[Game] Kings vs. Warriors, 10/27/2023 7pm Pacific 10pm Eastern (ESPN)
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
- Status
Disappointing but ultimately 12-40 from three and turnovers You aren’t going to beat most teams with that percentage, let alone the Warriors. It’s only game 2 of 82 but hate to see old things resurface. Especially the poor third quarter.
Fox was great tonight. He looks prime to take it to yet another level this season. However. he needs to be more careful defensively. He didn’t need to be bodying up Chris Paul like he was at half court in the first half or getting cheapies like that.
He’s too valuable and doesn’t have anything to prove by hovering over the GOAT of drawing cheap fouls. His foul trouble was the domino that led to Kevin Huerter primarily being on Curry in the third quarter. Curry saw the insult and saw red(literally and figuratively). That’s on Brown too. He’s been so wishy washy with Huerter since training camp but let that happen..for several minutes before Curry took off never to return.
Domas had a solid game. Actually a pretty good game. The first few minutes were rough where he lost the handle of the ball, missed a bunny, and then indecisively bull rushed to the hoop instead of taking an open shot and I was like “here we go again” but after that I was happy with his performance.
He took care of the glass. There was really no Looney turns into Rodman nonsense going on tonight, he didn’t turn the ball over after the first one, he found his shooters(who couldn’t shoot), and scored. Also, 5 steals. That late rally was powered in part by him getting his hands on the ball and Fox scoring. I would like him to score in the mid 20’s in these level games but there really isn’t too much to nitpick outside of 2 or 3 bunnies he missed.
Keegan missed way too many open threes but still encouraged by him showing signs of becoming more than a catch and shoot player. It will come together.
Now for the ugly
You can’t have 71 combined minutes from guards not named DeAaron Fox and only have 13 combined points(almost all by Monk). The dearth of offense from Huerter, Mitchell, and Duarte tonight cost the Kings.
Huerter looks lost. I don’t want to speculate but I wonder if he’s sulking and that he was perhaps not happy about Duarte starting over him that preseason game. Dlo and KC had said after seeing a video of a pregame interview with him that day, that he looked pissed about it. But I haven’t seen it. This is obviously not the way to respond to job insecurity.
Mitchell hasn’t scored this season.
Duarte couldn’t shoot tonight but I have liked his on ball defense even if it didn’t stop anybody from making shots tonight.
Monk’s numbers were pretty good but he kinda kicked off the sloppy play that sold the lead.
More Sasha. I have a feeling I might be saying this a lot this season. I don’t care about his defense and Coach “Why not Huerter on Curry?” probably shouldn’t care either. Besides, he hasn’t looked that bad compared to many other Kings or high minute NBA stretch 4’s in that regard. In fact, I think he’s working hard out there. He has seamlessly dropped 8 and 10 in his first two games in limited action. He’s already a bucket for a guy who is trying to feel out the league and his teammates. MORE SASHA!
Fox was great tonight. He looks prime to take it to yet another level this season. However. he needs to be more careful defensively. He didn’t need to be bodying up Chris Paul like he was at half court in the first half or getting cheapies like that.
He’s too valuable and doesn’t have anything to prove by hovering over the GOAT of drawing cheap fouls. His foul trouble was the domino that led to Kevin Huerter primarily being on Curry in the third quarter. Curry saw the insult and saw red(literally and figuratively). That’s on Brown too. He’s been so wishy washy with Huerter since training camp but let that happen..for several minutes before Curry took off never to return.
Domas had a solid game. Actually a pretty good game. The first few minutes were rough where he lost the handle of the ball, missed a bunny, and then indecisively bull rushed to the hoop instead of taking an open shot and I was like “here we go again” but after that I was happy with his performance.
He took care of the glass. There was really no Looney turns into Rodman nonsense going on tonight, he didn’t turn the ball over after the first one, he found his shooters(who couldn’t shoot), and scored. Also, 5 steals. That late rally was powered in part by him getting his hands on the ball and Fox scoring. I would like him to score in the mid 20’s in these level games but there really isn’t too much to nitpick outside of 2 or 3 bunnies he missed.
Keegan missed way too many open threes but still encouraged by him showing signs of becoming more than a catch and shoot player. It will come together.
Now for the ugly
You can’t have 71 combined minutes from guards not named DeAaron Fox and only have 13 combined points(almost all by Monk). The dearth of offense from Huerter, Mitchell, and Duarte tonight cost the Kings.
Huerter looks lost. I don’t want to speculate but I wonder if he’s sulking and that he was perhaps not happy about Duarte starting over him that preseason game. Dlo and KC had said after seeing a video of a pregame interview with him that day, that he looked pissed about it. But I haven’t seen it. This is obviously not the way to respond to job insecurity.
Mitchell hasn’t scored this season.
Duarte couldn’t shoot tonight but I have liked his on ball defense even if it didn’t stop anybody from making shots tonight.
Monk’s numbers were pretty good but he kinda kicked off the sloppy play that sold the lead.
More Sasha. I have a feeling I might be saying this a lot this season. I don’t care about his defense and Coach “Why not Huerter on Curry?” probably shouldn’t care either. Besides, he hasn’t looked that bad compared to many other Kings or high minute NBA stretch 4’s in that regard. In fact, I think he’s working hard out there. He has seamlessly dropped 8 and 10 in his first two games in limited action. He’s already a bucket for a guy who is trying to feel out the league and his teammates. MORE SASHA!
Last edited:
It's not just 2 bad games, his shooting woes started last year, and have clearly continued into this season.
And this is someone who shot just 72.5% from FT despite being a 40.2% 3pt shooter in the same year. It was clear that his FT struggles last year were completely mental and he never shook it off throughout the season. It makes you start to wonder how much of his 3pt shooting struggles are mental? Can he get over his hump? It's hard not to feel like this has carried over from last season.
- In his last 4 regular season games heading into the post-season (April), he shot 7/28 for 25%
- In the 7 games during the post-season he shot 8/39 from 3pt for 20.5%.
- In the 5 pre-season games of this year he shot 5/22 for 22%.
- In his 2 regular season games of this year, he's shot 1/10 for 10%
And this is someone who shot just 72.5% from FT despite being a 40.2% 3pt shooter in the same year. It was clear that his FT struggles last year were completely mental and he never shook it off throughout the season. It makes you start to wonder how much of his 3pt shooting struggles are mental? Can he get over his hump? It's hard not to feel like this has carried over from last season.
I think this is always going to be the case for Keegan. He's a flame thrower and has a lot of power in his shot. Unless he's swishing it like Curry, he's going to have a lot of rim-outs that would be good buckets for most players due to his pure strength. I don't want him to change anything about his shot right now because I think you just have to live with it.. 40% shooter, yeah.. lets not mess with it.
But maybe it's something he tweaks down the line when he becomes one of the top scoring wings in the league.
But maybe it's something he tweaks down the line when he becomes one of the top scoring wings in the league.
1. GOOD GOD, Huerter is in a serious funk right now...His shot looks UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGLY.
2. Steph Curry is way too talented of a ball player to just expect your team to be able to compete with him and his team. He is one of those players who I feel can never be stopped; He can only be contained. The key, then, becomes to stop his teammates. Which we were not able to do a very good job at doing.
3. Fox is MONEY.
4. Sure, you can argue that Steph Curry is "cocky". But he is also a damn good basketball player. There are a few out there who are as cocky as, if not more cocky than, Steph, and they're nowhere near the type of player that Steph is. For a guy who can hit a shot from half court and make it look far less effortless than most guys' attempt at hitting a shot from around the free throw line, I think he has earned the right to stir up the opposing crowd when on the road.
5. We started last season going 0-4, and only winning 4 of our first 10 games. We ended the season with a 48-34 record, the third seed in the western conference, and our first postseason berth since the freaking Stone Age. I am not going to sit here and start concerning myself too much about going 1-1. I think we will be fine at the end of the day, and will still end up with one of the better records in the West. We'll still be playing basketball after April 14, 2024.
and, finally...
6. I LOVE THIS TEAM!!!
2. Steph Curry is way too talented of a ball player to just expect your team to be able to compete with him and his team. He is one of those players who I feel can never be stopped; He can only be contained. The key, then, becomes to stop his teammates. Which we were not able to do a very good job at doing.
3. Fox is MONEY.
4. Sure, you can argue that Steph Curry is "cocky". But he is also a damn good basketball player. There are a few out there who are as cocky as, if not more cocky than, Steph, and they're nowhere near the type of player that Steph is. For a guy who can hit a shot from half court and make it look far less effortless than most guys' attempt at hitting a shot from around the free throw line, I think he has earned the right to stir up the opposing crowd when on the road.
5. We started last season going 0-4, and only winning 4 of our first 10 games. We ended the season with a 48-34 record, the third seed in the western conference, and our first postseason berth since the freaking Stone Age. I am not going to sit here and start concerning myself too much about going 1-1. I think we will be fine at the end of the day, and will still end up with one of the better records in the West. We'll still be playing basketball after April 14, 2024.
and, finally...
6. I LOVE THIS TEAM!!!
What did I tell ya? Huerter is the Kings weakest link. He doesn't play defense and have a hard time guarding anybody and when his shot ain't falling...there is no reason to put him on the floor. He looks like a streak shooter. But the Kings lost this game due to other factors such as missing crucial free throws...what is up with Barnes...he played great the other game now keep missing free throws? Is he a choker when playing under pressure? I remember him missing a wide open game winner 3pt shot last year costing the Kings a game. It seems like he never come through in big games? I know there are certain players in this league that for whatever reason just don't perform well under pressure, but play very well without it. Barnes is probably one of them. Also, Sabonis seem to show sign of it as well. It's like they lose composure when the pressure get to them. This is also why the Warriors keep winning close games because they done this before...they keep check of their energy...not too high or low. When they're behind in scores like in the 1st quarter or so, they stay compose and not panic and not playing out of control like the Kings did.
I was disappointed with Mitchell contribution in the offense...he doesn't do anything. Maybe Brown should look to Colby Jones...at one point during the pre-season I was so impress with Colby Jones ability to handle the ball, attack and shoot that I have a second thought about him coming off the bench as oppose to Mitchell. This lost with zero offense contribution from Mitchell validate my point. Maybe Brown should give him a chance. As I said before, Mitchell's pick n roll is predictable and ineffective most of the time...it's actually pointless. I bet Colby Jones pick n roll will be more effective than him.
Anyway, those are my rants...but the game was lost due to a combination of things: Energy channeling, composure, missing free throws in crucial time and lack of execution due to pressure.
I was disappointed with Mitchell contribution in the offense...he doesn't do anything. Maybe Brown should look to Colby Jones...at one point during the pre-season I was so impress with Colby Jones ability to handle the ball, attack and shoot that I have a second thought about him coming off the bench as oppose to Mitchell. This lost with zero offense contribution from Mitchell validate my point. Maybe Brown should give him a chance. As I said before, Mitchell's pick n roll is predictable and ineffective most of the time...it's actually pointless. I bet Colby Jones pick n roll will be more effective than him.
Anyway, those are my rants...but the game was lost due to a combination of things: Energy channeling, composure, missing free throws in crucial time and lack of execution due to pressure.
Last edited:
C'mon man, it's not total domination. They're down by 4pt with less than 1 minute less. I mean the Kings could have made the game closer or even took the lead had they not missed so many crucial free throws. It started to pile up and the next thing you know, they're down double digits with only a couple of Curry 3s. That's when the game got out of control. The GS run is no difference than the Kings run where they took 11 or 12pts lead in the 1st quarter or 2nd quarter. The only difference is the Kings tend to play out of control once they realize they're behind...and stop executing to get better shots. Also, remember...this same Kings team does not play well at home as oppose to on the road. It seems they're not as disciplined and precise with their execution and just play loose.
Reading between the lines as I watched Fox share these remarks, I think the stiffer mandate for defense is kicking Kevin’s butt. His legs are shaky, it’s throwing off his timing, and he knows he’s playing for his life. Glad to see the organization (as reflected through Fox) has more patience than I do with this situation. It will likely get us our SG back.
Not a very good game to say the least, but i wanna mention that Keegan Murray is so clearly playing through a thumb or hand injury and i'd rather he sit out or get it taken care of if it's going to cause him to miss those shots he normally buries in his sleep. That was a small part of the reason we fell behind the way we did. He had some insanely great looks that we've all seen him hit with ease, but i also noticed him touching that wrapped finger and tugging at it a bit in the opening quarter.
- Status