Kings-Thunder post-game discussion

[VF21]

anytime.

It doesn't take much effort or insight to post a "because we suck" comment. A lot of people would really prefer to discuss the whole thing in a little more depth. The quick throwaway comments are actually a bit insulting to the people who are actually looking for valid comments, good and bad, to make about the team.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

I think the Kings coaching staff should fine Spencer $10,000 every time he doesnt do the smart thing and take the ball to the hole and settles for 30 foot 3 pointers every time. Maybe it will make him THINK then.

 

[tyrant]

ya know we really lost this game by 25, not 13. so i pray that there is no "light at the end of the tunnel" going into the locker room. theres only one side to a garbage time.

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

The only 'light' on this team tonight was Casspi.

 

[cstorm]

I think the Kings coaching staff should fine Spencer $10,000 every time he doesnt do the smart thing and take the ball to the hole and settles for 30 foot 3 pointers every time. Maybe it will make him THINK then.

The fine being distributed as free Taco Bell to the fans of course.

 

[Rockmeister]

I think the Kings coaching staff should fine Spencer $10,000 every time he doesnt do the smart thing and take the ball to the hole and settles for 30 foot 3 pointers every time. Maybe it will make him THINK then.

In my opinion, he should come off the bench for that reason. I am tired of seeing him shot 3's and not posting down low alot more often.

 

[Reem]

I think Oklahoma City is a good team, that maybe even will make it to the playoff.

don't be so negative, you can't expect the worst team from last year become a beast this year, it'll take time but I think players like casspi and brokman, can give a lot to this young team.
I think in the Kings, offensively Kmart did good job but generally Casspi was the best on the court (I'm not objective), he guarded durant and everytime durant got the ball he passed it to another player, he done nothing against casspi's defence.
I watch the games (from Israel) to see Casspi but I would be very happy if the Kings will win, and I think Kmart, thompson, brockman, evens, nocioni, sergio and some others are good players.. they can be a way better team, they just need a shot in the arm, cause they have the talent, good player like greene that looks so dull= it seems to me like a motivation problem, maybe the coaches are the problem, maybe it'll take time to heal this team, anyway we need to have patience

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

The fine being distributed as free Taco Bell to the fans of course.

That works...I miss that from back in the day...but I guess we dont ever score 110 pts a game anymore to get those tacos...the Maloofs should make it filet mignon, just to tease us fans, because even we know that if we ever scored 110 pts, that has to be one of the signs of the apocolypse.

 

[TTown Kings]

JT in early foul trouble, no defense and no rebounding. Looked like more of the same. Hard to come away with any real positives from this one, Omri is it. Reke looked bad, Spencer looked bad, I have no idea whatsoever why Mason is starting. I know it's just the first game, but pretty dissapointing all the way around.

 

[ElRey]

We pretty much got blown out in the first quarter. The Kings did make some runs and there were times when they were within 13 but then Oklahoma would make a big shot (usally Green or Durant) The frontcourt of Durant and Green is just lethal. That is a very talented Oklahoma team, with 4 top lottery picks in Durant, Green, Harden and Westbrook. They are 3 years ahead of us in the rebuild stage, of course it also helps to have a budding superstar in Kevin Durant too.

Tyreke looked nervous out there in his first pro game, nevertheless he did show glimpse of his talent. He blew right by Westbrook in one play for a layup.

I am officially on the Omri Casspi fan club. I think we have our future small forward.

It's obvious from this game where we need to focuse on in the rebuild. Our front court, which got dominated by Oklahoma's front of Durant, Krstic, and Green. Good thing is next year's draft is stocked with big men and we should try to load up on them. Trade Donte Greene for a first rounder, as Omri has already moved ahead of him in the rotation. Greene is useless to us now.

 

[CruzDude]

Any thoughts on why Brockman didn't get more time? He seemed to play his 5 min. with a lot of energy.

I think Coach was trying to find out about the starters and main rotation folks in the first game. But he did more than May did for sure. Maybe, he steps up the rotation ladder. Couldn't do as poorly as Mason or May.

 

[mac]

I'm perfectly fine with Hawes shooting 3s if he's wide open. There was one play towards the end where that was the case and his shot was short. But other than that Hawes should not be catching and shooting/ be used on the perimeter as a primary option.

I'm really hoping that Tyreke will learn to finish stronger and lead fast breaks better as well. Once he gets more experience and is able to do that he'll become a much larger threat offensively. I'm looking forward to seeing what coach's and players' comments are about the game.

We do not suck because of one poor game, neither does this loss make Westphal any less of a coach. I'm interested in seeing how our "new" team will adapt based on today's performance and whether or not they'll learn from their mistakes. That, IMO is key.

 

[T4L3NT3D530]

ya know we really lost this game by 25, not 13. so i pray that there is no "light at the end of the tunnel" going into the locker room. theres only one side to a garbage time.

on a lighter note we never trailed by 25

 

[Kings Faithful]

It doesn't take much effort or insight to post a "because we suck" comment. A lot of people would really prefer to discuss the whole thing in a little more depth. The quick throwaway comments are actually a bit insulting to the people who are actually looking for valid comments, good and bad, to make about the team.

Sorry. I was just trying to provide some comic relief. I thought we needed some after the joke of a performance I just witnessed. Martin was good, Omri was good, Jason was decent, everyone else =

As far as a legit answer to the reason why the only guy to give us a spark off the bench 5 minutes, I don't have one. Probably wasn't part of Westphalls awesome pre-determined rotations.

For now I'm just going to throw this disappointment on the 1st game jitters pile. I just expected more energy and "composure" from this team, but alas, their is still time for redemption.

 

[Chupacabra]

This team is still bad. I hope noone is disillusioned about that. With that in mind, its going to be really tough to critique Westphals coaching ability. The greatest coach in the world cant make a bad team into a good one. You have to have talent and experience. The Kings still have neither of those attributes. I still would have liked to see a competitive game out of them.

 

[NewArena]

This quote will help me on my mission of positivity: 'In the long run the pessimist may be proved right, but the optimist has a better time on the trip'.

 

[OptimusRhyme]

Why the hell did "scott" may start tonight??? is Westphal seriously trying to crush our 21 year old centers confidence into nothing?

Why was Omri taken out in the fourth when he was the only one carrying the scoring load?

Where was Beno tonight?

Nocioni is NOT a PF.. he can play there occasionally not all the time like Westphal tryed to do tonight.

why did we not call any time outs when the Thunder were killing us in the first...

i needed to let that out. tonights game was very frustrating.. I feel like most people on this board could of coached our first game better then westphal did tonight.

 

[VF21]

Keep in mind tonight was the first of 3 games on the road in 4 nights. I suspect Casspi might have been feeling the effects of opening night and Westphal, seeing it, decided to give him a breather since he has big plans for him... Just my guess, but I don't think there's anything negative to be garnered from it.

 

[Gary]

It was just bad all around.. Martin played Martins game pretty much. Thompson played like a roleplaying PF should play. Offered some points and rebounds. Nothing spectacular but nothing that would be a detriment to the team.

1) May played like crap and I have no idea why he is starting....

2) Mason is done in the NBA and I have no idea why the Kings
A)picked him up
B)started him
C)picked him up
D)picked him up

3) Evans played like he was lost out there.. He didn't really run any offense. Basically carried the ball up the floor and passed it off to someone and they played a bunch of 1 on 1 ball. That is NOT how I want to see this team. Reminds me of the debacle when Orion Greene was here... At least Evans has the confidence to take a few shots here and there.. But one game does out of 81 and I didn't see a PG out there. Lets hope after 30 or so we have some idea what we have.

4) Omri needs to start

5) Hawes needs to start. There are a bunch of others teams out there that would love Hawes and play him if the Kings don't feel like it.

 

[ccarey6789]

First of all it would be nice to start the season off right for a change, or at least not have the game virtually over in the first quarter. Nevertheless i think things will get better as we progress. I think a game like this from evans has a lot to do with first games nerves no matter what he might say. He has and will play much better as the season progresses. Look for him to absolutely shut down CP3 next game!!! haha....

I really enjoyed how casspi played tonight, it is nice to see players make shots, but you can just tell he really cares about winning out there, and that is obviously what we need. Kevin martin got his 20-30 points, but was largely uneffective in the second half.

I think Hawes needs to start for his confidence level, and i do like may but ZERO rebounds? Hawes is our only center and therefore should start for us at that position.

I am not expecting a win against a fired up hornets team, but hopefully we will see a win against memphis at home as well as improvement from all our players that so desperately need it. I just can't stand being the worst team in the league, and hopefully this year we won't be.

 

[King Baller]

We pretty much got blown out in the first quarter. The Kings did make some runs and there were times when they were within 13 but then Oklahoma would make a big shot (usally Green or Durant) The frontcourt of Durant and Green is just lethal. That is a very talented Oklahoma team, with 4 top lottery picks in Durant, Green, Harden and Westbrook. They are 3 years ahead of us in the rebuild stage, of course it also helps to have a budding superstar in Kevin Durant too.

Tyreke looked nervous out there in his first pro game, nevertheless he did show glimpse of his talent. He blew right by Westbrook in one play for a layup.

I am officially on the Omri Casspi fan club. I think we have our future small forward.

It's obvious from this game where we need to focuse on in the rebuild. Our front court, which got dominated by Oklahoma's front of Durant, Krstic, and Green. Good thing is next year's draft is stocked with big men and we should try to load up on them. Trade Donte Greene for a first rounder, as Omri has already moved ahead of him in the rotation. Greene is useless to us now.

+1 I pretty much agree with everything you said here El Rey!

This team has only been together a few weeks. New coaches and a rookie PG will make for some tough nights.

If Westphal starts Hawes he has to have fast hook when JT or Hawes get 2 fouls. Then you are going to see May at C and Noc at PF. If it was up to me I would give Brockman more time.

Omri is cool!!!

KB

 

[Bricklayer]

I suspect things would have felt considerably better had Tyreke even had an average game. As it was, it was just kind of a barren mess except for Kevin in the first half, and Casspi in the second. Don't think it will e like this every night.

 

[AriesMar27]

wow this team sucks.... this was probably our best chance at having a winning record for at least a day...

martin scored 27 but shot horribly from the floor. he did make all of his freethrows...

evans shot horribly, didnt score or run the offense very well. more turnovers than assists...

mason is a waste of space, man i wish garcia was healthy...

may is a career back up just like josh powell and glen davis...

thompson, i dont know what to say about him. 3-4 shooting is great if you are coming off the bench and only play 15 minutes, not starting with 30 minutes of playing time.

nocioni sucks...

brockman was okay...

sergio needs to be starting at pg. at least try it to see if it works.

hawes should be starting, though he shot poorly 4-10 for a center is pretty bad.

casspi is good... he should be starting.

wow this team sucks though. we just lack the talent to compete everynight. its sad to watch and lebron lost again. wtf? triple double and he still lost by 10. worst night ever, since last night.

 

[swisshh]

The bothersome thing about Evans wasn't all the offensive struggles and the one on one, most people saw that coming. It was that Westbrook was 7 for 12 with a double-double against him. I thought that even if he struggled at PG, he'd offer some better defensive outcome at the position.

 

[AriesMar27]

The bothersome thing about Evans wasn't all the offensive struggles and the one on one, most people saw that coming. It was that Westbrook was 7 for 12 with a double-double against him. I thought that even if he struggled at PG, he'd offer some better defensive outcome at the position.

evans made westbrook look like chris paul. 13 assists and 2 turnovers... this place would be going crazy if the boxscores were reversed.

on a positive note, martin leads the team in assists, now we cant call him one dimensional.

 

[fnordius]

this was probably our best chance at having a winning record for at least a day...

I'd say our only chance, despite having 6 out of our 7 first games in November be home games. The next two are road games against strong teams, so it's looking like an 0-3 start. That's a big hole to climb out of.

 

[AriesMar27]

I'd say our only chance, despite having 6 out of our 7 first games in November be home games. The next two are road games against strong teams, so it's looking like an 0-3 start. That's a big hole to climb out of.

yeah, our chance at having a winning record at any point in this season is pretty much over. unless we somehow beat the hornets on friday which i doubt.

 

[bajaden]

evans made westbrook look like chris paul. 13 assists and 2 turnovers... this place would be going crazy if the boxscores were reversed.

on a positive note, martin leads the team in assists, now we cant call him one dimensional.

Well, in fairness to Westbrook, Westbrook made Westbrook look like Chris Paul. Evans had a bad night. He still got to the basket but his shot just wouldn't fall. It happens! I counted six passes that could have been assists, but the shots were missed. It happens!. No excuses. Casspi had a very good game. The dude is fearless. He reminds me of the Sundance Kid. Thompson almost got a double double despite the fact that he was on the bench because of foul trouble. Still, he had a decent game and made few mistakes. Hawes seems to play better when he's on the floor with Thompson for some reason. In the fourth quarter his defense improved dramaticly when he was out there with Thompson. No explaination for it. It just seems that way to me.

As far as the perception of Hawes pumping out three pointer after three pointer. He took 10 shots. 2 of which were three pointers. One was a wide open shot with no one near him. He had to take it. He missed both attempts. All of his points were scored in the paint. So perception aside, he did go into the paint and try to score. I'm not defending him overall. He had a bad game. But three point shooting had nothing to do with it.

Just my opinion, but I think the Thunder were loaded for bear after the embarrassment a week ago. By the same token, I think the Kings just wern't ready for a team with that mentality on their opening night. Its a work in progress, but I may be one of the few thats enjoying it. Remember, its still just a game...

 

[mac]

Sometimes I really wonder why some fans remain fans despite all their whining and obvious lack of love for anything about the team.

Oh my Lebron lost, the cavs must suck. just like us.

 

[AriesMar27]

Well, in fairness to Westbrook, Westbrook made Westbrook look like Chris Paul. Evans had a bad night. He still got to the basket but his shot just wouldn't fall. It happens! I counted six passes that could have been assists, but the shots were missed. It happens!. No excuses.

even if 2/3 of those shots went in evans would still have half of the assists that westbrook had. our one dimensional star martin had twice as many assists and only 1 turnover. though if he averages 27ppg/4rpg/4apg we really cant call him one dimensional.

sergio should start at pg next game or at least get more than 13 minutes when evans isnt playing well.