Tag: Dave Joerger

Kings should start the “young guns” again tonight in D.C.

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by Charlie O. Mallonee

wiz beal drives on hield
Bradley Beal drives on Buddy Hield Photo USA Today Sports

The Kings and Wizards met in Sacramento on October 29th. Washington opened the game by going on a 13-0 run and the Wizards never trailed in the game as they went on to win 110-83.

The Kings went with a “youth movement” lineup of Bogdan Bogdanovic, Skal Labissiere, Willie Cauley-Stein, Buddy Hield and De’Aaron Fox. That may well be the starting lineup next season or two years from now, but it might be a bit premature to expect those five to carry the load of being the starting five right now.

In his postgame comments, Dave Joerger talked about his young players giving up 10 to 30 pounds and 5-7 years of experience to the starters for the Wizards. Enthusiasm and talent usually cannot overcome talent, size and experience.

Joerger also explained that his young starting five became “shell shocked”  and a bit disoriented after they fell behind by 13 points in less than five minutes to the Wizards.

What should the Kings do tonight?

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In my opinion, Dave Joerger should run the same starting five he used versus the Wizards in Sacramento out on the floor to open the game on Monday night in Washington. My theory is based on learning to ride a bike. The first few times you attempt to ride you fall down. If you stop, you will never learn to ride. If you keep trying, you learn how to ride the bike with confidence.

Bogdanovic, Labissiere, Cauley-Stein, Hield and Fox need to get back up on “the bike” and face the Wizards from the start of the game to show themselves that they can compete with an experienced team. Even if they only play the opening five minutes, showing they can compete with the Wizards could be a real confidence builder for the young guns.

It’s all about player development

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The Kings as an organization have not made it a secret that this season is all about player development. When you have team full of young players, that has to be your commitment, but that approach can also demoralize your fan base who only understand wins and loses.

I have said before that the Kings need to go the wins at home and play for development on the road. If a game becomes a runaway on the road, the home team’s crowd will go wild as their stars go into “showtime” mode or the second unit has a chance to come out and make big plays. In the meantime, the Kings can work on developing players.

Handling the development in that manner might not thrill the television and radio people, but it would be considerably easier on the fans.

Big key for the Kings versus the Wizards – Start Fast!

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The Kings cannot afford to let Washington go on an opening run like they did in Sacramento. The Wizards simply shoot to well in the paint, from mid-range and beyond the arc to let them grab a quick lead.

It is going to be an uphill battle for the Kings. FiveThirtyEight.com gives Sacramento only a 15-percent chance of beating the Wizards and makes them a 10.5-point underdog for the game. That is not good news for a team that is 1-6 on the road.

This will be the final time the Kings will see the the Wizards this season.

Kings Press Row Podcast November 8th 2017

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host Lee Leonard with Charlie O. Mallonee

  • What is happening in week 4 of the NBA?

  • Skal Labissiere is having an impact on the Kings but has recently seen reduced playing time – what is happening with him?

  • The NBA-G League is underway – what influence will it have on “the Association”?

  • What’s coming up for the Kings?

 

Kings play better in the Motor City but lose to Pistons 108-99

Published on by Charlie O. Mallonee2 Comments

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Pistons Little Caesars
The new Little Caesar’s Arena in downtown Detroit*

The Sacramento Kings played their best game of the three-game road trip on Saturday night in Detroit even though they lost the game 108-99. The Pistons (7-3) went on a 16-5 scoring run late in the third quarter and the Kings (1-8) were unable to close the gap after that run losing their seventh consecutive game. Sacramento finished 0-3 on the road trip.

The Kings played their best basketball against the most physical team they had to face on the road trip. Maybe the most important accomplishment was scoring more than 86 points in a game which they had not done in their last four contests. There are no moral victories but there are games where a team can show improvement. That is what the Kings showed on Saturday night. They showed improvement.

Dave Joerger went with a starting five consisting of veterans and youth. Zach Randolph and Garrett Temple were the vets who started. Third- year man Willie Cauley-Stein got the start at center while rookies Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Aaron Fox were also in the starting five. Fox started at point guard because George Hill was not with the team due to personal reasons.

Joerger would also use a 12 man rotation versus the Pistons. Everyone on the Kings bench except Papagiannis played in the game.

The Kings managed to take the lead in this game. Their biggest lead was only one point but in was a lead. They stayed within three to four points of the lead for much of game.

Top Performers

Kings

Pistons Boggy
Bogdanovic drives the lane in Detroit*
  • Zach Randolph led the Kings in scoring with 19 points shooting 8-for-14 (57.1-percent) from the floor. Z-Bo also hit 2-of-3 from behind the 3-point line. Randolph played almost 30-minutes in the game.
  • Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 14 points against the Pistons hitting 6-of-7 shots from the field (85.7-percent). He was a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point land. As usual, Bogdanovic played very strong defense as well.
  • De’Aaron Fox also posted 14 points but seven of those points came in the fourth quarter when the game was really out of reach. He dished out four assists in his 26-minutes on the floor.
  • Buddy Hield — who was nursing a sore ankle from the Boston game — put 13 up points and grabbed eight rebounds.
  • Garrett Temple had a very solid game with 10 points, three rebounds, three steals and one assist.
  • Willie Cauley-Stein who struggled in the first half really improved in the second half scoring eight points to go with three rebounds, four assists and two steals.
  • Frank Mason played an important role as the point guard for the second unit in the game. Mason played 21-minutes scoring seven points and distributing six assists.

Pistons

Pistons Drummond
Andre Drummond posted a double-double in the game*
  •  Avery Bradley led the way for the victorious Pistons with 24 points. He hit 10-of-15 shots from the floor (66.7-percent). Bradley played 32-minutes for Detroit versus the Kings.
  • Power Forward Tobias Harris scored 20 points, hauled in five rebounds, added five assists, had one steal and one block in the game.
  • Big man Andre Drummond posted another double-double scoring 16 points and grabbing 19 rebounds. He also had four assists, three steals and one block.
  • Point guard Reggie Jackson — who was the subject of trade rumors earlier in the week- scored 15 and dished out seven assists.
  • Former King Anthony Tolliver scored 10 points against his former team.

Team numbers

Sacramento

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  • The Kings shot an impressive 52.6-percent (40-for-76) from the field. They hit 10-of-21 (47.6-percent) of their 3-point attempts.
  • The Kings still did not make it to the free throw line enough on Saturday night. They made 9-of-13 opportunities. Sacramento needs to bring that free throw attempted number up to 20-plus.
  • Sac pulled down 32 total rebounds (3 off/ 29 def) which is on the low side and could be of concern if those numbers continue to be low.
  • The Kings had 24 assists and committed 18 turnovers which resulted in 18 Piston points. The assist to turnover ratio is well below the goal of 2-to-1.

Detroit

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  • The Pistons also shot over 50-percent from the floor as they hit 40 of their 79 field goal attempts.
  • Detroit was on fire from “downtown” as they connected on 13-of-24 (54.2-percent) of their shots from behind the 3-point arc.
  • They hit 15-of-22 attempts from the charity stripe.
  •   It was a low rebounding game for both teams as the Pistons hauled in 35 (8 off/ 27 def) rebounds.
  • Detroit came close to the 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio as they posted 28 assists versus 15 turnovers. Their turnovers turned into nine Sacramento points.
  • The Pistons had 10 steals against Sacramento Saturday night.

Up next on the schedule

The Kings flew home after the game and will be off until Tuesday when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder at Golden 1 Center. Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony should provide quite a challenge for the Kings.

The Pistons stay in Detroit and will return to action on Wednesday when the Indiana Pacers visit Little Caesar’s Arena.

*Photos by USA Today Sports

It was a painful game to watch on Sunday as the Wizards destroyed the Kings 100-83

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wiz beal drives on hield
Bradley Beal drives on Buddy Hield Photo USA Today Sports

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Washington Wizards opened the game with the Sacramento Kings on Sunday afternoon with a 13 – 0 run. By the time Sacramento head coach Dave Joerger mercifully called timeout with 7:16 to go in the first quarter, very few in the Golden 1 Center had any doubts about how the game would finish.

By the time the final buzzer sounded 48 – minutes later, the Wizards (4-2) had handed the Kings (1-5) their third consecutive defeat 110-83. Quite possibly more important than losing three-in-a-row is the fact the Kings are 0-3 at home this season. Even for a young team – there is supposed to be some semblance of a “home court advantage”. This young edition of the Kings has not established that home court presence as of yet.

Wizards were on a mission

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John Wall scored a game-high 19 points Photo USA Today Sports

Washington had been on a very tough road trip. The Wizards won the opening game of the trip in Denver, then everything fell apart in Los Angeles. After John Wall was very outspoken about the way he was going to go at Lonzo Ball, the Lakers beat the Wizards 102 – 99 in overtime. That loss led to some major headlines across the nation.

On Friday night, Washington had to face the Golden State Warriors in Oakland. The Wizards were in control of that contest until late in the game when the Warriors came alive to outscore the Wizards 33-20 in the fourth period. Golden State won the game 120 – 117.

That Warriors game also featured the “scuffle” between Draymond Green and Bradley Beal. The Wizards literally did not know until 90-minutes before the game whether Beal would be able to play or be suspended. The league chose to fine him and Beal played against the Kings.

Wizards head coach Scott Brooks made it very clear in his pregame remarks that his team had one goal and that was to finish the road trip 2 – 2. They met that goal.

The 3-point shot was the Wizards weapon of choice

Washington used the 3-point shot to perfection against the Kings on Sunday. The Wizards hit 17-of-34 3-point attempts (50-percent) in the game. That was not a franchise record. Washington has the 11th best 3-point shooting percentage in the NBA. Ironically, the team with the 12th best 3-point shooting percentage in “the Association” is the Sacramento Kings – except they shot only 27.3-percent (6-for-22) from beyond the arc on Sunday.

John Wall led the Wizards hitting 5-of-6 from downtown. Otto Potter Jr. sank three and Kelly Oubre Jr. connected on two from long range.

Every active player on the Washington roster played and scored in the game

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The Wizards had 12 men on the active roster Sunday afternoon and all saw playing time against the Kings. Every Wizard scored points. John Wall scored a game-high 19-points and dished out nine assists.

Otto Porter Jr. put up 16-points and grabbed five rebounds. Bradley Beal – who in this reporter’s opinion should have been on suspension for his actions last Friday night – scored 15-points. Mike Scott added 13-points and Jodie Meeks recorded 11.

Every active player on the Kings roster played in the game

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Dave Joerger planned on using a 10-man rotation on Sunday. When Garrett Temple sustained a cut over his eye, that changed the plan and all 13 Sacramento players saw time on the floor.

Bogdan Bogdanovic led the Kings in scoring with with 15-points going 7-for-9 from the field. Frank Mason III put up 11-points shooting 5-for-10 in his 21-minutes on the court. Skal Labissiere and Malachi Richardson each tallied 10 points against the Wizards.

Dave Joerger had some interesting takes on the loss to the Wizards

Wizards Head Coach Scott Brooks thoughts on the game

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Scott Brooks looks on as his Wizard destroys the Kings Photo USA Today Sports

“I thought we came out defensively and contested shots and made them miss shots. We were really moving the ball well, and knocking down 3’s. It was probably the best that we’ve played on both ends of the court. Our passing, leading to open 3’s were just terrific. Hopefully, we can continue that trend. Defensive mindset was really good tonight.”

Kings management must react to the “boos” and empty seats

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Kings head coach Dave Joerger made some comments in his pregame news conference about the starting lineup and roster being about player development. Everyone understands that Kings are in a “rebuilding mode” but that does not mean they will be patient if they go into a “G-League” mode. Kings fans are paying top dollar for the opportunity to see their team play at the Golden 1 Center and they expect to see their team at least be competitive on the court.

Having George Hill and Zach Randolph on the inactive list against a team like the Wizards is not putting your best product on the floor. If you want to experiment with a young, inexperienced roster, do it in Indiana or Atlanta where their fans will love the “blow out” and not feel “ripped off”. At home, the Kings need to do everything they can to win games. They owe that to their fans.

It is not acceptable to hear boos at the end of the first-half and to have a half-full arena as the second-half tips-off. Kings fans have worked too hard to keep this team in Sacramento to suffer experimental lineup after experimental lineup. Experiment on the road and be competitive at home.

Up next on the schedule

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The Kings head out on the road for a three-game road that begins on Halloween in Indiana with the Pacers. Then on Wednesday, they have the back end of a back-to-back set on the road in Boston. Sacramento wraps up the road trip on Saturday in Detroit with the Pistons.

The Wizards head back to Washington and will face the Suns on Wednesday and then must get ready for the Cavs on Friday.

Kings get winded at 5280 feet and lose to Denver 96-79

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by Charlie O. Mallonee

Den-ZBo
Zach Randolph scored 11 points and grabbed 9 rebounds on Saturday night Photo: USA Today

NBA teams have only a 33-percent chance of winning the second game of a back-to-back set on the road. Sacramento won in Dallas on Friday night. The odds were against them going into Denver on Saturday which is why they entered the game as a -12.5 point underdog.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Kings had lost their second game of the season as the Nuggets outscored them 96-79. Denver   did not play that spectacular. They just played less sloppy than the Kings did in the game.

For all of the Sacramento rookies, this was their first back-to-back set of games on the road. Add in the fact that the game was played at “mile high” altitude” in Denver and it becomes a real learning situation. This is not an effort to make excuses for the Kings but rather an opportunity to explain the literal uphill battle they faced on Saturday night.

Rebound stats may explain the entire game

The Nuggets out-rebounded the Kings 58-39 in the game. There are very few games where a team can give up 19 more rebounds to their opponents and walk away with a victory.

When the rebounding stats are broken down even further, the impact of Denver’s efforts becomes even greater. The Nuggets pulled down 18 rebounds on offense which created 13 second chance point opportunities. Denver converted eight of the second chance situations which turned into 19 points.

The Kings had only 12 offensive rebounds that turned into 10 points. Eight of those rebounds on offense came in the second half when the Kings had a significant scoring deficit to make up so they did not have the impact they might have had earlier in the game.

The problem — tired legs. You could see that the Kings did not have the spring in their legs like they had in Dallas on Friday night. Fatigue and altitude can be brutal. Yes, the young players will to learn how to deal with these adversities, but that is why fans have been cautioned to remember this is going to be a season of learning.

Top Performances

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Labissiere came off the bench to score 13 points for SAC Photo: USA Today Sports

Kings

  • De’Aaron Fox continued to amaze on Saturday night as he scored a team-high (tied for game-high) 18 points shooting 8-for-13 from the floor. He sank one 3-pointer, grabbed five rebounds and had one assist. He did all of that while being double-teamed by the defense much of the game.
  • Skal Labissiere came off the bench and brought some offense to the game for the Kings. He finished with 13 points in 25-minutes on the floor. He shot 6-for-12 including one 3-pointer. Labissiere also pulled down four rebounds and dished out four assists.
  • Z-Bo showed the young kids how an “O.G” plays in a back-to-back on the road. He put up 11 points in 20-minutes. He also grabbed nine rebounds (four offensive). Randolph spent much of the game being very frustrated with the officials and the lack of foul calls.
  • Rookie Frank Mason III played in his first NBA game and scored seven points.
  • Malachi Richardson saw some playing time most of which came in the fourth quarter and scored eight points.
  • Coach Dave Joerger used all 13 of his active players in the game on Saturday night.

Nuggets

Den-Farid
Faried came off the bench to score 18 points for the Nuggets Photo USA Today Sports
  • Denver had two players who tied for team-high in scoring and game-high in scoring with De’Aaron Fox. Paul Millsap put up 18 points to go with nine rebounds. The hyperactive Kenneth Faried came off the bench to score 18 shooting 7-for-10.
  • Guard Gary Harris scored 17 points going 7-for-11 from the field including three 3-pointers. Early in the game, he just broke loose and worked the backdoor for easy buckets under the basket.
  • Will Barton quietly scored 15 points for the Nuggets. He shot 6-for-13 overall and went 3-for-8 from 3-point land.

Team Performances

It was not a beautiful game for either team.

Sacramento (1-2)

  • The Kings shot just 36.6-percent (31-for-85) for the game. They went just 8-for-23 (34.8-percent) from beyond the 3-point arc.
  • Free throw opportunities were in short supply again on Saturday night. SAC went to the line just 13 times in the game and hit nine of those opportunities. They have to increase the number of free throw attempts per game.
  • They dished out 15 assists but turned it over 14 times which resulted in 19 Denver points. That ratio is not acceptable.
  • Rebounding — that has already been discussed.

Denver (1-1)

  • The Nuggets shot an acceptable 43.5-percent (37-for-85) from field. They hit 10-of-30 3-point opportunities (33.3-percent).
  • Denver went 12-for-20 from the charity stripe.
  • Their 58-39 rebound advantage really made the difference in the game for the Nuggets.
  • The Nuggets distributed 25 assists and turned the ball over 16 times. Those TOVs resulted in 13 points for the Kings.

Up next

Sacramento

The Kings will have Sunday off in the Valley of the Sun and then will face the 0-3 Phoenix Suns on Monday night. The Suns lost to the Clippers in Los Angeles on Saturday night 130-88. FiveThirtyEight.com gives the Suns a 66-percent chance to win the game. They make Phoenix -4-point favorite.

Denver

The Nuggets will return to action on Wednesday in Charlotte versus the Hornets. Denver is a 2.5-point underdog according FiveThirtyEight.

Final Note

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Denver head coach Michael Malone Photo USA Today Sports

The rivalry between Denver and Sacramento because they are facing former Kings coach Michael Malone is officially over. No player on the Kings roster was ever coached by Malone. Wow! How quickly things can change in the NBA.

Kings fight to the final buzzer but come up short as Rockets win 105-100

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Cauley-Stein puts in a dunk to cut the Rockets lead to three points with seven seconds to go in the game

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Kings open the 2017-18 regular season with loss to the powerful Houston Rockets

The Sacramento Kings kicked off their new season before a sellout crowd of 17,583 at the Golden 1 Center on Wednesday night. Their opponent was the very powerful and talented Houston Rockets who started their season on Tuesday night with a last second win over the defending NBA Champion Golden State Warriors in Oakland.

The Kings hoped to take advantage of catching the Rockets on the second game of a back-to-back set on the road. They also received some good news when they learned that Chris Paul would not play due to ongoing problems with a knee contusion.

Sacramento (0-1) kept the game close through all four quarters. They even won the third quarter 24-23. The lead changed eight times in the game and the contest was tied four times. Houston’s largest lead was 11 points while the Kings biggest lead was six.

James Harden struggled through the first three quarters of the game appearing to be tired from effort that expended versus the Warriors on Tuesday night. Unfortunately for the Kings, Harden caught a second wind in the final period and scored 12 of his game-high 27 points over those last 12 minutes. That performance really made the difference for the Rockets (2-0).

Despite being down by 11 points with 5:13 remaining in the game the Kings did not give up and cut the Houston lead to just three points with 26-seconds to go in the contest. It was at that point this game took a left turn that the Kings would never recover from.

The Kings George Hill sank two free throws to make it a 98-95 game with Houston in the lead with 26-seconds remaining. On the inbounds play, Hill appeared to disrupt the possession by Eric Gordon who lost control allowing the ball to go out-of-bounds. The big crowd went wild but settled as a video replay was ordered.

What the crowd, the Kings bench and the majority of the media did not understand was the replay was not to determine if Gordon was the last player to touch the ball before it went out-of-bounds. The replay was to confirm a foul call that made on Hill by the referee on the far-side of the court. The replay center in Secaucus upheld the foul call and Gordon was sent to the charity stripe to shoot two shots.

Gordon hit both shots to give Houston a five-point lead with 26-seconds to play essentially sealing the win for the Rockets. The Kings gave it their best effort but came up short.

Kings head coach Dave Joerger addresses the call in a very subdued manner in part two of his video comments.

Dave Joerger was very proud of the effort his team gave against the talented Rockets

  • Sacramento shot 42-for-88 (47.7%) from the floor
  • The Kings shot 8-for-23 (34.8%) from 3-point land
  • The team went just 8-for-10 from the free throw line vs. 27-for-29 for the Rockets

Joerger was not happy about the foul call that was upheld by the video replay center

  • De’Aaron Fox 14 points (7-for-15 shooting), five assists, four rebounds, 23-minutes of playing time
  • Buddy Hield 19 points (8-for-17 shooting including three 3’s), five rebounds, four assists, one steal

Coach Joerger was pleased with the play of Willie Cauley-Stein

  • Cauley-Stein with the double-double: 21 points (game-high for SAC), 10-for-15 shooting, 10 rebounds (four offensive), three blocked shots

This was a Tier One vs a Tier Three game

  • Kings played without Zach Randolph who was sidelined by oral surgery
  • Bogdan Bogdanovic did not play because of a sprained right ankle

The Kentucky connection was very important to the Kings on Wednesday 

  • Skal Labissiere 12 points, 10 rebounds to post a double-double
  • Cauley-Stein, Labissiere and Fox = 47 points, 24 rebounds, seven assists

Up next for the Kings and Rockets

  • Sacramento heads out on the road and will face the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night
  • The Rockets will have their home opener on Saturday night when they host the Dallas Mavericks

Z-Bo arrested – Did the Kings plan for veteran leadership just go up in smoke?

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by Charlie O. Mallonee

Z-bo Police car damage
Photo from totalprosports.com

NBA veteran and now a member of the Sacramento Kings Zach Randolph was arrested in the Watts area of Los Angeles on Wednesday night on suspicion of marijuana possession and intent to sell. He was one of three men arrested by LAPD. One individual was arrested for being an ex-convict in possession of a gun.

What’s the big deal — isn’t weed about to be legal in California

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The big deal is the amount of marijuana that was seized in the arrest. According to TMZ Sports, two pounds of marijuana was taken into custody during the bust by Los Angeles Police. You read that amount correctly — two pounds. That is just a “tad” above the amount that is considered to be for personal consumption.

Randolph has earned an estimated $175-180 million in salary alone in his 16-years in the NBA. One would not think he would need to be selling “weed” to in order pay his bills. The problem is being associated with a large amount of marijuana that is considered beyond what would be normal for personal consumption places a person in the potential sales and distribution business. Even if the individual were giving the product away for free, that act could be deemed illegal.

The whole scene got out of control

According to reports, when LAPD rolled up on the scene a pursuit began for three adult males. That pursuit involved the entry into a home in the area. When the three suspects (one of which was Randolph) were brought out of the house, the crowd that gathered in the area turned ugly.

According to the Los Angeles Daily News, a dispersal order was issued by law enforcement. The crowd then began throwing rocks and bottles at police. They also proceeded to damage several police vehicles.

Fortunately no one in the crowd or any officers were injured in what had to be a very tense situation.

Welcome to the LA County Jail

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Randolph was booked into the LA County Jail. He was released on Thursday morning at 8 a.m. on $20,000 bail.

“The charges are false and misleading,” Randolph’s agent and attorney Raymond Brothers told The Associated Press. “We’re looking at all options to resolve this matter.”

He has been arrested not convicted

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It is really important that fans remember that Randolph has been charged with crimes not convicted. Because he is such a high profile person, there is a tendency to assume guilt rather than wait for the trail process to play itself out.

Does the situation look bad? It looks horrible, but that still does not mean Randolph is guilty. He deserves his day in court.

What about his future with the Kings and the NBA?

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Zach Randolph Photo: bet.com

The Kings have acknowledged that they are aware of the situation but the team is withholding any statement at this time which is not surprising.

If Randolph is found guilty of involvement with marijuana, he would also face sanctions from the NBA for violating the league policy on drug use.

The Kings have to make some big decisions in a short period of time

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Vlade Divac Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The Kings signed Randolph — a 16-year NBA veteran — to be a mentor “on toughness” for their young players. The question the Kings must answer quickly is whether they still want Randolph to mentor their four rookies, three second-year players and other young members of their team.

This not a situation that vice president and general manager Vlade Divac and head coach Dave Joerger were planning on having to deal with as they prepare for the upcoming season.

Photo of Randolph leaving jail taken from TMZ Sports video

Kings: Vinsanity comes to Sacramento

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By Charlie O. Mallonee

carter-randolph
Zach Randolph and Vince Carter are teammates again in Sacramento

The Sacramento Kings knew their young roster needed some veteran experience to help guide them through the upcoming NBA season and to give them a chance to be competitive in the west. First, it was the signings of point guard George Hill and power forward Zach Randolph that brought maturity to the team.

Now according to ESPN reports, veteran small forward/shooting guard Vince Carter’s agents are announcing their client has signed a one-year contract with the Kings worth a reported $8-million. The 40-year old Carter will be entering his 20th season in the NBA in 2017-18.

Carter entered “the association” in 1998 when was drafted in the first round (fifth overall) out of the University of North Carolina by the Golden State Warriors. He then was traded plus cash to the Toronto Raptors in a Draft Night trade that saw the Warriors receive the number four overall pick Antwan Jamison in return.

This is another part of getting the band back together for Joerger 

Every coach desires to have the key people from his previous team join him in a new situation, but that is not always feasible. When Dave Joerger found out he would not be returning to the Memphis Grizzlies as head coach, he barely had time to go find a new job and bring assistant coaches with him to Sacramento let alone try to transfer player personnel.

Dave Joerger now has two key veterans from his days in Memphis on his roster in Sacramento with the addition of Carter. Carter joins Zach Randolph who is expected to his special “Z-BO” brand of toughness to the front line of the young Kings team.

Joerger knows how to develop young talent. He earned his way to an NBA head coaching job by spending years coaching young players in the CBA, D-League and then as an assistant in “the association”. Joerger really likes to have inexperienced players learn by observation as well as by instruction. He has some strong talent for them to watch in Carter, Randolph and Hill.

Carter was a key figure for Memphis in ’16-’17

Carter played in 73 games last season – his most appearances since 2013. He averaged 8.0-points per game to go with 3.1-rebounds per game in 24.6-minutes per game. The Grizzlies used him at small forward the majority of the time.

Carter shot 39.4-percent overall in 2016-17. He shot 41.8-percent from 2-point range and 37.8-percent from beyond the 3-point line. His eFG% was 50.8-percent. Carter added an average of 1.2-assists, 0.8-steals and 0.5-blocks per game. He turned the ball over less than once per game (0.7).

Carter is a “long distance” shooter. Of his 490 field goal attempts last season, 303 of them came from a distance of at least 20-feet away from the basket. 175 of those attempts came from 25-29 feet away from the bucket. Carter will help the Kings spread the floor.

They are going to miss “Z-BO” in Memphis

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No other Memphis player will ever wear No. 50

The Memphis Grizzlies have announced they are planning to retire the number 50 jersey worn by Zach Randolph who has just become a member of the Sacramento Kings as a free agent. Randolph was in Memphis for eight seasons.

In a tweet, Grizzlies majority owner Robert Para said that number 50 “will never be worn by another member of the Memphis Grizzlies.” He also thanked Randolph for helping turn a lottery team into a playoff contender and helping to make the team a model of community service.

Randolph will be the first Memphis player to have his number retired in team history.

Kings add to the coaching staff

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Phil Ricci is now an assistant coach for the Kings

Phil Ricci has been hired to be an assistant player development coach for the Sacramento Kings working on head coach Dave Joerger’s staff.

Ricci has a resume that includes almost twenty years of coaching and playing time at the professional and collegiate levels. He played in the NBA Development League (now the G-League) and overseas.

This is a homecoming for Ricci who attended high school in Galt and played basketball at Delta Community College (Stockton) prior to going to Oregon State.

 

 

Kings get their veteran PG in George Hill and add grit up front in Zach Randolph

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by Charlie O. Mallonee

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The Sacramento Kings appeared to be in neutral on the free agent market while waiting to see if the Washington Wizards would match their offer sheet for Otto Porter Jr. In reality, they were working on deals in a stealth mode that caught most observers by total surprise.

Kings get experience at point guardGreorge Hill

Sacramento is very happy with the talent they drafted at point guard in De’Aaron Fox and Frank Mason III. The only problem is that neither player has one minute of playing time in the NBA. That is not an acceptable situation.

The Kings point guards from last season were both free agents. Darren Collison just signed a two-year deal with the Indiana Pacers. There were reports that Sacramento was in discussions with Ty Lawson about returning to the team, but he certainly would be looking for a guaranteed contract with multiple years or options. Lawson played last season on a one-year non-guaranteed contract.

Enter George Hill. Hill had been rumored to be heading to Los Angeles to play with the Lakers and to be a mentor to Lonzo Ball. Reports are circling the Lakers were only willing to offer a one-year deal. Not the kind of security a 31-year old, nine-year NBA veteran in a salary market gone mad is looking for this year.

It has been reported the Jazz tried to sign Hill to an extension during the season valued at $88-million but he and his representatives thought he would do better on the open market in the offseason. The free agent market did not fall Hill’s direction.

According to the Vertical who broke the story, the deal is for three years and worth $57-million. David Aldridge of NBA.com is reporting the third year is only partially guaranteed.

Hill will almost certainly be the starter in Sacramento. Head coach Dave Joerger makes no bones about not being thrilled about throwing rookies into starting roles. Last season, first-year players sat at the end of the bench and then were summoned into the game for limited minutes. Depending on their performance, more or less playing time was awarded to the young players.

Hill will be expected to mentor the young point guards. He can also play along side them as an off-guard. Joerger also liked using an offense that incorporated two point guards on the floor in a “small ball” lineup.

Hill averaged 16.9 points per game in 49 games last season. His overall shooting percentage was 47.7. He shot 40.3-percent from 3-point range. Hill averaged 4.2 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 1 steal and 1.7 turnovers per game.

The injury that caused Hill to miss so many games last season was a sprained big toe. He said it was a freak injury and it proved to be a nagging injury that did not heal well under the pressure of playing. The toe did not require any surgery in the offseason.

He’s big — he’s bad — he’s Z-Bo and now he is a King

zach Randolph

The other player the Kings reportedly signed on Tuesday brings a dimension of toughness to the team that they lost when DeMarcus Cousins was traded away. The difference is that Zach Randolph knows how to keep things under control while banging under the basket.

“Z-Bo” as he is known has reportedly signed a two-year, $24-million contract with Sacramento. The signing was first reported by the “the Woj” of ESPN. Randolph’s signing also reunites him with his old coach Dave Joerger who was the head man in Memphis for three seasons.

Last season in Memphis, Randolph worked as a sixth man for the Grizzlies. He averaged 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds in 29.5 minutes playing time per game. Will Randolph be a sixth man in Sac? Dave Joerger likes to vary starting lineups based on matchups and on who is hot at the moment. The one thing you can count on is the Randolph was not signed to come sit on the Kings bench.

Randolph — who will turn 36 later this month — has been in “the association” since 2001. He has made stops in Portland, New York, Los Angeles (Clippers) and Memphis. Randolph played his college basketball at Michigan State for Tom Izzo and helped lead the Spartans to the NCAA Final Four in 2001.

Sacramento meets their new Kings

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The four new Kings react to being drafted by Sacramento

Kings head coach Dave Joerger talks about his new players

De’Aaron Fox explains why he is happy to be in Sacramento

De’Aaron Fox is also going to be a star off the court

Frank Mason III brings experience to the Kings

Justin Jackson has won a National Championship with North Carolina

Apologies to Justin for the bad lighting but I wanted fans to hear his comments

Harry Giles tells the media  and fans he is healthy and ready to play