[Game] Golden State Warriors (6) @ Sacramento Kings (3) (WCDS Game 7, 3-3) 4/30/2023 12:30pm Pacific 3:30pm Eastern (ABC)

[hgut]

This is what I'm talking about. Suddenly, one broken index finger later, it is now "We don't have a superstar".

This is what I'm talking about. Suddenly, one broken index finger later, it is now "We don't have a superstar".

5-19 FG, 6 Asists

In the most important game of his life.

I am sorry but but I expect a lot more from a player with a $163 million contract.

 

[reptilexcq2]

Huerter isn't remotely "soft" and Barnes was under-utilized offensively all season.

That's true Barnes is under-utilized because the Kings are a pass and shooting team and only go to him in the post occasionally. But that's not the problem...the problem is his team help defense and ability to do other things for the team which he contribute and has very little impact. If the team want to take it to another level...they can't stick with players like that...they need players that can do more...for example...blocking shots, rebounding, altering shots inside the paint, play great team help defense. Barnes doesn't seem to be able to do that beside offensive scoring. Same with Huerter as well...I think the team is better off with an significant upgrade on those two positions.

 

[sactowndog]

I get the criticism, but seems a bit of a stretch to be complaining about the rebounding fundamentals of the leading rebounder in the nba this year. There is only so much one man can do.

Sabonis is the leading rebounder because he works hard every game. He also did poorly against Looney because he was facing him and Looney was jumping and getting the ball. Both of those can be true.

The issue was Looney and 70% of the time he was Domas’s guy.

 

[hrdboild]

This is true. But in that stretch in the third where the game got away from us, every single offensive rebound went directly to Looney no matter where he was or how badly he was boxed out. It wasn't effort or desire or better positioning or any of that. It was just blind dumb luck.

This is what I saw too. Yes he also outworked us but it was uncanny how often the ball just found him even when he was out of position or turned away from the basket. All you can do is shake your head and vow to come back even stronger next season.

 

[KainLear]

5-19 FG, 6 Asists

In the most important game of his life.

I am sorry but but I expect a lot more from a player with a $163 million contract.

What a tiring argument, to bring up his salary. Can $163 million fix broken fingers in days?

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

it’s not lucky bounces. They are long rebounds that favor the guy being boxed out. It’s a problem league wide and has been happening more and more with missed threes

Keeping in mind that an elite rebounder with as much size as his opponent, should not be giving up a bunch of rebounds over the top, if properly boxing out.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Perhaps the greatest tribute to the greatness of this season and team is how we feel right now. We truly knew in our heart of hearts that this team was better than the national champs.

I never once did. Lol

I didn't, either, but I still thought they could win. The one thing I did not anticipate was Kevon Looney morphing into Prime!Andre Drummond for seven games.

 

[Albatros]

Barnes was basically benched in this game. Hard to say much about him tonight.

 

[KF8]

I don't get why ppl are critical of Fox. We wouldn't even be in game 7 if it wasn't for him.

 

[SLAB]

I don't get why ppl are critical of Fox. We wouldn't even be in game 7 if it wasn't for him.

He’s the one guy who should be bulletproof rn.

 

[NewArena]

I’m sure Scott Foster got right on that

https://twitter.com/x/status/1652781697094795264

 

[Chupacabra]

I was wondering how long we could expect to hold up in the playoffs with our two best players having splinted hand injuries. Sabonis's shot loos completely different compared to pre injury; he's shooting it with his injured hand completely off the ball. Oh well, went into a game 7 and now that experience is there.

 

[reptilexcq2]

I’m critical of Sabonis but rebounding is not an area to criticize him on. Doesn’t matter how much Looney gets - defensive rebounding is a team game. There was a lot of long rebounds which falls on the guards and forwards to box out, put in that extra effort. Really though Kings played small a lot so this will happen. Every team loves the long forwards that can rebound (and shoot) but they’re hard to find.

I don't blame Sabonis on the rebounding issue...the ball just bounce in favor of the GS all game long despite them being out of positions...it's more of bad luck than anything. Also, I seen some other Kings players not boxing out when the ball was in the air...like Keegan one time...so...not entirely on Sabonis.

 

[Löwenherz]

Year 1:

Two All-Stars
Inaugural Clutch Player of the Year
Coach of the Year
Most 3s from a Rookie ever
+40 wins
Pacific Division Champions
Playoff Berth
3rd Seed with Home Court Advantage
7 Game Series Running Toe-to-Toe with Defending Champs

Onto Year 2

 

[SacTownKid]

You seem to want to dismiss Murray as a "system' player, but I have a hard time seeing Klay Thompson as anything other than a Super Saiyan "system" guy. I may be misremembering but I feel like Prime!Thompson led the league in points-per-dribble and catch-and-shoot baskets, several seasons in a row, which epitomizes "system" guy, in my opinion. Thompson at his best was a guy who could get you forty on any given night but has never been a guy that you could put the ball in his hands and say, "We need you to get forty tonight, champ!", and then he could just go out and do it.

So, even if Murray is "just a system guy," is that really the worst thing he could be?

Said it before, look at the Warriors, there was a reason they went so hard after Wiggins and KD and Russell. They have built their team to accommodate that and have for a long time. And if you think Klay and Murray on the same plane as ball handlers then I disagree. In terms of his usage Murray was a system guy, the iso stats tell that story as he is missing from them entirely and have told it all year. Can he be more? Certainly. Will his ball handling be night and day next year? Maybe, it's certainly possible.

And as for the last statement, the end of the day is when the story is told. Yes, the Kings need another weapon. So much that Brown rode TD in a CRUCIAL game simply because he was able to generate shots.

 

[Albatros]

I’m sure Scott Foster got right on that

https://twitter.com/x/status/1652781697094795264

He does it on every play. We should just do it back.

 

[sactowndog]

I will look to trade Barnes, Huerter for an upgrade. Barnes is not a good team defender and Huerter is soft. They're liability on defense...basically offensive minded players that try to play defense under Brown system.

Kings wings are an issue as Bill Simmons pointed out. Was good to see Keegan play well. Was a bit surprised Huerter struggled as much as he did. Wing is absolutely an area we need to upgrade.

 

[KainLear]

He’s the one guy who should be bulletproof rn.

Hey but how dare him taking $160 millions from us if he is going to break his finger and not still pull thru, like Kobe.

Remember Kobe won with a broken hand?

 

[206Fan]

I don’t think anyone should take criticism as fans being ungrateful.

1. I’m extremely disappointed in the way we lost game 7.

2. However, I’m also extremely proud of these guys for the special season we’ve had. It’s one for the books and will already be much more memorable than any team we’ve had from 2003 to 2021/2022 for me.

 

[NewArena]

5-19 FG, 6 Asists

In the most important game of his life.

I am sorry but but I expect a lot more from a player with a $163 million contract.

Where were you when he was killing it in every game before that??

 

[hrdboild]

Year 1:

Two All-Stars
Inaugural Clutch Player of the Year
Coach of the Year
Most 3s from a Rookie ever
+40 wins
Pacific Division Champions
Playoff Berth
3rd Seed with Home Court Advantage
7 Game Series Running Toe-to-Toe with Defending Champs

Onto Year 2

This is a drop the mic post. Thank you for this! Next season can't get here soon enough!

 

[Woot!]

That's true Barnes is under-utilized because the Kings are a pass and shooting team and only go to him in the post occasionally. But that's not the problem...the problem is his team help defense and ability to do other things for the team which he contribute and has very little impact. If the team want to take it to another level...they can't stick with players like that...they need players that can do more...for example...blocking shots, rebounding, altering shots inside the paint, play great team help defense. Barnes doesn't seem to be able to do that beside offensive scoring. Same with Huerter as well...I think the team is better off with an significant upgrade on those two positions.

Well, sure. You know getting such players isn't easy, right? Those significant upgrades, if available and wanting to come to Sacramento, would also cost a lot more money and/or assets if acquired thru trade. After this year Huerter himself would cost much more than his current salary if he were a free agent now.

 

[Tetsujin]

Not much to break down. Kings came out deer in the headlights in the second half. Frozen on both ends.

Domas was excellent in the first half. Kings were looking in good shape. He was dreadful in the third quarter. Everybody was dreadful in the second half but the game got away from the Kings precisely because of the board and him not getting any of them.

In the Kings wins..Domas rebounded. In their losses, he was outworked by Looney.

But his off-season needs to be dedicated to the midrange and the three. I’m sure he’ll still be a good rebounder next season.

Fox looked completely out of gas the entire game. Just looked a step slow and passive. Settling for bad shots.

HB was awful in this series.

Huerter couldn’t make a shot but I thought he played a good defensive game and series on Klay and he had 9 rebounds. He wasn’t the problem tonight

The TD hand was overplayed in this game. His defense was good last game. He got smoked tonight. Davion should’ve played more.

Monk also looked a little out of gas like Fox.

No complaints about the bench in this series though. They brought it.

Just not enough balance from the starting lineup.

Im excited about this group moving forward. Despite the performance today, I think Fox proved himself in this series…

but I just hope the front office is ready to make a couple major decisions to fill some glaring flaws and not overcommit to keeping the band together for sentimental reasons. That is how you end up like the Atlanta Hawks and regress as a young talented team instead of getting better.

This is probably a topic for another thread but the Atlanta Hawks probably regressed as a young talented team precisely because they weren't much of a young, talented team. That conference finals run they had was solely on the back of a bunch of vets they went on a shopping spree for over the COVID offseason and Trae Young being insanely hot before teams learned how to guard him. Once some of those older vets showed their age/missed a bunch of games, the young guys weren't ready to step up and that led to their front office trading the farm for a secondary all-star (Murray) and moving one of their actually good young players for cap relief/a single pick.

In contrast to that, the Kings pretty much made it to game seven on the backs of their young guys including a rising superstar in De'Aaron Fox and a rookie who JVG could barely conceal his happy stick for over the course of two games. It was in fact their "veterans" laying an egg (Harrison Barnes becoming unplayable, Sabonis just completely being out of his element) that probably did the team in more than anything. Now those young guys have some experience (Keegan seemed to just keep growing as a player as the series progressed. Malik Monk showed that his relentless aggression works when it counts) and the Kings front office still has time and resources to keep the train rolling.

 

[Jkbiker]

Pretty simple to me
Curry 37 min 50 pts
Davion 8 min mostly when Curry was on bench

 

[Löwenherz]

A positive from this loss... Warriors are probably the tougher match up against the Lakers lol.

Impressive, every part of that sentence is wrong.

 

[SLAB]

I don’t think anyone should take criticism as fans being ungrateful.

1. I’m extremely disappointed in the way we lost game 7.

2. However, I’m also extremely proud of these guys for the special season we’ve had. It’s one for the books and will already be much more memorable than any team we’ve had from 2003 to 2021/2022 for me.

It all depends on the follow up. We regress and this season is just the 2020 SFGiants season to me… only thing I remember is who we lost too at the end.

Work to do. Hopefully Monte keeps up the good work and keeps us moving forward.

 

[reptilexcq2]

Coach must have seen something to go with TD and I trust his judgement. But I never would've predicted TD getting into the playoff rotation, and especially not to defend Curry.

TD play alright until that boneheaded foul on Klay on 3 and plus 1. That really is the turning point in the game...putting Warriors up by about 10pts. The reason TD don't get much minutes in the Playoffs is lack of consistency in the game...some game he goes off and play well...others he come back to Earth....he's just inconsistent.

 

[SacTownKid]

I don’t think anyone should take criticism as fans being ungrateful.

1. I’m extremely disappointed in the way we lost game 7.

2. However, I’m also extremely proud of these guys for the special season we’ve had. It’s one for the books and will already be much more memorable than any team we’ve had from 2003 to 2021/2022 for me.

And be hopeful that the right guys are leading the way. Just be prepared, unless ruthless Monte shrinks, I wouldn't get too attached to anybody, or anything, lol.

 

[Albatros]

Pretty simple to me
Curry 37 min 50 pts
Davion 8 min mostly when Curry was on bench

If Davion plays the whole Game Curry would have got 47 points instead.

 

[NewArena]

Pretty simple to me
Curry 37 min 50 pts
Davion 8 min mostly when Curry was on bench

Very strange but i guess Davion didn't play because the Warriors packed the paint with two guys every time he was in. Oh well.