Bench got destroyed and the Kings didn’t get a big game from any of their starters
Stretch In the third with turnovers and second chance opportunities for the Suns broke the Kings back.
Fox was tired. Rushed out of rhythm shots on fast breaks, and lost his body control sometime in the second quarter. Hopefully that’s just a result of it being the only real back to back to this point. Booker and Paul were a little slow too but Bridges and their bench had a lot of energy,
Whiteside and Bjeli seemed slow too.
Haliburton had the best game for the Kings.
I don't think it can go unsaid here that it is hard to beat the same team back to back games without a day off in between, quick adjustments are made and players don't want to get swept.
We'll see. The back to back certainly compounded the issues but what we likely saw tonight was the Kings expose themselves as a completely energy based close out defensive team (and better than most I must say) that platoons role players in to conserve energy. Too many teams out there do what the Suns did offensively tonight and much, much better than they considering the Suns are still trying to find their own identity.
I don't think making that judgment based on four preseason games and three regular season games is the right assessment to make right now without a bigger sample size but it's not out the realm of possibility nonetheless
I remember Rick Pitino's Celtics ran MJ's Bulls off the court in their first game with a full court press and were figured out quickly enough to send him running back to the NCAA.Not totally doomed yet but like I said, we saw it under another coach since the glory days. I can't remember if it was Joergers first year, Karl, or one of the other ones. Either way, this defensive scheme and short minute stint rotations to start the game is nothing new. Coaches have done it plenty of times. I can't remember it working long term for any team and especially not in the modern non-physical era. But hey, there's a first time for everything! haha.
DeAaron is stoned or something.
I won’t lose sleep over this one but plenty to work on going forward.
-we will have to figure out how to use our energy right with the schedule being what it is this year.
-Bagley needs a lot of work. I had him pegged for a big game tonight but he looked gassed. His defensive awareness was poor and he wasn’t aggressive for rebounds. He seems frustrated with his role in the offense and Luke is going to have to find a way to get him rollin.
-Tyrese is improving every game. It’s really insane how quickly he learns.
-I know he has hardly played but I want to give Guy a look when we go into an offensive lull. His quick release is deadly and I think he could be someone who provides a spark even if he only plays 10 min a game.
I'm not really sure what can be done with Bagley though. He's not a threat from outside and he doesn't facilitate any offense for others. I am not sure how we can be expected to run the offense through him or make him a major part of the offensive game plan in general.
Haliburton has 15 assists to 1 turnover through 3 games.
He’s the truth!!
We can't really compete if buddy and fox both shoot like crap on the same night, Barnes didn't shoot well either If I remember rightly. That's our "big 3" all having a down game.
Got to be happy with the way things are going so far though. Be nice to lock up Whiteside for a bit longer don't know if that's possible.
Let's be realistic. We weren't winning 73.Well it was fun while it lasted. So we back to aiming for a 2-70 tank season?
Nope 71-1