Domantas Sabonis Any Questions?
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Excellent profile on ESPN. "Everything runs through Domas:"
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/36304836/sacramento-kings-playoff-hopes-run-domantas-sabonis
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/36304836/sacramento-kings-playoff-hopes-run-domantas-sabonis
Sabonis need to play better man. He turnover the ball for no reason and he failed to take advantage of weaker player. He seems to be intimidated by Draymond and Looney because he's not being assertive even though he wasn't being guard by either one of them. He needs to assertive and dominant like he did in the regular season. There are times where he had the ball pretty deep and just need to rise up for a layup but chose to pass it out. This shows lack of confident in this post game. I never seen Sabonis rattle EVER. But I seen him rattle against the Warriors...he has lost a bit of confident imo.
He needs to slow down. It's hard when the Kings are trying to push it every single possession, but he needs to take his time when he has the ball. He is turning it over needlessly by trying to make plays off the dribble. He also needs to stop trying to go left 100% of the time.
I know he has a broken thumb on his right hand but they are giving him the spin to the right every time and he is still trying to brute force his way left, leading to easy offensive fouls or defensive stops. He needs to recognise this.
He has had zero help or fairness from the officials so that has not helped either. I think the Warriors are a bad matchup for him. Unfortunately it doesn't get any easier if we advance, as we have AD waiting for us and he has been dominant. Domas also struggles with size and length, so we'll see.
I know he has a broken thumb on his right hand but they are giving him the spin to the right every time and he is still trying to brute force his way left, leading to easy offensive fouls or defensive stops. He needs to recognise this.
He has had zero help or fairness from the officials so that has not helped either. I think the Warriors are a bad matchup for him. Unfortunately it doesn't get any easier if we advance, as we have AD waiting for us and he has been dominant. Domas also struggles with size and length, so we'll see.
Nah.
Sabonis has two problems in this series. The first is that he has a broken hand. That's tough to play through, as it is. The second is that the officials are allowing the Warriors to slap and swipe and rake and punch in the paint with complete and total impunity. They refuse to call fouls in the paint against the Warriors if they foul Domas. Sabonis has had a few fortunate possessions in the paint in this series where he was not double-teamed. On those possessions, he has been at least able to get a shot off. But for the most part the Warriors swarm him with a double- or even a triple-team. When they do, the help side defenders slap and swipe and rake (and sometimes punch) to their heart's content, with nary a whistle or foul coming from the refs. They hit ball, they hit arm, they hit face...doesn't matter which. The ball comes out (as it will when the guy getting smacked around has one broken hand) and they go the other way. Bottom line, if the refs aren't going to call a foul a foul, there's nothing the Kings can do and there's nothing Sabonis can do. Healthy? Sure, he could probably fight through it. But with a broken hand? Nah. No way. Which means the Kings have to go away from the paint and hit jumpers - threes, mainly. That's the way it is. Not gonna change this series, and if the Kings win game 7 it won't change next series either unless the Lakers decide not to apply the same free-hack strategy on Domas. We simply have to adjust. Looks like Mike Brown figured it out in Game 6. Let's hope he figures it our for Game 7 as well.
Sabonis has two problems in this series. The first is that he has a broken hand. That's tough to play through, as it is. The second is that the officials are allowing the Warriors to slap and swipe and rake and punch in the paint with complete and total impunity. They refuse to call fouls in the paint against the Warriors if they foul Domas. Sabonis has had a few fortunate possessions in the paint in this series where he was not double-teamed. On those possessions, he has been at least able to get a shot off. But for the most part the Warriors swarm him with a double- or even a triple-team. When they do, the help side defenders slap and swipe and rake (and sometimes punch) to their heart's content, with nary a whistle or foul coming from the refs. They hit ball, they hit arm, they hit face...doesn't matter which. The ball comes out (as it will when the guy getting smacked around has one broken hand) and they go the other way. Bottom line, if the refs aren't going to call a foul a foul, there's nothing the Kings can do and there's nothing Sabonis can do. Healthy? Sure, he could probably fight through it. But with a broken hand? Nah. No way. Which means the Kings have to go away from the paint and hit jumpers - threes, mainly. That's the way it is. Not gonna change this series, and if the Kings win game 7 it won't change next series either unless the Lakers decide not to apply the same free-hack strategy on Domas. We simply have to adjust. Looks like Mike Brown figured it out in Game 6. Let's hope he figures it our for Game 7 as well.
This.All this stuff about how Sabonis needs to do this needs to do that...Sure, he can be selfish and try to get his 16-20 points no matter what, but at what cost.Obviously Warriors will not be called for fouls against him(if a player can get elbowed hard in a face on a play where a ref is staring right at it and nothing is called it's reasonable to assume that no amount of hacking will turn into a foul vs NBA darlings).So imo him trying to score in the paint is probably the worst shot that Kings can take at this point.Maybe he could take a few more long 2's that are available but there is a reason why those are called worst shots in basketball no matter who is shooting.
He should take and make every shot they give him near the freethrow line. It's a free-throw and they have ben giving it to him. They guard him so far away he has to do wierd moves just to get in contact and be able to spin/roll. Thats why he's looking like a bull in a China shop shouldering people and getting fouls. If the defender was a step closer his moves would look more like natural big man moves.
I think it’s easy for us to see what would be an important thing for Sabonis to work on (other than being able to finish when going right). He needs to be better at making his midrange jumpers and speed up his release.
The Warriors are sagging off Sabonis when he has the ball in the midrange and daring him to shoot. This allows Looney/Green to take away any back door cuts for easy layups (anyone else notice that we haven’t had any of those cuts this series?) since they are camped in the paint. And since the perimeter defenders know that a back door cut will be neutralized by Looney/Green in the paint, they overplay on the DHO which takes that action away from us. I think this has been the biggest disruptor to Sabonis’ effectiveness in this series.
Now Sabonis is not a dreadful shooter from the midrange. He’s shot 51% from 10-16ft and 44% from 16ft-3PT line, but compare that to Jokić who shoots 50% from 10-16ft and 59% from 16ft-3PT line. Obviously, it would be much more difficult for them to justify someone like Jokić taking those shots vs. Sabonis. On top of that, you have to consider how long it takes Sabonis to shoot. It’s no secret that Sabonis’ wind up takes awhile. Even if a defender is giving him space, they have time to close out simply due to how long it takes him to release.
Long story short, I think Sabonis playmaking ability and DHOs would be much more effective in the playoffs if he could punish defenders that sag off him in the midrange. It looks like he spent a lot of time this past off-season working on his shooting so I’m sure he’s already aware of this and is actively working to improve this area of his game. I’m looking forward to seeing how his game progresses over the next few years.
The Warriors are sagging off Sabonis when he has the ball in the midrange and daring him to shoot. This allows Looney/Green to take away any back door cuts for easy layups (anyone else notice that we haven’t had any of those cuts this series?) since they are camped in the paint. And since the perimeter defenders know that a back door cut will be neutralized by Looney/Green in the paint, they overplay on the DHO which takes that action away from us. I think this has been the biggest disruptor to Sabonis’ effectiveness in this series.
Now Sabonis is not a dreadful shooter from the midrange. He’s shot 51% from 10-16ft and 44% from 16ft-3PT line, but compare that to Jokić who shoots 50% from 10-16ft and 59% from 16ft-3PT line. Obviously, it would be much more difficult for them to justify someone like Jokić taking those shots vs. Sabonis. On top of that, you have to consider how long it takes Sabonis to shoot. It’s no secret that Sabonis’ wind up takes awhile. Even if a defender is giving him space, they have time to close out simply due to how long it takes him to release.
Long story short, I think Sabonis playmaking ability and DHOs would be much more effective in the playoffs if he could punish defenders that sag off him in the midrange. It looks like he spent a lot of time this past off-season working on his shooting so I’m sure he’s already aware of this and is actively working to improve this area of his game. I’m looking forward to seeing how his game progresses over the next few years.
He needs to work on finishing right - but I’m giving him a pass until his broken right thumb heals.
And he can hit that elbow shot at a good clip - but it means no free throws or assists. Just him shooting. So he’d have to hit at 60% or above to make it a good shot early in the shot clock.
I don’t think Sabonis is afraid to shoot. I think he knows that if he keeps taking elbow jumpers, then the entire Kings offense will stall out. It hard to think and play ball at the same time. And the way that he has been reffed hasn’t helped in that regard.
So - he’s not having a great series. But I think people are overlooking a lot of the good things he’s still doing on the court.
And he can hit that elbow shot at a good clip - but it means no free throws or assists. Just him shooting. So he’d have to hit at 60% or above to make it a good shot early in the shot clock.
I don’t think Sabonis is afraid to shoot. I think he knows that if he keeps taking elbow jumpers, then the entire Kings offense will stall out. It hard to think and play ball at the same time. And the way that he has been reffed hasn’t helped in that regard.
So - he’s not having a great series. But I think people are overlooking a lot of the good things he’s still doing on the court.
Embiid has been runner-up multiple times so it was his turn, even though he only played 66 games. I think I would have had Tatum at #2. His 74 games played are more than anyone else in the top 5, he actually topped Joel for the lead in total points scored, and there were stretches of the season where he was playing like the best player in the league.
It continues to dumbfound me that the definition of a personal foul in the post is apparently anything just shy of MMA but a guard driving to the basket will get the call if they are slightly bumped. I wish they'd called the game that way in the early 2000s when we had to face Shaq in the playoffs every year.