Clippers 98, Kings 91: Bland Finale

PW has made some horrible moves with the rotation and with who he starts. It shouldn’t have taken 17 games into the season to figure out that this lineup works the best. It shouldn’t have taken starting Antoine Wright and Luther Head. It shouldn’t have taken playing JT at small forward. It shouldn’t have taken giving Tyreke the ball in a half court set and not letting hom bring it up the floor. I agree that there is some figuring out to do with this team, but PW really made some bad decisions along the way.

But I think what he has shown us is that someone who can get us into our offense quickly and efficiently is needed.

;)

WIDE. I had to do it in bold.

Not to mention the fact that he’s a foot shorter and a pg to boot.

And 3 rebounds for Landry in 34 minutes, that’s pathetic. I hope we trade him soon before he walks away and leaves us empty-handed.

As a team we won the rebounding battle. Carl’s rebounding is bad, true. But point to me one play where he clearly should have boarded and did not. As long as Sammy D and Cuz are there to clean the defensive boards, and better at it, all he needs to do is box out, and get boards in his area. He does a decent job of that. There are a number of reasons we are losing, but 3 boards by Landry last night is far from top of list.

Jason Thompson was painful too watch. Dumb fouls. Spin moves directly into defenders for offensive fouls. Driving into the defense, losing balance, hoping for a foul. On one play that will not show up in the box score, Beno was driving the left side and left a drop pass to JT that he just watched sail to nowhere. Just a mindless play. This type of BS is why the Kings are 4-15.

I am not happy with the play of Landry either, but at least he scored 15 points on a night we could only score 91. JT’s biggest impact of late was 19/10 when we lost by 33 points, and thats no impact at all.

As far as a trade of Carl, who will want to give value for an UFA? Highly unlikely.

Which was worse. Offense or defense?
How many times did we see everyone standing around while the person with the ball got triple teamed? Even when there is movement it just looks like they’re all dragging their feet.
I don’t think the defense on the outside is that bad, but I swear teams can walk into the key and still score on the Kings. Not just because Griffin was flying around like a mad man. This happens nearly every game it seems like. I recall Hibbert getting the ball dumped off to him for some easy drop in the basket. Wasn’t Dalembert supposed to have some kind of presence in the key?
Walton made a good point. It looks like the players don’t give a shit (That’s not exactly what he said). That or Paul Westphal is trying to add Feng Shui to the playbook.

I think its the fact that we can’t beat a comparably younger and likewise dormat clippers team. When they beat us twice in a few weeks it really makes me scratch my head. I honestly don’t know who we can realistically beat in the NBA right now.

I watched the first half, then got busy and couldn’t watch. I eventually got free and debated whether or not I should turn the game back on, fearing that I’d see us getting blown out (again). But, being the masochist that I am, I turned the game on. We were down 85-81 and Pooh had just gotten fouled shooting the 3. Sadly, I thought to myself “I’m not get suckered in here” and turned the game off fearing a typical meltdown, which I couldn’t stand to watch because it would just put me in a bad mood. From what I’ve read about that last couple of minutes, I’m glad I turned it off.

sigh

I hate feeling negative about the team, but I’m really struggling to find sunshine through all the dark clouds.

I am hardcore fan too, and its been brutal. But the team is playing with a little more energy. I am hoping that what I have been harping on since the end of last season, that the Kings desperately need speed in the backcourt, has finally sinked into the dense skull of PW. How is it a armchair blogger like me, albeit a brilliant one ;), can see what the team needs before a professional head coach? It took Antoine Wright and Luther Head and a bunch of DNP-CDs before the slow realization a speedy guard like Pooh might make an impact?

Look at what happened to Omri last night playing off a guy like Jeter. Last nights contribution was not an anomaly. All he was doing was running the floor, playing within the context of the offense, making smart plays, and he finishes with 21/10. And I would add Omri played great defense.

These type of games from Omri can happen regularly with a coach who has faith in him, something seriously lacking when Omri was pulled from the starting lineup unjustifiably so. Maybe like the Pooh Jeter move, PW just takes a little longer to see the light.

The day after, I’m attempting to remember the big picture…that it’s still about developing young talent and hopefully putting the Martin-Landry cap space to use down the road.

This one feels 10x worse than the last 17 win season!

is what kept him in the game IMO. Beno may have shown more poise, but then again he may not have. He has been pretty inconsistent this year so its hard to say what you would get. Besides Beno defers to Tyreke too much in that situation. I’d rather have Pooh attacking the rim than watch Beno and Reke pound it at the top of the key.

We shouldn’t have gotten down by nearly 20 points. Would have made the whole thing a bit easier.

good to know you don’t pay attention to reality when you make your comments

spaces go after punctuation, not no spaces, and not before the punctuation.

Based on the questions that we had about where Evans would fit in for whatever team drafted him, it is safe to say that he’s exceeded expectations and then some. He’s translated his game to the NBA seamlessly. Though he may not be having quite as tremendous an individual season on a more competitive team, there is no doubt that Evans has displayed the tools necessary to become an outstanding pro for years to come. Already enjoying superstar status in Sacramento, it will be interesting to see how this success affects his development in coming season.

A few months into his rookie year, Evans has started to show the patience and timing that is common amongst great one-on-one scorers. Poised enough to wait for traffic to clear out of the lane and seeming more willing to wait for the right opportunity instead of taking the first shot offered to him, Evans’ outstanding shiftiness with the ball and body control at the rim have made him one of the game’s most formidable young scorers. As he begins to get more comfortable in his own skin and carves out a more clearly defined niche, Evans’ progress this season should become more pronounced as Sacramento rebuilds.

I think they hit it on the head with their summation:

Looking at what Evans has accomplished this season based on where we saw him last spring, he likely qualifies as the most pleasant surprise of this year’s rookie class. He showed immense upside as a prospect, but his 20, 5, and 5 averages place him amongst the most prolific rookie guards we’ve seen in years, regardless of team situation. Considering the glaring holes that remain in Evans’ game, it isn’t inconceivable to think that he can get substantially better if he takes it upon himself to improve on his weaknesses, which is a pretty scary thought. Already considered something of a franchise player, Evans will need to see through his instant success and accolades to realize how much better he can still become.

Would be the first time I could recall a Kings team starting with a horrible first quarter of the season, only to get hot. My fingers are certainly crossed!

not quite sure if that will be the case to be honest. They might play better ball but that schedule gets pretty nasty

Gosh, I love Eric Gordon. Too bad the Clippers do too. Egads.

(like I can talk)

Banned until more coffee

We are bitching about the lack of growth and development. DeMarcus has really only been the player to show this, however that could be simply because we are new to his game.

He’s falling in love with the jumper way too much.

He’s actually finishing a little bit better than he was last year at the rim, but he’s taking THREE less attempts per game. His biggest increase in FGA have been within 10 feet, where he’s taking about 2 more FGA than last year (when he shot 33.3% from there), but he’s also only making 31.7%. He’s nonexistant from 10-15 feet, and he’s taking more 16-23 footers and more 3 pointers at a slightly higher Percentage.

Reke’d

But I fear your optimism is misplaced unfortunately. It’s really a shame too, this season started so good for the Kings.

but just realized when reading this it’s the anniversary of Pearl Harbor (69 years? 68? I am guessing 69)

I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case though.

we could use a bit more nastiness and tenacity on the team.
Better than rolling over and playing dead.

…because it was Israeli Appreciation Night or something along those lines.

I bet Gordon gave Omri a crappy gift, and he decided to have a little revenge.