So this was the first Kings game I was actually able to record and watch since it was on TNT and I don't get the games locally. I had to force myself to go to sleep after the 3rd quarter so I wouldn't wake up tired for work. A few observations:
General: This team is SO FUN to watch. The young guys are amazing to watch with their incredible athleticism and alley-oop dunks. The fast pace of play and the level of energy is impressive. They just seem to have fun out there.
1) De'Aaron Fox is absolutely incredible. This kid is going to be a superstar. He is incredibly fast and fluid. He made some impressive shots - most notably an acrobatic layup that had super high arch to it, and an intentional bank shot from midrange. He is able to pull up and hit the jumper, which is great because his biggest concern coming out of Kentucky was his shooting ability. His passing is also fantastic, he clearly has great basketball IQ and tossed a few picture perfect lobs to WCS and Bagley for the easy finish.
A couple negatives I saw that he needs to work on...
- He's so fast he sometimes plays a little too out of control. I love his energy, but he needs just a tad more restraint.
- He bit on a few pump fakes which led to his many blowing by him for an easy bucket. This should improve in time with experience.
2) Willie Cauley-Stein is an interesting player to watch. It's clear that he has amazing athleticism and quickness for his size, but it's almost as if he doesn't know what to do with it. He's very capable of high flying dunks and catching lobs for the throw down, but his ability around the basket when he has the ball in his hands needs work. I noticed his layups lack finesse and he's erratic so he has trouble finishing around the basket. With that said, I'm happy to see he can hit the occasional jumper...I was not expecting that of him. In regards to his defense, he seems slow to react at times. There were instances where a guy would pull up for a jumper, and he was slow to contest. Fortunately, he has the length to be disruptive, but still...he needs to react quicker. Also, his man to man D in the post was lacking. He just couldn't stay in front of his guy at times. What's strange is that, coming out of college the scouting report on him was all about defense. Somehow that script seems to have flipped, which is something I did not expect to happen at all. Overall, his game just needs refinement in most aspects. He's still young enough that I'm hoping he can get it all together.
3) I'm loving what I saw from Bagley. He's got amazing hops and he possesses some solid moves in the post. There was one instance where he performed a nasty spin move on his man, popped up and hit the basket. (I believe it was against Gortat - could be wrong). He's still really young so his offensive repertoire should expand even more. His rebounding is also really good - late in the game there was a shot that bounced pretty far off the basket and he fought hard for the board, beating out two other guys to pull it down. I like his hustle. On defense, he was beat a few times but looked OK overall. I'm really excited to see what he can bring in the future.
4) Bogdanovic is a good playmaker and shooter, but he needs to reign it in on offense a bit. There were a couple times where he dribbled down the court and heaved up contested threes. It was a little too hero ball-esque for me. I can see why people are so excited about him however, there's definitely some potential there. He's a great piece to have off the bench and can score in bunches when he gets hot.
I could say a lot more, but frankly I need to get back to work.