Kingsfans.com Official Game Thread
Game 4
Sacramento Kings at Denver Nugglets
Game 4
Sacramento Kings at Denver Nugglets
By Stephen Tetsu, Not Down With the Back-to-Back Lifestyle
This pretty much sums it up.
How much longer before the bubble bursts? How much longer before the Kings stop playing defense and start being crappy again? If this is a dream, please don't wake me up.
For a while there, things didn't look so good. It might be hard to remember looking back after a win but the Kings faced a ten point deficit in the third quarter and Chris Paul seemed to be nearly unstoppable at that point, running the exact same play a thousand times in a row to similar positive results. Also our bench pretty much was doing everything it could to be terrible.
And yet, we won this game on the road, at 12:30 PM, and against a bunch of royal DBs in sleeved jerseys, some of who sported quite possibly the worst set of mustaches ever to grace mankind since the 70s or the local Harley Davison convention. Seriously, if you want to make something you hate even more heritable, just give them a mustache. Robin Thicke? Give him a mustache. Pete Carroll? Give him a mustache. Traffic jam? Give them all mustaches. I know they're doing it all in the name of some sort of cancer charity but there's gotta be a better way to raise awareness than looking like the starting five on To Catch a Predator.
I haven't mentioned Demarcus yet because it's hard to be too complimentary of something you expect to happen. I know it's not very realistic but I have come to expect this sort of monster games on a nightly basis, regardless of the opposition. The man simply is a force of nature, something we haven't seen since the early days of C-Webb, when we didn't have enough of a team around him to keep Rick Adelman from riding Webber into the ground. If Demarcus continues this play this season, there's no way the league can deny him the attention he deserves.
Post of the Game
Tears of joy in the forest right now. At one point I didn't think I've live long enough to have this feeling again. And thanks to all of you for helping share the excitement. Damn... 
We're all gonna DIEEEEEEEEE!!!!! Pessimism of the Game
Awards Time
Tony Delk Award- Hedo Turkoglu. Once a former King, Hedo has gone on to play for about every other team in the NBA and has pretty much become the last man standing from those glory year teams (aside from Gerald Wallace, who is technically still on the Celtics). As a former King, Hedo saw fit to play like a five year younger version of himself in his limited minutes on the floor.
Jason Hart Award - The entire bench except for Omri, Reggie, and Carl Landry. So really just Ramon Sessions and Nik Stauskas. Just give us something. Please.
All the Oscars- Chris Paul for his continued excellence in being the biggest flopper in the NBA.
Mikki Moore Award- Blake Griffin, not because he sucks but because he's a pansy and his posturing after Ben knocked him down on the break was comical at best, an immature maneuver at worst. Also, Demarcus pushed him a good five feet when inserted himself between Ben and Blake.
Shareef Abdur Rahim Award- Matt Barnes. Remember when Matt Barnes was on the Kings? No? Good. Keep it that way. Remember when Matt Barnes was considered a good defender? Yeah. Well, those days are gone as Rudy simply ran circles around Sacadict Arnold
WTF Moment of the Game #1 - Ben McLemore badly misses a couple of wide-open shots then precedes to bank in a three pointer from several feet outside the arc with the shot clock running down and dudes playing pretty good defense on him. That's pretty much Ben in a nutshell.
WTF Moment of the Game #2- Blake Griffin's sleazy stache.
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'nuff said.
Spencer Hawes of the Game - This award goes to a man so special he deserves his own category. Having completely, shamelessly transformed into a "stretch"-five, the Hawester spent most of his time in the game sitting around the three point line, piling on 14 points in 22 minutes. But that's not the real reason he wins this award. Rather, with his long, greasy hair and fu-manchu combination, Soggy Waffles is legally required to report his presence when he moves within a half-mile of a school.
The View From the Other Side
Tonight's Game
Herrrrrrroballllllllll.
I don't want to say things are getting easier because that would be a distinct lie. Playing in Denver on the second night of a back to back is always a tough proposition. That said, I feel much more confident about it now than I did after the season opener against Golden State (who currently look like the best team in the Western Conference, for what it's worth).
While the last three teams we've faced are bonafide top-tier playoff teams, the Nuggets are... well, the Nuggets. Even a full year after jettisoning most of the front office and coaching staff, the Nuggets as a whole remain relatively unchanged, even if Brian Shaw is still convinced that he'll one day be able to run the triangle offense in the Mile High City.
But really when two of your top three players are rather undersized for their positions and the other is not exactly a great defender, what other options are there?
And so, while paying lots of lip-service to being a more balanced team, the Nuggets are still a run and gun team at their core, led by the heroballerific Ty Lawson, super hustle player Kenneth Faried, and Aaron Afflalo, who has apparently forgotten how to play defense thanks to his stint in Orlando. Now, in a perfect world scenario, Javale McGee finally gets his act together and provides a defensive anchor to help the Nuggets not get scored on every time they play defense, but Javale is Javale and thus probably going to screw things up as only he can.
On paper, the Nuggets aren't quite the challenge that the Clippers are (they just lost to the Thunder, who are missing one of the best players in the NBA and an all-star point guard) but it's the first back to back of the year and the Kings are coming off the emotional high of the victory in LA.
But we match up well (on paper). Demarcus can crush their big men. The Nuggets don't really have anyone who can match up with Rudy Gay. Nate Robinson is so bad at defense that it might make Ramon Sessions look good. Aaron Afflalo can score now but faces a surprisingly stout backcourt defense. If we rebound like we can rebound, it will limit their transition opportunity and improve our chances by a whole lot
And remember, two victories is exciting but three victories is a streak!
Matchups
Final Thoughts and Prediction
Let's take that next step. I predict a Kings win 98-93. Let's do this.
Go Kings!!!
(This post currently under construction. I'm sick so no guarantees I finish it tonight)
While the last three teams we've faced are bonafide top-tier playoff teams, the Nuggets are... well, the Nuggets. Even a full year after jettisoning most of the front office and coaching staff, the Nuggets as a whole remain relatively unchanged, even if Brian Shaw is still convinced that he'll one day be able to run the triangle offense in the Mile High City.
But really when two of your top three players are rather undersized for their positions and the other is not exactly a great defender, what other options are there?
And so, while paying lots of lip-service to being a more balanced team, the Nuggets are still a run and gun team at their core, led by the heroballerific Ty Lawson, super hustle player Kenneth Faried, and Aaron Afflalo, who has apparently forgotten how to play defense thanks to his stint in Orlando. Now, in a perfect world scenario, Javale McGee finally gets his act together and provides a defensive anchor to help the Nuggets not get scored on every time they play defense, but Javale is Javale and thus probably going to screw things up as only he can.
On paper, the Nuggets aren't quite the challenge that the Clippers are (they just lost to the Thunder, who are missing one of the best players in the NBA and an all-star point guard) but it's the first back to back of the year and the Kings are coming off the emotional high of the victory in LA.
But we match up well (on paper). Demarcus can crush their big men. The Nuggets don't really have anyone who can match up with Rudy Gay. Nate Robinson is so bad at defense that it might make Ramon Sessions look good. Aaron Afflalo can score now but faces a surprisingly stout backcourt defense. If we rebound like we can rebound, it will limit their transition opportunity and improve our chances by a whole lot
And remember, two victories is exciting but three victories is a streak!
Matchups
Final Thoughts and Prediction
Let's take that next step. I predict a Kings win 98-93. Let's do this.
Go Kings!!!
(This post currently under construction. I'm sick so no guarantees I finish it tonight)
