With just 8 games remaining in the 2020-21 Sacramento Kings season, Jerry Reynolds, Will Griffith, and Tony Xypteras are back with another episode of The Kings Herald Show to break it all down.
What, if anything, can we learn from the final 8 games? How has Tyrese Haliburton performed in De’Aaron Fox’s absence? What does Buddy Hield’s future in Sacramento look like heading into a massively important offseason for Monte McNair and the Kings organization? Catch all that and more on this weeks episode of the The Kings Herald Show.
Timestamps:
- (2:00) What can we learn, if anything, from the final 8 Kings games this season?
- (6:00) Will Luke Walton commit to playing the youth at the end of the Kings roster for big minutes down the stretch?
- (8:15) Tyrese Haliburton’s strong play as the lead guard for the Sacramento Kings.
- (18:00) Will Buddy Hield still be a member of the Sacramento Kings next season, and how does he fit with Fox and Haliburton moving forward?
- (27:00) Why are the Kings able to sweep a good team like Mavericks, but can’t beat up on bad teams like the Pistons?
- (34:50) Is the NBA’s new play-in playoff system fair, and something they should continue to do in the future?
- (44:00) Parity in the NBA today heading into the 2021 playoffs.
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“We’re past the long haul.” – Jerry Reynolds
Classic.
“Buddy was 1 for 11. Is there some macro issue that’s causing games like that?”
I dunno, the law of probability?
Over the course of this “terrible” season he’s having, he’s shooting above 39% from three. The man has flaws in his game, but unlike a lot of players who take a lot of threes, he almost never shoots his team out of the game. My knowledge is far from encyclopedic, but I doubt going over all of his box scores, there are more than a handful of instances where you see him make four shots on twenty-two attempts. He’s become more adept in finding other ways to help the team when he’s heaving bricks.
I’m agnostic about his future with the team, but I’m not sure that putting sharp focus on one game or another can yield anything useful about the big picture, particularly when they’re surrounded by games where Hield shot 13/23 from three.
I think the theory was: Now that Tyrese isn’t breathing down his neck waiting to take his spot, Buddy should play better.
:I
But better than what? In spite of the eye test, Hield’s turnovers are down about 25% from last year. I fully admit that it feels like he makes five a game, but he’s improved in that regard. He’s at 39.3% from three this year, which is outstanding, particularly when you factor in the volume of shots. His rebounding numbers remain quite good at the guard position.
I fully concede that it very often feels like he’s not playing well. His scoring and field goal attempts are both down this year, while his eFG% is up. I fully get that there is something about Hield that gets under your skin. He still does dumb stuff, but gawd, this is a fanbase that embraced Francisco Garcia.
Hield is, by all available metrics, having a pretty good season. I don’t know what else to tell you.
Oh, I just meant to poke fun at that theory about Buddy was rattled by someone who might take his spot.
Me miss the point entirely? It’s more likely than you think!
My theory is that I’ve been getting less thumbs ups because I’m rattled by Andy Sims possibly taking my spot in the rotation.
I think the point was that Buddy’s shot profile is such that he is more susceptible to that sort of variance.
(26:00 mark, regarding coaching:)
Tony:
“It’s one thing if you take a bad shot once, but we’ve seen this, I mean bringing it back to Buddy Hield, we’ve been seeing this for awhile now and it doesn’t seem like anybody is telling him to knock it off, or there’s not a whole lot of accountability when it comes to the shot selection.”
Jerry:
“Yeah, I mean especially in today’s situation when you have all these breakdowns of tape, you can do so many things.”
LUKE WALTON:
“I guess I’ll have to eventually get around to someday maybe watching the tape maybe possibly I dunno perhaps.”
(31:06:)
Jerry:
“There’s only two things a coach can do. Only two things, once he’s got his roster. And that is: motivate the players, and utilize them correctly.”
LUKE WALTON: “Shit. I can’t do either of those two things.”
Seems the most accurate response Luke could have to Jerry’s points ! Many games of evidence !
(52:44)
Will:
“The…Kings are my long-term relationship. They’re the team I come home to every night, that I have dinner with even though they don’t cook all that well. But the Oklahoma City Thunder–they’re that girl in the subway. They’re that one that I kind of look over at…”man, I wonder what life would be like with her.”
Will’s significant other in real life, after listening to the podcast:
(Will comes home)
“So, um. I was going to make you your favorite dinner but I don’t cook all that well WHO IS THE GIRL IN THE SUBWAY YOU’VE BEEN IMAGINING YOUR LIFE WITH?”
I’ve used that description with her first, Kosta and let me tell you that I definitely got asked
“Have you been riding the light rail without me recently?”.
Badge Legend