[Game] 75/82: Kings @ Pacers 31 MAR 2025, 4pm PT/7pm ET

[Kingz19]

When Zach is on, he’s elite. The other 99% of the time he’s unplayable awful

One thing that has disappointed me about him is his ball handling. I always thought that was a strong point of his game when he was on other teams, but he’s almost Buddy Blunder level. I don’t view him as a reliable secondary ball handler.

his contract is what it is, the Kings should be trying to get him as many catch and shoot opportunities as possible. He can still be Huerter with a better shot and the ability to get downhill if the Kings play their cards right. Which they haven’t

 

[Elektrik]

Kings want to go fishing

 

[Rob-The-Great]

I'm ready to keep my 1st. I dont wanna play one more play in game. It's not a good trade off

 

[gunks]

I'm ready to keep my 1st. I dont wanna play one more play in game. It's not a good trade off

We'll probably blunder our way into it.

Unless Phoenix get better without KD

 

[iowamcnabb]

If we were down the whole game I wouldn’t have been upset but we dug ourself out of that early hole and then let it slip away. I try not to let basketball ruin my nights but here we are haha.

 

[Rob-The-Great]

Now they wanna make shots. Disgusting. Lovers. Now derozen wants to pass. This is infuriating. I'm glad I only caught the 4th quarter meltdown. Just in time

 

[Rob-The-Great]

We'll probably blunder our way into it.

Unless Phoenix get better without KD

Of course we will. No chance in hell we domt get that extra game. Otherwise, how else would we mess up our future even more

 

[SacTownKid]

There's dozens of players that are elite when they are in the zone. If you're not consistent, you're not a potential lead player for a contender

Strange, Zach was pretty consistent before the trade. Huerter apparently can shoot afterall. Wonder if situation has something to do with it? One thing is without question, he's deferring to DeMar most nights. Not sure if that's what happened in Chicago too but probably.

 

[iowamcnabb]

We'll probably blunder our way into it.

Unless Phoenix get better without KD

I’m hoping the Suns trap game their way into an unexpected win or two.

 

[The_Jamal]

Waited too long to put Keon back in on Haliburton. Costly, again

guaranteed nightly post here. How many games is this now? Like at least 5 or 6 waiting too long to put Keon back in?

 

[Rob-The-Great]

If we took all of Monks minutes and gave them to Ellis, we walk out of here with a win guarantee

 

[megapoxy]

LaVine has turned into Hyland, microwave scorer just for a while and a no show the rest of the way.
Monk has been god awful lately apart from the Blazers match. Awful rotation down the stretch from DC, "if i could change things i would keep Keon in the final minutes" statement coming again.
If Monk was good today I would understand closing the match but apart from his shooting he had 5 turnovers and was a liability in defense as welll.

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

Totally saying this (in my head) in my best Bob Barker voice...

Today's grand prize is best suited for a significantly well-paid individual who has all of a sudden forgotten how to execute one of the most fundamental skills in his trade (i.e. making a damn shot)...Let's meet our contestant!!!

MALIK AHMAD MONK, COME ON DOWN!!!

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Sabonis' defense has been really bad lately. There's just no way you can pair him with Lavine, Derozan, and Monk and think you're going anywhere

 

[luckytkp]

Strange, Zach was pretty consistent before the trade. Huerter apparently can shoot afterall. Wonder if situation has something to do with it? One thing is without question, he's deferring to DeMar most nights. Not sure if that's what happened in Chicago too but probably.

I agree with this, something definitely is still going on behind the scene even with all the movement.

 

[SacTownKid]

If we were down the whole game I wouldn’t have been upset but we dug ourself out of that early hole and then let it slip away. I try not to let basketball ruin my nights but here we are haha.

This is the way it was always going to play out, pure chaos. Now with no LaRavia and Carter on top of it so what little defense/hustle Christie has available is sitting in street clothes.

 

[iowamcnabb]

Strange, Zach was pretty consistent before the trade. Huerter apparently can shoot afterall. Wonder if situation has something to do with it? One thing is without question, he's deferring to DeMar most nights. Not sure if that's what happened in Chicago too but probably.

the thing is Lavine was great for us after the first few games of poor shooting. Hasn’t been the same since that personal reasons game

 

[Turgenev]

Meanwhile Chicago playing pretty well without Zach. Is he just a shinier, more expensive HB?

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

You would think that at some point this organization will be forced to value team defense. Not sure it's in the near future, with this owner

 

[Rob-The-Great]

My guy says Derozen is the problem. Not that he's a bad player, he's not, he's a hall of famer. They are simply giving him way too much respect and it's killing team flow

 

[SacTownKid]

the thing is Lavine was great for us after the first few games of poor shooting. Hasn’t been the same since that personal reasons game

He's been a little like Fox this season, no angry Fox = no wins. Some games are almost as if they are listed as Zach isn't that guy tonight whether by himself or someone else's doing. The Kings need to wake him up and tell him the Zach of a few years ago where he was taking 19 shots a game needs to make an appearance or this season is a wrap.

 

[The_Jamal]

You would think that at some point this organization will be forced to value team defense. Not sure it's in the near future, with this owner

I just don't understand how Christie saw that beginning of the third quarter go so well and just doesn't go back to that in crunch time. Keon played 3 minutes in the 4th outside of the "offense/defense" subs in the last minute

 

[Kingz19]

My guy says Derozen is the problem. Not that he's a bad player, he's not, he's a hall of famer. They are simply giving him way too much respect and it's killing team flow

I wouldn’t say he’s the problem. He’s certainly not the answer though.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Sabonis' defense has been really bad lately.

This is something that tends to get no-sold by people who push back against the "Sabonis is checked out" critiques, because he still mostly gets numbers on the offensive end.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

guaranteed nightly post here. How many games is this now? Like at least 5 or 6 waiting too long to put Keon back in?

Those that complain when he doesn't score enough are completely missing the intangibles that he brings, that don't show up in the box score stats.

He's a winning player that doesn't always have to score in order to put the team in a winning position on both sides of the court

 

[SacTownKid]

My guy says Derozen is the problem. Not that he's a bad player, he's not, he's a hall of famer. They are simply giving him way too much respect and it's killing team flow

At this point Domas and DDR don't work regardless of the stats bandied about post sign and trade. They just haven't truly connected so far. Considering how mucked up the season has been with all the change it's not a surprise the one guy who can get buckets like that late in the clock is pretty much the "go to" guy though. Same issues of course, if he's the "go to" the players stacked around him aren't the right fit for him either. On either end.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

I just don't understand how Christie saw that beginning of the third quarter go so well and just doesn't go back to that in crunch time. Keon played 3 minutes in the 4th outside of the "offense/defense" subs in the last minute

I think he must have it in his mind that Derozan, Lavine, and Monk are his closers. When Christie let Monk know that he wouldn't be starting, he probably told him that he would still close.

It's still not working and anybody who is watching close in a neutral objective way, is not expecting it to work in any consistent way against good/decent teams

 

[SacTownKid]

Those that complain when he doesn't score enough are completely missing the intangibles that he brings, that don't show up in the box score stats.

He's a winning player that doesn't always have to score in order to put the team in a winning position on both sides of the court

Especially with some of these lineups. There's moments where you have DeMar, Monk, LaVine, and Domas all fighting for the ball and the only one with the willingness to dominate is DeMar.

 

[iowamcnabb]

He's been a little like Fox this season, no angry Fox = no wins. Some games are almost as if they are listed as Zach isn't that guy tonight whether by himself or someone else's doing. The Kings need to wake him up and tell him the Zach of a few years ago where he was taking 19 shots a game needs to make an appearance or this season is a wrap.

Hes best as a guy that puts up 10 threes a game and the team finds him in transition for elite drives. Hes shooting like 51/42/87 with the kings. Still putting up 21 a night. That’s a very very good player. He needs to be in a heavy ball movement offense. He has shown he is unselfish.

Doug says he wants 40 plus threes and yet every night we shoot in the 20s.

we need more connectors, more defenders, a new offense, and a new approach to defending the 3. I still believe Sabonis, Keegan, Keon, Lavine and Devin can be part of a winning core. Probably need to shuffle the deck some and bring in a new offensive and defensive philosophy

 

[SacTownKid]

Hes best as a guy that puts up 10 threes a game and the team finds him in transition for elite drives. Hes shooting like 51/42/87 with the kings. Still putting up 21 a night. That’s a very very good player. He needs to be in a heavy ball movement offense. He has shown he is unselfish.

Doug says he wants 40 plus threes and yet every night we shoot in the 20s.

we need more connectors, more defenders, a new offense, and a new approach to defending the 3. I still believe Sabonis, Keegan, Keon, Lavine and Devin can be part of a winning core. Probably need to shuffle the deck some and bring in a new offensive and defensive philosophy

Zach LaVine most years is top notch in iso. The last two seasons he's been around the 37th percentile. Last year he was obviously hurt most of the year but him being that this year is rather odd. It's very unusual for him.