Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
Well, would ya look at that, a win!
It's been approximately forty weeks since the last Kings game since the Grizzlies all caught COVID-19 and got the back-to-back series cancelled or at the very best postponed but when we last checked in on the Kings, they had just beaten the Knicks and everyone remembered how awesome Tyrese Haliburton was.
Luke Walton's inevitable firing being kicked a little bit further down the road, the Kings embark on a four game road trip to chase after it.
First stop? Orlando
***
Awards time
Tony Delk Memorial Award- Alec Burks. Back off a leg injury, the former King wasted no time jacking up as many shots as humanely possible off the bench, going 3 for 14 overall and 1 for 5 from three in 27 minutes. Considering how awful some of the other Knicks were at shooting, this actually qualifies as one of their better performances of the night.
Jason Hart/Andres Nocioni/Cory Joseph Award- Glenn Robinson III. When his shot is falling, Medium Dog is a passably playable rotation player for the Kings. When he's 1 of 7 in 14 minutes and singlehandedly ruining Tyrese's passing numbers, his minutes should probably be going to someone more "developable". On a related note, when is DQJ gonna be able to play again?
Vlade Divac Memorial Great Draft Goat of the Night- Obi Toppin. Obi seems like a perfectly nice guy. Heck, he seems like a perfectly not terrible basketball player. But when you use your high lotto pick on a guy who happens to play the same position as the best player on your team and has a skill set that is essentially rookie Blake Griffin but not as fun when you are desperately in need of competent guard play and Tyrese Haliburton is just sitting there waiting to be drafted, you just Vlade'd. Drafting Quickley later in the night at least salvages the situation for them but one can only imagine how much more entertaining the Knicks would be if they had an exciting youngster out there instead of Elfrid Payton.
Luke Walton Vacuum Cleaner Award- Luke Walton.
Mateen Cleaves Towel Waver- Hassan Whiteside. While much has been made about Hassan being literally one of the dumbest players in the league and apparently physically incapable of jumping or running, the dude has been one of the biggest celebrators on the sidelines whenever one of his more athletically incline teammates does something exciting. We're gonna be in Miami in a few nights so don't be surprised if we get another unfortunate appearance of HaSsAn WhItEsIdE circulating basketball twitter soon.
WTF Moment of the Night- The Kings set a season high for blocks with 14 on a night where Hassan doesn't play.
***
Tonight/This afternoon, the Kings face the Orlando Magic who we last saw in the bubble in a game in which they blew us out but also screwed themselves over by playing Jonathan Isaac in a blowout and seeing his ACL explode. Their injury luck has not really improved much since then with Markelle Fultz also tearing his ACL early to start the season and Michael Carter-Williams missing action with a foot injury.
These injuries have both cast a damper on the Magics' plans to reach their customary 7th seed and first round exit AND allowed them to finally develop a rookie after years of having the oddest collection of mediocre vets in the league. Cole Anthony has quietly been a contender for ROY (in the sense that he is at least in the same room as the other guys watching Tyrese and Lamelo take turns having great performances that get basketball twitter excited) after having a bad year in the NCAA that saw his draft stock sorta do a bellyflop off the high dive. Where he fits in their longterm plans considering he plays the same position as one of their only other young players of note (Fultz) is yet to be determined but at least he's given them something at a position ravaged by injuries.
The best player for the Magic remains Nikola Vucevic, who they should probably look into trading to a contender for a nice asset package but probably won't because they're the Magic and permanently in a state of "This is Fine" dog. As they are built around a traditional big man, the Magic are one of those teams that Luke's typical "Pretend it's the 1990s Again" strategy won't totally bomb against.
Don't Google is their other primary offensive weapon and a guy that I wish they'd move soon just so we could get a better grasp on the trade market for Buddy Hield. Aaron Gordon is in a perpetual stage of "Still Figuring it Out/Primed to Make that Leap" despite now being in his seventh season in the league and Terrence Ross is one of the better bench scorers in the league.
The Magic are coached by van Gundy disciple Steve Clifford so hopefully our defensive numbers continue to improve from their current historically awful levels. Fun fact of the night: Ty Corbin is an assistant coach for Orlando.
Final Prediction: Kings 109, Orlando 103
Like I said, the Kings generally play well against slower traditionally built lineups and systems like the Magic currently run. Also with all due respect to Cole Anthony, he and Don't Google are going to have issues against Swipa and the Tyborg and even Buddy too. Another win probably reduces the discomfort Luke feels while sitting in his seat but this is another one of those games where it feels like the Kings have a 50:50 shot at either beating the Magic or getting their pants blown off.
It's been approximately forty weeks since the last Kings game since the Grizzlies all caught COVID-19 and got the back-to-back series cancelled or at the very best postponed but when we last checked in on the Kings, they had just beaten the Knicks and everyone remembered how awesome Tyrese Haliburton was.
Luke Walton's inevitable firing being kicked a little bit further down the road, the Kings embark on a four game road trip to chase after it.
First stop? Orlando
***
Awards time
Tony Delk Memorial Award- Alec Burks. Back off a leg injury, the former King wasted no time jacking up as many shots as humanely possible off the bench, going 3 for 14 overall and 1 for 5 from three in 27 minutes. Considering how awful some of the other Knicks were at shooting, this actually qualifies as one of their better performances of the night.
Jason Hart/Andres Nocioni/Cory Joseph Award- Glenn Robinson III. When his shot is falling, Medium Dog is a passably playable rotation player for the Kings. When he's 1 of 7 in 14 minutes and singlehandedly ruining Tyrese's passing numbers, his minutes should probably be going to someone more "developable". On a related note, when is DQJ gonna be able to play again?
Vlade Divac Memorial Great Draft Goat of the Night- Obi Toppin. Obi seems like a perfectly nice guy. Heck, he seems like a perfectly not terrible basketball player. But when you use your high lotto pick on a guy who happens to play the same position as the best player on your team and has a skill set that is essentially rookie Blake Griffin but not as fun when you are desperately in need of competent guard play and Tyrese Haliburton is just sitting there waiting to be drafted, you just Vlade'd. Drafting Quickley later in the night at least salvages the situation for them but one can only imagine how much more entertaining the Knicks would be if they had an exciting youngster out there instead of Elfrid Payton.
Luke Walton Vacuum Cleaner Award- Luke Walton.
Mateen Cleaves Towel Waver- Hassan Whiteside. While much has been made about Hassan being literally one of the dumbest players in the league and apparently physically incapable of jumping or running, the dude has been one of the biggest celebrators on the sidelines whenever one of his more athletically incline teammates does something exciting. We're gonna be in Miami in a few nights so don't be surprised if we get another unfortunate appearance of HaSsAn WhItEsIdE circulating basketball twitter soon.
WTF Moment of the Night- The Kings set a season high for blocks with 14 on a night where Hassan doesn't play.
***
Tonight/This afternoon, the Kings face the Orlando Magic who we last saw in the bubble in a game in which they blew us out but also screwed themselves over by playing Jonathan Isaac in a blowout and seeing his ACL explode. Their injury luck has not really improved much since then with Markelle Fultz also tearing his ACL early to start the season and Michael Carter-Williams missing action with a foot injury.
These injuries have both cast a damper on the Magics' plans to reach their customary 7th seed and first round exit AND allowed them to finally develop a rookie after years of having the oddest collection of mediocre vets in the league. Cole Anthony has quietly been a contender for ROY (in the sense that he is at least in the same room as the other guys watching Tyrese and Lamelo take turns having great performances that get basketball twitter excited) after having a bad year in the NCAA that saw his draft stock sorta do a bellyflop off the high dive. Where he fits in their longterm plans considering he plays the same position as one of their only other young players of note (Fultz) is yet to be determined but at least he's given them something at a position ravaged by injuries.
The best player for the Magic remains Nikola Vucevic, who they should probably look into trading to a contender for a nice asset package but probably won't because they're the Magic and permanently in a state of "This is Fine" dog. As they are built around a traditional big man, the Magic are one of those teams that Luke's typical "Pretend it's the 1990s Again" strategy won't totally bomb against.
Don't Google is their other primary offensive weapon and a guy that I wish they'd move soon just so we could get a better grasp on the trade market for Buddy Hield. Aaron Gordon is in a perpetual stage of "Still Figuring it Out/Primed to Make that Leap" despite now being in his seventh season in the league and Terrence Ross is one of the better bench scorers in the league.
The Magic are coached by van Gundy disciple Steve Clifford so hopefully our defensive numbers continue to improve from their current historically awful levels. Fun fact of the night: Ty Corbin is an assistant coach for Orlando.
Final Prediction: Kings 109, Orlando 103
Like I said, the Kings generally play well against slower traditionally built lineups and systems like the Magic currently run. Also with all due respect to Cole Anthony, he and Don't Google are going to have issues against Swipa and the Tyborg and even Buddy too. Another win probably reduces the discomfort Luke feels while sitting in his seat but this is another one of those games where it feels like the Kings have a 50:50 shot at either beating the Magic or getting their pants blown off.
