Kings / Suns Game Thread

[206Fan]

The Kings won... we should talk about some positives too.

-WCS had a good game despite some criticisms. I thought he was our best player today. He struggled against Ayton, but so did everyone else.
-Fox looked very aggressive in scoring. He's hungry
-Skal looks improved. If he keeps this up during the preseason, he'll get the starting job. Consistency is going to be important for his 3rd year.

 

[burekijogurt]

I like Beli a lot but not sure his shooting his better but his team defense likely is. I’m hoping Beli mentors Skal like Bogi mentored Buddy.

Skal looked more mobile and balanced on defense. Seeing him was encouraging.

i did not get to see Skal much, saw only last 3 minutes of first half, and then had to miss the first 7 minutes of 3rd quarter. I'm expecting Bjelica to shoot 40+% from three this season.

 

[burekijogurt]

The Kings won... we should talk about some positives too.

-WCS had a good game despite some criticisms. I thought he was our best player today. He struggled against Ayton, but so did everyone else.
-Fox looked very aggressive in scoring. He's hungry
-Skal looks improved. If he keeps this up during the preseason, he'll get the starting job. Consistency is going to be important for his 3rd year.

From what I saw of WCS he looked good to me.
Mason looked a bit better and under control, but still struggled to pass over defenders out of the pick and roll..

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Interesting stat: We played 11 players tonight with a combined 27,203 NBA regular-season minutes. That basically means the average guy we put out there had one season (and not a super long season, 2473 minutes) of experience.

The Suns played a lot of inexperienced players as well, but...Tyson Chandler (30,523) and Trevor Ariza (27,808) each had more experience than our entire team combined.

So if you're wondering why we looked a bit raw out there...

 

[miltonap]

I missed the whole game unfortunately. Who stood out and played well ?

 

[Suicide King]

I missed the whole game unfortunately. Who stood out and played well ?

I would say, in no specific order, Yogi, Fox, Giles and WCS. Skal and Mason looked improved.

 

[Ozymandias]

I missed the whole game unfortunately. Who stood out and played well ?

Fox and Yogi put in encouraging efforts. They looked like easily the best 2 guards on the floor in this game.

 

[King-Biscuit-Time]

Bagley talking about how he was the best player in the draft.... Difference between confidence and purely delusional

 

[jcwkings]

I missed the whole game unfortunately. Who stood out and played well ?

Positives

Yogi, Fox, Giles, WCS, Buddy's improved ball handling and playmaking, Skal is legit way stronger, Mason looked decent at times.

Negatives

Justin Jackson, Marvin Bagley, pick and roll MIA.

 

[miltonap]

Sounds like Bagley did solid on defense, terrible on offense but that the kings offense didnt do him any favors.

I can buy that

 

[Ozymandias]

Ayton dunking on Willie with ease

AT LEAST Joeger is yelling at him

Willie going over buddy's back to steal a rebound
--------shaking my head -----------

If thats what he thinks he needs to do to get paid he is dead wrong. That's what you do to pee off your teammates.

This is easy to say from a keyboard but Ayton is built like Dwight Howard except 2 inches taller, once he gains position he's is nearly impossible to recover against, unless you have about an 8-foot wingspan......... Also you run the risk of turning a 2 point basket to and 1 situation, and Ayton is $$$ from the FT line.. Some of the setups to Ayton, especially from Josh Jackson are extremely difficult to defend, basically it's a split second reaction or you get caught in a wide space of no-mans land.

The absolute worse abuse at the rim in this game was bar none when Richaun Holmes grabbed 2 consecutive offensive rebounds and then threw down a monster dunk on Harry's head. He got bodied, that looked like a Rookie vs a strong NBA player.

 

[Ozymandias]

Sounds like Bagley did solid on defense, terrible on offense but that the kings offense didnt do him any favors.

I can buy that

https://twitter.com/statuses/1046981838114295809

 

[Kingsfan23]

If Yogi plays like that they are going to have to take a look at him and De’aaron as the guards in the preseason. Yogi might be the teams best player now if he consistently shows some of that

Who is defending the SG on that? Fox, much taller, is considered a twig now at PG

Yogi looked good, and the Kings optimist is already going to the journeymen PGs who turned it on in their mid 20s, Lowry or Dragic etc. But that’s the eternal optimist.

 

[63royals]

I get what you are saying but he just isn't showing anything. This feels like Trob all over again where we are squinting to see potential. At the very least he should be dominating the boards. He pulled down a Skal approved 2 in 25 minutes. We want to be wrong I promise haha!

If he doesn't improve, obviously there's a problem. My point is that one game doesn't prove anything, and the level of hyperbole after one preseason game is ludicrous.

 

[PHXSUNSFAN]

Interesting stat: We played 11 players tonight with a combined 27,203 NBA regular-season minutes. That basically means the average guy we put out there had one season (and not a super long season, 2473 minutes) of experience.

The Suns played a lot of inexperienced players as well, but...Tyson Chandler (30,523) and Trevor Ariza (27,808) each had more experience than our entire team combined.

So if you're wondering why we looked a bit raw out there...

Tyson Chandler's experience doesn't mean anything because he's completely washed up. He can barely move on the court.

 

[Hansel]

Bagley talking about how he was the best player in the draft.... Difference between confidence and purely delusional

Couple of months ago he said he'll be the MVP of the league and not just the rookie of the year.
Probably he finds these preseason games so boring and useless.

 

[Kingsfan2002]

So Bagley wasn't good on defense tonight? Are you so blinded by the shining glory of Luka that you can't see that?

The offense was rough, but we also weren't doing him any favors. Stark contrast how Ayton was used and how Bagley was used tonight. Ayton probably had 7-8 really easy looks and finishes created for him off the PnR. Bagley was stuck creating off his own dribble the entire night while "sort of" getting 1 PnR play the entire game.

Put Ayton at the 3 point line or 20 feet out and make him create off his dribble, and see how he looks.

completely agree the suns gave Ayton some really easy feeds at the (and this is important) right moments. due to his obvious size (he's so tall and already filled out) the waited till the defender had no choice but to front. then they just easy lobbed it high and the weak side defense was on a out of position island. Bagley won't ever get those easy buckets at this level, but THIS IS IMPORTANT GUYS. Bagley will need to adjust to more than Ayton has to. Good news is I do believe Bagley has the desire and everything skill set to eventually be really crafty but thats gonna take him #1 calming down and realizing he's arrived and doesn't have to summer league single handily go off every game. #2 just get acclimated to the speed and skill of his opponents. He's used to being the Alpha at every level and didn't have to be as balanced. #3 just continue to develop his counter moves and jumper. That usually comes in year 2 and 3. Once that evolves he can burn buy defenders at ease.

It will get easier

 

[Kingsfan2002]

Interesting stat: We played 11 players tonight with a combined 27,203 NBA regular-season minutes. That basically means the average guy we put out there had one season (and not a super long season, 2473 minutes) of experience.

The Suns played a lot of inexperienced players as well, but...Tyson Chandler (30,523) and Trevor Ariza (27,808) each had more experience than our entire team combined.

So if you're wondering why we looked a bit raw out there...

This core of franchise guys is so young. And Shira athleticism and underlining talent I expect young guys to struggle through the first half of the season. But still be good enough to make the rookie All-Star teams . I’m more looking forward to the second half where the game will begin to slow down and they will have had enough minutes to actually get a better feel of the game. Bagley in particular is he used to dominating at every level. He’s not as big or strong as Ayton. He will need to adjust the speed of the game more than that guy.

 

[Double-K]

Interesting stat: We played 11 players tonight with a combined 27,203 NBA regular-season minutes. That basically means the average guy we put out there had one season (and not a super long season, 2473 minutes) of experience.

The Suns played a lot of inexperienced players as well, but...Tyson Chandler (30,523) and Trevor Ariza (27,808) each had more experience than our entire team combined.

So if you're wondering why we looked a bit raw out there...

Can't argue with the numbers. Thanks Capt'n!

 

[Joshoua]

our starting lineup to begin the season will be WCS, Bjelica, Shumpert, Buddy, Fox.

Don’t know what it is on here with Shumpert but that scrub isn’t staring, rather start Ben over him.

I agree!

But I was also a Doncic fan who thought Bagley had bust written all over him pre draft.

So um.... I'll try to control myself in the coming months.

I'm grumpy, but I'm still rooting for our guy. I also know he's a project. But it might be a loooong season for Bagley.

Man me too I’ll try to control myself but when I’m in the game thread reading people write that Fox looks better off ball. Well that damn right pisses me off cause Doncic is his best playing with a pg.

Anyways, I’ll hope everything turns out for Bagley

 

[twslam07]

We need more Giles, Labissiere, Cauley-Stein, & Bagley on the court together...but with Fox.

I'm less interested in how that lineup performs offensively (considering all of those guys are still working on improving their shots) but more interested in how it works defensively. That combination of athleticism, quickness, size, and length could be interesting in cases where we need a stop at the end of the game.

Unfortunately, I wasn't watching the game closely during that time and by the time I realized they were on the floor together, Joerger made a sub. I thought I saw someone said they turned it over a couple times but curious if they had a few reps in a halfcourt defensive set. Anyone know?

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Tyson Chandler's experience doesn't mean anything because he's completely washed up. He can barely move on the court.

He also only played 9 minutes in the game. It was a point of interest, not an analysis.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

My point is that one game doesn't prove anything, and the level of hyperbole after one preseason game is ludicrous.

Par for the course. It's even more ridiculous during Summer League.

 

[twslam07]

I will say another thing...

I remember Bagley & Giles having their best (or one of their best) games offensively in the very first summer league game against the Lakers. That was the only game they played with Fox if I remember correctly. Thinking back on this game, I'm not sure Bagley & Giles played any minutes with Fox (or if they did, it was limited).

 

[Joshoua]

I don't think so. If no one from our young group steps up and becomes at least a 18ppg scorer, he's done. Or the other alternative, Bagley looks very raw while other rookies look like stars. Vlade does not get an extra 2 years. He's already over stayed his visit since the Stauskas trade.


This FO has a ton of faith in Fox. I'm not as sold as everyone though.
I don't think you can pass up on Doncic because of Bogdanovic. Fox? ok..I can see the argument because he's a young athletic PG with flashes. But Bogdanovic? 26yearold jack of all trades SG? I don't think so. Passing up on Doncic is already biting us in the ass. Putting Bagley's lackluster SL+1st preseason game, we desperately needed a SF more than anything. Tonight we had McLemore playing SF...

I'm more concerned about individual player improvements rather than the entire team performance. If the FO has already decided that Fox is their guy, they need to build an entire team around him and start flushing unnecessary things out.

Man **** that, Fox at his ultimate potential even if reached does not justify passing on Doncic. If you don’t have 2-3 ball handling playmakers than you might as well know your playoff chances are limited. We only have Fox and Bogdan and Fox wasn’t that good at running an offense. Passing on a 6’9 wing who can play 1-4 is ludicrous especially when you consider we hyped the hell out of Giles too. So what is it with the FO why take another big if you believe in Giles when you have a gaping hole at SF. Playmaking SF/PF never hit never hit free agency so good like finding one

 

[PHXSUNSFAN]

So there were people that were saying "it's only summer league" and now "it's just one preseason game". Fact remains Bagley has looked the same every time we have seen him thus far. He has to show us something at some point if you guys want the cynicism to go away. He was the #2 pick and the most important pick of the Sacramento era.

https://twitter.com/statuses/1046981838114295809

 

[KingsFanSince85]

Here's the thing. I'm one of many that championed drafting Luka. And I was and still am immensely disappointed in Vlade for passing on him. I even once had Marvin Bagley not even in my top 6 prospects -- but I did warm up to him some and had him around 4th IIRC.

It should be clearly obvious judging from the above that I have reason to be as critical of Marvin Bagley as anyone. And even I believe it's far too premature to draw any conclusions about what type of player he's gonna be. I get that he was the #2 pick and fans have expectations. But he could very well take a couple years to reach his potential. Or he could be a bust. But none of us know what that outcome is going to be yet. And we won't know for quite some time, certainly not after SL or a couple pre-season games. Have some perspective.

 

[mac]

Here's the thing. I'm one of many that championed drafting Luka. And I was and still am immensely disappointed in Vlade for passing on him. I even once had Marvin Bagley not even in my top 6 prospects -- but I did warm up to him some and had him around 4th IIRC.

It should be clearly obvious judging from the above that I have reason to be as critical of Marvin Bagley as anyone. And even I believe it's far too premature to draw any conclusions about what type of player he's gonna be. I get that he was the #2 pick and fans have expectations. But he could very well take a couple years to reach his potential. Or he could be a bust. But none of us know what that outcome is going to be yet. And we won't know for quite some time, certainly not after SL or a couple pre-season games. Have some perspective.

I think it's fair to not be optimistic based on not having seen many flashes. Nobody knows the future, and the sky isn't falling yet, but with every passing game fans will feel more and more disappointed if Bagley doesn't start showing something, nevermind if he's going to blossom 2 years from now.

 

[Tetsujin]

The defense, other than WCS getting spanked by Ayton, looks pretty good across the board overall. Our athleticism is playing a factor.

Offense is a total nightmare right now.

This is totally unsurprising for a Dave Joerger team

 

[Tetsujin]

Can't catch lobs from the 3 point line.

Luka could!