Sacramento Kings at Minnesota Timberwolves
5 p.m. Pacific on Comcast SportsNet California
The Kings try to forget all about that shellacking in Dallas against a worse but able team in the Wolves up in Minnesota. Sacramento remains largely awful on offense on the road. The Kings have an effective field goal percentage of 39.2 percent on the road this season vs. 45.1 percent at home. The two other ugly home-road splits: two extra turnovers per game on the road, and a stunning eight fewer free throws per game.
And it isn't as if the Kings are champions at home, you know?
Sacramento has a brief respite after the Wolves game, heading home to face the Pacers before returning to the road for three more. If there's good news, it's that the Wolves haven't been great at home, just 2-5 with a -0.7 points per game margin. Minnesota has actually been better on the road (2-3, +1.4/game).
The Wolves very strangely have the league's No. 21 offense and No. 9 defense; those should flip at some point this season. On offense, the Wolves struggle to handle the ball cleanly, at No. 29 in turnover rate. Luckily for the Kings, they also struggle to create turnovers and rebound defensively; DeMarcus Cousins could have a big game here, as his downfall is coughing up the ball and getting blocked out at the rim.
It's a 5 p.m. game. Game threads at 5 and 6:30. I'm sure no one will talk about Ricky and Reke if the Kings struggle on offense. I'm positive.
Let's go Kings!
1 recs | 77 comments
My take
The Twolves started the New Year with a 4 game home stand, winning back to back against Dallas and San Antonio, and then lost a close game to Memphis by 4 before inexplicably losing to Cleveland by 11. Last week they started with a back to back to back; winning in Washington, losing in Toronto by 10 and finishing at home with an 11pt loss to Chicago. They finished the week on the road with a win in New Orleans and a two point loss in Atlanta.
They’re winning games that they shouldn’t and seem to be in almost every game they play. Their biggest deficit of 11 pts came in the last two homes losses to Cleveland and Chicago. And, they’re 3 losses to start the season were by 4 points to OKC, 4 points to the Bucks, and 2 points to Miami. So, while they have the a record of 4 & 8, their 8 losses came by a total of 48 pts while the Kings lost 2 of the games on this road trip by 58.
Michael Beasley missed the last 5 games with a foot sprain; JJ Barea was out earlier with a hamstring injury and has missed the last 2 games with an ankle injury. Barea’s latest injury has opened the door for Rubio to start; in the 2 games he’s averaged 15pts, 5 rebs and 10.5 assists in just under 40 mpg. But, Kevin Love is still the heart of the Twolves averaging 25 pts and 14.6 rebounds in just under 40 mpg.
The Twolves lead the Kings in every offensive category and most of the defensive ones. Their one weakness is the Center position where Darko and Nikola Pekovic are combining for 8 pts and 6 rebs in 25 mpg. With all the fuss about Rubio and his playmaking ability, Minnesota is 28th in assists at 17 apg just 3 ahead of last place Sacramento.
Minnesota is shooting 33% from the 3pt line on 22 attempts per game, while the Kings are shooting 26% on a little over 20 attempts. The Twolves 3pt leaders are Love with 60% on 5.2 shots per game, Ridnour with 58% on 3.5 attempts, and Rubio at 63% on 1.7 attempts per game. You can add Beasley with 60% on 1.4 attempts if he is well enough to play. Beasley is the 2nd leading rebounder at 7 rpg with no one else above 5, which leaves a heavy rebounding burden on Love who averages 14.6.
With a starting backcourt of 6-2 Ridnour and 6-4 Rubio, all of the Kings guards match-up well especially if Barea is still out with the bad ankle. Other than Love and Beasley, all of their Forwards are scoring in the paint off of 70%+ in assisted baskets from their guards. Love is 4th in assists with 1.7 per game. So, control the boards and stop guard penetration leading to easy baskets in the paint and Minnesota becomes a below average jump shooting team that just happens to have Kevin Love on their side. Unfortunately, Adelman has them playing some pretty good defense; currently tied for 9th with Memphis. So let’s hope we learned something in Dallas. With Beasley and Barea out this becomes a very winnable road game, otherwise the Kings will need to shot over 50% to win this one.
The Kings are 3-3 against sub-.500 teams of which Minnesota is one. Of course, Minnesota is 3-3 against sub-.500 teams also.
HighTops - January 16, 2012
Usually I`m willing to rec your takes before even reading them.
I hope after our 14 game winstreak right before the Allstar game (cough) you´ll find the time to do your pregame reports again, those are just gold.
rubenho - January 16, 2012
Can't wait for this
clicc916 - January 16, 2012 via mobile
Can't wait for this game!
Though a part of me feels like this could be Rubio’s first 20-assist night of his pro career.
clicc916 - January 16, 2012 via mobile
I share this concern. Put IT on him.
fryingpan136 - January 16, 2012
Maybe time for a lineup change?
How about starting Thomas at PG and moving Evans to SF?
Dzzz - January 16, 2012
I agree completely. Play the best players.
slide reek to forward
throw away stinky fish now
please, no more outlaw
fryingpan136 - January 16, 2012
Reke IT backcourt
Whichever 3 can play D starts
Big Cuz, drive angry!
sj60615 - January 16, 2012
That would certainly be an improvement.
fryingpan136 - January 16, 2012
Ok! This is the game we start to get our act together, pull off the W and get things rolling!
HeuristicLineup - January 16, 2012
This reminds me of watching the kings rebuild.
fryingpan136 - January 16, 2012
Yup. It basically directly coincides with how things are going at the moment
Kitty makes a few good strides up the slide, but instantly slides back down the the bottom. We have just enough going for us to keep us away from falling off the bottom of the slide.
HeuristicLineup - January 16, 2012
So we basically end up in the mud behind the slide?
McB7 - January 16, 2012
Slam_Dunk - January 16, 2012
2000 to present
HeuristicLineup - January 16, 2012
Oddly enough...
This also works for the Maloof’s financials.
HeuristicLineup - January 16, 2012
After watching that poor little girl faceplant a dozen times and each time pick herself up,
naively thinking this time it would be okay, makes me think she must be a Kings fan too.
fryingpan136 - January 16, 2012
So mean
rubenho - January 16, 2012
Looking forward to a bounce back win tonight.
Not looking forward to seeing a random role player on the Wolves tear us up (my prediction is Anthony Tolliver. hate that guy.)
KingsFromNY - January 16, 2012
I'll go with Tolliver as well
my pick to click
wallywagon11 - January 16, 2012
Screw that! I'll jinx him right now!
Tolliver will probably score 30 on us!
HeuristicLineup - January 16, 2012
Ridnour has my vote
I could see him lighting them up for 25.
WebberDynasty - January 16, 2012
winner winner
Shizzo - January 17, 2012
Waiting 2 years for Rubio would have been a disaster
Even if he came right away he wouldn’t have been as good as he is now. Honestly Even if we didn’t pick Reke I would have still picked Brandon Jennings, Steph Curry, or Ty Lawson(in no particular order) over Rubio.
Allbenji - January 16, 2012 via mobile
and we'de be better with any one of them than we are now.
sacman - January 16, 2012
I disagree. And I think the only one you can make a case for is Lawson
KingsFanInPortland - January 16, 2012
Agree 100%
Jennings is as inconsistent as they come, Curry has had positional issues as to how he matches with teammates and injuries just like ’Reke so i see them as being very close to equal, Lawson may be the only one who I could see an argument for but at the time I still think "Reke was what they needed as sadly it wasnt about the future it was about who could play at that time.
WebberDynasty - January 16, 2012
winner winner chicken dinner...
Unfortunately.
WebberDynasty - January 16, 2012
well
I don’t think reke and thornton work well together in the backcourt. The problem is you can start evans at the 3 but he still will have to have the ball in his hands most of the time. Still leading to no ball movement. I never thought I’d say this either but we may actually want to start Donte tonight.
How about
jimmer-thornton-donte-thompson-cousins.
Bring reke of the bench, along with It, hickson, either garcia or salmons ( they both suck). I think Tyreke bought into all the rookie hype and actually believes he’s a superstar- and truth is he’ll probably never even be an all star. Oh well. Just my take.
sacman - January 16, 2012
It would crush his ego to come off the bench. Plus, he is one of our better defenders.
fryingpan136 - January 16, 2012
I won't touch the benching of Tyreke, but I'd rather see Donte at the 4.
especially if Beasley is out. Donte is the only big with the defense to bother Love. He’s shooting better than the other SF’s but that isn’t saying much. But he’s extremely better than the other 4’s, shooting from outside which might spread the defense and open the lane some for Tyreke and Thornton.
The way we play offense I don’t think it makes that much difference who starts at the 3 unless one starts hitting their 3’s. But, we sorely need defense. It was the 1st half defense leading to steals and fast break points that kept us in the Houston game. That make Salmons the best defensive option at the 3 and probably the best offensive option other then Tyreke who’s actually shooting the 3 at a higher percentage then all 4 of our SF’s.
HighTops - January 16, 2012
I would go big and play DMC, JJ, and Donte to start with Thornton and Reke.
And play mostly zone to help with guard penetration and force jump shots.
Wonderchild - January 16, 2012
I would go DMC, Donte, Reke, Thornton, and IT.
Slam_Dunk - January 16, 2012
Change that to DMC, JT, Reke, Thornton, and IT.
Slam_Dunk - January 16, 2012
As others have said...
A Jimmer/Thornton backcourt would get torched in my opinion. I dont mind Donte getting a shot at a start though at the 3. Is Thornton good to go again? If not I may even be ok with sliding Salmons over to the 2 and Donte in at the 3. Nobody seems to be able to shoot so maybe they should try to be defensive for a game!
WebberDynasty - January 16, 2012
your probably right.
Not a bad idea. I like the idea of having some offense off the bench thats all. Just cause someone is not starting doesnt mean they are getting benched. That would be a great role for Thornton. And at this point i think donte should probably start getting more minutes. If we cant score with our 5 best offensive players on the floor, put the best defensive players out there.
sacman - January 16, 2012
That's my thinking
But, without Hayes who is our best defensive 4? Salmons is the best defensive 2. And, while IT & Jimmer aren’t bad defenders, neither is substancially better than Tyreke. So, I’m not willing to give up Tyreke’s offense for a minimal increase in defense at best. Cuz is the best defender at the 5.
So it come down to Donte being a better defender than anyone else we have available to play the 4. And, if Donte is at the 4, and Salmons is at the 2; then Garcia is the best available defender at the 3.
Of course all this is just rhetoric because Smart has already said that he needs to show faith and support to his starters. So, I think he’s going to stay with his main rotation for at least a few weeks and probably a lot longer. Which won’t be bad if they can start to gel together offensively.
HighTops - January 16, 2012
Benching 'Reke
Would make no sense. This team cant make baskets right now so you cannot sit down your second most efficient scorer right now especially if not getting greatly improved defensively.
I think in terms of making changes there are a couple ways to go and one would be to play the guys who can score best right now and the other would be to play a defensive lineup to try to cover up your offensive weakness. Strangely enough that may mean the same thing as your top five offensively are likely a ’Reke-Thornton-Donte-JT-DMC lineup and defensively you would probably just switch IT and Salmons into that lineup. Honestly everyone is playing so poorly there really is nobody you look at and say this guy has to start besides probably DMC and ’Reke and due to personal opinions on those two many would even argue against them.
Regardless though I do not think you will Tyreke or DMC ever come off the bench again in Sacramento (unless coming back from disciplinary reasons or injury) unless we look at least 3 years down the road. Thats my personal opinion, their wagons are hitched to these guys.
WebberDynasty - January 16, 2012
Balky Needs - January 16, 2012
I was glad to hear they found a wolf in N. Cal, near the OR border, I think.
fryingpan136 - January 16, 2012
Just goes to show how far a male will go in search of love.
Grey wolf
Slam_Dunk - January 16, 2012
be careful out there
wallywagon11 - January 16, 2012
Also be very careful if you make your way over to Canis Hoopus
HeuristicLineup - January 16, 2012
Those guys are bad ass
otis29 - January 16, 2012
I think the work ID on the guy in the middle really brings all the bad assness together
wallywagon11 - January 16, 2012
That guys such a bad ass, he doesn't even look at the camera
HeuristicLineup - January 16, 2012
His boss is watchin'
Balky Needs - January 16, 2012
Wow
That is just too perfectly stereotypical.
nobodyinparticular - January 16, 2012
I wish the Kings were playing that starting five
ItsALeagueGame - January 16, 2012
I do like that Beno is throwing up the Rock On hand sign
HeuristicLineup - January 16, 2012
And cuz has his arm around Hayes.
fryingpan136 - January 16, 2012
This
had me loling for minutes
SoCal Diplomat - January 16, 2012
Rubio is going to make us pay for not drafting him
Looking forward to watching that
kingme - January 16, 2012
Kings fan?
otis29 - January 16, 2012
He has 46 total posts
At least 26 of them have to do with the twolves….
http://www.sbnation.com/users/kingme/search?advanced_search=true&all_these_words=wolves&btn=Search&order=date&q=wolves&scope=network&search_user%5Busername%5D=kingme&type=Comment
HeuristicLineup - January 16, 2012
Wolves fan here
I am ready to watch Cousins slaughter us tonight and maybe get David Kahn a little bit closer to getting fired. LET’S GO KINGS!
CoffeeJanitor - January 16, 2012
Wolves fan rooting for Kings
Kings fan rooting for Wolves
Strange times indeed
wallywagon11 - January 16, 2012
No offense, but doesn't that make you kind of a crappy fan?
otis29 - January 16, 2012
I would like to revise this
I am rooting for Cousins to destroy us, but I still really want the Wolves to win.
You see, if David Kahn remains our GM we will almost certainly waste the talents of Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio. He is too stupid to surround them with anything. If Kahn is out it is a net positive.
CoffeeJanitor - January 16, 2012
If you're looking for teams to make yours look bad
don’t bet on the Kings to do it. I’m predicting the Kings losing by at least, but around 10 points
prowseinthehouse - January 16, 2012
Again, just DMC
Kahn had a chance to take DMC but took Wes Johnson instead. In hindsight the Wes pick wasn’t all that good as Wes hasn’t panned out and DMC at the very least has a lot of trade value, even if the Wolves didn’t keep him
Not that I was totally against the Wes pick, but this has been discussed a ton over at CH and this is the conclusion I came to
CoffeeJanitor - January 16, 2012
The Road Not Taken
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost (1874–1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.
Slam_Dunk - January 16, 2012
Robert Frost
Never Heard of Him
wallywagon11 - January 16, 2012
(watch your step people)
wallywagon11 - January 16, 2012
Providing his name in the post title
and the use of all-caps somehow provided a subtle bridge over the chasm.
RJinFairOaks - January 16, 2012
Okay obviously Rubio has been fantastic
but dear lord I didn’t realize there were this many alley-oops already. How did I throw my fantasy draft auction money at Jarrat Jack instead of Rubio? Curses!
wallywagon11 - January 16, 2012
Does Jarrat Jack play with Ocur on the Jizz?
lulz
Balky Needs - January 16, 2012
Accuscore has us winning this game 16 of 100 times
Hard to imagine that this match-up could be that lopsided.
RJinFairOaks - January 16, 2012
Also, not a sports gambler, but
I just read [anecdotal source] that 63% of NBA games so far this year have gone to the “under”…interesting statistic. I would have figured that the sports books could account for the lockout rust better than that.
RJinFairOaks - January 16, 2012
Here's to a hard played, competitve game tonight.
Go Kings!
DiegoKing - January 16, 2012
Tonight's the night for jimmer time riiiight?
I got jimmer going 5-8 for 15 with 3 assists in relatively limited minutes. Of course I’m betting with myself and I know I’m not good for the money anyways.
larry_funderburke - January 16, 2012 via mobile
The Kings have won four games ... how?
LOL DAVID ALDRIDGE..
mjalmighty - January 16, 2012
Actually had that same discussion with a friend
Friend could not comprehend that they could win four games. Sadly when we broke it down I had to point out they began the season with a great emotional passionate win against LA but beyond that they:
Got by a New Orleans team that shot 40%FG, 0%3pt, and 50% FT with 19 TO’s.
Needed a 20+pt comeback to beat a 20TO, 60% FT Milwaukee team.
Lastly they needed 31 made FT’s (finally FTs are a positive) to beat Toronto.
So realistically they have one “quality win” a few ugly wins and then the real downer of all the blowout losses (about 7 now). Probably the most frustrating thing of all is that very inconsistency. I mean many of these games they get blown out for a quarter and then are fine in others, some they get blown out all the way through. Just not many positives (if any) to take from this season.
WebberDynasty - January 16, 2012
Kinda crazy how much MT23 looks like MLKJr...
Sacramental - January 16, 2012 via mobile
I like the quote from Smart in the Bee today
“Im telling him (Jimmer) all the time: Be you. Don’t try to be this point guard and average 10 assists – just be you and shoot when you have to shoot.” Yaaaaa…in other words, just ftit in and be like the rest of the team man. Dont worry about doing what point guards are supposed to do, thats a crazy idea, we get plenty of ball movement as it is…o wait
vistroke - January 16, 2012
Maybe we are assuming he needs to be a point guard
When his future in the NBA is to be a role player who comes in off the bench and makes shots.
otis29 - January 17, 2012
crazy
Someone has given Salmon the green light?!
kendogfunky - January 16, 2012
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Sactown Royalty to post a comment.