[Game] Kings vs. Heat, 2/18/21, 7pm PST, 10pm EST

This is Viveks 8th year as the owner and he has never once embraced a full on rebuild. He brought in Darren Collison and Rudy Gay during the Cousins era. Immediately brought in George Hill and Zach Randolph to start the Fox era. Now is trying get this current roster to work for some reason. He has an insane obsession with trying to get the 8th seed. Anybody with half a brain could tell this team is going nowhere as is. I just don’t get it.
For the first time in forever this is actually a team that a playoff run could be a HUGE benefit to. They have their young guns, they have their star. Pity.
 
Call on everyone available” sounds to me like “It’s Sacramento’s One True Superstar; Jabari Parker’s time to shine!”

Yeah, bring on Jabari. You have to if we keep having key players out and Jabari is healthy. We just can’t get blown out like this with talent sitting on the bench.

Also James played well. It was good to see these other players.

I keep rooting for Guy to get hot. I think he may be another Seth Curry type.
 
For the first time in forever this is actually a team that a playoff run could be a HUGE benefit to. They have their young guns, they have their star. Pity.
I agree completely but the sad truth is this isn’t a playoff team. They are a 10th seed that makes the 8th seed if teams get hit with bad injuries. We’re a perennial treadmill team that isn’t bad enough to get top picks, but isn’t good enough to actually compete for anything. This has been Viveks preferred position for 8 years.
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
I agree completely but the sad truth is this isn’t a playoff team. They are a 10th seed that makes the 8th seed if teams get hit with bad injuries. We’re a perennial treadmill team that isn’t bad enough to get top picks, but isn’t good enough to actually compete for anything. This has been Viveks preferred position for 8 years.
...and we all know what happens when we luck into that top pick :p
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
The absence of Barnes and Mr. Holmes were never so apparent.
The Heat scored 70 points in the paint.
Because Barnes and Holmes do such a good job of that? The only guy who bothers to defend the paint on a nightly basis is Whiteside.



To be fair, Barnes may play some defense and prevent a driver from reaching the paint from time to time.
 
Did you enjoy watching last night's game? I thought the Kings sucked.
Barnes does everything well. Holmes in an integral part of the defense. He has had 6 blocks in a game. He does not take plays off. He gets beat sometimes, because he is trying to stop someone else's man. You have to know basketball to appreciate these guys. A lot of people don't.

Whiteside can change the momentum of a game for about 8 minutes. He is slow afoot and does not run the floor well. His motor give out. That is why we don't see him more.
 
Because Barnes and Holmes do such a good job of that? The only guy who bothers to defend the paint on a nightly basis is Whiteside.



To be fair, Barnes may play some defense and prevent a driver from reaching the paint from time to time.
Yeah. I think what gets missed sometimes is that perimeter defense breakdowns lead to points in the paint. Especially if that perimeter defender allows straight line drives to the hoop, leaving the big man completely exposed and having to guard the penetrator and his own man at the same time.

The only type of player that can save the team from that are the Rudy Gobert types. Which there aren't many. Holmes is more of a weakside defender. His blocks come from chase downs and double team help. He struggles more when players are coming down hill on him.
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
Did you enjoy watching last night's game? I thought the Kings sucked.
Barnes does everything well. Holmes in an integral part of the defense. He has had 6 blocks in a game. He does not take plays off. He gets beat sometimes, because he is trying to stop someone else's man. You have to know basketball to appreciate these guys. A lot of people don't.

Whiteside can change the momentum of a game for about 8 minutes. He is slow afoot and does not run the floor well. His motor give out. That is why we don't see him more.
I completely agree that Whiteside is best used in short bursts at this point, I’m not denying that. I do really wish he had the gas tank to chug along for more, but that’s not the player he is anymore.

But while Holmes can can fly in for some weakside blocks, you can’t say he impacts the paint. No ones afraid to drive in or change their shot selection when he’s in there. The only person on the Kings who alters the middle defensively is Hassan (until he gasses, and even then simply existing makes some guys think twice)
 
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I completely agree that Whiteside is best used in short bursts at this point, I’m not denying that. I do really wish he had the gas tank to chug along for more, but that’s not the player he is anymore.

But while Holmes can can fly in for some weakside blocks, you can’t say he impacts the paint. No ones afraid to drive in or change their shot selection when he’s in there. The only person on the Kings who alters the middle defensively is Hassan (until he gasses, and even then simply existing makes some guys think twice)
This just isn't true and virtually every defensive stat shows Holmes is mega impactful on defense
 
This just isn't true and virtually every defensive stat shows Holmes is mega impactful on defense
True but he's not a great shot changer and yes his blocks are typically of the recovery variety. Whiteside is a great shot changer that locks down the paint. However Holmes is so much more capable switching and guarding pnr it's not even comparable. Holmes is a tremendously impactful defender all around.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
True but he's not a great shot changer and yes his blocks are typically of the recovery variety. Whiteside is a great shot changer that locks down the paint. However Holmes is so much more capable switching and guarding pnr it's not even comparable. Holmes is a tremendously impactful defender all around.
I think it has to be added that Holmes also doesn’t matchup well with the bigger skilled bigs. There are some games where he is not an impactful defensive guy due to matchup issues
 
I think it has to be added that Holmes also doesn’t matchup well with the bigger skilled bigs. There are some games where he is not an impactful defensive guy due to matchup issues
For sure, but overall I think he's still decent at it. Bagley oddly enough seems to be a better post defender at times.