Power Rankings, Week of 11/7

[Spike]

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Man, what a difference a week makes. We looked a lot more #Kangzy than I thought we would. For sure, I thought we would have swept Florida. I mean, Florida. BTW Sports Illustrated you're on notice. I'm tired of trying to find your crap. Seriously, guys. Get your website together. If you have any recommendations for a replacement, I'm all ears. Anyway, on to the rankings!

NBC Sports
#22 (-7)
The Kings played terrible defense and started 0-4 on a tough East Coast road trip (the kind of trip where playoff teams still get some wins). Then they got to Toronto Sunday, slowed the NBA’s leading scorer in DeRozan, and picked up an unexpected win. Best news for Kings fans is that Darren Collison returns from his suspension this week, which strengthens the starting lineup and pushes Ty Lawson to the bench to lead the second unit.

ESPN
#23 (-1)

If you expected Sacramento to wrap up a five-game swing through the Eastern Conference by winning the toughest game of the five after an 0-4 start -- on the second half, no less, of a back-to-back in Toronto -- that makes one of us. Let's see if the Kings can generate any momentum from the breakthrough, which brought some much-needed relief after the six-fouls-in-a-quarter fiasco in Miami endured by DeMarcus Cousins, whose Kings have lost the last nine games in which Boogie has scored 30 or more points.

NBA.com
#22 (-5)

After allowing 110 points per 100 possessions in the first four games, the Kings salvaged their five-game trip by keeping DeMar DeRozan in check and coming back from a double-digit deficit to beat the Raptors on Sunday. They've actually trailed by double-digits in seven of their eight games. Their starting lineup has been good, but they'll welcome the return of Darren Collison (from his eight-game suspension) on Tuesday, with Ty Lawson having missed his last 10 shots.

CBS Sports
#23 (-6)
Dave Joerger is a great coach, and you can tell because this Kings team is competitive and playing well together. For all his baggage, Matt Barnes has brought a real attitude boost and is helping them. They won't win a lot, but maybe Joerger can stabilize the situation (until he randomly gets fired, because it's the Kings).

Sports Illustrated
#24 (+2?)
The Kings have faced three back-to-backs already and split all three, and Rudy Gay has been helping his trade value. This could be worse.

Mean Ranking: 22.8
Not a good trend. Let's reverse it.


Beer of the week: The Abyss, by Deschutes Brewery
Definitely a full bodied beer, with complementary notes of anise, and roasty overtones. The 2014 version has mellowed noticeably, and is drinking smoothly right now. Yes, that is a LEGO sarlacc pit.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Beer of the week: The Abyss, by Deschutes Brewery
Definitely a full bodied beer, with complementary notes of anise, and roasty overtones. The 2014 version has mellowed noticeably, and is drinking smoothly right now.

Ah, Deschutes. Quite a fine brewery, and the brewpub was a memorable stop on a NW brewery tour about ten years ago.

Oh, is this supposed to be about basketball?

 

[Bricklayer]

We beat the Pels we are 4-5 an doing fine. Beat the Lakers too we are 5-5 and right where we need to be. The 4 game stretch after that is tough, but even if we only went 1-3 we'd be 6-8 and having survived the tough start in position to make a move as the schedule softens up.

Having a rough couple of games on the road doesn't have to have been anything but having a rough couple of games on the road.

 

[Sac.Kings]

We beat the Pels we are 4-5 an doing fine. Beat the Lakers too we are 5-5 and right where we need to be. The 4 game stretch after that is tough, but even if we only went 1-3 we'd be 6-8 and having survived the tough start in position to make a move as the schedule softens up.

Having a rough couple of games on the road doesn't have to have been anything but having a rough couple of games on the road.

I consider both games coming up to be quite important. I know it's early in the season, but these games can really make a difference down the line. There have already been 2-3 games we should have won (Miami being the most obvious, followed by Atlanta). 5-5 with the rough schedule would be great and if I were Joerger, I would be telling the guys that we had every right to be even better than 5-5.

In order to not invite the karma gods, all I will say is the next two games are winnable if we have our heads screwed on straight.

 

[Gliesian]

We're exactly where we're supposed to be.
The Raptors game is what we are. A good defensive rebounding team that doesn't amaze with 3's, no-look passes, or pace. Amazement comes in the form of Cuz powering through 400+ pounds of opposition for an and-1. Or Rudy shutting down a star player.
What's great is that even though we were victorious, we made a bunch of mistakes which, when we FINALLY get some practice time, will be fixed.
The only problem not easily mitigated is our reaction (lookin' at you Cuz) to heartbreaking losses, especially ones that are taken from us. Maybe it's impossible to simply ignore the psychological effects of learned-self helplessness (Game 7, 2002). But with a new arena, a great underdog story, and a new reputation, I feel like we won't be robbed this time. I can't wait to hear MVP and RUDY chants!

 

[lwc]

After reading an article from a website that is a competitor to this site, I am not discouraged about the slow start. It seems as if Joerger is prioritizing the success of this season as-a-whole over winning individual games by doing whatever it takes to instill defensive principles and non-stop effort. I will take that. His Grizzlies playoff team last season started with a similar record. If we make the playoffs, I'll be a happy man.

 

[dude12]

After reading an article from a website that is a competitor to this site, I am not discouraged about the slow start. It seems as if Joerger is prioritizing the success of this season as-a-whole over winning individual games by doing whatever it takes to instill defensive principles and non-stop effort. I will take that. His Grizzlies playoff team last season started with a similar record. If we make the playoffs, I'll be a happy man.

Joerger has a plan and he's going to stick to it with the big picture in mind.

 

[IfAt1st]

We're exactly where we're supposed to be.
The Raptors game is what we are. A good defensive rebounding team that doesn't amaze with 3's, no-look passes, or pace.

Why?
Wouldn't the 4 games preceding the Raptors game be what we are?
Wouldn't the 4 games where they couldn't grab a defensive rebound to save their lives trump the one game they did?

This team hasn't proven anything yet except for the highly erratic nature of their play (all last season included).

This team thinks they are better than they are, just like last season. The second they get a lead (or god forbid multiple wins in a row), they start getting lazy, reckless, and throw away careless turnovers.
And this team will crumple just like last year if they think they don't have to bust their asses to keep up with every team in the NBA.

 

[Gliesian]

Why?
Wouldn't the 4 games preceding the Raptors game be what we are?
Wouldn't the 4 games where they couldn't grab a defensive rebound to save their lives trump the one game they did?

This team hasn't proven anything yet except for the highly erratic nature of their play (all last season included).

This team thinks they are better than they are, just like last season. The second they get a lead (or god forbid multiple wins in a row), they start getting lazy, reckless, and throw away careless turnovers.
And this team will crumple just like last year if they think they don't have to bust their asses to keep up with every team in the NBA.

Yes, and the games before those as well. With the exception of two games, we've played pretty much the same the entire season. The Raptors game really wasn't any different than the other close games, but I'm not going to make my above post after a loss now lol
I don't put a lot of stock in those two games because I think around 28 other teams would play poorly given the same circumstances.