Sacramento Kings: The Bollywood Nights Diary
Isaiah Thomas and the Sacramento Kings treated the Sleep Train crowd to an opening-night nailbiter. (Matthew Addie/Wikimedia Commons)
I had a bit of a predicament going into tonight’s game. I had midnight deadline for today’s article and was not going to be able to start watching the Sacramento Kings opening night extravaganza until about 10 p.m. (my brother is a die hard Warriors fan and the Dubs take precedence in my house). I obviously wanted today’s article to deal with yesterday’s opener, but did not want to saddle myself with a lifeless recap that typically gets chugged out for every NBA game. So instead I decided to do a 2,400 word retro diary of last night’s rather energetic first game of the season. Here is the transcript of my on the fly reactions:
Pregame: Going to be interesting listening to this broadcast team every game. I have been somewhat spoiled with local broadcasts as a Bay Area sports fan. Kruk and Kuipe — the San Francisco Giants broadcast team — are one of the top crews in baseball and Jim Barnett and Bob Myers (Warriors’ announcers) are delights in the League Pass world. Jerry Reynolds and Grant Napear do not match that level, but they are far from the dregs of the league that are close to unwatchable (unlistenable?) Should be an interesting year.
Pregame: David Stern is here. Probably making sure he can continue to hamstring Chris Hansen and the city of Seattle while milking the city of Sacramento for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Pregame: DeMarcus Cousins is doing the opening statement all teams do. It’s funny, Boogie is likeable in almost every way … except when he is firing those 20 footers or not playing hard on defense.
Starting Lineups: Shaquille O’Neal sighting! He is laying on a bed telling the fans to snore their way through the Denver Nuggets’ starting lineup. Anthony Randolph is starting, by the way. So snoring is actually an acceptable response.
More Pregame: Montage on the city of Sacramento almost losing the team and Kevin Johnson‘s effort to keep them in Sacto. This fan base really loves this franchise. Despite all the iffiness about the way things have went down to keep them here, these fans deserve a team and deserve a well-run franchise (Seattle does as well, by the way). Hopefully they get one this season.
More Pregame: This crowd is turned up to 10 way before tipoff. We need the Kings back in the playoffs. A Kings-Warriors or Kings-Thunder series would be an amazing seven-game display of fan support.
Starting Lineups: Patrick Patterson getting the nod over Jason Thompson. Love Patterson’s game, but an interesting call for a defensive first guy like Mike Malone. Patterson-Cousins combo can be a train wreck defensively.
First Quarter
11:30 JaVale McGee vs. DeMarcus Cousins has Shaqtin’ A Fool written all over it.
10:40 John Salmons air balls a corner 3. Just get Ben McLemore in the game already.
10:10 DeMarcus Cousins 20 footer alert: 1-for-1
10:00 JaVale with the sky hook. Honestly, at least three Shaqtin A Fool plays today.
9:00 JaVale pulls up for jumper at the elbow. Seriously, what the hell happened to this team. They went from a relentless, innovative and wildly efficient paint attack to JaVale McGee pull ups. Sorry, back to the Kings.
8:30 Greivis Vasquez with a nice floater in the lane.
8:10 Good outlet from Patterson to Marcus Thornton leads to a two-on-none Thornton to Cousins lob. Denver timeout. Should I question why Cousins and Thornton got up the court so quickly? Nah, I’ll leave it alone.
7:50 I promise I’m not trying to make this about JaVale, but there is a three-second call, followed by a nice block, followed by a dumb second foul on a Vasquez jumper. And one. McGee has two and is heading to the bench. So that’s a sky hook, pull up jumper, a three in the key, a block and a dumb foul for those keeping score.
7:00 Cousins 20 footer alert: 1-for-2.
6:10 Jerry Reynolds just said John Salmons can play point guard. My brother followed by asking what the Denver Nuggets plan is on offense. Good question that does not have an answer.
5:35 Why the f*** didn’t Kenneth Faried start?!?!?!
5:20 Patterson with a mid post iso. Looks like Malone brought the Warriors most annoying play with him to Sacramento.
5:00 Ty Lawson hits a tough shot. This looks like a much better defensive team with Malone at the helm, though. Nuggets are not playing great offensively, but Kings are really forcing their will on that end.
4:30 Ben McLemore checks in and immediately makes a good cut to the rim and attempt to rise for a dunk from a foot and a half in front of the the free throw line. Misses the dunk, but this guy is oozing with 3D potential.
3:45 One of my brothers chimes in saying, “one of the worst phrases to hear as a Kings’ fan: Travis Outlaw getting ready to check in.”
2:40 McLemore with a 3 to get the crowd going. If he can be a good to great 3-point shooter this year he can be in the Rookie of the Year talk. Already looks like an above average defender with a lot of room to grow and he moves really well without the basketball — as evidenced by the “almost dunk.” He will never be the star everybody thinks he will be but I see a lot of Klay Thompson in him. That is the future of the position.
1:30 Professor Andre Miller has six points already. Always fun to watch Andre Miller do Andre Miller things.
1:10 Jason Thompson mid-post iso this time. Obviously unsuccessful. Just scrap it from the playbook already, Mike.
0:55 Jason Thompson again attacks the rim and is stuffed by Timofey “I can finally play now that the good big man got traded” Mosgov. I guess that explains why Patterson got the starting nod.
0:05 Isaiah Thomas with one of those “how the hell does he do this” floaters to finish off the quarter. Also I did not realize I should include score updates til three-fourths into the second quarter. Sorry.
Second Quarter
12:00 McLemore with a charge while attempting to attack the rim and dish it off to Chuck Hayes — yes, Chuck Hayes is in the game. Cannot ask him too much of him, too early. He is not going to be great creating his own shot this year and that may never be his strong suit. The Kings should not need him to be that player though.
9:52 Kenneth Faried just checked out for J.J. Hickson. He might be traded before halftime.
9:00 DeMarcus Cousins denied a couple of times at the rim. It did not yield success, but he is attacking the rim and not settling for jumpers as much. After the second miss the ball was knocked out to Isaiah Thomas, who knocked down the 3 with seconds left on the shot clock.
7:50 Patterson with the 3 from the top of the key. This team can be really good offensively if they just spread the floor with their shooters and run pick rolls with their plethora of ball handlers and Cousins. Cousins is above average passing out of that roll spot and Thomas and Vasquez will typically make the right read coming of the screen. With Patterson and McLemore spreading the floor you make the opponent have to play perfect D to get the stop.
5:50 Cousins with a spin and a bucket from the post. Looks a lot more patient on the block today. Actually letting his skill get him some cleaner looks around the rim. There is a semblance of an elite post game here. Not sure if he will reach his ceiling on the block, but his start is hopefully a good sign of things to come.
5:40 Quick Shaq interview. Spending a lot of time flirting with the “6’3″ supermodel” that is interviewing him. Apologized for the “Queens” comment — I still say he should own it — and talks about the work he is doing with Cousins.
4:30 Kings lead 41-31, by the way. Defense looks good but Denver’s horrid offense is contributing a lot to that. My only complaint on offense is a lack of tempo and pace. I want more pick-and-roll, marginalized Horns sets and an abolishing of the mid-post isos. Overall, like what I see so far more than I dislike it.
Random note: I guess the Kings bought up most of the ad time for the game. They haven’t gone to commercial in like 10 breaks. Instead we are getting a lot of interviews and Indian dance routines during the timeouts.
4:00 The Vasquez-Thomas back court is seeing it’s first action. I feel like Malone will be going to this lineup a lot as the season goes on. Vasquez and Thompson are quite clearly the Kings’ two best backcourt players and having both players on the court will help the offense to the point that the liabilities on defense will be a necessary sacrifice.
2:10 Another great move by Cousins and a post move score. He looks like one of the few guys in the league who you can give the ball to on the block and expect good things. That is a rare commodity in the NBA nowadays and is very valuable for a coach who knows how to use that skill. I am not sure Malone is that coach but Cousins become that player is good not matter what.
1:40 Cousins 20 footer alert: 1-for-3
1:10 Cousins 20 footer alert: 1-for-4. It is a process people. We will get there.
0:35 Travis Outlaw gets rejected by J.J. Hickson, but redeems himself with foot on the line corner jump shot. Cue theme music:
The Kings lead 48-45 going into the half.
Random note: There were literally no halftime commercials. Coverage stayed with the Kings the entire break, with the exception of a brief news report from the ABC. Vivek Ranadive has deep pockets.
Third Quarter
12:00 The Lakers lost by 30 tonight. Just in case you were wondering.
10:30 Greivis Vaquez with a nice hook shot over Lawson at the end of the shot clock to stop an early run by the Nuggets. Nuggets lead 52-50. The pace and tempo of this game is totally unacceptable for both of these teams’ personnel.
9:10 Kings are doing a good job of forcing the action up sidelines defensively. A turnover by Lawson on an errant skip pass, mostly due to good defense by the Kings. That is one of the effects you will see out of a Mike Malone-run defense.
8:30 Both Vasquez and Thomas have really good floaters they can use in traffic. Going to be really fun watching these two guys play. Just too bad they cannot spend a lot of time on the court together.
7:20 Salmons hits a 3 late in the shot clock to bring the Kings within one. No reason this team should be playing this late into the shot clock. They are playing at Indiana Pacers/Memphis Grizzlies like speed and that style does not create the easy baskets you want a young team to get in transition.
5:35 Another late shot clock heave leads to DeMarcus Cousins grabbing a couple of offensive rebounds and finishing at the rim. Malone has Cousins playing near the rim a lot more than Keith Smart did towards the end of last season. This should lead to Cousins returning to form on the offensive glass this season. No matter what he is doing offensively and defensively, Cousins will always be capable of being a top notch rebounder.
4:15 Cousins is called for a hand check while trying to contain the ball handler in the pick-and-roll. Cousins is showing much more effort on the defensive end, but simply looks like he will never have the lateral quickness to be a great interior defender. With a solid effort and Cousins quick hands, though, he and Malone can at least craft a top 15 defense.
4:00 Cousins with another great spin move on the block and finishes at the rim to extend the Kings lead to 64-59. This is DeMarcus Cousins showing us what he can be at his peak offensively. Hopefully he can recreate this over a full season.
2:20 Cousins with an and-one while attacking the lane to give the Kings a 67-64 lead. Cousins was particularly horrible at this type of shot last season and if he can show any improvement on those in between shots that happen just outside the restricted area, he can be much better on offense.
1:30 The Vasquez-Thomas backcourt is at it again. First time up the court, Vasquez knocks down another floater and on the ensuing fast break Thomas draws the foul after a nice pass from Vasquez. These two guys can sneakily be fun to watch this year.
0:01 Professor Miller with a shot in the lane to finish the quarter. 72-70 Nuggets going into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
11:00 Ben McLemore with a big block on an Evan Fournier attack to the rim. His shooting still looks somewhat shaky, but this kid has the potential to be a terror on the defensive end of the floor. He is already growing under Mike Malone’s guidance and is understanding NBA defensive schemes quicker than most NBA rookies do. If he continues to develop under Malone like Klay Thompson did, he will be a treat to watch defensively.
9:25 Thomas with back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Kings a 77-72 lead. Thomas-Vasquez-McLemore-Patterson-Cousins lineup on the floor right now. This may be the Kings most dangerous lineup offensively. If they can find a way to get the job done defensively, this group will be finishing a lot of games for Sacramento.
7:10 Cousins is beginning to demand a double team on the block. He is still managing to be effective with a OK fadeaway off the glass and a nice hook shot over two. Not sure if he can be this guy on block every night, but if he can, that $62 million looks like a bit of a deal.
4:30 DeMarcus Cousins 20 footer alert: 2-for-5. Kings lead 84-80.
3:45 DeMarcus Cousins takes it to the rim, misses, but grabs his own rebound and finishes with the slam to give the Kings a 86-82 lead! Then he immediately takes a charge on the opposite end — or at least it was called a charge. That is a huge momentum swinging sequence for the Kings and Cousins. Once again, this is DeMarcus Cousins at his absolute best!!!
2:14 Random observation, but Cousins is maturing in that he better understands the limits he has with the refs. He has been emotional all game but walked away from an encounter with J.J. Hickson that definitely could have led to an ill-timed technical foul. It is a little thing, but small things help a player mature as his career goes on. J.J. Hickson eventually ties up the game though. 88 all.
0:55 Great block by Cousins caps a great defensive sequence by the Kings. The ball is being forced up the sideline and Vasquez closed out hard to run Fournier off the line after a long skip pass out of good ball handler corral job off of a pick and roll. These are things a great defense gets right all of time and good defenses get right most of the time. If the Kings’ can execute like this defensively with some consistency they should be much approved on the defensive end. Still tied up 88-88. (Warning: my DVR recording time is running low.)
0:40 Jason Thompson cleans up a DeMarcus Cousins miss with a huge putback slam to give the Kings a 90-88 lead. Patterson provides a lot more offensively than Thompson, but his pick-and-roll defense and the potential his size and athleticism presents — for plays just like this one — will earn him a solid amount of minutes this season.
0:00 Thompson’s putback proves to be the game winner as a rather hectic 40 seconds reminded us that neither of these teams will probably be playoff bound this season. Cousins finished with 30 and 14 and an admittedly playoff like crowd was treated to an intense win to start off the NBA season. 81 left to go.
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