Tag: Skal Labissiere

Kings Press Row Podcast for January 27, 2018: the losing streak is over & trade rumors run wild!

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

press row podcast

hosts Charlie O & Jordan “Chape” Chapin

  • The Kings love playing in Florida as they win two in a row in the Sunshine State

  • Every NBA rumor site in the world has George Hill going to the Cleveland Cavaliers

  • If Hill goes to the Cavs, the Kings could wind up with Iman Shumpert through the 2019 season. Is that worth the trade?

  • It looks like the Hill trade could mean that Skal Labissiere or Malachi Richardson could be on their way out of Sacramento. Is that worth the dollar savings of off-loading Hill?

  • Can the Kings off-load Shumpert during off-season before the start of the 2018-19 campaign?

  • Is it too soon to give up on Labissiere?

Charlie O and Jordan “Chape” Chapin talk all things Kings in this week’s edition of the King’s Press Row Podcast.

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George Hill to the Cavaliers … not so fast says reports out of Cleveland

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geohillwithLeBron

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Reports have been flying all week long that George Hill was on his way to Cleveland with the Cavaliers sending Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye to Sacramento in deal to be done before the February 8th trade deadline. Some reports have stated the Cavs were willing to sweeten the deal with a second-round draft pick.

Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com now says those reports may be premature. In a report posted today, Vardon wrote:

The Cavaliers and Kings are further apart on a trade for George Hill than it first appeared, sources told cleveland.com, with significant hurdles toward a potential deal remaining.

One source told cleveland.com that the two sides were speaking “conceptually” about Hill and were never close; another said the Cavs sought to change the parameters of a potential trade.

Conceptually, at least, the Cavs would get Hill from the Kings and send Channing Frye and Iman Shumpert to Sacramento. Derrick Rose could also have been involved and perhaps a future second-round draft pick.

Iman

Frye and Rose would probably be candidates to be bought out of their expiring contracts. Shumpert has a player option worth $11-million for the 2018-19 season. Shumpert has seen limited action this season after having arthroscopic surgery for a left knee effusion which increases the chances he would exercise that option.

Sacramento would like to off-load Hill’s contract

The Kings signed Hill thinking they would need his experience at point guard until De’Aaron Fox and Frank Mason III were ready to take over the job of running the offense. Fox and Mason surprised everyone by playing at a high level much faster than anyone anticipated they would be able to achieve in their rookie seasons.

Then came the surprise package named Bogdan Bogdanovic. When Sacramento obtained the rights to Euro player, they knew he was a potential scoring machine. When Bogdanovic arrived in Sacramento, the Kings discovered he was a playmaker who can shoot the ball in a very dynamic manor.

The accelerated development of Hill and Mason plus the surprise talents of Bogdanovic made George Hill a very expensive piece of insurance that they no longer needed. Off-loading his potential $59-million contract has become a priority for Sacramento who can use the cap space.

Fallout of moving Hill

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Skal Labissiere and Malachi Richardson could become collateral damage as the Kings try to move Hill and his salary off their books. Sacramento already has the NBA 15 maximum guaranteed contracts committed to players on their roster. That means someone has to be moved if a player has to kept on the roster as result of a trade involving Hill.

Reports are circulating that the Kings have made second-year players Skal Labissiere and Malachi Richardson available for possible trades in order to make room on the roster for players like Iman Shumpert.

The availability of Richardson is not that surprising because he fell behind due to injury in his rookie year and the Kings now have a glut of guards that he has not been able to break through in order stand out this season. The availability of Labissiere is a different story.

Many observers felt that Labissiere was the steal of the 2016 draft at number 28 in the first-round. He is having a bit of a sophomore slump but he would still seem to have a real potential upside as a developing playing at just 21-years old. Moving Labissiere feels like one of those moves that a team would regret for years to come in the future.

Kings want to move Hill but they need a return

Sacramento definitely wants to unload George Hill and his large contract. If the team does not need his experience, that big salary is an unneeded expense, but they cannot let a talent like Hill go without getting some value in return.

The Kings must get some basketball talent or draft picks that they can put to use in a deal for Hill or the transaction becomes very one-sided. Yes, Sacramento needs the cap space but that cannot be the only goal in a trade for Hill.

Yes, it is a complicated situation. Welcome to making trades in the NBA.

Kings end their eight-game losing streak with a 105-99 win in Orlando

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fox to hoop

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Garrett Temple scored a career-high 34 points to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 105-99 road win over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night. The victory snapped the Kings eight-game losing streak and came in the second game of a back-to-back set on the road.

The Kings trailed the Magic by one point – 53 to 52 – at the half. Orlando managed to established a five point lead by the end of the third quarter, and it appeared that Sacramento might be headed to their third consecutive loss on the six-game road and their eighth loss in a row.

The Kings rallied in the fourth quarter behind an incredible 19 point scoring barrage put on by Garrett Temple. Temple shot a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor including hitting 3-of-3 three-point shots. He was a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Temple by himself outscored the entire Orlando Magic squad in the final period.

“Garrett has been a fantastic leader for us and I couldn’t be happier,” Sacramento coach Dave Joerger told the AP. “He’s the ultimate professional. For him to have this kind of night, I’m just tickled. He deserves it.”

Stars of the Game

Kings

  • Garrett Temple is the “no-brainer” winner of the star of the game designation for Tuesday night. Temple’s previous career-high point game was 23 points. He hit 14-of-17 shots versus Orlando and managed to grab five rebounds as well in just over 40 minutes of playing time.
  • Willie Cauley-Stein gets a co-star credit for putting up 21 points against the Magic. He shot 50-percent from the floor (9-for-18) and converted 4-of-5 free throws. Cauley-Stein also pulled down nine rebounds.

Magic

  • Guard Evan Fournier was the star of the game for the Magic as he scored 22 points and handed out four assists. Fournier did not shoot particularly well hitting 7-of-17 attempts overall and converting just 2-of-10 from 3-point range. The Magic backcourt man did go a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
  • Orlando’s other starting guard – Elfrid Payton – earns the co-star honors for scoring 21 points against the Kings while dishing out seven assists and pulling down seven rebounds. Payton hit 9-of-14 field goals.

Key stats

Sacramento

  • The Kings shot an impressive 49.4-percent (43-for-87) from the field for the game. They shot just 30.8-percent from behind the 3-point line but the eight 3-point field goals the Kings hit were a big key to their win.
  • Sacramento did something on Tuesday night that they have not done for a while and that is out-rebound their opponent. The Kings hauled in 44 rebounds to the Magic’s 40.
  • The Kings also did a better job of taking care of the ball as they turned it over just 14 times (good for 16 Orlando points) while posting 24 assists. That is close the desired 2-to-1 ratio a coach wants to see from his team.
  • Sacramento also had a remarkable 11 blocked shots in the game. Willie Cauley-Stein led the team with five blocked shots of his own.

Orlando

  • The Magic tried to manipulate the Kings weakness in stopping the 3-point shot. They attempted 31 three-point field goals and made 11 of them.
  • Orlando turned the ball over 17 times (22 Kings points) while posting 23 assists.
  • The Magic tried outrun the Kings by using the fast break. Orlando outscored SAC 20-7 on the break in the game.
  • Both teams have a record of 14-33 after the contest on Tuesday.

Notes

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  • The Kings sat George Hill and Kosta Koufos against the Magic. Since the Kings have committed to the youth movement, they have rested two veterans each game.
  • There are many rumors flying around about trade for George Hill to the Cleveland Cavaliers that would possibly bring Iman Shumpert, Channing Frye and possibly a 2nd-round draft pick to the Kings.
  • New rumors started to circulate on Tuesday that Sacramento is looking to trade Malachi Richardson and Skal Labissiere to open to spots on the roster.

Up next

Kings

Sacramento will return to action on Thursday night in Miami. The Kings have not won in Miami in 16 years.

Magic

Orlando is off until Saturday when they will travel to Indiana to face the Pacers.

The losing streak is over: Kings beat the Nuggets 106-98 Saturday night in SAC

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Carter win over Den
Vince Carter savors the moment; Kings down Nuggets 106-98

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Saturday night did not get off to a great start for the Sacramento Kings who were hoping to end a three-game home losing streak. The Kings announced that they would have to play the game without three of their key players. Zach Randolph could not play because of oral surgery. George Hill was unavailable due to personal reasons, and Frank Mason III was unable to dress because of the contusion to his heel that he suffered in Memphis game.

No team wants to face an opponent like the Nuggets – who average 107.7-points per game – short-handed but that is exactly the situation the Kings faced on Saturday night. FiveThirtyEight.com gave Sacramento just a 36-percent chance of winning the game before the loss of the Randolph, Hill and Mason. The situation looked grim indeed for the Kings before tipoff.

Sacramento went with a starting five of Malachi Richardson, Skal Labissiere, Willie Cauley-Stein, Buddy Hield and De’Aaron Fox. Two seasons from now, this starting five could be the norm but not now, they just do not have enough experience to carry their squad to victory on a regular basis. Fortunately for Kings fans, no one told the starting five that they could not be a winning combination.

The Kings would never trail in the game. The contest was tied one time at 27-27 with 46.7-seconds remaining in the first quarter. Sacramento was never able to open a lead of more than 12-points in the game, but they jealously held on to their lead for the entire contest.

The Kings took a 46-41 lead to the locker room at halftime knowing the real test for them was going to come in the third quarter. The Nuggets have become known as a third quarter team. On Friday night, Denver scored 38-points in the third period to put away the Jazz.

The Nuggets did come on strong in the third quarter scoring 30-points while shooting 50-percent (13-for-26) from the floor. The problem for Denver was Sacramento scored 33-points in third period shooting 54.2-percent from the field (13-for-24) that included converting 4-of-5 attempts from behind the 3-point line. Buddy Hield went a perfect 3-for-3 from downtown in the quarter. The Kings took a 79-71 lead over the Nuggets into the final quarter.

The Nuggets were able to cut the Kings lead to three-points midway through the quarter but that is as close as they would come to taking the lead. Denver could have taken the lead if they could have converted free throw opportunities.

At the 6:38 mark, Garrett Temple fouled the Nuggets center – Mason Plumlee. Plumlee missed both free throws. Less than a minute later, Vince Carter fouled Trey Lyles. The sharp-shooting forward stepped to the line and promptly missed both free throw. Lyles would grab the rebound of his second miss and hit a four-foot jumper that cut the Sacramento lead to just three-points. Converting two of those four free throw opportunities could have changed the outcome of the game.

The Kings opened up a lead of 11-points with 11.9-seconds to go in the game. Gary Harris hit a 3-pointer for the final score of the game which cut the Sacramento winning margin to eight-points – 106-98.

Top Performances

Kings Lion logo

  • Star of the Game: this award goes to the entire Kings team. They could have easily phoned this one in with Z-Bo, Hill and Mason on the shelf. Instead, they pulled it together and took advantage of a very talented team who was playing the second game of a back-to-back set on the road after beating the Jazz at home on Friday. The Kings never trailed in the game. That is a real recovery after suffering three consecutive – demoralizing losses at home.

Co-Star: De’Aaron Fox who played just over 35-minutes while scoring a team-high 18-points. Fox also dished out seven assists while using the dribble-drive to go to the hoop or dish it off to a teammate to score. The rookie PG went to the free throw line eight times and converted six of those opportunities.

  • Co-Star: Willie Cauley-Stein came up big for his team on Saturday night as he grabbed a career-high seven-steals. That is aggressive basketball at any level. The big man also posted 17-points to go with four rebounds and two assists. Cauley-Stein shot 8-for-12 in the contest.

  • Co-Star: Skal Labissiere makes it an all-Kentucky co-star lineup for the Kings on Saturday night. Labissiere not only made the start but he scored 12 points, blocked three shots and hauled in four rebounds in just over 15-minutes of playing time. His coach thought his third-quarter play may have been his best of the season.

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Nuggets 5-DNuggets_2nd

  • Star of the Game: Trey Lyles came off the bench to lead his team and score a game-high 19-points. The third-year forward shot 8-for-11 overall including going 2-for-3 from downtown. Lyles also grabbed nine rebounds. When Lyles and Murray are on the floor together, every team in the NBA should be very, very concerned.

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  • Co-Star: Jamal Murray who recorded 18-points while shooting 7-for-16 from the floor. Murray who hit 6-of-7 from 3-point land versus the Jazz on Friday cooled off against the Kings sinking 3-of-8 three-point opportunities. It may have been fatigue, but Murray really allowed his temper to get the best of him late in the game. He has to learn to let the coach do the arguing while he focuses on the game.

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  • Co-Star: Gary Harris really asserted himself in the second-half of the game shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor, 2-for-2 from the charity stripe and dishing out two assists. Harris finished with 17-points for Denver in 36-minutes on the floor.

5-Harris

 

 

 

 

Up Next

Kings: Sacramento will not be able to enjoy this victory for long as they must prepare to face the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night at the Golden 1 Center. The Spurs were in Sacramento on December 23, 2017 and defeated the Kings 108-99.

Nuggets: Denver will not be able to rest on Sunday as they have to prepare to face the World Champion Golden State Warriors in Oakland on Monday night.

Scoring duo of Warren and Booker too much for Kings to handle: Suns win 111-101

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
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Devin Booker scores two of his 26 points against the Kings Photo: Jordan Chapin SportsRadioService.com

by Jordan Chapin with Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento- Friday night at the Golden 1 Center, the Sacramento Kings fell to Devin Booker, and the Phoenix Suns, 111-101. Kings started out hot, as Skal Labissiere scored 10 of the Kings first 17 points, including an emphatic put back dunk. The Suns had an answer, by the name of T.J Warren, who hit seven of his first eight shots from the field. Phoenix finished off the first with a 14-0 run in the final two minutes. 

 
The Kings trailed the Suns throughout the entirety of the second and third quarters, as T.J Warren continued his efficient night with a bit of help from Marquese Chriss who finished with 14-points (3-for-3 from 3P). Sacramento struggled from 3-point land tonight, shooting only 8-for-24 from behind the arc. 
 
In the first several minutes of the fourth, the Kings put together a 8-0 run, capped off by a Willie Cauley-Stein, alley-oop dunk, from Bogdan Bogdanovic resulting in a 97-93 lead by the Kings. With just over four minutes left to go, Phoenix tied the game 98-98, then it was the Devin Booker show.  In the last four minutes, Booker and the Suns took over the game, scoring 12 unanswered points, and Devin booker handed the Kings their 23rd loss of the season by scoring nine of those final 12-points on his own. 
 
Despite having seven players in double digits, the Kings fell to a hot Phoenix Suns team, who has won five of their last seven games. The Kings will try to split the season series at two games a piece when they face the Suns in Phoenix, on April 3rd. Sacramento will continue there homestand, New Years Eve, against Marc Gasol and the Memphis Grizzlies. 
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Battle of the big men as Zach Randolph attacks the basket against Tyson Chandler Photo Jordan Chapin SportsRadioService.com
 
Top Performers
Kings 
Star of the Game: Skal Labissiere 
Skal played only 15 minutes, but made the best of them. Despite having sub-par performances and a couple DNP’s in his last few games, Labissiere ended with 12-points, 5-of-6 from the field, four rebounds, including two offensive rebounds, and an assist. Skal played with a lot of energy and scored 10 of the Kings first 17 points. 
 
Co-star: Garrett Temple 
 Temple helped keep Sacramento in the game shooting 5-of-8 from the field(2-for-3 from 3P)and ended with 12-points to go along with five dimes and three boards. Temple hit a few big shots throughout the game, but it wasn’t enough to get the victory. 
 
Suns 
Star of the Game: T.J Warren 
Warren was the thorn in the Kings side tonight, racking up a double-double, finishing with 26-points and 10 rebounds. T.J Warren was very steady throughout tonight’s game and was the biggest key in the Suns win. 
 
Co-star: Devin Booker 
 Despite a below average shooting night from Booker, he finished with 26-points, three assists and three rebounds. He shot only 3-for-9 from behind the arc, but in the end, hit the dagger that put the Suns over the top in a 111-101 victory.
Coach’s Comments after the game

Team Stats

Phoenix (14-23)

  • Field goal shooting: 41-for-85 (48.2-percent)
  • 3-Point shooting: 13-for-30 (43.3-percent)
  • Free Throws: the Suns converted 16-of-24 chances at the charity stripe (66.7-percent)
  • Rebounds: 16 offensive 29 defensive 45 total +7 over the Kings
  • Assists to Turnovers: 26 assists; 11 turnovers that became 12 Sacramento points
  • Second chance points: Suns 19 Kings 11
  • Fast Break Points: Suns 18 Kings 14

Sacramento (12-23)

  • Field goal shooting: 37-for-80 (46.2-percent)
  • 3-Point shooting: 8-for-24 (33.3-percent)
  • Free Throws: the Kings put in 19-of-23 opportunities from the line (82.6-percent)
  • Rebounds: 9 offensive 29 defensive 38 total -7 to the Suns
  • Assists to Turnovers: 22 assists; 10 turnovers that turned into 15 Phoenix points
  • Points in the paint: Kings 40 Suns 38
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Frank Mason III drives through traffic to the basket versus the Suns Photo Jordon Chapin SportsRadioService.com

Up Next

Phoenix

The Suns headed home after the game and will host the Philadelphia 76ers on New Year’s Eve. The Suns and Kings will meet one more time this season on April 3, 2018 in Phoenix.

Sacramento

The Kings will also be back in action on last day of 2017 when they will host the Memphis Grizzlies at the Golden 1 Center in a 4:00 pm tilt. Sacramento will then have a busy first week of the New Year as they will host the Hornets, Nuggets and Spurs to kickoff the month of January.

 

 

Kings Press Row Podcast for 12-13-17: A split at home and back on the road again

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
DSC00656
De’Aaron Fox was not afraid to go up against the veteran DeRozan (Photo Jordan Chapin SportsRadioService.com)

Host: Charlie O

  • A look back at the home games with Toronto and Phoenix

  • A look ahead at a very tough four-game road trip to Minnesota, Toronto, Philly and Brooklyn

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Buddy Hield directs the offense against the Raptors (Photo Jordan Chapin SportsRadioService.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another slow start sinks the Kings: Raptors win sixth straight 102-87

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

 

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JaKarr Sampson drives to the hoop versus the Raptors (Photo Jordan Chapin SportsRadioService.com)

by Charlie O. Mallonee with Jordan Chapin

Sacramento – On Sunday afternoon, I had to keep slapping myself in the face and saying we’re not in Milwaukee anymore Toto. Still it felt like we were in Wisconsin eight nights ago when the Bucks opened the game with a 14-0 run on the Kings because the Toronto Raptors opened the game on Sunday in Sacramento with 13-0 run on Kings.

Just like they did last week in Milwaukee, the Kings made a game out of it thanks to some outstanding play by their second-unit led by the scoring of Buddy Hield and the hustle of “Two-way” signee JaKarr Sampson. Zach Randolph also continued to be the grind it out, being the blue collar leader the Kings hoped he would be by producing another double-double game.

At the end of 48-minutes of basketball, the results in Sacramento were the same as they were in Milwaukee. The Kings had to hang another “L” on their schedule board as they lost the game 102-87. The Kings record now stands at 8-18 for the season

With the victory, the Raptors improve to 17-7 for the season. They have won six consecutive games including the first two games of this four-game road trip. Toronto plays the Clippers in LA on Monday night and then face the Suns in Phoenix on Wednesday before heading back across the border.

Sacramento

Kings star of the game

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Z-Bo settles his team during a timeout late in the game (Photo Jordan Chapin SportsRadioService.com)

Co-writer Jordan Chapin and I had a split decision on who should be the Kings star of the game.

Chapin went with Zach Randolph which is a very difficult choice to argue with in this case. The 36-year old veteran led the Kings in scoring with 19 points and in rebounds with 11. It is his fourth double-double performance of the season. Randolph also led the team in time on the floor playing almost 34-minutes.

I selected Bogdan Bogdanovic who tallied 15 points in the game shooing 5-for-10 from the floor and hitting 4-of-8 3-point attempts. He made the start in place of George Hill who was not with the team for personal reasons. Bogdanovic played almost 30-minutes and scored seven points in the first-half and eight in the second-half. The Kings “oldest rookie” also always impresses with his hustle on defense

Kings co-stars

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Buddy Hield directs the offense against the Raptors (Photo Jordan Chapin SportsRadioService.com)

Buddy Hield was given strong consideration for star of the game. “Buddy Buckets” posted 17-points connecting on 7-of-13 field goal attempts and converting 3-of-5 tries from “downtown”. He grabbed three rebounds, had two assists and added one steal. The one downside to his game was six turnovers.

JaKarr Sampson played hard in his 19-minutes on the court. Sampson went a perfect 5-for-5 shooting including one 3-pointer. He also made four rebounds and blocked three shots. Before you get to excited about Sampson, Dave Joerger indicated in the postgame press conference that JaKarr would be headed back to Reno as soon as Willie Cauley-Stein is game-ready again. Sampson is a victim of too many players and too few playing minutes.

Also seen in limited supporting roles for the Kings

Skal Labissiere rejoined the Kings after playing one game with the Reno Bighorns. Labissiere actually made the start playing just over 14-minutes. He scored six points and pulled down six rebounds.

Justin Jackson also returned from his stint in Reno. He played just over 33-minutes scoring three-points, hauled in five rebounds and dished out three assists.

Toronto

Raptors star of the game

DeMar DeRozan made it easy to choose him as the Raptors star of the game by scoring 25-points while shooting 9-for-15 from the field. The talented guard also converted 7-of-11 attempts from the free throw line. DeRozan also handed out nine assists in his almost 35-minutes on the court.

Raptors co-starts

Serge Ibaka was a 20-point man for Toronto in the game. He shot 8-for-13 overall and sank 4-of-7 from behind the arc. Ibaka also grabbed four rebounds.

The other member of the Raptors dynamic backcourt duo Kyle Lowrie has to be given credit as well. He scored 15 points and recorded a double-double by adding 12 rebounds. He did all of that while working through a 4-for-17 shooting night. That is what you call hanging in there.

Team numbers

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De’Aaron Fox was not afraid to go up against the veteran DeRozan (Photo Jordan Chapin SportsRadioService.com)

Sacramento

  • Turnovers 21 which resulted in 27 Raptors points. They had just 15 assists – that ratio will never be acceptable at any level of basketball
  • 42 rebounds including 7 offensive rebounds
  • Shooting: 47.9-percent overall (35-73) – 10-for-23 (43.5-percent) for 3-point field goals
  • Free throws 7-for-14: percentage is too low. The number of attempts is too low.
  • Kings biggest lead of the game: 1

Toronto

  • Shooting 39-for-87 (44.8-percent) from the floor. The Kings had a better shooting percentage but the Raptors made 14 more attempts and while making 3 additional two-pointers, 1 more three-pointer and they converted six additional free throws for the 14 points they outscored the Kings by in the game.
  • 44 rebounds – 12 on offense.
  • Raptors largest lead 15 points

Up next for the Kings

The Phoenix Suns will visit the Golden 1 Center to take on the Kings on Tuesday night. Sacramento will then head out on a four-game road trip and will not return home until December 23.

 

 

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

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

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

1-alt kings

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!

wizards logo

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.

Carmelo who? Prozingis leads NYK past the Kings 118-91 Saturday night in NYC

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

by Charlie O. Mallonee

NYK Skal
Labissiere Kings leading scorer

The Sacramento Kings two game winning streak came to a sudden end on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City when the Knicks – led by power forward Kristaps Porzingis – blew by the men in purple and white 118-91.

Early on, it looked like the Kings might make it a competitive game. By halftime, the Knicks (7-5) held a 64-49 lead. New York put together two big runs in the first half to establish the 15-point halftime lead.

The Knicks did not back off in the third quarter as they held the Kings under 20-points and extended their lead. In fact, NYK became so comfortable about their lead they sat Prozingis down in the third quarter and he never reentered the contest.

The Kings (3-9) and Knicks second units made the fourth quarter interesting but Sacramento was unable to cut into the big New York lead. When the final buzzer sounded, the Knicks continued to impress the professional basketball world by playing so well without Carmelo Anthony on the team.

Prozingis continues to be “the man”

NYK Prozingis
Prozingis drives on Cauley-Stein Photo: Newsday

Second-year player – Kristaps Prozingis scored 34 points in just 26:37 minutes of playing time. He went 11-for-21 from the floor while hitting 4-of-6 from behind the 3-point line. Prozingis converted 8-of-9 opportunities from the free throw line. While accomplishing all of that, he committed zero turnovers.

11 Knicks players contributed to the win over the Kings

Sacramento Kings v New York Knicks
Kanter posts a double-double 17 points 13 rebounds

Courtney Lee put up 20 points hitting 5-of-6 from 3-point land. He also added three assists and two rebounds.

Enes Kanter posted a double-double with 17 points and 13 boards. He shot 8-for-13 from the floor.

Damyean Dotson scored 14 points and Michael Beasley added 10 points.

Highly touted rookie point guard Frank Ntilkina scored just two points while posting five assists.

Sacramento had just two player score in double figures

nyk Prozingis again
Sacramento vs. NYK

Skal Labissiere became a force on offense again for the Kings as he recorded 19-points to lead his team in scoring for the game. The Kentucky product shot 5-for-10 from the field while going just 1-for-9 from behind the 3-point arc. Labissiere converted 9-of-10 free throw opportunities. He also grabbed six rebounds.

Buddy Hield came off the bench to score 17-points in 27-minutes of playing time. He went 6-for-13 shooting overall while hitting 4-of-5 from 3-point land. Hield also hauled in seven rebounds and dished out four assists.

No Sacaramento starter scored in double-figures.

Up next

$Wiz Dark

The Kings will play the second game of their three-game road trip on Monday night in Washington, D.C. The Wizards destroyed the Kings 110-83 in Sacramento on October 29th.

The Knicks will also return to actions on Monday when they will welcome LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to Madison Square Garden. That game will have Eastern Conference Playoff implications.

Kings Press Row Podcast November 8th 2017

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

1-skal emoji

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?