I agree, it would have been nice to see him get a few minutes down the stretch.

Surely our offense/defense had many flows yesterday and all players showed weaknesses but I can’t get off my mind that this game was lost by Brad Miller. Yes he had 20 points, 11 rebs and 7 assists… His 6 turnovers though were more than a lot. They were all critical just like his 10 missed shots (6/16). Most of them taken and missed in crucial moments when the game was on the line.

I don’t mind Quincy’s open look and missed buzzer beater nor Salmons’ drive under the basket. When you have Amare 3 feet in front of you it’s normal to try something to outsmart him instead of confronting him face to face.

Anyway.. as long as we have only 2 centers, there isn’t much we can do about it. If we could only have the luxury to bring Miller off the bench in times where physical play and defense were not the priority.

I don’t have a problem with the way the game was coached, just with the way it was played. Thompson looked every bit like a rookie tonight, rushing a few gimme-layups in the beginning of the game, and really being torched by Grant Hill on defense. The offense was a mess, with the fourth quarter the only time in the game where the Kings put forward any sort of run at all. Theus went with the guys who played best, including Douby, who was effective in his first few minutes but tailed off from there. The game was there for the taking and the Kings just couldn’t do it. It’s what happens with young teams.

The next two games are absolute must-wins. Unlike the Suns, the Spurs don’t have much behind injured Parker and Ginobili, and Memphis is very beatable. After that, the Kings have @New Orleans, Portland, @Lakers and @Portland, which could very easily turn into a four game losing streak.

…to watch.

And there will be more like this one. A game like this where everyone has butterfingers, I’m not sure even Martin playing would have made a difference. The man can’t hit those lovely floaters when everyone is kicking the ball out of bounds every 30 seconds.

And if Nash and/or Barbosa had played? Guh, I don’t even want to think about it.

Still, some fine points, Z. Theus probably left Douby in a little too long, but I doubt anyone would have pulled him, he really seems to have been the player that made the difference in the Kings getting back into this one. Leaving Salmons at the 2 and running JT or Donte’ in and out might have worked better, but we’ll never know, and besides, I’m late to my 20/20 Hindsight For Dummies book reading at Barnes & Noble.

It was Friday night live, but the young’uns can be referred to as “The not ready for prime time players”. We lost to a veteran team, we had the chance to beat. Our young guys had unspectacular, or worse, games. We are ten games in, live and hopefully learn. Next up, Spurs.

I agree with you about getting Hawes the ball at the end – and, in fact, throughout the game. I am starting wonder why Theus runs almost no plays for Spencer. He’s probably been the most consistent offensive player this year outside of Martin. The guy finds a way to get good looks and can score with either hand.

The Kings still have no offensive identity.

As has been the case outside a couple of the early road games, there was good effort. Just a lot of poor execution.

This seems to be the mantra of a Reggie Theus team. To be fair, that judgment is made 92 games into his pro career, and last year it was a litany of injuries, while this year youth is being served. Nevertheless, Theus’ teams have been high turnover, low assist squads. Maybe that’s due to the personnel not matching whatever his system is. Regardless of the reason(s), this is not the type of execution that earns you a contract extension.