[Grades] Grades v. Nuggets 10/30/2013

[Bricklayer]

One more positive from me:

Although their roster is not the same this year, the Nuggets have absolutely owned us over the past couple seasons so the win was very nice to me. so many blowout losses for the Kings against Denver, even at home. and a lot of that was thanks to Ty Lawson who is indeed still out there.

Difference = for years and years a succession of stupid coaches tried to outrun a superior running team, and it was pretty apparent that was never going to change under Petrie's watch. Last night we went out and smashmouthed a running team going through a transition of its own away from running. I have grown so incredibly tired of "we had to matchup". No. You. Don't. Dominance = making them matchup to you. Make them play YOUR style.

 

[Sluggah]

yeah, I believe we lost the last 9 match ups with them. 1 down 8 to go for payback.

 

[bubulina]

Thornton is not an NBA starting caliber player. Kings have potential this season, but nobody is going to take them seriously as long as they have Euro-League talent players like him playing consistently high minutes every game.

Don't underestimate Euroleague. Some of the teams are spectacular.

 

[Padrino]

Difference = for years and years a succession of stupid coaches tried to outrun a superior running team, and it was pretty apparent that was never going to change under Petrie's watch. Last night we went out and smashmouthed a running team going through a transition of its own away from running. I have grown so incredibly tired of "we had to matchup". No. You. Don't. Dominance = making them matchup to you. Make them play YOUR style.

indeed. it was fantastic to watch the kings grind the game down, playing at a deliberate pace. they pretty successfully slowed a nuggets team that gets uncomfortable when it can't get out on the break or initiate the early offense. i can only recall a couple of defensive breakdowns in which the nuggets were able to penetrate to the rim early in the shotclock. in the past, these kings played matador to teams like the nuggets, allowing just about anybody into the paint.

so now we know that this team is capable of playing at a high energy level on the defensive end. they're capable of playing smashmouth basketball. the question remains: can they do so consistently? after a two-point victory in a single regular season home game against a team that's probably no better than an 8th-10th seed with their own rookie head coach, i am still more confident in mike malone's ability to turn this team around than any head coach the kings have employed since rick adelman. defense speaks volumes in that way. it really does...

 

[ninjabiscuit]

And folks, has anyone found his demeanor to be bothersome?

Bothersome isn't the word I would use, but he did have a minor altercation, and Nuggets coach Brian Shaw was at the fringe of it. DMC walked away, though, which is good to see.

 

[The_Jamal]

indeed. it was fantastic to watch the kings grind the game down, playing at a deliberate pace. they pretty successfully slowed a nuggets team that gets uncomfortable when it can't get out on the break or initiate the early offense. i can only recall a couple of defensive breakdowns in which the nuggets were able to penetrate to the rim early in the shotclock. in the past, these kings played matador to teams like the nuggets, allowing just about anybody into the paint.

so now we know that this team is capable of playing at a high energy level on the defensive end. they're capable of playing smashmouth basketball. the question remains: can they do so consistently? after a two-point victory in a single regular season home game against a team that's probably no better than an 8th-10th seed with their own rookie head coach, i am still more confident in mike malone's ability to turn this team around than any head coach the kings have employed since rick adelman. defense speaks volumes in that way. it really does...

uhh, Nuggets won 57 games last year my man. They were missing a few key players, but they replaced that depth with good talents like Foye and Hickson. Sure, they'll have a transition period with Shaw, but I see no reason why these guys won't be pushing 50 wins again, especially when Gallo is healthy.

 

[Tetsujin]

uhh, Nuggets won 57 games last year my man. They were missing a few key players, but they replaced that depth with good talents like Foye and Hickson. Sure, they'll have a transition period with Shaw, but I see no reason why these guys won't be pushing 50 wins again, especially when Gallo is healthy.

I'm not so sure having Foye, Robinson, and Hickson are necessarily better than just having Iguodala on their team.

 

[Bricklayer]

uhh, Nuggets won 57 games last year my man. They were missing a few key players, but they replaced that depth with good talents like Foye and Hickson. Sure, they'll have a transition period with Shaw, but I see no reason why these guys won't be pushing 50 wins again, especially when Gallo is healthy.

It was 57 voodoo wins. Much as I understand and am even sympathetic to the idea that they were never never going to win in the postseason playing that style of ball, there is just as little doubt in my mind that Karl was the circus master making it all possible. Pull him, bring in a rookie coach trying to change the style, and the whole thing could collapse like a house of cards. Then all of a sudden you look up and you're back to being a team without a superstar, without post players, without a true SG or stopper, with a dip for a center.

 

[Padrino]

uhh, Nuggets won 57 games last year my man. They were missing a few key players, but they replaced that depth with good talents like Foye and Hickson. Sure, they'll have a transition period with Shaw, but I see no reason why these guys won't be pushing 50 wins again, especially when Gallo is healthy.

yeah, i have to agree with Brick and Tetsujin above me; the nuggets are a team that i expect to plummet in the standings this season. they were led by a head coach who, after the carmelo anthony trade, was utterly in his uptempo element coaching a team without a ball-stopping superstar. it's possible that the bottleneck at middle-of-the-pack in the western conference will yield a playoff spot for the nuggets this season, but they don't strike me as a team that's going nearly as far in the absence of george karl and andre iguodala. taking two impact pieces of that caliber away from a playoff team is often more than enough to get the mediocrity ball rolling, and i'm not convinced that middling roleplayers like randy foye and jj hickson, or rookie head coach brian shaw, are going to make up the difference...

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

I've been to dozens of Kings games since 85', but I honestly can say none have ever brought me to joyfull tears like this one...I cried with both NBA exec votes in favor of us, I cried when our new owners got the green light and everything was a go for the sale, and watching C-Dave bring down the house with Vivek and Scottie Moak during intro's with 17,317 proud Sacramentans ...man, no words.

 

[Cold]

The Nuggets officially have the lowest collective IQ in the league. If I had to pick 3 dumbest players in the NBA, I bet all 3 are Nuggets.

 

[Tetsujin]

The Nuggets officially have the lowest collective IQ in the league. If I had to pick 3 dumbest players in the NBA, I bet all 3 are Nuggets.

Well, they're at least a lot smarter than the days of Carmelo, JR Smith, and AI. But that's sorta like saying that I can run faster than a guy in a wheelchair.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Thornton is not an NBA starting caliber player. Kings have potential this season, but nobody is going to take them seriously as long as they have Euro-League talent players like him playing consistently high minutes every game.

Difference = for years and years a succession of stupid coaches tried to outrun a superior running team, and it was pretty apparent that was never going to change under Petrie's watch. Last night we went out and smashmouthed a running team going through a transition of its own away from running. I have grown so incredibly tired of "we had to matchup". No. You. Don't. Dominance = making them matchup to you. Make them play YOUR style.

Totally agree. Just play to our strengths and

I've been to dozens of Kings games since 85', but I honestly can say none have ever brought me to joyfull tears like this one...I cried with both NBA exec votes in favor of us, I cried when our new owners got the green light and everything was a go for the sale, and watching C-Dave bring down the house with Vivek and Scottie Moak during intro's with 17,317 proud Sacramentans ...man, no words.

It was pure goosebumps when Vivek stood at center court and opened with "Sacramento,..Sacramento,.. this is your team". Major electricity through everyone