Mavericks Vanquish Kings 104-102
by Tom Ziller on Nov 21, 2009 4:00 AM PST
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PrintThis was the Mary, Queen of Scots of basketball games. The Mavericks were always in the executioner's role, always with the biggest weapon and the strategically superior position. But damn if they didn't have to hack at the Kings repeatedly to get the job done. "Put the kids to bed, Sally, the Kings are in town!"
Dallas ended up winning 104-102, though it was basically a three-possession game for the entirety of the fourth quarter. The Kings had the deficit at three points a couple times, but couldn't do enough to stop the Jasons Terry and Kidd. Sacramento ended up scoring 37 points in the fourth, a figure not terribly bloated by the foul party at game's end. But Dallas scored 36 of their own, cinching up the win.
Tyreke Evans was unbelievable, finishing with 29 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. He actually threatened the triple-double mark the entire fourth, having hung on nine assists and seven rebounds until the final, superfluous play. That's how awesome Evans's floor game was through three quarters, while he made his biggest late-game contributions in the scoring ledger. 'Reke had 13 points on six FGAs in the fourth, including 10 in the last six minutes.
Of course, that wasn't enough. Terry hit for 12 points in the fourth, and Kidd had a big three-pointer (his fifth of the game) late. Dirk Nowitzki -- the axe, in our opening metaphor -- was kept under wraps, limited to 20 points on 6-15 shooting. Credit Andres Nocioni and Jason Thompson for keeping Dirk out of his comfort zone, for the most part. Nowitzki's used to making tough shots, but the Kings made many of them too tough while also working hard to limit his attempts by bringing a keep double (often Evans off of Kidd, which didn't exactly work in terms of beating the Mavericks as a team).
Thompson's game looks much better in the box score than it did on the court -- he and Spencer Hawes were beat to a lot of defensive rebounds by Drew Gooden, who had an unbelievable nine offensive rebounds in 30 minutes, including six within the first nine minutes of the game. That's some awful defensive rebounding by the Kings bigs; the team did correct the problem, giving up nine in 34 opportunities in the second, third and fourth quarters combined (as opposed to eight in 18 opps in the first). But there's no excuse to let Gooden go hog wild early, not given the Kings size advantage.
Omri Casspi had two baaaad turnovers, but played well overall. Donte Greene got short shrift (fourth man off the bench, less than 12 minutes) for unknown reasons. His defense looked good. There was a bit of finger-pointing on the defensive end after a few blown assignments, and from my seat it doesn't exactly look like Thompson and Spencer Hawes are on the same page at either end.
But in the end, sticking with as good a team as Dallas for 48 minutes on the road is damn impressive. There's no such thing as a moral victory, but there are losses that aren't depressing, and this is one of those. 5-6 has never looked better.
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only had 17 wins last year, I think there is such a thing as a moral victory for this team, and i think this was one. I love the fact that I can watch a Kings game and know they’ll play hard enough to at least be in it in the 4th quarter.
No kidding
There were all sorts of things to be excited about.
Donté played really good defense. Reke hit outside shots, Beno played well. JT had a solid offensive outing.
One thing I noticed as the Kings were walking off the court after the game: Westphal walked out behind Hawes and gave him a bit of a shoulder grab, kind of a “relax buddy. Just relax.” Hawes’s whole “I’m my biggest critic,” attitude is detrimental to his play and I think Westphal might be the right guy to help Hawes learn more constructive self-evaluation behaviors.
Plenty of questions too. Where was Mr. post-up Donté last night? And what has happened to Omri, it’s like someone spiked his hummus.
I was proud of them
Too many turnovers but we played a team we weren’t supposed to in the same class with close for all 48 minutes. We played ALL of them. Good job guys!
Just take care of the ball please!
So imitate the action of the tiger!.
Lend the eye a terrible aspect
- and teach them how to war!
Henry V iii
by lietothegirls on Nov 21, 2009 3:37 PM PST up reply actions
I think teams have figured out how to pressure this group without Kevin in there
It’s really starting to show up in the TO column. I don’t expect much to change in the TO department for awhile.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Oh, hes in the laegue two and Jayson Thomson and that Boggins dude on Milwokee, and Occur for the Jizz. Its a talented laegue.--Kfan in Korea
I really think Tyreke is coming to his own
and that Kevin’s injury is sort of a blessing in disguise, because it allows him to get a bit more comfortable as the lead man of the offense. When Kevin comes back, and if they develop chemistry together, look out. I think only about 3 teams would have a backcourt that could guard both our guys normally (OKC, Boston, Chicago if you put Hinrich in).
And again, no JT double-double, no win. I really don’t know whats going on with Spence this year, he really seems out of it. I had some pretty big expectations of him going into this 3rd year, and so far he’s been a big disappointment. Still I know he can do better, so hopefully he comes out of this slump quick.
Father of the "Natt this!" movement and Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order.
+1
Kevin’s injury may be a blessing in disguise. For Tyreke to have to play so much and so well in the beginning of his career will pay dividends.
by mayfieldcol on Nov 21, 2009 10:43 AM PST up reply actions
I'm not sure
his age should be used as an excuse considering that he’s been in the league longer than JT
I'm currious
How many people watched this game and thought… I’m going buy me a few home game tickets? That was a hell of a game.
Yeah I am definitely looking to score some tickets..
the Wednesday game the day before Thanksgiving looks promising for my first game of the season. With the way the Knicks push tempo and their penchant for losing, it should be a fun game. Plus no work the next day for a wid-week game. You can’t beat that. Unless you throw in a free pre-Thanksgiving buffet on top of all that before the game courtesy of the Maloofs. Food coma and elastic band pants here I come!!
Damn you Robert Horry!!!
I've thought that ever since the NOLA game
But getting out of the house for an evening is going to be next to impossible for me in the next few months so I might grab tix to an end of season game
www.mancancook.net
Tyreke is superlative
This kid has so many moves at such a young age.. Amazing, just incredibly amazing. Even the refs couldn’t believe that he could make the moves he makes… That one call for travel was sure wrong.
Omri came out to play and yeah TZ those turnovers sucked big time, but to hit the shot at the buzzer for 3 to bring the game to 2 points counts for a lot. We can definitely use more clutch shooters.
Beno played really good defense. He his a few shots which was nice, but did try to force through doubles a bit too much. Otherwise, a decent game.
I hoped for more out of Udoka. He missed just about every shot. He has to hit them or he has no business being on the floor. Now, Nocioni really played amazing defense. I am not so sure we should trade that guy. I like him more and more.
Interesting to see that JT was playing farther away from the basket and shooting a bit farther out. Probably in response to the scouting report that he shoots at about 4-8 feet. This did put Spencer down low more and that may work out, but has a ways to go.. Spencer… Don’t know what to say.
The floor spacing was better, even great on a few plays, but it was off and on. I love the plays where Evans gets doubled up at the top of the key and passes into the low post. Hit Spencer for a nice bucket doing that.
I was just thrilled to see this team compete so well against one of the premier teams. The Mavs are one of the top teams and for the Kings to play this well is great. Yes, a good loss.
To emphasize your point on Udoka
He is shooting 26% FG. And he was suppose to a 3 point shooter. He is 1 for 8 so far. He is becoming Mason V 2.0. OK maybe too harsh, but all his shots are wide open. Teams are daring him to shoot. Omri is available to take those minutes. And he is shooing 55% FG.
Sample size
The guy doesn’t get too many touches, and he’s been with the team for about 4 games. He is most definitely not Mason.
Father of the "Natt this!" movement and Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order.
You need to temper your expectations
he wouldn’t have been available if he was good. He plays very good defense, doesn’t do anything stupid and has made an obvious effort to buy into the team.
Yah, he’s missed some shots, he’s probably going to miss more, but I doubt he’s a 12% 3 point shooter, I also doubt he’s going to be a 35% 3 point shooter. Udoka is on the team because we suck, we don’t have enough good players. He fits in, because he doesn’t try to do too much and let’s our more dynamic guys grow into doing their thing.
Professional Hyperbole Slayer
by ForThree on Nov 21, 2009 10:35 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
rec'd (Rek'd ?) for reality (re: Ime Udoka)
he wouldn’t have been available if he was good. He plays very good defense, doesn’t do anything stupid and has made an obvious effort to buy into the team
The guy fits the team – he is scrappy and reliable defender, and yes, he minimizes mistakes on this high turnover producing team. He has appropriate value: the guy makes the minimum and is a part of the first group off the bench. That is both a condemnation of the talent level of this Sacramento Kings team and a boon for his effort and style. You want the guy to be a decent spot up shooter as well? Why do you think San Antonio and Portland made him available? Ime is a good fit for this team.
trivia throw in: only 3 players in the NBA currently have a surname starting with the lettter “U”: two of the three play for the Kings. (the other plays for the Bucks, Roko Ukic)
by betweentheeyes on Nov 21, 2009 10:57 AM PST up reply actions
You want the guy to be a decent spot up shooter as well?
Yes.
The goal is to put players on the court who can play. If not, buh-bye. That’s why we waived Mason. That’s why Sean May doesn’t play. I am not trying to be too harsh, though. Let’s give Udoka a few more chances to see if he can find his shot, but as of now, he is playing his way to the bench. Permanently.
Agreed
That was really my point about Udoka. He either starts making those shots or he sees less play time. My agreement with blob was that at some point, if he doesn’t step up and make his shots, then Omri should get the minutes. I do, however, think he deserves more chances… Just not too many.
again, I repeat
He has appropriate value: the guy makes the minimum and is a part of the first group off the bench. That is both a condemnation of the talent level of this Sacramento Kings team and a boon for his effort and style. You want the guy to be a decent spot up shooter as well?
full context. As in all calls for a firing: ok, we can fire the guy – and exactly who do you want to replace him?
reminder: Kevin Martin is injured, Cisco Garcia is injured. Who is your 2 after Tyreke? who is your defender at the 1 and 2 after Tyreke?
by betweentheeyes on Nov 21, 2009 11:35 AM PST up reply actions
Fire him?
And where did I say to fire him? I am not saying that at all. I like Udoka and have little doubt he will step it up. That said, if he does slump a bit then Omri should be put in before him.
ok, fire him was not meant literally. do you prefer: give him a pine enema?
I agree he doesn’t add much, my point is that what little he adds is the best we’ve got – right now. Omri and Greene aren’t ready to contribute dependably just yet.
by betweentheeyes on Nov 21, 2009 1:20 PM PST up reply actions
I get that and it is true, to a point
The thing is if his shots don’t start dropping and you have the young’uns stepping up on both O and D, then he just won’t get as many minutes. That is just the reality of what will happen.
Omri cannot guard a competant shooting guard right now
and he’s had a lot of rookie moments lately. Give the guy a chance to grow into the minutes.
Until he does, Udoka plays. Udoka is a barely hanging on NBA player, when we get closer to being a good team, we’ll need to bring in good role players, for now, finding and paying decent role players is bottom of the barrel in terms of priority, thus you see the Mason/Udoka and to a certain extent May contracts.
Professional Hyperbole Slayer
another point in Udoka's favor: the Kings have signed three veteran toss offs:
May, Mason and Udoka. He is clearly the most successful. However I agree that eventually – maybe three months from now (/crosses fingers) he can be found where the butt cheeks meet the wood.
by betweentheeyes on Nov 21, 2009 4:30 PM PST up reply actions
There's no need to go medieval on his ass.
… Oooh, you mean the bench. My bad.
There's nothing to fear but everything.
Don't trade Noce
he brings a veteran leadership to this team that can’t easily be replace. He brings a fire that sets a good example for this young team & really he isn’t too overpaid for what he brings to the table. Unless we get someone that is significantly better for this team I just don’t see the point. I really like this team & can’t wait for Kev to come back he is a player who doesn’t have an ego & doesn’t need to dominate the ball. He will appreciate the attention being taken off him so he can efficiently knock down threes & make backdoor cuts & still get his 25 per.
by allbenji's on Nov 21, 2009 11:10 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
also
we don’t need to dump Nocioni’s or Beno’s( ok maybe beno’s) salary to make a run at a superstar next year we already have one in the making in Mr. Tyreke Evans
by allbenji's on Nov 21, 2009 11:13 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
We are in every game
Great game last night. They are oh oh oh so so so close and this without Martin or Garcia. Last year I thought we are 2-3 players away, a few trades away, and a few more lottery picks away. Not anymore. The only thing now is experience and I hate to keep harping on it as has several others, but more help is needed in the middle. I keep waiting for Spence to get his head out of his wazzou. In addition, I keep watching some close games that are winnable against good teams with the team giving everything it has come up a tad short and it keeps coming back to a lack of consistent production (not a lack of effort by any means) from Spence. I was thinking that when GP drafted Spence he had visions of Vlade and a better Brad and this would work with Reggie running whatever system he was running. But with PW, he has Spence more in the low post and he is suffering from being in the low post instead at the high post. Perhaps a new coach and a new system doesn’t jive with Spence’s skills? Just wondering
I was at the Chicago game a few days ago and the place was pretty full. People are starting to get excited about this team again. I believe the Maloofs and the GP are wondering what it will take to get the crowd back to capacity or near capacity again on a regular basis. One move can put more people in the seats, it may not win us a championship, but can create more excitement and wins. Get us some help in the middle and we may have beaten Chicago and Dallas.
by noreboundsnorings on Nov 21, 2009 9:44 AM PST reply actions
How to get Spencer going?
If Spencer improved as much as JT, we could 7-4, 8-3, instead of a (respectable) 5-6. But it’s a long season, and I have to believe Spencer will raise his play, hopefully sooner than later.
I would like to see Tyreke and Beno look for Spencer more diving to the basket off pick play, and plays where he flashes from weak to strong side. Feeding directly into the post has been anemic all year. PW can do better job of making sure he gets involved too, esp. early. Like most players, when Spencer gets involved offensively, he will pick it up on the other end.
The long range shooting has to come to an end. It is not happening. Score down low before launching deep. And if Spencer wants to earn his coaches and teammates respect, he needs win the hustle battle, and foul guys hard instead of giving up and-1s. He’s not deserving of 40 minutes a game yet, so use your fouls.
Once Spencer has a breakout game of 20+ and 10+, including clutch points in victory, and not garbage time stats, I think we will begin to see a different player.
The Dallas announcers were gushing over Tyreke last night. One guy made an interesting point about his drives to the basket hard he is still able to zig-zag and change directions. This is an advantageous skill because big guys normally take straight line once they get up a head of steam, making them easier to defend and prone to charges.
He had that game against Memphis
That’s the Spencer we’ve been wanting to see all year.
Father of the "Natt this!" movement and Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order.
Spence will be ok
It usually takes centers longer to develop. I think it might of hurt Spencer’s public perception when he has had great games because it shows flashes of what he could be but maybe not what he is now. This could work in our favor this coming offseason when it comes time for extension talks. We could lock Spencer up for what could be a relative bargain. Could you imagine if he were to hav a monster year? He could command Okefor money & that would not be good for the future of this team.
by allbenji's on Nov 21, 2009 11:46 AM PST via mobile reply actions
if Spencer at 21/22 years old averages 20 and 10 and leads us to the playoffs ...
I would expect him to ask for Okafor money. Okafor doesn’t even give 20 and 10. Spencer would be younger as well, and still getting better. I hope he does have a monster season so that we can say we have our center position locked down.
But his teammates need to get him involved more! I don’t know if they just don’t get along with Spencer off the court or what. Hopefully Westphal knows what’s up and can kinda fix things.
Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance. Vonnegut
Do you think we are expecting too much?
I mean 20/10 would be awesome but how many centers in this league average 20/10? Not many even on most playoff teams. I’d be happy with 14/8/6/2. The 6 & 2 being a very important part. I didn’t pay much attention to stats back then but those have to be close to Vlade numbers & he was maybe the most important player to our beloved Kings team of that era.
by allbenji's on Nov 21, 2009 12:09 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Al Jefferson
Only player last year who was averaging 20/10 and he went down with a knee injury.
GREENE! You’ve been superfluously apostrophe’d! - andy sims
That day is long gone
Okafur signed his deal when the NBA was giving out $50 million dollar contracts like bobble head dolls on a free promo night. So far, Spencer has proved to be a back-up center which is good for 5 million per, the MLE, or thereabouts.
The third year is important time for player to carve out his niche in the league, and show what he can be. So far Spencer is showing he is not a Roy Hibbert, not a Joakim Noah, and not a Brook Lopez. When we drafted him, the Kings hoped he would be a top this list, not at the bottom.
I still have high hopes for Spencer, but it is never a good sign when a player regresses. He knows the league, he is starting, he is healthy. What is the problem? I think there is a strength and agility strides to make, and maturity and confidence issues. Get it together on those fronts, we will have a starting center for next decade. If not, and progress continues to be stunted, Geoff will have to ponder his replacement via trade or draft in 2010.
Interesting point about regressing
I think Spencer has regressed in terms of stats and his offensive game (so far in the season) but I think he has matured in his understanding of the game and helping the team in other areas.
One question I do have is about players regressing at 21 years old. I’m really not trying to be a smartass here but are we really talking about Hawes reaching his peak during his second season at 20 years old? I don’t see how if he was able to put 11, 7, and 2 as averages last year as a 21 year old, he can’t get better.
I’m dissapointed with his performance too as I had big expectation for his third year as well but I still don’t see a consistent effort by the coaching staff and teammates to get him going. I’ve seen many offensive sets were Hawes is just setting screens and handing off the ball to the Gs and getting out of the way. It’s obvious that his confidence is way down and that is affecting his offensive game, which is what he was good at.
I hope he gets better for the sake of the team but even if he does I still think next draft is all about a big man (with some small exceptions)
Godfather of the "nice ass" movement.... the future begins now...
some data points
Vlade 3rd year (23 years old): 11.3 pts, 6.9reb, 1 block
Jermaine O’Neal (22 years old, 5th year, first year he got minutes): 12.9, 9.8, 2.8 blocks (led NBA)
Chris Kaman (23 years old, 3rd year): 11.9, 9.6, 1.4
Professional Hyperbole Slayer
The Battle of Langside?
I am going to throw the Kings towards another famous Scot: Braveheart (William Wallace, no relation to Rasheed). The group of serfs and free man farmers and laborers who become a somewhat disciplined rankerous bunch that rage adequate warfare on the more powerful armies. Think purple warpaint instead of blue.
And hopefully after a few seasons, we fans and the media won’t pull the arms and legs off of Coach Westphal.(but I wouldn’t bet on it)
by betweentheeyes on Nov 21, 2009 11:55 AM PST reply actions
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