[Game] New Orleans Pelicans @ Kings, 1-7-24 3PM PST/6PM EST
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Good ideas. Once Duarte began to start, I had the impression that Coach Brown was going to keep one plus defender on the court at all times, just as one of either Fox or Sabonis is always on the court. For instance, Duarte gives way to Ellis or Mitchell, and Sabonis gives way to Len. But it has not panned out that way. The coaching staff really needs to rethink how it deploys/balances defenders in the rotations during the games and with respect to individual opponents. As I have said multiple times, based on their performances last year, Alex Len and Kessler Edwards, with their defensive presence, can be difference makers on this team.
I watched all those games. People said Fox stunk tonight, I heard he was sick and coughing on the bench mid-week. I've had something that is awful since getting home from Christmas and it didn't go away after 3 days.
Also NOP has destroyed us we don't match up with them at all. I know the game was horrible to watch, I don't need to know any more. We're still a middle of the road playoff team who will hopefully make the second round this year. That was my expectation. It's obvious we need to make a move and upgrade and it's obvious who needs to be upgraded. I won't slander those players though. Not worth the negative energy.
Sorry to those who toughed it out or paid to attend.
Also NOP has destroyed us we don't match up with them at all. I know the game was horrible to watch, I don't need to know any more. We're still a middle of the road playoff team who will hopefully make the second round this year. That was my expectation. It's obvious we need to make a move and upgrade and it's obvious who needs to be upgraded. I won't slander those players though. Not worth the negative energy.
Sorry to those who toughed it out or paid to attend.
Oh my God! Hubby and I did too! We have never ever done that. So we went down to the Yard House had the best dinner ever and I washed mine down with a nice 23 ounce Blue Moon. Yep as we sat we watched a pretty good amount of Kings fan walk by. Even though I really wanted to at least go 1/3 we didn’t so onto the next…we’re still in 5th seed we’re still doing good we just hate a horrid and embarrassing loss.
Throw the current record out.....its nice that that they've had a few wins vs other decent teams, but the Kings/coaching staff should not be worrying about other teams' consistency -- come much later in the season I'd be willing to bet they're right around or even below .500. Due to their rabbit acts on defense, you're seeing this Kings team go up by 15 or 20 points in the 2nd or 3rd only to squander the lead and fight and scratch later in the game - exhibit A, the Hornets game. Not enough defensive consistency, commitment, and buy-in. They'll play a couple good defensive sets, but 2 or 3 borderline to poor sets followed by a couple atrocious ones. They need ~80+% good defensive sets; I dont even think its at 50% right now. It should be personal for players when scored on. Then there's rebounding - the guards need to come back to shore up rebounding and stop trying leak outs for cherry-picks and the coaching are failing on basic boxing-out, many players are not doing it regularly........These blowout losses are indicative of serious personnel and coaching short-falls. Mike Brown is gonna have to figure something out as its the classic definition of insanity. Shooting is a great equalizer, but you cannot overly depend on it, as you've got to have consistent defense shore up your dry shooting patches, not exacerbate them. Notice the Kings will get irritable, risk-hungry, and undisciplined on defense when their shooting goes awry - that's not coincidence. It should be reversed.
More people need to watch this presser with Mike Brown... I'm going to try and quote or paraphrase some of the key takeaways:
Big theme of the presser
Big theme of the presser
- "the lack of fight to get back/stay in the game was non-existent"
- "the thing I haven't experienced yet is...when [opposing] teams have it going, is the lack of physicality, grit, and fight back that you want to see in situations like this [from your players]. I've never experienced going through it this many times... that's what bothersome... there have been teams that you've had match up problems with, I've gone 0-4 against teams during the course of a year before or 1-3 (past coaching tenures)... but the fight that was non-existent today and has been there on a few occasions.. that's the tough part... the [lack of] diving on the ground for loose balls, taking charges, going up for verticalities..that's bothersome."
- Mike Brown is not in charge of who does the press conferences and says he never knows, but hammers in that the accountability starts with him and includes Fox and Domas
- "when you get beat like that, that has nothing to do with X's and O's. We can go out with no game plan and you can take any 10 players and play harder and fight better than what we did today. That's what's disappointing..."
- "Their length/physicality bothers all of us. Defensively we're so locked up on our own guy that there's zero resistance. We expect this guy to guard his man. How many times did they get to the rim and finish without the weakside getting across? How many times did we get to the rim and lay it up cleanly? How many times did Domas roll and there's a body there? How many times not only when the ball hit the paint, but we sprayed it, did they freaking just fly, contest, get back, and contest from behind, again we have a lot of areas we can improve.. and if we think we can just be an offensive team, and there is some that thought amongst us that we should just try to outscore people, we're going to be in a rude awakening in this league if you don't find a ay to defend and take that end of the floor seriously... you're not going to outscore, the shots not [always] going to go in...you have to have a fight on the defensive end."
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Brown questioning his team’s toughness and resiliency. Hope his players get the message, but unfortunately those are attributes you can’t teach. Even though we have a better record this year than this point last year, there’s this lack of urgency I see in this squad. Like they think they can take some nights off and it’ll be okay. We haven’t won a freaking playoff series in decades to have that mentality.
This Kings team need to have a “players only” meeting. Coach can only hold them accountable up to a point. These players need to to look in the mirror and find some grit and get back up when they knocked down. They need to hold each other accountable. Tonight, they all just laid down. I felt like they were beaten before the game even started. It was evident in their body language throughout. If they are not embarrassed by this beating then they have a serious problem. It seems like the amount of effort they put into this game (along with a couple other clunkers) was nonexistent. This appears to be a recurring problem. I’m glad I didn’t pay to see this game today. I would have asked for a refund.
People have found me to be too negative recently, but I agree with you. There's just something not clicking with this current team despite our record and despite our wins. Last year was truly special. The only complaint many of us had was that we didn't play enough defense. But this year, it seems like there's been a multitude of issues. Our loses have been truly bad. Our offense gives fire to our defense, and when players start missing shots, they stop playing defense.
According to Deuce, the Kings have been down 30+ in a game 5 times this year.. and they've been down 40+ in a game 4 times this year.
I think the roster needs a change-up. Something is not clicking with the players.
According to Deuce, the Kings have been down 30+ in a game 5 times this year.. and they've been down 40+ in a game 4 times this year.
I think the roster needs a change-up. Something is not clicking with the players.
Well, because I don't think that either Dallas or Houston are as good as their records suggest. I think that Dallas is going to play footsie with the sixth seed all year, and I believe that the bottom is going to drop out of Houston altogether; they are my "dark horse" pick to collapse and miss the play-in.
Very weak game and again lost to Pelicans...
First of all, I blame coaches for such losing streak to Pelicans - it is up to coaches to do correct scouting, find weaknesses of opposing team and to prepare good game plan.
Secondly - yes, we need an upgrade and especially on wing possition and I hope that management can make a decent trade.
First of all, I blame coaches for such losing streak to Pelicans - it is up to coaches to do correct scouting, find weaknesses of opposing team and to prepare good game plan.
Secondly - yes, we need an upgrade and especially on wing possition and I hope that management can make a decent trade.
Yeah. Again goes back to needing actual good defensive players to play good defense. But just the overall lack of consistency with this squad is maddening. How is this the same team that blew out a fully healthy Grizzlies squad on the road? Beat OKC twice? Beat Minny? Beat Den? Beat Dal on the road? Was 4-1 in our last 5 games?
We just looked slow today compared to the tempo and for lack of better term "giddy-up" that the Pelicans were playing with. Almost every time down the floor, they just looked like they were a varsity squad playing the JV team.
That's where I appreciate how our young guys play. Keon/Kessler/Colby Jones are all out there competing their ass off on defense. Perhaps they're not good enough to be NBA offensive players, but I do know they're actually working out there on D. And we had a large enough sample of Keon where pretty much every time he came into the game, we saw a boost on defense. Feels pretty similar to Kessler as well. And while our core DOES have that energy and giddy-up, they just flat out refuse to do it all the time this season. They have a Grizzlies performance and then they have a performance like this a week later. Been the same story all season.
The sky isn't falling, yet and we've been able to somehow pull ourselves back from atrocious loss after atrocious loss this season. But Monte has to find a way to go get defensive talent on this team. Caruso, Thybulle, Dorian-Finney Smith, Royce O'Neale. Just someone we can point to and say "Hey, that dude is a good defender". If not, we'll finish the season at 46 wins, be the 6 seed and likely lose in the first round because we can't stop anybody and our offense isn't as good as last year.
We just looked slow today compared to the tempo and for lack of better term "giddy-up" that the Pelicans were playing with. Almost every time down the floor, they just looked like they were a varsity squad playing the JV team.
That's where I appreciate how our young guys play. Keon/Kessler/Colby Jones are all out there competing their ass off on defense. Perhaps they're not good enough to be NBA offensive players, but I do know they're actually working out there on D. And we had a large enough sample of Keon where pretty much every time he came into the game, we saw a boost on defense. Feels pretty similar to Kessler as well. And while our core DOES have that energy and giddy-up, they just flat out refuse to do it all the time this season. They have a Grizzlies performance and then they have a performance like this a week later. Been the same story all season.
The sky isn't falling, yet and we've been able to somehow pull ourselves back from atrocious loss after atrocious loss this season. But Monte has to find a way to go get defensive talent on this team. Caruso, Thybulle, Dorian-Finney Smith, Royce O'Neale. Just someone we can point to and say "Hey, that dude is a good defender". If not, we'll finish the season at 46 wins, be the 6 seed and likely lose in the first round because we can't stop anybody and our offense isn't as good as last year.
The trouble is that we don't have a lot to offer. We have some useful pieces, but most of our middling vets won't fetch much. We don't have a draft pick this year, and can't trade next year's pick either. Not sure how much a 2026 pick gets us; likely not much.
So, we might be largely stuck with this roster (with perhaps some cosmetic changes). Any improvements will need to come from internal growth. Keegan has to make the leap. Sasha may not see much time unless both HB and Lyles are traded, but could be part of rotation next year.
Hopefully Colby and Keon start contributing more regularly next year, particularly if Davion/Kevin are no longer part of the team.
So, we might be largely stuck with this roster (with perhaps some cosmetic changes). Any improvements will need to come from internal growth. Keegan has to make the leap. Sasha may not see much time unless both HB and Lyles are traded, but could be part of rotation next year.
Hopefully Colby and Keon start contributing more regularly next year, particularly if Davion/Kevin are no longer part of the team.
holy cow, keon was the the player rep at the podium AGAIN?
Nice leadership from our team captains........
Good to hear the media asking coach brown where is our "leadership committee" when the team gets blown out. Brown said he doesn't decide who comes out to talk but everyone needs to be held accountable, including fox and domas.
Coach had some really eye opening comments.
Nice leadership from our team captains........
Good to hear the media asking coach brown where is our "leadership committee" when the team gets blown out. Brown said he doesn't decide who comes out to talk but everyone needs to be held accountable, including fox and domas.
Coach had some really eye opening comments.
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Those ratings were ones tabulated from before this game and 5 man ratings are based on time on the floor and minutes played so anything that the team does as a whole is eventually balanced out somewhat. Now of course, I think ratings are to be taken with some a grain of salt anyway. If they were the end all be all the champion would be first in both categories almost without fail however you certainly can use them to compare.
I have seen only the best performers of the game getting on the podium whether it is a win or loss. Keon got to be that guy today. This is consistent with what I have seen the Kings do all this year and even last year. Typically, they would feature two players and the coach though.
Sabonis comments after the game:
Sabonis comments after the game:
Coach Brown can pin it on the players if he wants, but he needs to look in the mirror. He has a whole bench of hungry, defensive-minded guys like Keon Ellis just waiting for their name to be called, if he thinks the squad on the floor lacks fight. Ellis himself has appeared in only two of the past six games, including last night. Why?
And if you want to show your young guys what working hard looks like, every game, every play, every practice, give Tyler Hansbough a call. He is 38 but can still play. He would open a few eyes in practice. Or, as Roy Williams used to ask his teams, "On a scale of 1 to Tyler Hansbrough, how would you rate your effort in the game today?" There is even an open roster spot for 10-day contracts.
And if you want to show your young guys what working hard looks like, every game, every play, every practice, give Tyler Hansbough a call. He is 38 but can still play. He would open a few eyes in practice. Or, as Roy Williams used to ask his teams, "On a scale of 1 to Tyler Hansbrough, how would you rate your effort in the game today?" There is even an open roster spot for 10-day contracts.
Interesting comments and presser for this game. As a reminder:
Monte provides the deck.
Coach Brown (+staff) plays the cards.
The game plan, motivation, and leadership come from the top. If the individual players lack leadership because of a "bunch of nice guys" situation then it is even more important that the coaches' role includes strong leadership.
Laying blame on the players for lack of effort is a cheap shot that will not provide motivation but rather resentment and negativity. If Coach doesn't like what is happening on the court then it is on him to provide a remedy on the spot rather than letting the team flounder while denigrating their performance.
I sincerely believe that this team has considerable talent, positive abilities, and a desire to perform well. Even with the winning record, there is potentially much more that is being restrained by some of the decisions being made.
Monte provides the deck.
Coach Brown (+staff) plays the cards.
The game plan, motivation, and leadership come from the top. If the individual players lack leadership because of a "bunch of nice guys" situation then it is even more important that the coaches' role includes strong leadership.
Laying blame on the players for lack of effort is a cheap shot that will not provide motivation but rather resentment and negativity. If Coach doesn't like what is happening on the court then it is on him to provide a remedy on the spot rather than letting the team flounder while denigrating their performance.
I sincerely believe that this team has considerable talent, positive abilities, and a desire to perform well. Even with the winning record, there is potentially much more that is being restrained by some of the decisions being made.
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