[Game] Kings vs Timberwolves, 11/15/2024 7pm PST 10pm EST (Emirates Cup Game)
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
Shame to waste a historic performance and it comes down to the straight trash three point defense.
A couple big moments in the fourth sold this one in regulation
-Kevin Huerter blowing a rebound even though he had position and was in front of the ball. Somehow McDaniels ended up with it and scored 2
-Alexander Walker caught the ball for a wide open three after the entire defense collapsed on Randle. What was notable is he caught it wide open, hesitated, lost his footing, and 2 seconds later was STILL WIDE OPEN. That’s how bad the Kings are at rotating
There were some bad possessions in overtime. Brown went with Huerter even though he was having a clunker.
But it all comes down to Minnesota being +24 from three. It’s the theme of the season and just about every loss to this point except maybe the Clippers game can be attributed to the Kings inability to defend the three.
Something needs to change
A couple big moments in the fourth sold this one in regulation
-Kevin Huerter blowing a rebound even though he had position and was in front of the ball. Somehow McDaniels ended up with it and scored 2
-Alexander Walker caught the ball for a wide open three after the entire defense collapsed on Randle. What was notable is he caught it wide open, hesitated, lost his footing, and 2 seconds later was STILL WIDE OPEN. That’s how bad the Kings are at rotating
There were some bad possessions in overtime. Brown went with Huerter even though he was having a clunker.
But it all comes down to Minnesota being +24 from three. It’s the theme of the season and just about every loss to this point except maybe the Clippers game can be attributed to the Kings inability to defend the three.
Something needs to change
I think the Kings are now 1-3 all-time (Sacramento era) when a player goes for 50-plus:
Webber 51, L vs Pacers
Cousins 56, L vs Magic
Cousins 55, W vs Trail Blazers
Fox 60, L vs Timberwolves
I don't believe I missed any, but basketball-reference put access to that data behind a paywall, and I'm not paying for Stathead.
Webber 51, L vs Pacers
Cousins 56, L vs Magic
Cousins 55, W vs Trail Blazers
Fox 60, L vs Timberwolves
I don't believe I missed any, but basketball-reference put access to that data behind a paywall, and I'm not paying for Stathead.
Once Brown realizes that the team he had might not be the team has or even wants, this can be a dangerous playoff type team. The thing is the Kings can't afford to get down in games once DeRozan is back. Keep it consistent and wear down the opponent. Fox did it tonight but had too much ground to make up. DeRozan and Fox playing pick your poison is the new "beam team".
the only thing I can say that isn’t doom and gloom is the Wolves deserved this game, they were ahead the whole time really. If they lost it would have been a major collapse on their part and they would be scrambling to figure out what’s wrong.
We were also missing two of our best players.
BUT, our three point problem is again front and center. I’m not sure I’ve ever been this frustrated as a fan (in the Brown era). 13 games in and we have to see a 5-9 three deficit. If this happens all season fans are going to start tuning out, too frustrating
We were also missing two of our best players.
BUT, our three point problem is again front and center. I’m not sure I’ve ever been this frustrated as a fan (in the Brown era). 13 games in and we have to see a 5-9 three deficit. If this happens all season fans are going to start tuning out, too frustrating
If you play Minnesota you have to know that they're taking 40-50 threes a game. Whether they win or lose comes down to how many of those they make. For our part, with no Monk or DeMar we needed either K'Von or Keegan to step up and give us 20pts tonight. Huerter is never shy about getting shots up but he was off today. Keegan looked like he was hiding from the ball in crunch time until those two 3PA right at the end. He had one possession midway through the OT period where he needed to shoot and instead passed it back to Fox way behind the arc with only 5 seconds on the clock which resulted in a TO and Minnesota growing their lead from 3pts to 5pts. That felt like a key turning point to me. He finally woke up and took two shots after that but this is where he really needs to grow up quickly. I love everything he's doing on defense but he needs to recognize that he's a much better scorer than either Ellis or Lyles and it puts us in bad situations when he's out there on the floor avoiding the ball on offense.
The two most concerning things for me is the defensive scheme on threes and our inability to make our own threes. Out of those two, our game plan for defending threes is by far the most concerning thing. I mean I understand it can be hard to contest every 3, but the opposing team is literally so wide open they are making s’mores while they wait for the ball. I don’t know who is responsible for this decision, but it needs to end pronto. It’s bad enough we suck at shooting, giving away the easiest threes in history on top of that will only lead to disaster.
I really think Brown should have gone with Huerter and Keon in there late. It would have given the Kings more quickness offensively. Leaving in Lyles for size and rebounding vs. having more potential shooting and quickness might have been a game changing difference. All in all, once teams with speed and athletic ability show up? Bye bye deflection impact. You either stick to your man or you get blown by and the Kings help defense detaches from those corners every time once the **** starts sliding downhill.
I think he would also need to build up his ball skills too. Klay gets brought up, but Klay used to help lead some of his 2nd units in his earlier days. Keegan's lack of ball handling fools no one. Teams just play him close and force him to pass the ball out or take a contested jumper.
Keegan at his best is probably an elite 3&D player who can lock down 1-3 (with some 4s). But the elite shooting hasn't been there since his rookie year.
I'm ok with his ceiling being a top tier role player in the league, but I'm not ok with him shooting 30% from 3pt.
Keegan at his best is probably an elite 3&D player who can lock down 1-3 (with some 4s). But the elite shooting hasn't been there since his rookie year.
I'm ok with his ceiling being a top tier role player in the league, but I'm not ok with him shooting 30% from 3pt.
