[Game] 23/82: Kings @ Memphis, 05 DEC 2024, 5 pm PT/8 pm ET

[megapoxy]

No boxing out at crunch times (at 3 different times, we conceded 5 points he says), not touching the paint also in the last 5 minutes instead we were taking contested 2 point shots and we allowed them to have easy fast break points, 17 in 2nd half.
About the bench not being productive he mentioned that they have open looks but can't make their shots, he told that the players fought hard but lost their focus at the end and lost the match.

 

[Krunker]

Deuce was also talking about how the much higher paid guy in Huerter "has to play", in order to maintain his value around the league. They can't afford to let him rack up DNP-CD's, whereas with Keon they can from a roster management point of view. Keon's value won't drop, being that he was just signed to a full (small) contract last season. Most teams would luv to have him.

A lot of Kings media are just as baffled about Keon not playing and searching for an answer that could explain it. When you're looking for any player or detail that could help you win some close games, whatever the reason is, won't be a popular one

I kind of hate it when the business side intrudes on performance on the court, but I guess that is the reality. If this is the real reason hopefully that means there is a beneficial future trade and is not for naught. I haven't really seen much Keon behavior that would put him in MB's doghouse.

 

[Caccia]

Tough loss, but I think the team is finally rounding into form, now that Malik Monk is starting. If and when Keon Ellis returns to the rotation with heavy minutes, the Kings are going to surprise a lot of people, possibly including themselves. About the only two teams I think they could not beat are Boston and Cleveland, and those guys are both in the Eastern Conference.

I was super discouraged after pre-season, but not quite so down after seven games, and predicted a winning record.

https://community.kingsfans.com/threads/predictions-2024-25.98647/page-2

Now I see better times ahead. But for the love of Mike, if you are shooting 0-5 or 1-5 from deep, stop taking three-pointers!

 

[ESP47]

Yawn. Another Keegan + Huerter disaster of a game from 3. I wonder how many losses we can pin squarely on their outside shooting?

Monte needs to get a sports psychologist in there pronto.

I'm at the point where these guys just need to play like DeRozan. Pass up the 3, take a few steps in or drive and see what happens. It couldn't possibly be worse than them shooting us out of these games. Same goes for Fox. If it ain't your night from the outside, do something different.

 

[The_Jamal]

Yawn. Another Keegan + Huerter disaster of a game from 3. I wonder how many losses we can pin squarely on their outside shooting?

Monte needs to get a sports psychologist in there pronto.

I'm at the point where these guys just need to play like DeRozan. Pass up the 3, take a few steps in or drive and see what happens. It couldn't possibly be worse than them shooting us out of these games. Same goes for Fox. If it ain't your night from the outside, do something different.

We have 8 losses by 5 or less points this season.

I'd be willing to bet like 5 or 6 more wins, easily, if Huerter and Keegan shot 37-38% from 3 combined,

 

[ESP47]

We have 8 losses by 5 or less points this season.

I'd be willing to bet like 5 or 6 more wins, easily, if Huerter and Keegan shot 37-38% from 3 combined,

What almost makes it even more annoying is Keegan's defense was absolutely outstanding last night. Had double digit rebounds and basically locked up everyone that tried to score on him.

I know people are saying they think his shooting has fallen off because he's doing so many other things on defense but I really don't agree with that. He's gotten good at anticipating drives and spin moves from offensive players. He keeps his body squared up and his arms straight up and forces players into more difficult shots by just simply being in the way. I just don't see how that would tire him out so much that he couldn't shoot anymore. I could maybe understand it if he was picking up players at full court all game but he's not doing that. He's just fundamentally more sound on defense and that shouldn't kill his shot.

 

[GWD]

Yawn. Another Keegan + Huerter disaster of a game from 3. I wonder how many losses we can pin squarely on their outside shooting?

Monte needs to get a sports psychologist in there pronto.

I'm at the point where these guys just need to play like DeRozan. Pass up the 3, take a few steps in or drive and see what happens. It couldn't possibly be worse than them shooting us out of these games. Same goes for Fox. If it ain't your night from the outside, do something different.

If you listen to the post-game press conferences with Mike Brown, he consistently and clearly states that he wants the players to take those shots when they are open. If he told them what you suggest then that would be what they would do.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

I kind of hate it when the business side intrudes on performance on the court, but I guess that is the reality. If this is the real reason hopefully that means there is a beneficial future trade and is not for naught. I haven't really seen much Keon behavior that would put him in MB's doghouse.

Brown handled Terence Davis in a similar way, where seemingly any mistake was blown out of proportion in the bigger picture, as compared to other players making mistakes. The difference is that Davis led with this offense and Keon leads with this defense.

I thought they had invested two seasons of good development with Terence and should have kept him, but they didn't like the optics of Curry and Thompson getting the better of him in game 7, when they had out of the blue decided that he was the best option against them on defense,....so they decided that the grass was greener with someone like Duarte.

Lets hope they don't make the same mistake with Keon, because most of the league, especially better teams, would take him and make the most of what he does well

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

If you listen to the post-game press conferences with Mike Brown, he consistently and clearly states that he wants the players to take those shots when they are open. If he told them what you suggest then that would be what they would do.

He's willing to live or die with "more spray threes" and "let it fly". That's great when your volume shooters are decent to good. It probably loses games, when they are bad to awful

 

[hrdboild]

I guess there's ample reason to be pessimistic or optimistic at this point. On the positive side, a lot of these losses are close losses and our two best shooters are shooting sub 30% right now. Despite being 3 games under .500 the Kings still have a positive point differential on the season (+0.4). One could look at the results so far and say that we have a lot of opportunity for internal improvement with the roster we have now.

On the negative side, we are losing a lot of winnable games and the execution in the last 2 minutes has not been where it needs to be. Early on we could point to officiating as a significant factor in our losses but most of the problems during our recent 2-7 stretch are self-inflicted. It also doesn't appear that there are a lot of options out there for improving the roster via trades. There's only a handful of teams which are truly out of the playoff picture and that means there's 20+ teams willing to bid on a small number of available veterans.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

I guess there's ample reason to be pessimistic or optimistic at this point. On the positive side, a lot of these losses are close losses and our two best shooters are shooting sub 30% right now. Despite being 3 games under .500 the Kings still have a positive point differential on the season (+0.4). One could look at the results so far and say that we have a lot of opportunity for internal improvement with the roster we have now.

On the negative side, we are losing a lot of winnable games and the execution in the last 2 minutes has not been where it needs to be. Early on we could point to officiating as a significant factor in our losses but most of the problems during our recent 2-7 stretch are self-inflicted. It also doesn't appear that there are a lot of options out there for improving the roster via trades. There's only a handful of teams which are truly out of the playoff picture and that means there's 20+ teams willing to bid on a small number of available veterans.

latest word is despite Brooklyn playing pretty well, they have made everybody on their roster "available"

 

[BenchMob]

We have 8 losses by 5 or less points this season.

I'd be willing to bet like 5 or 6 more wins, easily, if Huerter and Keegan shot 37-38% from 3 combined,

What’s frustrating is we are suppose to be elite with DDR and Fox on close games, I know 3pt issues but still should be winning more of these close games

 

[iowamcnabb]

I guess there's ample reason to be pessimistic or optimistic at this point. On the positive side, a lot of these losses are close losses and our two best shooters are shooting sub 30% right now. Despite being 3 games under .500 the Kings still have a positive point differential on the season (+0.4). One could look at the results so far and say that we have a lot of opportunity for internal improvement with the roster we have now.

On the negative side, we are losing a lot of winnable games and the execution in the last 2 minutes has not been where it needs to be. Early on we could point to officiating as a significant factor in our losses but most of the problems during our recent 2-7 stretch are self-inflicted. It also doesn't appear that there are a lot of options out there for improving the roster via trades. There's only a handful of teams which are truly out of the playoff picture and that means there's 20+ teams willing to bid on a small number of available veterans.

I think our main competitors for 3 and D big wings are going to be Cleveland (could dangle Okoro) Dallas (they might be willing to move firsts since they are all in) and Golden State (may let Moody go). That’s the problem, we have no young players to flip (not going to give away Carter for older wings on expiring or player option contracts. We sold most our seconds so we only have a few. That leaves us with our own first rounders or do what Dallas did and buy a spare Okc first rounder in exchange for a pick swap of some sort.

 

[dude12]

If we can’t make the open 3’s, then teams will continue to shade the paint creating problems for Fox and Deebo. It’s that simple. The 3 point shot is the issue on both sides of the ball when you boil it all down. Not really a roster makeup issue as some want you to believe. Sure we are heavy on guards but it’s not really the problem. Not an effort issue In most of these losses…..a few times could be better but generally they are working at it. Injury issues when Monk missed followed by Domas and Deebo but so does everyone.

Our 3 point shooting is costing us quite a few wins.