Kings-Hornets post-game discussion

[bajaden]

Well, the Kings certainly don't like defense. Though their transition D was much better this game than versus OKC. They never stopped the ball versus OKC.

Both teams were shooting very well in the first half and then started to trail off. I can't give full credit to the defenses, as Martin was not taking good shots.

I thought both the Kings and N.O played with defensive intensity, especially in the second half, which is why some of the shots quit falling. Martin did take some bad shots. I thought Thompson's shots were all high percentage shots. They just didn't go in tonight. Other than that he had a good game. He was active on defense and he rebounded well. I liked the combination of him and Brockman on the floor together. You give up some offense with Brockman, but he more than makes up for it with defense and rebounding.

You have to give Westphal credit. He's not afraid to play young players. And he rewards their play. I know that if I were a young player on that team, it would imspire me to work my butt off. Donte, where are you?

 

[bajaden]

There's an element of finding the guy who can take a high percentage shot, too. It'll become clearer as the season progresses. Large numbers neutralize luck as a factor.

True, true, but you have to admit, there were a lot of high percentage shots missed tonight. I think the hardest part for a player like Tyreke is maintaining his patience. There has to be a point where frustration sets in and you just want to do it all by yourself.

 

[Showtime]

I'm really impressed with Oak's post offense. It's such a stark contrast to Tyson "I can't do anything to score on the block to save my life" Chandler. He and West are definitely going to cause trouble. Oak was definitely a shot blocking presense that the hornets needed, and the Kings could use as well. There's no intimidation factor with Sac's frontline. I do like Brock's toughness and hustle though. Not a fan of centers like May at all.

 

[M_Barragan]

May was a good pick up he is a solid big off the bench... We really need a defensive player on the post. I would not be oppossed nor suprised if the kings trade a peice away to land a mid teen pick to get Allibi as a project center who can contribute at least with some weakside blocks and shot modification.

 

[ElRey]

Good game by the Kings. Lost the game due to inexperience.

Good job by Kings to redeem themselves after an atrocious season opener. Guys worth mentioning are Evans and Brockman. Tyreke the rookie came back this game and held his own against the best point guard in the NBA on the road. Played good defense on Paul too. Brockman deserves playing time. When he's on the floor, he always influences the game. Can't wait to see this team next year with an upgraded front line.


Anyone see Paul went over to Tyreke after the game? Getting some mad respect from the superstar.

 

[IDidntDoDat]

Good game by the Kings. Lost the game due to inexperience.

Good job by Kings to redeem themselves after an atrocious season opener. Guys worth mentioning are Evans and Brockman. Tyreke the rookie came back this game and held his own against the best point guard in the NBA on the road. Played good defense on Paul too. Brockman deserves playing time. When he's on the floor, he always influences the game. Can't wait to see this team next year with an upgraded front line.


Anyone see Paul went over to Tyreke after the game? Getting some mad respect from the superstar.

Yep! Paul was one of the first PGs to find out about Tyrekes game. He probably came up to him giving props for the great game.

I can't wait to see this team get used to each other. The Evans/Martin duo will be just amazing! Especially if Martin learns some defense!

 

[fnordius]

To me, Thompson's career is going to depend on him learning one thing going forward - finishing in the paint. If he does that, he's a very good power forward. If he doesn't, then he's mediocre. It's as simple as that.

While I'd like to see him do that, and think tonight was kind of an anomaly, I don't think I agree with the overall statement. If JT could keep up any semblance of an offensive game, defend the paint some, grab a dozen boards and make several assists with few or no TOs, then he's playing excellent basketball, and fits very well in a semi-Princeton offense. Were he paired with the right sort of center (instead of with shortish PFs), it wouldn't be a problem.

I'd add something about Hawes at this point, but I'd mostly be preaching to the choir.

 

[Jechtsphere]

Yep! Paul was one of the first PGs to find out about Tyrekes game. He probably came up to him giving props for the great game.

I can't wait to see this team get used to each other. The Evans/Martin duo will be just amazing! Especially if Martin learns some defense!

From Paul's Twitter:

Jus got home from the game...gr8 to win the home opener, tough game but we pulled it out...VERY impressed wit the young fella Tyreke Evans!

Nice to hear about Tyreke ^_^

 

[AriesMar27]

we almost won... it was an interesting game to watch. okafor had one hell of a block at the end of the game.

no one had a complete game tonight.

martin scored 20 points but shot 9-29 with no freethrows. though he did have 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

evans shot pretty well, scored 22 but only had 2 assists and 3 turnovers.

mason had an okay game.

hawes was horrible.

beno was horrible

thompson had 12 rebounds and 6 assists but shot 25% from the field. he's 6'11... he was the tallest person in the game.

casspi came back down to earth.

sergio... what happened to sergio? did he even play? i didnt see the entire game i watched some of the cavs game and the bulls/celtics game.

we almost won... which is nice, kinda... i guess. yeah; we suck.

 

[IDidntDoDat]

From Paul's Twitter:



Nice to hear about Tyreke ^_^

Wow! Dude thanks for that info. That's just awesome

 

[IDidntDoDat]

we almost won... it was an interesting game to watch. okafor had one hell of a block at the end of the game.

no one had a complete game tonight.

martin scored 20 points but shot 9-29 with no freethrows. though he did have 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

evans shot pretty well, scored 22 but only had 2 assists and 3 turnovers.

mason had an okay game.

hawes was horrible.

beno was horrible

thompson had 12 rebounds and 6 assists but shot 25% from the field. he's 6'11... he was the tallest person in the game.

casspi came back down to earth.

sergio... what happened to sergio? did he even play? i didnt see the entire game i watched some of the cavs game and the bulls/celtics game.

we almost won... which is nice, kinda... i guess. yeah; we suck.

I wouldn't say Casspi "came back to earth". He didn't play anywhere near enough minutes today to make that statement

 

[AriesMar27]

I wouldn't say Casspi "came back to earth". He didn't play anywhere near enough minutes today to make that statement

perhaps, but he didnt really make the most of his 10 minutes shooting 2-5... only had 1 rebound. sergio had 1 rebound...

 

[IDidntDoDat]

perhaps, but he didnt really make the most of his 10 minutes shooting 2-5... only had 1 rebound. sergio had 1 rebound...

Yeah that's true, but I think he just didn't get enough minutes to get into the flow of the game. Coach didn't play him many minutes tonight because perhaps he wanted him to rest for tomorrows game.

But either way, I expect Omri to perform real well tomorrow, being well rested and all. Hopefully Omri goes back 'off' the earth tomorrow 'cause that's where i'd like him to be

 

[AriesMar27]

Yeah that's true, but I think he just didn't get enough minutes to get into the flow of the game. Coach didn't play him many minutes tonight because perhaps he wanted him to rest for tomorrows game.

But either way, I expect Omri to perform real well tomorrow, being well rested and all. Hopefully Omri goes back 'off' the earth tomorrow 'cause that's where i'd like him to be

i guess we'll see tomorrow... if he gets at least 20 minutes and plays the way he played in our first game then it was just the lack minutes. hopefully sergio will get minutes.

 

[kingsfan101]

You have to give Westphal credit. He's not afraid to play young players. And he rewards their play. I know that if I were a young player on that team, it would imspire me to work my butt off. Donte, where are you?

In the front line at least, his job is made easier by the fact that we are so thin. However, it was good that he gave minutes to guys who were battling hard.

As for Donte, the main trouble of course is the glut we have at the 3 spot. Even with Cisco's injury, there are three people ahead of him (though Mason obviously does not fit with the long term plans; even Noc to some extent, though he can be used as trade bait). Donte better pray for trade, that might open some time for him (unless he is the one traded to some other team).

 

[Merdiesel]

I watched the first 10 minutes of the game and than went out to dinner with my wife and friends... every time I checked the score on my phone it seemed we were tied. Ran out to my car on the last play to see if our guys could win it at the buzzer. Didn't go that way, and to tell you the truth, I'm ok with tonights results. We played hard and the game could have gone either way against a playoff team - a play off team lead by the best point guard in the game.

A few observations:
Brockman is a fkng beast.
We have our ISO man in Havoc.
Thompson is highly underrated.
Casspi can shoot.
and most importantly, This team has heart and show'd it tonight.

 

[Gary]

we almost won... it was an interesting game to watch. okafor had one hell of a block at the end of the game.

no one had a complete game tonight.

martin scored 20 points but shot 9-29 with no freethrows. though he did have 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

evans shot pretty well, scored 22 but only had 2 assists and 3 turnovers.

mason had an okay game.

hawes was horrible.

beno was horrible

thompson had 12 rebounds and 6 assists but shot 25% from the field. he's 6'11... he was the tallest person in the game.

casspi came back down to earth.

sergio... what happened to sergio? did he even play? i didnt see the entire game i watched some of the cavs game and the bulls/celtics game.

we almost won... which is nice, kinda... i guess. yeah; we suck.

I like what Beno did in the first half.. Might have kept the Kings from losing a lead.

 

[nebs]

Even with the loss that was a fun game last night. You can really see some exciting things in the future with Tyreke. Brockman aint so bad either. As someone else mentioned.. this was the first game in.. I don't know how long, that I was getting more and more into the action as the game went along. Fun stuff.

 

[Entity]

Way too negative. Thsi was a good game, with positive markers all over the place. A lot of hope can be drawn out of this one.

Hell called, it could be a while before it thaws out after this.

 

[Entity]

i guess we'll see tomorrow... if he gets at least 20 minutes and plays the way he played in our first game then it was just the lack minutes. hopefully sergio will get minutes.

Let me get this straight you critisize most of the players and keep begging for sergio? interesting.

 

[Entity]

If I misinterpreted your comment, I sincerely apologize. I truly thought you were making some kind of sarcastic comment, most likely because there were a lot of them last year when the "any questions" threads were posted.

I didn't notice that you weren't here last year.

Again, I apologize.

Yeah they didn't get a chance to see last year. when we lost they came in droves to pile on the negativity and when we DID win they came and poured on the sarcasm. Kind of the same way they still insert some Reke is not a pg comment in every thread that involves his name.

I'd actually like those guys to ask Chris Paul (best pg in the league) if Reke is a pg. See what he has to tell you.

 

[o.r]

just look on the potential,only game 2/82

i don't think anyone thought we gonna shine from day 1,
but the potential is there.
brockman looks like a rebound machine
reke showed us that he will deliver most of the time.
and by watching casspi for 10 minutes i can clearly say that he's gonna be a great contender for "the surprising rookie of the season" (yea i just maid this trophy...)

 

[piksi]

Evans isn't a PG same way Iverson, Bibby, Bobby Jackson and others aren't. Doesn't mean that he can't play it - it just means that he would be much, much better on his natural position. A PG is a pass first player who can create for others and unselfishness is in their nature. If You could put let's say Derrick Rose instead of Martin next to Evans - that would be crazy good.

He is a SG and way more talented than Kevin Martin

 

[AriesMar27]

Let me get this straight you critisize most of the players and keep begging for sergio? interesting.

i criticize sergio as well... he wouldnt shoot a shot to save his life. but at east he knows how to pass the ball.

 

[Rockmeister]

One last note - I love Westphal sticking with a Evans - Martin - Nocioni - Brock - Thompson lineup down the stretch. They deserve to start next game, IMO.

I would love to have this be our starting lineup.

 

[bajaden]

I would love to have this be our starting lineup.

Who knows, someday it might be. I wouldn't hold my breath for the next game though....

 

[Arkitect]

I really like what I saw in Evans in this games. He definitely showed some of competitiveness and fire. You could tell he was relishing the challenge of playing against CP3. If CP3 would do something to make Evans look bad, on the next play Evans would return the favor. Either just overpowering him or stealing the ball or whatever. Evans may be one of those guys who has that edge of always trying to prove himself against everyone he plays against. The other thing I noticed was his desire to be the guy with the ball in crunch time. He didn't look to pass or settle for a bad shot. He wanted to be the one to put the ball in the basket. Of course his final play to win the game did not go very well, but that is a result of this being his 2nd NBA game. That competitiveness and desire to be the man is not something you teach and it is rare that you find it even in NBA players. I really think Evans is going to be something special.

The team as whole played with heart and desire. There was no backing down. There were guys flying all over the court diving for loose balls. Also a couple of good smart hard fouls. We have to remember the hornets are a decent team playing their home opener. We have a team of guys that have been in the league less than three years. This team is on paper worse than the team that we had at the start of last year. We should not have been in this game.

 

[M_Barragan]

Tyreke did as good of a job defensively on CP3 as can be done. Most of his scores were off a screen... after the screen it's the low sides job to switch and stop the rolling player.

CP3 is so quick that the big guys have no chance and that's what makes him so deadly. Man on man Tyreke did an excellent job on him. That is what impressed me the most for a guy who was questioned about how he would do against NBA PG speed he just went against one of the quickest and craftiest PG's in the world and more then held his own.

But of course he isnt spanish and it wasnt a behind the back pass so I must not give him any credit.

 

[gunks]

Evans isn't a PG same way Iverson, Bibby, Bobby Jackson and others aren't. Doesn't mean that he can't play it - it just means that he would be much, much better on his natural position. A PG is a pass first player who can create for others and unselfishness is in their nature. If You could put let's say Derrick Rose instead of Martin next to Evans - that would be crazy good.

He is a SG and way more talented than Kevin Martin

Kind of my view as well. Only difference between Evans and Bibs, Bobby, and Iverson is that Reke actually has the size to play SG.

It IS still a bit to early to tell (seeing as how he's only played 2 games), but I dont think its a problem if Tyreke fails the PG experiment. Just means he'll have to be a star SG instead

Kid is a combo in a GOOD way.

 

[Rockmeister]

Who knows, someday it might be. I wouldn't hold my breath for the next game though....

Well, I didn't say today. I hope in the future.