IST Quarterfinals: New Orleans Pelicans at Sacramento Kings, 12/4/2023, 7pm Pacific 10pm Eastern (TNT)

[206Fan]

The drama queens love to shout how right they are when the Kings lose. And make up any excuse why the Kings wins didn't really matter all that much.

Pendulum swings both ways. When the Kings win, people are quick to proclaim that Fox should win MVP, Monk is secretly a 2x NBA All-Star, and Keegan is Kawhi 2.0. This Kings team is very up and down. If you're expecting a team that competes every night, then you probably don't care too much about the end result. But if you're expecting a serious playoff team, I don't think that's the Kings right now. That's where disappointment sets in.

It was pointed out earlier that we're 7-0 against the top 7 teams in the west, and of our loses, 1-8 came against 3 teams... not sure how that is a good thing. Good teams should probably not go 1-8 against the 3 same teams.

I actually don't think that's true at all.

The Kings are by far the most unselfish team in the NBA, mainly because of how Domas orchestrates the offense. We pass the ball more than everybody and if a guy has it going, Fox and Domas have no problem stepping out of the way and letting them eat while they got the stroke going.

Role players by nature never get a consistent workload. That's true on every single team in the NBA. But we're just far better at spreading the wealth to them than everyone else is. That's probably a bigger problem where Fox/Domas just need to tell guys to get out of their way and go to work.

The team is unselfish, but the lack of touches coincides with the lack of minutes. The Kings don't have a consistent rotation. Brown likes to change things up constantly. A lot of his subs don't feel match-up based, instead, it's performance-based. If Kessler misses an open 3pter, he's coming out. If Sasha lets his man beat him backdoor, he's coming out. One night Davion plays 15mins, the next night he gets DNPd. The same is true for the reverse. I've counted two games this year where Sasha plays 0 minutes for an entire first half, but gets random spot minutes in a random 3rd quarter, and Coach Brown expects him to shoot and make all of his 3s. No type of rhythm. No type of warning. Just has to "stay ready."

 

[reptilexcq2]

The Kings lost because of the 2nd quarter when their stars get punk a bit by the Pelicans bench. Fox and Monk turnovers. The following players are disappointing:

Vezenkov: He doesn't do much and is a liability on defense.
Barnes: I am sorry, I said this before time and time again...the Kings need size and Barnes is constantly getting punk by athletic guys. Not just that, but he doesn't do much to help the Kings, ignite the Kings. When is the last time you seen Barnes make great play on defense helping out the team? Never. It's one thing getting owned by Zion's size, it's quite another when your individual defense is just weak, his anticipation is terrible. His lack of strength and size doesn't help the Kings' defense, making the Kings a weak team defense on nightly basis. Really, his defense doesn't bother anybody because he's not looking to block shots so even if he play great D, guys still get great look. Players know he doesn't play aggressive defense anyway...doesn't intimidate anyone. The Kings can't stop the other team from scoring due to lack of size. Good news is we have Keegan turning into a great defender...but we HAVE GOT TO get rid of Barnes. Him and Mitchell need to be traded.

Another reason the Kings lost tonight. They're not playing smart basket. What do I mean by that? For example, fast break 3 on 1 or 4 - 2...you have the numbers...why would settle for a wide open 3 instead of sure 2pts? I will take a sure 2pointer than a possibility of missing a wide open 3 (which is what happened in the game)....they came away getting 0pts instead. If they want to win competitive games, they can't be making dumb plays like that. Fox getting ball stolen from behind by Avarado is inexcusable. Shouldn't you be looking behind when you dribble up the court? How is he able to come around from behind and snatch the ball away without you even knowing it? It's stupid things like that allow the Pelicans to gain momentum. Kings just have to be smarter.

 

[Section 101]

Fox getting ball stolen from behind by Avarado is inexcusable. Shouldn't you be looking behind when you dribble up the court? How is he able to come around from behind and snatch the ball away without you even knowing it? It's stupid things like that allow the Pelicans to gain momentum. Kings just have to be smarter.

That was on everyone else especially the bench and coaches (who it was in front of). They need to be communication there's a player behind him.

 

[Vinny Basketballerino]

Honestly I'd rather the Kings have the week off to rest and recover from some minor injuries, and to get some practice time in. They can take care of business at home here.

 

[coolhandluke]

Honestly I'd rather the Kings have the week off to rest and recover from some minor injuries, and to get some practice time in. They can take care of business at home here.

Next game is on Friday. We play the losers of the Lakers vs. Suns IST game.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

You said he looks the same. I said, no he doesn't, and you doubled down with, yes, he does. That doesn't sound like a 'discussion', to me; that's an argument, in my personal record book.

Frankly, the only reason I'm still online is because I'm waiting for @Capt. Factorial or @Warhawk to come back from their coffee break, or wherever they wandered off to.

Coffee? Real men go cry into their beer.

 

[iowamcnabb]

We have a hard time getting 5 games over .500. This was our third attempt at it .we didn’t accomplish that feat until the 5th try last season.

 

[ick300]

I actually don't think that's true at all.

The Kings are by far the most unselfish team in the NBA, mainly because of how Domas orchestrates the offense. We pass the ball more than everybody and if a guy has it going, Fox and Domas have no problem stepping out of the way and letting them eat while they got the stroke going.

Role players by nature never get a consistent workload. That's true on every single team in the NBA. But we're just far better at spreading the wealth to them than everyone else is. That's probably a bigger problem where Fox/Domas just need to tell guys to get out of their way and go to work.

Mate , Fox is hell out of a plaeyer , most probably a contender for MVP of the season but he is NOT passing the ball enough ... In many cases today , especially in 2nd and 3d he has to pass the the ball instead of running into Zion and Jonas... We had not one bit few emty attack because of poor decisions from him in that time ...
And this why i said Brown lost the game , not the players .... This is the time where a great coach has to step up , bench the STAR and let him restart ...
But he is like Domas/Fox/Keagan are untouchable Gods and all they do is correct
Even two minutes at the bench in such moment can clear the head for player of this level as Fox ...

 

[Vinny Basketballerino]

Next game is on Friday. We play the losers of the Lakers vs. Suns IST game.

eh, well, some time off I guess.

 

[coolhandluke]

MB giving credit where it is due.

 

[The_Jamal]

Mate , Fox is hell out of a plaeyer , most probably a contender for MVP of the season but he is NOT passing the ball enough ... In many cases today , especially in 2nd and 3d he has to pass the the ball instead of running into Zion and Jonas... We had not one bit few emty attack because of poor decisions from him in that time ...
And this why i said Brown lost the game , not the players .... This is the time where a great coach has to step up , bench the STAR and let him restart ...
But he is like Domas/Fox/Keagan are untouchable Gods and all they do is correct
Even two minutes at the bench in such moment can clear the head for player of this level as Fox ...

He literally just had 16 assists last game. What are we talking about he doesn't pass enough?

 

[ick300]

He literally just had 16 assists last game. What are we talking about he doesn't pass enough?

And 4 today ...
But as i said , i don't want to say Fox is bad playe , totally the other way - he is amazing , and i will be happy for him to win MVP as said , but even those great player are having bad minutes , aren't they ?
And the coaches are getting their paychecks to have a solution for those 5/10 minutes across the season , while Brown just did not have it today ...
that is all i am saying

P.s. In additional to my point for 3 games so far against Pelicans fox has a total of 8 assists ... 0!!! in the first game ...
So maybe they have to figure out some other game plans for them
AGAIN , not Fox's issue but more coaching stuff

 

[Caccia]

The team is unselfish, but the lack of touches coincides with the lack of minutes. The Kings don't have a consistent rotation. Brown likes to change things up constantly. A lot of his subs don't feel match-up based, instead, it's performance-based. If Kessler misses an open 3pter, he's coming out. If Sasha lets his man beat him backdoor, he's coming out. One night Davion plays 15mins, the next night he gets DNPd. The same is true for the reverse. I've counted two games this year where Sasha plays 0 minutes for an entire first half, but gets random spot minutes in a random 3rd quarter, and Coach Brown expects him to shoot and make all of his 3s. No type of rhythm. No type of warning. Just has to "stay ready."

That's a valid criticism. Rhythm is so important in basketball. Knowing when and how much you are going to play is part of the equation. I imagine that Coach Brown will experiment less once we get into January. Right now, he is feeling out his team, trying to determine how different player combinations work, how different strategies work on offense and defense, and when to put in a certain defensive specialist.

One poster in the Denver thread pointed out that Huerter and Monk were sharing the court more this season, as they did last night, whereas last season, that rarely happened because they "play the same position." Last night and against Denver, we saw neither Edwards nor Mitchell, both of whom can be considered defensive specialists, perhaps because their advanced stats on both ends of the court are pretty bad.

 

[Caccia]

He literally just had 16 assists last game. What are we talking about he doesn't pass enough?

And that was his career high. Fox has been inconsistent in passing the ball this season, with only two games out of 14 played where he had double-digit assists. In six games, he had five or fewer assists. Three of those were against the Pelicans. Last night was one of them.

My significant other said that New Orleans keyed on Fox in the second quarter, trying to get the ball out of his hands. That was the 34-25 quarter, and their strategy worked. Give some credit to Willie Green.

 

[Stan.Helsing]

Harrison Barnes with a whopping 4 points in 34 minutes this game! #clutch

Only 4 players had less... but they played 6 minutes or less each, lol.

 

[dude12]

lol at some of these takes here.

 

[sactowndog]

Funny, haven't seen the "Domas gets demolished by big strong players" take in this thread for some reason.

As I pointed out early Valancinious wasn’t dropping this game. That fact was good for us but we still couldn’t stop their length.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

He literally just had 16 assists last game. What are we talking about he doesn't pass enough?

And that was his career high...

Wait, what? You say, "and that was his career high," like that's not still impressive. What do you think Steph Curry's career high in assists is? What do you think Damian Lillard's career high in assists is? How common do you think 20+ assist games are?

 

[ESP47]

They played poorly to end the first and 90% of the way through the second. Went from being up 15 to down 15. A 30pt swing in one quarter where they essentially turned the ball over about 7 straight times while the Pels hit every shot imaginable in that time period. The rest of the game they basically just traded baskets. Traded baskets while the Kings stayed ice cold from 3, sans Monk and a little bit of Keegan.

If the Kings cleaned up that stretch of turnovers, they probably win. Pels are just a bad matchup for them. Lengthy defenders and they can't stop Zion so they are forced to double, which leads to wide open shots.

 

[mrlaze]

Wait, what? You say, "and that was his career high," like that's not still impressive. What do you think Steph Curry's career high in assists is? What do you think Damian Lillard's career high in assists is? How common do you think 20+ assist games are?

I think what hes saying is if fox is averaging 7 asssit hed rather see games of 6, 7 and 8, than games of 0, 7 and 14. Consistant the kings are not.

 

[upinsmoke]

Harrison Barnes with a whopping 4 points in 34 minutes this game! #clutch

Only 4 players had less... but they played 6 minutes or less each, lol.

He's gotta hit the bench I didn't even want to bring him back.

 

[mrlaze]

Man the 4 spot is real weak. I thought we'd have one more season at least of decent HB and I thoigh Sasha whould make more of an impact.

 

[gilly420]

New to this thread bc I was at the arena last night (and the LAC game). I don't want to over-react but there are some issues for this team. I see some regression from last year, teams knowing how to defend us and a glaring weakness inside at power forward. Barnes is prancing around on offense, and does not have the length or athletic ability to challenge anyone inside or grab rebounds. I am not seeing it with Sasha either so I think we have to start Lyles at the 4. It's been tiring watching the Kings get their butts kicked last two games. We are missing Alex Len more than I thought...

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I think what hes saying is if fox is averaging 7 asssit hed rather see games of 6, 7 and 8, than games of 0, 7 and 14. Consistant the kings are not.

If that was his point, then the remark about 16 assists being Fox's career high was gratuitous.

 

[Tizzy Flip]

They played poorly to end the first and 90% of the way through the second. Went from being up 15 to down 15. A 30pt swing in one quarter where they essentially turned the ball over about 7 straight times while the Pels hit every shot imaginable in that time period. The rest of the game they basically just traded baskets. Traded baskets while the Kings stayed ice cold from 3, sans Monk and a little bit of Keegan.

If the Kings cleaned up that stretch of turnovers, they probably win. Pels are just a bad matchup for them. Lengthy defenders and they can't stop Zion so they are forced to double, which leads to wide open shots.

When they’re all healthy, I honestly don’t know how you defend them. Zion and BI require double teams for most teams, and when you have Trey (top 5 shooter in the league) and McCollum (top 5 midrange) being the recipient of open shots, it’s a pick-your-poison situation. Keeping Zion healthy is a must for them

 

[DynaPamm]

That is terrible news about the fan at the game.

I woke up this AM,turned TV on and I was deeply saddened by this news. It was the first news item. Sending condolences to his family and friends.

 

[reptilexcq2]

They played poorly to end the first and 90% of the way through the second. Went from being up 15 to down 15. A 30pt swing in one quarter where they essentially turned the ball over about 7 straight times while the Pels hit every shot imaginable in that time period. The rest of the game they basically just traded baskets. Traded baskets while the Kings stayed ice cold from 3, sans Monk and a little bit of Keegan.

If the Kings cleaned up that stretch of turnovers, they probably win. Pels are just a bad matchup for them. Lengthy defenders and they can't stop Zion so they are forced to double, which leads to wide open shots.

The disappoint part is that it wasn't Zion or Ingram that dominate when Pelicans make that run, it was their bench lead by Avarado. Fox and Monk didn't take care of the ball and it snow ball from there.

 

[reptilexcq2]

Man the 4 spot is real weak. I thought we'd have one more season at least of decent HB and I thoigh Sasha whould make more of an impact.

Exactly what I predicted after the end of last year. We need size and length because if not, we're going to be in trouble against teams like Pelicans.

 

[joemama]

This team still folds under strong defensive pressure.

 

[BigVirg]

Teams like the pelicans makes it clear we need to trade for an athletic wing if we are going to become a real contender.