Kings/Lakers Preseason Game Thread
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Fox was electric last night. Best I've ever seen him in a Kings uni and that includes his 6/6 from 3 game against the Spurs (think it was the Spurs). So far in 3 games including SL this year, he's had a good game, a solid game and a great game. I'm not even sure if he put together more than two solid games in a row last year so it's awesome to see the improvement out there and the team just runs so much better when the offense is running through him and not the bigs.
Hield...the dude is such a good shooter that it's almost weird to see him miss. I'm starting to come to the realization that he's probably not going to be a 20ppg scorer in this league. Just not athletic enough to put up easy points at the rim but you give him some open looks and he's money. That shot from Curry land was a thing of beauty.
Bagley, there was a lot of good and a lot of bad in there. To be expected for the rookie. I'm just glad we got to see an efficient shooting night with double digit rebounds for the first time. Crazy how much better these guys look when they're being set up by their teammates correctly.
Giles looked very much like a rookie out there. Had some nice moments but seemed to have more bad moments than good. His defense isn't looking as good as it did in SL, which is to be expected. They set him up for too many mid range shots but man that pass he made in the first half was as sweet as it gets.
We may have something in Gabriel. Long and a bit pesky on the defensive end. Got his hand on the ball quite a bit. Not sure if that'll be allowed in the NBA this year with the new no defense rules. Kings made a good move signing this guy. Could turn out to be a more under control Jakarr.
McLemore didn't play particularly well but Jackson makes him look awesome by default.
Jackson, Skal and Willie were horrible. Zero rebounding and zero interior defense from Skal and WCS. Just a dunk and layup drill from the Lakers while those two were in. Jackson....man I don't know about this kid. I know he's a good guy and all but his play has been absolutely atrocious in about 80% of the games he's played for the Kings so far. Just gives you absolutely nothing at all. Didn't even put up a small amount of resistance against Lebron. I know it's Lebron but the Kings have a glaring hole at the 3 because if last nights game was a playoff game, Lebron would have put up 20pts a quarter on us.
The Kings have an obvious glaring hole at the wing. I'm kind of done with Jackson at this point and Shump and Beli should help but you see a stark contrast in the Lakers vs. us. The Lakers have multiple players who can drive from the 3 point line and score or create. Ingram, Kuzma and Hart are all already good at doing this. The Kings need more athletic wing play badly. Hopefully they can trade a big for a wing at some point and rebalance the lineup.
Oh and props to Joerger last night for not just running horns sets all game. The offense looks a lot better the more loosey goosey they get to play out there.
Hield...the dude is such a good shooter that it's almost weird to see him miss. I'm starting to come to the realization that he's probably not going to be a 20ppg scorer in this league. Just not athletic enough to put up easy points at the rim but you give him some open looks and he's money. That shot from Curry land was a thing of beauty.
Bagley, there was a lot of good and a lot of bad in there. To be expected for the rookie. I'm just glad we got to see an efficient shooting night with double digit rebounds for the first time. Crazy how much better these guys look when they're being set up by their teammates correctly.
Giles looked very much like a rookie out there. Had some nice moments but seemed to have more bad moments than good. His defense isn't looking as good as it did in SL, which is to be expected. They set him up for too many mid range shots but man that pass he made in the first half was as sweet as it gets.
We may have something in Gabriel. Long and a bit pesky on the defensive end. Got his hand on the ball quite a bit. Not sure if that'll be allowed in the NBA this year with the new no defense rules. Kings made a good move signing this guy. Could turn out to be a more under control Jakarr.
McLemore didn't play particularly well but Jackson makes him look awesome by default.
Jackson, Skal and Willie were horrible. Zero rebounding and zero interior defense from Skal and WCS. Just a dunk and layup drill from the Lakers while those two were in. Jackson....man I don't know about this kid. I know he's a good guy and all but his play has been absolutely atrocious in about 80% of the games he's played for the Kings so far. Just gives you absolutely nothing at all. Didn't even put up a small amount of resistance against Lebron. I know it's Lebron but the Kings have a glaring hole at the 3 because if last nights game was a playoff game, Lebron would have put up 20pts a quarter on us.
The Kings have an obvious glaring hole at the wing. I'm kind of done with Jackson at this point and Shump and Beli should help but you see a stark contrast in the Lakers vs. us. The Lakers have multiple players who can drive from the 3 point line and score or create. Ingram, Kuzma and Hart are all already good at doing this. The Kings need more athletic wing play badly. Hopefully they can trade a big for a wing at some point and rebalance the lineup.
Oh and props to Joerger last night for not just running horns sets all game. The offense looks a lot better the more loosey goosey they get to play out there.
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Jeez. how many posts bashing Skal in this thread?!?! I think he's owed a bit of a disclaimer...
Skal is a key cog in these triple-big lineups.... He's asked to space the floor in said lineups, which is easy for the defense to anticipate. their moving him around. let him get some reps.
If youre being objective IMHO Justin Jacksons showings, or i guess no-shows would be more appropriate, are the most concerning. He's just being asked to play his standard position and role. I just dont like his body language either, when he's overwhelmed it shows.
Skal is a key cog in these triple-big lineups.... He's asked to space the floor in said lineups, which is easy for the defense to anticipate. their moving him around. let him get some reps.
If youre being objective IMHO Justin Jacksons showings, or i guess no-shows would be more appropriate, are the most concerning. He's just being asked to play his standard position and role. I just dont like his body language either, when he's overwhelmed it shows.
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The concerning thing on Skal and Jackson are their age and production in games. Not that they are old of course but the consistency of production and their age is something to consider.
Bagley is producing some good and not so good moments.....understandable with how old he is. Giles looks as was hinted at by the team and players.
Not worried about Bagley at all just like I wasn’t worried about Fox. Skal and JJ though are looking like end of bench types. Luckily, we can put Bogi or Bjelica at SF and then have a stable of bigs where Skal can continue developing.
Bagley is producing some good and not so good moments.....understandable with how old he is. Giles looks as was hinted at by the team and players.
Not worried about Bagley at all just like I wasn’t worried about Fox. Skal and JJ though are looking like end of bench types. Luckily, we can put Bogi or Bjelica at SF and then have a stable of bigs where Skal can continue developing.
Gabriel is SUCH a class act of a kid too. Wait til they put a mic infront of his face, he says the right thing everytime. He's highly intelligent. He's got a major chip on his shoulder too.
He looks tall out there to me too. They've always listed him at 6'9" but to me he looks the same height as many players listed at 6'10.
This high-pace the Kings want to play is perfect for him, all he wants to do is maximum effort all the time, so its right in his comfort zone.
He looks tall out there to me too. They've always listed him at 6'9" but to me he looks the same height as many players listed at 6'10.
This high-pace the Kings want to play is perfect for him, all he wants to do is maximum effort all the time, so its right in his comfort zone.
I feel like he will definitely have a couple games this year when his shots fall early and he's able to run downhill with confidence for the rest of the game. Otherwise, I feel like he's always going to be a bit fragile with his confidence and not the guy that can be a key cog night in and night out. There's an interview with him from the preseason where he was very honest about his confidence level last year and letting outside forces play games with his head. I totally appreciate his reflection and self awareness on this; however, I don't think it's a personality trait that can really just be flipped on or off (at least to the degree of self confidence that a professional athlete needs to be great).
This is the story of the game tho. Fox steals the show (again). He also had at least 3 great defensive plays forcing turnovers, I think he took it personal that the Lakers were running without a PG, and made a point to press and turn them over 40+ feet away from the basket.
the MIP campaign is real. Fox, for the Kings, is the rising tide that lifts all boats, and i'm pretty sure Vlade, and Joerger and the whole team know it.
He makes everyone else look good, it's becoming rather obvious. He doesn't just get assists as a natural consequence of having the ball, he's setting plays up on a silver platter.
Well the defense and the roleplayer bits, he can do that stuff with ease, thats natural for him, he's not some lockdown defender but he's equipped for the job and plays the game with a near Gerald Wallace style motor.... He's energetic to the point where its infectious.
The 3pt shooting is a bit trickier, but I'd say it's wise to give him the benefit of the doubt. here's why;
If you look back a few years ago, Gabriel could shoot 3's but at like an atrocious clip. Pretty sure he was in the 20-something percent range in his senior year of HS (which was a trainwreck of a team..)
The facts are he's made marked progress every year since... I think that will continue.. If you want to play "Shot Doctor" I think his mechanics look pretty sound, and the ball looks good coming out of his hand.
I just trust the kid, Wenyen knew he wasn't gonna get drafted high, or not drafted at all, many kids that happens to don't understand the gravity of that situation --- Wenyen was fully aware what he was getting himself into.
I wouldn't bet against him.. He's not under-equipped for the job.. I think he's gonna kinda carve a spot in the league on his willpower and effort alone.
I've been debating Wenyen's pro prospects for years btw. Good friend of mine hates on him(says hes clumsy and spastic), and I swear by him, and say that most of his akwardness comes from playing max effort(and it does).
Every year were gonna see these undrafted FA success stories, seems to be happening more and more. The Knicks (and their fans) think they found a gem with Allonzo Trier. I think we got one with Gabriel.
The 3pt shooting is a bit trickier, but I'd say it's wise to give him the benefit of the doubt. here's why;
If you look back a few years ago, Gabriel could shoot 3's but at like an atrocious clip. Pretty sure he was in the 20-something percent range in his senior year of HS (which was a trainwreck of a team..)
The facts are he's made marked progress every year since... I think that will continue.. If you want to play "Shot Doctor" I think his mechanics look pretty sound, and the ball looks good coming out of his hand.
I just trust the kid, Wenyen knew he wasn't gonna get drafted high, or not drafted at all, many kids that happens to don't understand the gravity of that situation --- Wenyen was fully aware what he was getting himself into.
I wouldn't bet against him.. He's not under-equipped for the job.. I think he's gonna kinda carve a spot in the league on his willpower and effort alone.
I've been debating Wenyen's pro prospects for years btw. Good friend of mine hates on him(says hes clumsy and spastic), and I swear by him, and say that most of his akwardness comes from playing max effort(and it does).
Every year were gonna see these undrafted FA success stories, seems to be happening more and more. The Knicks (and their fans) think they found a gem with Allonzo Trier. I think we got one with Gabriel.
Wow. The Kings were able to score on Los Angeles. Unfortunately the Lakers were able to score more. Two of the worst defensive teams in the league. If the Kings are to win 30 games or more, their team defense needs to improve a lot. At times their transition defense was terrible. At other times they watched the Lakers doing lay-up drills. The Kings shot over 40% from the 3 and lost.
Plenty of bright spots in this game. The Fox is going to be something. I have believed he is a shooter from the start, just getting used to NBA 3 line and the speed of the game. Skal and Willie were ineffective. Giles and Bagley are both raw talents but have tons of up side. Look at the stat sheet. All 4 bigs played about the same amount of minutes. Bagley 19/10, Giles double figures/7. Skal 2 rebounds, a couple of points, Willie the 3 rebounds and a couple of points. This is the place where the Kings are going to show the greatest improvement.
Mason and Lucas both need to learn to give up the ball. They play like there are in college before the time clock.
Jackson was disappointing. New guys contributed. Gabriel played like he belongs out there. Buddy did what he always does.
I am really getting tired of Skal and Willie and their willingness to be passive and watch the game rather than being part of it. I can't remember two rookies out playing their starters by this kind of a margin ever watching the NBA.
Plenty of bright spots in this game. The Fox is going to be something. I have believed he is a shooter from the start, just getting used to NBA 3 line and the speed of the game. Skal and Willie were ineffective. Giles and Bagley are both raw talents but have tons of up side. Look at the stat sheet. All 4 bigs played about the same amount of minutes. Bagley 19/10, Giles double figures/7. Skal 2 rebounds, a couple of points, Willie the 3 rebounds and a couple of points. This is the place where the Kings are going to show the greatest improvement.
Mason and Lucas both need to learn to give up the ball. They play like there are in college before the time clock.
Jackson was disappointing. New guys contributed. Gabriel played like he belongs out there. Buddy did what he always does.
I am really getting tired of Skal and Willie and their willingness to be passive and watch the game rather than being part of it. I can't remember two rookies out playing their starters by this kind of a margin ever watching the NBA.
My intention is not to troll, and I'll stop here. I'm reacting to the hyperbole of making sweeping judgements about Bagley when it's way too early to tell, and then arguing that there's enough information to definitively answer the question right now. There isn't. And then repeating the same argument over. I come here for information about the Kings, and that doesn't help that.
Eh, IMO Doncic still looks like the superior prospect, and regardless of how many games users are allowed to point out their intuition and how they feel about what the players are currently showing, regardless of quantity of games.
With that said, as long as Bagley shows flashes I think the vast majority won’t post stuff about Luka outside of the context of evaluating the FO, and will be content to support him as a player.
With that said, as long as Bagley shows flashes I think the vast majority won’t post stuff about Luka outside of the context of evaluating the FO, and will be content to support him as a player.
You are usually way too fast in making your prognostications (for my taste). But this time I'm right there with you. I think the more minutes we give to Giles and Bagley now, the better we'll be in the near future. That doesn't mean I have given up on Skal or Willie, but I don't see them as part of the core of our team when we (finally) crash through the wall and get into the playoffs.