Recaps
Kings Crumble in Fourth, Fall to Atlanta 113-105
by Ziller on Nov 5, 2009 7:28 AM PST
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Wednesday against the Hawks, the Kings defense visually looked better than it did at any point in the 2008-09 season. The pick-and-roll defense was solid, the help defense came appropriately at least half the time, and for the most part Hawks wings were forced into jumpshots while Hawks bigs were denied embedded position. There were some serious mishaps, leading to flying Josh Smith dunks and whatnot, but for the most part, the defense was solid.
It never really stopped Atlanta, though, as those guards made lots of jumpers. Through three quarters, the Hawks had shot 35-66, a 53 percent clip. In the fourth, the Kings defense -- visually solid but effectively bad throughout -- just went sour. The Hawks shot the lights out (11-19) and the Kings fell.
And so it remains -- the Kings' major downfall is shooting defense. Rebounding has improved. The turnover situation in undeniably good. For a night the opponent didn't live at the line. But it's for naught when the Kings can't force a bad shot.
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When There's Nothing Left to Burn, You Have to Set O.J. Mayo on Fire
by Ziller on Nov 3, 2009 10:02 AM PST
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With all the excitement of a win (a win!), and the amazing showing by Omri Casspi, Beno Udrih and Spencer Hawes, it's easy to discount how widely Kevin Martin dominated this game. Forty-eight points has never been considered ho-hum, and while I didn't catch SportsCenter, I imagine the scoring performance (that is, again, 48 freaking points) is getting some attention. What may not be is how thoroughly Martin dominated O.J. Mayo on the defensive end.
Read that again: Kevin Martin dominated O.J. Mayo ... on defense. Kevin Martin. On defense. Kevin. Martin. Defense.
Martin was all over the place, in a good way. Mayo was handcuffed most of the game, until to get into the lane and unable to draw fouls on Martin. The Grizzly guard got a few easy scores late, as Martin clearly began to wear down (52-1/2 of 53 minutes played will do that to you), but for the balance of the game the Kings defense could count Mayo as handled. How huge is that!
And it wasn't a matter of plugging a defensive stopper into the game. The Kings' best defender scored, um, 48 points. This was the greatest performance of Kevin Martin's career, and it's not close. Kevin Martin is becoming a good defender before our eyes ... and he's still managing to drop 48 on the Grizzlies. It's almost too good to be true.
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Curse of the Suicidal Bat: Kings Chopped Down By Spurs 113-94
by Ziller on Nov 1, 2009 8:35 AM PDT
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After the death of The Bat, the Spurs outscored the Kings 84-68. You think that's some sort of coincidence?
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Hornets 97, Kings 92 - Kings playoffs magic number reduced to 79
by section214 on Oct 31, 2009 9:18 AM PDT
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Photographic proof that Kevin Martin and Jason Thompson could not throw a ball into the ocean last night.
Disclosure #1 – I did not get to see all of last night’s 97-92 loss to the New Orleans Hornets.
Disclosure #2 – I have not had the opportunity to study all of the subtle nuances that usually shape the outcome of a game.
But I did cull this subtle little nugget – Kevin Martin and Jason Thompson took the most shots for the Kings last night (29 and 16, respectively) and missed 29 of their 45 shots, for a shooting percentage of 29%. Had they combined to shoot 36% from the floor (3 more made shots) the Kings may very well have won the game. Oh, and that was 45 shots with 1 trip to the free throw line (a make by JT). 5 of their misses came via blocked shots.
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Thunder 102, Kings 89 - On Your Mark, Get Set, D'oh!
by section214 on Oct 29, 2009 7:59 AM PDT
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Nenad Krstic (left) drives on Spencer Hawes (right) during the Thunder's 102-89 victory. Krstic had 71 points, 43 rebounds, 7 blocked shots, and personally took the entrie crowd out and bought them Chalupas after the game.
Proving once and for all that Sactown Royalty is indeed a democracy, this morning you get to create your own game recap. Just choose one of the handy options provided, and feel as good or as bad as you want about last night's game. Pencils ready? And go...
207 comments | 13 recs |
The View From Section 214, 10/23 - Fact Or Fiction?
by section214 on Oct 23, 2009 11:58 PM PDT
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Rantdumb musings from tonight’s game
Fact: The Kings outscored the Jazz 51-47 in the 2nd half of tonight’s game while missing 2,123 free throws.
Fiction (though not by much): Spencer Hawes missed 2,108 of those free throws.
Fact: Tyreke Evans more than held his own against one of the best point guards in the league (21 points on 57% true shooting percentage, 5 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals, a blocked shot, and 7 turnovers. Deron Williams is a stone-cold competitor, but at times it looked like he was not having a lot of fun dealing with the long and physical Evans.
112 comments | 2 recs |
Kings 104, Thunder 89 - Preseason win total doubled!
by section214 on Oct 22, 2009 11:01 PM PDT
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The Kings win a road game, and I put on "Pandora" to keep me company while I write the recap. The first song to pop up is "Longview" by Green Day. Life is good.
The starters scored 50 points tonight in 105 minutes, and the bench chipped in 54 in 135. This matters and this matters not. As many pieces on this Kings squad are interchangeable, you would expect some of the bench players from this game (guys like Nocioni, Hawes, Udrih) to be as effective as some of the starters (guys like Mason, May, Casspi). Two things usually are lacking on league doormats: talent and depth. The Kings may have shown that they have at least some of the former as well as the latter this evening.
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'Miss You!,' Kevin Martin Calls Out to Dick Bavetta As Suns Smack Kings 143-127
by Ziller on Oct 21, 2009 5:59 AM PDT
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The normal referees will be back next week. Thank goodness.
Kevin Martin fouled out of Tuesday's game in Phoenix. Martin told The Bee's Jason Jones this was his first foul disqualification since third grade. But he has actually fouled out twice in his NBA career (in March 2007 against the Clippers and March 2008 against Houston). It's just so rare, because Martin so rarely commits fouls. He averaged just over two per game last year, playing more than 38 minutes. So to foul out in 29 minutes is just ... foul.
But hey Tim Greene, Kurt Walker and CJ Washington ... peace!
Otherwise, Hail to the Reke, who held his own against two-time MVP Steve Nash. And don't forget Omri Casspi, who blew the shroud off his NBA career.
I don't know how Tyreke Evans looked out there, but he put up his best shooting night of the preseason, hitting 21 points on 18 shot attempts, a True Shooting percentage of .583. Along with that he scored eight assists on four turnovers, and added a steal and two blocks (including the from-behind version you see at right). All that in 31 minutes.
Meanwhile, Steve Nash, who left in the third nursing an ankle tweak, had 13 points on 10 shots, with four assists and a turnover in 19 minutes of work. Evans certainly didn't stop Nash, but we used to Nash doing much, much worse to the Kings.
The real problems for the Kings were three-point defense and post defense. Amar'e Stoudemire ended up with 21 free throws. Channing Frye hit 4-5 from behind the arc. The Suns as a whole hit 10-21 back there. That's reminiscent of year's past, and it is a bit worrisome.
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