[Game] Kings vs. Grizzlies 10/27/2022 7pm Pacific, 10pm Eastern

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Tetsujin

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#1
#1
https://twitter.com/statuses/1585473211973586944

Reminders and whatever else
We're still in the first week of the season so here's one more reminder that soliciting or randomly posting links to illegal streams is strictly against the rules on Kingsfans.com. Please. We don't want to get sued. DO NOT POST LINKS TO ILLEGAL STUFF (this also applies to the internet in general).
See more here

It's also still a good time to refresh ourselves on the general forum rules while the season is still young. The most important rule of course remains "Don't be a jerk." If someone's really ticking you off, I'd advise a liberal application of the forum's "ignore" feature.
YoU cAn ReAd MoRe HeRe

Award Time
Tony Delk Memorial Award -Steph Curry. I know, I know, giving this award to one of the best players in the world kinda goes against the spirit of the TDM but Steph was just that explosive in the second quarter, making seemingly every single shot he happened to throw up in the general direction of the hoop.

The CoJo Award - KZ Okpala. Not because he was particularly bad or anything but when a dude puts up a negative 60 net rating in 3 minute and doesn't see the floor again, it's worth mentioning.

Mikki Moore - Moses Moody. The former Kingsfans.com draft crush is being asked to be the Warriors' Otto Porter replacement on the wing but largely just seemed to be filling the role of general nothingburger.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim - Harrison Barnes, who played with the passivity and no-flavoritude-ness that made him the Warriors scapegoat for blowing a 3-1 lead.

WTF Moment of the Night- The Warriors drop fifty on us in a single quarter and we didn't even get a single mention of Klay's 37 point quarter.

Keegan Murray-

We're Talking Basketball
https://twitter.com/statuses/1585358335091830784

The Keegan Murray Starter era starts tonight! Unfortunately, it comes against the Memphis Grizzlies who are 3-1 to start the year on the back of Ja having another huge start to the season. Desmond Bane is shooting the lights out despite his tiny T-Rex arms. Steve Adams is a massive load Also, Santi Aldama, who looked absolutely unplayable in summer league last year is starting for them now and kinda good. Dillon Brooks is still on the Grizzlies despite being in trade rumors all sumer.

Speaking of Grizzlies and trade rumors, one of the teams rumored to be interested in trading up to the fourth pick during the run up to the draft was the Grizzlies, not because of a desire to pick Jaden Ivey like every internet pundit assumed everyone wanted to do but because they wanted Keegan Murray (the Spurs and Warriors were also reportedly kicking the tires on trading up for Slim Duncan, which probably bodes well for his career prospects). It's not hard to see why the Grizzlies would value a long three point shooter with innate feel for the game and strong defensive fundamentals since that's pretty much everything Memphis has built its core around in a single player. With JJJ still nursing his surgically repaired back, Keegan would have slid in perfectly and then been part of a ridiculously rangy Bane/Murray/JJJ forward/wing lineup. That of course didn't happen because Monte stuck to his guns and went with who he thought was the best player available.

And so we get to see Keegan start the third game of his career, the earliest a rookie has started in his Kings career since Willie Cauley-Stein (and unlike WCS, Keegan is actually good at basketball!) against his sliding doors team. There are of course other storylines here.

Ja versus Fox is always fun. De'Aaron gets up for these games and both are in the 30 point/7 assist club to start the season.

Domantas gets to try to build off his stronger showing against the Warriors against his old mentor from OKC in Steven Adams. Adams has the build of the guys who've given Domas trouble to start the year but hopefully some familiarity and a little bit of forward momentum is what Sabonis needs to really get his season in gear.

The main remaining elephant in the room this season is of course Harrison Barnes's awful start to the season. Missing whatever shots he does drum up the courage to take, Barnes's play has been a far cry from what we've come to expect from him this season.

That all said, everything could go well for the Kings and they could still totally lose this game. The Grizzlies are a solid team that have had the Kings' number over the last couple of seasons. But the law of averages the Kings have to win a game one of these days and what better time is there for that to happen than tonight? Sure, this is pure Kings fan cope but you figure things have got to work out at some point.


Injury Report
Kings-
No one listed.

Grizzlies-
Danny Green - OUT (Stepped on a LEGO)
Jaren Jackson Jr. - OUT (Hand stuck in a pickle jar)
Ziare Williams - Day-to-day (filling taxes)


Final Prediction
Fourth time's the charm! The Kings somehow someway find a way to win this game. Keegan starts 1-0 as a starter. The Kings get to have a better record than the Lakers!
Kings 117, Grizzlies 114
 
Kingster

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#4
#4
When I think of the Grizzlies I think the Kings must demonstrate toughness from the opening tip. The Kings can flub-up in some areas and still win, but not if they wuss out against the Grizzlies. Please smash the bully in the mouth.
 
S

sactowndog

All-Star
#6
#6
The Fox versus Ja match-up will be key. It will be interesting to see if Fox can at least slow Ja down. His defense will be more important than his offense as Ja is a higher percentage of Memphis offense.

Also currently Barnes has yet to hit a single 3 point shot. It almost seems like he wanted to be traded wasn’t and is completely disinterested.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#7
#7
Barnes demeanor off court is much different than his play. I don't think it's about a trade demand, though I am sure the team will happily accommodate if they find a piece better suited for Brown's system.

Let's not forget that a week and a half ago Barnes was one of three players Brown guaranteed a starting spot on opening night.
 
gunks

gunks

Hall of Famer
#9
#9
Fox vs Ja will be fun.

I'm expecting another L, but not going to panic. I think we'll tee off on the weaker teams once we finally get to play them.

The important thing is Barnes having his signature bi-monthly good game tonight.
 
T

The_Jamal

Hall of Famer
#11
#11
Grizzlies are absolutely gettable right now. Without JJJ, their defense has been extremely bad and they're relying on Ja and Bane to go nuclear to win games. Keep Ja under 30 and the Kings should have a good shot to win this game. They're going to give up points.
 
K

KF8

Starter
#12
#12
Not very optimistic about this game. Kings were 0-3 vs Grizzlies last season beating us by blow out each of the 3. They just have our numbers. That being said, if we can at least keep it close and competitive and show signs of improving then consider it a win.
 
kb02

kb02

All-Star
#13
#13
The_Jamal said:
Grizzlies are absolutely gettable right now. Without JJJ, their defense has been extremely bad and they're relying on Ja and Bane to go nuclear to win games. Keep Ja under 30 and the Kings should have a good shot to win this game. They're going to give up points.
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It's a winnable game. The Kings actually have better advanced stats than the Grizz YTD. But, like last year, it'll come down to toughness. That record in the first 15 games is going to look awful unless this team develops toughness fast.
 
Bosnian Diehard

Bosnian Diehard

Starter
#14
#14
I really hope the Grizzlies take us lightly after seeing our 0-3 start. That plus a home crowd hungry for a victory could be our formula to a win! Need Sabonis to play like his normal self, keep up the half decent defense and hope Barnes hits some shots. If we do all that I think we come out with the W. Oh yeah, and hit free throws please!

I’ll be at all of our first four home games. So if we’re 0-5 to start the season, I’ll take full blame. I will not attend a home game again until we reach .500 (or make the Play-in ).
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#18
#18
SacTownKid said:
Oh yeah, I counter with 0-4 start = PANIC MODE, lol. ;)
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In all seriousness our first 12 games the schedule is brutal. I included Portland as a must win game and felt like 4-8 was optimistic.

New Orleans won two of their first 16 games and somehow didn't tune out their new coach, my biggest thing is to see if the team is still with Brown 20 games into the season or if there are signs his changes aren't sticking. He is asking a ton out of them and I think I see a difference in play, but so far results are the same. That's rough.
 
T

The_Jamal

Hall of Famer
#19
#19
pdxKingsFan said:
In all seriousness our first 12 games the schedule is brutal. I included Portland as a must win game and felt like 4-8 was optimistic.

New Orleans won two of their first 16 games and somehow didn't tune out their new coach, my biggest thing is to see if the team is still with Brown 20 games into the season or if there are signs his changes aren't sticking. He is asking a ton out of them and I think I see a difference in play, but so far results are the same. That's rough.
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Probably what's more important for this franchise immulating that Pelicans mold where they didn't give up on their coach after the 2-14 start and charged back for a playoff spot. The Kings have gone through 5-6 stretches where they look absolutely amazing, but then some adversity hits and they crumble the next 15 games. There's been some poor performance from our key guys and some real sloppy play, but I've been relatively happy with the direction the team is going and how hard they're trying, especially on the defensive end. If they're still giving that same effort, even at 4-12, then maybe we'll still have a chance to turn something around here.
 
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