What's new

Game Thread Dec 30, 2022 08:00PM MT: Jazz at Kings

Added to Calendar: 12-30-22

I go back and forth on Beasley a lot. When he is shooting great he is ****ing amazing. When he’s not his weaknesses are really glaring as he doesn’t do much outside of that.
 
I go back and forth on Beasley a lot. When he is shooting great he is ****ing amazing. When he’s not his weaknesses are really glaring as he doesn’t do much outside of that.
Ya lately he has not been much fun (that block tonight was sweet though). I think i hate watching KO the most, gay the second most, conley third most, and beasley 4th most (though i like conley and beasley ok). Clarkson is mostly fun but can be pretty frustrating as well.
 
Beasley and Vanderbilt consistently have the worst +/- rating on the team. Vando was a sparkling -16 this game.

It can be a noisy stat but it's pretty noticeable when the same 1-2 guys typically have the worst +/- rating every game.
 
Ya lately he has not been much fun (that block tonight was sweet though). I think i hate watching KO the most, gay the second most, conley third most, and beasley 4th most (though i like conley and beasley ok). Clarkson is mostly fun but can be pretty frustrating as well.

KO constantly being on the floor is so annoying. He doesn’t even get enough calls to warrant it either. He might be the worst 7’0 rebounder in the entire league too.
 
*wailing*

I like overall effort. I like Mike was good again and kessler did well.
I love Lauri killed inside... But missing clutch hurts me soul. He would SO need these to turn into game winners to build that confidence even more. on to next one. That time it goes in.


Lauri must be traded.

He scores at wrong periods and cannot play basketball.

The Bermuda triangle (Beasley/Clarkson/Sexton) offence is much better.
 
Not for no reason. Its because he is the third point guard in a close game. Most teams dont play 3 point guards. Just a starter and a backup. Its a good time to trade conley. I dont know if he is tradeable though.
NAW isn't a 3rd pg. He is simply a wing and our best defensive wing that fits extremely well with Sexton and Beasley.
 
Markkanen’s stats for the month of December:

26.6 PPG and 8 RPG on 16.2 FGA per game

96/178 from field (53.9%)
46/94 from 3 (48.9%)
50/86 from 2 (58.1%)
55/62 from FT (88.7%)
He keeps surprising me. I just wish we had a couple high level pieces to grow with him.
 
Minnesota is doing their best to help us with that. We should actively be looking to help ourselves with that as well.
We need to start resting dudes. Mike should not play tomorrow but I bet he does. We need some dnp recovery if we aren’t trading dudes.

Minny needs to lose tomorrow… would be very helpful.
 
KO constantly being on the floor is so annoying. He doesn’t even get enough calls to warrant it either. He might be the worst 7’0 rebounder in the entire league too.
Hard to rebound when you are concentrating on how best to flop down on the floor instead of fighting for boards.
 
I liked many things about this game...
1) Lauri was ice cold from 3 and still found a way to put up 36. He was abusing Harrison Barnes who had absolutely no chance 1on1. That airball in the end hurt though...
2) JC got the memo and for the first time since early season it felt like he knew where Lauri was most of the time and deferred to him more than usually. He also got to the line consistently. Great game from him offensively.
3) Kessler bounced back after a few rough games. Looked like a net positive for the most parts.
4) We hung in there all night and had a good chance to win. They got lucky at the end since if Fox hits that floater its OT at most for them but he did a good job contesting Lauri on that rebound. It ended up as a good miss for them due to Huerter hitting that 3.
 
Last edited:
Vanderbilt does some really nice things, but man. It's difficult because he can't play with Kessler for obvious reasons on offense, which means he has to be paired with a floor spacing big. And when that big is Kelly Olynyk, it's an absolute defensive disaster.

I just don't think he works as a starter on this particular team.
 
Well, that was some bull***t.

- Worst game I've ever seen from Kelly Olynyk. Complete non-factor on offense, didn't even pretend to move his feet on defense. 5 points and 3 rebounds in 29 minutes. The dude played like a bitch in a game where we really needed him. In the decisive rebounding battle that led to Huerter's go-ahead three pointer, Olynyk was spinning in place like a ****ing top in the middle of the paint while Sacramento's guards were flying all around him. I get that he's ground bound and generally unathletic, but the man is still 6'11'' for ****s sake. Put your body on someone! As for those phantom fouls he keeps getting whistled for - Olynyk has a rep and he only has himself to blame. He's had a long career full of nasty tricks, flopping and semi dirty play. Of course the refs are watching him extra carefully. This **** has been hurting the team all season and I'm getting pretty fed up with it. I would be fine with trading KO tomorrow if this is how he's playing the rest of the season.

- The sight of Vando getting the ball literally 10 feet from the basket and refusing to take a shot, instead hot potato'ing it to a teammate standing next to him, was really something. And it happened more than once. I have no ****ing idea how people still see this guy as an asset with "sky high potential" or something. He straight up sucks on both sides of the ball. Vando is becoming one of Hardy's stealth tanking weapons, the same as Rudy "I'm just gonna shoot this here 3 pointer" Gay (who, by the way, was an incredible +5 again).

- Speaking of Hardy... what is he doing?? If you can tell, you're a better man than me. He doesn't make adjustments, doesn't challenge calls, plays guys that keep hurting us and benches guys who have been on the upswing. I think the Hardy honeymoon is just about over. He has to be careful not to lose some of the guys on this team who are playing well and trying to win.

- I can't blame Beasley for his horrid shooting slump. It happens to the best of 'em. At least he tried to go inside when the long ball wasn't falling again. The problem is that he doesn't have the tools to play like that. He runs out of ideas and doesn't have the hops or strength to go at a big's chest like Sexton. Beasley is not that different from someone like Duncan Robinson - when the shot isn't falling, these guys are useless because they're absolutely terrible defenders and lack creativity as well as ballhandling.

- I keep harping on about our point of attack defense. I've never seen a worse group effort to guard ballhandlers. Doesn't matter if it's Conley, Clarkson, Sexton or Beasley - they all keep dying on screens, going under on lethal shooters like Huerter, jogging lazily behind the play when the center has to deal with a 2-on-1 in drop coverage and generally defending like they're all 45 years old. They're making poor Kessler look bad for no reason by not even trying at the PoA. As Thurl said, it's too much to ask from a rookie center to help on the ballhandler who has all the space and time in the world and then recover to the big man.

- Lauri was on fire inside the arc, and sometimes you just miss those 3's, but let's be honest... none of the long balls he launched were good shots. They were rushed, flat, well contested, and he'd obviously made up his mind to shoot before he even got the ball. That doesn't make sense as he's one of the most efficient players in the league when he gets to the interior. Just do a shot fake and blow past the guy closing you out. That's a minor nitpick though, especially in this game.

Lauri rightfully gets props for scoring in the flow of the game and not forcing stupid stuff, but sometimes the contested 3pt shot is his Achilles' heel. If he applied the same rules to that as he does to the rest of his offense, he'd drive to the basket or midrange when teams run him off the perimeter. Instead he forces a shot up and in this game it was pretty much a bad decision every time.
 
Last edited:
4) We hung in there all night and had a good chance to win. They got lucky at the end since if Fox hits that floater its OT at most for them but he did a good job contesting Lauri on that rebound. It ended up as a good miss for them due to Huerter hitting that 3.
I don't think luck had anything to do with it. The Kings never looked like they were in trouble, even when we were leading in the 4th. They could pretty much count on getting a nice floater for Fox or a middy for Huerter with just one Sabonis ball screen at the top, which is just unbelievable.

We have exactly one guy on the roster who can match Fox's speed and explosiveness, and that's Sexton. Unfortunately he's a flawed defender in other ways and can't anticipate/navigate ball screens at all.
 
Last edited:
Time to set up the tank. We start 10-3 but since we play like a very average team. I still believe Minny when KST back will make a run and LAkers may too if AD come back after ASG. We might ended bottom 7-8 in the league and pray for the balls.

And beeing honest , it's quite logical.
Starting 5 :

- Only Lauri , Jc and maybe Mike may be starters in many NBA Team.
- JC is a 1.5 night good, 1.5 bad
- Mike is passing well but his shoot is not consistent and he is getting old.
- Lauri is a great player but not a superstar yet.
- KO And Vando will never be starters in any contender teams. And even in average teams they may not start.

Bench :
- Malik is not consistent at all and except when he is shooting on good nights. he is a terrible player.
- Colin and NAW are under building players which go with up and down. I'm still not convinced Colin may be a starter in a good team. He play tonight 29 min ( same as Mike ) but ended with 1 assist where Mike get 8. And Mike did not play particulary well.
- Kessler is a promising rookie, but as a rookie he got up and down.
- Gay is.......
- The others are role players and need to learn.

I would have dream to see this team with Rudy and Bogey instead of KO and Vando..... but it's a dream.

Let's continue to learn and hope we have a night life to remember at the draft.
 
Back
Top