Kings vs. Blazers Preview: HYDRAULICS

The Spurs who averaged 52% coming into the game shot 37% in the Kings 2pt victory. The Grizzlies who were shooting 48% from the field shot 60% for most of the game until garbage time. Neither of those 2 performances where entirely the result of the Kings defense. We worked hard against a team that shot badly and won, and we worked hard against a team that shot marvelously and we lost badly.

Even with the improvement Coach Smart has made we still don’t have the answer on how to defend the paint, we gave up another 62pts in the paint to Memphis after giving up 72pt in our first game. This problem of protecting the paint just might rear its ugly head in Portland. In our first game against Memphis they scored 27 of 40 shots at the rim (67.5%), this game they were 25 of 36 (69.4%), and in our first meeting with Portland they were 23 of 37 at the rim (62.2%). Get the idea of where I’m going with this?

In our first meeting with Portland back on 12/27/11, 8 out of 11 players shot better than 50% at the rim with Wallace, Aldridge, and Batum combining to go 14 for 20 or 70% at the rim and the rest of the team went 9 of 17 or 52.9%. And, it’s not just the guards who are getting to the basket or setting up their bigs in the paint. The front court players are setting up the guards for easy baskets at the rim as well.

We just do a horrible job on our help defense at the basket. And, even when there is help, the rotations aren’t there to support the helper. Our guards can’t stay in front of speedy guards especially off screens because our bigs don’t do a good job of showing on the screens and sticking with the ball long enough for the guards to recover. And, sometimes when our guards are able to force the ball into what is supposed to be the teeth of our interior defense, the defensive help never arrives.

Offensively, the Kings had 11 assists in total in the last Portland game and the Trailblazers had 14 of their 25 assists at the rim. Now, Portland is only 9 and 7 so they aren’t unbeatable, but they might be at home where they are 6 and 1 with their only loss coming at the hands of Orlando by 4pts.

Portland just finished a road trip with 6 games in 9 days which ended with a loss to Detroit after going 2-3 in the first 5. Now home they start a back to back to back against the Kings after 1 day of rest. And, they may be without forward Gerald Wallace who missed the Detroit game with a sprained right middle finger. I think it’s time for the Kings to take a page out of every other team’s playbook on us, and pack the paint. Give Portland and their tired legs, the outside shot and live or die by whether or not they can make them. Go under every screen instead of switching, play off the weak side shooters. And, double the hot shooters to get the ball out of their hands. If we can stop penetration and get out on the break off the Defensive Boards we can beat them at their own game and not have to depend on making our outside shot in our half-court offense. The Kings beat Portland at the Rose Garden a year ago tomorrow by turning 19 turnovers into 31 fast-break pts. Dalembert held Aldridge to 9pts, 7rebs and 4 TO’s.

The front court match-ups are all bad for the Kings even without Wallace since Batum is a legit starter. And, if we can’t keep them out of the paint we’ll have to rely on a total shooting collapse like in the Spurs game for the Kings to keep this one close. That’s assuming that Thornton and Salmons are able to play. Otherwise, it’s going to be another good learning experience for Jimmer and Donte.