[Game] Kings at Grizzlies, Thursday May 13th, 5 PM Pacific (8 PM Eastern)

When the Kings last made the playoffs I was a giddy freshman in high school. I’m now, 30 and married with two kids and beginning to bald a little bit. If there is one thing I’ve learned to count on from the Kings it’s complete and total failure.
I am sure everyone here has a story like this. My dog was born in Jan, 2007, he's 14 now and has never seen a playoff game. Also, iPhone didn't even exist in 2006. That's how long it has been.
 
When the Kings last made the playoffs I was a giddy freshman in high school. I’m now, 30 and married with two kids and beginning to bald a little bit. If there is one thing I’ve learned to count on from the Kings it’s complete and total failure.
Sounds like me. Became a fan of basketball in 2002 when I was 10, figured the Kings "would be good forever".

lol
 
For those willing to acknowledge success outside of the binary make the playoffs or maximise lottery odds, I think this is a nice time to again acknowledge some of the team building success that has been evident at the end of the season. TD (2 second round picks), DW (Cojo), MH (Belly’s unhappy and expiring contract), Metu, DJ, and maybe King (cheap pickups) seem like the bones of a good supporting cast. Affordable, watchable, two-way, team players that can contribute to competitive basketball.

Yeah – much of the basketball that has been played this season has been infuriating. There are some players that will likely get drafted in the top 10 that could be good on the Kings and we will likely miss out on them (although I think there is enough talent in the draft to make good additions). And there are a lot of decisions to be made this offseason. Can the front office put together a team and coaching staff that can compete for an entire season, not just for select stretches? We don’t know yet. But they have shown an ability to identify valuable support players that can be acquired relatively cheaply and that is promising.
 
Not gonna say once again it's my fault, but I woke up at around 5AM went to flashscore, saw that it is a 4th quarter we are up by 7, was wondering do I really need to watch the end. I said to myself, gonna wait few minutes to see what the score is a little later. The result was 110-104, I turned on and Memphis went on a 12-0 run, like are you kidding me. o_O
 
Wanted to give Justin James a shout out. As an unheralded 2nd round pick that’s had a lot of humor poked at him on this site, I was really happy to see the performance he had to day.

Like Marvin Bagley’s 30+ point game a while back, I realize it’s only one game. But there have been many NBA players that have come and gone that never managed a night like the one he had last night. If he had really wanted to go the selfish route, he could have had 40+.

But he did it in the flow of a meaningful game for both teams. Great job kid!

Hopefully with more opportunity he is able to shine more often.
 
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I agree they are not very good, but you can tell the team is better constructed than us.
I’m not sure I agree with you here.

As @SacTownKid has pointed out, this team does have a lot of talent — and some depth.

While the players definitely deserve a large portion of blame, I believe mismanagement has played a larger role in underachieving.

Their current win percentage would have them producing a 36-48 record over 82 — which they’ve only reached and eclipsed one time the past 12 seasons.

They accomplished that despite two 9 game losing streaks. Which is ridiculous when you think about it.
Normally those types of long losing streaks are associated with tanking teams or teams so bad they don‘t eclipse 20 wins.

I believe better management could have minimized the two long streaks and this team would be in the postseason as constructed — just like Memphis.

However I believe they’d be better than Memphis.

IDC that Memphis has won 6 more games and sit in 9th place. I like our KINGS roster over their’s in terms of future success IF both are managed at the highest possible level.
 
I’m not sure I agree with you here.

As @SacTownKid has pointed out, this team does have a lot of talent — and some depth.

While the players definitely deserve a large portion of blame, I believe mismanagement has played a larger role in underachieving.

Their current win percentage would have them producing a 36-48 record over 82 — which they’ve only reached and eclipsed one time the past 12 seasons.

They accomplished that despite two 9 game losing streaks. Which is ridiculous when you think about it.
Normally those types of long losing streaks are associated with tanking teams or teams so bad they don‘t eclipse 20 wins.

I believe better management could have minimized the two long streaks and this team would be in the postseason as constructed — just like Memphis.

However I believe they’d be better than Memphis.

IDC that Memphis has won 6 more games and sit in 9th place. I like our KINGS roster over their’s in terms of future success IF both are managed at the highest possible level.

I agree the mismanagement is definitely why we missed the play-in. Beside our 2 9-games losing streaks, we also went 2-8 after we started the season 3-1. This kind of huge swing pretty much sums up Walton's coaching ability.
 
I’m not sure I agree with you here.

As @SacTownKid has pointed out, this team does have a lot of talent — and some depth.

While the players definitely deserve a large portion of blame, I believe mismanagement has played a larger role in underachieving.

Their current win percentage would have them producing a 36-48 record over 82 — which they’ve only reached and eclipsed one time the past 12 seasons.

They accomplished that despite two 9 game losing streaks. Which is ridiculous when you think about it.
Normally those types of long losing streaks are associated with tanking teams or teams so bad they don‘t eclipse 20 wins.

I believe better management could have minimized the two long streaks and this team would be in the postseason as constructed — just like Memphis.

However I believe they’d be better than Memphis.

IDC that Memphis has won 6 more games and sit in 9th place. I like our KINGS roster over their’s in terms of future success IF both are managed at the highest possible level.
Memphis without JJ and Morant would be better than a fully healthy Kings team and probably the same as a Kings team without Barnes and Fox.
 
Can't say I'm not proud of the way Delon/Buddy/Richaun/TD/Moe/JJ/Jones/Metu + random contributions from others played these last however many games. I can only wish that Fox and co. will play this hard next season.
 
Memphis without JJ and Morant would be better than a fully healthy Kings team and probably the same as a Kings team without Barnes and Fox.
Lol. Gtfo with this crap. This isn’t true and everyone but you knows it. Melton/brooks/Anderson/Clarke/JV better than fox/buddy/ty/Barnes/holmes?? That team WITH morant and JJJ barely beat our team not fully healthy
 
Can't say I'm not proud of the way Delon/Buddy/Richaun/TD/Moe/JJ/Jones/Metu + random contributions from others played these last however many games. I can only wish that Fox and co. will play this hard next season.
hopefully DeAarron saw the value of consistent good defense every night. While Fox could be a great defender on a night to night basis he has not been. For this team to be good, that must be an area of focus. It prevents 9 game losing streaks.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
Memphis without JJ and Morant would be better than a fully healthy Kings team and probably the same as a Kings team without Barnes and Fox.
This is truly the greatest hot take in the history of hot takes and that is even counting the many great Jimmer hot takes that once riddled this place like bulletholes
 
Lol. Gtfo with this crap. This isn’t true and everyone but you knows it. Melton/brooks/Anderson/Clarke/JV better than fox/buddy/ty/Barnes/holmes?? That team WITH morant and JJJ barely beat our team not fully healthy
That team with Morant and Triple J Jeff Jarrett barely beat a Kings roster that is barely recognizable. I look at the roster and it doesnt remotely resemble our roster from a couple of months ago.
 
Memphis without JJ and Morant would be better than a fully healthy Kings team and probably the same as a Kings team without Barnes and Fox.
Just making sure I understand. Among the things you're saying here is that the Kings are better WITHOUT Fox and Barnes than with them. Is that right?
 
For those willing to acknowledge success outside of the binary make the playoffs or maximise lottery odds, I think this is a nice time to again acknowledge some of the team building success that has been evident at the end of the season. TD (2 second round picks), DW (Cojo), MH (Belly’s unhappy and expiring contract), Metu, DJ, and maybe King (cheap pickups) seem like the bones of a good supporting cast. Affordable, watchable, two-way, team players that can contribute to competitive basketball.

Yeah – much of the basketball that has been played this season has been infuriating. There are some players that will likely get drafted in the top 10 that could be good on the Kings and we will likely miss out on them (although I think there is enough talent in the draft to make good additions). And there are a lot of decisions to be made this offseason. Can the front office put together a team and coaching staff that can compete for an entire season, not just for select stretches? We don’t know yet. But they have shown an ability to identify valuable support players that can be acquired relatively cheaply and that is promising.
Excellent take.

The basics of team success: a couple stars; a strong supporting cast, including depth and complementarity; good coaching and schemes; and good health. Monte did a great job on the supporting cast front, and increased depth will remain a good hedge against injury. We'll see what he's able to do in re coaching, if anything. I suspect the most promising route might be a current asst. coach, rather than a retread, but we'll see.

The toughest hurdle is getting another star player, preferably a frontline guy. *Should* have been Bags and I suppose it might yet be, but I'm pretty skeptical.
 
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