[Game] Kings vs. Bucks, 4/3/2021, 7pm PST 10pm EST

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
A mediocre coach no matter what is going to bite you every time. Wow. Not that they would have won but this guy is an anchor.
On the plus side, he remembered running pick and rolls isn't illegal. On the minus side, he stuck with some truly putrid defensive sets that got the Bucks into such a rhythm that they were physically incapable of missing to start the fourth quarter.
 
Nice try -- Now Barnes turn for a poor game after playing well against the Lakers.....Kings are using up their loss cushion too quickly. - now likely have to go about 16-6
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
Nice try -- Now Barnes turn for a poor game after playing well against the Lakers.....Kings are using up their loss cushion too quickly. - now likely have to go about 16-6
It wasn't so much a bad night from Barnes on offense so much as we were using him as much more of an initiator tonight than in that 3rd/4th option finisher role he does so well in.

On defense though, Portis had his number. (He randomly shut down the much bigger Brook Lopez though)
 
It wasn't so much a bad night from Barnes on offense so much as we were using him as much more of an initiator tonight than in that 3rd/4th option finisher role he does so well in.

On defense though, Portis had his number. (He randomly shut down the much bigger Brook Lopez though)
It doesn't matter too much - this looks like them playing for about 32 or 33 wins and about #12 in the draft-- the usual. They need to pick someone up in FA along with re-signing Holmes. They need a good center pretty badly. Whether draft or otherwise.
 
Was hoping McNair would be more of an analytics guy than he's shown. The net rating alone tells you the Kings have been playing above their heads as far as wins and losses go and that it was bound to come crashing back down to normal at some point. They're 12th in point differential. Why he would move forward on a playoff push this year goes to show that he's not really paying attention to the things he was supposed to be really good at.

The Pelicans are actually a game behind the Kings but they are +4 in point differential on the Kings. Meaning they are inconsistent but when they're on, they can thump teams by 20+ points. The Kings rarely ever win by 20. Think they have two 20+ wins on the entire season. When the Kings win, they usually win by less than 5 points. When they lose, they normally lose by more than 5 points. That's not a sign of a strong team. The Pelicans show signs of possibly being able to turn the corner because they score more points than they give up. Memphis does too.

This team still needs to add and/or develop a lot of talent before they can make a real run for the playoffs. What they're doing now is the usual purgatory method they fall for every year. It always seems like they suck and then we look up and they're only 3 games out of the playoffs. We get excited and they try to make the run and fail and don't even get a top 10 pick even though the team is very deserving of a top 10 pick. It's just other teams nip it in the bud much sooner than the Kings do and realize it's pointless to try and push for the playoffs when the analytics say the team is highly unlikely to make it, despite what the record might show at the time.
 
Was hoping McNair would be more of an analytics guy than he's shown. The net rating alone tells you the Kings have been playing above their heads as far as wins and losses go and that it was bound to come crashing back down to normal at some point. They're 12th in point differential. Why he would move forward on a playoff push this year goes to show that he's not really paying attention to the things he was supposed to be really good at.

The Pelicans are actually a game behind the Kings but they are +4 in point differential on the Kings. Meaning they are inconsistent but when they're on, they can thump teams by 20+ points. The Kings rarely ever win by 20. Think they have two 20+ wins on the entire season. When the Kings win, they usually win by less than 5 points. When they lose, they normally lose by more than 5 points. That's not a sign of a strong team. The Pelicans show signs of possibly being able to turn the corner because they score more points than they give up. Memphis does too.

This team still needs to add and/or develop a lot of talent before they can make a real run for the playoffs. What they're doing now is the usual purgatory method they fall for every year. It always seems like they suck and then we look up and they're only 3 games out of the playoffs. We get excited and they try to make the run and fail and don't even get a top 10 pick even though the team is very deserving of a top 10 pick. It's just other teams nip it in the bud much sooner than the Kings do and realize it's pointless to try and push for the playoffs when the analytics say the team is highly unlikely to make it, despite what the record might show at the time.
I don’t that that’s necessarily his decision, Vivek has been pushing playoffs every single season since he got here
 
Was hoping McNair would be more of an analytics guy than he's shown. The net rating alone tells you the Kings have been playing above their heads as far as wins and losses go and that it was bound to come crashing back down to normal at some point. They're 12th in point differential. Why he would move forward on a playoff push this year goes to show that he's not really paying attention to the things he was supposed to be really good at.

The Pelicans are actually a game behind the Kings but they are +4 in point differential on the Kings. Meaning they are inconsistent but when they're on, they can thump teams by 20+ points. The Kings rarely ever win by 20. Think they have two 20+ wins on the entire season. When the Kings win, they usually win by less than 5 points. When they lose, they normally lose by more than 5 points. That's not a sign of a strong team. The Pelicans show signs of possibly being able to turn the corner because they score more points than they give up. Memphis does too.

This team still needs to add and/or develop a lot of talent before they can make a real run for the playoffs. What they're doing now is the usual purgatory method they fall for every year. It always seems like they suck and then we look up and they're only 3 games out of the playoffs. We get excited and they try to make the run and fail and don't even get a top 10 pick even though the team is very deserving of a top 10 pick. It's just other teams nip it in the bud much sooner than the Kings do and realize it's pointless to try and push for the playoffs when the analytics say the team is highly unlikely to make it, despite what the record might show at the time.
It's not just "getting" the top 10 pick, it's making a good choice with the top 10 pick. I don't think their judgement of talent translation to NBA is even average. They haven't had a solid executive since Petrie. Scoring differential is predicated on defense as much as offense, and the Kings are still in the poor range when it comes to defense. They don't get angry enough when the other team scores and they're just not good enough collectively - they just want to score themselves....that's today's NBA. Defense is a shell of what it was in the past especially the last 10 years or so, thanks in part to rule makers and refereeing.. It's all-star game every game.
 
It's not just "getting" the top 10 pick, it's making a good choice with the top 10 pick. I don't think their judgement of talent translation to NBA is even average. They haven't had a solid executive since Petrie. Scoring differential is predicated on defense as much as offense, and the Kings are still in the poor range when it comes to defense. They don't get angry enough when the other team scores and they're just not good enough collectively - they just want to score themselves....that's today's NBA. Defense is a shell of what it was in the past especially the last 10 years or so, thanks in part to rule makers and refereeing.. It's all-star game every game.
Well so far McNair is 1 for 1 on draft night. Although I'd say that pick was pretty obvious to most people but apparently it wasn't to a handful of other GMs.

You're right about the defense has changed but we're talking about the context of defending in 2021. All teams are handicapped by the rules defensively but the Kings are still at the bottom of all the teams in defense in this context. That needs to change.
 
Was hoping McNair would be more of an analytics guy than he's shown. The net rating alone tells you the Kings have been playing above their heads as far as wins and losses go and that it was bound to come crashing back down to normal at some point. They're 12th in point differential. Why he would move forward on a playoff push this year goes to show that he's not really paying attention to the things he was supposed to be really good at.
or....he has an owner that's got him "hand-cuffed" and pushing him to make "try to win now" moves and decisions
 
What win now moves has he made? This narrative is infuriating.
It's not like he pushed all his chips in to make a run at the 10th seed this year but the trades made were all to acquire players that can help us this year and possibly this year only for some of them.

I think people were hoping for draft picks but it's not like draft picks are always available and they certainly weren't available for the players we traded.

Wright is a sold player. Davis could be useful in the future. Harkless is Harkless. Nothing earth shattering but these moves did make the team a little better this year considering CoJo was terrible all year and Bjelica barely played.

I'm not mad about it but the moves just helped the team further solidify themselves into the purgatory area because now it's too late and too difficult to tank but they aren't good enough to make a run at it either. Always one foot in and one foot out with this franchise, which is what did make me mad about the whole "soft tank" thing he talked about. This is exactly what happens when strong decisions at the top aren't made. You get lukewarm (no pun) results.
 
After watching the Lakers game and the Bucks game is there something wrong with FOX? To me He lacked some of the aggressiveness I had seen in prior games. He looked hesitant to attack the rim at times.
 
Also, since the trade deadline were 2-3, it took a buzzer beater from Barnes to beat a worse Cabs team. We’ve had 1 solid win vs. the Spurs.

It’s not like the new guys turned us into world beaters.
 
Also, since the trade deadline were 2-3, it took a buzzer beater from Barnes to beat a worse Cabs team. We’ve had 1 solid win vs. the Spurs.

It’s not like the new guys turned us into world beaters.
I liked what I have seen of out of new guys defensively. I seriously doubt Monte is done. If you listened the the interview recently on CD it sounds like anything could be on the table in the offseason.