[Game] Kings @ Suns, Wednesday, October 23rd - 7PT/10ET

[Turgenev]

2 or so hours ago it was 'so much room for optimism'. Now it's 'how many games until I check back in?'.

 

[Kingster]

It wasn't a lack of energy. It was too much energy, not enough poise, and dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble. And the defense was horrible. If the D was any good and they take care of the ball the Kings are up by 15 at halftime.

 

[Tizzy Flip]

Total downer. Joerger must be laughing his arse off.

Yah, he must be laughing his unemployed arse off. I do t know what’s worse. Losing by 30pts or losing 30pt leads which Joerger was great at

 

[SacTownKid]

I better not hear one word about the playoffs from this team. This didn’t look like a team that cares either way, and that’s what’s disappointing here

we didn’t have games like this last year. We’ve lost leads and all that, but this felt different

It's pressure and they caved on the first punch. Gameplan is a part of it but this was a total pressure loss. This first knock might be the best thing that could have happened to them.

 

[gunks]

I’m never going to stop rooting, but deep down we know this is going to hurt for a long long time. Some us are just more freely admitting it.

It really hit me when Carmichael Dave was already asking “When do you know you made a mistake” on his radio show the other morning. Like really gut-punched me hard to hear him asking it.

Everyone talks about Portland passing on Jordan and then Durant. Whelp.....

 

[steelevt]

81-1 ain’t horrible

 

[The_Jamal]

I think the Suns might be a lot better than previously thought.

Yeah I think so too, especially if Oubre and Ayton can take a step. Baynes/Kaminsky is really solid bigs production off the bench and Rubio really settles down the PG spot that teams just absolutely lit up last season.

Not playoff contenders by any means, but wouldn't surprise me to see this team 33-35 wins

 

[Folsomkingsfan]

Walton has always been crappy with rotations. ALWAYS

So terrible. Way too many players getting minutes that shouldn’t.

 

[SacTownKid]

It wasn't a lack of energy. It was too much energy, not enough poise, and dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble. And the defense was horrible. If the D was any good and they take care of the ball the Kings are up by 15 at halftime.

The defense has to be better, but they need to remember who they are. They want to be a 35 3's a night kind of squad, that means you better be putting up 115 on the regular.

 

[Tetsujin]

I think the Suns might be a lot better than previously thought.

Having an actual point guard this season improves them by 200%.

That said, I don't think they're anywhere near as good as they looked tonight.

 

[NewArena]

Idk why I’m shocked but I am. not sure why we decided to flash back into the Spencer Hawes days, but ... man

 

[NewArena]

Lol @ Bagley getting a double while simultaneously looking like crap. When Willie looked that bad he got 4 pts 2 reb. Bagley gets 14/10

That’s how good he is

I’m not ready to be upset with him just yet. He definitely need to hit a weight room though

 

[Tetsujin]

Yeah I think so too, especially if Oubre and Ayton can take a step. Baynes/Kaminsky is really solid bigs production off the bench and Rubio really settles down the PG spot that teams just absolutely lit up last season.

Not playoff contenders by any means, but wouldn't surprise me to see this team 33-35 wins

Honestly, the one big question I have about the Suns is what they do about Booker. They looked better without him on the floor tonight and I still have serious concerns as to whether he is the franchise player people randomly say he is.

 

[The_Jamal]

This wasn't the real Kings tonight but this is an issue that will have to be dealt with. He got way too comfortable with that bench unit in the 3rd. Joseph is a solid role player, but I think somewhere along the line they got convinced he's like Lou Williams with D. He's not. The players they signed this summer can be valuable additions but none of them are catalysts and shouldn't be used as such.

A couple coaches are really great at staggering their best offensive players and I have no idea why every single team doesn't do it. Embiid gets subbed out after 5 minutes to start the game, then he comes back in with 2-3 minutes left in the 1st to feast on the other teams subs for his next rotation.

 

[jcwkings]

So are people here still pretending picking Bagley over Doncic wasn't awful? Bagley can get numbers but I'm not convinced he isn't a Julius Randle type that doesn't effect winning. Doncic on the other hand could be a top 10-15 player within the next season or two. Luka, Fox, Buddy would be a legit big three.

 

[Kingster]

The defense has to be better, but they need to remember who they are. They want to be a 35 3's a night kind of squad, that means you better be putting up 115 on the regular.

Playing defense doesn't mean slowing down the offense. It means playing defense. Not only do they have tighten up the D considerably, there has to be some serious talk about role definition on this team. The dribble act has got to stop, except for those who actually know how to dribble.

 

[LPKingsFan]

We will go only as far as Fox takes us. I think it is completely fair to question whether he can play a leadership role. Speed and quickness will only get you so far. His passing and shooting is still sub par. We need to see signs in the first 10 games that he’s actually the man.

otherwise, get ready for the Doncic crowd to invade this board

I feel like sometimes I am hard on Fox, but that is because I believe in him. Nights like tonight showcase what he needs to work on -- a mental thing, really, but he needs to remember what he is capable of. If he doesn't get a call (and he was robbed a few times, an unfortunate continuation from last season), or a play doesn't go right, he gets passive and sloppy. He needs to stay focused and continue to make things happen. He's capable of greatness, but he needs to believe it too.

 

[NewArena]

Everyone talks about Portland passing on Jordan and then Durant. Whelp.....

Eh, this will never be on that level though. Does anyone honestly think Luka is gonna be a top 5 player in this league? I don’t see it

not to get off topic, but I doubt he gets much better than last year

 

[The_Jamal]

Honestly, the one big question I have about the Suns is what they do about Booker. They looked better without him on the floor tonight and I still have serious concerns as to whether he is the franchise player people randomly say he is.

I mean you say that, but he still dropped an easy 22-10 on us. Getting him a real lead-ball handler and making him a secondary playmaker and having him focus on scoring is going to help immensely

 

[dude12]

The good thing is the players really like the coaching staff and Walton, so there’s that.

 

[The_Jamal]

So are people here still pretending picking Bagley over Doncic wasn't awful? Bagley can get numbers but I'm not convinced he isn't a Julius Randle type that doesn't effect winning. Doncic on the other hand could be a top 10-15 player within the next season or two. Luka, Fox, Buddy would be a legit big three.

*Grumble Grumble* Vlade is a genius, how dare you, *Grumble Grumble*

 

[KingsFanatic]

I better not hear one word about the playoffs from this team. This didn’t look like a team that cares either way, and that’s what’s disappointing here

we didn’t have games like this last year. We’ve lost leads and all that, but this felt different

Dude, sorry but you are being absolutely absurd after 1 game!!! What if a game this bad would have been played by a team like the Raptors or Bucks?would you be saying the same thing? of course not!! One doesn't make any absurd comments like this after one game!! Especially since the first half they didn't look near as bad as the 2nd half....

 

[Tetsujin]

I mean you say that, but he still dropped an easy 22-10 on us. Getting him a real lead-ball handler and making him a secondary playmaker and having him focus on scoring is going to help immensely

Fair enough. At the same time there is a good chance that I could have dropped 20 on the Kings defense tonight.

 

[SLAB]

So are people here still pretending picking Bagley over Doncic wasn't awful? Bagley can get numbers but I'm not convinced he isn't a Julius Randle type that doesn't effect winning. Doncic on the other hand could be a top 10-15 player within the next season or two. Luka, Fox, Buddy would be a legit big three.

He’s fat. He’d take the ball away from Fox. We couldn’t run with him.

.... Or something.

 

[The_Jamal]

The defense has to be better, but they need to remember who they are. They want to be a 35 3's a night kind of squad, that means you better be putting up 115 on the regular.

Might help if you play that rim-protecting floor spacing Center more than 14 minutes.

 

[kingsfan1984]

Just Bazookaed my enthusiasm

 

[SLAB]

Eh, this will never be on that level though. Does anyone honestly think Luka is gonna be a top 5 player in this league? I don’t see it

not to get off topic, but I doubt he gets much better than last year

Why would a 19 year old ball player plateau at age 19?

 

[tastyburger]

We have our pick! So we have something to look forward too. Maybe there’s a generational stud we’ll actually take if we get lucky for the third pick in a row!

Go team! Yay lins.

You know vlades taking lamelo ball 1st overall..... Sigh

 

[gunks]

Eh, this will never be on that level though. Does anyone honestly think Luka is gonna be a top 5 player in this league? I don’t see it

not to get off topic, but I doubt he gets much better than last year

Hope you're right, buddy! And I'll admit, that comparison was hyperbolic, I just couldn't think of another one (Tyreke over Curry?) off the bat.

Back to the topic at hand: we suck again!

 

[reptilexcq2]

Kings still don't play D. I rather them play a different style of D like switching defense than getting killed constantly in pick n roll. It's just terrible.