sactowndog
All-Star
Well that certainly was fun wasn't it?
Going up against the huge collection (literally and figuratively) of top level young prospects and JJ Reddick and Amir Johnson for some reason, the young Kings (and Z-Bo) put up quite the fight and somehow, someway scrapped and scraped their way to a stolen victory, culminating in the much maligned Willie (Receding Hairline) Cauley-Stein swatting the hell out of Joel Embiid and De'Aaron Fox leading the team to victory despite missing a poopton of free throws and looking like a rookie.
In the battle of the Process versus the Vlade-cess, tonight the one year hastily put-together avalanche of teenagers and old dudes won out. Today was a good day, indeed.
(PS, be sure to read through to the end of this grade post for the return of a much loved Kingsfans.com feature.)
Bogdan Bogdanovic (C) -- 22 min, 9 pt, 3 rb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk, 2 tov, 1 pf
Unlike almost every other game he's played this season, Bogdan looked like a rookie for most of the night, getting overwhelmed by the Sixers and their superior size and athleticism. Then, come the third quarter, solid basketball vet Bogy showed up and joined the fun, wasting no motion on offense, playing within himself on defense, and just generally being a net positive on the game's result. On the year, while his stats may not be that great, the Serb's probably been our third or fourth best player, which is more than you can ask for from a guy playing his first games in a new league in a new country.
Zach Randolph (A) -- 29 min, 20 pt, 7 rb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 0 blk, 2 tov, 1 pf
Matched up with a bunch of young athletic dudes who were born when he was already in high school, Z-Bo had his second consecutive solid performance. Thanks to the fact that he was never really that great an athlete in the first place, old man Randolph's game has aged well and he's additionally come to learn how to play within himself on defense without completely giving up the ghost and letting his man have a career night. Also, while the Sixers may all be young, athletic, and talented, none of them seemed to have an answer for Z-Bo's ripped-straight-from-the-80s old man inside game. Couple that with the consistent appearance of 3-Bo throughout the young season, and you have a legitimate argument that the two year contract was worth it.
Willie Cauley-Stein (A) -- 24 min, 15 pt, 4 rb, 1 ast, 0 stl, 2 blk, 0 tov, 3 pf
And the game changer that is a defensively engaged Willie Cauley-Stein was on full display tonight. When the Kings drafted him, they did so with the goal of drafting a defensively centerpiece capable of guarding all five positions on the floor and occasionally providing highlight plays on offense. Oddly, however, as he's developed as a pro, it has been Willie's offensive game that has become a constant and his defense that has become a question mark. This all brings us to Trill's absolutely magnificent performance against the monstrous hulk of a basketball player that is Joel Embiid, in which he was every bit the defensive presence that we all hoped he could be. Watch him in crunch time in the fourth quarter. See how he counters Embiid's length and power with his quickness and agility, how quickly he glides around the court to apply help pressure. Now, you can make the argument that Willie should be pulling down more than four rebounds in a game but tonight he was off the boards playing man-to-man defense most of the night so it's hard to fault him on that end. So far, buzzcut Willie = longterm starter Willie.
Garrett Temple (C) -- 25 min, 7 pt, 2 rb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 0 blk, 0 tov, 2 pf
Garrett's shot was off the entire night. Let's start off with that. His shot looked bad all night and, while he was making the man work, he wasn't exactly shutting down 6'10" point guard Ben Simmons. But then, in crunch time, with his team sputtering after a broken play, Garrett catches a deflected pass off a ref and drills a fade away three to suddenly bring the Kings back within one point. That shot alone wouldn't have been enough to elevate GT's grade but then you remember that Garrett Temple gets the half grade bump for being one of the better defenders in the league and that brings you to a solid C grade on the night.
George Hill (C-) -- 19 min, 2 pt, 3 rb, 7 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 1 tov, 1 pf
Another game, another night where George Hill struggled to make his mark as a scorer. Let's be clear, Hill needs to score more to be an effective member of this team. Not many teams can win many games when their starting point guard is dropping two point nights. With that said, George didn't exactly have a horrible game. His own offensive game gone fishing, he did a good job setting up Willie on the run in the first half and played solid defense. In the second half, with De'Aaron at least posing some sort of threat on offense, he wound up watching a lot of the game from the bench.
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Kosta "Boogie" Kouf-sins (A) -- 20 min, 8 pt, 12 rb, 3 ast, 0 stl, 1 blk, 0 tov, 4 pf
Earlier this season, I said that the Kings didn't deserve to have a guy like Kosta on their team and it's nights like tonight that shows us why. The rebounding, the knockdown drag-out defense, the surprising craftiness on offense, it was all on display. Contrary to popular belief, Kosta is surprisingly nimble for a seven footer and is probably one of the few dudes in the league strong enough to not just get completely bulldozed by Embiid when he's going downhill. While he's never been a spectacular player, KK is as steady and reliable as Old Faithful. If there aren't a half dozen playoff contenders lining up to get Kosta on their team come the trade deadline, I can show you a half dozen GMs that should probably be fired come season's end.
Buddy Hield (C+) -- 20 min, 8 pt, 4 rb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 0 blk, 0 tov, 0 pf
The saga of Buddy Hield, bench master, continues. Following up on his spark plug performance last game, Buddy came out firing and trying to carry on the momentum. To a degree, he was successful. While his shot wasn't as hot as it was against OKC, Hield still was a factor both on the boards and as a facilitator. One positive that's come in Buddy's second season is the continued development of his defensive capabilities. Tonight, he spent his time on a variety of off the ball scorer types and unlike some of his teammates *cough cough* Skal *cough cough*, didn't grossly misplay his man.
De'Aaron Fox (B-) -- 29 min, 11 pt, 4 rb, 7 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 1 tov, 1 pf
So here's the thing: up until the last couple of minutes, it was not a good game for De'Aaron. Be it the missed shots, missed free throws, or the general feeling that he was a car careening down the hill with no one behind the wheel, the rook seemed out of sorts on the night. While he still managed to keep teammates involved and limit the amount of turnovers during his time on the court, Fox also found himself being asked to guard the gigantic Ben Simmons or crafty JJ Reddick for most of the night, both of whom are tough matchups for a 19-year-old who weighs 170 pounds drenched to the bone. But then in crunch time, things started to click, De'Aaron (and the team behind him) started to really ratchet up the defensive intensity, and those crazy drives to the hoop finally started to have an effect (first on the three point play off the Willie rejection, then with the game winner off the dribble thanks to Covington trying to prevent the drive). De'Aaron's defense on Reddick on the Sixers' final possession also was a thing of beauty, but at the end of the day, a great three minutes can only raise a bad grade so much.
Justin Jackson (B+) -- 29 min, 19 pt, 1 rb, 2 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 1 tov, 1 pf
J-Jax has arrived. Off the ball, catch-and-shoot, driving shots, stop-and-pops, all of the former Tar Heel's offensive arsenal was on display against the Sixers and, unlike any other game this season, his shot was falling. Playing a mix of time at the small forward and power forward slots, Jackson is playing a role not unlike the one I thought Omri would play were he still on the Kings. On defense, Jackson is long enough to defend most modern NBA power forwards and, while sporting a body not unlike Kevin Martin's, plays smart enough to not get devoured by bigger guys in the league. Maybe Vlade knew what he was doing when he moved down to draft the dude this summer.
Skal Labissiere (C-) -- 10 min, 2 pt, 4 rb, 0 ast, 0 stl, 1 blk, 1 tov, 4 pf
I guess someone had to suck tonight and it just so happened to be Skal. As I've been harping on all season, Skal can show an astounding lack of basketball IQ (in this case, I mean not fouling a three point shooter several times in a row) and a physical presence not quite ready for a full NBA game all while also showing intriguing flashes that make you think he could possibly become a star. With all three other big men (and hastily-inserted-at-stretch-4 Justin Jackson) playing fantastic basketball, Skal was largely relegated to bench warming duty and at this point I would not be entirely shocked to see him sent up to Reno for a bit to continue his work on the fundamentals of the game.
Malachi Richardson (B+) -- 7 min, 8 pts, 1 rb, 0 ast, 1 stl, 0 blk, 1 tov, 1 pf
With Vince Carter dealing with kidney stones, Malachi got slotted into the ancient one's token second quarter appearance and was sheer offensive nitroglycerin, absolutely nailing the three shots he took. As Justin Jackson appears to have shaken off the rookie gips and Buddy continues to be a bench beast, seven minutes was all the former Cuse star got but he certainly made the most of them. You kinda have to feel bad for the guy getting shelved due to no fault of his own, but if Malachi can continue to breakout in short bursts like he did tonight, Joerger will have no choice but to get the guy his minutes one way or another.
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View From the Other Side found here: http://kingsfans.com/threads/kings-v-sixers-11-9-17.68310/#post-1345549
I would be curious if anyone has it what are the team assist numbers when Hill and/or Bogs are on the floor. My unsubstantiated gut feel is the ball moves better particularly with Bogs but would love to see the data.
