[Game] THE Kings vs. Detroit Pistons, 2/7/2024, 7:00p PT/10:00p ET

[The_Jamal]

But it's definitely not on the coaches. They are incredible and beyond reproach. There is absolutely not way that us being mentally soft has anything to do with the coaches. If you think that you are wrong and bad.

Oh, I get it. So it's actually the players then, not the coaching?

Strange, didn't know you changed your position on the subject. I thought you were really not into Brown as a HC and thought he was poor, but it's clear you've changed your tune!

So what do you think the players could change to prevent a loss like this? Since, as you clearly stated, coaching is not the problem anymore.

 

[SacTownKid]

Unfortunately, I think we are headed for the play-in games and a first round exit. This team is soft mentally. They don't have that dawg in them.

The West is a you know what this year. The Kings are currently tied for 6/7 I think. Hopefully the top 4 start dropping because it's starting to turn into a race from 1-4 and then a race 5-8 which is where the Kings are stuck right now.

 

[Vinny Basketballerino]

Oh, I get it. So it's actually the players then, not the coaching?

Strange, didn't know you changed your position on the subject. I thought you were really not into Brown as a HC and thought he was poor, but it's clear you've changed your tune!

So what do you think the players could change to prevent a loss like this? Since, as you clearly stated, coaching is not the problem anymore.

I was being sarcastic. Hope that's clear now.

 

[Caccia]

It's a sign of an immature team to play down to the competition, as the Kings have all season long. Last year, they were the underdogs every time out. This year, they are a bit too full of themselves, Domantas Sabonis excepted. He brings it every night.

 

[ockingsfan]

Get it all out ladies and gentlemen so it doesn’t ruin the rest of your night or day tomorrow haha.

I was looking forward to a solid win and a fun day tomorrow with the deadline. It’s hard being this attached to your team!

Maybe this lights a fire under Monte to make some type of move tomorrow. Even if its a peripheral move, he needs to send a message that the team needs to step up if they don't want to see a first round exit again.

 

[Tetsujin]

Pretty sure I said this last season but you can’t go treating the NBA season like the NFL season. With the NFL, it’s a 17 game season and one loss can change absolutely everything. With the NBA, one loss is just one loss and there’s probably gonna be another game within the next 48 hours. Don’t get too high and don’t get too low.

 

[iowamcnabb]

Also I blame the people on twitter like Jrue for saying the kings weren’t going to have trouble with the Pistons. It’s all yalls fault

 

[OptimusRhyme]

Bagley was barely playing for them. Cmon now, yeah, the Pistons aren't zombie Memphis bad and they try, but they aren't a good team.

they are better then their record indicates imo. Duren has been hurt alot of the year. And monte has jerked ivey/ausars minutes/role around for guys like killian hayes and burks... hes intentionally tanking and building player value up. still no reason to lose this game..
Hopefully theres a trade tommorow that make sense long term but also rejuvenates the squad for a playoff run.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Our 3 point defense has been terrible for like since…forever? Why do we leave shooters wide open every game? Is it personnel? Coaching?? It’s frustrating

I want to see at least one game as a test, with nobody going to help if your man is near the line and a capable shooter.

Call it a test in analytics, where you are willing to chance giving up some extra two's, in order to cancel out the great 3 % that usually happens

 

[iowamcnabb]

Maybe this lights a fire under Monte to make some type of move tomorrow. Even if it’s ta peripheral move, he needs to send a message that the team needs to step up if they don't want to see a first round exit again.

Yeh Stein said that Monte is working the phones. Who knows what happens. Delon Wright come on down is my guess

 

[Tizzy Flip]

I can’t be mad about this. Since Fox always bounces back from these types of games. He does seem to have some inner motivation that pushes him whenever he gets doubted.

Also can’t be mad when I have the freaking Super Bowl to look forward to!

 

[SacTownKid]

Pretty sure I said this last season but you can’t go treating the NBA season like the NFL season. With the NFL, it’s a 17 game season and one loss can change absolutely everything. With the NBA, one loss is just one loss and there’s probably gonna be another game within the next 48 hours. Don’t get too high and don’t get too low.

For sure but that said, it's too tight to not handle business at home against a Pistons team. Last year I think the Kings could potentially get away with things going up and down on runs, but as predicted by some, even if better the Kings are fighting for lower seeding right now. Hopefully once the deadline is done and dusted a cloud can be lifted because the Kings have been the most open for business franchise up to this point.

 

[King-Da-Yah]

Man it’s a real circlejerk of doom and gloom in here tonight lmao

people need to relax lmao

 

[The_Jamal]

You're really sensitive when I criticize the coach of our team.

Oh I see, I'm the sensitive one.

I am getting a little lost here though. In your last post, you stated the coaches were doing great! Now you're criticizing them? Color me confused!

But I suppose me asking you a question trying to qualify your position of bad coaching after a franchise record road trip, does make me pretty sensitive. I'll try really hard next time to come up with a less sensitive question, so you can really just dive into the substance of why your point is valid.

 

[iowamcnabb]

Pretty sure I said this last season but you can’t go treating the NBA season like the NFL season. With the NFL, it’s a 17 game season and one loss can change absolutely everything. With the NBA, one loss is just one loss and there’s probably gonna be another game within the next 48 hours. Don’t get too high and don’t get too low.

this is very true. What I’m asking of the team is to hover around .500 during rough schedule stretches and then string together 6 games in a row at some point. They do that and they secure a top 6 seed.

 

[hrdboild]

I’m sorry but you’re wrong. You don’t lose to a team that is this bad, at home, and without its two best players, without showing some “quit.” We quit for long stretches of the second and third, turned it in for about 6 minutes to end the third, and then thought we had it in the bag. Zero effort in the 4th. We played hard about 18 minutes. If that doesn’t deserve being booed I am not sure what does.

That's not what I saw. The Kings offense is guys taking step back threes or driving and kicking out to shooters. This isn't lack of effort, they're playing exactly the way Mike Brown wants them to and it's not working. The only time our defense presented any resistance at all was that stretch in the third and into the early fourth when Davion was in the game and he's the guy Kings fans most want to see traded. Explain that one. Most of these players get caught ball watching and forget their assignments. Most nights he's the one guy doing everything right on defense. Our other guys are pretty good so defenders but horrible off ball. I was really impressed with Kevin Huerter as well. He made some nice plays tonight.

If anything I think the effort appears like it's lagging because the team is already looking forward to that break coming up. I guess if you want to boo them for that it would make sense. What I really want to do though is sit in the film room with them and see if they're actually talking about how terrible the defense has been and why. It was pretty eye opening watching a team with 6 wins on the year use screens to just move our defenders around wherever they wanted them then attack the open space over and over again. They might as well have been running offensive drills in practice for all the resistance we provided and it wasn't for lack of trying. Our guys just look like they don't understand where to be if they can't get over the screen.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

they are better then their record indicates imo. Duren has been hurt alot of the year. And monte has jerked ivey/ausars minutes/role around for guys like killian hayes and burks... hes intentionally tanking and building player value up. still no reason to lose this game..
Hopefully theres a trade tommorow that make sense long term but also rejuvenates the squad for a playoff run.

The Pistons are a bad team, but they have also quietly gotten rid of most of the players that were responsible for them being losers, over the last three weeks or so. This is not the squad that lost 28 in a row.

 

[The_Jamal]

I was being sarcastic. Hope that's clear now.

Oh! Gotcha! Man, sometimes sarcasm is REALLY hard to pick up through the internet.

So just to clarify. Brown is bad at coaching, when the team is coming off a franchise record road trip? I just really want to be clear of your position here, so I don't get too sensitive the next time!

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Very true! But this team matches up well against all of those teams (for the most part) and always plays super hard against the good-great teams, so, I’ll say what i said before the long road trip - I’m not nearly as worried as tonight suggests we should be. Most of us knew deep down that we’d likely lose tonight

So this was also "a schedule loss"? Yikes

 

[KF8]

well despite all the doom and gloom.. where have u guys been the last 17 before last season? We finally have a winning record, so there's that lol.

 

[Caccia]

Yeh Stein said that Monte is working the phones. Who knows what happens. Delon Wright come on down is my guess.

I am not familiar with Wright. How does he help the team?

 

[iowamcnabb]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1755461933082513447

I wouldn’t normally post this doom and gloomer’s post but look at that schedule! T you need to go 3-6 or better during that stretch and then peel off a few games in a row after that to stay in the top 6. We can do it but boy will it be tough.

 

[chief bromden]

Yes they are terrible this season but they were not terrible tonight. And I think trusting their young guys had a lot to do with that. Duren is a flat out stud and Ivey was playing with swagger and dominating this game. They might not statistically be their best players this year but those guys are the future of this team.

If you think a team is bad just because their record shows it you're in the same boat as the Kings. Record is irrelevant to what we saw tonight. It's not a bad thing to give a team credit when they play well and we don't. Wins still have to be earned and judging just from this game these players seem to think the way we'll earn them is by firing up a three on every possession while allowing the other team an endless parade of layups and floaters. I love Mike Brown but I'm actually most frustrated with him tonight. The players completely lost the plot and he's supposed to be the guy making sure that doesn't happen.

I think the Pistons are bad because I've watched them play a decent amount this season, including a couple times in their house. Did they play well tonight? Sure, I'll give them credit for that. One key was Ivey got his confidence going and the Kings couldn't stop him, not to mention Burks and Sasser... And Fox had a very disappointing game. I agree that the coaching staff could have done way better, especially with the playing times of some guys.

To just gloss over the loss and state the Pistons are a better than terrible team is missing the point that not only should have the Kings won tonight, but even more so considering they've dropped games to the Hornets and Blazers already this season in similar ways. I'm usually a "hey it's just a loss, let's move on to the next" type of person but this one sews a weird kind of perplexity regarding this team

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

That's not what I saw. The Kings offense is guys taking step back threes or driving and kicking out to shooters. This isn't lack of effort, they're playing exactly the way Mike Brown wants them to and it's not working. The only time our defense presented any resistance at all was that stretch in the third and into the early fourth when Davion was in the game and he's the guy Kings fans most want to see traded. Explain that one. Most of these players get caught ball watching and forget their assignments. Most nights he's the one guy doing everything right on defense. Our other guys are pretty good so defenders but horrible off ball. I was really impressed with Kevin Huerter as well. He made some nice plays tonight.

If anything I think the effort appears like it's lagging because the team is already looking forward to that break coming up. I guess if you want to boo them for that it would make sense. What I really want to do though is sit in the film room with them and see if they're actually talking about how terrible the defense has been and why. It was pretty eye opening watching a team with 6 wins on the year use screens to just move our defenders around wherever they wanted them then attack the open space over and over again. They might as well have been running offensive drills in practice for all the resistance we provided and it wasn't for lack of trying. Our guys just look like they don't understand where to be if they can't get over the screen.

Huh. I'd almost forgotten that it's actually possible to be critical of a team without gratuitous/performative negativity and finger-pointing.

 

[NewArena]

I knew we were cooked the second Killian freaking Hayes made a 3 to open the game for the pistons lol a bad omen from the jump.

 

[iowamcnabb]

I am not familiar with Wright. How does he help the team?

he is an ancillary piece but he brings calm to the second unit, plays great defense, can hit an open three and almost always makes the right play. He was on the kings for a short time and was traded for Triston Thompson because we had 3 point guards. He can likely be had for cheap

 

[NewArena]

and they lost in the first round, by losing games 5 and 7 at home. It's a real concern for those that don't want to see that again

Yup. I really don’t know how we avoid this again without a major change. Ugh

 

[The_Jamal]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1755461933082513447

I wouldn’t normally post this doom and gloomer’s post but look at that schedule! T you need to go 3-6 or better during that stretch and then peel off a few games in a row after that to stay in the top 6. We can do it but boy will it be tough.

Who hates us? Jesus. 7 game road trip, into this? Good lord.

Regardless of dropping tonight's game or not, that stretch was always going to be a back-breaker (or not). Just obviously would have been preferred to head into it with an extra win.

 

[ick300]

https://twitter.com/statuses/1755461933082513447

I wouldn’t normally post this doom and gloomer’s post but look at that schedule! T you need to go 3-6 or better during that stretch and then peel off a few games in a row after that to stay in the top 6. We can do it but boy will it be tough.

Sadly 3-6 sounds a hard mission atm

 

[NewArena]

Do we need to shut Fox down until after the break? We can’t have 12 points from our best player. Whether it’s mental, physical or just a slump I wonder if it would do him some good? I know he was great the other night but we are getting super inconsistent offense from him, even those three point attempts have dropped. Odd stuff

I was wondering the same thing. He kept grabbing at his shoulder the last few games, so i really don’t know. If he needs load management then someone needs to step in and make it happen. I’ll give him credit for playing through whatever this is but that’s all i got