Kings Preseason game 2 vs. Portland. Wed 7 p.m. Game Thread (redux)

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Emma

Emma

Starter
#1
#1
Ready for more?

So our Kings sink game 1. I can't view it as a telling loss, they were in Portland, and the Trailblazers are pretty awesome. What you should be able to take away is some satisfaction in the solid play of our rookies. Evans looks like a veteran on the court already, and his numbers should creep up. I take it Omri was semi-beastly (given my impressions from a brief glance at the other thread). Hey! We won the battle of the boards too! This season should at least be entertaining.

Unfortunately, since this is a back to back on a work day / school night, and its the preseason I have decided that I won't give awards this time, or provide in depth analysis. I promise to be better next time:eek:.

So, who's going to Arco tonight? I figure that those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to go should go. The game won't be on T.V. anywhere, and some of us don't have radios (shocking!)
 
kennadog

kennadog

Dog On It!
#2
#2
From the Bee today...

More rotation revelations - After seeing his starting spot go to veteran big man Sean May in the opener, third-year center Spencer Hawes - who has been dealing with a slightly sprained left ankle - struggled in 23 minutes (five points, three rebounds).

"His ankle is still bothering him," Kings coach Paul Westphal said. "We may hold him out (tonight). I don't want this thing to drag through (preseason)."
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http://www.sacbee.com/kings/story/2236331.html
 
F

fnordius

All-Star
#3
#3
Kudos to JT, Brockman and Casspi for not losing their matchups too badly. Nobody else played more efficiently than KT, so I'll leave it at that.

Oh, we had more TOs than assists again. *sigh*
 
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Kingsguy881

Guest
#4
#4
fnordius said:
Kudos to JT, Brockman and Casspi for not losing their matchups too badly. Nobody else played more efficiently than KT, so I'll leave it at that.

Oh, we had more TOs than assists again. *sigh*
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Not a LOT of turnovers, and our fg% was horrible. Outside of Omri, I don't think anybody had a % over 50. The bottom line is you don't get assists for wide open, easy looks that don't fall. The point of the matter is those looks were there, but due to whatever reason (fatigue, nerves, jitters) those shots weren't falling.
 
kennadog

kennadog

Dog On It!
#5
#5
The Rose Garden is not an easy place for an opponent to play. Plus, the Blazers don't have a bunch of new players and have had stability at coaching. They are a good team. I kept reminding myself of those things last night. There was an interesting quote from Kevin Pritchard in the Bee.

Kevin Pritchard is used to the compliments.

Such is life when the rebuilding project goes as planned, with the Trail Blazers' general manager putting the right pieces in the right places these last few seasons and his team on the cusp of something bigger and even better.

But when Pritchard was on the receiving end of praise from a Sacramento passerby as he walked through the Rose Garden dining room Tuesday, he did something he likely wouldn't have a year ago. He reciprocated the sentiment.

"I like what (the Kings) are doing, too," he said.
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http://www.sacbee.com/kings/story/2236325.html
 
gunks

gunks

Hall of Famer
#6
#6
Kings rebuild is coming along.

It's too bad it didnt start with the Webber trade, or we would have been in Portland's position by now...But thats a well beaten dead horse :p

And I KNEW something was up with Hawesome! Besides Oden.

Looking foward to Reke, JT, Brockman, and Omri's statlines.
 
kennadog

kennadog

Dog On It!
#7
#7
gunks said:
And I KNEW something was up with Hawesome! Besides Oden.
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To be fair, though, hawes has not done well against Oden in prior games either. He's got to get in there and be more agressive in the paint. He's still pretty young, but I'd like to see progress in the paint on both ends of the floor this year.
 
bajaden

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#8
#8
kennadog said:
To be fair, though, hawes has not done well against Oden in prior games either. He's got to get in there and be more agressive in the paint. He's still pretty young, but I'd like to see progress in the paint on both ends of the floor this year.
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Hawes has a pretty good post game. When you playing a guy like Oden whose bigger than you, then you have to attack him and try and get him in foul trouble. Some bruising may occur, but thats the only way to play a guy like him.

As a side note, I'm happy to see Oden looking healthy again. It would be a shame for a player like him to go through his career with constant injuries. Too bad he's in the western division..:cool:
 
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HighFlyingMonkey

Starter
#11
#11
kennadog said:
To be fair, though, hawes has not done well against Oden in prior games either. He's got to get in there and be more agressive in the paint. He's still pretty young, but I'd like to see progress in the paint on both ends of the floor this year.
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Eh, Hawes has played Oden pretty well in the past. He got dominated in one preseason game last year, but besides that he's either won the matchup or it's been even. Of course, Oden came off surgery last year and Hawes got inconsistent time all of last year so it doesn't mean much.

But one thing is for certain is that Hawes needs to be more aggressive in the paint. The first shot he took in the game was a bricked three pointer. His mental softness is completely undermining his talent.
 
gunks

gunks

Hall of Famer
#13
#13
bajaden said:
Hawes has a pretty good post game. When you playing a guy like Oden whose bigger than you, then you have to attack him and try and get him in foul trouble. Some bruising by occur, but thats the only way to play a guy like him.

As a side note, I'm happy to see Oden looking healthy again. It would be a shame for a player like him to go through his career with constant injuries. Too bad he's in the western division..:cool:
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On the plus side....Portland gives the Lakers fits WITHOUT a healthy Oden. We may be living vicariously through Roy and company in this season's playoffs :p

I'm hoping Westphal gets Hawes to play in the post more. We need a distributer that is able to get our bigs the ball in the post though, as beastly as Evans may turn out to be he may not be that guy.


Ah well, go Kings!
 
O

Oprostaj

Bench
#15
#15
HighFlyingMonkey said:
But one thing is for certain is that Hawes needs to be more aggressive in the paint. The first shot he took in the game was a bricked three pointer. His mental softness is completely undermining his talent.
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Is it mental softness or just his mentality? Hawes was never known as a banger, and I'm afraid those of us looking for him to turn into the next Barkley may be sorely dissapointed. He has the size but I don't think he ever grew into his body. A lanky tall center will always have trouble with physical opposition unless you have great footwork. Hawes is getting there, I just don't like how he relies on the jumpshot so much. Also, why 3 pointers? Move to 18 feet and become a second coming of Big Z (without the passing)
 
Kings Faithful

Kings Faithful

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#16
#16
Oprostaj said:
Is it mental softness or just his mentality? Hawes was never known as a banger, and I'm afraid those of us looking for him to turn into the next Barkley may be sorely dissapointed. He has the size but I don't think he ever grew into his body. A lanky tall center will always have trouble with physical opposition unless you have great footwork. Hawes is getting there, I just don't like how he relies on the jumpshot so much. Also, why 3 pointers? Move to 18 feet and become a second coming of Big Z (without the passing)
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Why not 3 pointers? If he is open and is a good 3 point shooter why not? I think some of us underestimate the value of a Center than can shoot 3's... see Mehmet Okur. That guy destroys us everytime with those late game 3's.
 
F

fnordius

All-Star
#17
#17
Kings Faithful said:
Why not 3 pointers? If he is open and is a good 3 point shooter why not? I think some of us underestimate the value of a Center than can shoot 3's... see Mehmet Okur. That guy destroys us everytime with those late game 3's.
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I'd imagine the thought was that if he could shoot a three, he was in the wrong place for a C to be.
 
Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#18
#18
Kings Faithful said:
Why not 3 pointers? If he is open and is a good 3 point shooter why not? I think some of us underestimate the value of a Center than can shoot 3's... see Mehmet Okur. That guy destroys us everytime with those late game 3's.
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Uh no. Note where the centers played from last year's Finals. And the Finals before that. And the Finals before that. And the Finals...

A 3pt shooting center is garbage. He's the largest frickin' man on the floor. If he's not going to take care of business inside for you, what's the point? Even being in a POSITION to shoot a three, let alone shooting, tells you he's out of position to do his job inside. Its like having a noseguard who likes to drop off into pass coverage. Get your big *** inside and make yourself useful. Otherwise might as well put another guard on the floor instead and go all Don Nelson getting the ballhandling bonus as well.

The Hawes potential, the entire reason to see Spencer as anything more than Brad Miller redux, is precisely that he flashes signs of major postgame with an array of sophisticated moves. That if he ever grew a pair, he could be load down in the middle, where you need a big man to be a load. If he just wants to wimp out and pop jumpers, screw him and let's look elsewhere.
 
K

Kingsguy881

Guest
#19
#19
Bricklayer said:
Uh no. Note where the centers played from last year's Finals. And the Finals before that. And the Finals before that. And the Finals...

A 3pt shooting center is garbage. He's the largest frickin' man on the floor. If he's not going to take care of business inside for you, what's the point? Even being in a POSITION to shoot a three, let alone shooting, tells you he's out of position to do his job inside. Its like having a noseguard who likes to drop off into pass coverage. Get your big *** inside and make yourself useful. Otherwise might as well put another guard on the floor instead and go all Don Nelson getting the ballhandling bonus as well.

The Hawes potential, the entire reason to see Spencer as anything more than Brad Miller redux, is precisely that he flashes signs of major postgame with an array of sophisticated moves. That if he ever grew a pair, he could be load down in the middle, where you need a big man to be a load. If he just wants to wimp out and pop jumpers, screw him and let's look elsewhere.
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A-****ing-men.
 
bajaden

bajaden

Hall of Famer
#20
#20
Bricklayer said:
Uh no. Note where the centers played from last year's Finals. And the Finals before that. And the Finals before that. And the Finals...

A 3pt shooting center is garbage. He's the largest frickin' man on the floor. If he's not going to take care of business inside for you, what's the point? Even being in a POSITION to shoot a three, let alone shooting, tells you he's out of position to do his job inside. Its like having a noseguard who likes to drop off into pass coverage. Get your big *** inside and make yourself useful. Otherwise might as well put another guard on the floor instead and go all Don Nelson getting the ballhandling bonus as well.

The Hawes potential, the entire reason to see Spencer as anything more than Brad Miller redux, is precisely that he flashes signs of major postgame with an array of sophisticated moves. That if he ever grew a pair, he could be load down in the middle, where you need a big man to be a load. If he just wants to wimp out and pop jumpers, screw him and let's look elsewhere.
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I agree with most of what you say. As I posted earlier, he needs to attack in the post. Especialy when he plays against someone like Oden. There are times however when I can see him out near the perimiter. And thats when the play is being run for someone else, say Thompson for instance, and you need to clear space for him down low. In that instance, pulling Oden away from the basket is benificial.

I will say this. I was happy with Hawes as our choice in the draft. And the reason was, that in college he was basicly a post player, and a very skilled one. The first thing Theus did was criticize Hawes post game. Too many moves. Not patient enough. Etc. Next thing I knew, Hawes was standing out at the three point line shooting three's. I have to feel that he was encourged to do so. Anyway, I agree, he needs to get his butt into the post, even if its the high post. Its hard to rebound from the three point line.
 
Chupacabra

Chupacabra

Starter
#21
#21
gunks said:
On the plus side....Portland gives the Lakers fits WITHOUT a healthy Oden. We may be living vicariously through Roy and company in this season's playoffs :p

I'm hoping Westphal gets Hawes to play in the post more. We need a distributer that is able to get our bigs the ball in the post though, as beastly as Evans may turn out to be he may not be that guy.

Ah well, go Kings!
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How do you know? The only thing we have to judge Evans by so far is the open scrimmage the kings held. He didnt have a hard time distributing whatsoever. I digress with the idea that we MUST have someone who can get the ball into the post with extreme proficiency. It depends on your personnel. If your wing players are stronger offensively than your bigmen then you dont need to be all that concerned about feeding the post. If you have good wing players and average-subpar post players then why would you insist that the post be fed? Doesnt make sense.
 
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D13

D13

Bench
#22
#22
...and tonights starting line up:

Tyreke
Martin
Cisco
Thomas
Thompson

...Yep, you read that right... Kenny is starting at the 4!.... sure hope theres a method to this madness..
 
Entity

Entity

Hall of Famer
#23
#23
I think that means they were not pleased with the play of May. That and if you start May you really don't have a Center to come off the bench. Ehh who am i kidding WTF is Kenny Thomas even doing playing get him a suit.
 
VF21

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#26
#26
Because it's pre-season, we're paying KT a bucketload of money and Wetphal might actually like to see if he's got anything left to contribute on the court... It's pre-season, folks. PRE-SEASON. That's like practice but on the big court instead of in the practice facility.
 
PurpleHaze

PurpleHaze

All-Star
#27
#27
KT starts mainly because Desmond Mason is out and Hawes apparently still hobbling, meaning JT starts at the 5. Garcia also in starting lineup. Hopefully, the shots fall tonight and the rebounding is there. On D I hope the Kings do what Portland did to us last night. Pick them up in the backcourt and make them work for any points they get. You would think Tyreke could use those long arms to give the Blazers point guard some fits.
 
N

Nika

G-League
#28
#28
D13 said:
...and tonights starting line up:

Tyreke
Martin
Cisco
Thomas
Thompson
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So you saw that too. I thought I was beginning to imagine things.

Here's to the hope of FG% that requires more than two hands to count. And more fun rookie time.
 
C

Chi

Prospect
#29
#29
I'm a big Kings fan living in Southeast Texas. I was so disappointed that I couldnt stream the game from KHTK last night and it looks like its going to be the same tonight. Does anyone know where to listen from or is the Klamath Falls station the best bet?
 
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