Game 2

“If you would have told me the Kings would have a 32 point first quarter, and be down by 8 – I wouldn’t have believed you” – Grant Napier

The lack of defense in this game was absolutely soul crushing to watch.  The Kings had no answer for the three headed monster of Davis, Holliday, and the deadly sniper known as 3-Kola.  I’m going to break this game down quarter by quarter and try and pinpoint what went well, and where it all went wrong.

1). Quarter One

Buddy Hield was a small bright spot in an otherwise underwhelming first quarter.  He was dishing dimes and scoring at will.  The one-two punch of Buddy and Willie-Caulie Stein was pretty effective in scoring against this juggernaut of a Pelicans team. The defense was absolutely abysmal, and there was no answer on D for Anthony Davis.  He was able to do anything he wanted with the ball, whether it was slash to the hoop, step back for a jumper, or even fly high for a finish on an alley-oop.  Because of this lack of D, it pretty much negated what would have been an outstanding quarter on offense for Sacramento in which they put up 32 points.  Too bad.

One thing that isn’t directly basketball related:  After watching both the Kings broadcast, and the Pels broadcast, I can say without a doubt- The Kings have the BEST broadcast team!  Grant and Doug are exciting, and call a great game.  The Pelicans broadcast team were downright boring at times, and they didn’t even bother to learn the Kings players names.  More than once, I heard them use the wrong player’s name.  Grant and Doug don’t do that, just saying.,.

2.)  Quarter Two

The theme of quarter two was, “Fox is FAST”.  De’Aaron was really getting everything he wanted out there.  He was able to slash to the basket and score, including a handful of buckets over AD.  Fox was straight ballin’ out there! He ended the night with 18/7/6 and shot 50% from the field.  One important thing I’d like to point out is that he played 27 minutes and had 0 personal fouls. (compared to Skal who played 8 minutes and had 4 personal fouls).  Fox’s +/- is so beastly!  These are not the kind of stats that make headlines, but these are what you need to win!  Way to go, De’Aaron!

Speaking of Ballin’ – to quote Doug Christie, “Marvelous Marvin Bagley” was an absolute stud in this game! By the end of the game, the Rook posted a stat line of 19/8/3, shooting 7-10 from the field.  In fact, his only missed field goals came from three attempts outside the arch.  Clearly he’s still trying to find his touch there, but remember – this kid is only 19! He has a huge ceiling. And personally, I think all the people that are “woe is me” about not taking Luka in the draft need to remember that with De’Aaron, Bogdan, and Buddy, we have a great guard core to build around. And to also remember that it’s been FOREVER since the team has had an effective player at the 4.  I’m starting to think we found our man.  Let’s hope the Bagley can keep this up!

Buddy also continued to light it up on offense, where he shot 7-11 from the field, including 3-4 from the three-point line.  He also grabbed a pair of boards and dished a trio of assists.

3.) Quarter Three

We have now arrived at the quarter that I have dreaded to have to write about.  The patented Kings 3rd quarter Death Spiral.  With a defense comparable to Swiss Cheese, the Kings were outscored in the 3rd quarter 38-27, and were never able to recover from the hole they dug themselves.  Once again, there was no stopping Anthony Davis. Even Willie, who is arguably the best big man currently on the Kings, could only slightly slow him down or alter his shot.  The Brow was just too much of a force this game.  Speaking of Willie, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention his solid game (that makes 2 in a row).  20/7/1. But, like I mentioned last time, it’s a contract year, so I don’t expect this production from him outside of this season.

Once again, in an odd quarter theme, Buddy was the only thing the Kings had going at certain points.  Dishing and sniping his way through the Defense.  But, it wasn’t ever going to be enough.

4.) Fourth Quarter

The theme of this quarter was “Goodbye Defense”.  It looked like the All-Star Game out there.  Both teams scored 39 points, and basically just watched on Defense.  This allowed the man of the night to wreak havoc.  The man known as, 3-Kola.  And wreak havoc he did.  With a stat line of 36/9/2, which include FIVE baskets from beyond the arch, he was an offensive power house (who I’m sure the Bulls are regretting they traded by now).  It made me sad to watch him get all those uncontested threes, but at that point the game was already lost for the Kings, so they packed it in and let the bench play the rest of the game.  Which I totally get.  Don’t need the starters getting hurt out there in garbage time.

Also…you had to know this was coming – BENCH or TRADE JUSTIN JACKSON.  2 points in 21 minutes.  That’s all I need to say….

5.) Takeaways From the Game & What to Expect vs. OKC:

This game was great in that the core of Willie, De’Aaron, Buddy, and Marvin did exactly what we hoped they would do. They scored, they rebounded, they dished.  They did it all.  EXCEPT for play defense.  My hope is that they saw that they really can score, and that they’ll realize that if they never stop hustling, and get out of the habit of giving up when the chips are down, they can be in every game and potentially win it!

What I’m hoping to see today against OKC is this –

-Starting lineup – Fox, Hield, Shumpert, Bagley, Willie

The  4 best contributors, and the best defender to try and stop Paul George.  Start Bagley, let the boy get experience.  I think he earned a shot. Keep Jackson and Skal as far away from the rotation as possible (spread their minutes between Bjelica and McLemore) [Yes I know it’s Ben McLemore but at least he gives an effort on the defensive end]

I also want to see Joeger not afraid to bench guys for lack of defense.  I’d rather see them win a game 84-82 and stifle on Defense than see them score 129 again and get blown out by 20 like an all-star game.

Well, we will have to see.  I still have a lot of optimism about this season.  I’m seeing a promising core group come together (but I still meant what I said about trading Willie).

Thank you for reading.  I appreciate you all.