The shooting woes continue for the Sacramento Kings.
The Kings shot just 10 of 38 from distance (26.3%) last night. Meanwhile the Spurs tied a franchise record by making 22 of 46 (47.8%) of their own attempts. Victor Wembanyama, who came into the game shooting below 30% from distance, made 6 of 12 attempts, including 4 of 5 in the first half alone. The Kings only had two players (De’Aaron Fox and Trey Lyles), who even made two. For the season now, the Kings have made just 30.1% of their threes, good for dead last in the league. Their opponents have combined to make 54 more threes than the Kings, good for about 14.7 points a game difference.
When the Kings brought in DeMar DeRozan, there were definite questions about Sacramento’s outside shooting as a result, with DeRozan not being known for an outside shot. The funny thing is, DeRozan currently leads the Kings in 3P% at 40%, and made his only attempt last night. What’s particularly frustrating is that it’s the guys who were supposed to make their threes that aren’t cashing in. Kevin Huerter, who got off to a decent start, is now down to just 34% on the season after an 0-5 shooting performance against the Spurs. Keon Ellis is only at 33.3%. Keegan Murray’s outside shot continues to regress, as he’s at 27.9% on 6.2 attempts a game. De’Aaron Fox puts up the most attempts on the team at 6.5 a game but only makes it at 28.2%. Malik Monk was only at 27.9% before his injury. Doug McDermott, specifically brought in for his shooting, is at 27.8%. Trey Lyles actually increased his 3P% after last night when he made just 2 of 6 and is now up to 24.3% on the season. Those are just absolutely abysmal numbers, and it’s exacerbated by the fact that Sacramento’s perimeter defense still leaves much to be desired with opponents getting wide open looks of their own as the Kings focus most of their efforts on shutting down the paint.
The Kings definitely looked a bit gassed last night, which makes sense given they had to play overtime the night before in Phoenix. Sacramento has already done a lot of traveling for the young NBA season, tied for the lead in road games at 7. Still, they got off to a decent start in this one, even building up a 9 point lead shortly into the 2nd quarter as the Spurs were playing sloppy and turning the ball over like crazy. The Spurs had 7 turnovers in the 1st quarter alone, leading to 12 Kings points. Last season, that might have cascaded for the Spurs, but this is exactly why they brought in someone like Chris Paul who steadied the ship and started bringing the Spurs back into it with timely passes for open points. Victor Wembanyama also showcased off his skills as a shooter, walking into several 30 foot three pointers from the top of the key. To see someone so tall also knock down shots like they’re Kevin Durant is highly demoralizing. On the other end, Wemby’s mere presence on the court dictated Sacramento’s every move. In one particularly memorable sequence, Wembanyama bit on a classic Sabonis pump fake, but as Sabonis went to get what should have been an easy score on a half hook, Wembanyama spun around quickly and still blocked the shot. Wembanyama finished with a game-high 34 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks in just 34 minutes. And he’s not even 21. This dude is going to be a terror for years to come, especially when everything comes together for him.
The end of the second quarter is where things really started to go wrong for the Kings. With the Spurs up 2 but Harrison Barnes having just missed a shot, the Kings had an opportunity to tie or take the lead going into the break. Instead, Keegan rushed the outlet pass and hit Sabonis square in the back as the ball bounced out of bounds. The Spurs instead got yet another opportunity, and Chris Paul cashed in at the buzzer from three to give the Spurs a 60-55 lead heading into the half. The start of the third quarter saw things go from bad to worse. After Domantas Sabonis hit a midrange jumper to cut the lead to 4 with 10:26 left in the quarter, the Spurs went on a 10-0 run as Sacramento failed to score again until De’Aaron Fox made some free throws at the 5:15 mark. The sad part is that it could have been so much worse but the Spurs actually missed quite a few shots during that stretch themselves. By the end of the quarter, the Kings were down 13 points, having scored just 16 points in the quarter.
The Kings tried to make things interesting in the 4th, but it seemed as though every time the Kings scored, the Spurs would answer with a three. The Spurs and Kings would make the same amount of shots in the final quarter, but San Antonio was 6 of 10 from distance compared to just 3 of 9 for the Kings and the Kings fell by double digits for the first time this season. Sacramento’s Big Three of De’Aaron Fox (24 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists), Domantas Sabonis (23 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists) and DeMar DeRozan (21 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists), all did well, but they got almost no help. Keegan Murray scored just 5 points. Kevin Huerter scored only two on 1-7 from the field. Trey Lyles led the bench in scoring with 8 points. Meanwhile, seven Spurs players finished in double digits, including every starter. Sacramento’s supporting cast has been a problem all season, and without Malik Monk for a couple of weeks, they’ll really need someone else to step up. Tonight, nobody did.
The Kings will have a chance to right the ship on their first true homestand of the season, but it’s still going to be tough sledding as the Kings will have to play the Suns in a grudge rematch on Wednesday and then another back to back against the Timberwolves and Jazz on Friday and Saturday.
Accepting that this team is going to play poorly much of the season, with spurts of good enough play keep hope alive. It’s really disappointing because I think DeRozan was an upgrade over Barnes, but the team is still showing many of the same issues from previous seasons. They have been in the bottom 5 for defensive 3pt FG% during the past 2 season, and this season is similar.
This team is also making just 22.8% of OPEN 3s, 36.8% of WIDE OPEN 3s (NBA.com).
Things need to turn around soon or the Kings will be left in the dust in the Western Conference.
Work on defense. Work on rebounding. Work on running an offense with a plan. The three will eventually start to fall.
I do think that the low three point shot percentage is influenced by the “flow” offense and “spray” threes. Dribbling the ball across half court and launching threes is not going to result in a decent shot percentage. Run an offense to get the ball to Huerter or Keegan in the corner from deep.
Assists, rebounds, and defense.
I noticed several times last night someone would have the ball and be waiting for someone else to move, and would eventually have to point to the off ball player where to go. I noticed a couple times where players would direct DeRozan where to go. I don’t think it’s necessarily an over-reliance on flow offense, I think it’s a lack of cohesion among the players in the offense.
Very good point. It just is not smooth and natural yet. They probably feel like they are forcing up shots.
If it’s a lack of cohesion among the players, then it’s a roster construction or coaching problem. I don’t buy a narrative that the players are still trying to figure each other out. The Kings have added one new player to the core rotation and he’s seasoned vet and all-star. Just about every team in the league adds new players to their rotation every year. The Spurs added two starters and they ran circles around the Kings last night.
The team is 11 games in (15 if you count preseason) which is ample time for cohesion to happen…or it’s just not going to happen.
I disagree. The Kings added a player in DeRozan who is high-usage, and a different style of play than the Kings offense last season.
For comparison, DeRozan is at 25.2 usage rate this season. CP3 is 16.1 and Barnes is 13.4. Lower usage guys will always be easier to integrate. They are complimentary pieces, not focal points.
Come on Greg; 16.1 + 13.4 = 29.5 > 25.2.
Know your math! 🙂
“Please don’t math”
-Greg
I knew that was coming lol
In terms of offensive concentration we went from a two headed monster to a three headed monster with the addition of Derozan.
Roster construction means changes in the roster like getting Derozan. It takes time to get used to playing together and coaching the new group. So yeah at some point it is a roster construction problem if they cannot play together well. If the coaches cannot a solid game plan with the players on the roster it is a coaching problem.
We are not there yet. We are ten games in. The lack of size and bad defense has been known for years though. Brown can only do so much about that.
This is a reply to Adamsite from yesterday’s comment. It also has to do with the above comment. What I am proposing is only hypothetical and take it for what you guys and gals think it’s worth. Just hypothetical. I have been thinking about this for quite some time. Here goes.
Trade Fox and Ellis and C. Jones to the Spurs for T
Jones, Keldon Johnson, Stephon Castle and Jeremy Sochan. Trade Huerter and Lyles a first and a second to the Nets for Cam Johnson and Day Ron Sharp.
Starters: Monk, C Johnson, Derozan, Murray and Sabonis. Backups: T Jones/ Carter, Castle, K. Johnson, Sochan and Sharpe.
C. Johnson is an up grade for Huerter. Monk can handle the point guard duty. He is a really good facilitator, passer and 3 point shooter. T Jones and later Carter can backup Monk. Castle is a young player with tons of potential. K. Johnson is a proven who until lately was a starter. Sochan will backup Murray but also play next to Sabonis at times. Good young player and can really rebound. All the backups play really good defense. Sharpe is a great backup for Sabonis.
There you have it. Again just hypothetical.
PS I love Fox but this is because of money and the fact I can’t see this team going anywhere with what they have now. I have added good solid defensive young players who can shoot. The starters are the same except an upgrade at shooting guard. The bench is definitely an upgrade and young and all play defense. Sabonis needs a good defensive backup and he now has one.
This is a roster building problem. Yes, they’re worse shooting the three right now than they will be going forward, but even with a lot of improvement, they’re almost certainly a worse three point shooting team than last season and they’re about the same on defense.
The Kings are still somewhere between a 6-12 seed, and Brown is going to get blamed first for any lack of improvement, but this is a front office/roster issue more than anything else.
Responsibility/blame is for everyone on the basketball ops side. Monte and the roster construction, Brown for not adapting his style with the players he was given, and the players for lack of execution on the court. It seems to me that there is some incongruency with the GM and the Coach that needs to remedied real quick.
100%! Lack of length and athleticism, only 3 bigs on the roster, none of them very good rim protectors, etc. And they took another smallish guard…
WEMBY PUT SABONIS IN THE FRIEND ZONE!
CHRIS PAUL WAS COOKING WITH FISH GREASE!
THE SPURS 3PT SHOTS WERE WET!
LOL, I love your persistence on calling out the announcing crew, but I have an honest question for you. Are Mark Jones’ puns, as cheesy as they are, and different from Jerry’s? Is “cooking with fish grease” any different than “hippity hop to the barber shop?” Is it just that Jerry’s colloquial charm makes it better?
Mark Jones’ puns always feel canned and predictable. Jerry never felt that way at least to me.
He put him in the weight room UUUGGGGHHHHH….
I think it’s because we all love the person in Jerry, while the jury may be out on Jones.
We should be comparing Marc Jones with Grant Napear:
”Turn the sprinkler system on…”
”If you don’t like that…”
”Remember that play when the game is over…”
”How many more points do we need…”
”Cousins! Cousins! Cousins!…”
And keep in mind that Grant had Jerry as his color analyst to smooth things out.
OHHHHH BOY!!
This.
Grant’s phrases were used much more sparingly, and were nowhere near as cheesy.
Put him in the books and send him to the line is not in the same cheesy category as he’s cooking with ((((shudder))) fish grease.
I can’t believe I even have to type that lousy phrase.
Who cooks with fish grease? What does that even mean? How does it relate to basketball?
I don’t know what the “last name Him” thing is. Is it some reference that I’m unaware of?
He is Him.
Probably something the younger culture uses that I am not aware of.
All phrases matter.
The great thing about a color commentator (or analyst) is that, as the name implies, their job is to add “color” to the commentary. Not paint over the whole game.
Jerry did just that; he played off of Grant with ease letting him actually call the game (hat tip to the Kings production team member who might be reading this, please remind your overlords that there is supposed to be someone actually calling the game action that’s happening in real time!) while providing insight when asked / he saw an opportunity, while not stepping on the call. Or he’d step in to share a timely (timely, meaning at the right time, as opposed to LENGTHY) anecdote when the play was particularly awful to help pass the time, and then they would discuss. Between the call.
Mark and Kayte and Ya Boi Drapes are awful. Drapes at least tries to call the game and its about the only time he doesn’t get overly emotional and about the only time I can take more than 5 minutes of him. But then Kayte has to go on a 5 minute by-line while he waits for his turn to jump in without looking like an ass for interrupting her.
I’m almost ready for Peaches to come back, at this point. Skip the insights, deep dives, and story telling and just call the damn game FFS.
Jerry was color which is where they should go.
*I only listened to the second half, and to be fair, I counted ZERO instances where Three Possession Kayte talked over two possessions.
Jerry was Sacramento. He was deeply involved in the organization and the community. He felt like someone that was relatable to all. Mark Jones just feels like a corporate hire that has no pulse on the community.
Kayte has been around Sacramento for a while, but she still feels out of touch with the fans. Often she sounds condescending and speaks to the viewers like they are stupid and know nothing.
Well said
Oh. I agree. Jerry is a treasure and has a special place in our hearts while Jones feels like a transplant. But I think we need to separate the person from the commentary. Had Jerry said something like “First name De’Aaron, last name Him” and Mark Jones come up with “The Tasmanian Slovanian,” Would we be annoyed by the later while embracing the former just because of who said it?
I see what you are getting at now. I don’t know, to be honest.
I don’t know. I don’t have a problem with the comments or Jones per se. It is that they are extremely repetitive. He shuffles through the same 5 catch phrases over and over.
Jerry had more creativity IMO
Does Mark Jones use the same catchphrases on his national TV games with ESPN?
I don’t know. I don’t have time to watch a lot of other NBA games. Mostly focus on just Kings games.
I have heard Jones on other games before but don’t remember if I heard any of them.
Yes
This. I think Jones does a fine job, but he PRESSES when it comes to these “sayings”. So not only do they repeat, but they appear during somewhat benign moments at everyday moments. I also listen to Sixers games and I have to listen to Kate growwwwwllll out her highlights like she’s squeezing one out. I’m cursed on both ends.
Kayte’s points are almost always valuable, and I also don’t think she looks down on the fans as much (verbally) as she once did. I don’t hear her tell me I don’t understand anymore. It’s not her content…
…it’s that she hasn’t yet learned how to STOP TALKING as the play occurs on the other end. To be perfectly frank, she should have learned this a long, long time ago. I think talking over plays is blatant incompetence, and I’m going to continue to point it out, so get used to it.
I won’t get used to it, and I will continue to point it out.
Get used to that and put it in the weight room!
Rik don’t take my cornbread.
Marty, standing on business!
Is that good or bad?
The issue that I have with Jones is that he seems to be amused by his own stupid sayings he thinks of – he gets drunk off of them like some junior high year-old kid trying to amuse himslef. I wanna hear a professional announcer, not some small town huckster tryhard. And yes, Kayte need to try a little more STFU.
Man, reading those 3pt shooting percentages is depressing. I knew it was bad but I’m not a huge stats guy so I didn’t know it was that bad.
I do have to question the logic of Fox continuing to take lots of threes with an entire roll of tape on his shooting hand every night.
I’ll add that the fact that he keeps changing the wrap makes is seem like the finger is a bigger problem then what’s being reported. It’s obviously bothering him in a painful and/or shooting way.
Yes, and it is now on his thumb too. I appreciate him playing through it and he seems to be helping in other ways but he needs to lower his 3pt attempts. Taking 25 footers with a tape cast seems like not the best idea.
Especially when he can get to the paint with ease most nights and convert at a high level. Get in the paint, collapse the defense, then kick out if needed.
He’ll look like mummy around the All Star break.
I shared this over on Bluesky:
Per https://NBA.com/stats, Kings shooting percentages on wide open threes, minimum 20 attempts:
Malik Monk 26.9%
Trey Lyles 32%
Keon Ellis 35%
Keegan Murray 36.1%
Domantas Sabonis 37.5%
De’Aaron Fox 43.5%
Kevin Huerter 47.5%
Even the Kings get a wide open look they are shooting like crap.
And Fox needs to scale back and take primarily wide open looks from beyond the arc.
Is there a stat that show what percentage of Kings’ opponents are shooting wide open threes compared to the league average? Also what is the league average on wide open three%?
Good to see that Bluesky embeds on this site, unlike that other social media platform!
NBA.com. I think this is what you are looking for. It doesn’t show the league average.
Yeah, I can’t find those kinds of numbers there. I just want to see if the numbers line up with what my eyes are seeing. The Kings seem to give up far more open threes than other teams, which leads me to believe it’s a scheme issue as opposed to an individual defensive issue.
Wide Open 3s (6+ft), Kings opponents are shooting 7.8/18.7, good for 41.7%. (tied for 14th in attempts, 8th worst in percentage)
Open 3s (4-6 feet), Kings opponents are shooting 5.8/18.1, good for 32.2%. (1st in attempts allowed by nearly 2 per game, 20th worst percentage, and 3rd worst in made shots)
My eyes think it looks much worse, actually.
Curious to hear what you think is the issue with the team wide poor shooting from 3.
Tired legs would be my guess. Last night in particular we saw multiple threes airballed short, and others missing off front rim. The guys have played a lot of minutes and have not had many days of rest.
3 back to backs already in their first 11 games.
During which of the first 10 games did the legs start to tire? I don’t have the 3pt stats for each game in front of me, but my guess is the 3 in 4 nights and SEGABABAs are where the 3pt% really goes down.
If this team is tired after 10 games, it’s going to be a long season for them.
You bet your life.
Huh?
I plugged some numbers into Excel tracking game by game 3pt% and season average 3pt%. The team average is a fairly steady downward trend (no shock).
Game by game, the Kings go up down up down almost every game, but still with the gradual downward trend. The one exception is the 11.5% game against the Clippers. That really stands out as unusual in every way.
Aside from the downward trend, there’s no real pattern or insight I can derive from it, mostly it’s still just too small of a sampling to be meaningful, other than the Clippers game being a clear outlier.
Thanks for the insight.
Back to backs are easy compared to having to play 40 minutes a night because the bench is non existent. Sabonis, Keegan, Fox, and Derozan will eventually crumble.
Yup, they are all averaging over 36 minutes per game with DeRozan leading the way at 38MPG
Now compare that to the Warriors, who have Curry playing the most…at just 28 MPG.
Those minutes add up.
LIVE BY THE 2, DIE BY THE 3!
© RikSmits
Not trying to make excuses here, especially when the difference in 3% between the Kings and their opponents is both glaring and consistent. That said, the Kings have already had 3 b2bs, meaning that over half of their schedule has been b2bs. Now, the Kings are only 2-3 in non-b2b situations, and the opening night loss to Minny and the home loss to the Clips stand out as home floor wasted opportunities. All told, I would have liked 7-4 after 11 games. So while there is appropriate cause for concern, there are also things to like about the play of this team through 11 games.
The roster needs a viable option for minutes behind Murray. I kind of like that the Kings are playing a non-standard 3 and rim offense. I think it makes them harder to defend, but shooting .301 from deep when you are giving up .376 is untenable.
Big 20 game stretch between now and the end of the year. Going 13-7 is not out of the question. Neither is going 10-10. Buckle up.
Yes, for how bad the shooting has been the results have been decent. It is a good sign if they can start shooting better, even a little better could go a long way.
If the Kings can close out the next 9 games on a winning note (6-3), we could be looking at a 12-8 record to close out November. That would be acceptable. There’s a few very winnable games in there, but the Kings definitely have to take care of business when the depleted Suns come to town on Wednesday to start the next homestand.
A .600 record would be quite acceptable.
Good luck.
Keith where you getting 6wins out of this?
phoenix
sota
utah
atlanta
@clips
brooklyn
okc
@sota
@potland
the way we playing, I see MAYBE 4wins.
This could turn out to be a long season my fellow Kings fans.
You could be right. I see anywhere from 4-6 wins.
I have a feeling they will lose against one of Portland or Atlanta. Brooklyn is not great. But they play disciplined and could upset the Kings.
They could split with Minny.Conley is playing awful.
Tomorrow will be interesting. No Durant or Nurk.
I expect another close one.
Regardless.
If they continue to miss 3s and not defend 3s, it’s moot.
This team will be play in fodder Unless they make a trade at the deadline.
I appreciate that with the goodness we’ve seen from the mid-range magician, Deebo, the machine like consistency of Domas Ex Machina, and the impressive man2man D and 2 point scoring of De’Aaron, and the widening of the skills of Keegan (rebounding at 8+ rpg, the occasional creation on offense) and they are still over .500 ball and yet, and yet…
They continue to make me groan and throw my hands up as I watch them play as I ask to no one “Are they trying to lose?”
Sweet and Sour. The flavor of the last season and this one, thus far.
I love the suggestions that basically amount to “micromanage their touches”. These guys are elite athletes who get paid to put a ball in a basket. They will figure this out, season averages be damned.
The 3 pt. defense is concerning but expected. They have yet to find 2-3 more lengthy wing / forward position players and it shows. These are the challenges of all teams these days; how do you procure and retain talent in a capped market? I don’t know but I have a feeling every loss is going to be micro scrutinized to death. Funny how those same folks don’t want to micro scrutinize the W’s nearly as much and talk about the fun stuff but whatever.
I think this is still one of the better teams to ever wear Sacramento across their collective chest. And I think it’ll take some time for them to find their next couple of gears. They certainly need to. But most importantly, I think they certainly have them.
here here.
jesus christ, one bad game and mfs are talking about trading Fox for Tre Jones and Jeremy Sochan good lord
I see one person who mentioned that.
really? I thought it was Mark Jones he wanted to trade for
I think people are looking big picture. Not one game.8th season. Fox is not a number one option on a Contending team. He is just not. He is going to be looking for the Max. Which is 5/70/350.
Not sure the Kings want to pay 70 mil per. We’re not just talking regular season production. Let’s talk a complete body of work. 1’All Star, 1 playoff elimination. This is Brad Beal linear.
i certainly wouldn’t do the Spurs offer as notated. Houston with all those young assets. Yes. Pels? With all those wings. Yes. Miami for Herro, Jacques and Picks. Probably. Spurs for Castle, Vassell, Sochan. And picks. Yes.
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