[Game] Kings v. Bulls - Monday, Dec. 2 - 7 PT; 10 ET

[Tizzy Flip]

If Walton is going to switch he has to take Yogi off the floor.

That was really baffling. Bulls exploited us 3 straight possessions with Farrell switching on to Markanen down low. How does that happen? That’s at least a foot height differential. That killed any momentum we had

 

[Tetsujin]

Bjelica with the best +-, by far. good we took him out.

Bjeli should have been out there but +- is a horrible stat predicated on so many exterior factors beyond a player's individual performance that you'd probably be better off tracking number of cheeseburgers eaten since last June.

 

[Tetsujin]

That was really baffling. Bulls exploited us 3 straight possessions with Farrell switching on to Markanen down low. How does that happen? That’s at least a foot height differential. That killed any momentum we had

I feel like that was more of a missed assignment situation than anything. Bjeli came out of the game immediately after the third switch and was having difficulty staying with Lauri most of the night so there are signs he was the culprit but I haven't rewatched the footage to see.

 

[Tizzy Flip]

Hield rushed that transition 3, and it showed.

These are the decisions he really needs to start improving in. Even if he makes it, we go up 1 with 3 mins left. He was trying to win the game in that possession when it would have been wise to go back to Barnes in the block

 

[Noble]

We should have tried going big on them. They have 1 big! Put holmes and Giles in together and bang!

 

[burekijogurt]

Bjeli should have been out there but +- is a horrible stat predicated on so many exterior factors beyond a player's individual performance that you'd probably be better off tracking number of cheeseburgers eaten since last June.

he lead the team in rebounds, blocks, shot 7-10 and 2-3 for 3.

 

[SacTownKid]

That was really baffling. Bulls exploited us 3 straight possessions with Farrell switching on to Markanen down low. How does that happen? That’s at least a foot height differential. That killed any momentum we had

I assume it's because he likes ball pressure and knows they are going to rely on help anyway. The problem there is the Bulls said thank you much and dished it back out to their spot shooters all night. When Fox comes back a lot of what Walton is doing should be more effective but with another road trip coming up this becomes a game of survival.

 

[burekijogurt]

he lead the team in rebounds, blocks, shot 7-10 and 2-3 for 3.

correction, Holmes is now the rebounding leader with 9, Bjelica with 8

 

[PHXSUNSFAN]

Why doesnt Luke Walton give Harry Giles some of Dwayne Dedmon’s minutes?

Is Giles trash when he plays or something?

 

[Iced Espresso]

Both teams had 18 turnovers

Bulls shot 48%, Kings 48.2
Bulls 43.2% from 3 Kings 27.3%

Kings 10 offensive boards, Bulls 3

Bulls shot 9 more FT's

Looks like the Bulls attacked the basket better than we did, and hit their 3's.

 

[steelevt]

Bjeli should have been out there but +- is a horrible stat predicated on so many exterior factors beyond a player's individual performance that you'd probably be better off tracking number of cheeseburgers eaten since last June.

Well Ariza and Dedmon had the worst +/- and they sucked butt so that stat can’t be all wrong.

 

[SacTownKid]

Well Ariza and Dedmon had the worst +/- and they sucked butt so that stat can’t be all wrong.

And when Ariza started to finally get something going defensively off to the bench he went. He personally stopped the Bulls on two separate possessions. Soon as he goes out Buddy is stuck on Lavine and swish.

 

[Tetsujin]

he lead the team in rebounds, blocks, shot 7-10 and 2-3 for 3.

But his man also dropped 20 points, most of them coming in a 2nd quarter meltdown (not entirely Bjeli's fault) so awful that the every geiger counter in the central valley probably went off.

I thought Bjeli was the least of our major problems tonight but he wasn't great out there by any means.

 

[Iced Espresso]

I'm not sure why we are using Dedmon so horribly on offense either. He's good for an illegal screen or two a game, a bad entry pass from someone else, a bad post shot too...

Can't he just stand in the corner with feet set more often?

 

[sactowndog]

Well Ariza and Dedmon had the worst +/- and they sucked butt so that stat can’t be all wrong.

Yeah Dedmon and Ariza had more turnovers than points. Ugh.

 

[Tizzy Flip]

Well Ariza and Dedmon had the worst +/- and they sucked butt so that stat can’t be all wrong.

Don’t even get me started with Ariza. Solid defender but completely useless on offense. What should have been a simple breakaway to Buddy, he throws a terrible pass where he leads Buddy so far off his path and I think we then turn it over or brick a shot. I then want to say they hit a 3. Critical point in the 4th when that happened

 

[Iced Espresso]

Don’t even get me started with Ariza. Solid defender but completely useless on offense. What should have been a simple breakaway to Buddy, he throws a terrible pass where he leads Buddy so far off his path and I think we then turn it over or brick a shot. I then want to say they hit a 3. Critical point in the 4th when that happened

Maybe we will have some luck and someone will want him Dec 15th for bad money and a second. At least it forces them to play James more.

 

[Tetsujin]

Well Ariza and Dedmon had the worst +/- and they sucked butt so that stat can’t be all wrong.

But the thing is that Ariza had an absolutely fantastic defensive stint in the 4th so those numbers aren't on the spot either. I mean, Yogi had the second best +- on the night but that's mostly a product of him barely playing during the 2nd quarter meltdown and playing most of the comeback in the 4th.

 

[KingsFanNSouth]

Really Really really bad loss. Geez. The injuries are killing this team

 

[SacTownKid]

But his man also dropped 20 points, most of them coming in a 2nd quarter meltdown (not entirely Bjeli's fault) so awful that the every geiger counter in the central valley probably went off.

I thought Bjeli was the least of our major problems tonight but he wasn't great out there by any means.

His mismatch qualities at center really helped the Kings put pressure on the Bulls though. Buddy got going in the middle of the paint at the free throw line. Those are the shots he needs to get more of and largely that was because the Bulls had to play honest defense. It has now become a full on problem with this teams inability to attack the double on pick and roll. It's hard to break habits but part of it is design flaw.

 

[Tetsujin]

I'm not sure why we are using Dedmon so horribly on offense either. He's good for an illegal screen or two a game, a bad entry pass from someone else, a bad post shot too...

Can't he just stand in the corner with feet set more often?

Gotta wait until Bagley comes back.

 

[Iced Espresso]

But the thing is that Ariza had an absolutely fantastic defensive stint in the 4th so those numbers aren't on the spot either. I mean, Yogi had the second best +- on the night but that's mostly a product of him barely playing during the 2nd quarter meltdown and playing most of the comeback in the 4th.

We'd of been better off with Brewer on a minimum deal. But he did play some decent defense.

 

[Iced Espresso]

Gotta wait until Bagley comes back.

Not a bad point actually. But still, could set the screen with Bjelica, Barnes, Holmes more and just let him stand in the corner more often.

 

[Tetsujin]

His mismatch qualities at center really helped the Kings put pressure on the Bulls though. Buddy got going in the middle of the paint at the free throw line. Those are the shots he needs to get more of and largely that was because the Bulls had to play honest defense. It has now become a full on problem with this teams inability to attack the double on pick and roll. It's hard to break habits but part of it is design flaw.

Yeah, I definitely agree there. Barnes is honestly probably a better matchup on Lauri anyways so the Kings probably would have been fine had they gone with Bjeli/Barnes/(Ariza/James/Bogi)/Buddy/(Yogi/Joseph/Bogi) to close the game out. Also not sure why Walton stayed with Yogi down the stretch. Yogi had a fine night but was getting killed on those aforementioned switches and Dunn is pretty much a worse version of Ricky Rubio so we probably could have hidden Bogi on him.

 

[Iced Espresso]

Briefly listen to Walton post game on the radio said something about "playing 48", yep effort had a lot to do with it.

 

[Tetsujin]

We may not have won the game but Kings Twitter remains undefeated.

https://twitter.com/statuses/1201736452746309633

 

[jcassio]

After three years of reducing his turnovers while at the same time handling the ball more and more, Buddy is now regressing with 1+ turnover more per 36 min than last year. His other stats are fairly consistent with last year. But the turnovers are hard to take, especially when his shot isn't falling with any regularity. And then there's the hero mentality (that he shares with Bogi) that dooms us at the end.

And what did Giles do to Luke? I get that he shouldn't be getting any of Holmes or Beli's minutes, but Dedmon? Oh yeah, Dedmon spreads the floor for us. NOT!

 

[ESP47]

I'm not liking this Hield doing his best Curry impersonation thing we've seen this year. I wish Walton would reel him in and have him go back to doing what he was doing last year. If we had 2018 Buddy Hield on this team, they'd probably be 11-8 right now.

 

[Tetsujin]

And what did Giles do to Luke? I get that he shouldn't be getting any of Holmes or Beli's minutes, but Dedmon? Oh yeah, Dedmon spreads the floor for us. NOT!

Giles hasn't been that great when he's played this season. Completely undisciplined on defense and fouling at an insane rate. Joerger's wide-open system let him sorta freelance and make up his errors but on the Grit'n'Grind Kings, that doesn't really work anymore

 

[PHXSUNSFAN]

Maybe we will have some luck and someone will want him Dec 15th for bad money and a second.

We got Oubre out of trading Ariza so maybe y’all can get something good too.