I thought I’d do something a little different for this post.  In addition to a game summary, I’m gonna write some ideas and strategies about what I think could help make the Kings more successful.  In addition, I’m going to pose a question of the day, that I’d love for you all to respond to.  Well, here it goes!

Before I start, here’s an update on Bogi.  He’s targeted November 7th as a return date, which, in my opinion, couldn’t come soon enough.  They’re playin great without him, but once he comes back, that’s just another great scorer and distributer out there to help add to what’s already been a STELLAR offense.  

I called into the Grant Napier Show the other day and talked to Doug about what he thinks of Harry Giles’ conditioning.  His thoughts were basically, that Harry is simply not in NBA shape yet as far as conditioning goes.  I would tend to agree with this, because he always looks gassed (and super sweaty) out there.  He’s just gonna have to keep hitting that cardio to get his body NBA ready.  But, in the meantime, Willie and Bagley can hold it down in the post for the Kings.  

The Rotation –

IF everyone was healthy, I’d love to see this kind of a rotation-

STARTERS:

PG – Fox

SG – Bogdanivic

SF – Shumpert

PF – Bjelica

C – Cauley-Stein 

6.) Hield

7.) Bagley

8.) Ferrell

9.) Giles

JUSTIFICATION – I think this starting group presents the best player at each position that is currently on the roster.  I think Hield will start over Bogdan until Bogie gets back into playing shape, but ultimately I feel that this would be the best line up the Kings could throw out there.  With each bench player I mentioned being a strong contributer on a regular basis as well.

GAME 5 SUMMARY –

This game featured a match up of two of the top 5 picks of the last draft class with Sacramento’s Marvin Bagley III and Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr. This was an intruiging matchup between two young, talented players that featured a lot of back and forth, and tit for tat scoring between the pairing.  The Grizzlies road a strong 1st quarter into a halftime lead.  But eventually, 2nd year player DeAaron Fox really started to take the game over in the second half, scoring at will (featuring a SAVAGE dunk to help the Kings retake the lead).  Unfortunately for Memphis, Marc Gasol went down late in the 4th with a neck injury.  He was slow to get up, and eventually would leave the game for the night. I wish him a speedy recovery. DeAaron Fox ended the night with 21/6/8 and helped lead the Kings to a 97-92 victory!

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

If you could assemble a line up of any Kings players, past or present, who would be your starting 5? (you can include a 6th man if you want to).  Mine would be:

PG – Jason Williams

SG – Mitch Ritchmond

SF – Peja Stojakovic

PF – Jerry Lucas

C – Demarcus Cousins

6th Man – Bobby Jackson

Feel free to comment on here with your responses, or hit me up on Facebook or Instagram too!  Thanks all!

Hey all,

Life got a little crazy, so I had to let a couple games go by, but I will address them game by game. These posts will be brief, but I will go more in depth at the 10 game mark.

IT WAS THE FIRST KING’S WIN OF THE SEASON!!!!!!!!

OK, now that I got that out of my system, let me break down some thoughts on the game.

1) Starters

If you look at my last post, you’ll see that I correctly predicted the start of Iman Shumpert, and was definitely surprised because I said to start him for his defense and he ended up being an offensive powerhouse instead! Bjelica was still in there, but honestly, he’s a hustle guy who has a lot of experience so I am ok with him being in there still.

2) Play style

If I had to compare this team’s style of play to another sports franchise, I’d choose the New England Patriots.  This is due mostly in part to the fact that they just try to outscore their opponent and really don’t play defense.  This has been a signature of the Pats for the past several years.  And score they do!  They’ve been on a tear in triple digits in every game so far.

3) Final Thoughts:

I don’t have a lot to say.  The magic formula of scoring in bunches and doing it more frequently than the opponent paid off.  It will result in some success, but I really hope that it doesn’t continue.  Hopefully, the Kings front office will bring in some more defensive and rebounding weapons soon.

As far as individual efforts:  Buddy has the offense, Shump has the 3’s, Yogi has spunk, Bagley has Bounce, and Willie is thrilly!

GAME 4

Nothing goes with the thrill of victory like the agony of defeat…

Everything started off great – same starters as the win. Fox came out strong, and Shump played 11 minutes of the quarter.  The problem was: sloppy play.  The turnover bug was running rampant.

1) Biggest Problems

The turnovers.  It seemed like every time there was a chance to gain some momentum, the Kings would manage to come up with a dumb turnover.  Second, the shots were just not falling.  The Kings were playing too much hero ball out there.  There were not enough passes to open guys, and way too many contested shots. Not to mention, the rebounding issues.  Flat out, the Kings have got to find a way to rebound more!  It makes me long for the days of Reggie Evans…

2) Bogie

The team is really missing Bogdanavic out there… I get that he wanted to represent his country and what not, but I really think the Kings should not have let him play in that tournament.  He already played once, and won MVP.  What purpose was there for him to be there?  Now, the team is down one of their best and most important pieces, and that’s a huge problem.  No one off of the bench can really fill that void, so the team will have to continue to tread water until he returns.

3) Bagley

Marvin Bagley WILL be a star in this league.  He never quits, hustles hard, and scores in bunches.  I’m excited to see what the year has in store for him!  All you nay-sayers and Luka lovers be aware, this kid’s the real deal.  And a real 4, which the Kings have been in desperate need of for over a decade.  The core of Fox, Marvin, and Bogie will be the best big 3 the Kings have had in a looooooong time.

Now, it’s on to beating Memphis.  This season will have a lot of ups and downs, but I think it gave us a real view of the potential of this team.  Let’s hope that the Denver altitude is what really slowed them down, and that the return to the familiar confines of the Golden 1 Center will result in continued success!  Bring on the Grizzlies!

“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.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton