Update: 10:15 p.m.
After taking a pretty big hit Tuesday, the tank is officially back on track as the Sacramento Kings fell 117-109 Wednesday to the New Orleans Hornets.
DeMar DeRozan scored 39 points on 17-22 from the field. Nique Clifford finished with 18 points and 8 assists.
The Kings are now 16-51 on the season. The Pacers are 15-50. The Wizards are 16-48.
From Earlier Preview:
The Sacramento Kings are no longer the worst team in the league after beating the Indiana Pacers last night on the back of a career Devin Carter performance. Can they do it again against a Hornets team that’s been on a roll?
Who: Sacramento Kings (16-50) vs. Charlotte Hornets (33-33)
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
When: 7:00 PM PT / 10:00 PM ET
Watch: NBCSCA / League Pass
The Hornets might just be the surprise of the NBA season, as they’re firmly in the playoff hunt in the East which actually happens to be a tighter race this year than out here in the West. Charlotte has won 7 of 11 games since the All-Star break, and they had won 10 of 11 right before the break as well. A big reason for their improvement this year has been the play of potential rookie of the year Kon Knueppel, who is averaging 19.2 points and shooting 43.8% from three on 8 attempts a game. Knueppel has already broken Keegan Murray’s record for three pointers made as a rookie with 16 games left to go.
The Hornets are led in scoring by former 2nd overall pick Brandon Miller at 20.7 points a game, and LaMelo Ball isn’t far behind at 19. points and 7.2 assists. Charlotte’s a team that likes to shoot a ton of threes and they’re really good at making them, ranking 3rd in the league in both attempts and percentage.
This is going to be much more a challenge than last night’s game, but if the Kings win they’ll have won five of their last nine. Last night’s hero was Devin Carter, who scored 22 of his career-high 24 points in the 4th quarter alone. Whatever the case, hopefully the young guys continue to get plenty of run.
Prediction: Hornets 133, Kings 116
Hopefully we get back up on that tank tonight. I know the Hornets are trying to get out of the play-in seeds so that bodes well for us. Another double double for Maxi would be nice.
Is there going to be a TKH “tank” themed line of clothing coming out? I think this season it would feel appropriate, lol.
Tankgz?
Have a tank sitting out front of G1C where that weird rabbit statue is?
Maybe something like this would be more apropos –
I really have no issue if the Kings win games on the shoulders of Precious, Max, Nique, Carter, Cardwell, or even Keegan. Even if some / all of these guys are not part of future, at least you’re giving the younger players their burn. It makes no sense to give Russ, DDR or Monk minutes at this juncture.
And 1 – DDR, Monk and Russ play selectively hard. What I mean by that is that they all give effort on offense, usually in an effort to “get theirs.” And that’s probably what they should be doing if you’re playing them in meaningless (to them) games. The youngsters, while lacking in the overall talent of the aforementioned trio, play harder (not always smarter) from baseline to baseline. A win is digestible when it comes from a Carter heater, as opposed to a DDR foul-huntfest.
The team on the floor in the 4th last night should have been (for the most part) the team on the floor since the break. It would likely have had little impact on the overall win numbers, but would have made the games far more enjoyable to watch…muted, of course. Always muted.
Crazy how Monk went from being so important to the Beam team and the following season, to not being able to play “PG” on a worse team, to now getting spotty minutes. He plays hard when the team is good, and this season he is, like you mentioned, playing “selectively hard”.
I know that a lot of fans love Malik, but I think he needs to go, right after LaVine and DDR. Before Russ, even.
Yes, his time here is done. I hope he continues his career for a while because he is a likeable guy.
Monk strikes me as a great guy to have on a good team. You can swallow his inefficiencies and erratic play as long as he gives you occasional heroics and scoring. You get a lot of “No, no, no, YES!” moments.
Put him on a bad team and you get a bunch of eye rolls and face palms. He’s become the Kangz Jordan Poole, especially with his contract.
I think he’s gonna be a King for a while with his contact, but he could do wonders on a contending team. The same could have been said with Schroeder, which is why the Cavs took that swing.
The Hornets seem like they’re arriving.
Good young players have that team thriving.
New owners they found
Helped turn things around,
But the Kings still have Vivek driving!
+1 Bounce back game for the tank!
Can’t help but chuckle that their latest draft bust has a career night to knock them off the top of the tank hierarchy.
If he had played all four quarters he would’ve outscored Bam!
43 free throw attempts. 43. No Kings player will ever ever ever ever get that many FTAs. Ever.
Devin would have had to settle for scoring something in like, the low 60s. (61 to break De’Aaron Fox’s record).
LOL, wow!
Couldn’t have done this last night huh?
Like I mentioned earlier, this (dis)organization has no clue what they are doing.
I guess they’ll get a full kick of the tires on Hayes, being that he is the only healthy PG.
“Play like Mays but I run like Hayes.”
Are the Raptors still interested in Sabonis? If so would any of you say yes to a trade where Sabonis and Devin Carter go to the Raptors for RJ Barrett, Jacob Poelti ( I know) Colin Murray Boles and 2 first round picks IMO Boles could start at PF and Murray goes back to SF where IMO he belongs. For what the Kings get IMO it’s worth it to just hold onto Poelti or try and trade him.
I like the picks but does the money work? Might be close.
It does.
I would also add Eubanks to the pot.
I know Poelti is a lame duck but IMO what you are getting(Barrett, Murray Boles and a draft pick somewhere in the 18 to 20 range IMO it,s worth the risk.
Trader Jack- were you honored or featured at a recent Kings game?
I would do this.
But you hit like sh!t.
Time for Point Precious!
I was at the tank battle last night, and to retread the topic of developing the players, and I realize it’s game to game, (Devin Carter is a glaring example) but Nique Clifford makes Russel Westbrook look like Steph Curry. That guy had some awful shots last night. Does he need better vision? His future does not look particularly bright to me. A mid-bench guy at his best.
Just an idea. Sabonis, Carter our 31st and 40th picks to the Raptors for RJ Barrett Jacob Poelti, Colin Murray Boles and their 19th pick.
Two things to look forward to in April with the NFL Draft (Raiders finally get that top QB prospect, although I hate that the Maxx Crosby trade was cancelled) and the NBA lottery
DeRozan, Eubanks, McDermott, zzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzz
Jones called this challenge “another litigious moment.” Wut?
Nothing to like about this game. Nothing at all.
Yep. I don’t care if DDR went 22-22. 22 shots for that lame duck is just plain dumb.
After someone here vehemently insisted a few months back that “…mark my words, knueppel is going to be a bust..” i’m starting to think that maybe he isn’t? How’s Ace Bailey, the “sure stud,” doing BTW? I havent watched much basketball this year, maybe just less than 5 games, so any input would be nice. Asking for a friend.
I don’t know I ever spoke of Ace Bailey, but I would admit that at Summer League, Kon was especially unimpressive.
He is the RoY to me, though a co-RoY of the Blue Devils – Coop and Kon – would be nice as well.
It’s just shows that Summer League can tell us both a lot and not very much. Some of the nicer VSL talent (for example Walter Clayton – is showing well, IMO, while other – Kon, and Keon – are far surpassing that July heat in Vegas by burning their time rather than wilting.
Keon, by the by, had 20 for the Cavs last night. Not bad for a thrown away asset to cleave off Dennis Schroeder so they could afford DeAndre Hunter…
Always funny to me
Is Kon really going to be ROY? I thought Coop was going to be the runaway winner with all the hype surrounding him. Ive heard good things about Edgecomb and Harper too. Maybe Jordan is correct: you are drafting based on potential because none of these draftees have proven anything yet, but they still get these shoe contracts even before playing a single minute of NBA basketball.
And yeah, VSL is never a good gauge. Donte Greene comes to mind.
Think Kon recently passed Flagg while he was injured. FWIW, NBA.com has them 1-2 Kon-Flagg in their rookie rankings. Max is now #5.
Cooper Flagg turned 19 in December. He is very impressive as he really does a bit of everything well. Just wait until he finishes filling out.
Looking at the numbers, and record breaking stats, Kon is in a class by himself for rookies on a historical scale for his shooting and he has even made his team win many more games (or so it appears). He also does so many things, and is so polished. We like to compare, and he is a very Chris Mullin appearing player, to me.
A co-RoY would be very cool. There have been three (3) past Co-RoY awards:
1971 Dave Cowens and former Kings GM Geoff Petrie
1995 Grant Hill and Jason Kidd (who won it in Dallas and now coaches there)
2000 Elton Brand and Stevie Franchise (Francis)
Mullin is an interesting comp. Career 38.4% 3pt for his 16 year career.
Career average: 0.8 3P on 2.2 3PA. LOL times have changed.
He just has that always squared up stance, with a well angled elbow and compact release that reminds of Chris Mullin.
Sorry, I wasn’t dissing the comp. Just checked stats for fun and thought it was funny.
I didn’t take it as a dis. And yes- Steph has led the way to a very different brand of basketball with a whole world of different stats.
The best pure shooters in my memory: (career numbers)
Mark Price – 3FG 40% 3.4 3FGA (Amazing stat: two consecutive seasons of FT% .947 and .948)
Ray Allen – 3FG% 40% 3FGA 5.7 (as high as that is for the time, have to think that would be much higher today)
Steve Kerr – 3FG% 45.4% (!) 1.8 3FGA (must be the highest 3FG%)
Larry Bird -3FG% 37.6% 1.9 3FGA (surprising!)
Glenn Rice – 3FG% 40% 3.9 3FGA
Reggie Miller – 3FG% 39.5% 3FGA 4.7
Maybe we will add Kon Knueppel to the list.
The other pure shooters, that come to mind are Rick Barry and Calvin Murphy who pre-dated the 3 point shot. Maybe add Drazen Petrovic and Peja Stojakovic. (College days, Rick Mount from Purdue known as a pure shooter, when college players played 4 years and no 3 point shot, also remember Hoosiers Steve Alford who shot 53% from 3). I would be interested in The Great Jerry Reynolds input on this.
Hey, but we are all here together – the most disorganized, dysfunctional, disrespected us disgruntled fans can stand – and we stand (mull around?) here in a community.
Even though you didn’t disparage: We have to be able to laugh at each other and laugh at ourselves for being here. Dis away – I am sure I deserve it.
Nice list! Not only a shooter, but what about Mitch?
Only 38.8%(better than Bird!) on 3.5 shots for the career, but had a couple standout, for the era, seasons in Sac.
95-96 – 43.7% on 6.4 attempts
96-97 – 42.8% on 5.9 attempts
Imagine his numbers if he had shorter toes!
Zach Lowe mentioned Keon the other day while talking about the Cavs. Something like, “Has there ever been a player that couldn’t get off the bench on the worst team in the league getting traded in season and becoming a valuable rotation player on a contender?”
The problem was that Keon was really the only player that met Christie’s supposed criteria for playing time, which was showing out defensively. Ellis’ presence really accentuated how full of shit Doug was/is, as Doug is really not much more than a veteran cuck. Clearly he had to go, and when Perry could attach him to undo the terrible contract that he handed out to Schroder just months earlier, well, that was that.
And Mike Brown too. Both full of shit
Keon showed how the fans really do understand things sometime. *cough* Kayte *cough*
Would love to know if this is a front office issue or a coach issue
Keon this season in 43 games with the Kings:
17.6MPG, 39.7%FGA, 36.8% 3PA, 5.6 PPG, 1.3 REB, 0.6 AST, 0.5 BLK, 1.1 STL
Keon this season in 14 games with the Cavs
23.8 MPG, 51.4%FGA, 38.5% 3PA, 7.7 PPG, 2.9 REB, 1.6 AST, 1.2 BLK, 1.6 STL
Cleveland is reaping the rewards, while the Kangz let another one get away.
Dennis on the other hand, has been pretty awful for Cleveland. Perry had to attach one of his best assets, in Keon, to get rid of Dennis, of whom he gave the contract to.
Great fucking job, Perry. Great. Fucking. Job.
Let’s not forget that Perry added ~$11 million in salary (if I remember right) in Schroder/Ellis for Hunter trade for next season, putting the team on the threshold of the luxury tax, and likely forcing them to use even MORE assets to cut salary next season, since no one wants (almosyt) any of the players on this team.
Since we’re a joke anyway, let’s embrace it. With so many guys “injured”, the FO needs to figure out a way to fill out the last couple of roster spots with a rotation of fans and give them extended minutes because that’s how we roll.
Kings PA Announcer during intros: And now…the man running the point…Roooooob Hessssing!!!!!!
Buckle up Rob! You’d be getting 30+ minutes a night out there! And honestly, I don’t think it would even be a negative, especially on D!
Silver wouldn’t let ATL do a night for a local strip club. No way they let Rob play without pants!
Does Rob wear shorts? Or is he opposed to all lower body clothing?
It’s OK. At this stage in my life it looks like I’m wearing pinstripe leggings.
I had to listen to homer Mark Jones extol on the astuteness of Doug’s coaching, how he out coached and out foxed Rick Carlise.
DC got taken. Down by 20 and still cannot lose a game that ahd to be lost. Poor job.
How about this guys? Sabonis, Carter, Eubanks #31 pick and #41 pick to the Raptors for Barrett, Poelti(I know) Murray Boles and their #17 pick? and another future first rounder.
Badge Legend