Kings' 1-4 Road Trip At A Glance: Dry Heaves Ahoy

by Tom Ziller on Jan 17, 2012 3:30 PM PST in Numbers

The good news is that the Sacramento Kings will not go 0-33 on the road this season. Thank you, Toronto. The bad news is that the Sacramento Kings might go 1-32 on the road this season, because God, they are awful on the road.

Here's a look at that mercifully over 1-4 road trip the Kings just ended.

OFFENSE

The Kings scored an average of 83.5 points, with a low of (wretch) 60 (barf) and a high of 98. The Kings had an average effective field goal percentage of .405 on the trip, which comes out to 0.81 points per field goal attempt. League average this season is .481 eFG, or 0.962 points/FGA.

The Kings' offensive efficiency for the trip: 87.4 points per 100 possessions. League average this season: 99.9. Holy Lord Almighty.

DEFENSE

The Kings allowed an average of 100.8 points per game, meaning that the margin of (un-)victory was -17.3. (This actually improved the team's road margin for the season. Thanks, Raptors!) Oppoents shot an eFG of .516, or 1.08 points per FGA. That shooting difference between the Kings and their opponents is worth roughly 21.6 points per game, completely swamping the Kings' big free throw advantage and strong offensive rebounding.

The Kings' defensive efficiency for the trip: 105.5. So the Kings' offense was 13.5 points per 100 possessions worse than average, and the defense was 5.6 points worse.

barf barf barf barf barf

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Comments

Other than that, it was a great trip

"I DECLARE BANKRUPTCY!" - Michael Scott

by otis29 on Jan 17, 2012 3:36 PM PST reply actions 4 recs

The food was fantastic!

by feelgood on Jan 17, 2012 7:56 PM PST up reply actions

As I mentioned in the GBU

The worst part was that the trip featured 3 probable non-playoff teams in Toronto, Houston and Minnesota, and we only managed to win one of those.

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by Aykis16 on Jan 17, 2012 3:41 PM PST reply actions

Sorry not GBU, my Minnesota recap.

Point still stands.

Author of NBA Mashups. Follow me on Twitter here.

by Aykis16 on Jan 17, 2012 3:45 PM PST up reply actions

Nobody was hurt!

by rubenho on Jan 17, 2012 3:57 PM PST reply actions 1 recs

I wouldn't mind a few of those, actually.

At least we’d get some lineup changes that way.

"Where hope goes to die"

by napg on Jan 17, 2012 8:11 PM PST up reply actions

I have heard that it goes something like this, but I think I may be mixing metaphors..

First base, a bad team needs to win at home against other bad teams
Second base, they need to learn to win on the road against other bad teams
Third base, they may not be so bad and can win at home against good teams
Home run, they finally win on the road against good teams

This team is like a blind date. You never know who is going to show up and what base you might get to…

"I gotta have more cowbell"

by CowbellKings on Jan 17, 2012 4:00 PM PST reply actions 1 recs

No wonder they can't win, They think that their playing baseball.

"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom
The greatest impact player in NBA History - Tim Donaghy

by HighTops on Jan 17, 2012 4:02 PM PST up reply actions 7 recs

Explains the one-on-one offense.

"Where hope goes to die"

by napg on Jan 17, 2012 8:12 PM PST up reply actions

Best line ever posted to the site:

barf barf barf barf barf

by Carl on Jan 17, 2012 4:23 PM PST reply actions

Yes they got worse

Either the front office failed to scout their team’s own strength and weakness before adding new pieces or ownership was so poor the front office couldn’t get the players they needed to address the issues. Given a peak at the whole Dalembert fiasco I’m guessing it was a combination of both. First their own insistence they could do better than Dalembert with Hayes followed by the press release screaming we aren’t cheap after Dalembert turned them down.

85 points per game while giving up 100+ seems exactly what this team is.

Support Ron Paul for President

by bignerd on Jan 17, 2012 4:38 PM PST reply actions

So...Who's looking forward to that Heat away game end of February?

Ugh. Not me. The only positive I can draw is that I have LeBron on my fantasy team.

Claremont Mckenna College
Forbes #3 in the West, #12 in the Nation
"Crescit cum comercio civicas"

Throw it around the back so it look fly when I pass//
Just to avoid the block go high off the glass//
I'm killing them out there they gon' have to bring caskets//
This all I hear after the baskets *swoosh*//

by HarveySpecter on Jan 17, 2012 5:27 PM PST reply actions

Kings will win that game easily.

Dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble...

by The Crown Royal Gentleman on Jan 17, 2012 5:50 PM PST up reply actions

Are we banking on the law of averages?

Claremont Mckenna College
Forbes #3 in the West, #12 in the Nation
"Crescit cum comercio civicas"

by HarveySpecter on Jan 17, 2012 7:43 PM PST up reply actions

I'm banking that Miami

will be still living on the “high” of beating Orlando the game prior (Feb., 19). This combined with the fact that the Kings are a losing team will lead to the Heat not taking the game seriously, and ultimately, coming out flat.

The Kings, however, will be hungry as ever because of the humiliating lose suffered at the hands of the Cavs (also Feb., 19), in which Dan Gilbert stormed the court after the victory to rub it in Jimmer’s face—continuing the trash talking between the two that went on all game. Jimmer, trying his best to remove himself from the situation, gently moves Gilbert out of his way so he can head to the locker room. Being the lover of drama that Gilbert appears to be, he decided to play the slight shove by Jimmer up and flopped, tumbling backwards into the crowd. Unfortunately, one of Gilbert’s unusually long pinky nails grazed a fan and drew a bit of blood. Of course David Stern, having flash-backs of the Brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills, suspends Jimmer for the remainder of the season. This enrages Cousins, who has a deep affection for the Jimmer—but he is somewhat pacified by teammates for the time being.

Fast-forward to game night on the 21st against Miami.

Cousins is still upset about losing his platonic soul-mate to the wretched Stern/Gilbert duo and can be seen mumbling to himself while pacing around the visiting locker room. He walks onto the basketball court and sees Miami’s stars laughing and joking around as they warm up for the contest. Cousins takes this as being disrespectful to memory of Jimmer, but instead of resorting to his primal urges of screaming and violence, he asks himself, “what would Jimmer do?” After contemplating murder, Cousins decides to let his play do the talking. He played fiercely, posting a stat line of 101 points, 56 rebounds, 31 assists, 18 blocks; shattering the single game records for points, rebounds, blocks, and assists (while also getting a quadruple-double). This game sent Bosh weeping to an early retirement, while forever crushing the confidence of Miami’s all-stars.

The game will come with some backlash though. The Kings, inspired by Cousins play, decide to make their own stand by refusing to play until the Maloofs sell the team to an owner worthy of the Sacramento fans. The Maloofs refuse and the Kings forfeit the rest of the season. Petrie then spends his unexpected early off-season planning ahead three years, in which time he plans to offer Outlaw a generous extension.

by The Crown Royal Gentleman on Jan 17, 2012 9:27 PM PST up reply actions 6 recs

Halfway through the second paragraph, I scrolled down to see if this was iashwash starting one of his over-the-top rants. With no disrespect intended to the Gentleman (I’m rec’ing your post because it made me smile), iashwash, we need your rants and their generous helpings of crazy now more than ever. Or maybe now as much as ever, because we’ve basically needed them at all times for the last three years. iashwash, even though your posts make no sense at all, somehow, they help us make sense of everything else. Come back, baby, we need you.

by twasserm on Jan 18, 2012 2:06 AM PST up reply actions

Rec'd. Hoping we take that to the bank.

Claremont Mckenna College
Forbes #3 in the West, #12 in the Nation
"Crescit cum comercio civicas"

by HarveySpecter on Jan 18, 2012 12:55 PM PST up reply actions

Not a reply in seriousness, In case anyone wonders.

Claremont Mckenna College
Forbes #3 in the West, #12 in the Nation
"Crescit cum comercio civicas"

by HarveySpecter on Jan 18, 2012 1:04 PM PST up reply actions

We should honestly just

Start making awesome stories like that for the games.

Claremont Mckenna College
Forbes #3 in the West, #12 in the Nation
"Crescit cum comercio civicas"

by HarveySpecter on Jan 18, 2012 1:05 PM PST up reply actions

Quick comment about stats and variance.

I’m fine with the advanced stats, but can we get an idea of variance on these, or at least a maximum and a minimum? I don’t know enough about these stats to be able to tell anything other than the fact that we’re worse than the average. Ziller’s reactions (humorous as they are) are the only thing that tell me how much worse (enough to make him barf). I’m not asking for standard deviations, but just quick facts like what’s the worst team getting out there getting, and if we’re the worst, what’s the next closest team getting?

The scale for points per game makes sense to me because I’ve watched a lot of games and know generally we’re going to see between 85 and 110. If you tell me we’re at 83.5 I can tell we’re very low. Points per field goal attempt not so much for me. I guess I can get a general sense, but if you tell me league average is 0.962 and we’re at 0.810, for all I know the bottom could be somewhere around 0.6 and we’re actually towards the middle of the bell curve. If we improve from 0.810 to 0.850 by midseason is that a big improvement or a small one?

All in all I get that these prove we’re really bad, but I think I, as someone not too familiar with the stats, might benefit from a better grasp of the scales and ranges on these stats.

by jveezy on Jan 17, 2012 6:19 PM PST reply actions

Small sample here.

Yeah, you’re right, I should have given some scope. But in dealing with a small sample (a five-game road trip) I wanted to keep it fairly simple and compare to average. But good point nonetheless, one I’ll incorporate in the future.

by Tom Ziller on Jan 17, 2012 8:40 PM PST up reply actions

Totally understand.

And I recognize it was a quick analysis, and that’s fine. I’m getting to be a bit of a stats junkie, but it’s hard for me to learn new ones with more information. I get that half the onus is on me to do more research if I’m interested.

by jveezy on Jan 18, 2012 1:45 PM PST up reply actions

Barf's are the opposite of Stars in movie ratings

5 Stars is the best you can do in movie ratings, and 5 barfs is the worst you can do in sports.

"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom
The greatest impact player in NBA History - Tim Donaghy

by HighTops on Jan 17, 2012 8:42 PM PST up reply actions

Is this what you are talking about?

The Kings had an average effective field goal percentage of .405 on the trip, which comes out to 0.81 points per field goal attempt. League average this season is .481 eFG, or 0.962 points/FGA.

The Kings’ offensive efficiency for the trip: 87.4 points per 100 possessions. League average this season: 99.9. Holy Lord Almighty.

"I gotta have more cowbell"

by CowbellKings on Jan 17, 2012 8:48 PM PST up reply actions

more like:

barf barf barf barf barf

"when young kids go to shootaround at the park, they shoot followay shots and buzzer beaters and pretend to be Kobe and Lebron…but what they don’t realize is that when they shoot more than 50 shots they are actually pretending to be John Salmons."

by TheFifthMookie on Jan 18, 2012 7:57 AM PST up reply actions

Salmons is the Dead Fish That Nobody Knows What To Do With.

Claremont Mckenna College
Forbes #3 in the West, #12 in the Nation
"Crescit cum comercio civicas"

by HarveySpecter on Jan 17, 2012 9:38 PM PST reply actions

You know,

The kid eats the fish. And the dragon smiles.

Even though the voices aren't real, they have some pretty good ideas!

by LeaguePassAddict on Jan 18, 2012 9:39 AM PST up reply actions

There's

A great metaphor in there.

Claremont Mckenna College
Forbes #3 in the West, #12 in the Nation
"Crescit cum comercio civicas"

by HarveySpecter on Jan 18, 2012 1:06 PM PST up reply actions

Joking aside

What sort of numbers have the Pacers been putting up as of late?

Claremont Mckenna College
Forbes #3 in the West, #12 in the Nation
"Crescit cum comercio civicas"

by HarveySpecter on Jan 17, 2012 9:39 PM PST reply actions

9-3

They’ve taken advantage of a soft starting schedule – their opponents are 59-85 (.410), and that’s subtracting the Pacers games out of the mix. Otherwise, their opponents would come in at 62-94 (.397).

SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!

by section214 on Jan 17, 2012 10:00 PM PST up reply actions

And when I say they've taken advantage, I mean that as a good thing

You have to step on necks when the occasion presents itself, and Indy has done that.

SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!

by section214 on Jan 17, 2012 10:02 PM PST up reply actions

Ohhh great.

I have this image of a great big “Woyale with Cheese” for the Pacers tomorrow. Maybe they should provide that food incentive for Kings fans at Arco[sic].

Claremont Mckenna College
Forbes #3 in the West, #12 in the Nation
"Crescit cum comercio civicas"

by HarveySpecter on Jan 17, 2012 10:11 PM PST reply actions