Recaps
When Magic Inevitably Fails: Bulls 101, Kings 87
by Ziller on Nov 18, 2009 8:10 AM PST
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Honestly, given the injury to Kevin Martin, five wins by the end of the November is a minor miracle. And there will be more on the next homestand (which includes the 1-9 Knicks and the 0-11 Nets), so let's not shovel dirt on the .500 Sacramento Kings just yet. But we knew the team was a bit over its head, specifically in a few key areas, and Tuesday's loss to Chicago reaffirmed that.
Sacramento's frontcourt is still in a bit of trouble, despite the fantastic growth of Jason Thompson's game. Joakim Noah dominated the game without a single play drawn up for him. He did a great job on the offensive glass, getting easy tips when the Kings bigs didn't box him out. At the other end, he helped force J.T. into 3-7 shooting (with none of those FGAs outside of five feet). Thompson and Kenny Thomas still led the Kings to a good overall showing on the offensive glass (13 rebounds in 42 opportunities), but that resulted in few points because the Kings shot terribly (31-60 on twos, a disastrous 4-21 on threes) and had more turnovers than an Austrian bakery. (Patissierie metaphor! Like what!)
Exactly two Kings scored efficiently, and if I told you one of them is named Donte Greene you'd burn me at the stake. Sergio Rodriguez -- ! -- was the other. Yes, this team's offense depended on superlative efforts from Donte Greene and Sergio Rodriguez. I don't mean this expression of surprise as a dismissal of the extensive talents of either -- I'm the biggest Donte supporter around -- but with all the other options, it's surprising that the young Greene and the denotative Sergio were the models of balance. Tyreke Evans had some monstrous drives and exclamatory defensive stands, but was too often unbalanced and uncomfortable. Spencer Hawes was an abject disaster in evert facet of the game, and his confidence is readably horrible. Beno Udrih wasn't awful, and in fact last season this type of performance would have registered as above average. But without Martin, the Kings need Udrih to be excellent, and he (13 points on 13 FGAs, five assists) was not near excellent.
186 comments | 2 recs |
Another Way to Live: Kings Beat Rockets 109-100
by Ziller on Nov 14, 2009 8:00 AM PST
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In his post-game comments, Houston coach Rick Adelman blamed a lack of first half defense for the Rockets loss. Obviously, he's right: the Sacramento offense hummed through the first half, especially in the early second quarter.
But a big factor was also the Kings defense -- or Houston offense, depending on how you look at it -- as Sacramento held the Rockets to 37.5 percent shooting in the second quarter, and 31 percent shooting in the fourth.
For the full game, the Kings were able to finish with an above average offense (109 points in 96 possessions, for a 113 offensive rating) and an above average defense (104 defensive rating). Against a good team likely to make the playoffs. Despite a bad performance from the starter with the biggest advantage on paper (Spencer Hawes) and no real stand-out bench scoring efforts (though Ime Udoka had a quiet 10). It was about the least fluky performance imaginable.
Even if the most important shots were an Andres Nocioni leaning shot clock beater from 21 feet, a Tyreke Evans stepback 22-footer, and a Tyreke Evans shot clock beating bank shot from 22 feet.
97 comments | 0 recs |
.500! Kings Beat Thunder 101-98
by Ziller on Nov 10, 2009 10:36 PM PST
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It's been awhile since the Kings could be called anything other than awful. Over the past three years, it's been hard to ever call the Kings "plucky" or "feisty" or even "mediocre." The team has just been abjectly bad. Bad with vets, bad with kids. Bad, through and through.
Now, for today, this team is average. Average! Perfectly average! Never, I imagine, has a fan base been so perfectly pleased to be average for a day (or three).
This game in particular had loss written all over it, based on recent history. As in a few recent losses, the Kings failed to execute down the stretch, relying on defense (guh) and opportunistic plays to finish it off. And it worked! Other than the fouls, Sacramento played solid defense in the final few minutes (including the potentially game-tying inbounds play). And the opportunistic plays came -- namely, the Omri Casspi transition dunk and a key team offensive rebound late.
Overall, despite big numbers for Jason Thompson (21 and 14) and Tyreke Evans (20-8-8), the Kings won a slopfest, an ugly 48 minutes of miscues and failed execution. The teams combined for 22 steals; maybe five were earned. Most came from messy ballhandling, dumb passes or ridiculous shot attempts. But as a fan -- a Kings fan -- that definitely doesn't do a thing to dampen the excitement.
This may not last, but I plan on enjoying it in the meantime. Let's go Kings.
247 comments | 0 recs |
Kings Bring the Hammers, Beat Warriors 120-107
by Ziller on Nov 8, 2009 9:20 PM PST
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What a complete game for the Kings. You knew Sacramento had the advantage on the glass and in the paint, and that Tyreke Evans had a huge size advantage on the perimeter. But the Warriors are deep with talent (Anthony Morrow and C.J. Watson are legit, and Anthony Randolph shouldn't be third-string anywhere) and the roster is filled with good scorers (Corey Maggette, Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Stephen Curry). Let's be honest: without Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia, no win is decreed.
But by the half, this one felt nailed shut. The Kings took an 11-point lead into the break, but it felt like 20+. And it really came from the bench all night long -- from Omri Casspi's threes (he hit three straight in the first quarter, 4-6 overall ... and he added 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals) and Donte Greene's best pro game (17 points, five rebounds, one turnover, one unbelievable sideline alley-oop to Jason Thompson at the buzzer).
Tyreke Evans was again brilliant (23 points on 18 shot attempts, eight rebounds, two assists, zero turnovers, two steals -- sat the entire fourth quarter). At some point, it's going to feel pedestrian, watching Evans destroy opponents on both ends. I think the last few years have been rough enough that we won't take 'Reke for granted in the near future, but damn. With the performances by Greene, Casspi and Wabeno Udrih, it's easy to overlook how dominant Evans was in the first half (especially the second quarter).
167 comments | 1 recs |
Kings Whip Out 104-99 Win Over Jazz in SLC
by Ziller on Nov 8, 2009 7:28 AM PST
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Early last year, the Kings had what I believed to be a signature win -- at home over the Lakers. Before a raucous crowd, the Kings flew around the court, nailed tough shots, worked the ball around, and did just enough to vanquish the hated Lakers. Though Reggie Theus's second season had begun poorly overall, it was a glimmer of hope for the rest of the schedule.
I really hope this game -- a pretty danged shocking 104-99 win at Utah, without Kevin Martin and Omri Casspi -- doesn't fortell the same letdown. Awful teams (like the 2008-09 Kings) win these games a few times a season. Bad teams win them once or twice a month. Not-altogether-horrible teams mix them in every couple weeks. I think "not-altogether-horrible" is about the most optimism I can squeeze out right now, so one of these wins every couple weeks will have to do.
Whether this is imminently repeatable has so much to do with Tyreke Evans, and how he attacked the Jazz defense.
59 comments | 1 recs |
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.
184 comments | 1 recs |
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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