[Game] Indiana Pacers @ Sacramento Kings, 1/18/2024, 7:00p PST/10:00p EST

[Kingster]

Yeah, the last game I watched was the Raptors game, and I think that's it. - like you say - spend time doing something else, or in other words, not worth the time. Was thinking there'd be some incremental improvement on defense this season - but its just not there half the season in.... Coaching and team do not have answers. Will be surprised if the team finishes above .500. Offense is great, but need more than that to win consistently. You cant take possessions off on either end. If you're tired, speak up, and request a substitute, or Brown needs to enact his own initiatives.

Even the offense has been poor at times. In the Suns game the offense went down the drain in the 4th because of the "sticky" hands of the guards. They don't always want to play hard and play as a team, just when they feel like it for whatever reason. Neither the competitive spirit nor the leadership is sufficient.

 

[Warhawk]

I got to thinking back a few years and I believe I was happier knowing we were going to lose every game but thrilled when we somehow won one.

Yeah, I think the issue is that last season raised expectations. Now that they are struggling to match the achievements of last season it seems more disappointing.

 

[Kingster]

Yeah, I think the issue is that last season raised expectations. Now that they are struggling to match the achievements of last season it seems more disappointing.

I think that's part of it, but the "run it back" idea was that the team would improve with most of the roster being the same. Given the nature of these losses and the number of times this team has been demolished relative to last year, it's hard for me to see improvement. In fact, I think I'd have to strain to see this team being at the same level as last year's team.

 

[Warhawk]

I think that's part of it, but the "run it back" idea was that the team would improve with most of the roster being the same. Given the nature of these losses and the number of times this team has been demolished relative to last year, it's hard for me to see improvement. In fact, I think I'd have to strain to see this team being at the same level as last year's team.

Agreed, to an extent. When you "overachieve" the first year like we did I think it is natural to want to keep that core together and play more around the margins. Although Domas is getting triple doubles, a lot of the other players aren't living up to what they did last year. Some of that is likely from injury as well as better defense from the opposition. Some may be to player regression (either age or just back to their mean).

 

[dude12]

Not to lose sight on what our record is which pretty much the same as last year in a brutal West. Ebbs and flows.
I do NOT buy that Brown is the problem. He’s preaching the right things when it comes to defense. I don’t believe by playing some of the defensive oriented guys would help us overall as the offense would suffer.

The other thing about the D is that scoring is up around the league. We are close to our production offensively from last year but now there is like 6 or 7 other teams who are even better stats wise…….crazy.

It’s a chess game both roster reconstruction wise and lineup wise and strategy wise.

 

[hrdboild]

I'm starting to come around to the "We need a bad guy" point of view.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Agreed, to an extent. When you "overachieve" the first year like we did I think it is natural to want to keep that core together and play more around the margins. Although Domas is getting triple doubles, a lot of the other players aren't living up to what they did last year. Some of that is likely from injury as well as better defense from the opposition. Some may be to player regression (either age or just back to their mean).

Did they overachieve? They won 48 games and lost games 5 and 7 at home to lose their first round series. Maybe relative to what the Kings were for the prior 16 seasons.....but can you really evaluate a new team construction and coach based on that?

Overachieving would have been something like making the western conference finals, like Dallas did two seasons ago

 

[NewArena]

This is getting scary. 9 of next 12 games before All Start break are on the road. Yeeesh.

This team is backwards though. This could very well end up being their best 12 game stretch of the season, knowing them lol

 

[NewArena]

People fell for this stupid brooks joke driven by Klutch/ESPN cause he dared stand up to lebron, could’ve had him for cheap

As in ... Dillon Brooks? Have you seen his contract

 

[NewArena]

Not to lose sight on what our record is which pretty much the same as last year in a brutal West. Ebbs and flows.
I do NOT buy that Brown is the problem. He’s preaching the right things when it comes to defense. I don’t believe by playing some of the defensive oriented guys would help us overall as the offense would suffer.

The other thing about the D is that scoring is up around the league. We are close to our production offensively from last year but now there is like 6 or 7 other teams who are even better stats wise…….crazy.

It’s a chess game both roster reconstruction wise and lineup wise and strategy wise.

This. Let's see what happens around the trade deadline and simply make adjustments the way others have. We're not in some awful position right now, as many teams have been up and down. Some with multiple hall of famers *shrug*

 

[Warhawk]

Did they overachieve? They won 48 games and lost games 5 and 7 at home to lose their first round series. Maybe relative to what the Kings were for the prior 16 seasons.....but can you really evaluate a new team construction and coach based on that?

Overachieving would have been something like making the western conference finals, like Dallas did two seasons ago

Yes, to the bolded, and also to all the preseason expectations by, well, just about everyone, that we would be a play-in team (or no better than playoff fodder) at best. IIRC, of course. I'm not going to go back and look at specifics, but I don't recall anyone expecting us to win the Pacific and be the #3 seed in the West.

 

[dude12]

I’m also coming around on the HB needs to sit train. I think as the fifth option his scoring is going to fluctuate wildly but then there are other things he does that helps the team but I think that is starting to happen less and less.

Guys who average 15 points but they average it by scoring a lot in 1 game and then disappear in the next 2 are absolute killers to your team.

 

[gunks]

I’m also coming around on the HB needs to sit train. I think as the fifth option his scoring is going to fluctuate wildly but then there are other things he does that helps the team but I think that is starting to happen less and less.

Guys who average 15 points but they average it by scoring a lot in 1 game and then disappear in the next 2 are absolute killers to your team.

That's been his MO for years now. His defense has gone from overrated to abysmal, and he's always been a lazy/bad rebounder.

We have a lot more problems than HB (Fox and Monk have been really iffy lately), but benching Barnes seems like a no brainier and will hopefully happen post trade deadline if we're unable to move him.

 

[The_Jamal]

I’m also coming around on the HB needs to sit train. I think as the fifth option his scoring is going to fluctuate wildly but then there are other things he does that helps the team but I think that is starting to happen less and less.

Guys who average 15 points but they average it by scoring a lot in 1 game and then disappear in the next 2 are absolute killers to your team.

And what's made HB absurdly valuable (prior to this year) is he WAS so consistently giving you 12+ PPG with elite shooting and getting to the FT line for a non-star player. He gave you a star player scoring profile with role player USG. So so valuable.

But I think his athleticism decline has taken most of that away. Just doesn't have the same explosion attacking the rim and drawing fouls. He's never been a great defender in a King uni, but he was always passable, prior to this year. Just a liability on that end now.

I don't think he's a bad player, like some suggest, but he's not a starter anymore. 22-25 MPG, Andre Iggy style, is probably where he needs to be.

 

[SacTownKid]

And what's made HB absurdly valuable (prior to this year) is he WAS so consistently giving you 12+ PPG with elite shooting and getting to the FT line for a non-star player. He gave you a star player scoring profile with role player USG. So so valuable.

But I think his athleticism decline has taken most of that away. Just doesn't have the same explosion attacking the rim and drawing fouls. He's never been a great defender in a King uni, but he was always passable, prior to this year. Just a liability on that end now.

I don't think he's a bad player, like some suggest, but he's not a starter anymore. 22-25 MPG, Andre Iggy style, is probably where he needs to be.

Barnes is averaging 2 less FGA's per game from last year and over 3 from the year prior. That's the difference. Both he and Huerter have taken a backseat and it's no surprise considering they are both the trade pieces being shopped. Literally almost every metric is right in line with his career numbers. His TS% is right there, however his 3 point attempt % has jumped to over 60%. True sign of a spot shooter. They have essentially switched the roles of Keegan and Harrison.

 

[Srzly]

do a

Barnes is averaging 2 less FGA's per game from last year and over 3 from the year prior. That's the difference. Both he and Huerter have taken a backseat and it's no surprise considering they are both the trade pieces being shopped. Literally almost every metric is right in line with his career numbers. His TS% is right there, however his 3 point attempt % has jumped to over 60%. True sign of a spot shooter. They have essentially switched the roles of Keegan and Harrison.

I have no problem with Barnes’ offense. It’s his defense that’s problematic this season and I was a Barnes defender until recently. Just no hustle and he is playing the worst defense I’ve seen him play outside of a couple of game.

I’ve been holding out hope he will turn it around but I’m losing faith. He just doesn’t look like the same player lately and it’s disappointing because I like Barnes.

Maybe coming off the bench would be beneficial for him where he can be more of a primary option on offense and get him more engaged defensively. Maybe that would help.

 

[TaxMan]

do a

I have no problem with Barnes’ offense. It’s his defense that’s problematic this season and I was a Barnes defender until recently. Just no hustle and he is playing the worst defense I’ve seen him play outside of a couple of game.

I’ve been holding out hope he will turn it around but I’m losing faith. He just doesn’t look like the same player lately and it’s disappointing because I like Barnes.

Maybe coming off the bench would be beneficial for him where he can be more of a primary option on offense and get him more engaged defensively. Maybe that would help.

This is what I see with HB as well. He has no fire right now, a step slow athletically, and then I really don’t see him making it up with all out hustle. I think we are generally fine with him being up and down offensively if he was providing some amount of resistance defensively. However it is extremely bad defensively while at the same time giving us pretty much nothing on the boards. His game has deteriorated very quickly. The athleticism drop was noticeable last year, but has only taken a nose dive this year.

 

[sactowndog]

This is what I see with HB as well. He has no fire right now, a step slow athletically, and then I really don’t see him making it up with all out hustle. I think we are generally fine with him being up and down offensively if he was providing some amount of resistance defensively. However it is extremely bad defensively while at the same time giving us pretty much nothing on the boards. His game has deteriorated very quickly. The athleticism drop was noticeable last year, but has only taken a nose dive this year.

I have been saying since day 1 this years team will go as far as Kessler Edwards allows them to. Start Edwards and let him play some defense and remove some defensive load off Keegan.

meanwhile hope between Lyles, Sasha and Barnes hope you can make some sort of trade. The current problems are a roster construction problem and is Monte’s fault not Mikes.

 

[Caccia]

do a

I have no problem with Barnes’ offense. It’s his defense that’s problematic this season and I was a Barnes defender until recently. Just no hustle and he is playing the worst defense I’ve seen him play outside of a couple of game.

I’ve been holding out hope he will turn it around but I’m losing faith. He just doesn’t look like the same player lately and it’s disappointing because I like Barnes.

Maybe coming off the bench would be beneficial for him where he can be more of a primary option on offense and get him more engaged defensively. Maybe that would help.

That is my take, too.

 

[Turgenev]

I'm starting to come around to the "We need a bad guy" point of view.

We do. You could add one defensive piece that doesn't get played off the floor on offence and the team might move from 17th defensively to 15th, maybe better. But there is something in our DNA that says we are going to be too relaxed and frequently play well below our potential even with an extra defensive piece. We need someone who can say 'no, this isn't going to happen to us'. Ideally they would say it before the game starts.

 

[hrdboild]

We do. You could add one defensive piece that doesn't get played off the floor on offence and the team might move from 17th defensively to 15th, maybe better. But there is something in our DNA that says we are going to be too relaxed and frequently play well below our potential even with an extra defensive piece. We need someone who can say 'no, this isn't going to happen to us'. Ideally they would say it before the game starts.

Yeah, exactly. Before the game starts, in the middle of a possession when someone misses an assignment, at every timeout. The bad habits aren't just going to self-correct and there's only so much the coaches can do from the sideline. We need that voice on the floor, demanding accountability from everyone.

 

[SacTownKid]

do a

I have no problem with Barnes’ offense. It’s his defense that’s problematic this season and I was a Barnes defender until recently. Just no hustle and he is playing the worst defense I’ve seen him play outside of a couple of game.

I’ve been holding out hope he will turn it around but I’m losing faith. He just doesn’t look like the same player lately and it’s disappointing because I like Barnes.

Maybe coming off the bench would be beneficial for him where he can be more of a primary option on offense and get him more engaged defensively. Maybe that would help.

When someone is on the outs, get them out. He's not immune to that.

 

[KF8]

and of course the blazers just beat a near full strength pacers with hali and siakam

 

[ick300]

and of course the blazers just beat a near full strength pacers with hali and siakam

and pretty much easy leading all the way from early second quarter or something ….
Strange season , every team is beating everyone and loosing form everyone …
Only we are looking from pelicans everywhere …

 

[coolhandluke]

Don't look at the points in the paint and bench points scored by the Pacers against the Blazers tonight.

 

[MizzouKing]

I do wonder if there is a trade deadline / rumour effect

I think so, and Huerter has said as much. To the league it’s just business, but to a player it’s their kids hearing their dad getting trashed and their wife wondering how long they’ll have to live apart until school ends. It has to have an effect.

 

[KF8]

I think so, and Huerter has said as much. To the league it’s just business, but to a player it’s their kids hearing their dad getting trashed and their wife wondering how long they’ll have to live apart until school ends. It has to have an effect.

True, but they've also been struggling since the beginning of the season so it's a double whammy.

 

[Showtime]

I think so, and Huerter has said as much. To the league it’s just business, but to a player it’s their kids hearing their dad getting trashed and their wife wondering how long they’ll have to live apart until school ends. It has to have an effect.

Harrison Barnes makes 17 million a year. Some guy who makes 100k a year would have to work 170 years to earn what HB makes in one season. I really don't care what mental pressure players have near the deadline.

 

[MizzouKing]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1748878590404329735