Holy hell was our zone defense absolutely dreadful tonight. We allowed Harrison Barnes to go 9-10 in the first half for like 26 points, mainly off of wide open corner 3’s. We were giving up so many open looks and the Kings just weren’t missing. The Kings ended up shooting 18-49 from 3.
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Kind of a disappointing game in a number of ways. Our frontcourt didn’t look coherent, and Lauri really struggled the first quarter. Kessler was a nonfactor, Collins sat in the corner all game, and it was just an ugly game. Credit to Sabonis and the Kings quick rotations and defense for throwing our bigs off their rhythm.
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Lauri ended up with 18 points on 15 shots, going 6-15. 10 rebounds though. He looked like he was hunting for some looks, and maybe wasn’t letting it flow through him. But in my opinion, that falls mainly on our guards for not setting him up the best. He did have a great alley-oop from THT. I do like that he was aggressive in shot hunting, it just wasn’t falling tonight.
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Speaking of our guards, it’s a bad sign if Jordan Clarkson is the leading assist man. THT did not look good offensively, 8 points, 3-9 shooting. 4 assists, 1 turnover, but man I was so disappointed he started and ended up with 22 minutes. Lots of ugly basketball when he had the ball unfortunately.
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Clarkson was our leading scorer with 24 points on 8-16 shooting. Like I mentioned above, 6 assists which led the team tonight. It took him a little to get going too, but he looks improved from last year. He is looking to pass out of drives when the defense collapses, which isn’t something that we are used to. He is so much fun to watch, and he seems to have passed his bad shot selection to THT.
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Will Hardy ran some interesting lineups. He ran a lot of 3 guard lineups, Ochai, and a big man. We countered their stretch lineup by playing Olynyk at C, and even Lauri at C for some time in the 4th. It was actually decently effective in getting us points and stopping them from scoring. We saw lineups like these in the preseason, I was surprised Hardy whipped it out so soon.
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Kris Dunn didn’t look too good tonight either. Our entire guard lineup was pretty iffy tonight. 16 minutes, 8 points, 4 turnovers to just 2 assists, and a team low -16. He was also postered by Malik Monk……
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Agbaji didn’t light up the scoreboard, and scoreboard watching you’d say he was pretty much a non-factor. But he looks so beefy. He’s built, and he was giving the Kings some trouble. He resorted to his role from last season of mainly spot up shooting, which is different from what we saw in the preseason where he was making an effort to drive and be more involved. He finished with 5 points, 3 rebounds on 2-6 shooting.
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Kessler was given trouble by everybody. Javale McGee, Domas Sabonis, anybody. He was the second worse on the team in terms of +-, with -14. 8 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block. He was a nonfactor tonight.
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I want to see John Collins more involved in the offense. Too many times he was used in the dunkers spot, or just sat in the corner. 13 points 9 rebounds for him though. I just want to see more in the roller spot from him, but I don’t know how it will work next to a guy like Kessler. He was a nonfactor the second half, only scoring 4 points, all less than 4 minutes left in the game.
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Kelly Olynyk was the best big for us tonight IMO. Again, didn’t light up the scoreboard, but he just seems to do a bit of everything. 5 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists. I think he fits the needs of this team nicely.
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Sexton was just as brutal as THT tonight. 2-9 shooting, 9 points, 3 rebounds, 0 assists, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls. C’mon man. I love Sexton, but it is so frustrating seeing him throw this opportunity away. I was hoping he would take a leap forward in his playmaking and claim the starting spot. But man. 20 minutes of nothing out there.
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Lastly, Keyonte George. His first basket was an and-1 goaltended layup, but his first real made shot (besides the free throw) was a 3 pointer. He had one bad pass in the 4th, but he was part of our 4th quarter rotation. 8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists in 19 minutes.
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We saw garbage time minutes from Yurtseven, Sensabaugh, Hendricks, Fontecchio, and Samanic. Fontecchio was the only one who scored.
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I think that this game will be a good reality check for a lot of fans. The Kings are a great team, and showed it tonight. We just couldn’t keep up. Pair that with some iffy defensive schemes, and it’s a wrap. It also shows that we can’t rely on Sexton, THT, or Dunn to be our PG. We need a solid option if we want to try to get above .500
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To me, we mainly beat ourselves with terrible 3 point shooting. 9-28, compared to 19-51 from the Kings. We gave them any shot they wanted, and we struggled to get ours. We won the fastbreak battle, the rebound battle, and the foul game, but just couldn’t disrupt their shots like they were to us.
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0-1 bitches. See you Friday
Horrendous game. THT sucks. Kings are good. Let’s just adjust and get back at it against the Clippers.
Looked good: John Collins, Ochai Abgaji, Keyonte George, Jordan Clarkson
Looked bad: Sexton, THT, Dunn, Kessler
I’m already over the hunger games.
If this isn’t an anomaly then it’s time to promote keyonte to starter and play him 40 minutes a night at least he’ll develop ( he was easily the best pg tonight)
Also we need to shoot more 3’s 28 isn’t gonna cut it and if that means better shooters than so be it move some peices.
Hopefully this is an over reaction and they’ll look better come Friday
We have a giant Mike Conley sized crater on this team LMAO
Good job Kings
So we just need to improve our playmaking, 3-pt shooting, perimeter defense, turnovers and we’re in good shape
Why is our entire offense drive into the paint and then…something else is supposed to happen…
Start Keyonte and ochai
Tank starts today
I know it’s only game one, and I know the kings are a good team, but god damn do I feel disappointed after tonight. Our point guard situation looks like a dumpster fire plus a young guy who is still too raw to make a real difference, and our front court was inexplicably MIA. Kessler got dominated by Javale McGee of all players, and Lauri looks like his offseason in Finland did him no favors; we can only hope he regains last year’s form as the season goes on.
Our schedule is brutal to start, so there’s a high chance we start the season 1-4 or even 0-5. If we were ever going to legitimately tank, last year was the time to do it. We could’ve gotten a difference maker with a top five pick instead of Hendricks who will apparently need to sit out most of the season before he is NBA ready. If we tank this year, we will end up owing already loaded OKC a first round pick in 2025 which is shaping up to be a much stronger draft than 24’. Ugh.
For some extra salt in the wound, Mitchell hit a game winner tonight.
This Kings team is Good. We need a floor general. I appreciated the NFL Style Refsplanations.
Hardy did just try the most impossible line up that nobody think of but somehow it worked well,
The super small line up, Keyonte, Clarkson, THT, Ochai , Lauri
The offense wasn’t as bad as I feared, although we desperately need a real point guard. The defense, on the other hand…
I, for one, much preferred upsetting the Nuggets to open the season over this.
Some positives: John Collins looked solid and is way more versatile than I thought he was. He had some nice on ball moves and several nice passes, and I think he’s only going to get more comfortable. Keyonte looked great for a rookie in his first game. If this game is any indication, he may be starting before too long. Ochai’s dunk made me shout and scared my cats.
Lots of negatives though. THT, Sexton, and Dunn all looked pretty bad on both ends of the floor. Playmaking, as anticipated, is gonna be a massive issue for this team. Lauri disappeared for large parts of the game, and the lack of playmaking was a big reason why. Our perimeter defense was also inexplicably awful, not sure if it was some new scheme or what.
Shouldn’t put too much stock into one game though, let’s give them a few games before we decide we should tank.
Just a very sloppy and disjointed game. Hopefully we can wash our hands of it and be better on friday
19 comments
We need a point guard BAD
Last year’s opener was a lot more fun
Why did Kessler barely play??
GAME NOTES:
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Holy hell was our zone defense absolutely dreadful tonight. We allowed Harrison Barnes to go 9-10 in the first half for like 26 points, mainly off of wide open corner 3’s. We were giving up so many open looks and the Kings just weren’t missing. The Kings ended up shooting 18-49 from 3.
​
Kind of a disappointing game in a number of ways. Our frontcourt didn’t look coherent, and Lauri really struggled the first quarter. Kessler was a nonfactor, Collins sat in the corner all game, and it was just an ugly game. Credit to Sabonis and the Kings quick rotations and defense for throwing our bigs off their rhythm.
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Lauri ended up with 18 points on 15 shots, going 6-15. 10 rebounds though. He looked like he was hunting for some looks, and maybe wasn’t letting it flow through him. But in my opinion, that falls mainly on our guards for not setting him up the best. He did have a great alley-oop from THT. I do like that he was aggressive in shot hunting, it just wasn’t falling tonight.
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Speaking of our guards, it’s a bad sign if Jordan Clarkson is the leading assist man. THT did not look good offensively, 8 points, 3-9 shooting. 4 assists, 1 turnover, but man I was so disappointed he started and ended up with 22 minutes. Lots of ugly basketball when he had the ball unfortunately.
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Clarkson was our leading scorer with 24 points on 8-16 shooting. Like I mentioned above, 6 assists which led the team tonight. It took him a little to get going too, but he looks improved from last year. He is looking to pass out of drives when the defense collapses, which isn’t something that we are used to. He is so much fun to watch, and he seems to have passed his bad shot selection to THT.
​
Will Hardy ran some interesting lineups. He ran a lot of 3 guard lineups, Ochai, and a big man. We countered their stretch lineup by playing Olynyk at C, and even Lauri at C for some time in the 4th. It was actually decently effective in getting us points and stopping them from scoring. We saw lineups like these in the preseason, I was surprised Hardy whipped it out so soon.
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Kris Dunn didn’t look too good tonight either. Our entire guard lineup was pretty iffy tonight. 16 minutes, 8 points, 4 turnovers to just 2 assists, and a team low -16. He was also postered by Malik Monk……
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Agbaji didn’t light up the scoreboard, and scoreboard watching you’d say he was pretty much a non-factor. But he looks so beefy. He’s built, and he was giving the Kings some trouble. He resorted to his role from last season of mainly spot up shooting, which is different from what we saw in the preseason where he was making an effort to drive and be more involved. He finished with 5 points, 3 rebounds on 2-6 shooting.
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Kessler was given trouble by everybody. Javale McGee, Domas Sabonis, anybody. He was the second worse on the team in terms of +-, with -14. 8 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block. He was a nonfactor tonight.
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I want to see John Collins more involved in the offense. Too many times he was used in the dunkers spot, or just sat in the corner. 13 points 9 rebounds for him though. I just want to see more in the roller spot from him, but I don’t know how it will work next to a guy like Kessler. He was a nonfactor the second half, only scoring 4 points, all less than 4 minutes left in the game.
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Kelly Olynyk was the best big for us tonight IMO. Again, didn’t light up the scoreboard, but he just seems to do a bit of everything. 5 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists. I think he fits the needs of this team nicely.
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Sexton was just as brutal as THT tonight. 2-9 shooting, 9 points, 3 rebounds, 0 assists, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls. C’mon man. I love Sexton, but it is so frustrating seeing him throw this opportunity away. I was hoping he would take a leap forward in his playmaking and claim the starting spot. But man. 20 minutes of nothing out there.
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Lastly, Keyonte George. His first basket was an and-1 goaltended layup, but his first real made shot (besides the free throw) was a 3 pointer. He had one bad pass in the 4th, but he was part of our 4th quarter rotation. 8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists in 19 minutes.
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We saw garbage time minutes from Yurtseven, Sensabaugh, Hendricks, Fontecchio, and Samanic. Fontecchio was the only one who scored.
​
I think that this game will be a good reality check for a lot of fans. The Kings are a great team, and showed it tonight. We just couldn’t keep up. Pair that with some iffy defensive schemes, and it’s a wrap. It also shows that we can’t rely on Sexton, THT, or Dunn to be our PG. We need a solid option if we want to try to get above .500
​
To me, we mainly beat ourselves with terrible 3 point shooting. 9-28, compared to 19-51 from the Kings. We gave them any shot they wanted, and we struggled to get ours. We won the fastbreak battle, the rebound battle, and the foul game, but just couldn’t disrupt their shots like they were to us.
​
0-1 bitches. See you Friday
Horrendous game. THT sucks. Kings are good. Let’s just adjust and get back at it against the Clippers.
Looked good: John Collins, Ochai Abgaji, Keyonte George, Jordan Clarkson
Looked bad: Sexton, THT, Dunn, Kessler
I’m already over the hunger games.
If this isn’t an anomaly then it’s time to promote keyonte to starter and play him 40 minutes a night at least he’ll develop ( he was easily the best pg tonight)
Also we need to shoot more 3’s 28 isn’t gonna cut it and if that means better shooters than so be it move some peices.
Hopefully this is an over reaction and they’ll look better come Friday
We have a giant Mike Conley sized crater on this team LMAO
Good job Kings
So we just need to improve our playmaking, 3-pt shooting, perimeter defense, turnovers and we’re in good shape
Why is our entire offense drive into the paint and then…something else is supposed to happen…
Start Keyonte and ochai
Tank starts today
I know it’s only game one, and I know the kings are a good team, but god damn do I feel disappointed after tonight. Our point guard situation looks like a dumpster fire plus a young guy who is still too raw to make a real difference, and our front court was inexplicably MIA. Kessler got dominated by Javale McGee of all players, and Lauri looks like his offseason in Finland did him no favors; we can only hope he regains last year’s form as the season goes on.
Our schedule is brutal to start, so there’s a high chance we start the season 1-4 or even 0-5. If we were ever going to legitimately tank, last year was the time to do it. We could’ve gotten a difference maker with a top five pick instead of Hendricks who will apparently need to sit out most of the season before he is NBA ready. If we tank this year, we will end up owing already loaded OKC a first round pick in 2025 which is shaping up to be a much stronger draft than 24’. Ugh.
For some extra salt in the wound, Mitchell hit a game winner tonight.
This Kings team is Good. We need a floor general. I appreciated the NFL Style Refsplanations.
Hardy did just try the most impossible line up that nobody think of but somehow it worked well,
The super small line up, Keyonte, Clarkson, THT, Ochai , Lauri
The offense wasn’t as bad as I feared, although we desperately need a real point guard. The defense, on the other hand…
I, for one, much preferred upsetting the Nuggets to open the season over this.
Some positives: John Collins looked solid and is way more versatile than I thought he was. He had some nice on ball moves and several nice passes, and I think he’s only going to get more comfortable. Keyonte looked great for a rookie in his first game. If this game is any indication, he may be starting before too long. Ochai’s dunk made me shout and scared my cats.
Lots of negatives though. THT, Sexton, and Dunn all looked pretty bad on both ends of the floor. Playmaking, as anticipated, is gonna be a massive issue for this team. Lauri disappeared for large parts of the game, and the lack of playmaking was a big reason why. Our perimeter defense was also inexplicably awful, not sure if it was some new scheme or what.
Shouldn’t put too much stock into one game though, let’s give them a few games before we decide we should tank.
Just a very sloppy and disjointed game. Hopefully we can wash our hands of it and be better on friday