For the second game in a row, the Sacramento Kings took on the tanking Houston Rockets and couldn’t quite hold onto a loss against the worst team in the NBA. The first half saw the Rockets dominate, going up by as many as 19 points after a 41-point explosion in the first quarter, but the Kings worked their way back from multiple double-digit deficits to snag their 29th win of the season. Damian Jones was a force in the paint for Sacramento, putting up a massive 17 point, 17 rebound, and 6 block game, while Jalen Green was the main man for the Rockets, recording 33 points and 8 assists.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
THE GOOD
Big-time play from the bigs: With Domantas Sabonis out, Sacramento’s bigs stepped up big-time for the Kings. Trey Lyles, Damian Jones, and Chimezie Metu combined for 49 points and 31 rebounds, and they served as both rim protectors and pick-and-roll options all night long.
The Big Ragu: Donte DiVincenzo enjoyed one of his best games in a Sacramento Kings uniform. The backup guard flirted with a triple-double, putting up 19 points, 9 boards, 9 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks, and it was Donte’s step-back mid-range jumper that sealed the win for the Kings with 13.8 second to go.
THE BAD
Typical Kings defense: No matter what squad is on the court for the Sacramento Kings, they don’t particularly enjoy trying to prevent the opponent from scoring, individual desires aside. The Kings gave up an astounding 41 points in the first quarter, and although Houston’s scoring calmed down a bit for the rest of the game, far too many uncontested dunks, layups, and three-pointers were allowed.
THE UGLY
Davion Mitchell’s offense: Davion Mitchell has enjoyed some really nice scoring games since De’Aaron Fox went down with tankitis, but tonight was the exception to that rule. After averaging 20.9 points and 6.3 assists on 49/39/93 shooting splits over the last eight contests, Mitchell struggled mightily to get the ball inside the cylinder. He missed his first nine shots, and his first bucket didn’t come until fewer than two minutes left in the third quarter. The rookie guard did record 10 assists, but his seven turnovers, including a crucial bad dribble with 37 seconds left in the game that almost cost the Kings the win, counteracted that passing performance. It feels pretty safe to say that the long NBA season is catching up with Mitchell as the year’s end approaches.
The King of Kings
Damian Jones: After spending the early parts of the game glued to the bench due to foul trouble, Damian Jones came in and wrecked the Houston Rockets, especially in the fourth quarter. His 17, 17, and 6 game was as impressive as the stat line looks, and it’s entirely possible that Jones will return with a larger contract and the backup center job for the Kings next season.
Three suggestions: the Kings have a rim protector. Sign him long-term. Second, play Sabonis and Damian together; they complement one another. Third, use Metu as a stretch 4; let him work on that shot during the off-season
Never too early to plan the next season’s tank, I guess!
Yeah, any team relying on Metu and Jones for more than 10-12 minutes a game is not going to be a successful one.
One thing is for sure, the Kings have pretty good backup Power Forwards and Centers. Let’s build on that*
*We need sarcasm font.
I have never have agreed to anything more. The need for a sarchasm font grows with every game. Look at your comment below: you had to point out it was a serious question. Bottom line is that we need a sarchasm font for posting and responding………..we need it badly
Oh John, yes, what a wonderful idea?!
Let’s then just kill sarcasm and be done with it, okay?
The whole point of sarcasm is the misdirection, the bite of something framed seriously which was actually meant as a means to ridicule.
Merriam-Webster explains sarcasm thusly:
By using a sarcasm font you’d be taking away the misdirection of using words that are the opposite of what you mean. In other words, you’d be doing something akin to telling the punchline at the start of a joke.
Having a sarcasm font is similar to forbidding head fakes, slipped screans or backdoor cuts. It takes away misdirection, surprise and excitement of the game of basketball, so it will be easier to follow. You’d want that?
The whole point of sarcasm is someone falling into the chasm, occasionally. So what? It is not a real chasm! Nobody gets hurt in the process. The only thing it may cause is someone to ponder the the fact that truth and sarcasm are so close to each other, and thus to ponder the absuridity of life.
Allowing a sarcasm font is akin to slapping stand-up comedians silly before they can make bad hair jokes. It’s like warning that coffee may be hot or that a micro-wave is not suitable for drying your pet. It makes a mockery out of intelligent people to protect the humorless dumbasses of society.
I say, let the humorless dumbasses sit at the bottom of the sarchasm and wonder what the hell they have missed.
If this may have sounded like a rage-induced rant, it’s BECAUSE IT WAS!!!
Stand up with me and say NO! to the sarcasm font. Just no.
With you Dutchman. I hate sarcasm font, too.
Completely disagree, Metu and Jones have proven they are legit NBA players. They may not be ready to start every night, but both have proven they can play and can more than hold their own.
Serious question. Do those two get minutes on any of this year’s playoff teams?
I think so personally. But, in the 5-10 minute range like BTB said. Mostly in the 1st half. The playoffs are really a very different animal.
I wasn’t so much impressed with the numeric total of D Jones blocks as much as I was how he got them.
Does Jae Crowder get any minutes on any playoff team? He is 32. So it’s obvious to you that Metu, for example, will never be as good as Jae Crowder. We’re talking about valuable rotation players—or being close to having developed into one—on a good team, not the major stars that carry a team on most nights.
On a good, deep team, Metu is probably your 10th or 11th guy.
Or, if it’s a good team, only 7 deep, you can likely swap Metu with every end of the bench guy.
Nothing against Metu, I like him.
But we are obsessing over guys with his kind of quality/skills due to the fact that we have a huge lack of top-end talent.
Can he be Jay Crowder-like. Maybe.
Will he be Jay Crowder-like? Probably not.
Explain what’s so good about Jae Crowder that makes him so much better than Metu. I think Crowder is good because he has Booker, Paul, Ayton, and other excellent rotation players around him. I don’t see anything that special, but I am willing to acknowledge that I may be missing something.
He’s a vet who’s kinda like a Pat Bev pesk against the other teams best player. He’s definitely lost a step but been on a bunch of playoff teams so he’s got the experience and that’s valuable to a degree
Nothing is “so good” about Crowder, which is exactly my point.
But he’s a very savvy, solid team player with constant energy, especially on defense. Metu is not a good defender and seems to have no more than average BBIQ.
I would question the last sentence. Having so-called “BBIQ” is a matter of dedication, spending hours studying and analyzing film (hopefully with the help of great coaches) and practicing. Metu is 25, Crowder 32. I’m not sure why you are skeptical of his development.
Similarly defense is learned and coached.
However, some (Tyrus Thomas was an example) never had the dedication to develop “BBIQ.”
Perhaps I am just dispositionally hopeful.
I think you are a bit hopeful, and I think it’s easy to fall in love with guys once they wear the Kings uniform.
IMO, Metu and Jones have about as much promise as past Kings players who shared their positions in WCS, Skal, or Giles (all of whom are out of the league). They all showed flashes when given minutes, especially late in the season when the Kings and many of their opponents aren’t really playing for anything.
I think gaining experiene and BBIQ are two different things.
I think BBIQ is an inate ability to read the game, anticipate how plays develop, players react, understanding matters as angles, change of pace, the flow of the game. It cannot be taught. It cannot come with experience. It’s either there or it isn’t. It can solely be enhanced with experience.
Look at Tyrese; he just has “it”. He won’t develop his BBIQ, he will only enhance it a little and develop his basketball skills in a way that he has more tools to aid his BBIQ.
Guys like Metu – or Fox for that matter – will learn to make better decisions with experience. But that is not akin to BBIQ.
Just my opinion. Perhaps I am just dispositionally cynical. 🙂
Sorry, now you are on my turf. There are few innate abilities, mostly to grasp and suck. Look at a newborn.
What you mean is that some are born with the potential to develop certain abilities while others lack that potential. But how would we know that? Well, some do develop them and others not. True, but why? Well, some just have the innate potential that others lack? But how do you know that? And around in a circle we go.
Suggestion: WE DON’T KNOW why some develop abilities that others don’t develop. However, we don’t have to look much farther than Davion to get some evidence. Does Davion have a high “BBIQ?” Well, he is dedicated to his craft. He will develop ever greater ability to “read the game, anticipate how plays will develop, players react, understanding angles, change of pace, the flow of the game.” No one is born with these abilities. I would anticipate that Davion will get better, just as Crowder did. Will Metu? I don’t know, but I suggest that the evidence is that it’s much more a matter of dedication to one’s craft than any mysterious “innate potential.”
I was careful in stating it as opinion, not fact. Could very well be that you are right.
What is your turf, if I may ask?
I am a professional philosopher who has written about “innate ability.”
I was a bad playground player into my mid-30s, just a wannabe. 😜
I’m a fan, but I know and understand much less about the game than many on this site, including yourself.
I grew up a fan of Pete Newell’s Golden Bears, modestly talented players who played defense as if it were a natural science. They shut down The Big O in the 1959 NCAAA semi-final by studying where he liked to shoot and beating him to his spots. That was a very advanced thing for its time.
Now the game has advanced far beyond the game of the 1950s, not just in the ability of the players but also in its intellectual complexity.
That’s fascinating.
Serious question; what does a professional philosopher do these days? Is that mainly teaching and writing? Or also other applications? Commercial? Governmental?
Great story about the 59 semifinal. And the game has certainly evolved from a strategic and intelectual challenge perspective.
Well, I taught and wrote philosophy. I am retired from teaching but have an unpaid gig at UC Davis doing research. Look me up there, and we can talk off-list.
There are a very few professional philosophers working in other areas, mostly some kind of research. One of my classmates had a career evaluating judges in the courts.
You are Paul G.?
Yes. Shoot me an email.
I should add that there’a wonderful book by Carol Dweck Self Theories.
Dweck was curious why girls did better than boys in school until 8th or 9th grade. Then the boys began to surpass girls. So she investigated how boys and girls thought about intelligence. Girls more than boys thought that if you were smart, you would just get it. Boys more than girls thought it was a matter of working at it. So when schoolwork got harder, girls tended to quit, thinking they just didn’t have the ability, while boys would just bear down and try harder.
I always suspected that this gender difference might be due to boys’ greater participation in sports.
Serious questions: played the same number of minutes, how many blocks does Damian get against a playoff team? Is there something I don’t understand that says that he doesn’t get those blocks against a good team? Or do you believe that he cannot sustain this level of play?
Others have written about the Kings’ failure to develop talent. What do you think the ceiling is for Jones, Metu?
Metu has already shown that he can be incredible at times. He guarded Giannis well recently and swatted his shot once or twice. It was hard not to be excited for him last night when he hit back to back threes to complete the comeback, causing everyone to jump up from the bench. If he’s consistent, he will be extremely valuable in today’s game where most PFs are perimeter oriented. As of now, I think he’s a solid rotational player.
Jones is sort of a tweener. His finesse and physicality is more like a PF than a center. The fact that he has a feathery touch on his outside shot has me toying with the idea that he could play alongside Sabonis in stretches. As of now, he’s a good backup center, depending on the matchup.
I agree with Rick Smits that we should not put too much weight on end of season games against tanking teenagers, but it factors into the player evaluation, and I still want to see them play well.
I can see Jones and Metu being quality depth for the Kings (or even another NBA team) because they have a pretty good blend of athleticism, skill, and ability.
I think if I’m choosing one or the other based on talent, it’s Metu. But I think Jones is more temperamentally suited to accept a role that includes some DNP’s at times than Metu is. If I had to choose one over the other, I’d choose Jones on that basis.
One suggestion: don’t overvalue players who only start accumulating nice stats in meaningless games at the tail end of a lost season when key players get DNP’s.
This is a SKALding hot take.
This is yet another example of your inability to see something properly. Skal was going to be GREAT….but apparently you couldnt see it. Or his DNA couldn’t see it, either, but details are in fact stupid quite often.
KANGZ fans.
Kings found a shooting guard.
The Kings should just be flat tanking at this point. Don’t play Barnes. Don’t play Donte. Maybe not even Davion. We already know who they are. Run G leaguers, whatever it takes. It’s pretty dumb.
Having said that, I do believe that great players are in 7 and after and as long as you have a legit GM, who can identify 1. Hali and Davion gotten late.
But a shot at a star is there for the tanking.
there Is a shot at a star: Divincenzo.
Hadn’t heard he got an invite from Bezos. Congrats to Donte!
I have a sneaky suspicion that Monty is going to trade our draft pick with some of our players, possibly Fox for something big.
Hard to say what’s going to happen. I think the thing that makes the most sense is to move the pick with actual assets (Barnes or Fox) for a higher level player. I’m not sure this front office is capable of acting with urgency though, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a bunch of vet bench tinkering, which will accomplish nothing in terms of adding wins, and now you’re down to Sabonis’s last year.
I hope not. I see some pretty good trades out there. Hope Monte sees some too. I think he will do his homework and have the patience to see things through.
From the 5 minutes I saw the only play that stood out was chinexie getting his ankles broken
Nice to see Donte finally have a decent offensive night. Still too few and far between for the inevitable overpay Monte is going to likely throw at him in the off-season.
Good game for Jones, he’s a nice guy and I hope he gets a decent contract from somebody to play a 3rd/4th big (but just not us).
He’s playing for his next contract, and it had better not be an overpay by the Kings.
Kings have won 4 of 5, WHICH IS SOMETHING THEY HAVEN’T DONE ALL YEAR. Now it’s time to win games when it doesn’t count and only hurts. F@#king Kangz.
If I hear any Kings talking head say they are building momentum for next year I’m gonna skin a kitten (no puppies will be kicked in this promise).
Still a shot at the play-in?
Just dropping to the 8th slot because they pass the Lakers. The Kings are now 4 full games behind the Spurs for the 10th spot and will be mathematically eliminated with another loss or Spurs win. Whom they won’t catch because they play PDX again Sunday and they’ll win. The Spurs just beat the snot out of the Portland G League squad without Dejounte Murray last night.
San Antonio is in if they can beat any one (beyond PDX tomorrow) of @Denver, @Minnesota, GSW, @Dallas.
New Orleans really needs to win 1 more game, I think, to outlast both San Antonio and the Lakers. They play the Clippers Sunday night, in Sac Tuesday, back home in New Orleans for Portland, @Memphis, home vs GSW.4
Lakers play Denver Sunday afternoon, @Phoenix Tuesday, @GSW Thursday, OKC next Friday, @Denver Sunday.
There’s still a lot of jockeying within the playoff seeding (5-7 in the West for instance), But the teams 1-10 at this point are all but set if the Lakers even lose just another game.
The real interesting thing to me is I can see the order being this:
1) Phoenix
2) Memphis
3) Dallas
4) Golden State
5) Denver
6) Utah
7) Minnesota
8) LA Clippers
9) New Orleans
10) San Antonio
Wolves and Clippers play, and the Clippers would prefer to play Phoenix than Memphis. They lose. Then the Clippers play the Pelicans, who beat the Spurs, and win. Wolves gets to play the Grizzlies, which I can see them preferring to the Suns, and Clippers get to play the Suns which I can see them preferring to the Grizzlies in the 1st round. Cross country travel is a bitch and a half in the 1st round and a lot of teams try to avoid it if possible.
We’ll see though. Like I’ve said in this comment, the real danger for the Kings is dropping to the 8th slot in the lottery because the Lakers lose out. But I doubt that happens. I think the Kings will likely lose to GSW (even without Curry and the Dubs on a SEGABABA) and New Orleans back to back which means the only way to get to the 8th slot is for the Lakers to lose out. (And they play OKC next Friday.) And I doubt Portland will win another game this year, they are so deep into the tank they might know where the battleground of losing ends and their franchise begins at this point. So there’s no hope in the Kings getting to the 6th slot as they were so briefly. Portland is 2-15 since the ASB with the 2 wins coming against the Pistons and Wizards.
It seems pretty likely that the Kings were always going to finish around the 7th slot despite the lack of wins they had when Sabonis and Fox were playing.
A ton of words to ignore. KANGZ and standings talk?
Caring is sharing. I see you’re still an asshole. Congratulations.
Kings are in ninth or last in the league….what is the difference?
Maybe a discussion about them being relegated to the G league if they don’t break 35 wins in the next decade is a worthy analysis.
Gentry is the coach that’ll lead us to the playoffs!
WaltonGentry is the coach that’ll lead us to the playoffs!Walton GentryNew guy is the coach that’ll lead us to the playoffs!RIGHT
Not in another 16 years.
What’s worse is that all these news stations actually think we still have a chance at the play- in…… this year.
Didn’t this happen last year resulting in Luke Walton keeping his job? Isn’t Gentry hired through 2023?
Go on….
Apparently he needs to reach certain mile markers in order to be guaranteed his job next year. I’d assume one was making the playoffs or maybe more, but knowing the Kangz they may have lowered the bar. I’d laugh it was winning 30 games, which they are one away from.
I’d bet the markers are closer to 41 games personally. Why would you create an incentive to keep a coach for 30 wins? Especially if you’re Monte McNair and you’re clearly trying to not tank and Alvin Gentry is clearly not your coach.
I get laughing at this franchise is commonplace and par for the course, understandably, but I highly doubt the FO is dumb enough to guarantee Gentry at a HC salary for next season by winning 30 games. I just don’t see why the Kings would be dumb enough, even this era Sacramento Kings, to do that.
My guess is that Gentry had to make the eighth seed. They never wanted him to coach. It was the usual dysfunction that led to that happening (hiring Walton, not firing him in the offseason, firing him early in the season, blah blah blah). If there aren’t real additions/changes to the top three, it’s not going to be a lot better next season. High 30s in wins, maybe the 10th seed. The lowest of low bars to clear.
8th seed/41 games is interchangeable IMO, but that’s at best a minor quibble. And certainly nothing to ever get into a twist over. But I definitely agree with this:
‘
Get your skepticism. I think maybe I could see 45 wins depending on what exactly happens with the draft pick and what players are brought in on the fringes.
I don’t think there’s any utility in saying you should bet on this franchise to be successful when it’s done nothing to illustrate to the many that you should have that sort of faith. It’ll certainly be a ‘proof in the pudding’ type of thing.
Very similar to the season the Wolves are having, IMO. But I don’t think for a minute Monte McNair is hoping that strategy will work this go around. It’s not a matter of going after upgrades, it’s a matter of availability. I’m just hoping upgrades are available. And of course, hiring a quality head coach.
I usually agree 99.9% on what you post. I do believe winning games now helps the team start an identity. Up until now they couldn’t win the close games but now are showing something we haven’t seen all year. I know most of the players except Barnes and maybe Mitchell are not starters but I think players like Mitchell, Divincenzo, Lyles, Metu and Jones are showing us some things we haven’t seen in a long time in winning close games. It’s a start. Maybe now the starters will take note and follow suite. Who ever they are.
For over a decade the same could be said Jason Thompson, McLemore, McCollum, Stauskas, WCS, Skal, Giles, Bagley, etc. We were told they were starting to form an identity and building culture for next season. It’s the same thing year after year with this team.
Remember when ray McCollum went on a tear the end of rookie year and averaged something like 15 and 5 when IT went down with injures? I do, and many of us thought he showed “promise” to be the backup PG of the future to IT.
How about something more recent. Take a look at Mavin Bagley’s last 20 or so games of his rookie year. “Just wait until next year” we were told.
Fool me once, twice, thrice…
Jeez I can’t remember anything about this team more than 3 years ago
I hope we get Shaedon Sharpe at #7
That would be nice if he joins the draft there are some good options at 7-10 range
A win they don’t need, on the backs of players who will either be gone next year, or see limited minutes. Awesome.
No personnel decisions should be made because of performance that occurs in recent and the next few games unless it is based on one of my takeaways.
Here are my takeaways from these end-of-the-season games:
Please end the season ASAP, and find a real defensive coach for this team.
You just cannot give up 110+ pts per game, with Mitchell, DDV, Holiday (some good defenders) on the court, not to mention with the absence of some bad defender like Fox.
The music makes this a masterpiece
I’ve seen it 5 times now and started laughing each time when the sound effects started. It’s amazingly fitting.
I like the depth of this draft and convinced the best player taken will not be in the top 3 . Several drafts in last 10 years were like this with Hall of Fame talent available late and top picks just OK .
Davion looked clearly tired last night. With the way he puts in effort on both ends and the increase in his minutes, it make sense.
They went out and partied two nights ago to celebrate his dunk highlight, and because he normally doesn’t drink, he got sick and the last thing he remembered was seeing Fox getting a new ear piercing at 2 in the morning before he vomited in an alley and some strange guy wearing a CoVid mask was trying to bribe him to throw the game. The next day, after his usual routine of 3 full practices, two weight lifts, and a conditioning drill, he was studying film of Jalen Green when an ex girlfriend called, and , one thing led to another, and he only slept 15 minutes, but for some reason he still was not tired , so he practiced the morning of game day and lifted weights, and when the game started, he felt this strange feeling: he was fatigued. This did not prevent him from playing defense because that’s sort of impossible, but he was hoping to be able to split the point guard duties, you know, like he did at Baylor with Jared Butler, but because there’s only two ball handlers, one has to start and the other (Divincenzo) has to come off the bench, because otherwise the second unit would have to play ultimate frisbee with the basketball, so his fatigue really showed and was quite shocking for his teammates who needed some time to realize that it was possible for Davion to be fatigued and once the shock was over, they rallied for the win.
You guys see? We really need sarcasm font!!!
Narrator: No, we don’t!
Yes, I really missed that sarcasm font from StR…….easy to use….
See my comment above.
Badge Legend