The 2024 Playoff Chase Thread

[BenchMob]

Even if Keegan gets to a solid #3, this team doesn't have enough to compete for championships IMO. Keegan needs to develop a mean streak and some nasty if he ever wants to get past being a #3 on a good team. Keegan is too passive at this point in his career, I would like to see some fire in him.

Fire in a player comes within and is not taught/trained imo, either you have it or you don't. I will eat crow next year if that's not the case

 

[GWD]

Fire in a player comes within and is not taught/trained imo, either you have it or you don't. I will eat crow next year if that's not the case

What "fire" does exist can be stimulated. But along with that, the fire can be suppressed as well. In other words, it can be manipulated by a person trained (or aware) in the technique. Gregg Popovich is an example.

 

[ockingsfan]

Fire in a player comes within and is not taught/trained imo, either you have it or you don't. I will eat crow next year if that's not the case

The thing with Keegan is that in college he showed that aggression and alpha mentality, which made him the #4 overall pick. So it's in there somewhere.

I'm hoping some more of that comes out next season, but he has been too passive for my taste so far in the NBA

 

[Srzly]

Fire in a player comes within and is not taught/trained imo, either you have it or you don't. I will eat crow next year if that's not the case

I don’t think it’s lack of fire, but lack of confidence. Confidence will definitely continue to grow.

He needs to gain that confidence to consistently go up strong and into guys to dunk on them, like he did on Chet, instead of trying to avoid contact or avoid shot blockers.

 

[sactowndog]

That is exactly what we did in Year 2 of the golden years.

I think Monte has generally been wise and if nothing else I think the Davion now will have trade value in the offseason if deemed expendable. We're seeing the same concerns creep up with Barnes though, has a few great games and all is well and then ice cold and no value.

Barnes is kind of worse than no value. New Orleans was hunting Barnes with Zion all night. He has never been a great defender but clearly took a step back this year.

 

[sactowndog]

The League seems to have a lot of talent in the Western Conference and great parity. There may have been few times when winning a championship is so challenging.

Memphis is going to be good and long next year. JJJ and GG Jackson (whom they got in the 2nd Round) look to be a very good set of forwards. Funny enough they are a team for whom Sabonis would be a perfect fit. Wonder if we could trade Sabonis for a crap load of picks.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Memphis is going to be good and long next year. JJJ and GG Jackson (whom they got in the 2nd Round) look to be a very good set of forwards. Funny enough they are a team for whom Sabonis would be a perfect fit. Wonder if we could trade Sabonis for a crap load of picks.

There has been a lot of mentions of Sabonis being completely off the table....and I can't figure why. I wonder what kind of value he'd have around the league. Maybe the thought is that it's too bad of a look to explore moving the guy you traded Haliburton for?

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

The thing with Keegan is that in college he showed that aggression and alpha mentality, which made him the #4 overall pick. So it's in there somewhere.

I'm hoping some more of that comes out next season, but he has been too passive for my taste so far in the NBA

He was an interior player in college, which encourages a more aggressive to the basket kind of game. So far the Kings have made him just a 3 point shooter, which after a while can make some guys tentative or just rusty when going into the defense

 

[macadocious]

Barnes is kind of worse than no value. New Orleans was hunting Barnes with Zion all night. He has never been a great defender but clearly took a step back this year.

This is disengneious. Barnes was the primary person guarding Zion. Most teams don't have a player who can guard him, the Kings really don't have that player.

 

[SacTownKid]

The thing with Keegan is that in college he showed that aggression and alpha mentality, which made him the #4 overall pick. So it's in there somewhere.

I'm hoping some more of that comes out next season, but he has been too passive for my taste so far in the NBA

Keegan sure looks to be settling in as the 3 and D forward and I still think that's more valuable than Keegan munching shots. Monte can find a shot muncher, he just clearly can't afford to have two somewhat passive and mostly high IQ players at his F spots. At some point it's not fire, it's skill and mindset. Keegan is indeed a lot like Barnes in the sense that he's a little too smart to be taking bad shots and taking bad shots is a hallmark of leading scorer types. Will Keegans ball handling jump levels at age 24? It could happen, but that's working against a lot of history when it comes to typical development. I think Keegan getting a little more size and strength and continuing to focus on his defense and rebounding is a safer bet.

 

[ockingsfan]

Keegan sure looks to be settling in as the 3 and D forward and I still think that's more valuable than Keegan munching shots. Monte can find a shot muncher, he just clearly can't afford to have two somewhat passive and mostly high IQ players at his F spots. At some point it's not fire, it's skill and mindset. Keegan is indeed a lot like Barnes in the sense that he's a little too smart to be taking bad shots and taking bad shots is a hallmark of leading scorer types. Will Keegans ball handling jump levels at age 24? It could happen, but that's working against a lot of history when it comes to typical development. I think Keegan getting a little more size and strength and continuing to focus on his defense and rebounding is a safer bet.

I think Keegan still has the capability to be a 3 level scorer (like at Iowa) and also be a lock down defender, ala Kawhi Leonard. He needs to take the reigns and demand the ball more, but I think he is acquiescing to the vets (Fox and Sabonis) too much (kinda of like what Hali did when he was with Fox).

IMO, for this team to ever reach title contenders status, it is imperative that Keegan leapfrogs Sabonis to be the clear #2, borderline #1. If this doesn't ever happen, the Kings will forever be a fringe playoff team.

 

[SacTownKid]

I think Keegan still has the capability to be a 3 level scorer (like at Iowa) and also be a lock down defender, ala Kawhi Leonard. He needs to take the reigns and demand the ball more, but I think he is acquiescing to the vets (Fox and Sabonis) too much (kinda of like what Hali did when he was with Fox).

IMO, for this team to ever reach title contenders status, it is imperative that Keegan leapfrogs Sabonis to be the clear #2, borderline #1. If this doesn't ever happen, the Kings will forever be a fringe playoff team.

The only thing is in college one of those levels was his post play and so far Brown has not just not shown interest in developing that part of Keegans game but legit aversion to it. I think it's them trying to create their new Middleton and so far, I'd say he's pretty close. The ball handling isn't there but with playing both sides of the ball and shooting is.

If Keegan is going to be that type of player then next year it likely is. Kawhi came in younger, with better ball handling out of the gate and was given a few years to develop. By the time Kawhi was the same age Keegan will be next year he was making all NBA teams and all star appearances so we'll see I guess. I just hope Monte isn't too overconfident and keeps searching for that upgrade because if Keegan does become that guy, then it's just more good on top of good at that point.

 

[206Fan]

I think Keegan still has the capability to be a 3 level scorer (like at Iowa) and also be a lock down defender, ala Kawhi Leonard. He needs to take the reigns and demand the ball more, but I think he is acquiescing to the vets (Fox and Sabonis) too much (kinda of like what Hali did when he was with Fox).

IMO, for this team to ever reach title contenders status, it is imperative that Keegan leapfrogs Sabonis to be the clear #2, borderline #1. If this doesn't ever happen, the Kings will forever be a fringe playoff team.

I agree with you, but I just don’t think it’s very likely that Keegan can get to borderline #1 level. It’s one thing if you’re a quiet guy (KD & Kawhi), but it’s another when you lack confidence (McLemore). You just can’t grow that killer instinct over night. On top of everything, Keegan is a limited scorer. Doesn’t have the handles. Doesn’t have the quickness. He lives and dies by his jump shot. Lots of hurdles working against him.

I think we have to start looking elsewhere for that #2/3 guy. Hopefully it doesn’t involve him in a trade because I think rookie Keegan is one of the best role players in the league.

 

[NewArena]

This season was over the night Luka rolled up on Monk's knee.

At this point it may be better for the Kings to lose out and secure the #13 pick in the draft and hope for some lottery luck. Who knows, maybe we get lucky with someone at #13/#14 pick or we move up and get a top 4 pick and can potentially use that to trade for a player that moves the needle this summer. Or we can draft a player at #13/#14 (with a pre-draft trade lined up) with another team to trade for a player.

But this team will be capped out (if we can re-sign Monk) with no clear way of improving besides a possible draft pick and a prayer that someone will take our non-core players (HB, Huerter, Durate, Sasha, and Mitchell) for their core player (Kuzma, Grant, etc) in a trade. There is no clear path to improve this team next season.

I will never forgive Luka for that BS

 

[ockingsfan]

I will never forgive Luka for that BS

Me too. I kinda think he did it on purpose. No NBA All-Star player should be that uncoordinated to basically crash on top of someones knee.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

This is disengneious. Barnes was the primary person guarding Zion. Most teams don't have a player who can guard him, the Kings really don't have that player.

Lyles can guard him. He's not going to shut him down, but he has the size and strength to not get bounced out of the way on every drive

 

[kingdivac]

Didn't read earlier what happens with a 4-way tie?

 

[bball_nomad]

Circus goes on. Lakers "beat" Memphis on the road 123-120. AD from the line 13/17, LBJ 8/11, Lakers total fouls - 17. Memphis from the line 17/21, PFs 27. What's the point for any team to play against the Lakers??? Just forfeit the game and take your guys to the night out in the city. Why watch Lakers in a game if outcome is already decided??? The day LBJ retires I will exhale with huge relieve. Right now LBJ is just an ATM. Keeps some $$$ for himself while others get a lot. I never cared about LBJ as a player or a person. Just an overdose of HGH at the early age.

 

[bball_nomad]

Didn't read earlier what happens with a 4-way tie?

A headache. We need to wait until all 82 games are done.

 

[Bosnian Diehard]

Might as well end this thread. We all know this team won’t show up when it counts.

 

[sactowndog]

This is disengneious. Barnes was the primary person guarding Zion. Most teams don't have a player who can guard him, the Kings really don't have that player.

Sure but when they are working to get Barnes in a Match up (as did the Suns tonight) you should know he has a problem.

 

[sactowndog]

I think Keegan still has the capability to be a 3 level scorer (like at Iowa) and also be a lock down defender, ala Kawhi Leonard. He needs to take the reigns and demand the ball more, but I think he is acquiescing to the vets (Fox and Sabonis) too much (kinda of like what Hali did when he was with Fox).

IMO, for this team to ever reach title contenders status, it is imperative that Keegan leapfrogs Sabonis to be the clear #2, borderline #1. If this doesn't ever happen, the Kings will forever be a fringe playoff team.

I think Keegan needs to just be a very good defender and focus on his offensive game more

He shouldn’t be 4th on the team in attempts and Fox shouldn’t have 8 more attempts a game.

 

[iowamcnabb]

Well, the silver lining here is the win kept the Suns one game behind the Pels and the Suns won the season series. What does this mean? The Pelicans are going to need to win to secure the 6th seed. They will have to play their starters against the Lakers.

 

[sono]

Let's say we end up in a 3-way tie with the Lakers and Warriors after the final game, we secure the 8th spot based on the regular season results against them?

 

[Caccia]

Let's say we end up in a 3-way tie with the Lakers and Warriors after the final game, we secure the 8th spot based on the regular season results against them?

View attachment 12572

Yes.