KingsFans.com Gameday 2013-2014 Edition
Game 7
Sacramento Kings v. Brooklyn Nets
Game 7
Sacramento Kings v. Brooklyn Nets
By Stephen Tetsu, Kingsfans.com Resident Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Another loss but this one brings with it hope. Coach Malone is going to replace the quitters in the rotation with fighters. Whee.
By the way, Wiggins and Parker are impressive.
Stat Watch 2013
I’m just gonna post a link to an interesting post about our team and rebounding:http://kingsfans.com/threads/fun-with-the-new-stats-nba-com.54187/
Observations
- Demarcus Cousins was clearly the best player on the court. Despite starting off slow, Boogie simply dominated the game in the fourth quarter as the team made the game interesting. Showcasing two new additions to his arsenal (the Duncan-esque bankshot and his absolutely killer half-hook), when he gets into a groove, Demarcus is the best offensive big man in the league by a large margin (excluding Kevin Love, who spends a lot of time out on the perimeter anyways).
- More importantly, Demarcus was a leader out on the court, constantly cheering on teammates during deadballs, and more importantly communicating on the defensive end. If anyone still needs proof that he’s maturing, that’s all they need to know.
- Jimmer Watch, Game 6: After languishing at the end of the bench to start off the season, Jimmer found his way onto the court against the Blazers purely because of how much MT sucked and had an adequate if not unspectacular outing, which on our team is probably MVP-worthy considering how bad some of our players have been. While his numbers aren’t great,
- Copy and pasted from the last four -FIVE -SIX games: Patrick Patterson must really not want to start because he has done just about as much as the starting power forward of the team as I have, which is to say, absolutely nothing. We shall see whether or not that changes tonight.
- From now on, Marcus Thornton shall be referred to as the Factory of Sadness. Seriously, watching him makes me want to cry tears of blood
- For some reason, a few people have really latched onto the notion that Isaiah Thomas is playing comparable to players such as Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving, citing his numbers extrapolated out over 36 minutes per game and their close proximity to those of the aforementioned players. What those people tend to forget is that (a) Isaiah is a half a foot shorter than those guys and (b) Isaiah can be pretty poopy at defense. Everyone loves a good underdog story but that doesn’t mean IT becoming a superstar is in the narrative.
The Always Fantastic Blazer's Edge
Other Coverage
Tyreke Watch 2013
New feature here to keep track of one of our most contentious points of debate over the last four years. Even though he’s no longer with our team, Reke remains a key point in many arguments about the new regime and its vision for our beloved squad.
Listed as questionable due to, stop me if you’ve heard this one before, an ankle injury, Tyreke played significant minutes in New Orleans’ game against the Lakers and had one of his better performances as Pelican, posting 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists to one turnover in 30 minutes. However, his shot certainly still is not all that right as he went 4-13 from the field (0-1 from 3pt range) and 3-7 from the free throw line. Not quite the dominant game he used to pull off during his rookie year but certainly not terrible.
The Pelicans got blown out, by the way.
Awards Time
Tony Delk Memorial Award: Robin Lopez
The “bruiser” of the Lopez Twins, Robin hasn’t exactly been known for his offense throughout his career. This of course meant that he was going to put up a double-double against our feeble interior defense. Figures
Spencer Hawes “Big” Man of the Game: Lamarcus Aldridge
While undeniably talented, Lamarcus Aldridge is probably better classified as a giant small forward than a power forward/center. Mostly reliant on his outside game, Lamarcus is rather deficient when it comes to rebounding on most nights. That said, he's still considered an all-star, so what do I know?
Thomas Robinson of the Game: Thomas Robinson
Take a rookie Gerald Wallace and make him even stupider and you’d probably wind up with Thomas Robinson. While his athletic talent cannot be denied, the former Jayhawk displayed the lack of control and finesse that so frustrated Kings fans in his brief stay in Sacramento. Attempting random jumpers and generally flailing about the court like a beached whale, T-Rob pretty much was the same exact player that we remembered.
WTF Moment of the Game: Our starters are crap. Not surprising. But still. WTF
Tonight’s Game
Tonight’s opponent made among the biggest of splashes in the offseason by essentially trading for the Celtics core minus Rondo to add to their already aging lineup. Despite all the hype, the team only has one more victory than us on their record and absolutely no future to look forward to.
Once among the best players in the league, Deron Williams may be going down the Steve Francis/Stephon Marbury route of All-Star PG flameouts, essentially playing fourth fiddle on the team to Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson, and Brook Lopez. When your coach is probably a better PG than your former all-star, you might have a problem.
Were this three or four years ago, the Nets roster would be flat out awesome. But as this is now, the Nets are just a sad collection of over the hill players and two young-ish bigs who are afraid of rebounding. Kevin Garnett is now old enough for the Early Bird Special. Pierce is on the downward slope of his career but probably the best player out of all the old dudes on their roster. Joe Johnson was a ball dominant player which makes the fake the Nets even acquired him all the more puzzling. Oh yeah, and he’s old too. The sixth man is Jason Terry, who quite frankly has lost all of what made him such an explosive scorer off the bench. Other elderly folk on the Nets bench include Shaun Livingston, Andre Kirilenko, and Reggie Evans
The Brooklyn youth movement is spearheaded by Brook Lopez, the team’s leading scorer by a nice margin. While he seems to be afraid of rebounding, his block numbers are a good companion to his offensive game. Andre Blatche will back him up unless he does something stupid first. And their youngest player is one of the Plumlee brothers, born in 1990, so they’re only kind of young.
Matchups
Demarcus versus Brook: How many times will the announcers get their names mixed up?
Our starters not named Demarcus versus not sucking: There’s hope!.
Malone versus a nervous breakdown: If our effort is lackluster once again with this new line-up, things could get even uglier.
Kings fans versus the desire to tank: Parker and Wiggins make it hard to resist.
Empty seats versus Kings fans: Will Kings fans be able fill them in respectable numbers?
Predictions and Closure
I’m going to be a blind optimist and say the new lineups work. Kings 90- Nets 83
Go Kings.
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