Those are fantastic stats. I want to go one step deeper: Why are they taking so few contested jump shots compared to the league last year? TEMPO. It's the fast pace that is allowing them to get open uncontested shots, which is what they did not have last year. The combination of good on-the-court judgement (and good coaching) along with fast break basketball is getting them good shots. With their speed and athleticism, as long as the Kings play fast and pass the basketball they will continue to be a very high scoring team.
[Game] Kings @ Thunder - Sunday, Oct. 21 - 4 PDT
- Thread starter VF21
- Start date
Fox. Not surprised.
Bags--having his Joachim Noah/Steven Adams type of impact. This is year one. His template is Giannis--look at his handle and athleticism. Year 3, dude is grabbing a board and going coast to coast and scoring or dishing.
Giles reminds of a pre-injury, older version of CWebb.
Shump, offense is a positive.
Belly and Yogi are steals.
The foundation is in place.
Bags--having his Joachim Noah/Steven Adams type of impact. This is year one. His template is Giannis--look at his handle and athleticism. Year 3, dude is grabbing a board and going coast to coast and scoring or dishing.
Giles reminds of a pre-injury, older version of CWebb.
Shump, offense is a positive.
Belly and Yogi are steals.
The foundation is in place.
Personally I don't really have many complaints about the offense so far. I thought they took too many mid range shots against Utah but they made them at a high clip so it worked. Right now it looks like teams are shooting 3s 35% of the time and the Kings are shooting them about 24% of the time. The league is shooting mid range at a 21% clip while the Kings are shooting them at about a 28% clip.
I'm just thinking that there is a good chance they are on a hot streak and when the hot streak starts to cool down, they will need to sway those 3 point attempts up and mid range attempts back to get closer to the league average. That will make up for the hot streak and keep their points per game up even though their efficiency will go down.
I have complete faith that the shooters we have on this team will still be able to shoot at a pretty high percentage from 3 even if their attempts go up but I don't have faith that the team will continue to shoot 59% from mid range when defenders are 4-6ft away and 71% from mid range when defenders are 6+ feet away. We know those numbers are going to go down and the Kings will need to make up for it in other ways to keep the scoring going. The 3 point shooters are the key because guys like Hield, Beli, Bogie and company are money from the outside.
I'm just thinking that there is a good chance they are on a hot streak and when the hot streak starts to cool down, they will need to sway those 3 point attempts up and mid range attempts back to get closer to the league average. That will make up for the hot streak and keep their points per game up even though their efficiency will go down.
I have complete faith that the shooters we have on this team will still be able to shoot at a pretty high percentage from 3 even if their attempts go up but I don't have faith that the team will continue to shoot 59% from mid range when defenders are 4-6ft away and 71% from mid range when defenders are 6+ feet away. We know those numbers are going to go down and the Kings will need to make up for it in other ways to keep the scoring going. The 3 point shooters are the key because guys like Hield, Beli, Bogie and company are money from the outside.
Your point is valid but hard to make a matrix and explain a point. I simplified it for illustrative purposes. If I took out Fox’s and Justin’s 3 point shooting percentage, the point would be even stronger as players like Buddy, Yogi, Beli, Mason shoot a higher percentage from 3 than others shoot from the mid-range.
I get all this. I'm just saying the notion of shooting more threes because that's what other teams do so that's what you have to do is flawed. I'm saying that they need to focus always getting the best shot, whatever that may be. In many cases, it will be an open three. But shooting threes for the sake of shooting threes isn't wise at all.
For example, whatever they're doing now is working. Even though they aren't shooting as many threes as most other teams. That could change depending how future opponents adjust their defense to take away what the Kings are doing well. But as of now, they're averaging 125 points while being near the bottom of in 3 pt attempts. So any claim that they're behind the 8 ball is totally and completely false. If they are able to keep doing what they're doing now, all while improve the defense, they'll be in good position.
For example, whatever they're doing now is working. Even though they aren't shooting as many threes as most other teams. That could change depending how future opponents adjust their defense to take away what the Kings are doing well. But as of now, they're averaging 125 points while being near the bottom of in 3 pt attempts. So any claim that they're behind the 8 ball is totally and completely false. If they are able to keep doing what they're doing now, all while improve the defense, they'll be in good position.
Maybe, maybe not. It all depends upon how defenses continue to defend them. One thing I know is you don't mess with success. And you ride a hot hand until it bucks. While they are 1-2, the offense has looked better these past 3 games than any of us have seen it for quite a long time. Scoring is up across the league for numerous reasons, but the Kings have still been among the most prolific through only 3 games. They should continue to do what they're doing until it's not working anymore. Hopefully Bogie will return soon and fit in seamlessly (I think he will).
They just need to tighten up their defensive rotations and amp up the intensity on that end. But I've still seen some good things from them. The end of the 1st half last night, for example. They've got a lot of length and quickness and with Shumpert leading the charge, they can be really good deflecting passes and forcing turnovers.
They just need to tighten up their defensive rotations and amp up the intensity on that end. But I've still seen some good things from them. The end of the 1st half last night, for example. They've got a lot of length and quickness and with Shumpert leading the charge, they can be really good deflecting passes and forcing turnovers.
Everyone is shooting over 50% other than Giles and Jackson right now. There's no way they can sustain that.
Agreed on the defense but the NBA isn't really allowing it right now. It actually helps the Kings because they can't play defense anyway so in a way it kind of minimizes one of their weaknesses.
Agreed on the defense but the NBA isn't really allowing it right now. It actually helps the Kings because they can't play defense anyway so in a way it kind of minimizes one of their weaknesses.
I’m not disagreeing. The problem has been:
1) swinging the ball to open shooters on the weakside
2) post players kicking the ball out to open 3 point shooters
3) guards driving to the paint and kicking out to open shooters.
Fox did a much better job of finding people in the past game on 1. Giles had a nice pass to a right corner 3 on 2. We didn’t see much of 3.
The Kings offense has been good but it could be better with our shooters. Better offense will help us compete in the west.
1) swinging the ball to open shooters on the weakside
2) post players kicking the ball out to open 3 point shooters
3) guards driving to the paint and kicking out to open shooters.
Fox did a much better job of finding people in the past game on 1. Giles had a nice pass to a right corner 3 on 2. We didn’t see much of 3.
The Kings offense has been good but it could be better with our shooters. Better offense will help us compete in the west.
By the way a, potential problem with your chart is I believe it shows basic shooting percentage. You should use true percentage which adjusts the percentages based on whether it’s 2 or 3 points. Comparing a 2 point versus a 3 point shot and saying the 2 is more efficient without adjusting for the point differential is inaccurate.
That's like saying one of the most beautiful men or women in the world could be hotter. 125 per is more than good enough. 117, which is their lowest output -- against a good defensive team no less -- is more than good enough.
Defense is and continues to be the problem so far. That's public enemy #1.
Defense is and continues to be the problem so far. That's public enemy #1.
Relatedly a fan was expressing concern that Buddy was "only" shooting 4 threes per game, relative to 5 per game last year in fewer minutes and total FGAs. Excuse me, Buddy is shooting 63.5% TS. That's friggin all-star level awesome. Buddy's problem, if he has one, is not that he is not shooting enough threes or passing them up, it is that he has only shot 4 free throws. There is a subset of fans getting lost in the trees, losing sight of the forest. Shooting threes every chance you get is NOT the objective especially when you have a hand in your face and open teammate. The objective every possession is to get the BEST quality shot. That's the damn objective. Fox can make the floater or midrange with ease when the D takes away the lob. Try to get a dunk and if they take it away, score the easy uncontested two. This is not difficult to understand. I don't think Shumpert forced one three against the Thunder. That's the way it is done. I don't think Fox has given the D the possession off by launching a three too soon. If the Kings start passing up open threes or playing at a pace not conducive to open threes in early offense or delayed break, there is justifiable criticism. But if you are 5th in TS% after being last and 5th in offensive efficiency after being last, this notion you need to alter your offensive attack is silly. The Kings need to work on their rebounding and defense. Their offense is humming beautifully. Bjelica is 4-6 on threes this year. Does he need to get more threes? Hell yeah he does but in the context of what the Kings are doing well now . They do not need to go out of their way to get him shot attempts when they have an offense stupefying the opponents. Our advantage is speed with Fox, lob threat with Willie, high post passing with Giles, penetration with Yogi, and other modes of attack which get us the best quality shot. The threes come in this context not in lieu of it.
