Preview: Kings at Jazz, Game 6
by Tom Ziller on Nov 7, 2009 12:00 PM PST
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THE OPPONENT
The Jazz come in at a deceiving 2-3. In the ledger, Utah is only one game better than Sacramento. But look at that impossible schedule for the Jazz: at Denver, Clippers, Rockets, at Dallas, Spurs. Maybe you'd dream of 3-2 or even 4-1 as a Jazz fan. But 2-3 ain't a sneeze. That schedule has two potentially great teams and three good teams. All of them should be in the playoff picture for a long while, with the Clippers perhaps dropping out in February or so.
The last game for the Jazz was a TNT Thursday dissembling of the mighty Spurs, who actually don't look too mighty allofasudden, with losses in Chicago, Salt Lake and Portland. The Jazz jumped on S.A. from Go, running up a 32-22 first quarter lead. Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer shared focal point duties, a familiar story. D-Wil is at 23/9 early on, while Boozer is rolling with 15/10. The team offense hasn't fully come together yet, and surprisingly Paul Millsap is only at 24 minutes per game.
SLC Dunk is my source for silky Jazz analysis.
THE KEY BATTLE
Lost in all the Soft Peaches hubbub is the fact that despite Paul Westphal naming Beno Udrih as the new starting two-guard, Tyreke Evans and Udrih himself both told The Bee's Ailene Voisin that Udrih will be the point guard. This is really all semantics -- positions don't really matter as much as we believe, and this is especially true in Westphal's system, where Kevin "Not a Point Guard" Martin brought the ball up a ton in the first five games.
The question Ailene fairly poses is that if Evans performs better as a two-guard, will all the "Tyreke is a point guard!" posturing be for naught? The catch that Ailene doesn't mention: it's pretty much a given that Evans will perform better over the next two months ... because he has been pretty bad so far, at least by the numbers.
Unless Evans continues to shoot 36 percent with few assists and rebounds, the next two months alongside Beno will look better on an individual level. So this is almost a foregone conclusion, with the only question being team performance. And while I think Evans can make it sharing a backcourt with a true shooting guard like Martin, I'm not in the business of rooting against the team's success for that point to be proven.
We can't assess how that will all go down until the day comes. Suffice it to say that no matter what position Evans is playing, we hope for a load of improvement. That starts tonight, with a truly elite player in Deron Williams at the point, and a feisty troublemaker in Ronnie Brewer at the two. Another big challenge for Evans.
POETIC DIVERSION
A Robert Frost piece titled "Lodged," dedicated to our friend Kevin Martin.
The rain to the wind said,
"You push and I'll pelt."
They so smote the garden bed
That the flowers actually knelt,
And lay lodged -- though not dead.
I know how the flowers felt.
I'm not sure comparing Martin to a garden bed helps anything, but whatever.
INTERESTING SIDESHOW
Since the day former Kings head coach Phil Johnson took a job as Jerry Sloan's top assistant in Utah 21 years ago, the Kings have had 10 head coaches. Exactly two of them (Bill Russell and Rick Adelman) have a career coaching record above .500, and only one (Adelman) had a Kings coaching record above .500. In fact, the second best record as a Kings coach since 1988: Reggie Theus's 42-62 mark. Mon dieu!
BOLD PROCLAMATION
Andrei Kirilenko will block a Tyreke Evans shot into the third row. Later, Evans will switch hands 14 times on a driving layup attempt.
DETAILS
This is a 6PM game on CSN and KHTK. All viewers are on high Grant Napear anger alert. Repeat: all viewers are on high Grant Napear anger alert. Game thread at 6PM, post-game thread at 9PM. Recap by Wednesday.
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I hope Tyreke doesn't start taking 25+ shots a night in Kevin's absence.
Keep it under 20 and closer to 15 would be better. Let’s make an effort to set up Spencer and JT in the post more, much more.
Ball movement ... is like jogging for most people: They do it occasionally, and it makes them happy. Then they go back to not doing it. - Henry Abbott
15 sounds about good.
And way less long-twos. Horribly inefficient.
Father of the "Natt this!" movement and Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order.
Especially when you're not particularly good at them.
Father of the "Natt this!" movement and Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order.
I don't want to be THAT guy
But Tyreke is actually shooting 53% on jumpers from 16-23 feet. However, it’s definitely not his strong suit. He needs to take it to the rack and make things happen more.
by Zach H from Talk H on Nov 7, 2009 3:20 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
No be that guy
More intelligence around here is not a weakness.
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.....
Conclusion
Maybe he should shoot a few more of those, because most of those wild-ass trips through the lane are not paying off. Pick your scoring spots, but concentrate more on making your teammates better. And keep playing that killer D.
"The basis for winning an NBA title is having a superstar in his prime. Not an all-star, or a bunch of all-stars, but a superstar."
by coolcatreportdotcom on Nov 7, 2009 4:26 PM PST up reply actions
I don't mind 20 shots for 'Reke if 15 of them are driving layups and floaters.
Hopefully Casspi, NOC and Beno take more than 8 shots a game each. I’m really looking forward to seeing some RIDICULOUSLY balanced scoring in our box scores in the next 2 months.
I agree with about 15 shots a game for Tyreke.
33 Wins. Yeah, I said it.
I have a feeling this is going to be a bad loss.
But something interesting I’ve noted reading boxscores of games lately is that Fesenko has seemingly jumped past Koufos to become Utah’s primary backup Center.
Father of the "Natt this!" movement and Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order.
That is because
A) You post at StR, and
B) Jerry Sloan reads StR.
SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!
Makes so much sense.
Father of the "Natt this!" movement and Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order.
20 games to see what we really have in our #1 draft pick.
Will he continue to do it all on his own? Can he play without the ball? What’s more important “Winning or ROY?”
Lets hope he plays up to his billing as the next PG, and gets his teammates in the game instead of standing around until he drives into the paint. But, then again, maybe his teammates need to stop standing around, like they do when Martin has the ball. Maybe, just maybe, someone should get free before Tyreke has to create.
"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom
Seeing 'Reke dish to Hawes for 2 dunks was promising.
Right now, I wouldn’t even consider ‘Reke for ROY with his early performances. I’d name Jennings or Flynn to be ROY if I had to give the award right now.
But it’s so early in the season – I’m not too worried about it.
33 Wins. Yeah, I said it.
Right now its Jennings by a mile.
But yes, its only 5 games into an 82 game season.
Father of the "Natt this!" movement and Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order.
I watched the MN/Mil game last night
and Flynn just destroyed Jennings, ate him alive.
Jennings is going to put up good boxscores, but when you look up “horrible teammate that you’d never want as your point guard unless he grows up” in the dictionary, there’s his face.
Jennings had better tools than Flynn, but he looked very much like a spoiled kid, all about getting his numbers anf hype, and it didn’t seem to occur to his a basketball game he should be trying to win was going on.
Professional Hyperbole Slayer
Its not like Flynn ripped up the earth last night either
He had 1 assist and 4 Turnover’s. Say what you want about Tyreke, but it’s not like he’s gone up against Luke Ridnour yet.
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.....
Plus Minny LOST that game.
I don’t care if ’Reke gets 0 assist in a game as long as we win.
33 Wins. Yeah, I said it.
And Jennings had a better game last night
He may have seemed selfish or what not, but his impact was far better than Flynn.
Jennings had 6 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover, and 2 steals.
Flynn had 4 rebounds 1 assist, 3 turnover’s, and 3 steals.
The difference was that Flynn shot just a bit over 50% and Jennings 25%. And Minnesota got pasted last night.
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.....
Like I said, I actually watched the game
and it was close, until Jennings sat down and Skiles went with Ridnour for most, if not all, of the 4th quarter, Jennings never got in, and Milwaukee went on a huge run.
Professional Hyperbole Slayer
I watched the end
So I can’t say how Jennings played throughout. And, you’re certainly right. But, it’s not like Flynn left Jennings in the dust. If anything, Jennings fell victim to expectations he created by playing well in earlier games.
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.....
Interesting considering MIL got the W in that game.
Sure the word around the league’s players is that he talks mad amounts of sh*t. But I must say he’s been able to back it up with his play. Not sure about the “horrible teammate” deal since the fans seem to have really taken to him.
From Brew Hoop: Flynn scored 12 points in the final 7 minutes when Jennings wasn’t even in the game at that point.
Don’t get me wrong I like Flynn a lot too but I do think Jennings is the leading candidate for ROY 5 games into the season.
33 Wins. Yeah, I said it.
I think Tyler Hansbrough is the leading candidate for ROY after 1 game.
I’m kidding, but I think he may be a decent NBA player.
Ba-da
I agree. The kid has heart which is a rare commodity.
Rebounding & hustle in College translates well to the big show.
33 Wins. Yeah, I said it.
Most of what I saw from Jennings
was bringing the ball up the court and launching ala White Chocolate style or bringing it up running pick and roll at the top and shooting.
The kid has talent, no question, but he’s got all the look of someone who believes the hype about themselves.
Flynn scored all those points down the stretch because he was the only one doing anything as Milwaukee made their run. Jennings was on the bench because Ridnour was playing better. The game was close when Jennings went to the bench,
Professional Hyperbole Slayer
In other games I saw Jennings leading a team on the break and getting easy shots for his teammates.
Most rookies will have bad games and this game certainly wasn’t Jennings’ better performances.
Maybe you read something negative about him, or are still harboring Jennings’ cocky post workout interview when he dissed Rubio, but you seem to harboring on Jennings believing his own hype.
I personally see a guy who has a chip on his shoulder who feels he has something to prove to all the teams that passed on him in the draft. I can’t blame a guy for feeling that way.
He’s averaging about 18 points, 5 assists and 2 steals a game. He’s worth the hype IMO. Coach Skiles will definitely bring him down to earth.
33 Wins. Yeah, I said it.
The funny thing is
Scott Skiles apparently pushed to have Brandon Jennings instead of Jrue Holiday.
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.....
God. I'm a HUGE Bruin fan and I knew Jrue wasn't going to be sh*t for the next few seasons.
Jrue needed to stay but I guess a payday is a payday.
You can see the talent ooze off of Jennings in the McD’s High School All American game. He was cocky as f*ck back then too but I’d rather have a confident player than an unsure one.
Jrue will be good – but he needs a season or two to bulk up and work on his shooting.
33 Wins. Yeah, I said it.
If Jrue can defend 2's
His selection will make Philly very happy.
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.....
I don't give a damn about him or Rubio
I honestly couldn’t care less about either of them, and hope they both have good careers.
All I am saying is, for this one game I saw, Jennings was an obviously talented guy that looked like a total prick to play with. The sample size is way too small, Jennings has all the tools to be good, etc, etc, etc.
But the game I saw last night, the guy I’d like to be in a video game was Jennings, the guy that was a better basketball player for winning games right now was Flynn, in my humble opinion.
Professional Hyperbole Slayer
Jennings is evil
Does anybody feel like he’s the second coming (personality wise) of Allen Iverson or Kobe Bryant? Someone that you don’t just dislike, that you literally turn red in the face and shake with rage when he plays well against your team? I hate his faux-hawk, and his late show to the draft, and his big time cocky attitude… and just his goddamn face. We will hate Brandon Jennings for the next 10 years, mark my words.
If we could just lock him in a porta-potty with Sasha Vujacic, Eduardo Najera, Anderson Varejao, and Zach Randolph and just push it down the side of mountain… that would feel F-ing terrific.
by Grantnapeareatskittens on Nov 7, 2009 4:18 PM PST up reply actions
I watched the 1st half of that game
thought they were both okay, not good games for either of them.
On a side note. League Pass usually uses the home announcers, but that game and today’s MIL vs NYN game both used the visiting broadcast team. Are the Bucks not broadcasting every game?
Ball movement ... is like jogging for most people: They do it occasionally, and it makes them happy. Then they go back to not doing it. - Henry Abbott
by Kfan in Korea on Nov 7, 2009 5:45 PM PST up reply actions
I don't know
for a fair number of games, LP has been broadcasting both for me, so you can choose announcers.
Professional Hyperbole Slayer
I wish that was the case
I haven’t had that choice.
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.....
can you watch the Buck broadcast team, right now?
No, choice available on International League Pass Broadband.
Ball movement ... is like jogging for most people: They do it occasionally, and it makes them happy. Then they go back to not doing it. - Henry Abbott
by Kfan in Korea on Nov 7, 2009 6:07 PM PST up reply actions
Patience HighTops
I totally agree Evans has been standing around dribbling too much, but I’m not ready to chalk it up to selfishness.
It could be that, but he’s just starting to learn what he can and can’t do. I promise you, he’s never had help like Josh Smith come when he was driving, or trying to beat someone as quick off the dribble as Chris Paul, or frankly even playing guys more athletic than him, for any length of time and for keeps.
If 40 games in he’s still not getting it, I’ll be worried; 5 games in “winning or RoY” seems a little harsh. If you don’t like Evans so far, you’ll positively hate Brandom Jennings. The guy makes shots, but I will be surprised if Scott Skiles doesn’t try to kill him in the next year or two.
Professional Hyperbole Slayer
Jennings also makes passes...spectacular passes and his team is better for it.
33 Wins. Yeah, I said it.
I have a feeling
that Brandon Jennings will end up the best offensive player, and Tyreke Evans will be very close to Jennings offensive impact and the all around game will be far more substantial for Reke.
It’s amazing. People want more defense, and finally get a lockdown G who can defend 3 positions, and people complain he doesn’t facilitate like Ricky Rubio. Go figure.
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.....
+1. He's shown improvement in every game.
He’s given CP3 a very hard time, which is something no Kings player has done since CP3 has been in the league.
Rubio couldn’t guard ’Reke’s grandma.
33 Wins. Yeah, I said it.
5 games in "winning or RoY" seems a little harsh
It wasn’t a statement of fact or opinion on my part. I simply brought up a question, worth discussion, and which had been brought up before in other posts. The guy is putting up a lot of shots with a very low percentage rate. And, for a rookie who many think is the #1 candidate since Griffin went down, there is the possibility that it is on his mind & affecting his play.
And, although I agree that Tyreke sometimes dribbles too much, my comment was maybe the other 4 players need to move more and not stand around watching Tyreke. They can do that when Martin has the ball, but as you said Tyreke is still learning and can use all the help he can get.
"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom
I wonder how the Martin injury will affect minutes for the other players?
We’ll catch a glimpse tonight, granted it changes with each opponent (matchups).
A good fit against the Jazz: maybe some extra Brockman minutes tonight. I wouldn’t mind that a bit.
Ba-da
I'm guessing Casspi is going to get a LOT more minutes.
Possible that Greene might get some minutes too.
Father of the "Natt this!" movement and Grandmaster of the "Never let AnotherStupidSN forget what a Sham-Wow is" Order.
I'm excited for the game, though of course I think we're going to get pounded
No Martin means everyone else needs to take more responsibility, will that be a good thing or a bad thing?
I’m excited to see the interaction on offense, see who emerges and what the teamwork looks like.
On the downside, if you thought the Atlanta game was bad for getting manhandled down the stretch, you haven’t seen anything yet. Good teams are going strangle us in the 4th quarters of close games, and probably starting 3rd quarters; might as well steel yourselves for it now, its going to be ugly at times.
Professional Hyperbole Slayer
Spencer is gonna go for 25
and Greene will get 8 points, 3 rebounds, a block and a steal.
and even in a loss we find victory
Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance. Vonnegut
I'm not ready to start guessing point totals
but where the points will most likely come from sounds like a good game.
With Okur, Boozer, & AK47 defending the paint, I can see where Tyreke will have a tough night both scoring & taking hard fouls( a lot of time in the whirlpool after this game)
Hawes & JT have Okur, Fesenko, and Koufos to deal with in the paint, even without considering Boozer & Millsap. So, I can’t see them scoring a whole lot in the paint. But, maybe Hawes get’s hot from the outside and JT cleans up of the offensive glass. Maybe this is one lineup where Donte’s height & athleticism play to our advantage, if he can defend & rebound.
I see us shooting a lot of jumpshots and 3’s. And, we might have an advantage in fast breaks with our bigs being more mobile, if we can defensive rebound. JT & Spencer are really going to tought it out and stay out of foul trouble, because May & Brockman can’t rebound with Utah’s centers.
Noc & Omri might have a difficult time scoring on Kirilenko, so I’m guessing JT is leading scorer with 5 players in double figures but no one goes for 20+.
"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom
Game Preview
I’m going to watch to see if they try to get Brewer off against Beno.
I think Reke on D vs. Williams will the ball is going to be an entertaining matchup.
I think Casspi and Nocioni need to bomb away from outside to keep Kirilenko honest and lessen his shot blocking ops. Reke and Beno need to drive, draw AK-47 into the pain and kick out to Casspi and Nocioni.
On the other end, Spencer or whoever is covering Okur needs to avoid helping Beno too much or we’ll get killed by Okur’s 3 balls.
I’d like to see Brockman cover Boozer. Bruiser against bruiser.
I think the Kings will compete a lot better than folks think tonight and they might even pull off the upset.
"The basis for winning an NBA title is having a superstar in his prime. Not an all-star, or a bunch of all-stars, but a superstar."
by coolcatreportdotcom on Nov 7, 2009 4:39 PM PST up reply actions
Good call on Booz
I gotta mention that in my own preview.
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.....
Dream Lineup
Let’s just put Reke, JT, Brockman, Macaroni and the Bearjew in the game for forty eight minutes. The final score will be 32-24 with 117 fouls.
by Grantnapeareatskittens on Nov 7, 2009 4:21 PM PST reply actions
There is no way...
That lineup holds the Jazz to 32 points haha
Down By the Bay,
Where Al Davis Sucks
Back to my Home
I Dare Not go
For If I do
Singletary Will Say
Have You ever
"Passed on Crabtree on Draft Day
& Picked a Bust Like Heyward-Bey"
by sac-townz finest on Nov 7, 2009 6:10 PM PST up reply actions
Boozer and Price
I think Boozer is gonna have a big night… I have a feeling Ronnie Price is gonna dunk on Spencer’s head
Can Anyone Help a Fellow Kings Fan With a Link?
Cough Please?Cough
Down By the Bay,
Where Al Davis Sucks
Back to my Home
I Dare Not go
For If I do
Singletary Will Say
Have You ever
"Passed on Crabtree on Draft Day
& Picked a Bust Like Heyward-Bey"
by sac-townz finest on Nov 7, 2009 6:08 PM PST reply actions
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