[Game] Kings vs Raptors 11/6/24 7pm PST/10pm EST
- Thread starter iowamcnabb
- Start date
So far I haven't really been impressed with our "defensive coordinator" Luke Loucks. I know the numbers are pretty solid so far but the eye test looks pretty bad as far as wide open 3s for the opposition goes. I think playing bad teams and players missing wide open shots has skewed the numbers a bit but we'll see in the next couple months. There's still a ton of cheating inside for no reason at all while leaving the corner 3 wide open.
Really need our guys to start hitting their 3 pointers as well. It's gotten downright annoying at this point. I'm almost surprised when anyone on our team connects on a 3. We're 1st in FT% (jinx), 2nd in 2pt% and 26th in 3pt%. Those first two percentages are really carrying the offense but I'm not sure that will hold all year. Really need to at least get our 3pt% into the teens at least. Keegan, Fox, Monk and Lyles, we're looking at you.
One nice thing is we seem to have that extra gear now. I remember in the Cousins days we would keep things close and then teams would just tighten up the defense halfway through the 4th and leave us behind. We did exactly that to Toronto last night. I'd like to see the starters do that against bad teams from the beginning so they wind up playing 30min instead of 38.
Really need our guys to start hitting their 3 pointers as well. It's gotten downright annoying at this point. I'm almost surprised when anyone on our team connects on a 3. We're 1st in FT% (jinx), 2nd in 2pt% and 26th in 3pt%. Those first two percentages are really carrying the offense but I'm not sure that will hold all year. Really need to at least get our 3pt% into the teens at least. Keegan, Fox, Monk and Lyles, we're looking at you.
One nice thing is we seem to have that extra gear now. I remember in the Cousins days we would keep things close and then teams would just tighten up the defense halfway through the 4th and leave us behind. We did exactly that to Toronto last night. I'd like to see the starters do that against bad teams from the beginning so they wind up playing 30min instead of 38.
Fox has a false sense of pride that has made him an anti-foul merchant. He's also crafty enough that he can minimize the contact that he does take which allows refs to swallow their whistles instead of giving the and-1. While that is nice from a not having to root for James Harden standpoint, it has cost us dearly in more than one game.
DDR has been quite enjoyable to watch thus far. I think like Fox, he'd prefer to actually make his shot and not draw cheap contact, but he is much better at making sure the contact is recorded and getting the whistle while doing so. It's just so cool to have an old-head that can help the (not so) young fellas who also is playing at an extremely high level.
DDR has been quite enjoyable to watch thus far. I think like Fox, he'd prefer to actually make his shot and not draw cheap contact, but he is much better at making sure the contact is recorded and getting the whistle while doing so. It's just so cool to have an old-head that can help the (not so) young fellas who also is playing at an extremely high level.
I'm curious to see how this philosophy plays out in the next couple months. They're 11th in DRTG right now, which is probably the best they've been in years. Is that because of the philosophy or the easy schedule so far? We'll find out.
I'm digging the 5th in ORTG while shooting horribly from 3. I think they can keep that up when the schedule gets tougher and their 3pt percentages average out.
I'm digging the 5th in ORTG while shooting horribly from 3. I think they can keep that up when the schedule gets tougher and their 3pt percentages average out.
Could just be both guys over achieving to an extent.
Huerter had a career year with us. His percentages this year and last are just slightly under his career average before his career year but nothing egregiously bad. I don't think it's fair to expect him to keep repeating his career year.
Hard to say with Keegan. Basically shot 40% his last year in college. 41% his rookie year with us. He was pretty much just tasked with wide open straight line drives and open catch and shoot opportunities. Now he has a bigger overall role in the offense and he's put on a decent amount of muscle. Hard to say if he just had a couple of lucky years or if it's something that he needs to get back to concentrating on in the offseason.
Monk is also a guy who had 2 good years from beyond the arc with CHA and LA but hasn't been all that great outside of that. I think shot selection has a lot to do with it. He also essentially doubled up his assists with us compared to those two great shooting years, which means he's doing more ball handling and less catching and shooting. Even with the drop, he's a better overall player the way we're using him than he was as a spot shooter and non essential ball handler.
Huerter had a career year with us. His percentages this year and last are just slightly under his career average before his career year but nothing egregiously bad. I don't think it's fair to expect him to keep repeating his career year.
Hard to say with Keegan. Basically shot 40% his last year in college. 41% his rookie year with us. He was pretty much just tasked with wide open straight line drives and open catch and shoot opportunities. Now he has a bigger overall role in the offense and he's put on a decent amount of muscle. Hard to say if he just had a couple of lucky years or if it's something that he needs to get back to concentrating on in the offseason.
Monk is also a guy who had 2 good years from beyond the arc with CHA and LA but hasn't been all that great outside of that. I think shot selection has a lot to do with it. He also essentially doubled up his assists with us compared to those two great shooting years, which means he's doing more ball handling and less catching and shooting. Even with the drop, he's a better overall player the way we're using him than he was as a spot shooter and non essential ball handler.
IIRC Keegan was hitting above expected from above the break but poorly on corner 3s which are the shots most players are expected to hit so that also skewed perceptions of his play last year. His big stride was defensively and if he is going to start eating rebounds now I'm not going to worry about his 3pt play as much especially with DeMar here, as long as we get him enough to hit a big shot when asked.
Monk and Huerter shoot a lot of deep 3's, from well behind the line. Can't be helping their %. I'd like to see them be more selective, but at the same time I'm sure they feel a lot of responsibility for getting the team to a certain number of attempts.
I've always wondered if it would help the team overall, to not take 3's that are more than ~2 feet behind the line, unless it's late in the clock. Does "spacing the floor" always have to include 29 foot attempts?
I've always wondered if it would help the team overall, to not take 3's that are more than ~2 feet behind the line, unless it's late in the clock. Does "spacing the floor" always have to include 29 foot attempts?
He hasn’t been playing quite like the Monk of last season. His assists are down and so are his shooting percentages, he’s barely cracking 30% on threes. Last game alone he made multiple horrible decisions on fast breaks. Other games it’s threes from way out that are poorly timed. Him and Fox seem to be forcing a little bit.
It's hard to sustain this type of offense, without wear and tear throughout the season. I'm not advocating it, they are good shooters, I'm sure when they start hitting from the downtown, attacking the rim would be less or vice versa. What I like about it is it makes the offense more versatile, which wasn't the case last season.
2 vs the Suns, 1 vs Minny. Excited to see those Suns match-ups for sure to get a good litmus test at where we're at.
I think we've done an excellent job at stockpiling wins so far vs inferior teams, even on an atrocious travel schedule. These sort of games cost us the top 6 spot last season. That always had to be step 1 this season to progress from last year. So far, so good. Now have to show you can at least hang a .500 record vs these better squads. Beat up the bad teams, .500 vs the good ones and you'll run into a 50 win season.
I think we've done an excellent job at stockpiling wins so far vs inferior teams, even on an atrocious travel schedule. These sort of games cost us the top 6 spot last season. That always had to be step 1 this season to progress from last year. So far, so good. Now have to show you can at least hang a .500 record vs these better squads. Beat up the bad teams, .500 vs the good ones and you'll run into a 50 win season.