossed over them? We are giving them every reason to.
I’m late to watching “The Last Dance” as its on Netflix now and I don’t have cable, but we don’t have anyone on the team that fits the MJ/Pippen/Rodman roles. No one has the drive to be the best at the game and put in the time or effort to be that alpha top dog like Jordan, always wanting to be better.
We don’t have a Pippen, someone who grows with that alpha player and makes both himself and the alpha better. Someone who also has a fire in them that needs to be brought out continually. Fox might develop into this, but I don’t think he’s there yet.
No one is an enforcer or plays with physicality like Rodman did, the person who understood his role was to get the damn ball and literally take it personally if the other team has it. Holmes I feel like comes the closest to this role but as with Fox he’s not there either.
We missed on a generational talent, and that should cost people their jobs for sure as like other people said it was obvious the moment the choice was made that it was a huge mistake. But instead it people still have jobs and even extensions were thrown out. I have about 5% hope still the Bagley will become a good player but it’ll probably be with another team, and that might be the best outcome for him.
I had vowed that whenever the Kings were in the playoffs again I would get tickets to the first home game. No more, not as long as Walton is coach, Vlade is GM, and Vivek believes he’s smarter than everyone else.
Burn it down, fire Walton and Vlade. Whenever home games are allowed again, those need to be boycotted as well. Money talks, and that is probably the only way change will happen.
The last few months have been so weird and surreal that watching this 0-3 start was exactly the return to normalcy that I for one needed. In a world of constant change, things are just as they ever were in Kings’ land baby!
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