[Game] Kings @ Pacers - Friday, Dec. 20 - 4PT/7ET

[midtowner]

The Pacers are better than the Kings. But I still have hope that a Bagley Holmes Barnes Buddy and Fox lineup can work. They need to guard their yard. There is no good team that allows this much penetration.

 

[kb02]

May be a good time to put Buddy in his best role: 6th man. Let’s him feast on second units, hides him from the team’s defensive focus.

 

[LPKingsFan]

hides him from the team’s defensive focus.

Won’t the eventual move of Fox and Bagley to the starting unit active the same aim?

 

[Capt. Factorial]

I think the incentives in his contract has gotten to his head. Trying to make sure he hits those numbers.

His new contract doesn't even start until next season.

 

[ppine]

First hats off to the Pacers. McMillan is doing a great job with them. Our shooting was crummy because the Pacers play defense. The Kings; defense looked weak at times because Indiana shares the ball and moves on offense.

Richaun Holmes gets 20/9 which makes him the high scorer and best rebounder last night. Thank you Mr. Holmes. He was 9/10. Other players need to think about that for awhile.

The Pacers were able to exploit the Kings' defense. I really like Sabonis. He is a finesse player but can lower the shoulder, great touch and a great passer.

We got beat. We didn't lose or give the game away or blow it. We got beat.

 

[NewArena]

This is not a playoff team. Horribly constructed. No real star. Best player all year has been Holmes, and that's not going to cut it.

oh please

 

[Kingster]

Lets face it, the Kings were outmatched from the onset. The only thing that kept them in the game in that first quarter was Bjelica playing like an MVP candidate. I wasn't even all that excited that they had the lead because I knew that the Pacers were just playing their normal brand of basketball while the Kings were being led by a guy playing 10x over his head.

Hield just kills them in these games where he can't hit the broad side of a barn because his defense is just so awful. Almost all of those plays where it looks like some random player is getting an easy bucket was because Hield just let his man blow right by him off the 3 point line with a straight line move and everything just snowballs from there. It happened seemingly every other time down the court while he was out there. I thought he should have been benched for his defense personally. Most of the shots he took were just fine, he was just missing them. But the lack of concentration on defense was a huge reason why the Pacers were scoring at will. It's unacceptable to let a player like Aaron Holiday blow by you at will like that.

I'd like to see more of James going forward. Even if it's just spot minutes here and there. His offense has a really long ways to go but man this kid has a very high IQ on defense. From what I've seen so far, I'd put him behind CoJo and Ariza as far as our best perimeter defenders go. Fox has the ability to be the best perimeter defender on the team but he disappears on that end sometimes. He was disruptive tonight but it was too little too late.

Unfortunately, the stellar offense of Bjelica was diminished by three instances where he allowed three straight line drives to the basket in the first quarter. What in many cases Bjelica gives on offense, he takes away by his slow-footedness on defense. Bjelica and Hield are somewhat similar - they both have to be fed the ball regularly and be very good on offense to have a positive impact. Otherwise, they give the team no net advantage over the opposition. Earlier in the season I thought Bjelica was pretty good on D and in rebounding, but he seems to have taken a step backward over the last several games. Maybe teams are exposing him more on the defensive end by putting him in space. The Pacers certainly did.

Walton talked about the straight-line drives allowed in the first quarter. I believe there were five - three by Bjelica, one by Hield (you mention above), and one by Cojo. The offense in the first quarter masked the putrid defense. A house built on sand.

I'm growing more comfortable with the idea that Buddy Hield is not going to be the SG of the future for the Kings. Maybe he'll be a 6th man. My interest in James is borne as much out of my dissatisfaction with Hield as it is with the positive attributes of James. With clarity on Bogs - he is no longer part of the future of this team - there could be considerably more minutes available for James, especially if there were a trade.

 

[steelevt]

How come it seems every time we start going in the right direction, there’s a little hiccup, and the answer seems to be...blow it up? Get rid of bogs, he’s always hurt from playing for his National team. Get rid of buddy, he has low bbiq. Get rid of Bagley, he will never be Luka, get rid of Barnes, he’s over paid. Oh yeah get rid of Fox, the team is better without him lol. Can we please let the team build some sort of chemistry before we call it a failure?

 

[BLNINJA #81]

Unless there is personnel changes, there is no way this is going to work. Before the trade deadline last year the team was better, and that's sad...

Of course injury and regression of play have something to do with it, perhaps coaching a bit with the concerned pieces. This is now Vlade's mess to clean, or he doesn't make it past next summer.