[Game] Kings @ Suns, Tuesday, Dec. 4 (6PT/9ET)

that first quarter was of epic proportions courtesy of the Suns, wow. Kings took care of business early as they were supposed to and now get two days to get ready for Cleveland. By the way, Giles' production in his limited minutes is absurd. I can't for the life of me understand why he is either not playing in close games and/or only being given minutes in garbage time. Something must be going on we don't see.
Possibly because he hasn't gotten fouling under control quite yet.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
Haha I’m in suns forums and they are bagging Ayton like his flaws weren’t there. Bringing up his defense and lack of energy and desire, he showed all this in college and lost to ****ing Buffalo. But come combine time people love falling for workout warriors Ayton will be good but you’re screwed building around him.

Ayton's a really interesting case in that while he's put up big numbers, he's so incredibly passive and uninterested in playing defense that he's pretty much playing like rookie season Demarcus Cousins only without the burning rage that eventually made Boogie one of the top three or four big men in the league.

Any other season, his production would probably mask any of these concerns but this year Luka, JJJ, Young, Carter, and even Bagley are showing more potential and intensity than he has.
 
They could fire all the coaches in the world and it still wouldn't solve their main problem.
Very true, the GM's failure to bring in a PG is a very bad look. They had IT, Bledsoe and Dragic and now have basically no PG. Reminds me of the lean years with the Kings. Trying out Francisco Garcia at PG and we loved it when Petrie brought in Beno Udrih. Prime Beno would be a god send for the Suns right now:eek:
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
The play where Holmes hustled super hard for a offensive board and tapped it back past half court straight into the waiting arms of Troy Williams for a lay up summed up the game.

Glad we won but that was close to the first ever Kings win I nearly switched off the Suns looked like one of those 2nd tier Euro teams from Preseason.
I think a G-League affiliate could of beat that Suns team put out there last night, they will be lucky to win 15 games, especially if Booker misses significant time.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
Ayton's a really interesting case in that while he's put up big numbers, he's so incredibly passive and uninterested in playing defense that he's pretty much playing like rookie season Demarcus Cousins only without the burning rage that eventually made Boogie one of the top three or four big men in the league.

Any other season, his production would probably mask any of these concerns but this year Luka, JJJ, Young, Carter, and even Bagley are showing more potential and intensity than he has.
here lies the main issue why there were doubts about Ayton's work ethic and drive and it doesn't help that he's on the worst team in the league and in a unhealthy organization. Heart and determination isn't something that just comes and goes, that's within the individual. Too early to say but the Suns better hope this isn't a colossal mistake drafting him unless they land Zion or Barrett to try to help turn that stench around because them not acquiring a PG yet tells me that's their end goal here.
 
here lies the main issue why there were doubts about Ayton's work ethic and drive and it doesn't help that he's on the worst team in the league and in a unhealthy organization. Heart and determination isn't something that just comes and goes, that's within the individual. Too early to say but the Suns better hope this isn't a colossal mistake drafting him unless they land Zion or Barrett to try to help turn that stench around because them not acquiring a PG yet tells me that's their end goal here.
Bogdan would be running the Suns throwing dimes to Ayton but Sarver lost his patience and traded for Marquese Chriss.
 
Ayton's post game interview.

Seems pretty dejected and his final statement is telling with regards to his lackadaisical attitude.

"if you get down that much that early there is no way of getting back into the game"
I never want this guy on my team

I remember back in the King's heyday they came back from I believe 28 down in the second half to win.. anybody else remember that game? I don't know specifics but I know it was the Suns and a monster comeback.
 
"if you get down that much that early there is no way of getting back into the game"
I never want this guy on my team

I remember back in the King's heyday they came back from I believe 28 down in the second half to win.. anybody else remember that game? I don't know specifics but I know it was the Suns and a monster comeback.
Also,I remember us being down 37 with 7 or 8 minutes left in the third versus the Bulls and we came back to win it. Tyreke was still a rookie I believe.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
Hey y'all. I didn't watch much of last season, but I have a question about last year's Buddy Hield. What was his issue? I saw he had regressed but stats remain similar. Did he just not want to shoot or was he low energy? Am kind of curious as to what you think happened last year. I was hoping last year he would become a leader or at least do better than his rookie year (with us).

Thanks
Coach had a discussion with him about passing the ball and making plays for others, not just being the designated shooter. At one point, he knew he would have to do more of that or else Bogs would play more and he would play less.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
The Giles-Koufos thing is tough to figure out for who gets those 12-15minutes behind WCS. If we were 6-17 and Koufos was still getting the minutes, then yeah I'd have a huge issue with how Joerger is handling the run Giles is getting. But we are winning and Koufos is providing 2 things we desperately lack right now (rim protection and rebounding) that we don't get from elsewhere on the roster. Basically every metric shows he's providing a huge impact on the glass and defensively and is due for some positive regression with his offensive game.

Giles is infinitely more talented offensively, but we aren't losing games on the offensive end. I don't like him not getting burn, but I don't think it's wrong to give his minutes to Koufos when he's a valuable contributor and we're still in the playoff hunt. Tough spot to be in for Joerger.
It's not that tough of a problem. When WCS isn't playing hard or well you distribute his minutes to both Giles and Koufos. That is not a rare occurrence. It should afford Giles plenty of playing time.
 
Coach had a discussion with him about passing the ball and making plays for others, not just being the designated shooter. At one point, he knew he would have to do more of that or else Bogs would play more and he would play less.
I think another prime example of the player development approach of this coaching staff paying off. A little bit of game time opportunity, a lot of hands on help in practices, tough love/earning minutes, encouragement and communication. At the very least, it seems like the players generally understand they will not be handed minutes and will be held accountable.
 
I bet Suns fans wished they took Doncic over Ayton at this point. Long season and career though, and the Suns have been pretty dysfunctional recently. Glad to see the Kings take care of business the way they did, that’s a great sign
 
What is happening in PHX is why coaches hate tanking. It's why Joerger doesn't want to run 4 rookies out at 30+ min a game together. Playing bad is dejecting and can affect development. Ayton was not doing a good job getting position on WCS, but the passes into him were atrocious. I dont want to downplay a really good game by Willie, but that doesn't happen against even a 30 win team.
 
Not to mention, he's still under-contract for next season and there is absolutely no guarantee that Thibs is going to get fired.
Or that Joerger would be anywhere on their radar even if he was available. Seems like such a long shot and so many Uber convenient circumstances would need take place for Dave to be in the position for the Wolves job. Certainly burning his bridge in Sacramento as what happened in Memphis wouldn’t make him a viable candidate for any future professional coaching job. That would probably ruin his career