[Game] Kings @ Mavericks, 1/27/2024, 6:00p PT/9:00p ET
- Thread starter QWERTYLICIOUS
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coolhandluke
Starter
Mr. Hyde is now a character actor making appearances for free throws in the clutch.
Honestly, yes. The league is so freaking talented, that even the bad teams all have pretty great players too. Especially on the road, any win vs a west playoff team is just so so good.
reptilexcq2
Bench
Monk try to lose again like he did when we play against the Sixers. No excuses for missing both free throws for such a great FT shooter at such a moment in the game when the Kings need you.
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MizzouKing
Starter
And it gets better… Dubs up with 4 seconds left but LeBron gets fouled by Draymond with 1.2 seconds left as he drove to the basket. Two free throws for the win.
TaxMan
Starter
I love monk, but he missed a few late free throws last year also. I think that may just be who he is. Unless he’s on fire shooting the three, it feels like he makes an awful lot of mistakes down the stretch of games. As much as I’ve been begging brown to give him 30+ min a night, he might just really be a super awesome 25 to 30 min a game guy.
Telemachus
Starter
They actually gained possession of the ball and Fox took it back. Should've reset the clock.
reptilexcq2
Bench
There is a reason he's not a starter. His game is unpredictable. He could explode and help you and he can deflate and hurt you at any moment in the game.
Srzly
G-League
Super happy for Barnes. Love the way he is playing. So much more engaged. Also glad to see Kevin playing so well. We are a different team with them playing this way.
Proud of Keegan for his defense. Even if the shot isn’t falling, you can bring defense every night.
Fox looked great tonight. Super quick and explosive out there.
Proud of Keegan for his defense. Even if the shot isn’t falling, you can bring defense every night.
Fox looked great tonight. Super quick and explosive out there.
Huerter is such a nice player when he's right. And "right" doesn't mean "only on his best days." Obv he can slump badly, but he brings so much versatility and energy to the table as a 3-pt shooter, and offensively, in general. Low floor, yes, which is a given when you have an average (sometimes worse) defender who's also mainly a 3-pt shooter. If his defense AND 3-pt shooting are at low ebb... not good. But his high end is legit star-level play w/shooting, creating, rebounding, and help defense.
ShastaKingsFan
All-Star
But with this, they usually play him in the most critical time to close games?
Huerter his last 10:
26 MPG
12.9 PPG
3.9 RPG
3.2 APG
43.5% from 3 (6.2 3PA)
68.6% TS
He's so all the way back, it's not even funny.
Been thinking about the playoffs last year and how we didn't have anywhere CLOSE to this HB/Huerter/Keegan in that series. Keegans offense game 4-7 was excellent, but he was getting hunted last year on defense. All of a sudden, he's now checking Steph and Luka in consecutive games with tremendous success.
You get these versions to show up in the playoffs, we're not a first round exit team.
You get these versions to show up in the playoffs, we're not a first round exit team.
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
Keegan's development as a defender and mid-range player alone changes that series. Probably doesn't even get to game 7 if this season's Keegan was there.
reptilexcq2
Bench
Monk is just a cerebral player that when he makes mistakes, you don't know what to do...do you want to pull him or do you want to continue playing him. But the Kings need his offense, but then they can afford to make mistake down the stretch. There are two or three times he turnover the ball i think in Dallas' game.
reptilexcq2
Bench
Yeah, that was good to see him growing into a great defender. It's funny to see players hunting for him last year and even the beginning of THIS YEAR..i seen Jalen Brown looking to attack him. But they didn't know he has now turn into a great defender and with his length, he can definitely bother players like Steph and Donic. But now that they know he can defend, they started to hunt for other players instead like Barnes, Huerter. I give all the credits to Mike Brown's coaching. If it wasn't for Mike Brown constantly in his ears since last year, I think Keegan will probably didn't grow much this year.
Ya I checked as well earlier Sabonis wasn’t Sabonis as well and we still should’ve won that series. Also if we didn’t blow the two games we had won and then beat Indiana without Hali we’d be 2.5 games back from the top seed with Fox going through a month slump.
I mean, Domas dealing with 3 injuries and Fox breaking his finger in game 4... We had tremendous injury luck in the regular season and it all came crashing down their the last few games of that series.
QWERTYLICIOUS
Starter
Beans were definitely lit in Dallas last night!!!
Good pickup, if so. I didn't notice. But I've certainly noticed that his usual FT routine looks overly quick and casual, as if he's trying not to "overthink" things. But slowing down and being more deliberate might yield better results.
Fox and Domas are by far our most prolific free throw takers. They're shooting 73% and 68%, respectively, compared to 78% and 74% last year (which is no better than okay). They've got to do better. Domas shot 75% in his second year in the league. He's been low-mid-70s since. I think we can safely assumed that he's worked, and continued to work, hard at getting better. I'm surprised he hasn't.
Chupacabra
Starter
Free throw routines are one of the stranger parts of the game. Player puts up hundreds of shots in a day and doesn't do anything resembling their free throw routine and then all of the sudden they have a separate set of prep movements to shoot a free throw? If anything it makes the most sense to treat it like a catch and shoot situation: Ref passes player the ball, player goes straight into their shot. Anyhow, I don't like it lol
ShastaKingsFan
All-Star
It really doesn't make sense to do that, because every good and great free throw shooter in history knows that they wouldn't shoot as high of a % doing it that way.
What is a must for anyone wanting improve, is to experiment with lots of different routines at the line, including number of dribbles, when and how long you look at the rim, making sure you're on balance holding your release till the ball hits something and not backing away or falling forward.
Also, where exactly you stand at the line. Not everyone is best standing dead center. Ideally, you want to line up to where your release point is centered with the rim, which for most will have the center of your body slightly off center at the line.
Further, free throws are a set shot, which is different than a usual jump shot from that same distance. So where and how you position your feet can be different. For example, many players are better with a more square stance on a set shot at the line
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upinsmoke
All-Star
Mmmm beans.
The problem with free throws is often that you have too much time to think about it, unlike a catch and shoot jumper which is more muscle memory. But also, it's not a jumpshot because you don't jump so that necessitates a different motion. I always found that I really had to focus on getting enough leg into my free throws so those extra dribbles can be about slowing things down, getting your breathing right, and getting lower to the ground to load your legs so it's not all upper body motion. Different things work for different people but it never feels like a regular jumper.
That's also why I don't totally buy the adage about good free throw shooting correlating to good three point shooting. Someone like Kevin Huerter gets so much lift on his jumpshot that his free throw stroke is going to require a different arm angle to approximate the same arc. I can see why that messes with your rhythm unless you practice both motions religiously and you have a set routine at the free throw line which triggers your brain to repeat the free throw motion instead of the jump shot motion.
ShastaKingsFan
All-Star
GWD
Bench
So why would a "pure shooter" chose to shoot free throws in a way that did not mirror his pure shooter style? Guaranteed that if Barry could have shot .001% better with a regular style he would have done it.
I suspect Larry Bird never even seriously tried it. There is an ego / stigma issue involved with him and the rest of the players, both then and now.
If a player is shooting under 75% then he should at least give it a go in the gym. With a bit of practice, maybe it could make an improvement.
ShastaKingsFan
All-Star
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