Don’t look now but the Sacramento Kings are streaking. The Kings won their fifth straight game, and tonight’s 132-115 victory over the Spurs is easily the most impressive of the bunch. Seven Kings finished with double digit points, led by De’Aaron Fox’s 23 points. Richaun Holmes (23 points and 12 rebounds) and Tyrese Haliburton (15 points, 10 assists) both had double-doubles, and Buddy Hield had a very efficient 20 points as well.
The Kings had a very good night from long range, making 18 of 36 three pointers to just 10 of 27 for San Antonio. The Kings also got to the line more, making 20 free throws to San Antonio’s 11. The Spurs hung in there in part thanks to a 22 to 6 advantage in 2nd chance points, but Sacramento was too efficient in the end.
Sacramento’s trade deadline is also looking better and better as Delon Wright, Terence Davis and Moe Harkless all played significant minutes off the bench and each had their moments. Wright scored just 2 points in 22 minutes, looking tentative and deferential at times, but still added 5 assists, 4 rebounds and a steal. Terence Davis led the bench in scoring with 14 points, shooting 3 of 5 beyond the arc. Harkless chipped in 13 points in just 14 minutes and also made three triples.
The Kings also weathered several runs by the savvy Spurs. At one point in the third quarter, Sacramento held a 19 point lead, only to see it dwindle all the way to just 6 points in a matter of minutes as DeMar DeRozan and Rudy Gay started getting it going. San Antonio eventually got the game down to just one possession after Drew Eubanks made a layup to cut the lead to 104-101 with 9:24 remaining.
Then something that has been rare to see in Sacramento for the last decade happened. The Kings started playing defense.
Terence Davis, Tyrese Haliburton, De’Aaron Fox, Moe Harkless, Richaun Holmes and even Buddy Hield at times disrupted several San Antonio possessions, forcing turnovers that led to fast breaks and getting stops when it mattered. The Kings pushed the lead back to double digits and didn’t look back.
Kings are running on the break 👑 pic.twitter.com/FOaSTeuXeo
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) March 30, 2021
This was an important game for Sacramento to keep their dream of the playoffs alive, and they didn’t back down from the challenge. Sacramento is playing really good basketball right now, but they have to keep their eye on the prize. They get these same Spurs again next on Wednesday, and if we know Pop, he’ll be making some adjustments.
Random Obervations
- Tyrese Haliburton is an absolute wunderkind. Some of the passes he made tonight were unreal. He’s got really good chemistry with Richaun Holmes as well, as the two of them killed the Spurs down the stretch with simple pick and roll action. It feels really good to finally hit on a potential second star in the draft.
- Speaking of stars, De’Aaron Fox is one. While tonight wasn’t up to the unreal standards he had been setting, Fox still came through in the clutch, slamming the door shut on San Antonio and locking the deadbolt and latch for good measure.
- Buddy Hield’s stats aren’t eye-popping in this game, but this was one of the best games of his career because he was contributing on both ends of the court. He had some possessions guarding DeMar DeRozan where DeMar hit some tough shots, but he kept with it and wasn’t giving up easy looks. He also had a couple nice takes to the rim as well. Buddy seems to do a lot better with Tyrese and De’Aaron both in the starting lineup taking all the playmaking opportunities so he can focus on doing what he’s best at: scoring.
- Speaking of another guy that should probably focus on what he’s best at, Terence Davis had a good game overall, especially since he hit his outside shots, but please don’t ever dribble for more than five seconds ever again. In the first half he had multiple possessions where he was a complete black hole on offense. Part of that is probably his lack of chemistry with the team so hopefully that goes away as he gets more comfortable with his role.
- Who knew Moe Harkless could still play? I totally disregarded Harkless’ addition to the team, but in limited minutes he can hopefully provide some nice depth as a 3 & D player. Harkless strikes me as the type of guy that past Kings teams in the “Can he play SF?” era would have acquired to start and play big minutes. Thankfully this team doesn’t need that.
- These games have been fun. More of this please.
Ahahaha
Kings beat the Spurs! Time to dance!
Sactown Road….to the playoffs!
What does the Fox say?
Remember Scott Wallace from STR, the guy that always posted the k-pop girls dance gifs? Went to high school with the guy. I’ll do my best to find him and bring him back to the fold of TKH where his Korean spirit belongs.
I know that I’m a boomer-Clint Eastwood yelling at a cloud on this one, but count me in as someone that gets a little creeped out with how much American dudes like watching Korean teenagers dance in Catholic schoolgirl outfits. I struggle to believe that it’s all about the music.
truth lol
Great team win!
7 guys scored in double figures, the bench played great.
Thanks Spurs for not picking Hali!
It’s nice to have a bench now.
I love Pop, but I’m glad he kept his mask on.
He’s rocking that Doc Brown look.
That was fun.. thoroughly enjoyed the game!
Can’t understand how this comment gets downvoted.
I guess some people don’t want 2 win.
There are certain people that dislike me and they will downvote everything I say.. if it makes them feel good then they should downvote away!
I think it’s the anonymous downvoter that is hitting practically every comment. I don’t think it’s personal.
𤣠𤣠𤣠…for real
I like what I’m seeing from Chimezie Metu. It’s only limited minutes across a dozen or so games, but he really seems to maximize his time. Definitely want to see him in the regular rotation.
And, if Terrence Davis keeps playing like he did tonight, he could be a good piece for us going forward.
Would love to see a 2nd unit of:
PG: Wright
SG: Davis
SF: Jeffries
PF: Woodard
C: Metu
I love what Metu brings but I see him as more of a 4.
Agreed up to the Woodard II getting minutes. The only way he cracks the rotation is if someone is injured. And. HOPEFULLY, that doesn’t happen.
I’m still skeptical about Jeffries. He hasn’t impacted the game enough or maybe hasn’t had the opportunity to crack the rotation. Jeffries has to get better.
Can’t really fuck up the rotation now. We’re red hot. The bench has to get in they fit in. We’re trying to make the playoffs. I’m not trying to see a closing lineup (unless a blow out) that doesn’t consist of 4QF, The Rookie, The Shooter, The Vet, and The Stopper.
KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGS!!!!!!
I’m digging this Terrance Davis guy.
After all of these streaks the past couple of years, both positive and negative, I can’t help but be indifferent. Our Kings have shown time and time again that they are consistently inconsistent. If they’re going for the playoffs, this is a relief to see. But in all reality, Wednesday could be the start of an 8 or 9 game skid. On a related note, how soon does Bagley return to ruin what the rest of the team has built?
…
If Bagley returns this season, it better be as a spark off the bench’ when we need some rebounds and scoring. If we continue to get wins and get to the play in spot, let’s not ruin that chemistry.
I see Bagley returning with the Wizards next season.
Not me. I’m all aboard the hype train. Go Kings. The roller coaster ride is what makes fanning fun for me. Playoffs or bust!
5 game winning streak?
Bench production?
Capatilizing on mistakes?
Tenacity on defense?
Now let’s keep this up. Consistency is what we need. Make this the new normal.
Imagine that! Buddy plays better when he doesnt have to dribble the ball.. This game was really fun!
In fairness to you because that seems to be a mantra of uninformed fans following a writer who doesn’t have a clue. Someone else has mentioned this already, but Buddy being asked to be more of a playmaker or asked to do something outside his basketball acumen is really bogus analysis and simply false to put it kindly.
Wrong. Walton absolutely made it clear that he tried to make him more of a playmaker compared to joeger.
Just because a wanna be gm said it doesn’t make it true.
I do my own analysis, I’ve played and earned that right You can’t blame a drop off in Hield’s offensive performance on Walton. It’s not because someone else said it, it’s just not accurate. Buddy is not totally absent of ball handling skills and when he’s a threat to take players off the dribble his perimeter game becomes more effective. My coach at UC Davis worked hard to make me more of a playmaker which made me a better overall offensive player. Being one dimensional makes that one dimension less effective. To say Hield must be strictly a spot of shooter is just not understanding the game. Buddy is a streaky shooter and streaky shooters sometimes have slumps, to blame that on any coach is really poor and lazy analysis. I think your seeing Hield’s performance level set to a longer term level.
I don’t disagree totally and don’t think Buddy is absent of any ball handling skills, but is it just coincidence that he is starting to play better when there are suddenly two main ball handlers in the starting lineup with him? Short 8 game sample and it’s possible, but…
Both arguments can have some merits to them and the truth is probably in the middle.
Come on
You have to “earn the right to do your own anaylsis”? Being able to think freely and independently is in inalienable right, it is not something granted to you from an external source.
Amen.
Whoa. whoa, whoa, back off a bit, kings4ever!
Don’t you read? He played. I think you owe someone an apology.
Kayte and Wanna Be GM should hang out together. They definitely are more qualified than everyone else. Hey, wait a minute- I played for Harry Dewey Fundamental 40 years ago! I think that may trump everyone and my opinion should be King! Bwahaha!!!!
That should be She played. You obviously haven’t read anything so that should let everyone know the qualifications of your responses. I suspect several others are like you. Thanks for exposing yourself and proving my point.
It’s not saying that he must strictly be a spot up shooter but simply that he is more effective in that role.
Klay thompson’s role should be the buddy role, they don’t ask klay to be a playmaker because that’s not how he shines.
Look, I’m upvoting you because they are wearing your head out.
Respectfully,
9sac8 ð
Start your own site. You’re clearly better than all of this.
Geez if I did that there would be one less woman and one less knowledgeable poster on this site both in short supply.
Um, maybe just watch some games and see what the rest of us are talking about with Buddy?
Kayte actually talked about Buddy the other night- shoots 45% or close to it on catch and shoot but 11% ( I am sure she said 11%) when he dribbles one time and shoots.
Buddy has learned to dribble better and all shooters have to have some handles. Buddy has unique value as catch and shoot. On defense, at least he moves. Unfortunetly for Bagley, too often he does not move much
Could Harkless be the 2021 Bazemore?
Man, it’s really going to come down to if the kings can unload Bagley this off season.
If so they can easily re-sign holmes without the mle and try to use that on additional quality wing depth
If the Kings have to use cap room to resign Holmes, they have to renounce all exceptions to get under the cap. That includes the MLE (Mid Level exception).
If they have free cap room to sign their own guys they can’t use the mle? That doesn’t sound right.
Perhaps it’s time you learned more about the CBA then. Here’s a great resource.
http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm
That’s ridiculous and penalizes teams for good cap management…The NFL is so much better at their salary management.
A hard cap would do so much good for the NBA, perhaps keep the exception to go over for draft picks to reward good drafting teams.
Actually, no it doesn’t. It penalizes you for poor decisions and bad luck…..which is really the issue here with Richaun Holmes. Not the CBA itself. Unless of course you think an inanimate object governing the finances of a 5 billion per annum business is the root of all evil.
You do you, I guess.
so I read that as if we want to create room by moving Bagley, we are essentially limited to buying him out sometime this year to avoid his $14MM cap hold for next year. Correct?
BuT MoNtE BlEw ThE DeAdLiNe?!?!
I was one of those people. I’ll gladly eat crow but for now SSS asterisk.
Same.
It’s too early to claim one way or the other, but if you’re wrong I’m mercilessly mocking you Spackler.
There’s no doubt it’s too early to call, but good lord man….people were losing their minds. You have to give talent to get it. I’m a stay in my own lane sort of guy. I wouldn’t want Monte building my house and I’m sure as shit he wouldn’t want me building his team. But regardless this was a FUN game to watch. If we get more of these, then even better.
I respect you for saying this… no harm done!
need to come up with a term for the rebuild. Im still workshopping this, but I like value flex, and the value buyers club.
I like the ‘value buyers club’, myself.
Solid win. Love the D in the 4th. Buddy hitting 3s. And the newcomers hitting shots also.
I sure have been enjoying watching Metu find his game.
All four players off the bench tonight are so much more athletic than the Bjelica-CoJo-Whiteside trio, it is just amazing how it changes the dynamic.
Going to be a really interesting sprint to finish the season.
Is it just me or is Pop starting to look like Gandalf?
He looks like Doc Brown from “Back To The Future” to me.
Kangz win, and after a nine month furlough from my job I started back working again today!
Fuck yeah
Woo!
Greatest movie ever in the history of cinema
Nice! Glad to hear it!
Congrats Klam!
That’s great news. Congrats.
Alright!!!
Kongrats Klam! One more data point of normalcy. Love the good news.
Who was the dick who downvoted this?
Congrats dude
Good on ya, Klam!
Congrats Klam!
Me too. Been out of work since April of last year, and just got a great new job in tech infrastructure. ’21 started off slow (read: crappy) but is finally starting to come into its own as what could be a decent year.
Good for you. Good luck in your new job.
It’s being reported Bagley is officially away from the team. Players appear happier than in years. Coincidence?
I just want to see Holmes on the team next year.
I’ll take Holmes and happy. But yes.
THIS IS GOOD (ALL CAPS FOR EMPHASIS)
The value buys made an impact tonight.
I would have preferred they go a different direction at the trade deadline but I don’t think there’s any question the moves Monte made will probably make the team better. Even more so if Harkless isn’t washed. If he can be Blazers Harkless from a couple years ago he’ll help.
Wright/Davis/Harkless look like bench versions of Hailburton/Buddy/Barnes kinda. Metu is looking like a nice pickup too.
Yeah there’s no question McNair seems to be looking for very specific types of players. Long wings who can make and/or hit open shots. Not exactly ground breaking but compared to Vlade’s obsession with bigs it’s a breath of fresh air.
new bench nickname: The Value-ables?
Monte’s McValue Buckets?
Nice!
Btw, Jman, on PoundingTheRock, the Spurs writer had a rhyme as part of the preview writeup:
In Sacramento, a hooper can be a King, and to the Inland Empire wins they will bring. But even with all the of shots that they sling, they will be in trouble when they face the mighty Dieng.
I appreciate their effort, but it’s nothing like your fun/funny limericks. What the heck does the Inland Empire have to do with Sacramento, or the Kings, anyway?
Nice attempt from Ponding the Rock,
But now they will have to take stock.
Try again and again,
And some day we’ll see when
Their rhymes won’t be something to mock!
(Thanks for the compliment, Kosta. I thoroughly enjoy your sense of humor as wellmuch more than whoever gave you a thumbs down.)
I’m pretty much Rainman when it comes to maps, and this is just outrageous.
Ya, that’s a head shaker. This dude is seriously geographically challenged.
I saw that as well… Inland Empire? What a huge fail.
Yeah, we’re all slaves to SoCal Ellis. Dontcha know?
I tweeted earlier “The New Editions.”
You got to cool it now. Oooh, watch out. You’re going to lose control!
Value Guys, because it rhymes with value buys
Nice!
Value Guys is the nickname going forward.
Let’s win all the games.
Moe Harkless is 27. Still play is an odd way to talk about the guy.
It’s fair to wonder when you get put on ice by the Heat. Plus he’s been really awful the last year and a half.
He looks to be about 70% of what he was athletically, so…..
It was hilarious when Buddy told Koz he couldn’t hear him during the postgame interview because of the “rodeo music” that was blaring in the arena. It was the Traveling Wilburys ððð.
Also funny because it was a philosophical question posed of Buddy Hield, of all people. Koz might have better luck asking Ryan Lochte a calculus question.
Great win for the Kings. Our next game will be the biggest Kings game in two years.
So it’s time for a fair and objective evaluation of Walton.
When you evaluate Walton overall, you have compare actual performance against team expectations going into the year. More on that later.
Certainly when you watch the Kings there are some troubling things on defense where Walton has to shoulder a lions share of the blame. From a team defense standpoint, to often the Kings fail to force players to the proper side of the court, often allowing players to the middle without much resistance. Also, teams are allowed to move the ball from side to side with the defense failing to keep their opponents on one side of the court. It’s also clear players are frequently out of position more than one pass away resulting in late or non existent help defense. When you combine a defense that does not force players to the baseline and has players in poor position away from the ball, the results are disastrous. Having said that, Walton does not have many plus defenders on the roster, with Buddy being one of the worst off ball defenders in the league. You have to also recognize, players like Haliburton and Holmes rarely make the previously mentioned mistakes so there are a couple of players who get it.
On the positive side, you have to give Walton credit for the high level of effort this team puts forth most nights and it appears the players like playing for him. It also appears the camaraderie of the team is outstanding and has not waivered even during the two periods of losing streaks. Walton deserves credit for keeping the team together during a 9 game losing streak where the Kings could have packed it in for the year.
Offensively the Kings are performing at a high level and are 11th in the league in team assists so Walton deserves some credit for that, although the lions share of the credit for the teams performance on offense has to go to Fox. I do however believe Walton has done a decent job utilizing his personal given perhaps the weakest bench in the league. I do however wonder why it took an injury for Walton to go to the current starting lineup. I had been questioning all year why the lineup of Fox, Buddy, Haliburton, Barnes and Holmes were not getting more minutes together. Walton has however utilized that lineup effectively to close out games.
One last point, this blaming of Walton for Buddy’s performance is flat out crap and nothing more than the sheepish nature of fans when a team is losing. There’s no knowledgeable basketball logic behind the criticism and some of the theories brought forward are outright embarrassing. If you’re going to blame Walton for Buddy’s performance which seems to be turning around, then you have to credit him for the upsurge in Fox’s performance and the play of Holmes which has exceeded everyone’s expectations. I give the credit and the blame primarily to the players and I still contend the marginal difference with few exceptions from one NBA coach to another is quite small and very difficult to prove otherwise.
So let’s fairly evaluate Walton based on the team performance relative to reasonable expectations. I placed a bet prior to the season for the Kings to win more than 28 games, the number where most betting lines had it. Right now the Kings are on pace to win 34 games so with that said Walton gets a C plus grade so far with the final grade to be determined.
Lead balloon, as usual. At least it was really long.
I’d like to comment on your comment, but I only made it through 2.5 sentences.
You can say that again!
You lost me after great win for the kings
Not bad but getting near the 10th seed isn’t cause for a party. What I can’t figure out is how the Kings have two black alternate unis and ditched the alternate dark blue ones from last year. The black and gray are ones are lame. I’ll be excited when we get to .500 and beyond.
But playing good basketball is!
7 out of 8 seems like a reason to be happy to me.
it’s so much more enjoyable to drink after a nice win like this, rather than drink after a depressing loss.
I’m going to subtly intimate that you may have a drinking problem.
This season there are only 72 games, so there’s less drinking than in a normal season. 🙂
“My offseason plans include a liver transplant.”
Good win Kings. Hali is a stud. I love this undersized lineup if we are hitting our shots. Two dynamic playmakers in the backcourt, one of the best shooters in the league the last few years, a savvy forward vet putting up some of his best overall stays, and a tough athletic big who does all the dirty work in the paint and setting screens.
And now our bench has better depth. If Wright, Davis, and Harkless can contribute similar to or (in Delon’s case) better than tonight we have a solid 8 man rotation, with Whiteside, and Bagley when he returns, and some young spark plugs in Jeffries, Metu and Guy.
We already knew we had a couple of good 5 man rotations (that included Bagley) but we just couldn’t sustain that play. Maybe with better depth we can now.
I wanted to push for top 5 pick, but here’s to hoping Fox and Hali lead the charge to the playoffs and prove to be legit stars who can push their team through.
No good rotation involves Bagley.
I understand the Bagley frustrations. But to pretend he hasn’t improved his game is not cool. And it’s been posted multiple times on various articles and threads here that in fact Bagley has been apart of one of the two successful Kings lineups.
The other is more competitive league wide (Fox/Hali/Hield/Barnes/Holmes) but Bagley has worked to adjust his game to fit in better.
That said, at this point without looking deeply into Poetl’s stats or seen many of his games, I would trade Bagley for Poetl and another young ish player (Samanic or Tre Jones). Pop might like what he saw in that USA training camp, where Bagley was said to have been playing well.
At some point, the team will need a legit center to bang with some of the league’s bigger and more punishing bigs, but that can be addressed in free agency, hopefully. Holmes is phenomenal, but there’s no amount of hustle and effort that can make him 7′ and 260 pounds.
But I agree with you, the small lineup really showed how effective it could be at both ends last night. The new guys are going to push it forward.
I absolutely agree, which is why I’m glad we kept Whiteside. I also get any potential frustration with him, yet I find him useful in limited minutes for this very reason that he can bang with the big guys.
I mentioned a Bagley-Poetl trade above but really open to any young ish strong 7 footer to help shore up the block.
Starters getting better and bench seems legit ! Fox and Halie can be the best guard line in Sacto history !
Not disrespecting anyone, but they don’t have far to go to achieve that milestone. They are both already VERY good.
I dunno. Bibby and Doug were decent, ya know?
You must be forgetting Kenny Smith and Vinny Del Negro.
I didn’t even know this was a Metu revenge game.
“Silly Charlie Brown, what’d you expect? You’re a King’s fan!”
Sincerely,
Me this coming stretch
It’s honestly a weird conundrum being a Kings fan, going back and forth rooting for the tank and then riding the wave of wins. The way I’m looking at it though is that this is what the Monte has built this team for (or at least not dismantled the team for). So although I personally preferred blowing this whole thing up, I’m content with cheering for wins if wins is the current goal of the organization. No point cheering for this teams demise if we’re going to crash half-heartedly.
KANGZ to the Moon
The starters had a 165.1 ORtg in 21 minutes tonight lol
It makes you wonder if Monte looked at everything and thought this team was a lot closer than we do because they had no depth. At some point we all have to acknowledge that the starting lineup is pretty damn good, particularly on offense. The sample size is getting pretty big.
Wait. So we can claim this group could have some success at some point?!?!?? And credibly?!?!?
My goodness. The world really must be coming to an end.
we had a good run!
You can have some of my corned beef you want.
I don’t know what to do with my hands…
Yeah we don’t if McNair’s plan will work, but there is a clear path forward IMO.
Yeah whether it works or not the plan seems pretty apparent to me. Threading the needle is REALLY hard to do but maybe Monte can pull it off? I guess we’ll find out over the next couple years.
Trade bags for a late first in the off season.
Re-sign holmes with freed up money, sign Derrick Jones Jr with MLE.
Draft sf kispert/wagner/moody, draft c queta
Fox, wright
Hali, davis
Buddy, jones jr, draft pick
Barnes, metu/Woodard
Holmes, metu/queta
Profit.
Nobody is going to give the Kings any kind of first for Bags. A bag of chips, yes. I think some team is going to offer a lot of money to Holmes 15-16 mil easy.
I believe the Kings will have to overpay to keep Holmes here and it will put the Kings over the luxury tax. Unless, Vivek steps in and lets him walk.
Miami will probably be one of them. A ton of cap room and he would look ridiculous next to Bam.
This team will easily make the playoffs next year.
But is a lineup of Fox, Hali, Hield, Barnes, and Holmes any better than a 7 seed, realistically? They will be at the salary cap line and possibly in the luxury tax.
If they made the 7 seed the next two years in a row (up against the cap) I would take it and run away and hide right now. That would be I dunno…fun?
At the end of those two years you have Barnes expiring, Hield near expiring as a deal easier to move if desired. Even with Buddy on roster and since good chance cap is 120+ by then, Kings might have 40+ million in space with only signed players of Fox, Hali, Buddy, Holmes (13-14 mill?) and the next two first round picks. Do they nail another of those picks as a cheap starter?
Might be a cleaner looking sheet as Fox and Hali really enter primes. Take a big swing? Lot of time, draft picks to be made and things will zig zag a million times between now and then though.
Will probably have to take someone else’s draft bust in return but Bagley is tradeable this summer – he’ll be an $11M expiring contract and the acquirer will have bird rights in case he pans out. As long as the other end of the trade can absorb him into cap space the Kings probably won’t even have to take much salary back.
I agree, I think he is tradeable if you don’t want much in return
Remember Jabari and Derrick Williams were both tradeable early in their bust careers for something of value ! Not at the end of course !
I wonder if the idea of getting into the playoffs is to justify to Vivek going over the luxury tax in order to resign Holmes.
I haven’t seen the bench this productive in years. This will be the key moving forward. If the Kings can get consistent production from 6-9, this team is definitely headed towards the playoffs or at least play in. The 8th spot is definitely possible. But, this year, I think that’s really the ceiling. Portland, Dallas, and Denver are not going to let up. Spurs are probably going to fall out of it.
Kings biggest threats will be the Grizz, and Dubs. Grizz expect JJJ back in April, Dubs are back in the mix with Curry going nuts tonite.
26 games left. But, there are quite a few difficult ones left on the schedule, so we’ll see:
Jazz 3x
Lakers 2x
Memphis 3x
Suns
Dubs
Bucks
Spurs 2x
Dallas 3x
If they can go .500 against those teams. They should win the majority of the other games.
Wolves 3x
Thunder 3x
Pelicans
Pistons
Wizards
Pacers
Looking at the Dubs schedule, its’ far easier than the Kings. I expect them to be well over .500 at the end of the season and take over that 7th spot. Grizz schedule is similar to the Kings.
I am thinking both Memphis and the Kings make the play in. KIngs win the play in against Memphis, Face Dallas and Lose the Elimination game.
I am tempering any real excitement. Spurs will make a number of adjustments on Wed. Which, probably includes a lot more minutes for Vassell who really shut down Hali when he was in there. Pop is also not going to like all the open looks the Kings were feastin on 3 tonite. They are the Spurs, they will clean up a lot of the mess from tonite.
Dieng is also going to help them a lot. Even, if he just plays 15-20 min. Great defender and 3 pt shooter. I expect a much closer game on Wed.
70+ comments? Must have been a loss!
Only 5 comments on some other site that shall not be named.
stop click-funding it
Damn, you’re right. Just went there after seeing the 70+ comments comment and was curious, but yeah I don’t want to add to their clicks.
Stop over thinking, get on board, and just enjoy. I mean do what you want of course, but come on the city is just better when we have a buzz.
In general this season has been very watchable. We have a core. If we win we could end a playoff drought. If we lose we get a better pick in a deep draft. The games have been fun to watch, and they are a likeable team. Haliburton may have moved up our timeline some and we should be ok with that. Fox is a beast and has more room to grow.
Hope is refreshing. We have nothing to lose by buying in, with the better pick or possible playoff birth it is a win win. Sure we have plenty of games left and it can all fall apart, “but frock it we deserve this”.
Well said, have a thumb.
I agree on Haliburton potentially moving up the timeline. I can’t imagine they expected him to be this good, this early. Whether they make the play-in or not, the backcourt is worth building around and that’s an improvement over past years.
Well put. Comment more. Please.
Well put, having a buzz is good.
I love the new Value Guys!
LOL. Some person went through the entire comments section and handed every single comment a thumbs down.
Haha I was confused until I noticed that. Like there is nothing controversial about the majority of the comments.
It’s without a doubt Marvin Bagley, Jr. Or III. Or maybe even Sr.
I like to believe it’s Leo from Cowbell Kingdom trying to get back at the haters.
Another beautiful day in Kings Land. The blow it up Doomers are in full retreat. Abort post! Abort post!
What are the Doomers going to say now that they can’t say we beat no one on this streak? The Spurs got smashed two ways to Sunday. Their boring fundamentals were no match for our firepower with a mix of splendid D off the bench led by burgeoning star Terrence Davis.
How many times have I suggested you cannot play defense if you lack the physical and athletic profile? It did not matter Joseph had the fundamentals down, he’s a pudgy little squirt. By contrast, look at Wright and Davis, they have the physical profile to compete.
Davis in particular forces tempo, picks up high, and entices the opponent to do what he doesn’t do well or cannot do at all. He imposed his will brilliantly on the game in the 4th.
Buddy best watch out because if he doesn’t shape up TD coming for his minutes!
Davis is already 100% better than Ben McLemore and we got him for nothing! Davis has great footwork, beautiful arc on his shot, and the dawg mentality. He never saw a screen he will not smash through. Once he made that and-one in transition, he got loose and made the plays that gave us the separation to coast to the win. I knew he was a gem after the first game!
I may have been hasty in my assessment of Moe Harkless. We will take the timely threes and quick hands on defense in lieu of quick feet. But his game is remniscient of Ariza as he overstayed his welcome. Hot shooting is usually not sustainable, while D and hustle off the bench by Davis and Wright and Metu is. Don’t get me wrong, I welcome the contribution and wing depth is our biggest need.
I don’t think Bjelica could even get to the spots Harkless did to launch those threes. That’s the low bar he has to clear to be an improvement. But his box score was a bunch of zeros except for the 3s, and this is kind of who he is, but for now I guess we will see if he can keep it up. This coach loves himself some creaky vets.
This game further solidifies the futility of Marvin. At this point, I don’t even want him back as a back-up. He’s a fly in the ointment, the antithesis of the way we want to play in style and substance. And with Harkless, Metu and maybe Silva, we have the prospects at the backup PF. We dropped 130 points on a vaunted defense. How is Marvin’s scoring prowess going to improve on that?
When we were having the darkest days, we had a four man core of Fox Ty Holmes and HB. Now thanks to McGenius, who I graded an A for his trade deadline while the Doomers were hyperventilating, our core may have expanded to, count em, eight!
Buddy is doing pretty good at the 3, limiting his craziness, though he still gets burned too much. Then there is Metu quietly emerging, Wright trying to provide some steadiness if not the quickness I would like to see. And then there is the potential star of Terrence Davis, the real prize acquisition!
8-Man Core:
————-
Fox
Ty
Buddy
HB
Holmes
Davis
Wright
Metu
The flow and synergy we’ve found must be delicately handled, which is why if Marvin gets healthy soon, we must encourage (mandate) him to spend an extra few weeks (months) on rehab to get his bones extra sturdy. The worst thing that could happen is Marvin comes back early, and the bad instincts of the coach interfere and he reinserts him as a starter.
I don’t think that happens, but just like you have to take away bad options by trading away bad players (Bjelica, Joseph), you take away the bad option of playing Marvin by keeping him on the injured list, pulling aside the team doctor, suggesting his bones need a little more calcification and therapy, maybe a milk and meat diet through the summer? 😉
The players we got at the deadline I refer to as the calvary. Marvin is the calamity. It does not matter he was the #2 overall pick or whom he was selected before. He thinks it does and that is part of his problem. McGenius has no regard for his draft status and that is partly why he tried to trade him away (as I knew he would) for players only hardcore NBA fans have ever heard of.
Is there a possibility Marvin could come back and be part of this group, add and not take away? No and hell no because even with the best intentions, subsuming his ego, which he may not be capable of, he lacks the basketball fundamentals to harmoniously produce. His decision-making and lack of versatility is not going to suddenly transform because of a few moments of introspection and self-reflection.
So even with his Dad being a distraction, it is not personal, it is business. Chances are better than 50/50 Marvin has played his last game as a Sacramento King. We don’t have time for him or for nonsense when the 8th seed is in our crosshairs.
This is comedy, right?
We have this:
Which is preceded by this:
And, wait for it:
Harkless has managed to under achieve at each stop so let’s pump those brakes for awhile !
I honestly am curious what happened with Harkless. He always seemed like a solid role player. Then all of a sudden he wasn’t. Did he have an injury at some point?
I agree, If you can’t get minutes with the Heat, it’s usually a sign that you’re done. It was one game. But, if he can bring 8-12 pts a game off the bench with a decent shooting pct and some D. That’s more than enough.
This Bench looks solid though. Best we have had in years. If we can at least get consistent prod from 6-8. 25-30 pts a night, the Kings will be in most games.
I don’t know that I’d consider scarce minutes on a (theoretically) championship-caliber team to necessarily be a scarlet letter. He’s been moved a lot the past few years, in some fairly complex trades, which feels more like it’s a matter of his contract being used to balance things, rather than some specific issue.
He’s on a small, expiring contract, but I’d think he could be very useful finishing the year with about 15-20 minutes per game. Barring something substantial, it may be tough to keep him, even on a similar deal to what he has now if they’re trying to stack up some money to keep Holmes. I’m hoping he gets the opportunity to show that his being put on ice the past few years was a mistake.
There’s still a few comments that weren’t given a thumbs down so whoever is doing that is slippin.’
Don’t want you to feel left out!
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