Am I upset about the loss? No. Not really. At least there were some good moments. Actual live real tangible touchable NBA offense was actually executed by our spoiled brats tonight. Behold Kings fans! What if they did this for 48 minutes every night?
Oh, we aren’t living in fantasy land today. My bad.
Just a few thoughts because I really don’t feel the need to go on & on and on & on and and on & and on and.
* Tyreke Evans illustrated he can run an offense. He also illustrated he can be exceptionally limited in his decision making. The trend? It’s a bad one until Tyreke consistently moves past this.
* DeMarcus Cousins started fast and wasn’t heard of much after the 1st qtr when Keith Smart took him out for a blow. (That’s a rest; not an automatic trip to the breathalyzer after you’ve gone to the bar.) Playing 36 minutes though? I like what Keith Smart is aiming at here. Since Smart has taken over, Cousins has averaged over 30 MPG (30.5 MPG if you include tonight’s contest). If that gets anywhere near 32-33 MPG (and it’s been over 30 MPG the last 5 Kings games) on a consistent basis for the Kings, this will be a major launching point for Cousins to hopefully find that consistency that has alluded him his entire career.
* Jason Thompson didn’t make much of an impact as the game wore on, but early on JT was brilliant. It’s been satisfying JT develoop into the player he is now.
* Isiah Thomas will most likely be talked about for hitting some late 3′s, but the one play that actually sticks out to me was the pick and roll LSG ran with JJ Hickson in the 3rd qtr. As James Ham noted in a tweet, part of the issue with that is JJ Hickson actually moving towards the basket with the roll part.
* John Salmons had all of his 8 points in the 3rd qtr as Salmons actually showed some of what has at times made him a very good NBA scorer in his career. But, I also thought the defense of Salmons on Monta Ellis for long stretches made Monta change where he wanted to go, and typically in the past that has not been the case when the Kings have matched up with the Warriors. #silverlinings
The Kings killed the Warriors on the glass by 15, turned the ball over 21 times and managed to perfect the art of “stand around, pound the dribble and do absolutely jack shit” for 20 seconds on a shot clock. Against the Warriors reserves of Epke Udoh, Dominic McGuire, Klay Thompson, Brandon Rush and Nate Robinson. Yes, that’s right, the Kings couldn’t figure out a way to keep the game in any sort of competitive fashion against the Warrior reserves.
The Kings immaturity, and how far they have to go, had it’s stop in Oakland. Next stop? Against Rip City in the artist formerly known as the arena that caused a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
