GAME 56 at Miami, Preview & Game Thread
by Tom Ziller on Feb 26, 2008 3:18 PM PST
in Game Threads
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PrintIf you would have told me in October the Kings would have 15 more wins than Miami after the All-Star break, I would have kicked your goldfish and sang a song. How bizarre is this world.
MIAMI HEAT (9-44) 102.6 ORtg (#28), 110.6 DRtg (#25), 90.1 Pace (#14)
BALLHYPE | NBA.com PREVIEW
Actually, I knew Miami wouldn't be as good as they have seemed (well my alter-ego knew, at least). But nine wins and 44 losses is a bit much. One win since Christmas? That's a bit much. This team has DWYANE fricking WADE! It should not be this bad.
Shockingly, the team's been downright terrible in close games. Based on point differential, they should be 13-40 or 14-39. Instead, 9-44. Why? Tons and tons of close losses. Wade (and in different stretches Udonis Haslem and Shawn Marion) have kept them in games, even gotten the team in position to win games. But it hasn't happened.
Wade's not up to his usual standards, though he's (obviously) still very good. Blame injuries, blame the supporting cast. Ricky Davis has been god-awful -- a self-proclaimed scorer should not be relegated to 15 points per 40 minutes; every Kings rotation player but Mikki Moore scores at that level or higher (and everyone but Quincy Douby and Spencer Hawes does it with a higher True Shooting percentage).
But still -- it's Dwyane Wade. It's Shawn Marion. These two are good great players. Games like this worry me more than contests in Orlando or Houston. If you lose to Orlando, who cares? Orlando's good. If you lose to Miami, look forward to at least a day and possibly seven of jokes. A loss to Orlando is disappointing but manageable. A loss to Miami -- for us, the fans, whom have absolutely no role in a victory or loss -- is embarrassing. I don't know why. And I'll still wear my Kings hat Wednesday. But I'll feel 28% worse about life and Earth, which will lead me to being 28% more mean to the barista and the bus driver.
So basically, if Reggie Theus lets Kevin Martin languish on the bench while a game slips away again, I'm not going to say 'thank you' to the barista and I'm not going to tell the bus driver to 'have a nice day.' Do you want that on your conscience, Reggie?
Mark Blount and Brad Miller will jump reach for the ball at approximately 4:30 p.m. Go Kings.
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This game is not on TV
by rimrock101 @ Sactown Royalty on Feb 26, 2008 4:03 PM PST reply actions
rimrock!
He's always lurking section
we better win by 5 pts
Miami Woe Must End
But we lost still 88-78 in Miami in '03 with us 59-23 and the HEAT 25-57
Hold out hope.
Hahaha,
Come on Cisco!
someone
Really?!?
Artest with . . .
I promise you
The last possession of the half was horrible, there was no way Ron was going to pass that ball. He ran straight at 3 defenders and got his shot blocked.
by 27freethrows on Feb 26, 2008 5:51 PM PST up reply actions
For me it's not the attempts
by Kfan in Korea on Feb 26, 2008 5:52 PM PST up reply actions
Yeah giving up 58 points to the #28 offense
by Kfan in Korea on Feb 26, 2008 6:01 PM PST up reply actions
tough
If you go by tonight
by LeaguePassAddict on Feb 26, 2008 6:31 PM PST up reply actions
Congrats Miami!
BOOK IT!!! for the Kings
my bad
Kings down by 24.
So maybe a top draft pick isn't
So bad
by LeaguePassAddict on Feb 26, 2008 6:28 PM PST reply actions
We'll see if the numbers back it up
by Kingsfan banished to AZ on Feb 26, 2008 6:28 PM PST reply actions
Numbers or not
by LeaguePassAddict on Feb 26, 2008 6:33 PM PST up reply actions
You're right of course
by Kingsfan banished to AZ on Feb 26, 2008 6:36 PM PST up reply actions
Got 15 points
It suggests to me
Pretty spot on
by Kingsfan banished to AZ on Feb 26, 2008 6:47 PM PST up reply actions
Hawes is Good
- He can score
- He can pass
20 Boards In His Last 44 Minutes
Haven't been so happy I missed a game
This is great
Quite Frankly
Miami has played teams tough but they're also talented with Wade, Marion, J-Will, Davis etc and they're hungry for a win.
However I will be expecting a different outcome when the teams come to Sacto.
Didn't see the game
When you think about it, the Kings are probably lucky to have won as many games as they have.
They have two fairly reliable veteran starters who are good, but have their faults and are not All-Stars. They have an emerging young shooting guard who is also not an All-Star and has some weaknesses. So that's three fairly solid performers who probably all rank in the top half of the starters at their position in the league, but none are top 5.
Then they have a point guard in his first season as a starter, and they round out the starting five with a journeyman power forward who is barely in the top 50 at his position.
Their bench is a work in progress. They have a nice swing man who can nail the three, and a career substitute who suddenly must start to be effective. They have two young big men who are inconsistent, but haven't really gotten the playing time it takes to become consistent.
They have a former Big East scoring leader who isn't a point guard but is "playing" the position when he plays at all.
Then they have a sponge who is soaking up salary, a hurt guy who is soaking upo salary and will probably never play again and three toss-in expiring players from Hotlanta.
Oh, yeah, I forgot, they also have a rookie coach who's never coached in the NBA and came from college.
I honestly don't know where the Kings go from here. I think they have a core in Miller, Artest and Martin that can keep them in the .500 range but not much better unless they improve the point guard and power forward positions and add a couple more solid veteran bench players.
I hope Beno works out, and if they sign him to a nice deal in the off season I hope we can find another decent point guard to back him up or start if necessary.
I'm not sure the power forward solution is on the roster. I am looking for a monster who scores, rebounds, dunks and blocks shots. I know, I'm not too picky.
I frankly don't care who they trade and who they keep. I just hope they can at some point overcome this cycle of mediocrity.
by coolcatreportdotcom on Feb 26, 2008 10:22 PM PST reply actions
Well Coolcat
But
by coolcatreportdotcom on Feb 27, 2008 7:36 AM PST up reply actions
You mis-read it
Well, Lucy
Maybe as a standalone comment, but not in response to what I wrote, which was: "They have two fairly reliable veteran starters who are good, but have their faults and are not All-Stars. They have an emerging young shooting guard who is also not an All-Star ..."
Actually, even as a standalone comment it doesn't make any sense, unless you can show me a team from the past that had three All-Stars and did not play .500 ball.
by coolcatreportdotcom on Feb 27, 2008 12:32 PM PST up reply actions
For an intelligent guy
I said if the team had 3 all-stars (they have 2) then they should be a 500 team at a minimum. That's all I said.
Hit Him On the Head
They have NO All-Stars.
None.
Zero.
Am I going too fast for you? If so, I can slow down.
by coolcatreportdotcom on Feb 27, 2008 3:56 PM PST up reply actions
You see I was being kind to Artest
There was no need to "prove" a point
Your statement still makes no sense.
by coolcatreportdotcom on Feb 27, 2008 4:37 PM PST up reply actions
If you conceded the point about Artest
It'd be a pretty thin league
There's 24 All-Stars this year and 30 teams.
But, as I've said before, nobody on the Kings is untouchable.
Artest is one of two or three players on the Kings who is close to being an All-Star. Naturally you can get rid of all three if you'd like.
by coolcatreportdotcom on Feb 27, 2008 5:22 PM PST up reply actions
Can't disagree with you
I think there's always a little luck involved in getting to the top. Maybe ours will include a friendly ping-pong ball in the offseason.
We Need A Crap Package
I thought what Cleveland did was interesting. They had one trade that was our crap for your crap - the trade with the Bulls. Then they had the expirings for a veteran who can help them deal with Seattle.
Maybe there is someone out there who thinks Salmons can help them as a starter and will take on Douby and others while giving us back a quality big.
by coolcatreportdotcom on Feb 27, 2008 7:43 AM PST up reply actions
That could happen
But I think it's more likely that you end up with a gradual process of improvement that takes three to five years. We've been spoiled by a long run of playoff teams, but remember how long we suffered with mediocre teams before we finally put togther a group that made it back into the playoffs.
We've got a couple of good pieces, but I predict that Brad, Ron, and much of our roster will be gone before we are a serious title contender again.
One More Possibility
In the NBA it's more important who finishes the game than who starts it.
by coolcatreportdotcom on Feb 27, 2008 7:45 AM PST up reply actions
Can anybody explain to me
Couple things
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