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Kings play tough in Minnesota but come up just short losing 111-106

Published on February 11, 2018 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Style points are usually reserved for events in the Olympics. Well, the Winter Olympics are in full swing and the Kings are in full “player development mode”, so we have to judge them on more than just wins and losses.

For their efforts in Minnesota on Sunday night, the young Kings get a 10 for effort, a 10 for hustle and eight for style. Sacramento lost the game to the T-Wolves 111-106, but they did what no one really expected them to do in this first game of a three-game road trip. The Kings made it a very competitive game.

The Kings did two major things right on Sunday night:

They came out of the gate an played hard from the opening jump ball. De’Aaron Fox led the way scoring 14 points in first period as the Kings outscored the Timberwolves 29-23 in the first quarter. Sacramento also played some tough defense as they gave up only 23 points.
The second thing the Kings did well on Sunday night is they avoided the dreaded third quarter letdown. Sacramento has established a habit of playing very ineffective basketball in the third stanza and then having to try to come back in dramatic fashion in the fourth quarter to make up for bad third quarters. The Kings won the third quarter on Sunday night 26-19

The Timberwolves superior firepower took its toll in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Kings 36-26 to win the game 111-106. The game was competitive right up until the final seven-seconds of the contest.

The victory was the Timberwolves 13th consecutive win on their homecourt. That is truly an incredible run.

Star Performances

Kings

Rookie De’Aaron Fox played an outstanding game in his almost 35-minutes on the floor. Beyond his 14 points in the first quarter, Fox finished the game with a team-high 23 points. He shot 8-for-16 from the floor and went 6-for-8 from the free throw line. Fox added three steals and two assists to his stats for the game.
Buddy Hield had another productive game coming off the bench. Hield played just under 19-minutes but manged to post 16 points in that time on the floor. Hield shot 6-for-13 including going 2-for-5 from 3-point land. Buddy also recorded four rebounds, two steals, one assist and one blocked shot.
Rookie (well NBA rookie) Bogdan Bogdanovic put 13 points in the book in 30-plus minutes on the floor. He shot 5-for-12 from the field and hit 2-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc. Bogie also dished out eight assists in the game.

T-Wolves

To no one’s surprise, the big KAT was the man for Minnesota on Sunday night. Karl-Anthony Towns scored a game-high 29 points shooting 10-for-17 from the floor. Towns went a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. He grabbed eight rebounds, dished out six assists and blocked three shots in the game.
Veteran Jimmy Butler added 18 points hitting 5-of-9 shots from the floor. Butler went to the free throw line nine times and converted seven of those opportunities. Butler also added three assists.
Andrew Wiggins was another key part of the T-Wolves win on Sunday. He scored 16 points, grabbed eight rebounds and distributed three assists. Wiggins hit 7-of-13 of his shots in the game.

Prime Numbers

Sacramento (17-38)

The Kings shot 47.7-percent (42-for-88) for the game and hit 10-of-25 (40-percent) from 3-point range.
Sacramento hit 12-of-17 from the charity stripe. The team needs to go to the free throw line at least 20 times per game, but hitting 70.6-percent of their opportunities is acceptable.
The Kings pulled down 43 rebounds – 15 of those rebounds were offensive grabs. Those 15 offensive rebounds turned into 22 points for SAC.
Sacramento committed 19 turnovers that became 22 Minnesota points. The Kings totaled only 17 assists which gave them a negative assists to turnover ratio.

Minnesota (35-24)

The T-Wolves shot 50-percent (37-for-74) from the floor for the game on Sunday night. They hit 9-of-24 chances from long-range.
Minnesota went to the free throw line 32 times. They sank 28 of those free throw shots (87.5-percent).
The Timberwolves dished out 29 assists while committing 17 turnovers which is close to the 2-to-1 desired ratio goal.
The T-Wolves biggest lead in the game was five points while the Kings largest lead was 10 points. There were 10 lead changes and the game was tied 15 times.

Up Next

Kings

Sacramento will play the second game of their three-game road trip on Tuesday night in Dallas versus the Mavericks.

Timberwolves

Minnesota will stay at home and host the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.

Warriors buy the number 38 draft pick and select Jordan Bell from Oregon

Published on June 25, 2017June 25, 2017 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The NBA Champion Golden State Warriors entered the 2017 NBA Draft in the same condition they did in 2016. The Warriors had no selection available to them in either round.

So, the Dubs were merely spectators on Thursday night. But wait, there’s more.

Just as they had in 2016 the Warriors reached into their bank, grabbed some cash and declared they wanted to be players in this year’s draft.

GSW found a trading partner in the Bulls

The Chicago Bulls had experienced a disaster on Thursday night that included trading Jimmy Butler to the Timberwolves for what most experts believe was way under value. If the rumors are to be believed, Chicago had a much better offer from Boston before the start of the draft.

For some reason, the Bulls did not think they needed the number 38 pick (8th selection in the 2nd round), so they accepted $3.5-million from the Warriors in exchange for the pick. The $3.5-million figure is the maximum amount of money a team can accept for a second-round selection.

The Warriors found their man in Oregon

Oregon v Wisconsin

The Warriors selected 6-foot-9, Junior power forward/center Jordan Bell out the University of Oregon. Bell was definitely a value pick as a number of draft experts had predicted he would be selected late in the first round.

Bell is a defensive player first. He has a nose for the ball and is a strong rebounder. He is also a known as having good instincts as a shot blocker. Bell has the ability to protect the paint and is willing cover any assignment given to him on defense.

Bell is seen a strong player but if he going defend on the front line in “the association” he will need to add some weight.

As with many shot blockers, Bell has tendency to go for the block and end up out of position for the rebound. He will need work on that at the next level.

On offense

GSW Bell Dunk

Bell runs the floor well and finishes strong at the rim. He is a real threat to score near the basket. Bell also has the ability to score on offensive rebounds. He also moves well without the ball and sets a good screen.

Bell has worked hard and improved as a free throw shooter. He went from a 50-percent FT shooter to shooting 70.5-percent from the line in his junior season.

Bell averaged 10.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.2 blocks in 28.7 minutes per game in the 2016-17 season.

Bell will need to work on becoming a scoring threat outside the paint.

Is Bell the next McCaw

The Warriors are hoping that Bell will be this year’s version of Patrick McCaw whom they obtained the same way last season. With the expanded rosters, Bell will be able to spend time at Santa Cruz and in Oakland as he develops his talents.

SacKings Podcast: Ben Stram of FANRAG Sports grades the Kings 2017 NBA Draft

Published on June 23, 2017 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O Mallonee

nbadraftlogo

The 2017 NBA Draft is history and now it is time to evaluate how well each team did in the draft. The Kings turned three picks into four selections by trading the 10th pick to Portland in exchange for the number 15 and 20 selections. Was that a good move by the Kings?

NBA Draft expert Ben Stram of FANRAG Sports breaks down the Kings selections and gives the team an overall grade for their choices.

fanrag

Did he like the selection of De’Aaron Fox at number five?

Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival — Point guard De’Aaron Fox is now a Sacramento King

What did Ben think of trading away Zach Collins for the 15th and 20th picks?

collins

Is Harry Giles worth the risk of dealing with his injury riddled past?

giles

Will Justin Jackson be an impact player?

J Jackson — Justin Jackson the Kings #15 overall draft pick

How will Frank Mason III fit into the Kings youth movement?

We also asked Ben who lives in the Chicago area about the impact of the Jimmy Butler trade to the T-Wolves?

jimmy-butler-knee-injury-20160212

Ben also gives a grade to the 2017 NBA Draft as a whole.

If you are a Kings fan, this will be 18-minutes and 30-seconds well spent. Enjoy.

Kings lose a heartbreaker in Chicago 102-99; SAC has now lost five in a row

Published on January 22, 2017 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

bulls-boogie-victim — The victim of Cousins wrath after the loss in Chicago Photo: Sean Highkin TheAthleticChi

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings and Chicago Bulls came into the game in Chicago on Saturday night looking to end losing streaks. The Kings had lost four games in a row and the Bulls had lost two consecutive games. Both teams had been beaten soundly on Friday night.

The Kings and Bulls played hard and gave their full 48-minute efforts in a game that ended with a controversial call – if you are a Sacramento fan. When the final buzzer sounded, the Bulls (22-23) had won the game 102-99 and ended their losing streak. The Kings (16-27) went to their locker room frustrated and the owners of a five-game losing streak – their longest of the season.

You call that a foul?

With 15-seconds on the clock and the game tied at 99-99, Dwyane Wade was able to steal the ball from the Kings Garrett Temple and start a fast break for the basket. Wade went up for an uncontested dunk and hit the back of the iron. DeMarcus Cousins was trailing Wade and may (emphasis on may) have brushed Wade on his way down after missing the dunk. The officials blew the whistle and called a foul on Cousins. Basically, the referees could not believe that superstar guard would miss the breakaway slam unless he was fouled.

Multiple video replays showed that there was no foul on the play but the play was not eligible for video review. The call stood. Wade made 1-of-2 free throws and the Bulls took a 100-99 lead.

bulls-wade — Dwyane Wade scored 30 points against the Kings Photo: NBAE

The final 14-seconds

The Kings began working a play following a timeout when Taj Gibson was able to reach in and steal the ball from Cousins. The Bulls were able to score when Michael Carter-Williams put the ball through the hoop on an Alley Oop layup with an assist from Wade that gave the Bulls a 102-99 lead.

Garrett Temple brought the ball into the frontcourt quickly for the Kings and put up a 41-foot desperation shot that banged off the rim as the buzzer sounded. The game ended with the Bulls winning 102-99.

DeMarcus Cousins was a one-man wrecking crew

Cousins scored a game-high 42 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to record his 23rd double-double game of the season. Cousins scored those 42 points on just 28 shots. He converted 8-of-9 free throws and hit 2-of-7 shots from 3-point range. He sank those 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions late in the fourth quarter to keep his team in the game. Cousins had three assists and two blocked shots while committing only two turnovers in the contest. The Kings big man was their only player to score in double figures in the game.

Sacramento Kings v Chicago Bulls — Cousins left it all on the court in Chicago Photo: NBAE

To no one’s surprise it was the Wade and Butler show for the Bulls

Dwyane Wade led the Bulls scoring attack with 30 points. Wade did not have a great night shooting as he went 9-for-20 from the field. He did go an impressive 12-for-15 from the free throw line. Wade also added four assists, four blocked shots and three steals in the game. The superstar guard sent out a tweet to Bulls fans apologizing for their poor play in Atlanta on Friday night. Wade has nothing to apologize for after the way he played against the Kings on Saturday night.

Jimmy Butler scored 23 points and dished out seven assists against the Kings. He spent most of the game acting as the playmaker. Butler shot 6-for-14 from the floor and was a perfect 10-for-10 from free throw line. Butler and Wade went a combined 22-for-25 from the charity stripe.

Coach Joerger’s postgame analysis

Good game
Really proud of our guys
Thought we played our tails off for 48-minutes
(team) made major progress
(We have to) keep working hard; we’re going to figure it out; work it out
DeMarcus had a heck of a game
(In this game) Too much Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler
On the foul call on Cousins as Wade missed the dunk: Live ball – three on one

Kings needed another double figured scorer

If one other Kings player had scored in double figures, the final outcome might have been different. Nine other players participated in the game besides Cousins but none scored in double figures. Afflalo posted nine points and Collison, Temple and Lawson each scored eight points. With Rudy Gay sidelined for the rest of the season, one of the Sacramento players has to step up and become a double-figure scorer. More 3-point production could help that situation.

Where’s Rondo?

Rajon Rondo’s time in the Windy City may be coming to a close. Rondo played just six-minutes against the Kings on Saturday distributing four assists and scoring no points. The point guard who was so productive in Sacramento is finding it rough sledding in Chicago. Do not be surprised if Rondo is wearing a different uniform by the trade deadline in February because his time with the Bulls seems to be over.

Up next on the schedule

The Kings travel to Detroit where they will play the Pistons on Monday night. The Kings last win came over Detroit in Sacramento. The Kings will be looking to pick up their first win on the eight-game road trip versus the Pistons.

The Bulls will return to action on Tuesday in Orlando against the Magic.