PSA Kings v Lakers on NBATV at 9:30 pm CST
- Thread starter 2432Hawk
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There's 0 excuse for the coach to keep Keegan out of the starting lineup after this. I know it's preseason, but he looked damn good tonight.
Yeah, he needs to get chemistry with the starters. The only problem he had tonight was the ball didn’t find him when he played with the starters. They need PT to get a feel for each other.
The rookie was getting a little iced out by the vets.
So, he led the team in minutes, +/-, points and rebounds. No turnovers and 2 steals. No fouls.
Moving on ......
Moving on ......
Might be their best player very soon...
apparently the guy who started in front of him was better at feeding the postSo, he led the team in minutes, +/-, points and rebounds. No turnovers and 2 steals. No fouls.
Moving on ......
Great start. Efficient as usual.
Soon to be 4 NBA players (Garza, Weiskamp, Murray twins) in 3 years. Pretty impressive, particularly given Iowa's track record getting guys in the league.
Soon to be 4 NBA players (Garza, Weiskamp, Murray twins) in 3 years. Pretty impressive, particularly given Iowa's track record getting guys in the league.
Few observations from the first half. Sacramento is a bad team with a bunch of 'me first' guards. Keegan looked like the veteran playing with a team of rookies. How the Sac coach put up with the garbage selfish play from the rest of the team is beyond me, but I guess that's the NBA. Keegan could have had 30 last night easy if some guys understood the concept of sharing the ball.
I can't fathom Keegan not getting a starting spot by the regular season and for his sake, I hope he has a great season and can somehow get traded to an organization that is interested in playing winning basketball. Unlikely to happen in his rookie season, but that team has no shot at making the playoffs with that cast of misfits. If I were the Sac coach I would be making some calls to the G League as there are probably a dozen guys that would be upgrades to their backcourt.
I can't fathom Keegan not getting a starting spot by the regular season and for his sake, I hope he has a great season and can somehow get traded to an organization that is interested in playing winning basketball. Unlikely to happen in his rookie season, but that team has no shot at making the playoffs with that cast of misfits. If I were the Sac coach I would be making some calls to the G League as there are probably a dozen guys that would be upgrades to their backcourt.
This might be the best post I've ever seen on any board.apparently the guy who started in front of him was better at feeding the post
It's gonna be interesting to see whether Mike Brown inserts him into the starting lineup. I've been watching what seems like a ton of Kings podcasts. BTW, I really enjoy the "Locked on Kings" podcast with Matt George.
I've heard that Brown prefers to play vets and allow the rookies to work in slowly. KZ Okpala is probably an example of that, and he has experience with Brown as well as being a good defender. The problem with that is that by putting KZ in as a starter may give you good defense, but the offensive production goes down. Keegan was drafted as a ready now player, who can score and defend. McNair drafted him because of his readiness. Brown said that players have to earn playing time, so it's his call. I hope Keegan will start, going forward.
I have League Pass and tried to watch Sac. It said that the game was not televised, and I'm following Sac and San Antonio. So I thought, well ok. I'll just have to be patient and wait for the regular season which begins on October 19 for the Kings. Just for the heck of it, I clicked on the Spurs vs Magic, and the game came on to my surprise. Funny thing though. It had excellent video, but the game call/commentary was from a radio station in Texas.
Yeah preseason games are hit & miss. I've had league pass for 9-10 seasons now & there's no rhyme or reason on what preseason games they show.
I am not that big of a fan of the NBA. Plenty of college games to watch. I just want to catch Keegan's games when they are televised.
Seinfeld: That's a shame.
Basketball fans with an irrational dislike of the Association miss out on good ball. Instead, they have their same archaic stereotypes that aren't accurate.
usually if a game isn't available on one of those platforms its because the game is being shown nationally like on NBA TV or MLB network, or one of the major networks (Fox, ABC)
I love the Hawkeyes, I love the Celtics. If they are both playing, I'm watching the Hawks and flipping to the Celtics during stoppages.
If there is any other college game and any other NBA game, I'm watching the NBA game. Magic/Blazers v Duke/UNC...watching the Magic/Blazers and not even flipping to the college game. Why? The NBA game will feature basketball played at a much higher level.
I get how people prefer their favorite college team over an NBA game. I don't get how people prefer a random college game over a random NBA game if they say they are a basketball fan.
I watch a fair amount of LockedOnKings and other Kings content on Youtube.
My take from the game and postgame analysis:
1. All Kings media consistently amazed at how unflappable Keegan is. Not starting? No big deal. NBA players? No big deal? Lebron? Good opportunity. How he played in pre-season game one was EXACTLY how he'd been playing in summer league - SUPER consistent, doesn't force anything, makes it looks easy, takes what the defense gives him. He's won a ton of Kings fans over already with many experts talking about how his ceiling is higher than they thought not because he's more athletic than most players, but because he can do almost everything and is making really good decisions on the court.
2. Thought when he got in with the starters (him and Nixon) that he deferred a bit to them and they were too busy trying to get themselves familiar with the offense to really use him. They missed some passes to him where he was open in the corner or off a cut but he was unfazed by it. Once the full 2nd team came in then they used him as the centerpiece of the offense and he had the ball in his hands more and was more aggressive. Still great decision making as he was 7-11 with 6 boards, 0 turnovers and could have had 3 assists but Kings weren't hitting easy shots in the 1st half. There is a Youtube video here that gives a quick overview of their offense so you can more easily understand what some of the vets were trying to do - it wasn't all "ball hog" stuff but just part of the offense. They did miss passes to Keegan though which I'm sure they talked about on film after words.
3. Lots of discussion on whether he should start. I think he'll get heavy minutes so I'm not concerned if he starts necessarily as his minutes will be the same. However, I think they found that he's actually better with the ball then they thought drafting him and they can actually run the 2nd unit's offense THROUGH Keegan, using the high post and so the debate is do you (A) use him with the starters to better space the floor for Fox and Sabonis, or (B) use him with the 2nd unit as the catalyst for that group by making him the centerpiece and flowing the offense through and off his abilities. The starter in the first game was an elite defender but he can't stretch the floor. However if Keegan starts in his place that helps that starting group on offense, perhaps a small drop in defense, but the 2nd unit isn't nearly as good as they have mostly role players. I'm ok either way actually.
4. Coach said Keegan can play the 2 through 4 spots because on offense they are all similar roles, and on defense he showed he can stick with those positions most of the time. Might have some problems with SG's but his length allows him to play off them and I think he's one of the best Kings players in terms of how he positions himself off the ball. Very aware off the ball and while it doesn't always turn into help side blocks he does deflect lobs and rotate on skip passes and a lot of little things that don't turn up in the stats but on film look very good.
My take from the game and postgame analysis:
1. All Kings media consistently amazed at how unflappable Keegan is. Not starting? No big deal. NBA players? No big deal? Lebron? Good opportunity. How he played in pre-season game one was EXACTLY how he'd been playing in summer league - SUPER consistent, doesn't force anything, makes it looks easy, takes what the defense gives him. He's won a ton of Kings fans over already with many experts talking about how his ceiling is higher than they thought not because he's more athletic than most players, but because he can do almost everything and is making really good decisions on the court.
2. Thought when he got in with the starters (him and Nixon) that he deferred a bit to them and they were too busy trying to get themselves familiar with the offense to really use him. They missed some passes to him where he was open in the corner or off a cut but he was unfazed by it. Once the full 2nd team came in then they used him as the centerpiece of the offense and he had the ball in his hands more and was more aggressive. Still great decision making as he was 7-11 with 6 boards, 0 turnovers and could have had 3 assists but Kings weren't hitting easy shots in the 1st half. There is a Youtube video here that gives a quick overview of their offense so you can more easily understand what some of the vets were trying to do - it wasn't all "ball hog" stuff but just part of the offense. They did miss passes to Keegan though which I'm sure they talked about on film after words.
3. Lots of discussion on whether he should start. I think he'll get heavy minutes so I'm not concerned if he starts necessarily as his minutes will be the same. However, I think they found that he's actually better with the ball then they thought drafting him and they can actually run the 2nd unit's offense THROUGH Keegan, using the high post and so the debate is do you (A) use him with the starters to better space the floor for Fox and Sabonis, or (B) use him with the 2nd unit as the catalyst for that group by making him the centerpiece and flowing the offense through and off his abilities. The starter in the first game was an elite defender but he can't stretch the floor. However if Keegan starts in his place that helps that starting group on offense, perhaps a small drop in defense, but the 2nd unit isn't nearly as good as they have mostly role players. I'm ok either way actually.
4. Coach said Keegan can play the 2 through 4 spots because on offense they are all similar roles, and on defense he showed he can stick with those positions most of the time. Might have some problems with SG's but his length allows him to play off them and I think he's one of the best Kings players in terms of how he positions himself off the ball. Very aware off the ball and while it doesn't always turn into help side blocks he does deflect lobs and rotate on skip passes and a lot of little things that don't turn up in the stats but on film look very good.
I can see him coming off the bench for a bit, to help get him acclimated. I do think he'll eventually start, maybe even to start the season.
Either way, not a big deal for now.
Yeah, definitely one of their best 3-4 players imo, just a question of what helps the team the most rotation wise. Could be rookie of the year and 6th man of the year if he averages 17 and 7 or so.
I get the pros of not starting him, but he’s still going to be a part of the closing lineup for them. My fear would be him being relegated to the corner at the end of games. He’s too good a scorer for that.
Starter or not, think they have to get the chemistry up with starters. Which will take time. Just hope they figure things out sooner.
Yeah definitely in their closing group one would think. By the end of the year -if not now - he will be their 3rd best player.
How do you know they hold archaic stereotypes that aren't accurate? I watch the NBA, and to be honest, today's players probably aren't as good as players from the late 80's or late 90's. Keep in mind that the league was much more physical back then and what is considered a foul today in many cases was a play on back then and they did play a lot more defense. Here's a few stats to think about. They are total league statistics for all players and all teams. This tells me that in an era where it's easier to score, today's players would probably flounder under the old rules where those players from bygone days would probably excel in today's game.
Season FG% 3 PT%
89-90 47.6 33.1
99-00 44.9 35.3
21-22 46.1 35.4
Yeah, two big differences between the game 30 years ago and today.
1. The way the refs call fouls to allow freedom of movement now.
2. The almost complete elimination of the mid-range game today.
It is all about dunks/layups and 3pters. 33% on 7 attempts in 1990 is 7 points per game. 35% on 35 attempts last year is almost 37 points per game. The eFG% is almost 5% higher for the entire league because of the higher volume of 3pt shots.
The players from today are every bit as good as the players from the late 80s/90s, and in some ways way better. Is it a different game? Absolutely. The late 80s was a faster paced game reliant and short/mid range game. Now it's slightly slower, with far more 3s and a similar short game.
As for the physicality, the biggest difference isn't what was or wasn't a foul, it's what is or isn't a flagrant. The physicality across the league didn't come until the early to mid 90s and progressed into the early 2000s when the league finally decided they had a mess on their hands and were losing fans in bunches because of it.
The offense of the 80s was actually higher scoring than now (albeit, just a little). Too many people confuse what basketball was like in the 80s and what it was like in the late 90s/early 2000s. Basketball in the 80s was fun. By the early 2000s it was like Big Ten basketball the last decade.
I prefer the fun, that's what the NBA is again.
Idiotic remark. You don't get to define my preferences in anything.
