The Sacramento Kings’ NBA Cup Run Might Be Over Already | Locked On Kings

Well, I sure hope you didn’t put all your eggs in the NBA Cup basket because the Sacramento Kings may very well be out of the running after just one cup game. Not only did they lose to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, they lost by 31 points and point differential means a whole heck of a lot in the group stage. We’ll break down this game and how the Sacramento Kings are to the surprise of absolutely no one. simply too small. You are listening to Locked on Kings. You are Locked on Kings, your daily Sacramento Kings podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is that time. Time for another episode of Locked on Kings. Hello and welcome into Locked on Kings, your podcast hub for Sacramento Kings coverage all season long. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Head to fanduel.com to get started. My name is Matt George. I have the privilege of being your host here. I’m a Sacramento sports anchor and reporter for ABC 10 News. And I’m really not trying to be dramatic in the introduction of this podcast just to to hook you genuinely like the Kings Cup hopes may have gone up in smoke tonight. We knew it was already going to be difficult when you’re in the group with the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder that look even better this season than they were last season. The Thunder are now 9 and one through their first 10 games to start this season. And like I told you, after the Warriors win, as good as that win was for the Kings, and it was nice to see them get a win on Wednesday night, seeing that the Thunder lost to the Trailblazers that same night, you knew, yeah, I don’t think the Thunder are going to lose two games in a row. So, the expectation, I I guess, was kind of always that the Kings were going to lose this game. But in NBA Cup play, the hope is, hey, in the games you lose, if you do lose, hopefully you don’t lose by that many points, hopefully it’s a close game. So that if for some reason in the group uh play stage it would come down to a tiebreaker or if you were to be one of the teams that maybe goes three and one in your group but could potentially advance as like one of those wild card teams because your point differential was ultimately more positive than any other team in the West, right? Like that’s that’s the hope for the Kings going into a game like this. Well, uh, they lost by 31 points. 132 to 101 the final score. So, essentially the only hope that the Sacramento Kings have of getting out of this group is I guess number one, everybody in the group beats each other. So, you get a little help from everybody. whoever the Thunder play next, whether it’s the Timberwolves Suns or Jazz, hopefully one or two of them find a way to magically beat the the Thunder so they don’t just run away with this group, which is what I think they’re ultimately going to do. The Kings themselves need to probably go undefeated in this group. So, they need to beat the Timberwolves, Jazz, and Suns. And with the Jazz and Suns specifically, in order to make up this 30 now negative 31 point differential, they probably need to get a blowout win or two in order to give themselves even a shot of advancing out of this group. And it’s more more than likely going to be as a wild card team not winning the group outright. So again, I’m not trying to be overly dramatic like you go 0 and one in group play and lose by 31 points. I don’t that’s a super super deep hole for any team to climb out of. So, uh I think the NBA Cup might be a pipe dream for the Sacramento Kings at this point in time. Focusing on tonight’s game though, this was a weird game for me. a weird game for me as a viewer because the first quarter and really like the first let’s say say 20 minutes were really really fun. The energy in this Golden One Center was fantastic. It was a highscoring affair. Like both sides were knocking down shots. Russell Westbrook got going again. The Kings actually led at the end of the first quarter 32-30. They went shot 50% from the field, 12 of 24, 7 of 14 from three. Russell Westbrook had three of those three-pointers in the first quarter. Also had 10 assists. The ball was moving, shots were falling. Even Demard Rosen was letting it fly and knocking down threes to start this game. Like it was a fun, energetic start with two teams kind of battling it out, going for blow forblow offensively. And then the final couple of minutes of the second quarter, this game completely turned, completely flipped on its head. The Thunder ended the first half on a 15-4 run and suddenly a game that was close, that was back and forth becomes a 70 to 56 Thunder lead going into the halftime break. Now, still plenty of time in the second half to come back, but when you’re down by 14 points to a Thunder team, it’s very, very difficult to make up that gap. very difficult against a team as good as OKC, especially a team like OKC coming off of a loss in Portland. The third quarter was kind of a stalemate. Some good moments for the Kings, some bad moments defensively. The entire game they couldn’t do anything, especially internally. We’ll talk about that in just a second. The third quarter, they end up losing the third quarter by I think one point. Yeah, 28 to 27. It was their best defensive quarter, holding the Thunder under 30 points in a quarter. So, that was neat, I guess. They go into the fourth quarter down by 15 points and then the the Thunder just completely put this game away immediately. Dominate the first the fourth quarter 34 to 18. Suddenly the Kings lose by 31. This won’t surprise you. Like prepare yourselves to be not surprised when I say this. The Sacramento Kings are too small. What? No. You mean to tell me the Sacramento Kings, who have lacked depth of the forward position and up really for the last three years, they’re too small? Yep, they are too small. And the the the the Thunder with no Demodus bonus in this game, missing his second straight game uh with a rib injury. The Thunder absolutely abused the Kings inside. I’m talking well first Isaiah Hartenstein Hartinstein was just ridiculously good a careerhigh 33 points a super efficient 14 of 17 from the field 19 rebounds and three blocks a dominant performance from Isaiah Hartinstein he led the Thunder to outscoring the Sacramento Kings 60-34 in the paint nearly Half 60 of Oklahoma City’s 132 points came in the paint. Like the Sacramento K the f the two of the first three buckets in this game for the Kings. One was a layup and the other one was a straight line drive dunk for uh for Shay Gilis Alexander. Like the the Thunder were still doing layup lines. Like the Kings defense, their their pick and roll defense was atrocious. Their ability to cut off the lane to the rim was terrible. And when Isaiah Hartenstein or anybody got inside, it resulted in a pretty easy bucket or a dunk or an alleyoop, right? Like the Kings had absolutely zero paint presence defensively, period. The Thunder shot 45 shots in the paint. 45. They made 30 of them. They shot 66% in the paint, 45 looks at the rim. That is unbelievably bad. And on top of that, of course, they destroyed the Kings on the glass. Once again, the Kings struggling rebounding the basketball. Kings got out rebounded 52- 38 in this game. Now, of course, we can just chalk it up to well, Demand Sabonis wasn’t playing. And if Deontay Sabonis was playing, this probably would have been better. Better, yes. completely fixed. No, we’ve known this. Why? Because Sabonis is even an undersized center himself, not a rim protector, an amazing rebounder because of his his positioning and his ability to go and get the basketball and how strong he is. I don’t think Isaiah Hardenstein is scoring 33 points if Damont Sabonis is playing in this game. But I also don’t think Sabonis being there is saving the Sacramento Kings from being absolutely abused inside like they were tonight. So, we can’t just brush it under the rug of Damata Sabonis wasn’t playing. It’ll be fine. The Kings shot the basketball well. Like, from three-point range, the Kings took 40 threes, which is good for them. That’s really good for the Kings. They are are towards the bottom, if not at the very bottom of the league in three-point attempts. They went 15 to 40, 37% from three-point range. You’ll take that from this Kings team. They shot a lot worse in the second half from three than they did in the first half. But 15 to 40, like I know the Kings only scored 101 points, but like 15 to 40, you will take that from three-point range for this team. And I will say too, before we just go and and and jump on Drew Eubanks and say, “Well, Isaiah Hartenstein scored 33 points. It’s Drew Eubank’s fault. Drew Eubanks is terrible.” Like Drew had a Drew had a pretty solid game. Drew scored 16 points, eight of 11 from the field, one rebound, one steal, two blocks. The one rebound though is very very problematic. The three Kings big men, I’m talking you, Drew Eubanks, Maxim Reno, and Precious Achua. The three of them combined for 15 total rebounds. Again, Isaiah Hartenstein by himself had 19. And Maxim Reno had 10 of those 15 rebounds. Drew Eubanks one rebound in like 28 minutes of action. The Kings just they they aren’t big enough. They don’t have a presence on the glass. They clearly didn’t have a presence in the paint. And there there can be nobody in this building, including Scott Perry, even though he inherited this mess. There’s nobody in this building that can be surprised by this. Like teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder, they’re going to take advantage of that. Like Sha just Alexander had 30 points in this game. It was the coolest, easiest 30 of his life. Like he didn’t really have to work that hard. And if he wanted to, he could have scored 50 in this game, but he didn’t have to because Isaiah Hartinstein was was killing the Kings. So before you just go, “Well, of course, Matt, the Thunder are 9 and1. They’re a championship caliber team, defending champs. Of course, they knew how to abuse and take advantage of the Kings being undersized. It wasn’t these superstars that beat you simply by getting to the rim. Isaiah Hartinstein scored 33 on you. 33. add him to the list of new players getting careerh highs against the Sacramento Kings. It goes on and on and on. The Kings are gonna face teams with better bigs than the Thunder. What are they going to do against Sacramento? I mean, we we’ll see when not that Rudy Gobear is a great offensive big man, but Rudy Gobear and the the the Timberwolves are coming into town on Sunday. You also got Nicolayic and the Denver Nuggets coming into town after that. Yikes. We’ve known this team is undersized and until they actually do something about it, which they have failed to do for years, until they actually do something about it, this is this is going to continue. I hate to break it to you. This episode of the Lockdown Kings podcast is brought to you by Door Dash. The NBA season is heating up and Door Dash has found the perfect way to keep fans in their bag all season long. Whether you’re watching for the highlights, your fantasy team, or just your favorite player, Door Dash makes every game night even better. Door Dash is the official ondemand delivery platform of the NBA. And they’re celebrating with something called the bag drop. Every time an NBA player scores 50 points in a game, Door Dash drops 50% off of your order with Dash Pass the next day, and you’re automatically entered for a chance to win the ultimate fan bag. We’re talking player inspired drip, exclusive gear, and stuff that you will actually want. And I love that on Door Dash, it’s not just food orders like you normally would think with these delivery services. You can get everything from snacks to drinks to headphones, ice, even socks, all delivered. 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I’ve been doing this for eight years. I’m coming up on nine years hosting the Locked On podcast and this network has continued to grow. The amount of work that my fellow hosts and the Locked On executives and everybody have put in to continue to grow this and and turn this into the podcast sports podcast empire that it is. I am so unbelievably proud of how this podcast has grown, how this network has grown, how the Locked on Kings podcast has grown. Not too long ago, I celebrated my 20,000th episode of Locked On. And now we can say we are number one in the world, baby. Number one, the top of the sports podcast mountain. I’m so proud of this network. And thank you to all of you who have made it possible. Had to get that dose of positivity in here because now let’s get negative again. Keon Ellis’s playing time. Here we go again. Get ready to be angry in the comment section. Keon Ellis did not play until the fourth quarter. Checked into the fourth quarter with the Kings down by 15. Keon played every single second of that fourth quarter, all 12 minutes. And over those 12 minutes, he went one of five from the field. had three fouls and was a minus 16. Listen to me. I really like Keon Ellis. And of course, when someone prefaces something like that or talking about a player like that, you know there’s something negative coming. There’s a butt coming because there is. Like, I like Keon. This is not Matt. You’re turning on Keon or anything like that. Don’t just don’t do that. Keon Ellis wasn’t good. He wasn’t good. This is some of the worst he’s played. He did not look good at all. Now, here’s what we’re not going to do. We’re not going to create it and spin some kind of narrative that Keon Ellis came into the game and he was upset about his playing time. He was pouting. That’s the reason why he didn’t play well. Because Keon Ellis has, despite not getting the payday he deserves, despite the roller coaster ride that and the mountain that he has had to climb to even get to this position that he’s at in the NBA from undrafted two-way player to what who we believe to be an important piece of this Kings rotation. Keon has had the same mindset, the same attitude, the same smile on his face. I know he’s a competitor. I’m sure he’s not happy about not playing. I’m I know he’s not happy about how much he’s getting paid this season, but that’s never ever impacted how Keon has approached the game and how he has played, how he has acted on the floor. So, let’s not even go there. He’s not pouting or anything like that. At least, there’s been literally zero indication on my end that I’ve gotten from anybody to suggest that’s a thing at all. So, I don’t even want that to become a narrative. I’m also not trying to make an excuse for the guy by saying it is difficult to come into a game cold turkey after not playing three quarters and make an impact. But at the same time, how did Keon Ellis get Mike Brown’s attention and get his playing time in Sacramento to begin with? Remember the Kings? I think it was in Chicago. I want to say it was in Chicago, maybe not. Maybe it was in Portland. They’re playing some red team and the Kings were getting absolutely No, it was the Rockets. The Kings were getting absolutely destroyed. Destroyed, dominated. And Mike Brown plays Keon Ellis along with kind of the end of bench guys in the fourth quarter. And Keon Ellis plays super well. Plays hard. Plays the right way. Good moments. Didn’t really impact the final score very much. Didn’t really matter. The Kings had already lost the game, but Keon played hard. drew the attention of Mike Brown and the coaching staff, earned an opportunity, and he kept building on that and kept building on that and kept building on that to ultimately get to where he is now. So, Keon knows the value of those minutes. And if Keon does not approach those minutes the same way as he did because he now has an NBA contract, that to me would be concerning. Like Keon, he’s earned how far that he’s gotten, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have to keep earning what’s next. Again, I’m not suggesting that Keon Ellis went out there and intentionally didn’t play hard, didn’t try hard. I just think Keon Ellis didn’t play well. I don’t think he played well. I don’t think the Thunder are a good matchup for Keon Ellis. That’s one of the major reasons why he didn’t play. Russell Westbrook has been playing super super well right now. So, Russ is going to be playing over him. Dennis Rutder had a rough night. We’ll talk about Dennis offensively, but he still is the starting point guard and and can handle the point guard responsibilities that Keon Ellis cannot. Nick Clifford, whether you think Nick should be playing over him or or not, Nick had zero points, 04 from the field, three rebounds, two assists in this game, did did a pretty good job I felt defensively on Shagilas Alexander at times, but Nick is bigger than Keon and longer than Keon, and this Kings team needs that. They’re undized. I I don’t think we should overreact to one game where Keon Ellis barely played. This is the the the little littlest fewest minutes that he’s played this season under Doug Christie. But I understand this reinforces the fears that Kings fans were already feeling and the anger that Kings fans were already feeling about Keon Ellis’s playing time. We talked about it on yesterday’s podcast. This has been something that Kings fans have been monitoring even really since the preseason. And now he basically gets a DNP in this game until the game was kind of out of reach in the fourth quarter. Although 12 minutes down 15, that’s still plenty of time. And Doug Christie put Keon Ellis in the game. Not with the end of bench, guys. He was out there with some starters. And we know Keon has been a spark plug and used his defense and his three-point shooting to kind of ignite something. Hey, maybe Keon can give us a different look and help us get back into this game. He didn’t. It got worse when he was out there. It’s not all his fault. I’m not saying it’s all his fault, but the realities are he got his opportunity. He didn’t make the most of it. He played terribly. The Kings as a whole played terribly in that fourth quarter and they lost by 31 points because of it. Now, we can argue whether or not Keon should have been playing before the fourth quarter. That’s fine. Those of you who are saying that, you probably have a point, but enough of me yapping about it. Here is what Doug Christie said. James Ham, after the game, James Ham asked him why he didn’t play Keon until the fourth quarter. Here’s what Doug Christie said. Keon didn’t play until the fourth quarter. Was there a reason why Keon sat for the first three or is it just a numbers game? Yeah, it’s a numbers game. I mean, there’s a big log jam there. So, night it could be it could be different. Um, it’s not going to get any easier once you get Keegan back. But, this is um it’s a good problem to have. It’s one that hasn’t been here for for a long time when you talk about wing players and the ability to um have them. But Keon’s a pro, so I know he he’ll be ready and prepared. This will be something to continue monitoring. Kings and Timberwolves coming up next. Keon Ellis can help you. Keon Ellis can definitely help you against the Minnesota Timberwolves. But one of the things Doug said there is true is like it’s a it’s a numbers game and and when Keon or Keegan Murray comes back, it’s not going to get any easier for any of these guys to find playing time. Like Russell Westbrook has to play over Keon right now. Dennis Shruder, whether you like it or not, he’s on this roster, so he has to play over Keon right now. Or he is playing over Keon right now. Malik Monk has to play over Keon right now. So the question really is, should you be playing Nate Clifford or should you be playing Keon Ellis? And I know a lot of you Kings fans don’t want to pick between the two because you’d rather have both of them playing over some of the old guys, but that’s just not realistic to how the Sacramento Kings are playing, their rotations, and what they’re trying to do right now. So that’s just the reality of the Konell situation. Let’s talk about Dennis Shruder really quick. Two points, zero of 10 from the field, zero five from three-point range. Did have eight assists, so at least he wasn’t like completely like empty minutes on the floor. But Dennis Shruder was bad. Like his offense was bad. He just didn’t wasn’t impactful. And this is coming right after the podcast that I did yesterday talking about, hey, like would the Kings potentially have been better off with Russ playing as well as he’s playing? Russ being the starting point guard. The Kings never bring in Dennis Shruder. Hey, wouldn’t it have been great to uh Wouldn’t it have been great to have Yonas Valenunis in this game? Think Yonas Valenunis would have helped with defending the rim at least a little bit, having a presence in the paint at least a little bit. Making sure Isaiah Hardenstein couldn’t get everything and anything that he wanted at the rim. A little bit helped the Kings with not getting destroyed on the glass. I think Yonas Valenunis would really help the Kings in this game. And Russell Westbrook was the guy that brought the energy and and and got the Kings going and gave them that lead at the end of the first quarter. Not Dennis Shruder. It’s one game. I’m not trying to be like, “Oh, I told you so. I told you so.” But like, this is why I asked the question. Again, it’s not intended to be shaded Dennis Shruder. It’s just we have the benefit of revisionist history. We’re looking back at a move that the Kings made over the summertime that maybe maybe they didn’t have to make with Dennis Shruder being or with uh Russell Westbrook being here, but they did. I understand going, Matt, get over it. Move on. It’s here. He’s here. But look, we’re always going to look back and we’re going to judge moves that any general manager, Scott Perry or otherwise, makes. So, I’m not going to just not talk about it simply because it happened in the past. Something that’s unacceptable that happened in this game that just can’t can’t happen. This can’t happen. And I’m like I I don’t think it’s it’s harsh to say like Zack Lavine had nine points. Three of five from the field, two of three from three-point range. When he shot the ball, he shot it. Whoa, almost dropped my microphone. When he shot when he shot the ball, he shot it well. Like, Zach shot efficiently. He just didn’t shoot it. I understand he got kind of a little bit into foul trouble in the first half. And I also understand the Thunder are a really good defensive team and it was probably part of their game plan to not let Zack Lavine get going as much as he did for the Kings in Oklahoma City uh on the road trip a week or so ago. That being said, like these are the games that were perplexing when they happened towards in the second half of last season after the Kings traded for him. Like I know it’s difficult to say Zack score 13 points a night and he’s been doing it for the majority of the nights that he’s played for the Kings so far. He’s a walking bucket. But the Kings absolut I mean I know the defense was bad. So even if if if if Zack Lavine scores 30 points in this game, I don’t it’s not like it makes up for the defense, but you scored only 101 points. Your best scoreer has nine points and only shoots the ball five times. That can’t happen. Like the Kings, whether it’s the Kings need to find him more shots. He needs to be more aggressive. I understand this was his first game back after having lower back soreness. Like I I trust me, I I can understand how back pain could limit yourself offensively, but these are the games from Zack Leavine that can’t happen. Look, if you have a game where you only score 16 or 18 points cuz you’re not shooting the ball well or whatever, whatever. I can live with that. Like, as long as you’re shooting the ball 15 freaking times. Don’t The Kings will never ever ever win a basketball game regardless of what’s happening defensive defensively. if Zack Lavine is only taking five shots unless Demard Rosen or slash and Russell Westbrook and everybody else is scoring 20 plus points and shooting over 50% from the field which which just isn’t realistic. The Kings need more scoring from Zack Lavine. That is what he does on this team. They will lose with games like this. Like I said at the top of the show, this episode of Locked on Kings is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of a game or you want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at an even bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team is the one making that late push. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. And Locked on Kings is also brought to you by Prize Picks. You and I make decisions every day. But on Prize Picks, being right can get you paid. Don’t miss any of the excitement of this sports season. Whether you’re following the NFL, NBA, or both, there’s no better time to jump in on the action. If you haven’t tried it yet, prize picks is the simplest way to play. You just pick more or less on at least two player stats, and if you get them right, you win. It takes less than 60 seconds to make your lineup, and you can play anywhere. Price Picks operates. That includes California, Texas, and Georgia. I play Price Picks all the time. I played it tonight. I hit on five out of six of my picks. I needed Shay Gilis Alexander to get to the free throw line a few more times for me. He didn’t end up doing that cuz, well, he didn’t really need to, but five out of the six picks, I still got paid. I paid I made $35 on my tonight uh prize picks action. There’s so many fun unique ways to play. Whether you’re playing specifically around one game, like a Kings game that you’re watching, or you’re pairing basketball action with an NFL Sunday’s worth of action, you can do that when the Kings and Timberwolves play on Sunday. Prize Pix is so much fun. And one of the things they offer that’s really cool, it’s their injury reboot. So if for whatever reason a player leaves the game early with an injury, the injury reboot will save your lineup so you don’t get cheesed out of your money. Download the Price Pick app today and use code locked on NBA to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code locked on NBA for $50 in lineups after your first $5 lineup. Price picks. It’s good to be right. Trying to wrap up with a little bit of positivity. I talked about Maxim Reno and how he was playing uh or how he played in the Warriors game. Thought it was the best he’s looked as a pro, the most comfortable he’s looked. The he didn’t look out of place. He didn’t look like the speed of the game or the physicality of the game was too much for him. And he followed that up with another really solid performance tonight against the Thunder. Now, I know like we talked about the Thunder dominated the paint. Isaiah Hartenstein had a had an easy night at the rim. Of course, Maxi Marino was one of the guys out there that was struggling with that. But overall, I just feel like Max is moving well. He’s understanding where he’s supposed to be more. He’s fitting in well and flowing well with the offense. He’s not hesitating. He’s making good choices. He’s attacking the glass well. Like I said, he had 10 rebounds. He had the most rebounds on the Kings by a wide margin. The next closest uh was Russell Westbrook with six rebounds. So, Max was huge on the glass. Took 10 shots in this game. I’m all for that. Three of 10 from the field. played just shy of 24 minutes. Uh also had uh uh an assist and a steal in this game, eight points total. Like of course there’s still room to grow for Maxim Reno, but we’re seeing his development in real time going from someone who I was concerned like he’s not ready for the NBA game because it’s just going to be too strong, too physical for him to. No, he looks like he belongs, but like any rookie, he just has to keep getting better. So, the progress that we’ve seen from Maxim Reno over these first couple weeks of the season has been superb in my opinion. Makes me really excited for how he can continue to grow with the Sacramento Kings going forward. I wanted to talk about Demar Rosen really quick. Demard Rosen tonight in 28 and a half minutes, 18 points, seven of 13 from the field, four of seven from three-point range. Demar was letting it fly uh from three, five rebounds, three assists as well in this game. Demar a solid game and I feel like solid is how we can describe Demar De Rozan’s season to this point like offensively he’s been solid but he hasn’t really stood out and I wonder if for people like myself like I wonder if Dear is kind of in a lose-lose situation because we’ve asked him to be more of a scorer and a piece in the flow of Sacramento’s offense and I feel like he has done that actually really well this season. I don’t think Demar is bringing the Kings offense to a screeching halt. Yes, there are times where it’s still a little bit too much your turn, my turn, your turn, my turn on offense, but that’s not a Demar Roen problem. That’s a Kings roster problem. It’s like that for Zack. It’s like that for Russ. It’s like that for everybody. Like that’s just a Kings offensive problem in general. But I do feel like Demard Rosen is doing a good job of being more involved in the flow of the offense. But because of that, we’re not seeing the big offensive performances from Demar that he delivered for the Sacramento Kings last season. Now, we’re still we’re still early on, right? We’re nine games in. There’s still plenty of time for him to have some of those big games. And the Kings will need to have him uh have big games like that in the future if they’re going to the going to win games. But I I I want to see Demar definitely take over more at times. But a lot of Demar taking over is him getting to his spots and getting in isolation and everybody kind of just watching while he goes to work. So kind of feels like Demar is in a lose-lose situation right now a little bit in that sense. But I do want to give Dear the praise and credit that he deserves because I do feel like he’s making a clear effort and doing well at fitting in the flow of the offense more better than really it felt like he did at any point uh last season. Coming up next, the Kings have the Minnesota Timberwolves in here on Sunday. Now, the Timberwolves are part of the Kings NBA Cup group, but that game is not an NBA Cup game. So important to note like the Kings hopefully they win that game. It’ be great for the Kings to get another another victory especially with the Detroit uh excuse me the Denver Nuggets coming into town on Tuesday. That game’s going to be on NBC so it’s an 8:00 start. Yikes. I already get these podcasts out too late as it is. That’s going to be a late night ladies and gentlemen. But it would be nice for the Kings to go into that game with a victory. And the Timberwolves, they’re a good team but I do think they are a beatable team. And hopefully Deontto Sabonis will be back for that game as well. We’ll have to wait and see uh what his status is. We probably won’t know until the uh the the day of, but at least that game doesn’t count towards the cup. So, if it goes wrong, um it it won’t hurt the Kings in that sense. But again, the Kings might be out of the cup running uh already as it is. Uh again, thank you to all of you over the years or the days, the weeks, the months, whatever. As long as you’ve been listening to Locked On Kings and the Locked On podcast network, you have helped us get to where Locked On is the number one podcast network in the world. It’s so crazy cool to say. Um, and I I’m so appreciative of that. If I could ask even more of you, if you haven’t left a review for this podcast yet on Apple Podcast, it takes no time whatsoever. Even my video listeners, I appreciate you guys if you subscribe to the the the channel and turn on your notifications and and watch the the show religiously on YouTube. You guys are the best. But even those of you who watch the show, if you could head over to Apple Podcasts, if you if you either create account really quick or if you have an account already and just leave a review of the show there, hit five stars, there’s a little custom blurb box where you can just write a couple sentences about why you like the podcast. That helps the show out tremendously in terms of it getting out and reaching an even broader audience. So, if you could do that, I really, really, really uh would appreciate that. But regardless of if you leave a review or not, your support of this podcast, you listening to this podcast one time, 10 times, a hundred times, it means the world to me. Thank you so much. I hope it is worthy of your time. And I can’t wait to have you join me on the next one, which will be on Sunday after hopefully a Kings win over the Timberwolves. Until then, my name is Matt George. You have been listening to the Locked On podcast, part of the Locked On Network.

Matt George reacts to the Sacramento Kings’ blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder to open NBA Cup play.

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The Sacramento Kings’ NBA Cup Run Might Be Over Already
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47 comments

  6. I'd argue OKC's frontline is top 3 in the NBA. We were outmatched inside right now but I think the Kings are heading in the right direction.

    Eubanks 6"10 and Achiuwa 6"9 are our athletic bigs
    Maxime Reynaud is 7"1 and Sabonis 6"10 are our suppose to be frontline bruisers.
    When Keegan Murrray returns this frontline is gonna be good.

    We have a deep back court and deep frontline. I am very optimistic about this Kings team.

  7. The excuse for no Keon playing time on the last broadcast was no scoring. Now it's because he scored 1 hoop after sitting on the bench for 3/4. Let's also talk the +/- since it was brought up. Minus 16 for Keon…-25 for Schroeder, who also scored less than Keon. I really see no excuse for sitting your best defender while the game is slipping away. I just don't. I also don't trust what the "NBA insiders" say about Keon. Remember, two teams passed up on drafting MJ.

  9. Donā€™t try to justify Coach Christie.
    Keon was #1 in net rating and #2 in deflections last year, and this season heā€™s #1 in both deflections and steals.
    Plus, Christie himself said he prioritizes defense-oriented players, yet he keeps playing guys who are terrible on defense ā€”
    thatā€™s pure hypocrisy.

  15. after this foul from Russel Westbrook on ajay mitchell he needs to be suspended for 5-10 games šŸ˜¢trade him fast ! We do not need a player who is fouling like that šŸ˜¢

  16. I think Schroeder watched your take on if we never signed him and made Westbrook our main PG and also signed Keon. Thatā€™s the reason for this horrendous game by him

  18. Saying keon wasn't good when he's basically playing garbage time is a take. This coaching staff just like Mike browns staff is ruining his confidence with each game

  19. Say what yall but this guy knows what he's talking about Dennis has been the worst player for this team its not his fault he's just to small on a already to small team this is all coaching. .. coach has to do better

  20. All OKC did is convince the doubters who are the real NBA Kings and who are the Kangz.

    The young teams have shown how to build a winning team yet, Sacramento just never learn no matter the staff. It is so obvious that the veteran core of Sacramento is not going to get it done still, they keep on pushing the development of their young players down the drain, so pathetic. Their is a silver lining, another win in the draft positioning LOL.

  21. Raynaud has absolutely to develop an edge In this league like Hartenstein like Jokic like Domcic etc etc etc or He will end up like A Dario Saric.

    There Is A reason Jokic and Doncic play with an edge all the time mentally. This league will eat you up and spit you out.

    Raynaud was even on the plus/minus in the 3rd quarter but was wondering why Doug kept sending Him out there. I trust Doug and thought He made home run adjustments in the first quarter when He pulled Lavine right away.

    The Kings were fighting. It was closer most this Game then what the box score ended up as.

    There are Games in the NBA when you absolutely have to score with the other team because they are in a zone. Spurs back in the 2000s only lost to teams barely for won but also when the opposing team could score with them.

    Definitely not saying this OKC team are like the 5 Rings Spurs. I don't think this team would even have a ring if not for an Achilles injury game 7 first quarter.

    I honest to God think they foul on almost every possession but get a quick whistle on offense almost every possession. Literally can't stand OKC

  23. Eubanks made Myles Turner style performance, when in in almost 24 min he got 1 rebound !!! This I call an "alergy to rebounding" and honestly I dont understand how centers can be so bad at this.
    About not playing Keon – it shows coach skills, nothing more…

  27. Coach Christie is on the clock! Scott Perry will have to make a change on a coach next yr. Coach Christie reminds me of a politiicain, he talked a good game and got himself elected. But this coach can not seem to implement and apply consistently any of his so called defensive princibles. His staff is more experience than he is. We have the wrong man manning this ship. I loved him as a player. But coach is not yet an NBA caliber coach. TANK TIME!!!šŸ˜‚

  28. that 14-2 run to end the half killed us. we could not stop harteinstein. he was dunking on us and laughing at us at the same time. it was like a varsity starter vs a freshman

  29. every time a king went to the rim there was 2 7 footers that actually jump right there ready. not sure how many blocks they had, but I know there was tons of plays at the rim that were altered or bad shot turnover. we don't have a 7 footer on the roster

  32. our team has a lot of big contract big names that have to get minutes. I like keon and he shoots the 3 good. he had an opportunity to do something those 2 games monk was out. we have a lot of guy that are the same size that do the same shit, he'll get his minutes. kings media be so dramatic with every game. grant be cracking me up. 2&mo losin it too

  38. Doug is ruining his reputation with the fans, just like Divac did. Heā€™s gonna have half the fan base hating him by the time heā€™s done. He needs to go and save whatever he has left of his nostalgia card. Heā€™s better off just being an assistant and motivating guys.

  39. The writing is on the wall. Keon is going to MI. There is no incentive for Keon to stay on an aging team that is not interested in developing his career or competing in the playoffs/championship. He needs to get far away from this franchise for his career to flourish. All I have to say is, GOOD FOR KEON. Get yourself to a normal organization and ball out! Westbrook stealing minutes from our young players for ā€œticket salesā€ is malpractice. Get him his records and GET HIIM OUT OF HERE!

  40. Derozan and LaVines offensive ability to help the team win, does not equal up to the negative impact their defensive play has on the team. I think if Doug can figure out how to only have 1 of the 2 in the game any given time would elevate the Kings defense right away. With that being said itā€™s always easy to coach from the outside looking in.

  43. Blame the owner people and get over it. Heā€™s the one why weā€™re in this position. He wanted his vision of GSW here in Sac and it has never worked. Canā€™t replicate other players and expect that theyā€™ll change or become that player. He needs to sell to a competent buyer. After 13 years of ownership this guy has never learned anything. A complete clown to be exact cannot draft, always fires everyone and takes no accountability. The most pathetic part is that he only wants the benefit that it comes with which is a big tax break on his businesses. Thatā€™s why he built the new soccer and volleyball fields out by I5 knowingly that Sacramento has a housing crisis and what do u know our city and our governor signed off on it. Sports hub in Sac is a delusional ploy and scam!

  44. Zach was horrific!!! Also, right in character with being an older player, Westbrook started out like a bat out of hell, but by the third quarter, he ran out of gas, started making lots of mistakes, and was no longer able to keep up defensively. Speaking of defense, well, there was none. Schroder was a joke!!! DeRozan and Monk looked 3rd rate compared to OKC's players. And, unfortunately, Coach Christie demonstrated just how inept he really is as an NBA couch. Same old anemic, slow, predictable, iso, lack of ball movement offense. Garbage in, garbage out!!!

  46. Itā€™s fun watching the kings, they can try to win, but they will struggle to beat teams that purposely tank. I donā€™t know why we donā€™t just admit the truth this ownership group is allergic to building any kind of culture.

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