[Game] Charlotte Hornets @ Sacramento Kings, 1/2/24,7p PST/10p EST
- Thread starter QWERTYLICIOUS
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Eh, Boston just trucked us and a hot Clippers team before damn near dropping one to those record-setting Pistons. We had our own lull last year losing to these Hornets and Wizards around the same time. And let's be honest, last year's team had a lot of breakneck come from behind wins against competition both good and bad. This year's wins are a lot more comfortable even if the offense and net rating doesn't look at sterling.
I agree we're not contenders though, but I wasn't expected that to hopefully start until next year.
I agree we're not contenders though, but I wasn't expected that to hopefully start until next year.
It's a total F-UP of a game. And to think that not only was it the lowly Hornets, but it was also a team on the 2nd night of a back-to-back.
The only thing I liked tonight was before the game started Monk gave his shoes to a little kid who was wearing a Monk jersey. The little kid was so moved he started crying. Good for Monk.
The only thing I liked tonight was before the game started Monk gave his shoes to a little kid who was wearing a Monk jersey. The little kid was so moved he started crying. Good for Monk.
Yeah if anything, it's good to have this sort of information. We're good, but we're clearly not good enough to go win a title. That means more tinkering and roster construction has to be done. Not that I thought Monte was done team building, but it's refreshing to have that clarity of what needs to be upgraded.
It's a total F-UP of a game. And to think that not only was it the lowly Hornets, but it was also a team on the 2nd night of a back-to-back.
The only thing I liked tonight was before the game started Monk gave his shoes to a little kid who was wearing a Monk jersey. The little kid was so moved he started crying. Good for Monk.
The only thing I liked tonight was before the game started Monk gave his shoes to a little kid who was wearing a Monk jersey. The little kid was so moved he started crying. Good for Monk.
No, just moreso referencing that this team cannot just stay as is. Just more than enough evidence that this team is pretty clearly a top 12ish squad, but it's nowhere near contender status. So having that clarity of where we don't need to "wait and see" things develop is good moving forward, especially towards the deadline and this off-season.
In contrast to this off-season, I think they played it smartly to go see what developments could be made year 2 without breaking the bank or pushing for an overpriced FA addition. But with more information this year, the immovable core (Fox/Domas/Keegan/Monk) has really shown out and the upgrades we need to find around them. I don't even think it's necessarily fixing all of the 5-8 depth pieces, but just finding the right 5th and 6th man defensive counterpoints to infuse into the rotation. Basically HB and Huerter need to turn into something else.
In contrast to this off-season, I think they played it smartly to go see what developments could be made year 2 without breaking the bank or pushing for an overpriced FA addition. But with more information this year, the immovable core (Fox/Domas/Keegan/Monk) has really shown out and the upgrades we need to find around them. I don't even think it's necessarily fixing all of the 5-8 depth pieces, but just finding the right 5th and 6th man defensive counterpoints to infuse into the rotation. Basically HB and Huerter need to turn into something else.
Agreed on that.
I've been wondering something lately when it comes to future strategy on personnel. It used to be a given that any forward this team would obtain in a future trade would have to be at least a good 3-point shooter. One of the main reasons behind that thinking was that Fox's outside shot wasn't good enough and without that 3-point shooting forward the advantage of Fox's penetration to the basket would be lost, which would be too great of a price to bear. But now that Fox's 3-point shooting is much improved, do you think this new defensive minded forward must be a good 3-point shooter? Because if the 3-point shooting component of this new forward wasn't a necessity, it would seem to open a whole new group of players for the position that heretofore had not been considered. It also would probably lower the price the Kings would have to pay in a trade in order to get such player.
I've been wondering something lately when it comes to future strategy on personnel. It used to be a given that any forward this team would obtain in a future trade would have to be at least a good 3-point shooter. One of the main reasons behind that thinking was that Fox's outside shot wasn't good enough and without that 3-point shooting forward the advantage of Fox's penetration to the basket would be lost, which would be too great of a price to bear. But now that Fox's 3-point shooting is much improved, do you think this new defensive minded forward must be a good 3-point shooter? Because if the 3-point shooting component of this new forward wasn't a necessity, it would seem to open a whole new group of players for the position that heretofore had not been considered. It also would probably lower the price the Kings would have to pay in a trade in order to get such player.
Welp, just got home from the game. I’m now below .500 on games I’ve attended. W vs Blazers, L vs Pelicans, W vs Suns, L vs T-Wolves and now this L vs the Hornets. There really is no excuse for this loss. In my eyes this is the worst loss of the season. We played like we thought we were just going to win because we’re more talented and we were at home and Hornets had lost 11 straight. And for a while it seemed like we might get away with it. Ultimately we let the Hornets hang around, and Rozier took over. There was no killer instinct, no sense of urgency to bury them. I know in the grand scheme of the 82 game season this is just one L, but in a loaded Western Conference filled with capable teams and perhaps the most parity there has been in some time, that one L could mean the difference between home court in round 1 or even dropping to the 7-10 spots and finding yourself in the play in. I hope that’s not the case.
Yeah, I think so. We're seeing it this year with Huerter/HB/Keegan/Lyles all struggling with their outside shot at times compared to last year that this offense is predicated on. And while Fox's new shot is an amazing development, the best use case of maximizing Domas/Fox as a duo is surrounding them with defenders and shooters. That alone produced the best ORtg season of all-time (at the time). Because those guys are having down years comparatively, we're seeing a drop in offensive production.
But maybe they don't necessarily need to be starting caliber. I look at what Duarte is doing the last few games and he's just being a good defensive role player that's being "good enough" on offense to justify him staying on the floor. And we're not even sure if he's a rotation guy on a good team yet. Now imagine if you could grab an actual quality defensive role player like a DFS, a Royce O'Neale, a Alex Caruso, a Cody Martin, etc. Those to me are the guys we should be looking at adding to Fox/Keegs/Domas/Monk.
BKN is a team we should be eyeing heavily to try and grab some of their wing value. They've fallen off a cliff basically since we played them and just don't look good at all.
But maybe they don't necessarily need to be starting caliber. I look at what Duarte is doing the last few games and he's just being a good defensive role player that's being "good enough" on offense to justify him staying on the floor. And we're not even sure if he's a rotation guy on a good team yet. Now imagine if you could grab an actual quality defensive role player like a DFS, a Royce O'Neale, a Alex Caruso, a Cody Martin, etc. Those to me are the guys we should be looking at adding to Fox/Keegs/Domas/Monk.
BKN is a team we should be eyeing heavily to try and grab some of their wing value. They've fallen off a cliff basically since we played them and just don't look good at all.
I like the players you mentioned, but ideally I think this team needs more length. Mikal Bridges would be nice. Evan Mobley even better. Not that the Kings would have the ammo to get them now, but ultimately a player of that caliber is going to be required, imo.
Not that the Kings would have the ammo to get them now, but ultimately a player of that caliber is going to be required, imo.
The goose is pretty well cooked in terms of acquiring actual good star players unfortunately. We either need to get quality role player types (like the guys I listed), or super flawed stars (Lavine with massive bloated contract), (Siakam, Half a year rental?) without moving Keegan.
Eh, I don't think we should touch the core of Fox, Domas, Keegan, and Monk.
Everyone else can be trade bait, but our most glaring upgrade needs in HB and Huerter have been so bad this season we'd likely need to thrown in draft picks just to get rid of them. I don't want any of the available "stars" if it'll cost us Keegan (and it would).
I'm excited to see what Monte does, but I'm not sure we have the pieces to really shake things up. This will probably be a Tinker trade deadline.
Everyone else can be trade bait, but our most glaring upgrade needs in HB and Huerter have been so bad this season we'd likely need to thrown in draft picks just to get rid of them. I don't want any of the available "stars" if it'll cost us Keegan (and it would).
I'm excited to see what Monte does, but I'm not sure we have the pieces to really shake things up. This will probably be a Tinker trade deadline.
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