[Game] Kings v. Nuggets - Monday, Oct. 28 - 7PT

Right now every momentum swing going against the kings. Got to fight through this stretch and hope they come out the other side more battle tested. That three was a killer. As was winning the challenge on the milsaap three foul call earlier in the game....results in jumpball, turns into a three. Fox gets mugged terribly, no foul call, three the other way, turnover, layup, 7 point swing. Momentum near the end with a chance to tie and fox bumbles his dribble, results in jump ball. Feels like there were maybe 5 more plays like that this game.
They should really get another challenge if they win it. If the refs suck, we shouldn’t be limited to just 1 chance to show the ref they suck.
 
I realize Joker isn’t the most athletic dude around but how is this not at least a flagrant.
I just stumbled across this on Twitter and was gonna post the same thing. I’ve never liked Jokic and the above is among the reasons why. He gets away with moving screens, elbows and extending his arms all the freaking time.

If the NBA whistled him like they like to whistle KINGS players for the same things all the time, he’d often be in foul trouble. But forget officiating correctly or fairly, its all about marketing for the NBA. And Jokic has to stay in games to post triple doubles. Same goes for Harden and his consistent travels and push offs. Can’t get 40 or shoot 8 for 24 from 3 every game if he’s sitting on the bench in foul trouble.
 
Holmes doing what he always does: produce with minutes.

Very interested in how Walton responds. Team clearly playing better with Holmes right now, does he make the change right away? Only 4 games in, so I'd understand not wanting to be too hasty, but we also don't have the luxury of being patient if we want to salvage the season. Think it might help Dedmon too bringing him off the bench and taking some pressure off his plate to perform.
 
Last night's game brings back the faith that this team could play the way we thought they could before the beginning of the season. Still, we need to start winning asap if we want to have the opportunity to reach that 8th spot. We have slightly easier opponents in the next 7 days, so let's see what we're made of.

Positives
  • Holmes and Bjelica. The first one was amazing on both ends of the floor and provided the energy we were missing for so long. He was able to shut down one of the best centers in the league. He should either become a starter or a 6th man. The second one played great defense on Milsap and did what he does best - stretched the floor
  • Ball sharing. I'm pleased to see how Fox, Buddy and majority of other guys looked for that extra pass rather than taking their own shot and playing for their own stats. If we want to progress as a team - this is the way to do it. Find the open man, play the PnR, share that extra pass
  • Defense. We did lose the game, but our defense was rock solid for the most part. I don't know if Buddy's poor shooting came as a result of energy loss defensively, but it was a thing of beauty. All other guys too. Again, this type of defense leads to a good transition offense and God knows we have players who can run and score those easy points
Negatives
  • Bogdan. He's back to playing the way he played earlier this year, which is exactly what he shouldn't be doing. Stop dribbling the ball, stop impersonating point guard when Fox or Joseph are on the court, stop making extra dribble before you shoot the ball. His body language is terrible. He was a leader and a great scorer in Europe and for the national team, but in the NBA he's playing something completely different
  • Buddy's shooting. I can barely say this is a negative thing, because Buddy did so many great things defensively, had the right energy, looked for his teammates offensively. The shots didn't fall, but they will tomorrow and I admire his effort
  • Refs. Several bad calls in the moments when the game was about the get decided. A clear foul on Fox, then a technical, then Jokic's flagrant on Buddy, then a foul when they didn't count Buddy's 3 pointer... that's too much. Get your s**t together refs!
 
could Dedmon lose his starting spot while Bagley is out?
He might've tonight....Holmes is an inside player through and through. Dedmon was not ranked a top free agent by most pundits. I like his effort on blocking but he's just mediocre. Holmes did well with foul trouble this game, and got after it. The Holmes signing was masterful but they went candy-store on the other signings. Dedmon is a good looking BENCH PLAYER. - more balanced than Kufos.

Kings may may be able to address their offense wtihin time, but their defense still sucks Rebounding was especially poor last night.
 
He’s also a headstrong mule that got fired for the exact same reason from two different jobs.
Still doesn’t change the fact that he is a darn good coach. Darn good coaches also happen to be stubborn in large part because they have a strong belief in what they are doing.
 
Last night's game brings back the faith that this team could play the way we thought they could before the beginning of the season. Still, we need to start winning asap if we want to have the opportunity to reach that 8th spot. We have slightly easier opponents in the next 7 days, so let's see what we're made of.

Positives
  • Holmes and Bjelica. The first one was amazing on both ends of the floor and provided the energy we were missing for so long. He was able to shut down one of the best centers in the league. He should either become a starter or a 6th man. The second one played great defense on Milsap and did what he does best - stretched the floor
  • Ball sharing. I'm pleased to see how Fox, Buddy and majority of other guys looked for that extra pass rather than taking their own shot and playing for their own stats. If we want to progress as a team - this is the way to do it. Find the open man, play the PnR, share that extra pass
  • Defense. We did lose the game, but our defense was rock solid for the most part. I don't know if Buddy's poor shooting came as a result of energy loss defensively, but it was a thing of beauty. All other guys too. Again, this type of defense leads to a good transition offense and God knows we have players who can run and score those easy points
Negatives
  • Bogdan. He's back to playing the way he played earlier this year, which is exactly what he shouldn't be doing. Stop dribbling the ball, stop impersonating point guard when Fox or Joseph are on the court, stop making extra dribble before you shoot the ball. His body language is terrible. He was a leader and a great scorer in Europe and for the national team, but in the NBA he's playing something completely different
  • Buddy's shooting. I can barely say this is a negative thing, because Buddy did so many great things defensively, had the right energy, looked for his teammates offensively. The shots didn't fall, but they will tomorrow and I admire his effort
  • Refs. Several bad calls in the moments when the game was about the get decided. A clear foul on Fox, then a technical, then Jokic's flagrant on Buddy, then a foul when they didn't count Buddy's 3 pointer... that's too much. Get your s**t together refs!
Great insights. But you (and many others here) seem to be missing the great frequency of Buddy's mental mistakes. He's a great shooter. He's improved his passing and defence. But he continues to gift our opponents at a rate that's hard to watch.
 
He might've tonight....Holmes is an inside player through and through. Dedmon was not ranked a top free agent by most pundits. I like his effort on blocking but he's just mediocre. Holmes did well with foul trouble this game, and got after it. The Holmes signing was masterful but they went candy-store on the other signings. Dedmon is a good looking BENCH PLAYER. - more balanced than Kufos.

Kings may may be able to address their offense wtihin time, but their defense still sucks Rebounding was especially poor last night.
I agree with your first paragraph. But with your comment about their defence, I wonder if you watched the game? Because, with the exception of getting out muscled on the boards (not including Holmes), they played pretty good defence last night.
 
He might've tonight....Holmes is an inside player through and through. Dedmon was not ranked a top free agent by most pundits. I like his effort on blocking but he's just mediocre. Holmes did well with foul trouble this game, and got after it. The Holmes signing was masterful but they went candy-store on the other signings. Dedmon is a good looking BENCH PLAYER. - more balanced than Kufos.

Kings may may be able to address their offense wtihin time, but their defense still sucks Rebounding was especially poor last night.
Dedmond stays in the starting unit but Holmes gets 30+ minutes a game. At least until the change cannot be denied. I would think partly allows Walton to introduce Holmes energy into the game when he sees it as most beneficial. But also to keep dedmond from completely losing confidence. They need to be running Fox and Bogi Pick and rolls with Holmes constantly until someone can stop it.
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
Still doesn’t change the fact that he is a darn good coach. Darn good coaches also happen to be stubborn in large part because they have a strong belief in what they are doing.
Idk. If he was so good why wasn’t he immediatly snatched up (or even in the rumors) like a bunch of the other coaching retreads?

He’s definitely not a bad coach, but I don’t know how much more credit I’m willing to give him.
 
this is not how I envisioned us playing to this point. I also did not expect everyone we picked up to work out either.

What I do expect no matter who you are is to give 110% on defense as it helps the team run. You’re not going to push the pace constantly by taking the ball out after they score.

If this team continues to let opponents dictate how we play offense then you’re see how this season will be over pretty soon.

Confront and slow down Fox to force us into a half court game as much as possible. At least for awhile last night he hit some outside shots when they did that.

Run two players when you can at Buddy and force him to try and pass or dribble which is not his strengths.

Sadly I have little hope if this team continues down this path as we need the the opposing teams to react to us and when they do be able to adjust how we play.
 
Dedmond stays in the starting unit but Holmes gets 30+ minutes a game. At least until the change cannot be denied. I would think partly allows Walton to introduce Holmes energy into the game when he sees it as most beneficial. But also to keep dedmond from completely losing confidence. They need to be running Fox and Bogi Pick and rolls with Holmes constantly until someone can stop it.
Starting Dedmon and playing him 6 minutes at the start of the 1st and 3rd quarters should help Holmes stay out of foul trouble. Dedmon can play some more minutes besides when Holmes needs a breather or Walton can go to small ball.
 
Starting Dedmon and playing him 6 minutes at the start of the 1st and 3rd quarters should help Holmes stay out of foul trouble. Dedmon can play some more minutes besides when Holmes needs a breather or Walton can go to small ball.
Agree....if he starts hitting the three at the clip he was last year he becomes an asset. However if not I’m just not sure he is at an NBA average level for much else that he does. Add in the seeming bonehead plays every once in a while and it’s difficult to watch. I’m still curious if his contract went to his head and he’s trying to do more than he had done in the past. I never watched him enough to really know what to expect other than I noticed him hitting some threes on us last year.
 
What up Holmes? This guy played hard. My new favorite Kings player. A little overmatched against Jokic inside, but played defense, rebounded, dunked the ball over people. He gives me some hope. Two magnificent blocks.

Fox played better. Barnes and Bejelica are playing better. Buddy was MIA which does not often happen.

The Kings lost this game with a weak third quarter, which seems to happen often. Their defensive rebounding stinks, and allowed way too many second chance points. The difference in the game.
 
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Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
Idk. If he was so good why wasn’t he immediatly snatched up (or even in the rumors) like a bunch of the other coaching retreads?

He’s definitely not a bad coach, but I don’t know how much more credit I’m willing to give him.
It would appear getting into an incredibly petty battle with your assistant GM and then randomly deciding to double down on playing small after your GM finally acquires the full-sized SF you've been asking for all season and getting into a shouting match with one of your best players in crunch time in the fourth and giving up 20 pt lead after 20 pt lead aren't endearing traits in a prospective NBA coach.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
What up Holmes? This guy played hard. My new favorite Kings player. A little overmateched against Jokic inside, but played defense, rebounded, dunked the ball over people. He gives me some hope. Two magnificent blocks.

Fox played better. Barnes and Bejelica are playing better. Buddy was MIA which does not often happen.

The Kings lost this game with a weak third quarter, which seems to happen often. Their defensive rebounding stinks, and allowed way too many second chance points. The difference in the game.
The main difference with this third quarter was that the starters played reasonably well to start out the third but then the team collapsed the second Walton went to the bench and Bogi started playing like post-Achilles Kobe.
 
The effort was really good yesterday. If they play like that every game, they are going to get some good wins.

It seems that Buddy may be pressing to show that he is worth the $94 million contract. Buddy just needs to relax and let it fly. His shot will come around soon though.

If the team keeps this sort of effort up and Buddy starts being Buddy, the Kings will be alright.

Both Fox and Buddy will need to score 20+ every game to give the Kings a good chance to win.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
Twenty-five assists, 12 turnovers, against one of the better teams in the league. Very impressive. The shooting wasn't very good though. Didn't hit a lot of open shots. With that kind of shooting you expect a team to get blown out, but the Kings made up for it in other areas.
 
Last night's game brings back the faith that this team could play the way we thought they could before the beginning of the season. Still, we need to start winning asap if we want to have the opportunity to reach that 8th spot. We have slightly easier opponents in the next 7 days, so let's see what we're made of.

Positives
  • Holmes and Bjelica. The first one was amazing on both ends of the floor and provided the energy we were missing for so long. He was able to shut down one of the best centers in the league. He should either become a starter or a 6th man. The second one played great defense on Milsap and did what he does best - stretched the floor
  • Ball sharing. I'm pleased to see how Fox, Buddy and majority of other guys looked for that extra pass rather than taking their own shot and playing for their own stats. If we want to progress as a team - this is the way to do it. Find the open man, play the PnR, share that extra pass
  • Defense. We did lose the game, but our defense was rock solid for the most part. I don't know if Buddy's poor shooting came as a result of energy loss defensively, but it was a thing of beauty. All other guys too. Again, this type of defense leads to a good transition offense and God knows we have players who can run and score those easy points
Negatives
  • Bogdan. He's back to playing the way he played earlier this year, which is exactly what he shouldn't be doing. Stop dribbling the ball, stop impersonating point guard when Fox or Joseph are on the court, stop making extra dribble before you shoot the ball. His body language is terrible. He was a leader and a great scorer in Europe and for the national team, but in the NBA he's playing something completely different
  • Buddy's shooting. I can barely say this is a negative thing, because Buddy did so many great things defensively, had the right energy, looked for his teammates offensively. The shots didn't fall, but they will tomorrow and I admire his effort
  • Refs. Several bad calls in the moments when the game was about the get decided. A clear foul on Fox, then a technical, then Jokic's flagrant on Buddy, then a foul when they didn't count Buddy's 3 pointer... that's too much. Get your s**t together refs!

re Bogdan and the PG position, he is not impersonating a PG of his own accord. Walton clearly stated in the post game press conference that they make it a point to have him playmake. He said he tought it was Denver starting switching everything that stalled the offense. but back to playmaking, maybe Walton should do how Dave used to do it and have CoJo playmake exclusively in the second unit for like 10 games and see whether that would get them playing better.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
re Bogdan and the PG position, he is not impersonating a PG of his own accord. Walton clearly stated in the post game press conference that they make it a point to have him playmake. He said he tought it was Denver starting switching everything that stalled the offense. but back to playmaking, maybe Walton should do how Dave used to do it and have CoJo playmake exclusively in the second unit for like 10 games and see whether that would get them playing better.
It all depends on how you define "playmaker." Curry makes plays, but he's not the typical pg that brings the ball up the court and initiates the action most of the time. Overall, I think Bogs played better in this game because he was the recipient of passes that allowed him to do more with the ball, not the quintessential pg. Where Bogs is poor is where he starts from a standstill, the defense is set, and he tries to penetrate the defense on his own.
 
re Bogdan and the PG position, he is not impersonating a PG of his own accord. Walton clearly stated in the post game press conference that they make it a point to have him playmake. He said he tought it was Denver starting switching everything that stalled the offense. but back to playmaking, maybe Walton should do how Dave used to do it and have CoJo playmake exclusively in the second unit for like 10 games and see whether that would get them playing better.
After watching him play for a couple seasons now, I'm pretty convinced that his playmaking is not a winning NBA play. He could wind up with 5 assists and 1 turnover in 25 minutes of play, which looks good on paper but it doesn't account for the 10 extremely low percentage shots that were either taken by him or had to be taken by another player outside of those 5 assists that he got. I think he would be much better used coming off screens and as a last resort type playmaker.
 
A few people like New Arena, Jamal, and ESP47 were watching the same game I was. Richaun Holmes had my jaw dropping, I was yelling and talking to myself. He can play and brings the Energy with a captial E. The rest of the team looks like they are ready to take a nap in comparison.

How can there be 12 pages of boring comments about the KIngs and so little mention of the only really good thing that happened last night? Has the team put everyone to sleep? Wake up and celebrate a great performance when you see one. Richaun Holmes can play. I just hope his level of effort is contagious. He is the kind of player to go to war with. I love this guy.