[Game] Kings V Denver - 1/3/19 - 7 PM PST

Saw MPJ after the game. Dude was walking around with a noticeable limp. Thought it was his back n not his knee/legs. Dude doesn’t look right. About 2 inches shorter than Bags.
 
I also think it's time for Joerger to commit to Fox, Buddy, and Bogdan for more of the game. They never seem to get any time together until he needs a bail out in the fourth. Part of this not getting over the hump on good teams is a self induced talent deficit. Enough already.
Bogdan gives the same production as a starter but all of a sudden our bench sucks. What’s hurting the Kings is the fatal flaw of bad defense and bad rebounding. Not which SG starts at SF

Edit: I know you werent specifically saying he should start or anything but that’s what the discussion would lead to. Most of Bogdans minutes will be with the second unit, or rotations with maybe one of Fox and Buddy in it. He gets the extra minutes in crunch time. That’s how it’s going to work without running our backcourt into the ground. I haven’t noticed any chemistry issues with the three
 
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They are switching more lately and against a team like the Nuggets it's a tough call since the Kings lack of size on the wing is just that much more magnified. In the end, unlike some of the game, the rebounding was the issue tonight.
Exactly. This roster isn’t going to be a finished product overnight. Hopefully Gabriel and/or Williams become the size on the wings that this team desperately needs or they sign someone this offseason. All they need is a 3 and D guy at that position (I know, easier said than done). They have the firepower they need to hang with all the elite teams. They just need some size on the wings and some more time grow with each other.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
I do think Willie is severely overlooked by most fans, but the last few games have to be looked at closely and in context. Is this the guy you want to be plunking down 100 million on with the Kings having space and considering they just drafted someone they look at as a franchise big at 2? I think it might be wise for the Kings to really get a good look at Bagley at center with the starters when he comes back. If the Kings regress then Willies value will be easier to define. As it is right now we're seeing Willie attacking more with the ball and truthfully that's really all he's going to give you at that high post. The problem is, it's not looking like something the Kings can rely on. They might be able to with Bagley since his offensive game is his bread and butter. If the Kings are going to refuse to commit to a pick and roll scheme with Willie he might be more valuable on a difference squad.

And as for the guard debate, if the Kings are going to be small on the wing then that usually means your bigs will feast and at the very least their own numbers will be artificially inflated. We don't usually see that with Willie. It's somewhat startling. This was certainly a game where Willie didn't come up big on the boards and it cost them.
I'm 90% sure that WCS will be gone, either by the mid-season trade deadline, or during the summer. WCS is small potatoes compared to the talent of Bagley or Giles. I see Divac parlaying him and some salary cap space into players more complementary to this team going forward.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
Was at the game also. Murray just took over. Refs sure didn’t do us any favors. Denver upped their defensive intensity in the second half. That is a deep and talented team. Disappointed we lost but had a chance with Shump having a bad game and we are missing Bagley a great deal.
 
I agree that we definitely need Bagley and although I am not down at all on WCS, he is the obvious choice to shuffle the roster a bit. My only consolation is that I had predicted a loss for the prediction thread! This team made us ask for more and I think we should be grateful for that.

Finally on a totally different note, GSW played a terrible end of regulation. Two quick unnecessary shots from Durant and Curry. They will definitely need Cousins this year if they want to win a championship.
 
That lead evaporated into vapor the first 4 min of the 3rd - offense complete junk and stagnant to start.....the writing is on the wall with this team - the minute their shooting percentage goes down, they struggle. Going under the screens on Murray was ill-advised. Fox did not do a good enough job on Murray. He should've been able to stay in front of him. Shumpert is a no-load on offense - he must be able to make teams pay for leaving him alone. and having open shots. Justin Jackson had a better game than the Portland outing, and Stein played a little better than the Portland game, but not well enough. Like Portland and the Lakers, the Kings were punished on the boards. Their smaller lineups do not have the size to contend.
 
The good. We could have won the last 3 games against 3 very good teams.
The bad. Two games were at home, and LA was without Bron.

Such stretches are bound to happen. If we can come back from double digit deficits, and win games on buzzer beaters, so can other teams. We can't always blame the guys for choking.

That said, we are missing Bagley bad. Also, as some folks have already pointed out, others need to step up efforts on the board, particularly with WCS often out on the perimeter.
 
Again, why is WCS switching when Jokic and Murray run one of the best pick and rolls... and Fox is more than capable of sliding up top? Either poor decision making on WCS or bad strategy
This is a big part of why they lost he game - Fox did not play good enough defense on Murray, and he torched them.
 
Kings got outscored 23-6 in 2nd chance points. If Denver would have just doubled up the Kings in 2nd chance points the Kings win the game.

Joerger said that the size at the wing is a problem in the rebounding area. Also, because the Kings don't have beefy guys in the front court for screens, it makes it a little more difficult for Buddy to get open. Teams are loading up on Buddy.
Teams are not statically going to allow the Kings to go to their strengths. Stein has to be much more aggressive in the paint on offense. He had a better game than Portland overall, but still quite a few lapses.
 
This is a big part of why they lost he game - Fox did not play good enough defense on Murray, and he torched them.
Short of fouling Murray, Fox’s defense was decent. Murray made his shots.

That said, Jokic n Murray are both crafty. They’re both herky jerky. There was one play in the early fourth where Murray wrong footed Fox twice. N Jokic is like a 7 ft version of Bogie. Crafty. Skilled. Just productive.
 
Short of fouling Murray, Fox’s defense was decent. Murray made his shots.

That said, Jokic n Murray are both crafty. They’re both herky jerky. There was one play in the early fourth where Murray wrong footed Fox twice. N Jokic is like a 7 ft version of Bogie. Crafty. Skilled. Just productive.
He went under screens and left him on at least 3 occasions.....should've been glued to him especially if the supposed quickest player in the NBA.
 
Teams are not statically going to allow the Kings to go to their strengths. Stein has to be much more aggressive in the paint on offense. He had a better game than Portland overall, but still quite a few lapses.
WCS is a disaster at the high post right now. Holds the ball low, hesitates, almost always makes the wrong play, n always goes right. Dude needs to be less not more aggressive.