[Game] Kings @ Rockets - 31 Dec 2013, 19:00 EST/16:00 PST

[Glenn]

How crazy is it that we have as many wins against the Southwest Division as we have against the entire eastern conference?

What rating scale do you wish me to use?

 

[I~true]

Rudy could be a point forward if he really wanted. At least against the Rockets.

 

[swisshh]

I understand why Malone thought Demarcus was in foul trouble but he finished with only three in the game. Against Howard.

If the Kings struggled, I'm sure Demarcus would have been playing in the first half with 2 fouls. However, the team was still maintaining a good lead with Cousins on the bench, so there was no need to push him back in yet.

 

[VF21]

Absolutely. Getting Gay was like finding the mother load. Hyperbole? Maybe but that's the way it is beginning to seem. I hope the FO begins to treat him somewhat like they did with Cuz so he isn't eager to leave. That's my thoughts as of this minute.

I think Gay is playing within himself and is happy to be the 2nd option to Cuz.

I think the people of Sacramento AND our front office, along with his fellow Kings, have already totally won Rudy Gay over. He looks happy and confident out there. I sense he believes he's home. The level of comfort between he and Demarcus is already building. Those two are gonna have some fun.

 

[Glenn]

If the Kings struggled, I'm sure Demarcus would have been playing in the first half with 2 fouls. However, the team was still maintaining a good lead with Cousins on the bench, so there was no need to push him back in yet.

Yes, you are right. But, this is Malone's pattern and I think DMC needs to get used to playing with fouls. What's to be lost? A playoff berth

 

[rainmaker]

Absolutely. Getting Gay was like finding the mother load. Hyperbole? Maybe but that's the way it is beginning to seem. I hope the FO begins to treat him somewhat like they did with Cuz so he isn't eager to leave. That's my thoughts as of this minute.

I think Gay is playing within himself and is happy to be the 2nd option to Cuz.

I think too many people here had the wrong opinions on Gay, basically a chucker who's just out to get his own.

He's actually a pretty intelligent guy who's taken a step back on multiple occasions, whether at times with Memphis or with USA Basketball. He's not dumb. Pairing him as one of the top wings in our conference with arguably the best young center, or center period, in this league is not a bad situation to be in, especially with an owner and FO looking constantly to improve the roster.

It was amazing to me how many were against getting Rudy in the trade and basically saw him as a stop gap and hoped he'd walk. Glad it appears to be working out and he and Cuz are building solid chemistry from what I can see.

 

[Glenn]

I think the people of Sacramento AND our front office have already totally won Rudy Gay over. He looks happy and confident out there. I sense he believes he's home. The level of comfort between he and Demarcus is already building. Those two are gonna have some fun.

If DMC is consulted on player movement, I hope DMC consults with Gay prior to giving his final thoughts. That made sense to me.

 

[Kingster]

I don't think Rudy's presence can be understated. He's been in big games, both playoffs and internationally. He's also acting as a leader out there. Gives our squad more belief.

I agree. He's taken the pressure off of both IT and Cousins. I didn't mention him because there is no history with him on this team as there is with Cousins and IT. But yes, he's a big factor.

 

[I~true]

He took him out because DC will get a cheaply if he gets frustrated.

 

[Glenn]

I think too many people here had the wrong opinions on Gay, basically a chucker who's just out to get his own.

He's actually a pretty intelligent guy who's taken a step back on multiple occasions, whether at times with Memphis or with USA Basketball. He's not dumb. Pairing him as one of the top wings in our conference with arguably the best young center, or center period, in this league is not a bad situation to be in, especially with an owner and FO looking constantly to improve the roster.

It was amazing to me how many were against getting Rudy in the trade and basically saw him as a stop gap and hoped he'd walk. Glad it appears to be working out and he and Cuz are building solid chemistry from what I can see.

I didn't know anything about Rudy. I figured his shooting percentage at Toronto was because they had no scorers. He was expected to chuck. That was the limit of my knowledge. Now what I am seeing a graceful tall man who shoots very well and seems to be very well composed. He is a great person to interview and I suspect will be a great leader in the locker room. He is humble and intelligent. He and Cuz make a great leadership duo as I suspect when Cuz gets overhyped, Gay will be a calming presence. That's a lot of guesswork but its based on what I have seen.

 

[Glenn]

He took him out because DC will get a cheaply if he gets frustrated.

In the last game he was darn near mugged on two occasions and kept his composure. But, as I said, he needs to learn to play through this. If he can play with two fouls, he can get a lot more minutes and so far, the number of minutes Cuz plays seems to be the prime limiter on his per game stats. That's been true since game one of his rookie year.

 

[VF21]

He took him out because DC will get a cheaply if he gets frustrated.

I think that's a generalization that is rapidly becoming obsolete. As Glenn has said, DFC needs to learn to play through...and he's shown incredible strides in this regard. People need to quit falling back on old criticisms about DFC because, for the most part, he's outgrown them.

 

[I~true]

I don't think coach has.

 

[Proof21]

I love it! Nice win by the Kings! Huge way to end an incredible 2013 (mostly off the court)..here is to hoping this is the beginning of a beautiful 2014. I hope everyone here has a very happy and safe New Year. Go Kings...Sacramento Kings!

 

[VF21]

I don't think coach has.

Coach has what?

 

[Entity]

55 points. By our guards. And 55 by our front court lol. Don't get much more balanced than that lol

 

[Entity]

I hate the early games. I record them and watch them later. Now nobody wants to talk about it.

 

[Spike]

I think our Gay acquisition (old world pun intended) shifted the rebuild ahead by at least a year, maybe two. A I selfish for wanting him to opt out to sign a new 4 year deal with us?
We get a star in his prime at the wing, and a post player just entering his.

Wow.

 

[Entity]

I think both trades were upgrades. Now the 2nd trade made the first redundant. But you don't pass that up ever. Derek is a lot more tradeable than moute.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

we should have been 3-0 this road trip.

3-0 on a 2 game road trip would have been extremely impressive!

 

[KingMilz]

3-0 on a 2 game road trip would have been extremely impressive!

O my bad I meant 3-0 lol just in general 2-0 on the road is what I meant to say

 

[KingMilz]

55 points. By our guards. And 55 by our front court lol. Don't get much more balanced than that lol

I wonder how many of the 55 was just on James Harden, I lost it for a bit when the Rockets play by play guy goes "well eventually James is going to have to play some defence".

 

[mac]

I wonder how many of the 55 was just on James Harden, I lost it for a bit when the Rockets play by play guy goes "well eventually James is going to have to play some defence".

I especially liked "Coach, if I score 35 and let my man drop 21 we're up 14!" or whatever it was along those lines.

 

[KingMilz]

I especially liked "Coach, if I score 35 and let my man drop 21 we're up 14!" or whatever it was along those lines.

Lol yeah the Rockets commentary while not the highest IQ are fun to listen to at times, but I have heard the main play by play guy really frustrated with Harden's lack of effort on D many times this season, I can't really blame him like he doesn't even pretend to play D.

Also bit off topic sort of but Jeremy Lin in terms of D (other than guarding Jimmer) has recently completely shut down lots of very good players like Parker (3/11) Conley (4/14), Holiday (1/9) and a few others and also did a great job imo on Isaiah Thomas (6-17) today. Which is interesting in a way....

 

[Entity]

Lol yeah the Rockets commentary while not the highest IQ are fun to listen to at times, but I have heard the main play by play guy really frustrated with Harden's lack of effort on D many times this season, I can't really blame him like he doesn't even pretend to play D.

Also bit off topic sort of but Jeremy Lin in terms of D (other than guarding Jimmer) has recently completely shut down lots of very good players like Parker (3/11) Conley (4/14), Holiday (1/9) and a few others and also did a great job imo on Isaiah Thomas (6-17) today. Which is interesting in a way....

I didn't realize it until a few weeks ago but Lim is listed as and statistically a top 10 defensive PG

 

[Kingster]

Also bit off topic sort of but Jeremy Lin in terms of D (other than guarding Jimmer) has recently completely shut down lots of very good players like Parker (3/11) Conley (4/14), Holiday (1/9) and a few others and also did a great job imo on Isaiah Thomas (6-17) today. Which is interesting in a way....

He didn't shut IT down with the game on the line. IT scored 5 big points that were critical in the last 5 minutes. (It helped to finally have a ref call a foul also).

PS Any evaluation of Lin's defense has to start with the fact that he has Howard in the paint to back him up. Put Lin on a team without a major shot blocker and I wonder how those stats might change.

 

[fanop]

I think too many people here had the wrong opinions on Gay, basically a chucker who's just out to get his own.

He's actually a pretty intelligent guy who's taken a step back on multiple occasions, whether at times with Memphis or with USA Basketball. He's not dumb. Pairing him as one of the top wings in our conference with arguably the best young center, or center period, in this league is not a bad situation to be in, especially with an owner and FO looking constantly to improve the roster.

It was amazing to me how many were against getting Rudy in the trade and basically saw him as a stop gap and hoped he'd walk. Glad it appears to be working out and he and Cuz are building solid chemistry from what I can see.

I think Gay is finally becoming the player we all saw in Memphis. With the Raptors, he held the team back because of the way the coach wanted to use him. I don't think the Raptors lacked scorers, but it was more of "we have a franchise player with an expensive $18million contract and we have to always feed him the ball."
While in Memphis, he wasn't forced to be the 1st scoring option as compared in Toronto. In the small sample size of 10 games with the kings, his fg% is the highest in his career.