Game 43
Sacramento Kings versus Indiana Pacers
Tip-Off: 7:30 PST, 10:30 EST. 7973:498 on Planet Blipblorp
Sacramento Kings versus Indiana Pacers
Tip-Off: 7:30 PST, 10:30 EST. 7973:498 on Planet Blipblorp
By Stephen Tetsu, Japanese Showbiz Correspondent
The Kings are on a roll and I’m decidedly not on one so, heck, time for the first “game thread” game thread in a looooooooooooooooooong while.
Hooray, we apparently don’t suck anymore! It’s been over a decade since the Kings have played meaningful basketball in January, which is really just an indicator of the gross incompetence Kings fans have had to deal with over the last several years. Let’s think about this for a second… The last time the Kings were in any position of relevance at this point in the season, Piksi was still writing game threads, the team was in a slow cycle of general apathy, and Peja was about to be traded for Ron Artest.
Like this year’s team, those Kings got off to a really slow start, generally looked lost for the first half of the season, and featured Kenny Thomas on the payroll. (I may have made that last one up. Quick, someone check RealGM!) And yet, after a bit of tinkering (and some of the younger players like Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia coming into their own), the team managed to sneak into the playoffs and actually put up a bit of a fight against the Spurs.
Looking at the rosters of this year’s team and the roster of that final Adelman playoff team, there’s really little question, at least in my mind, which of the teams is more talented.
The 2005-2006 Kings featured an overall team effort necessitated by the lack of a true number one player. Sure the team had its fair share of good players but all of them were pretty much third option sorts of guys (Bibby, Artest, Pre-Cornrows Brad Miller, Shareef riiiiiiiiiight before his legs imploded, Bonzi Wells, emerging young scorer Kevin Martin). The 2005-2006 Kings also showed a surprising lack of depth, with a depth chart that roughly looked like this:
C: Brad Miller/ Absolutely freaking no one/Brain Skinner/Vitaly Potapenko/
PF: Reef/Kenny the Albatross Thomas/Burnt out Corliss
SF: Ron Ron/Cisco
SG: Bonzi/Kevin Martin/Cisco
PG: Mike Bibby/Jason Hart/Ronnie Price
I mean, while not as bad as some of the crap rosters we’d see later on in the Broke Maloof Era, that’s not exactly a rotation that screams PLAYOFFS to me. And yet they managed to get in through a mix of Rick Adelman coaching the crap out of that roster/ playing Ron Artest and Mike Bibby 40 minutes a night. Also, just to repeat for emphasis, Bonzi Wells went insane when Winter changed to Spring and absolutely tore the league a new one.
But once you got past that starting five/Kevin Martin and occasionally Francisco Garcia, the 2005-2006 Kings literally had no one of any value (and arguably a guy with the worst contract in the NBA).
Meanwhile, the Kings of Today feature a (two game tested) rotation that looks like so:
C: Boogie/Kosta
PF: Willie/Kosta/Quincy Acy
SF: Rudy Gay/Omri/presumably Caron Butler
SG: Suddenly legitimate SG Ben McLemore/ Marco Bellinelli/ James Anderson
PG: Rondo/DC/Curry
While once could arguably say that this team’s starting five could lose to the 2005-2006 one (even then, who’s going to stop Boogie? Brad Miller? Don’t make me laugh.), the 2015-2016 bench features a consistent 7 point/7 board/1 block back up big man, a guy who’s suddenly become one of the best shooters in the NBA, one of the better back up point guards in the NBA despite our frustration, and a purported sharpshooter who hasn’t actually done much sharpshooting up to this point in the season.
While the bench hasn’t exactly been perfect this season, at least it’s not Jason Hart and Brian Skinner. Oh, and at least we aren’t wearing these anymore.
Ladies and gentlemen, the last Kings team to make the postseason.
Awards Time (Try and remember some of these players if you can, I dare you)
Tony Delk Memorial Award - Nobody on the Hawks really produced all that much out of the ordinary so no one.
Jason Hart/Andreas Nocioni Award - The bench. Everyone.
Luke Walton Vacuum Cleaner Award - On a night in which pretty much the entire Kings bench spent their time on the court trying extremely hard to outsuck each other, Marco Bellinelli found a way to suck the most. While his main competition for playing time played perhaps the altogether best game of this career, Marco had an off night even by his increasingly low standards. When a good possession constitutes you not touching the ball, that’s pretty much a key indicator of worthiness for the Luke Walton Vacuum of Suck (Luke the player, not Luke the Interim Coach of the Best Team in Basketball).
Rafer Alston And-1 Award - Willie’s offensive repertoire consists 90% of dunks and around the hoop layups. The other ten percent? Missed showtime dunks.
Mikki Moore Award - Darren Collison had an off night but he did have one standout play where he laid out for a steal that he probably could have gotten a hold of the normal way around. But heck, it looked cool, which means Mikki time.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim Award- Jeff Teague. One year removed from being an All-Star, Jeff Teague spent most of the second half benched for his heir-apparent (who didn’t actually play particularly well). Not necessarily a good look.
WTF Moment of the Night - The Kings go on an 18-0 run to pull away from the Hawks in the third, promptly find a way to squander the lead.
The View From the Otherside
The following has been taken from peachtreehoops.com
- 5:59
Rando VS Teague
will be an interesting match up tonight aside from the obvious Al vs Demarcus. With Teagues lack of defense lately this will be interesting and Demarcus better be wearing a cup lmao - 7:16
I can see the Hawks using similar tactics defensively as to what they employed against the Blazers last night.
The Kings rank 7th in the league in 3-pt percentage (mainly driven up by Omri Cappsi’s 46% clip, and 38% shooting from Ben McLemore), and lead the league in the percentage of 3 point attempts on total FG attempts, with more than 1/3 of their shot attempts coming from the perimeter. Hopefully the Hawks can force the Kings perimeter players off the 3-point line and to the interior defense.
Similarly to the Blazers, Sacramento have a couple of good offensive rebounding in Carley-Stein & Koufos (who ranks 10th in the league in offensive rebounding %), so an effort on the defensive glass will be required again to close out the defensive possession.
The Kings are prone to turning the ball over, as they are 4th worst in the league in TO%. The Hawks may have a good opportunity tonight to play get in the passing lanes and force turnovers in order to get some easy buckets in transition. - 9:33
I hope we win by 35
And take selfies on their logo - 9:52
Even when Rudy Gay plays, on paper, the Hawks are a TERRIBLE matchup for the Kings
I wont "jinx" us and declare a win, but….yeah lol - 10:10
The Kings' DJ looks like a hipster smackhead. - 10:20
Kings jumping up in Kyle's ear when shooting from corner near their bench
Becoming a league-wide issue they need to do something about. - 10:24
Cousins is so damn good - 10:58
Kings gonna end up with 100 fg attempts at this rate
rebounding would be nice - 11:33
are we seriously going to get blown out by sacramento wtf - 11:35
cant watch this anymore - 11:41
Cousins stepped up into the spot.
Blocking foul for sure. - 11:58
what a comeback - 12:08
well, don't give up Bazemore.
I’m smelling overtime - 12:12
Is Teague in the doghouse? I don't see why Bud would elect to play Dennis over Jeff.
Dennis has been pretty bad this game. - 12:14
the Hawks may steal this one yet - 12:17
Brothers, you're retarded. - 12:17
Wow......
There was no way that’s Sacramento ball - 12:20
Can I call that a case of the ball don't lie? Tony Brothers sure does. - 12:24
my goodness
we are woeful in the clutch.
iso teague or iso-millsap and that’s it….
that is all we come up with. sad for such a creative team. - 12:24
Then they call a foul
Schroder missed him
- 12:26
Those fouls on Acy was ridiculous
That overturn on Paul Millsap was asinine - 12:28
then again....yet another loss to a sub .500 team
really squandering chances here - 12:29
Tony Brothers gave them the game. - 12:33
so we're getting an apology from the league tomorrow regarding that overturned call lol?
wtf do they have these guys in NJ for? - 12:54
At one point down the stretch
Quicy Acy got the benefit of 3 or 4 consecutive loose ball fouls….That’s the only time I thought to ask who was reffing the game….sure enough I saw who it was. Then he missed the call on Paul Millsap….wow. Winnable game though. - 1:36
Bad loss.
I wasn’t shocked that the Hawks came back from a 17-point deficit given the opponent, but I was shocked they ever let it get that far out of hand in the first place. That 3Q run by the Kings was the difference maker in this game that was very poorly played by both teams. Poor refereeing as well but I think it affected both teams more or less equally. The line that jumps out to my eyes is Korver’s 3/10 shooting from 3—he converts one of those 7 misses (which would be expected on the percentages) and not only is that the difference in the final line but it also completely changes how the endgame is played and quite possibly results in a Hawks win. His questionable shooting is really affecting this team’s ability to win games, especially when the point guards play as buffoonishly as they did tonight. Seriously, Dennis? Another 3-point airball?
Glad I didn’t make the trek out to Sacramento from Oakland. - 3:03
I thought the defense on DeMarcus Cousins actually wasn't that bad in the 2nd half.
He took 25 shots (only hitting 10 of those attempts) to hit for 24 points; that’s not a dominant offensive display by any stretch. It wasn’t great that he was establishing deep position on the low block, but the physical approach that Al & Tiago came with was pretty solid. - 7:36
Must be karma for Kris's disrespect for Boogie and his team.
Cousins with 24 points 15 boards, 5 assists, and Kris’s boy Horford with 11, 8, and 3. I’d say that’s the game right there. Boogie is the best center in the league. - 7:58
Cousins is a disaster.
He also had SIX turnovers. All the stats in the world can’t hide the fact that he is a petulant child and totally lazy. All the talent in the world and no brain in his head. Go ahead and build a team around Cousins and watch it fail miserably. He’s the new Shareef Abdur Rahim. Totally empty numbers. - 8:07
Even his man defense left a lot to be desired.
If DeMarcus Cousins is the best center in the league, the then the requirements to be dominant at the center position has dropped in talent considerably since the days of Olajuwon, Robinson & Ewing. - 8:23
Don't get me wrong, when his head is in the game and he's putting in effort, Cousins is arguably a top 10 player in the league.
I just seemed between the dominant stretches on offense, there were occasions where he wasn’t playing with a full amount of effort or focus – a number of looks he had at the rim, he didn’t finish because he didn’t go up strong. And defensively, he lagged in transition and (as previously mentioned) was giving a just barely there effort when defending in the post. People get on Teague’s case for not being consistently focused, the same can be said for Cousins. Cousins size and skill-set give him a higher upside that allows him to put up the stats he does, but as Ed stated, with the lack of consistent effort he puts forward, he’s not a player that you can trust to build a championship contender around. - 8:56
Again good teams want nothing to do with Cousins
Until he figures that out, its not changing - 10:57
Just watch him closely
He’s not committed or limited in some way to conditioning…. he’s very effective early in his rotations…. can be later but that’s when he is looking for more static looks. All of his T’s come at the end of his rotation. Basically, he will never be the number 1 guy on a good team, needs an alpha that maybe can get his head right and challenge him to invest in all areas of his preparedness and game, but in the current situation he is so far from that. - 8:56
How the hell are his numbers empty
When his team is in the playoff hunt? They are the 8 seed right now. Don’t make no damn sense, you just sound like a flat out hater. - 8:06
Lol OK but did his team win?
I’ll take George Karl’s word for it when he says Cousins is the best Center in the league. I’ll also let my own eyes tell me that. So what he had 5 turnovers his team still won, and he was the best player on the court and he was without Rudy Gay. Al had 11 points and his team lost and he couldn’t guard Boogie in the post. Call a man a disaster who is the best player in the league at his position. - 10:31
Having recently gone to a Kings game, the Hawks were probably confused thinking they stepped into the 80's
lol I mean that arena looks ooooold on the inside. They probably thought they played in a highschool gym.
But seriously, something is up with Teague. I bet he isnt fully healthy
Tonight's Game
The Pacers are coming into town and they aren't exactly a squad to be taken lightly.
Led by Paul George, back from his horrific leg injury and now operating at the power forward position in Frank Vogel's new scheme, the Pacers are a team somewhat in the midsts of an identity rejiggering at the behest of the very good coach at the reigns (and also Larry Bird, always Larry Bird).
At 23-20, the Pacers sit square in the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff race free-for-all. Gone is Roy Hibbert, now free to not rebound and do ill-advised things on offense for the Lakers, and the rest of the Pacers frontcourt (aside form Ian Mahimi) of the last several seasons with him. With David West and Luis Scola now off playing roles for playoff squads elsewhere, Frank Vogel decided to go small (sorta) and stick 6'8" stud small forward Paul George at the 4 spot, a move that has thus far not been a total disaster due to Paul George being really good and Frank Vogel being able to put together a defensive scheme that largely masks any flaws with the small ball lineup.
However, despite playing the second best small forward in the East at the power forward spot, Indiana isn't exactly at a loss for big man depth. Ian Mahimi is a serviceable center, Jordan Hill is also solid, Lavoy Allen is also also solid, and Myles Turner has been turning in a very good rookie season for the Pacers off the bench.
In the backcourt and at the wings, the Pacers made a "splash" by signing Monta Ellis over the offseason, outbidding the Kings among other squads for his services. Alongside him, the Pacers will usually run CJ Miles and George Hill, who should be in uniform for the Pacers tonight, for a potent offensive trio. At the sixth man spot, Vogel will bring in Kings killer Rodney Stuckey, who I fully expect to score 50 points tonight against the Kings spotty perimeter defense. Chase Budinger will probably also get some burn, with Solomon Hill and the Big Dog's not as good son getting whatever wing minutes are left behind.
The Pacers played the Warriors fairly hard last night, but Frank Vogel actually managed his roster's minutes as well as one can in his situation, with Paul George leading the squad with only 31 minutes of action. Meanwhile, the Kings had a one night break after their rather physical game against the Hawks, which in the past has meant the team generally plays like they're the guys on the second night of a back to back.
But it's a new year and the Kings are starting to put together some good basketball and George Karl seems to have finally figured out that there's no need to play small forwards at the power forward spot when you've actually got three big men who deserve burn, so who knows what'll happen?
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DC was dancing and prancing over his old team (24 points on 11-17 FGs) and Boogie was smashing and thrashing and Rondo was dishing and diming then we got complacent and stopped playing D as we have been known to do. Willie missed the game and without his defense the game got close but we held on to win 108-106.
