[Game] Kings vs. Trail Blazers 10/19/2022 7pm Pacific 10pm Eastern
- Thread starter Tetsujin
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We need a backup PG, and Davion will see minutes.
He has shown enough, particularly in the latter part of last season, that he can contribute offensively. He does tend to have these games though. Was hoping that with his growth in the latter half of last year, and as a soph, will see less of it.
Very early days of course, but just like we want offensive players to not suck at defense, defensive players have to contribute offensively. They needn't be stars, but have to keep the opposing defenses honest.
He has shown enough, particularly in the latter part of last season, that he can contribute offensively. He does tend to have these games though. Was hoping that with his growth in the latter half of last year, and as a soph, will see less of it.
Very early days of course, but just like we want offensive players to not suck at defense, defensive players have to contribute offensively. They needn't be stars, but have to keep the opposing defenses honest.
I wasn’t loving the monk/Mitchell bench pairing tonight. The ball seems to stick with both guys tonight. I think they both have a natural tendency to look for the iso play and it was frustrating. For a lot of the second half, it felt like they were just taking turns out there. I suspect brown really goes at the team big time for the lack of ball movement tonight.
Honestly if the Jazz don't go all out tanking they have enough quality to be in the 7-10 range with the Kings, the talent between the Kings/Blazers/Jazz is not that different, the Blazers and Kings have better "top tier" talent but Utah imo is way deeper with decent quality from every player in the rotation.
Well Blazers are one of the few teams where the PG is also the main scoring threat. That won't always be the case. Against Mavs, he will probably guard Luka, Bron for Ls, Booker against Suns, and so on. When we play Ws/Blazers, etc., this won't quite work of course. In that case, we have to rely on Fox and Davion.
The West is going to be a dogfight this year. The talent gap between a ton of teams isn't that great. Where the Kings have the advantage on paper is they look like they have the best shooting 2-4 of probably all teams in the west outside of perhaps the Suns now that Cam Johnson is starting. I'm not sure if any teams have both the ability inside and out that Barnes/Murray do though.
There’s going to be a few truths this year:
1. This team ain’t going anywhere unless they improve their defense significantly. By levels.
2. The players that are on the floor, especially that second unit, they’re small. Brown‘s going to have to prioritize defense over offense. Less Monk or TD. More KZ or Moneke.
3. Domas plays well = win. Domas plays horrible = loss. Dude is ur best player n most important cog on both sides of the ball. Opposing defenses are keying on Domas. Clogging that free throw line area and the passing lanes.
4. A Portland team with a 60% Dame shows a bit more effort on both sides of the ball n they beat the Kings, who embarrassed them in preseason.
5. Last night? Free throw n turnovers. Margins matter.
1. This team ain’t going anywhere unless they improve their defense significantly. By levels.
2. The players that are on the floor, especially that second unit, they’re small. Brown‘s going to have to prioritize defense over offense. Less Monk or TD. More KZ or Moneke.
3. Domas plays well = win. Domas plays horrible = loss. Dude is ur best player n most important cog on both sides of the ball. Opposing defenses are keying on Domas. Clogging that free throw line area and the passing lanes.
4. A Portland team with a 60% Dame shows a bit more effort on both sides of the ball n they beat the Kings, who embarrassed them in preseason.
5. Last night? Free throw n turnovers. Margins matter.
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Focusing on the negative because I’m super frustrated after that loss:
- So many unforced turnovers from loose handles/bad hands.
- 68% from the line ain’t going to cut it.
- So many fouls.
- Sabonis looked like he is properly paid and not a star last night. If he can’t take advantage of Winslow at the 5, that Haliburton trade is looking pretty bad.
- Holmes continued to be a non factor. Really worried about his ability to be effective when he doesn’t have a PG who is solid in the PnR with him.
- Monk off ball is preferred
- Mitchell needs to be better at running the 2nd unit. A lot of that units effectiveness starts with him.
- Lyles sure was trigger happy. Would prefer him to take more open, less rushed shots.
- With Fox and Sabonis being very paint focused offensive threats, we really need Okpala to be able to knock down open 3 threes. We become much easier to guard if he is a shooting liability.
- Looking like the Monk signing was redundant considering Davis could very well be better than him. Could have used that money to try and address the SF/PF spot versus relying on Okpala as your starting SF/PF.
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The issue was their physicality. This was the same with the Suns in preseason. This game needed some physical players to match their intensity. Would have liked to see Chima and Len get some (situational) minutes in a game like this. Lyles is walking trash, so Chima could have taken his minutes.
Murray will not save our entire team from another game like this.
Fox 3 looks improved but he needs to learn to get to the line. Rightfully so, he deserved some whistles last night but he still yelled at a ref twice, saying "you didn't see."
Huerter is sneakily solid defensively. His high IQ is a welcome sight.
Barnes' shot is gone, has been since near the end of last season.
Holmes doesn't fit into whatever Brown is doing.
Sabonis was gifted a small-ball but it was more that he was looking to draw fouls, over exaggerste them, which is trash.
Murray will not save our entire team from another game like this.
Fox 3 looks improved but he needs to learn to get to the line. Rightfully so, he deserved some whistles last night but he still yelled at a ref twice, saying "you didn't see."
Huerter is sneakily solid defensively. His high IQ is a welcome sight.
Barnes' shot is gone, has been since near the end of last season.
Holmes doesn't fit into whatever Brown is doing.
Sabonis was gifted a small-ball but it was more that he was looking to draw fouls, over exaggerste them, which is trash.
Back to the game though:
The only real big concern I had was Barnes defense. He got absolutely cooked the whole game by Hart and Grant and looks like he's lost a step or 2 in terms of his lateral quickness. The fix might need to be him coming off the bench and being the lead scorer there with KZ/Keegan starting, because I'm not so sure you can have Barnes out there late-game defending the top-tier wings anymore.
The only real big concern I had was Barnes defense. He got absolutely cooked the whole game by Hart and Grant and looks like he's lost a step or 2 in terms of his lateral quickness. The fix might need to be him coming off the bench and being the lead scorer there with KZ/Keegan starting, because I'm not so sure you can have Barnes out there late-game defending the top-tier wings anymore.
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