Winning games in the NBA is hard, and it’s even harder when you give good teams like the Warriors so many extra chances to do so. Despite the Warriors shooting worse overall than the Kings, Sacramento coughed the ball up 19 times to just 6 for Golden State, with the Warriors capitalizing to the tune of 29 points off those turnovers and beating the Kings 119 to 107.
Defense was the team’s mantra coming into the season, and for good reason as that was clearly where Sacramento had the most room for improvement. What we didn’t expect is for Sacramento to regress offensively and tonight it cost them a game that they should have won.
Sacramento did end up shooting efficiently overall (49.4% from the field) but in the second half especially, the offensive execution disappeared. The Warriors played a mix of zone and man to man, and the Kings rarely responded by attacking the paint or driving and kicking to open shooters, instead relying on isolation play or passing around the perimeter only to hastily shoot a three.
Worse still were the unforced turnovers, an issue that we have seen throughout all three games this season but were most prevalent tonight against a very active and engaged Warriors team.
De’Aaron Fox was perhaps the worst culprit, and ended up with more turnovers (7) than assists (6). While he finished the night shooting 8/16 for 17 points, he struggled to get into any sort of rhythm offensively. Fox is supposed to be the team’s leader and tonight was a game where we needed him to step up and take over when the offense stagnated, and instead he only exacerbated our issues. Fox definitely got hit a few times where he didn’t get foul calls that he probably should have (he only attempted one free throw and missed it), but he can’t let that frustration get to him. I’m not too worried about De’Aaron long term, as he’s proven himself in the past, but tonight was a really rough night for him overall.
The Kings as a team also didn’t do a great job of attacking the rim and getting to the line. Harrison Barnes was the only King in the entire game who got to the line more than once, and the team as a whole shot just 8-13 from the stripe compared to 20-24 for the Warriors. This is definitely something that has been a recurring issue the last few years.
This was a game that the Kings could have and should have won, but to win games you have to make the most of your opportunities and the Kings too often tonight did not.
King of Kings
This is a good segment from Mirann that I’d like to steal here to try to end on a more positive note. Harrison Barnes was once again Sacramento’s best player on the court, scoring a team-high 24 points to go with 7 rebounds. He shot 5-10 from three and as I mentioned above was our only player to have any success getting to the line. Harrison has proved to be a steady presence for us.
An honorable mention as well to Davion Mitchell, who showcased his offense for the first time this season, scoring 22 points on 9-16 from the field. Mitchell provided a nice spark off the bench in the first half which is a nice reminder that he’s not just a defensive player. He still played well on that end, but Steph Curry definitely fared better against Mitchell than anyone else has so far.
One more positive note for the Kings was Tyrese Haliburton’s 9 assists to just 2 turnovers. The Kings offense seemed to work best tonight with Haliburton as the initiator, although I do wish he’d be a bit more selfish sometimes.
Up Next:
The Kings now head on the road for a four-game trip, starting on Wednesday in Phoenix.
If our starting PG is going to have a broken jumper than I rather trade for Simmons who has an elite skill. I don’t know who told Fox he needed to bulk up but he doesn’t look as quick as he has in previous years. Combine that with a broken jumper and what exactly is Fox bringing to the table at this point?
I don’t think that Fox’s jumpshot is nearly on the same level of broken as Ben Simmons’. Would be fun to watch Simmons play D though. Fox getting picked off so easily on ball screens drives me mad
Said this previously, I didn’t like what Fox focused on in off season. He didn’t need mass (maybe strength) he needed to put up a million 3s and FreeThrows
Makes me wonder where Fox’s head is-and where the player development coaches were?
Now, he’s slower and Probably more likely to get injured. Mass plus speed.
And he’s not a better shooter yet.
Simmons would be the worst possible player to acquire. He is obviously not in a great mental place. He has never really proven himself as someone who truly cares about the game. And he’s not going to accept a role at the second banana to Davion Mitchell. It’s an atrocious idea. And exactly the type of dumb ass stunt that Vivek is likely to pull.
if you did Fox straight up (I think Kings would get something additional back at this point), then buddy has to go in the lineup with Simmons and you have a starting group of Hali, Buddy, Barnes, Simmons, Holmes. That starting group imo is significantly better than Fox, Hali, Harkless, Barnes, Holmes.
Your depth is better as well since we lose a guard and gain a forward. Benches now become Mitchell, Davis, Harkless, TT vs Mitchell, Davis, Buddy, TT. I again prefer the more balanced bench to pull from.
I prefer fox as the player obviously because he is a kings favorite and so fun to watch, but if you can separate the fandom I think it’s pretty obvious that Simmons fits better on the roster than he does.
Welcome back Mike ! Hope you are doing well.
There is an imbalance in the roster- you are right. And Kings need a forward.
This team has more talent than any Kings team in the last ten years and they’re just still doing bad team things. I know it’s only 3 games but terrible turnovers and missed free throws are making me feel like an old man. On to the next
It’s a continuation of last year
Think it has a lot to do with Coachless Walton Coachless style and lack of offense. It’s just Willy nilly 1 v 1 etc. No real structure or accountability.
Does it? I suppose the supporting cast is better, but talking purely about talent, I think you could argue this team has a few Rudy Gay level talents, maybe an IT level talent, but no Demarcus level guy.
Yeah, it has almost the same level of talent as it did last year.
Fluke firing 2 in a row..
He’s watching the tape?
Monte is just appeasing to Ranadumbe for now. Hopefully sooner than later he can pick his own coach.
Fox for Simmons, now. Make it happen, Monte.
And BTW, I don’t want to hear another local radio/podcast personality saying Fox is better than Ja Morant.
Enough already.
Agree, and tired of him jumping into rim protectors and expecting calls ! Morant is a true leader and superior competitor !
Fox is talented and the sky isn’t falling but damn, Mitchell looking more confident and clearly playing within himself vs fox is not a good feeling.
I’ve been wondering if the play and hype of Davion is messing with Fox’s head.
I think and hope he’s more confident than that. But I do think Fox is trying to make the “all star jump” only issue is it’s coming at the expense of team success.
Hey it’s not like they’re locked into paying Fox and Buddy a combined 50+ million each of the next 3 years
3 consecutive games now that the Kings get outscored in the 4th quarter by a huge margin.. Not a good sign at all. Could it be fatigue due to having just a 9 man rotation? Or is it the lack of in-game adjustments?
Luke better figure things out before it becomes a habit for the Kings to consistently get outscored big time in the 4th.. Not much a recipe for success. They got lucky in Portland. Not so much in the last 2 against the elite teams
Luke fighting things out…..Ha. That’s funny.
Figuring things out….Damn it
I liked it unedited. 🙂
The bigger 15 year habit is going to be a tough one to shake.
Without a go-to offensive weapon, the kings will continue to have shitty 4th quarters.
Even a single fixed play that all five players can execute.
Previous season it was the 3rd quarter that gave the Kings issues. This season it is the 4th?
That’s progress!?
Next season the overtime?
Too bad this isn’t hockey. They would be awesome if they only had to play 3 periods. I’m wondering if the team gets too fatigued in the 4th playing with the intensity they have the first 3 quarters.
See below. The Kings have been equally terrible in the 3rd.
My mistake. It’s amazing that at the pro level a team can consistently struggle with basic schemes. Pick and roll offense (it looks like they are doing better this year against it) and zone defense.
is the team going to start playing up to mitchell’s level or is mitchell going to play down
That is the only question
I am feeling good about this start. We have played three good to very good teams in a row, and have been competitive in all three, and we haven’t even played very well yet outside of Harrison Barnes. Our best player, Fox, has had a slow start, and the rest of the team has been a mixed bag, and our Head Coach is fairly awful. I am pretty optimistic for this season with the hope that Walton gets fired and we are able to swing at least one trade to balance the roster.
I already am a big fan of Mitchell. I will admit I was surprised at Monte drafting him, but I get it. I seriously get it.
Hasn’t Fox started slow for like 3 years in a row now? Maybe this is just how it goes with him. We should check back in December.
Of course, that isn’t really something to just hand wave away, since these games count towards the team’s record just as much as games in December.
I think McNair has already waited too long on the Fox/Simmons, but he can’t wait any longer
Walton wants to employ a read-and-react scheme. Problem is that a few of his crunch-time players, mainly Fox and Buddy, aren’t good at reading, nor reacting.
Another problem is that we are really bad at setting screens, and most of our ballhandlers (mainly Fox and Buddy) are really bad at guiding their defenders into the screens.
The result is that plays ca’t get executed when defenses get more aggressive and players making the wrong reads and reactions.
A lot of that is on coaching, some of that is on the players. Buddy will never be high BBIQ player, and the same applies for Fox. When you see how Tyrese and Davion read the court, it becomes abundantly clear that Fox lacks that aspect of the game. And with a lack of an outside shot, you’re relying heavily on Fox getting to the rim at ease.
I can’t understand why Tyrese isn’t playing in crunch time.
Well, I can; Luke Walton.
Very much agree. And it really is an outside shit with Fox.
I edited it!
I liked it unedited More accurate.
Is he really better than anyone that is playing in crunch time?
He is pretty bad defensively (probably on par with Buddy). He is really being targeted in isolations. On offense, he barely takes any shots and when he does, he mostly misses.
We all know he can pass but he really needs to up that usage and be much more efficient.
I agree that he needs to improve on one-on-one defense, and be more aggressive as well. The former is an issue, the latter I expect him to figure out.
Having said that, I think he’s the best decisionmaker on the team, and also the guy who can set up a play and force others to execute it. And that is sorely lacking in crunch time.
Amen on the read-and-react bit, well said.
Fox has to drive and go to the basket to score or move the ball.
Hield can really only bomb threes.
Not going to get much done with a guard that lives and dies off of the dribble and another guard that needs the ball passed to him at the three.
Hield firing bad shots at will and Fox regressing is not a cause for optimism. With a tough schedule, things can get out of hand very quickly.
I can see a 2-8 start and Luke gone by Thanksgiving..
Sound like cause for optimism to me?
Well, yes, if you put it that way.
Is it moral victory time yet?
https://twitter.com/CarmichaelDave/status/1452493231376113665?s=20
Big “if” by CD there. The Kings usually play to the level of their competition.
He was high when he tweeted this.
They have played 3 teams in the top half of the league (at least) and went 1-2, with a legit chance to win all 3. They probably should be at least 2-1 right now. Dave makes sense here.
It’s hard to beat any team (good or bad) if you quit playing in the second half. So I don’t think Dave is making much sense.
Sure, it isn’t out of line. Of course, projecting anything off a 3-game sample is beyond sketchy. And no, they should be 1-2. They could be 2-1. But they don’t necessarily deserve to be. I know we’re used to the Kings being hugely outclassed, so simply being competitive feels like a win. But you still usually have to actually be better than the other team to win.
I think the issue is whether the Kings’ late-game struggles are a feature of the team or just random outliers. At this point, it’s too early to tell. If this is the way the team truly is, then no, Dave doesn’t make sense and the team is destined for another 31-win blahfest. If it’s just an early-season hiccup that gets resolved in the coming weeks, then it’s not unreasonable to think this is a team that could push .500. Personally, I have a hard time believing the huge difference in first and second half performance is sustainable (read: sustainably bad). But hey, it is the KANGZ we’re talking about. This is basketball hell, after all.
The question is, aside from wanting to, what leads you to believe the good first half performance is any more sustainable than the bad second half performance?
AmateurNerd: “Yes. Yes, it is!”
Please. Looking at the team’s performance against UT and GSW in a positive light is hardly a celebration of moral victories. It’s just an acknowledgement that there are things to genuinely like about this team’s prospects. By all means, critique the team– but poo-pooing optimism based on a sample of 3 games against WC playoff teams is a bit cynical even for my taste.
Unfortunately, we have a wee bit more data than that.
Do we? I checked the schedule. The season is 3 games old. Unless we’re just treating this season as an extension of last season. Which would be fine if the roster, rotations, coaching staff, and everything else were unchanged since then. Is that the case? I’ve been following this team for over 30 years, and they’ve sucked the vast majority of that time. I know the drill here. But it would be nice for the the “everything sucks” mentality to wait until everything really does suck this time around. As it stands, the Kings are 1-2 after playing 3 WC playoff contenders, and the 2 losses were due primarily to poor 2nd-half execution, not a glaring talent deficit. This team has potential this season, based on talent level, so what’s wrong with having some optimism right now?
TD need to drive into the lane more, instead of shooting those 3.
Our lack of free throw is a concern.
And we got difficulty in drawing fouls, that’s why I don’t mind trying to play Ramsey, he can really drive hard into the lane.
Also, I remember there was a stat that Hield runs the most on court, as he tried hard and move around to find open spot, but these two season, he just simply use a pick and shoot at the top of the corner.
Right now there are a lot of concerns, but IMO the biggest one is the rotations.
The Kings very best lineup isn’t a surprise — Fox, Halliburton, Barnes, Holmes have a positive net rating in every 5 man lineup they’re apart of. The best of those is Hield, followed by Harkless; the worst is with Mitchell (though it’s still positive). Yet we don’t see much of Haliburton or Harkless down the stretch of games. Would like to see that change.
Len and Bagley both gave strong minutes in their previous appearance, and yet Thompson and Davis have soaked up the backup minutes, and have looked dismal. The duo of bigs deserves a look again.
Mitchell is doing well, but has not earned crunch time minutes over Halliburton yet. Nearly every lineup he’s appeared in thus far has been a negative — it doesn’t mean he’s hopeless by any means, it just means that he’s still learning how to contribute positively. There’s a lot of good coming from him.
For Halliburton, the ball needs to be in his hands more often from the beginning — sometimes he looks like he’s playing hot potato trying to move the ball instead of making something happen. I wonder if that’s related to his handle? Regardless, would love to see more off-ball secondary actions from Fox while Haliburton initiates.
Would also like to see Fox let the game come to him more. He’s doing a lot of on-ball work early on, and it’s not always working. I’d prefer to see him be more aggressive as we get later in the game. Not sure what he needs to do to get a whistle — or what Holmes needs to do to avoid one.
These are competitive losses against good teams. I can be okay with that, as long as they take care of teams at and below their aspirational level. We’ll see how that goes.
I thought they could win the Portland game, and lose the Utah and GS game. And that is exactly what happened. This team is still not good enough to beat the best in the west on a regular basis.
Hopefully after 10-15 games the rotations will be more set, and roles will be more defined. If things aren’t looking up at that point, then decisions on personnel/coaching should be looked at.
Puke Walton rinse and repeat, 2019 – ????
This is almost the exact SAME roster to finish the last 20+ games last season…and that’s why McNair bought TD & Harkless back, as to keep the consistency of roster..
and right now, you are suggesting 10-15 games more should be give to them to set the roster ? This is just not acceptable if that’s the case…THIS IS ONLY a 82 games…and no one should make “setting the rotation” as an excuse…
The rotation should be set/done before the season starts…..
For some reason, we in Sacramento seem to have a tendency to think it takes multiple seasons to install a scheme, figure out rotations, “see what we have in ______,” etc.
‘We in Sacramento?’ Even for you this is silly. Is the issue scheme? No, I think it’s fit and performance. Tyrese and De’Aaron are figuring out how to play off each other and that’s going to take some time. And neither have been at their best up to this point, either. De’Aaron especially wasn’t good last night, and Tyrese wasn’t very good against the Blazers. I thought both were a mixed bag against Utah.
The rotations are what they are. The scheme on defense, too. The issue is, IMO, you’ve not gotten 3 strong performances from Tyrese and De’Aaron up to this point.
Will it improve? I think it can, but I think it’s prudent to wait until at least December to illustrate it won’t.
And so it goes.
Kingsguru declares the Kings’ season to be dead after three games! 😉
I’m not going to settle for stabbing you any longer. I’m just going to skip to the final step and chop your head clean off.
Or I could just call you a phony baloney championship banner. YMMV.
Even for me?
Regardless, how long, in your opinion, should it take for NBA players to learn to play together?
They are watching the tape.
Even you.
There’s no set time, but I think by December there will be a large enough sample size to throw the baby out with the bathwater. 3 games in is just nowhere near enough.
First, Fox and Haliburton have played far more than 3 games together. Second, when did I suggest throwing the baby out with the bathwater? I actually don’t think there’s a major fit issue with those two. In fact, the beauty of Haliburton is that he theoretically fits with pretty much any other guard archetype in the league.
When you investigate the core, the vast majority is back from last year.
Hield, Barnes, Fox, Holmes and Haliburton were the top five minutes guys last year. They are the top six this year. Basically, Mitchell has taken Bagley’s place in the top six. That’s it. Davis and Harkless were on the team after the trade deadline last year, so Thompson and Len are really the only true new additions aside from Mitchell, and they are currently 9th/10th in minutes.
This is largely the same team as last year, with the same head coach.
Was this in dispute? This is the first time they’ve started games together on the regular as the starting backcourt, though. That was my point.
You didn’t? I wasn’t talking about you specifically, more the pessimist’s general tone.
I don’t either. But I don’t, and haven’t expected that it would be, believe it will be a seamless transition either.
Theoretically being the key word. I think they’ll be okay. But there’s an adjustment both are having to make, and like I’ve said it hasn’t been seamless.
It’s been a tale of two halves so far, and, no surprise its backed up in stats. The Kings have the 7th best net rating for the 1st half at +13.4. In the 3rd quarter, it’s reversed at -13.4 for 21st. In the 4th they’re a staggering -39.5 for dead last.
There are multiple factors causing this obviously, but I think one is opposing coaches adjusting at the half and Walton not doing the same. PHX is also terribad in the 4th, so unless either team improves by Wednesday it will be a test of which team can be not as bad as the other.
Agreed that if the terrible 4Q performance isn’t just a random blurp, then the blame lies primarily on coaching: (the lack of) late-game adjustments, poor decision-making, etc.
I dont want to keep bagging on Fox, cause I really like him, but man, if he is in a funk, he needs to get other involved instead of forcing the action and looking for his constantly. It looks like he is just trying to get numbers out there instead of making the winning play.
Stackin dayz, stackin days. The Kings motto is stackin dayz. Time to reset the counter.
Buddy’s motto should be stackin coaches bc he’s about to get his third one fired with his maniacal nonsense. Fox’s motto should be stackin bricks because he’s lost all confidence in his shot, hesistant and unsure, he’s regressed from a year ago and it is fair to wonder if the new muscle, while helping him to defend and draw fouls, is hindering his shot motion?
I think Fox will snap out of it, he’s too good, and this can be facilitated by doing what should have been done since Day One: START DAVION NEXT TO FOX. Hello, I said it since before the preseason and it is more obvious now. Fox is being asked to match Davion for defense intensity, check the best point of attack initiator, and pump in 25 PPG as he did a season ago. Why does this moron coach not assauge his responsibility by pairing him with Davion, who provides GREAT energy and presence and decision making in the half court?
At the same time Ty is the perfect orchestrator for the second unit and if he plays to his ability will undoubtedly finish most games. There is something amiss between Fox and Ty. They take turns with the ball more than feeding off one and another. Fox and Davion have more of a natural chemistry. Good to great players figure it out but that does not mean the coach should not puruse the optimal mix, relying on his intuition as much as analytics, instead of playing politics with playing time.
It took this loser one game to capitulate on Marvin being out of the rotation with the injury to Scoreless, uncomfortable with not being liked by everyone. The rightful decision was not Marvin is “next man up” in event of injury, the rightful decision was Marvin does not fit what we are trying to do and should not be on the floor under any circumstance. Why not Metu or slide Holmes to the 4 with Len? C’mon Fluke, use the few brain cells ya got inside that empty dome of yours!
No Way Badly defeciencies are especially conspiciously in a game vs the Jazz that had the physicality level of a playoff game. I overestimated McGenius ability to find a sucker to take a flyer on an expiring when I was adamant at the end of last year Marvin had played his last game in a SAC uniform. But that projection would still have a fair to good chance of being true if we had a coach who knew what time it was, and did not mistake his head for a bowling ball.
I doubt HOU would be interested but how about an Top 3 protected 2022 pick + Marvin + Metu for Chrisitan Wood? Then we put Wood in the role currently occupied by Harkless. We need a player like Wood as much or more than Ben Simmons! Wood is Durant-lite, has MPJ qualities, everything we wanted Marvin to be but is incapable of. In fact, he wears #35, Marvins # and KDs old # before he moved to BKN. It is a sign from the basketball gods, the epic fail of drafting Marvin can be erased if we peddle him for another #35 who can actually play.
Christian Wood to the Kings? Make it happen McGenius!
Buddy Yield was asked about setting 3 point records on the heels of passing Peja. He got this misty romantic look in his eyes, as if his seduced by a fantasy lover. Of course the idea of setting records tingled every cell in his being, this is his self-aborbed, ego-based, me-first mindset. The proper answer is “I want to win, make the playoffs, I want a ring, the shooting numbers and 3 point records will take care of themselves”. Points are hollow if not in the context of team success, but Buddy does not see the game or himself like this, he is representing, himself and his homeland, out to earn that contract bonus.
Who would you rather have shooting a three about now: Davion, HB or Buddy? Easy answer and it is not Buddy, because two of these players use discernment and one does not! You are going to win with a player who shoots from 35 feet after a lousy 3.5 quarters, this frenzied approach, this is what our coaches encourage and allow?! It is pathetic, you cannot win like this, I said it a million times.
Buddy has been losing us games like for the last 3 years and this coach prescription is more of the same, no rein on his worst impulses?
We made a run to start the 4th with TD on the floor, I had hoped Buddy was done for the night, benched for being Buddy. TD has been terrible too but hes not as destructive with his shot selection or defensive lapses. We saw Good Buddy on Opening Night vs POR, and thats about what you can expect. You get one good game, then hyper-exuberance and a 3-4 game stretch of forced bricks and sloppy handles.
Buddy threw the ball out of bounds vs UTA, down four points 95-99 with one minute left on the simplest of push ahead passes to HB, over-correcting for Conley closing in, had another key TO last night in the 4th too in the midst of his forced shot attempts. If you did not know better you would think he’s a double agent for the other teams in the NBA, planted on SAC to ensure the opponent wins most nights.
Buddy is moving better. I like that. He’s not as chunky and sluggish as last year. But as much as any player in the league, Buddy needs to be coached up and we don’t have a coach who coaches players up, he coaches players down, at best a neutral or negligible effect. It is function of wanting to be liked more than wanting to be respected. It is a shame we could not get one or both of UTA or GSW , overcome the coach and Buddy, and the coach having misplaced confidence in Buddy, because HB has been SO great, near All-Star, and this type of play should correlate with Ws.
I may be in the minority, but the whole “stacking days” mantra is just cringeworthy meaningless babble.
It’s coach-ese. It can mean something in terms of motivation for the players in the moment (in that case, in the dog days of offseason repetition in lonely gyms). So, yes, it’s as meaningless of any number of other coaching cliches.
But it looks good on a tile on the toilet wall.
We might start stacking losses.
Nine is entirely possible.
the turnovers tell the main story here. I also thought it was weird when Fox started forcing bad three pointers. On the positive side, Davion had a breakout game on offense. Hali is clearly the best playmaker on the team. The name Monta Ellis is starting to pop in my head when I watch Fox. Only three games …. Serenity now …
Davion is averaging 3.7 APG vs 0.7 TOVs for an assist to TO ratio of 5.1.
Ty is averaging 6.3 APG vs 1.7 TOVs for an assist to TO ratio of 3.7.
Ty may be the best playmaker on the team but I would not use the word “clearly” in the context of these stats. There was this narrative that playmaking was Davion’s weakness heading into his rookie season. I never bought that, he’s a very good playmaker, he keeps his dribble under duress, uses good discernment when to pass vs shoot, it is just that he cannot see the passing angles as readily as a longer playmaker when he gets into the lane.
I think a three game road trip will be good for Fox to get his game right. He’s pressing.
The point was more that Halliburton is a better playmaker than Fox. There are a lot of jumping off points from there. You saw how much better the offense looked with Hali against the second unit. More ball movement, making the defenders scramble, getting better shots. Mirian said in the article she wishes Hali would be more selfish sometimes. I think yes and no. More assertive yes. More involved yes. But sometimes I think Fox’s mentality is him against the other team, and although Fox is fighting hard, the game might be easier if they play off each other more instead of, like you said, simply taking turns in ISO. Your suggestion of starting Mitchell might work. Hali seems to play well against the second unit, and it might be partly because his role is clear. Then he gets going, and last year it would carry over to the 4th quarter when would play alongside Fox. And if Mitchel checks the best player, Fox might get out to a better start, save some energy, and have his typically hot 4th quarter.
Davion is a very safe playmaker. But his avoidance of TOs also leads to missing or passing up opportunities. In general, he recognizes open passes well, but he doesn’t anticipate or create them much.
Half of winning is about not beating yourself. Davion rarely, if ever, beats himself. A team full of players with that ability is a .500 team at worst.
Sure. But it’s also probably a .500 team at best. Since, as you say, it’s only half of winning.
Fair. But hey, .500 would merit a parade around here.
He missed a great opportunity to feed Tristan Thompson last night for an easy deuce. He’ll see it on film, and maybe even later on he makes that pass. But his lack of vision is an issue. This team really lacks a facilitator for the 2nd unit unless Davion steps up or De’Aaron/Tyrese are that ultimately. I expect the latter ultimately.
If there is one thing I do feel confident about with Mitchell, is that he’ll study that and work had to be able to apply what he learns.
100% agree.
Sooooo… better than Portland, worse than Utah and Golden State… that means 3 seed, right? Woohoo!!
For the last couple of years we’ve been getting blown out of games to start the 3rd quarter. This year, the wheels haven’t started to come off until about 6 minutes left in the 4th.
That’s not great, but it’s progress. I’m thinking a competent coach would know how to correct that. Still, nothing I’ve seen thus far has me adjusting my 34-35 win prediction.
Hmm. The data suggests that the collapse is happening following the half-time adjustments, particularly defensively:
https://twitter.com/TimMaxwell22/status/1452660002565414920
https://twitter.com/TimMaxwell22/status/1452666995405574144
More stats from the Giraffe guy:
https://twitter.com/TimMaxwell22/status/1452668984860438532
https://twitter.com/SactownAnthony/status/1452669626454659073
Welp, there you go. I take it back, it apparently really is the same crappy team we’ve been accustomed to seeing. Not that I’m too surprised, considering we’re returning most of the same players that were part of the last few crappy teams.
And the same coach from the last two seasons..
The turnovers are frustrating, but the most worrying thing to me is the lack of an offensive system to fall back on.
The Kings start the game with a beautiful set, that ends up in an alley-top for Holmes. Perfectly executed, lot of movement, just brilliant. But after that, they fall back on this read and react offense which just doesn’t look right: the spacing is awkward more often times than not and I feel like there’s no hierarchy which says who can run a pick and roll who can’t. It’s basically ‘who has the ball can do how he pleases’. I nearly threw my remote at the telly when I saw Terrence Davis run two P&R’s from which he just wanted to launch, no matter the quality of the look he’d get. Just woeful offense.
It’s just frustrating to watch and I really wonder how Walton feels about the kind of shots the Kings’ offense has been generating.
You need high BBIQ players to run a more reactive/opportunistic offense. The Kings don’t have many guys that could really be considered High BBIQ relative to their role/position.
And yet Walton keeps trying; he really attempts to force a square shooting peg into a round playmaking hole.
That’s because “low BBIQ” describes the coach as much as, or more than, the players.
The people calling for a Fox/Simmons swap…this feels very much like a “grass is greener” situation. We have Fox who has started the first three games of the season looking off. Other than that, he has improved every single season since he came into the league, averaging 25 a game last year.
Then we have Simmons. Not only does he have massive personality issues (which I thought we didn’t like here?), he’s documented as having a poor work ethic, and has actually gotten worse over the last few seasons. He hasn’t improved on a single thing. He averaged less points and assists per game last season than in his rookie season!!! I
get it, watching the Kings struggle is SUPER frustrating. I haven’t been a fan as long as some of you (only about 20 years) but trust me I fully understand the pain. But trading our high work-ethic, constantly improving, high-character, home-grown star straight up for a head-case who hasn’t improved at all in 4 years and doesn’t seem to work on his game literally at all just does NOT strike me as a good move. It strikes me as an extremely reactionary Kangz move.
I’m not married to Fox, in terms of using him to acquire a talent upgrade. However, I don’t think Simmons should be that player. I’d rather not see the team use one of it’s top assets to acquire a player with mental issues, a work issues, and who is a major cancer in the locker room.
Yeah, agreed. If we traded Fox for a legit superstar talent, that’s one thing. But Simmons? Like yeah Fox has started slow but Simmons isn’t even playing right now because he’s a huge baby. And Simmons IMO just isn’t a better player than Fox is. A better defender, yes obviously. But Fox has him so outclassed offensively I think it more than evens it out
Who would you trade De’Aaron for? For me that’s a tougher question because I do believe in his ability. I’ve frankly not been a fan of this start he’s had, too.
But I’m not eager to trade him just because you could. That seems very reactionary.
It will be interesting to see what, if any, other “stars” would even become available on the market for someone like Fox.
KAT? One of Brown or Tatum? Probably not many and things would have to go really poorly for those squads.
Fox is roughly the #12 PG in the NBA. Simmons would be a steal, but it ain’t happening without the Kings throwing in some draft picks.
Simmons is flawed, but he is also an elite defender and a top flight facilitator. Fox is not elite at anything other than being fast. Right now he is Russell Westbrook without the ferocity.
Tobias Harris. Maybe Pascal Siakam (with the Kings throwing in some sweetner). That is what I perceive Fox’s current NBA value to be, at best. The reality is probably closer to D’Angelo Russell or Malcolm Brogdon. There is no longer any upside edge for Fox. He is in year five as a pro, and he’s going to make $163m over the next five years.
Through three games, I have not seen anything to make me think that I underestimated or overestimated this team at 35 wins.
I remember there was a time when you mentioned how even as gloomy as each season outlook looks, you always over-predicted the amount of wins the Kings would get!
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