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Road Reaction: Blazers 101, Kings 79

December 27th, 2011 Leave a comment Go to comments

Final: Portland Trailblazers 101, Sacramento Kings 79

Recap

Box Score

Grades

Marcus Thornton: Thornton had too many dribble-drive isolation possessions, and that was something he did last night, too.  The difference?  The rims were kinder in Sacramento.  Thornton was only one of five shooting from beyond the arc this evening.

Final Grade: D-

John Salmons:  Salmons was in foul trouble most of the night (he had 4 early on in the 3rd quarter) and just wasn’t able to get into a rhythm on both ends of the court.  He was only able to attempt three shots on the offensive end in less than 18 minutes of action.

Final Grade: F

Tyreke Evans:  Much like Thornton, too much isolation.  And when Evans played off the ball, he didn’t move very well.  Posted the worst plus/minus for the Kings this evening at -21.

Final Grade: D-

DeMarcus Cousins:  An up and down game for Cousins tonight.  He looked good at times, showing what he’s capable of when working on the block.  But he struggled with the outside shot and finished with 18 attempts and just seven makes.  Foul trouble hurt him as well, but at least he was able to finish with another double-double.

Final Grade: B-

Chuck Hayes: With 11 rebounds, Hayes was effective on the glass.  But like Salmons and Cousins, foul trouble killed him.  Hayes also had difficulty handling LaMarcus Aldridge tonight, who was stellar for the Blazers, scoring 24 points on 10 of 15 shooting.

Final Grade: C

J.J. Hickson:  In light of Cousins and Hayes’ play, Hickson played well.  He picked his spots on offense, only shooting six times and making four attempts.  But Jason Thompson played better and maybe deserved more minutes in the second half.

Final Grade: C+

Travis Outlaw:  Offensively, Outlaw was ineffective for the Kings tonight.  However in spots defensively, he filled in admirably for Salmons.  While contesting shots, his length gave Portland’s shooters trouble.

Final Grade: D-

Jimmer Fredette:  When Jimmer is out on the floor, he seems to think pass first, score second.  And based on what we’ve seen of him in the first two nights, he and fellow rookie Isaiah Thomas might be the two best the Kings have at initiating the offense.  But like yesterday, there were times when he was tentative to shoot.

Final Grade:  C-

Jason Thompson: In limited minutes, Thompson put together a nice game.  He only played 14 minutes, but managed to contribute 11 points on five of six shooting.  I was surprised that it took until the fourth quarter for JT to get back in the game.

Final Grade: B+

Isaiah Thomas: Like Jimmer, Thomas seems to command the floor like a point guard should when in the game.  During a possession sometime in the third quarter, he drove and kicked out a wraparound pass to Travis Outlaw, who was camped outside the three-point line.  Unfortunately, the possession didn’t convert into points due to offensive apprehension by Jimmer and Outlaw.

Final Grade: C

- Jonathan Santiago

Notes and Analysis
  • Jason Thompson came to play in the first half.  After registering just seven minutes in the opener, Thompson scored nine points, grabbed a pair of rebounds and blocked a shot in nine first half minutes.  Thompson played only four minutes in the second half.
  • After scoring 47 points in the opener last night against the Lakers, the Kings starting backcourt of Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton went cold in game two.  The duo scored just 18 points on a dismal seven of 22 from the floor.
  • DeMarcus Cousins came to play, but foul trouble again limited his playing time and effectiveness.  The second-year big man out of Kentucky scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in just 25 minutes of play.
  • The Kings torched the Lakers Monday night from behind the 3-point line, shooting 9-for-18.  Tuesday night against the Blazers, they hit just three of 16 attempts.
  • Jimmer Fredette (six points), J.J. Hickson (eight points) and Jason Thompson (nine points), combined to score 23 points off the bench in the first half.  The trio scored a total of eight points in the second half where the Kings were outscored 55 to 33.
  • Travis Outlaw is struggling mightily with his shot.  After a season to forget in New Jersey, where he shot just 37.5 percent from the field, the Kings swingman has hit just two of 10 shots to start the season and missed all four of his three-point attempts.
  • Tyreke Evans had more turnovers on the evening than points (four), assists (two) and rebounds (two).
  • After shooting the ball 14 times in the season opener, John Salmons shot just 1-for-3 on the night and spent much of the evening sitting on the bench in foul trouble.
  • Ball movement is still a huge issue with the Sacramento Kings.  The team tallied 10 assists on 31 made baskets and turned the ball over 17 times.
  • Stat of the night:  The Kings had only one steal.

- James Ham

Categories: Game Recap, Regular Season Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
  • Anonymous

    Good analysis, here are my comments having watched both preseason games and the first two games…

    The starting five as you mentioned are having a difficult time running “an offense”. I’m not sure what they’ve tried to install for an offense in the very short preseason, but the starting five routinely stop moving and hope that someone can score in isolation. In the first game they were able to score (Thorton and Evans shot well) but still not perfect. In the second game every time the starting five were on the floor it was clear they didn’t have an offensive set to fall back on when times got tough.

    The Kings built their big lead in the first game and their biggest lead in the second game when the second team was on the court in the first half. I believe a lot of the difference was having a point guard on the floor to manage the offense. Jimmer is a rookie and made a lot of mistakes but he consistently broke down the defense, getting the ball to open players and finishing himself at times. Because they have to guard him from beyond the arc to the rim, he broke down opposing defenses much better than the first team and was willing to distribute to the open man. He also directed traffic, if you rewatch the games when he is on the floor he is directing teammates to spots on the floor. But the second team has MAJOR problems in both games in the second half, why? Because of a horrible rotation that includes Thomas and Fredette. Running a rookie who is the smallest guy in the league and a smaller guard that isn’t very effective yet at defense is a problem. On top of that you also now have two point guards on offense. Over a hundred years of basketball have taught us that you should have one floor general on the court at a time.

    So the problem comes down to NO true point guard on the floor for the starting lineup and during the second half 2 true point guards that are both defensive liabilities on the court. On top of that is the simple fact that this young team needs a strong discipline-focused approach. Young teams especially need a set offense and defense to fall back on when things are not working out. They need a floor general that can refocus them on running offensive sets.

    This team is going to be severely limited by what I consider bad coaching, unless it changes quickly. They need to put one of their two point guards in the starting lineup tomorrow night, now! And not have them BOTH on the floor in the second half. And lastly, they need to emphasize basic offense and defense. Popovich is a small market genius. Hard defense, offense sets. Do you think if Cousins was launching long range shots and bringing the ball up the court (he did both last night!) that Popovich wouldn’t of had a little talk with the man over on the bench? This team is young and full of talent, they need to play fundamental ball with standard lineups and they can actually go far…just look at the second team in the first half of both games.

  • portlandb-ball

    I was at the game. (1) Jimmer cannot guard athletic forwards like Batum…huge mismatch. He also had a hard time getting open for shots. (2) It looked like the Kings had no plan for how to change the offense to counter the Blazers second half defense. (3) I think both 1 and 2 are coaching flaws.

  • Anonymous

    Tough to win with nobody playing D and only one guy willing to pass the ball. And I’m not talking about Thomas. In the 4th he must have driven into the trees and got swatted a half dozen times last night. Start Jimmer and run an offense instead of standing around watching him.

  • Scott

    I would have to attribute the inconsistant play with coaching entirely. I think the previous comments have been completely accurate. Thorton and Evans are scorers that demand the ball and Fredette and Thomas are happy to distribute. Because the two “point guards” and two “shooting guards” are in the same rotation, either the offense cannot be run or there isn’t a primary scorer to create. In addition to this, it causes defensive mismatch issues and throws off the pace of the game. Putting Jimmer on players like Batnum and Klay Thompson is idiotic (both players are 6’7″). Jimmer and Thorton should start while Thomas and Evans should play with the second unit. This shouldn’t be a slight on Evans as the bench plays just as much as the starters anyway. Anyone of those combinations can play at the end of the game.

Array