[Game] Golden State Warriors (6) @ Sacramento Kings (3) (WCDS Game 7, 3-3) 4/30/2023 12:30pm Pacific 3:30pm Eastern (ABC)

On October 3, 2022, did you, in your wildest dreams, picture the Kings playing in a game 7?


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I get the criticism, but seems a bit of a stretch to be complaining about the rebounding fundamentals of the leading rebounder in the nba this year. There is only so much one man can do.
it’s what we do after a loss. Everyone has been a scrub at least once and would have been shipped off immediately if it was up to us. Haha
 
What gets me is that Looney makes $8MM per season... And Sabonis is gonna cost us how much in the summer of 2024? 5 times that?

We better get ourselves a proper shotblocking / rebounding backup C... thats all ima say or this could be a reoccuring theme in the playoffs.

Next series might be different for old Looney if AD accepts that challenge. Looney has always been that guy you can force off the floor with pick and roll and shooting. Domas and Looney just played 10 feet off of each other the whole time. Domas is what he is. Getting 15 shots or more of him is like pulling teeth. Somebody else has to be that guy. TD and Monk work in a pinch, but ride that and teams will accept your terms 9 out of 10 times.
 
I’m critical of Sabonis but rebounding is not an area to criticize him on. Doesn’t matter how much Looney gets - defensive rebounding is a team game. There was a lot of long rebounds which falls on the guards and forwards to box out, put in that extra effort. Really though Kings played small a lot so this will happen. Every team loves the long forwards that can rebound (and shoot) but they’re hard to find.
Pretty much
 
He was getting rebounds in every spot on the floor this series, against Sabonis...who is a league leader in rebounds. To think that it was mostly lucky bounces, is simply not accurate
it’s not lucky bounces. They are long rebounds that favor the guy being boxed out. It’s a problem league wide and has been happening more and more with missed threes
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
Next series might be different for old Looney if AD accepts that challenge. Looney has always been that guy you can force off the floor with pick and roll and shooting. Domas and Looney just played 10 feet off of each other the whole time. Domas is what he is. Getting 15 shots or more of him is like pulling teeth. Somebody else has to be that guy. TD and Monk work in a pinch, but ride that and teams will accept your terms 9 out of 10 times.
Yep, Looney is a guy who will absolutely excel against team-first glue style guys like Sabonis and Al Horford and Steven Adams but against stupidly aggressive big men he can really struggle/foul out in five minutes.
 
What gets me is that Looney makes $8MM per season... And Sabonis is gonna cost us how much in the summer of 2024? 5 times that?

We better get ourselves a proper shotblocking / rebounding backup C... thats all ima say or this could be a reoccuring theme in the playoffs.
Well, Alex Len isn't the savor you're looking for, but if "a proper shotblocking / rebounding backup C" is wha you're looking for, you probably won't do much better than the Len you saw down the stretch.
 
Coach must have seen something to go with TD and I trust his judgement. But I never would've predicted TD getting into the playoff rotation, and especially not to defend Curry.
I think the main reason coach chose TD over Davion is how much of a liability Davion can potentially be on the offensive end.
 
Next series might be different for old Looney if AD accepts that challenge. Looney has always been that guy you can force off the floor with pick and roll and shooting. Domas and Looney just played 10 feet off of each other the whole time. Domas is what he is. Getting 15 shots or more of him is like pulling teeth. Somebody else has to be that guy. TD and Monk work in a pinch, but ride that and teams will accept your terms 9 out of 10 times.
I dont carre about the shots its the rebounding, its the help defense and protecting the rim. The eating of space, we need someone who can cover lots of ground in the blink of an eye and highpoint the rebounds and whos also strong enough not to get pushed around, and who can also close out to the 3pt line.

Sabonis did have a great block in this game, but Steph Curry also ran a layup line on us after that play. For the Kings providing more resistance in these areas will pay huge dividends, its actually the path of least resistance/shoring up one of our biggest pitfalls, upgrading the perimeter defense is of minor consequence in comparison.

Kevin Garnett made the claim the Kings were built to matchup with the Warriors, but judging by what Looney did to us, I'd say it doesnt seem like it.
 
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I still think it is mostly him. Time and time again, he has displayed skills we never knew he got (on the NBA level). The poise he has on the defensive end, particularly, while still having to deal with this crapty league's "He's a rookie therefore he must not have the skill set to defend so well, it must be a foul" refereeing. I believe from my knowledge of his Iowa days and from my eye test that a prime Murray is a 2-way 3-level scorer who could be more efficient and prolific than Middleton.

Going forward, I still think he'll dictate how we do in the post-season with his development.
The difference is guard skills though. Middleton can run a teams offense and always could. Maybe Murray can but he didn't even at Iowa. The two players that Murray matches up with statistically at the top half of NBA scoring are Porzingis and Markkanen. Like, without fail. Maybe start correcting his usage back to players like them and reap the benefits. We'll see what shakes out, in Monte we trust haha.
 

hrdboild

Moloch in whom I dream Angels!
Staff member
I bet if we were to go watch loons rebounds a majority of them are the long rebound variety where the guy who is being boxed out actually has the advantage. I’m not sure how you can avoid that unless Domas or others position themselves further out but then that opens up the paint. If someone has the answer I’d love to hear it
This is exactly right. A bunch of those offensive rebounds were just chucks at the rim that he read correctly and outjumped us on. Two things would help here: (1) Somebody else boxes Looney out and Sabonis pursues the rebounds. (2) Sabonis continues to put a body on him and we have our own athletic rebounding specialist who can jump over people to pull those loose balls in. I wanted Oscar Tshiebwe in the draft this year for exactly this reason -- all he does is rebound but he's really really good at it and that's our biggest weakness. It sounds like he might not be in the draft this year either though? So that's what I'm looking for in the off-season if I'm Monte -- a shotblocker and rebounder to play next to Sabonis. Hopefully they can also hit a spot-up corner three but the rebounding problem is bad enough that I would settle for a non-shooter and have Domas keep working on his jumper all off-season so he can knock down 35% or more when he's wide open out there.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
this being swept under the rug because Fox had a couple good games after the injury. His handle is nowhere near the same with the broken finger and his midrange touch hasn’t been there either.
Yeah by the end of the first half De'Aaron had lost enough confidence in his handle that he really started to just jack up threes before he had a chance to turn the ball over.
 
this being swept under the rug because Fox had a couple good games after the injury. His handle is nowhere near the same with the broken finger and his midrange touch hasn’t been there either.
It almost killed us last game, and it did kill us this game with some of his TOs happened in the middle of his dribbling, which normally isn't the case, Fox is usually so fast they can't even aim to steal the ball unless you're Draymond who can slap hands and faces.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
This is the thing though, is it him? Or the way he's been used? As is, unless he literally develops into Khris Middleton, it's going to be very hard for him to find his way in this offense as anything other than a system guy. Huge summer for Keegan and his ball handling chops and first step are the keys unless they put in some Iowa post and mid post action.
You seem to want to dismiss Murray as a "system' player, but I have a hard time seeing Klay Thompson as anything other than a Super Saiyan "system" guy. I may be misremembering but I feel like Prime!Thompson led the league in points-per-dribble and catch-and-shoot baskets, several seasons in a row, which epitomizes "system" guy, in my opinion. Thompson at his best was a guy who could get you forty on any given night but has never been a guy that you could put the ball in his hands and say, "We need you to get forty tonight, champ!", and then he could just go out and do it.

So, even if Murray is "just a system guy," is that really the worst thing he could be?
 

Capt. Factorial

ceterum censeo delendum esse Argentum
Staff member
it’s not lucky bounces. They are long rebounds that favor the guy being boxed out. It’s a problem league wide and has been happening more and more with missed threes
This is true. But in that stretch in the third where the game got away from us, every single offensive rebound went directly to Looney no matter where he was or how badly he was boxed out. It wasn't effort or desire or better positioning or any of that. It was just blind dumb luck.
 
I can live with a loss against a team like the Warriors after going 7 games. But it was a major bummer to see the Kings give up in the 3rd quarter. They rolled over when they still could’ve come back. Praying they can use this as motivation to come back stronger next year.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
I can live with a loss against a team like the Warriors after going 7 games. But it was a major bummer to see the Kings give up in the 3rd quarter. They rolled over when they still could’ve come back. Praying they can use this as motivation to come back stronger next year.
I mean, the game was in single digits until the Klay 4-pt play with like a second left in the quarter so it's not like they completely died out of the half.
 
I just hope to god Monte doesn't overpay the guy.
Monte has a chance to decide the path. Barnes ending could work in a bunch of ways. As space to facilitate a deal or as a player on a wink, wink team friendly contract in his first year so some of that space can not only be used but you bring Barnes back as well. If Barnes is like F that then you rub it in his face that Harden took a pay cut to get PJ and wish him well, haha.
 

Kingz19

Hall of Famer
Not much to break down. Kings came out deer in the headlights in the second half. Frozen on both ends.

Domas was excellent in the first half. Kings were looking in good shape. He was dreadful in the third quarter. Everybody was dreadful in the second half but the game got away from the Kings precisely because of the board and him not getting any of them.

In the Kings wins..Domas rebounded. In their losses, he was outworked by Looney.

But his off-season needs to be dedicated to the midrange and the three. I’m sure he’ll still be a good rebounder next season.

Fox looked completely out of gas the entire game. Just looked a step slow and passive. Settling for bad shots.

HB was awful in this series.

Huerter couldn’t make a shot but I thought he played a good defensive game and series on Klay and he had 9 rebounds. He wasn’t the problem tonight

Same for Keegan tonight

The TD hand was overplayed in this game. His defense was good last game. He got smoked tonight. Davion should’ve played more.

Monk also looked a little out of gas like Fox.

No complaints about the bench in this series though. They brought it.

Just not enough balance from the starting lineup.

Im excited about this group moving forward. Despite the performance today, I think Fox proved himself in this series…

but I just hope the front office is ready to make a couple major decisions to fill some glaring flaws and not overcommit to keeping the band together for sentimental reasons. That is how you end up like the Atlanta Hawks and regress as a young talented team instead of getting better.
 
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