[Game] Kings v. Thunder - Thursday, Feb. 22 - 7 PT

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#1
So, in perusing the injury report today (Monday), it appears Skal, Mason, Shumpert and Fox are all game-time decisions. Since they still show Fox with a face injury, I'm pretty sure he's fine. :)

I would love to see our starting lineup for this game be Fox, Bogs, Jackson, Skal and WCS. Let the kids run. See what happens. After Bogs' performance at the All-Stars, I suspect he's gonna be really pumped to be back on his home court. One nice thing is Kings fans are knowledgeable AND appreciative. I'm confident he's going to get a rousing standing ovation at G1C, which he fully deserves.

For me, the big question mark right now is Shumpert. What role if any is he going to have going forward? I do not want to see him negatively impact the progress of Justin Jackson. I'm also curious to see what they do with Bruno.

I don't like Steven Adams, and I believe he gets away with way too much. I can acknowledge how good a player Russell Westbrook is, but totally dislike watching him play. Pat Patterson will no doubt be one of the two darlings being touted by our august broadcast team, the other being Jerami Grant since the two of them cannot seem to get past the name identification thing. At least with JG out there, maybe they'll step away from the Westbrook altar. (Yeah, I know. Who am I kidding?) Carmelo Anthony? Meh. Paul George? I can't watch him without cringing. His injury was one of the most horrific things I've ever seen on the court and ranks right up there with Gordon Hayward and Shaun Livingston.

When the Kings take the court against OKC, they'll have 25 games left. Of those, 16 are at home. In March, they play 12 at home and only 4 on the road. In April, they play 4 games on the road and then finish the season at home against the Rockets. It seems hard to believe the season is 2/3 over. It's actually gone by faster than I thought. We're headed in the right direction and it feels good. :)

GO KINGS!
 
#2
I would add that Steven Adams plays with a very physical style that is very effective. I can see why you don't like him, but I don't think he bends the rules. He is exactly the kind of player the Kings could use if you look at it objectively. He is the answer for tuxedo wearing players like Skal and Willie.

Bogey is a pretty confident player to begin with, but his experience on Fri night must have taken him to the next level.
 
#4
I can acknowledge how good a player Russell Westbrook is, but totally dislike watching him play.
I used to dislike Westbrook early on i his career, but have become a fan the past few seasons — especially once the gravytrainer left for GSW. He’s just a run away freight train with a ginormous chip on his shoulder.

The player I least like to watch is Harden.

Anyway, about the game, let’s hope the youngins play great but that we come up just a tad short to a good team.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#5
I've got all my hats and every crow in my neighborhood ready to eat. I fear I will have massive indigestion because Joerger is going to be playing Randoph and the other vets a lot after this All Star break, at the expense of the youngins. Please, don't, Coach Joerger! My intestinal health is depending upon you!
 
#6
I've got all my hats and every crow in my neighborhood ready to eat. I fear I will have massive indigestion because Joerger is going to be playing Randoph and the other vets a lot after this All Star break, at the expense of the youngins. Please, don't, Coach Joerger! My intestinal health is depending upon you!
Save the Crows! Seriously though , wait untill the end of the season and decide what you'll be dining upon. Then you can have a banquet rather than 20+ small meals. :D
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#9
I would add that Steven Adams plays with a very physical style that is very effective. I can see why you don't like him, but I don't think he bends the rules. He is exactly the kind of player the Kings could use if you look at it objectively. He is the answer for tuxedo wearing players like Skal and Willie.

Bogey is a pretty confident player to begin with, but his experience on Fri night must have taken him to the next level.
We'll just agree to disagree for the simple reason my most oft-made criticism of him the whole time he's been in the NBA is that he tends to do things behind the backs of the officials.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#10
I used to dislike Westbrook early on i his career, but have become a fan the past few seasons — especially once the gravytrainer left for GSW. He’s just a run away freight train with a ginormous chip on his shoulder.

The player I least like to watch is Harden.

Anyway, about the game, let’s hope the youngins play great but that we come up just a tad short to a good team.
I would have liked your comment, but the last sentence made that impossible. ;)
 
#11
We'll just agree to disagree for the simple reason my most oft-made criticism of him the whole time he's been in the NBA is that he tends to do things behind the backs of the officials.
Adams is one of my favorite players in the league and I can see why you and many others might not care for him. He absolutely gets under players skin and his methods of doing so might be considered sketchy by people. He is a good blend of the old and new, hard nosed bruiser who really likes to run in transition, can hit his shots, rebounds ( Boxes out! ) well and defends well.

Off the court he is also very charitable as well as one of the most charismatic players in my opinion. I wouldn't fault anyone for disliking him though. I was always a huge Ben Wallace fan as well and I am sure many people did not like him.

I am quite intrigued with whats going to happen to Adams if PG decides to stay. Not sure what all of their contract situations look like but I know for a fact their cap space is among the worst, and retaining Mello, PG and Westbrook is going to be very expensive..


As for this game, we took the first one and they took the second. We tend to match up well with them and I imagine it wont be boring at least. :)
 
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#12
We'll just agree to disagree for the simple reason my most oft-made criticism of him the whole time he's been in the NBA is that he tends to do things behind the backs of the officials.
Like other aggressive NBA Bigs when Adams is guarding someone in the paint he delivers a blow coinciding with the ball being delivered to his man. Most people including the Refs usually watch the ball and don't see the hit. Of course being pounded from behind throws off the players balance at the least and often leads to turnovers. He reminds me of a bigger, meaner and better Scot Pollard
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#15
Those are interesting stats. A very quick cursory look gives me:

Deflections/Game - Bogs in 38th position; nobody else in top 50.
Deflections/36 - No King in top 50.
Deflection totals - "
Loose Balls Recovered per Game - No King in top 50
Loose Balls Recovered per 36 min. - Fox is in 46th place
Contested 2s per game - WCS in 50th slot
Contested 2s per 36 - No King in top 50
Contested 3s per game - WCS in 43rd place; Temple in 48th place
Contested 3s per 36 - SKAL IS #1. Yaaa!. (Pretty deceptive given the fouling at the 3 point line though); Fox is 8th!
 
#18
Adams is one of my favorite players in the league and I can see why you and many others might not care for him. He absolutely gets under players skin and his methods of doing so might be considered sketchy by people. He is a good blend of the old and new, hard nosed bruiser who really likes to run in transition, can hit his shots, rebounds ( Boxes out! ) well and defends well.

Off the court he is also very charitable as well as one of the most charismatic players in my opinion. I wouldn't fault anyone for disliking him though. I was always a huge Ben Wallace fan as well and I am sure many people did not like him.

I am quite intrigued with whats going to happen to Adams if PG decides to stay. Not sure what all of their contract situations look like but I know for a fact their cap space is among the worst, and retaining Mello, PG and Westbrook is going to be very expensive..


As for this game, we took the first one and they took the second. We tend to match up well with them and I imagine it wont be boring at least. :)
OKC needs to find a way to shed Melo and add a quality floor spacer at the 4 and they'd be a legit title team. Westy-Roberson-PG-Adams is a legit terrifyingly good core on both ends, but Melo just kills a lot of the good that unit can do. Unfortunately, they'll be hamstrung for another season with his contract.
 
#19
We don’t have Papa to bail out our scrawny bigs vs Adams anymore. He had a couple decent outings vs OKC. Most notably last season in OKC where Adams was destroying Skal and Willie on the glass and Papa even things out. I think that was his first game with meaningful minutes and he had 14-10 or something like that. Oh well, I think we got whooped in that game anyway.
 
#22
I'll be able to catch the front end (most of it) of the game tonight. And will reserve the rest for the weekend. I hope the Kings make me half as proud as the US Women's Hockey team made me last night. If they can do that, I will be a content Kings fan. We don't need to win, per se, but I want to see that we put up a good fight. And that we didn't back down.

PS: I only ask to be "half as proud" because I don't think a lot of my sports teams can make me as proud, or more proud than the gals made me last night.
 
#23
Correction to my previous post...I probably WON'T be able to catch the front end of the game tonight. Because I will (probably.......no, most likely) watch the Gold Medal Hockey game from last night. So, I'll play "catch-up" with the Kings over the weekend...
 
#30
Is Bruno active on the roster?
Christie asked Joerger about him getting playing time on the radio today.

Joerger didn't sound too promising about it. It sounded like he pencils him in as a PF and said something to the effect that he will have to share time with some of the big guys. The pitch in his voice told me he's not planning on playing him very soon. He said he could see minutes later this season when he gets the system down. I wouldn't expect him to play much from the way Joerger sounded but we'll see.