But it is also true that the Sixers looked like the far better organized and hungry team tonight.
That is, when the Kings decided to go down to the post. George Karl's philosophy is to give the players all kinds of freedom on offense. This philosophy translates to an offensive system that is simple, yet easily predictable. The sets only go one or two options deep before it devolves into complete freelancing by the players. It also fails to take strategic advantage of the Kings' strengths. Tonight, it was clear that the biggest advantage the Kings had was playing through Boogie on the block. It was disappointing to see so many offensive possessions that didn't leverage that, whether through a straight post-up or drawing a double team to create a four-on-three situation. Cousins scored 21 points, drawing 20 free throws, but only shot 4/10 from the field.
It doesn't take the sting off this Kings loss in any way though. After coming a hair within the elusive eight seed, the Kings have dropped back into the shadows with three straight losses, two of which to teams with worse records than they have. This flat out is not a playoff team at the moment, yet this team sometimes plays as coolly as if they have multiple deep runs under their belt. This team needs both an attitude adjustment and a more structured scheme to operate in, otherwise its going to be another long season of high turnovers, inconsistent play, and lifeless effort in Sacramento.
