First and foremost....
BEAT LA!!!
------------------------------------------------------
There. That's better. Hi! It's been a good, long time since I've done a game thread on Kingsfans, but it feels good to jump on the saddle for a minute.
First things first. Or, second things second.
The Kings opened up last year 1-3, against a much more difficult schedule of OKC, the Hornets, the Spurs, and the Grizzlies, with the Grizzlies being the only win.
(Our starting lineup that first game had Kevin Martin, Desmond Mason, and Sean May. My, how things have improved - no slight to KevMart, he is a very nice player and I wish him the best in Houston. More of a slight to our situation last year).
This year, fortunes have improved (at least on the scheduling end of things) with a 3-1 record and in all 3 wins taking on teams that I can easily say I know will be worse than the Kings this season.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
There in lies the problem. In all 4 games, the Kings haven't been playing winning basketball. They have had to overcome sufficient first half deficits in every single game, and in New Jersey, it didn't work out the way it did in the other three. Not to take anything away from the Kings, they won because they are a better team than the T-Pups, Cavaliers, and Raptors (and possibly New Jersey if DMC doesn't get fouled out). But this is not winning basketball, and frankly, I think we all can see a trend. This is a habit that needs to be broken.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
That being said, outside of last nights shellacking of Memphis, the L*kers have been playing in much the same manner - lazy first half defense, mosey-ing up and down the court, and turning on their version of 'championship' basketball when needed. Which means, the Kings need to come out with some intensity on the defensive end, maintain their ability to execute, and not just in the 4th quarter, and hack at Kobe's pinky as much as possible.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last year, the Kings were swept by the L*kers, but each game was competitive, with two of them coming down to the final bucket. Our team has improved this year, and the L*kers largely stood pat, adding notorious Kings-slayer Steve Blake.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Keys to the Game
-Tyreke- : If Derek Fisher is matched up on Reke, then Fish has no chance. He actually has no chance on Beno either. I doubt Phillip Jackelson sticks Kobe on Tyreke over the course of the entire game unless Kobe asks for the match-up, which means Kobe will stick to Casspi while Artest does the honors on Tyreke. As good as Artest is on defense, Tyreke gave him some fits last year. As proven by the last game, as Tyreke goes, the team goes. He needs to come out aggressive. Take the ball to the rim a few times, and don't settle for long jumpers (even though he has been making them).
-DeMarcus- : He has no chance of staying out of foul trouble with Pau. I think Whiteside will be activated for the game, just in case anything should happen with Dally and DMC. Interesting note: In two games last year, Sammy didn't really affect Pau's line at all, although he did hold him to 42% shooting in one of the games. In the other game, Sammy had a season-high 24 points.
-Perimeter Defense- : The Kings perimeter defense in the 1st half this year has been atrocious and embarrassing. And with the L*kers shooting 45% from the arc this season so far, the Kings can't concede that line and get buried early. What they need to do is push Pau as far off the block as possible, double team him as he makes his move, and close out really hard (it's working for Miami). Part of perimeter defense is boxing out. Odom is averaging 12 rebounds a game so far with Bynum out, and a large part of that is he just sneaks around and gets in good position while the L*kers pretend to play 5-5 basketball. Even though Landry doesn't get a lot of snags, he is generally pretty good with keeping his man off of the offensive glass. Unless his name is Reggie Evans.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Match-Ups
Kobe vs. Evans/Donte/Wright/Casspi - he had 23 points last night, all in the first half of a blowout. Donte has shown in the past he can force Kobe into taking bad shots, and Kobe has shown in the past that he can make them anyway. The best bet is to try and get Kobe in foul trouble, but he's a smart defender with a whiny rat face, so he usually gets all the calls.
Landry vs. Rebounds - L*kers have outrebounded their opponents 204-174 so far this season. If Landry isn't active on the glass, the Kings will lose.
Thompson vs. himself - To be fair, JT has looked terrific in these last two games; maybe Coachie emphasizing patience on the block. His jumper has looked decent outside of two horrific caroms, and he hustles on the glass. If he can play hands-off defense, or be smarter about when to foul, the Kings could really use his help. But, if I were betting on the Over/Under for fouls for JT at 4, I'd take the Over. IF he gets enough playing time.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
AWARD TIME
TDM - Actually, none of the Raps absolute scrubs killed us. Well, their entire team is basically a ShamWow, so I'll just say Reggie Evans.
LW-VC - Jarrett Jack, who looks exactly like Ne-Yo, and usually kills the Kings. He was pretty bad. And Miami wants to trade Chalmers for him?
JHA - Antoine Wright
MIKKI - Andrea Bargnani, starting center for the Raptors. 2 rebounds? Really? Even Landry had 4.
SAR- Landry.
RA&1 - Sonny Weems. When you can't shoot, you probably shouldn't shoot.
Jax/Walk - The most stereotypical-looking player from Eastern Europe, Linas Kleiza. Actually, all of them are stereotypical-looking. Vuja*itch, Biedrins, Gortat. Beno and Dragic are the ones that look like normal human beings and not James Bond villains.
WTF moment of the game - Terrible pass from Luther Head ends up resulting in a Luther Head 3 pointer. Felt like that Raiders pass over the weekend that bounced all over the field and ended up in a 50 yard catch.
-------------------------------------------------
It should be a good game, as the Kings even in the worst of times get fired up for the Fake Show.
Prediction: (homer alert) Kings 105, L*kers 97.
---------------------------------------------------
Evans - you got this
Beno - steady as ever
Landry - if you bound again, does that mean you rebound? in your case, no.
Cousins - ANOTHER DUB-DUB
Cisco - knock your shots down
Casspi - don't overplay, and we're good
Head - no comment.
Pooh - get all over Kobe
--------------------------------------------------
TDM will go to Shannon Brown, who isn't really enough of a scrub to earn it, but he looks like a chipmunk. LW-VC will go to the immortal Luke Walton/Vacuum Cleaner just for being awful at everything ever. Speaking of which, I hope Bill isn't doing color for this game.
Free throws will play the biggest part.
---------------------------------------------------
BEAT LA!!!
-----------------------------------------------------
BEAT LA!!!
------------------------------------------------------
There. That's better. Hi! It's been a good, long time since I've done a game thread on Kingsfans, but it feels good to jump on the saddle for a minute.
First things first. Or, second things second.
The Kings opened up last year 1-3, against a much more difficult schedule of OKC, the Hornets, the Spurs, and the Grizzlies, with the Grizzlies being the only win.
(Our starting lineup that first game had Kevin Martin, Desmond Mason, and Sean May. My, how things have improved - no slight to KevMart, he is a very nice player and I wish him the best in Houston. More of a slight to our situation last year).
This year, fortunes have improved (at least on the scheduling end of things) with a 3-1 record and in all 3 wins taking on teams that I can easily say I know will be worse than the Kings this season.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
There in lies the problem. In all 4 games, the Kings haven't been playing winning basketball. They have had to overcome sufficient first half deficits in every single game, and in New Jersey, it didn't work out the way it did in the other three. Not to take anything away from the Kings, they won because they are a better team than the T-Pups, Cavaliers, and Raptors (and possibly New Jersey if DMC doesn't get fouled out). But this is not winning basketball, and frankly, I think we all can see a trend. This is a habit that needs to be broken.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
That being said, outside of last nights shellacking of Memphis, the L*kers have been playing in much the same manner - lazy first half defense, mosey-ing up and down the court, and turning on their version of 'championship' basketball when needed. Which means, the Kings need to come out with some intensity on the defensive end, maintain their ability to execute, and not just in the 4th quarter, and hack at Kobe's pinky as much as possible.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last year, the Kings were swept by the L*kers, but each game was competitive, with two of them coming down to the final bucket. Our team has improved this year, and the L*kers largely stood pat, adding notorious Kings-slayer Steve Blake.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Keys to the Game
-Tyreke- : If Derek Fisher is matched up on Reke, then Fish has no chance. He actually has no chance on Beno either. I doubt Phillip Jackelson sticks Kobe on Tyreke over the course of the entire game unless Kobe asks for the match-up, which means Kobe will stick to Casspi while Artest does the honors on Tyreke. As good as Artest is on defense, Tyreke gave him some fits last year. As proven by the last game, as Tyreke goes, the team goes. He needs to come out aggressive. Take the ball to the rim a few times, and don't settle for long jumpers (even though he has been making them).
-DeMarcus- : He has no chance of staying out of foul trouble with Pau. I think Whiteside will be activated for the game, just in case anything should happen with Dally and DMC. Interesting note: In two games last year, Sammy didn't really affect Pau's line at all, although he did hold him to 42% shooting in one of the games. In the other game, Sammy had a season-high 24 points.
-Perimeter Defense- : The Kings perimeter defense in the 1st half this year has been atrocious and embarrassing. And with the L*kers shooting 45% from the arc this season so far, the Kings can't concede that line and get buried early. What they need to do is push Pau as far off the block as possible, double team him as he makes his move, and close out really hard (it's working for Miami). Part of perimeter defense is boxing out. Odom is averaging 12 rebounds a game so far with Bynum out, and a large part of that is he just sneaks around and gets in good position while the L*kers pretend to play 5-5 basketball. Even though Landry doesn't get a lot of snags, he is generally pretty good with keeping his man off of the offensive glass. Unless his name is Reggie Evans.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Match-Ups
Kobe vs. Evans/Donte/Wright/Casspi - he had 23 points last night, all in the first half of a blowout. Donte has shown in the past he can force Kobe into taking bad shots, and Kobe has shown in the past that he can make them anyway. The best bet is to try and get Kobe in foul trouble, but he's a smart defender with a whiny rat face, so he usually gets all the calls.
Landry vs. Rebounds - L*kers have outrebounded their opponents 204-174 so far this season. If Landry isn't active on the glass, the Kings will lose.
Thompson vs. himself - To be fair, JT has looked terrific in these last two games; maybe Coachie emphasizing patience on the block. His jumper has looked decent outside of two horrific caroms, and he hustles on the glass. If he can play hands-off defense, or be smarter about when to foul, the Kings could really use his help. But, if I were betting on the Over/Under for fouls for JT at 4, I'd take the Over. IF he gets enough playing time.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
AWARD TIME
TDM - Actually, none of the Raps absolute scrubs killed us. Well, their entire team is basically a ShamWow, so I'll just say Reggie Evans.
LW-VC - Jarrett Jack, who looks exactly like Ne-Yo, and usually kills the Kings. He was pretty bad. And Miami wants to trade Chalmers for him?
JHA - Antoine Wright
MIKKI - Andrea Bargnani, starting center for the Raptors. 2 rebounds? Really? Even Landry had 4.
SAR- Landry.
RA&1 - Sonny Weems. When you can't shoot, you probably shouldn't shoot.
Jax/Walk - The most stereotypical-looking player from Eastern Europe, Linas Kleiza. Actually, all of them are stereotypical-looking. Vuja*itch, Biedrins, Gortat. Beno and Dragic are the ones that look like normal human beings and not James Bond villains.
WTF moment of the game - Terrible pass from Luther Head ends up resulting in a Luther Head 3 pointer. Felt like that Raiders pass over the weekend that bounced all over the field and ended up in a 50 yard catch.
-------------------------------------------------
It should be a good game, as the Kings even in the worst of times get fired up for the Fake Show.
Prediction: (homer alert) Kings 105, L*kers 97.
---------------------------------------------------
Evans - you got this
Beno - steady as ever
Landry - if you bound again, does that mean you rebound? in your case, no.
Cousins - ANOTHER DUB-DUB
Cisco - knock your shots down
Casspi - don't overplay, and we're good
Head - no comment.
Pooh - get all over Kobe
--------------------------------------------------
TDM will go to Shannon Brown, who isn't really enough of a scrub to earn it, but he looks like a chipmunk. LW-VC will go to the immortal Luke Walton/Vacuum Cleaner just for being awful at everything ever. Speaking of which, I hope Bill isn't doing color for this game.
Free throws will play the biggest part.
---------------------------------------------------
BEAT LA!!!
-----------------------------------------------------
Last edited:
) and cheer out loud and I try not to wake up my roomate 
