Our respite at home
was but a brief interlude
in this march of pain.
Sacramento Kings at San Antonio Spurs
5:30 p.m. Pacific on Comcast SportsNet California
The Kings picked up a win at home on Wednesday over the Pacers, an improbable little bit of magic to draw the team's record to the somewhat quasi-respectable 5-10. But the offense remained abysmal, as it was for most of the five-game road trip that preceded the game.
Now, it's back out on the road, with the Spurs up first. The Spurs are powerful at home, having lost just once zero times there this season. Manu Ginobili is out, but Tony Parker remains just a hair under elite, Tim Duncan is still strong and DeJuan Blair, Gary Neal, Richard Jefferson and Tiago Splitter can be dangerous, especially to a team who is still assessing its own defense.
The good news is that San Antonio's bench defense is quite a fall-off, and the Kings' bench seems to perform better on offense than the starters. A sliver of opportunity! Other than containing Parker, a task likely left to Tyreke Evans, the Kings will need to keep Blair off the offensive glass as much as possible; Indiana got far too many second chances, especially late. The Kings actually aren't great on the defensive glass, so this could turn into an issue.
Game's at 5:30. Game threads at 5:30 and 7. Let's go Kings!
0 recs | 45 comments
No Bat Slayer tonight!!
Lets see a lot of this!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXd4NgAjDMo&feature=plcp&context=C3214d3aUDOEgsToPDskJjh8-UOxBRBedE-7VaYmzx
HeuristicLineup - January 20, 2012
I love Blair and Parker's reaction to the bat.
Crocoduck - January 20, 2012 via mobile
The most impressive part
Is still the way he just picks it up after he swats it.
Exhibit G - January 20, 2012
Just a fruit bat isn't it? They are way less harmless then we realize
Speaking of bats, time to bust out a youtube clip of an adorable animal being adorable. And yes, it’s a bat.
wallywagon11 - January 20, 2012
Thank you for this.
How about using a net next time?
rubenho - January 20, 2012
Thomas should start
mavisdory - January 20, 2012
So, what do you think the chances are? Like one in a thousand?
Um, I was thinking more like one in a million.
So you’re saying there’s a chance!!!
Wonderchild - January 20, 2012
Exhibit G - January 20, 2012
What's the over/under on the Kings FG% tonight?
40%?
Crocoduck - January 20, 2012 via mobile
I bet under
Spurs team D is way too good to shoot a good %. I could see a lot of missed shots from both teams tonight.
SharkKings49 - January 20, 2012
When are we going to be "due" for a good shooting night?
I think tonight for some reason.
Frankles - January 20, 2012
But we'll probably still lose for other reasons
Frankles - January 20, 2012
The spurs are 9-0 at home
SACsac - January 20, 2012
Nostradamus says 9-1
HeuristicLineup - January 20, 2012
NBA.COM say 9-0
SACsac - January 20, 2012
Nostradamus is never wrong.
HeuristicLineup - January 20, 2012
Nop he only makes mistakes
SACsac - January 20, 2012
Nostradamus makes no mistakes
Nostradamus does not speak in thy present, he only lets thy world know of what’s to come.
HeuristicLineup - January 20, 2012
So you're saying they're due?
Shizzo - January 20, 2012
Well I say SA comes out spirited in this game
This is 1 of only 6 home games they have until March 1.
Unless we shoot well, we don’t stand a chance. (Of course I said this exact same thing against Indiana.) On the bright side, Salmons’ outside shot looked better Wednesday night, as did Garcia’s. Hopefully Kings bring some positive energy on the road with them.
Wonderchild - January 20, 2012
Agree
Looks like SA is one of lowest teams in FPG at home, so it might be a tough to get points at the line (not that they’d make their FTs anyways).
I don’t expect to see a lot of TO from them either, so transition / fast breaks opportunities could be scarce.
Win or lose, I’m hoping to see some improvement in the half court offense and maybe see a couple guys shake the shooting slump.
Crocoduck - January 20, 2012 via mobile
It's crazy how many of our shots have been going in and out
Not that many bad misses really.
lietothegirls - January 20, 2012
My preview
The Kings are back on the road starting with San Antonio who has the best home record in the NBA at 9-0. Not your most favorable situation to start a road trip. Now they aren’t undefeatable, as evident by their 1-5 road record. They have lost to Milwaukee, Minnesota, Houston, Miami (Wadeless), and Oklahoma City. Unfortunately for the Kings, their opponents had to shot 50%+ from the field and between 35-60% from three to secure the victory.
For the season, the Spurs are one of the top teams in FG%, 3P% and Assists. With Blair starting at Center and Splitter as his backup the Kings should dominate the Offensive and possibly the Defensive boards. Plus even with the Kings poor showing early in the season from the FT line, they currently have a higher FT% (73.6%) and a higher rate at getting to the FT line than the Spurs.
In recent games (I’m looking more toward the time with Coach Smart and without Genobili) the Kings, Spurs and Houston are all tied in turnovers per game at 15. The Kings are the only one of the three with fewer turnovers than their opponents. The biggest difference is in steals where the Kings are currently ranked 10th with just under 10 per game.
The Spur’s opened the season with Genobili as the starting 2 rather than their scorer off the bench as he had in the past. It was working, and the Spurs pulled out wins against the Jazz, the Grizz and the Clips and their only loss came in Houston. Then they lost in Minnesota in the game where Genobili fractured his hand. Since the injury they have gone with James Anderson (1gm), Gary Neal (4gms), and currently Kawhi Leonard (5gms) as his replacement in the starting rotation.
As a starting 2, Leonard is averaging 10pts, 6rebs, 1ast on 44% from the field and 50% on 5 of 10 shooting from 3pt range. Duncan is the leading Rebounder at 7rpg, followed by Blair at 6.5 with Leonard the only other player averaging over 5 per game. Genobili was there leading scorer but now it’s Parker at 17 ppg followed by Duncan at 13, Blair at 11 and Jefferson at 11. Neal, Splitter and Danny Green are the main reserves off the bench and are averaging between 7-9 ppg each.
The Kings may actually have the advantage at the FT line and on the Offensive Glass but the Spurs just beat Orlando when the Magic owning a 14 rebound advantage on the Offensive end and a 10pt advantage at the FT line. Why? Because the Magic shot 33% from the field and 19% from the 3Pt line. The Kings are currently last in FG% at 39.7% and 2nd to last in 3P% at 25.8%.
The Spurs aren’t likely to score in single figures in the 4th quarter as Indy did and certainly not at home. They will take good quality shots and make their shots down the stretch when they have to score. I like the ball movement and hustle that Coach Smart has instilled into the Kings offense, but more than one or two players need to start hitting their open shots if the Kings are going to win. And, our starting backcourt needs to shot a lot better than 8 for 31. If the Kings are going to win this one, I think that the Kings are going to have to do what the other teams that have beaten the Spurs have done; Shot 50% from the field or pretty close to it. Although the only time the Kings have shot over 50% this season was the 7 pt loss to Orlando.
HighTops - January 20, 2012
You had me at "The Kings".
Nice right up as usual, HT!
Balky Needs - January 20, 2012
lol
caseycheesecake - January 20, 2012
Who's excited to see David Robinson play tonight????
Skinsworth Bentley - January 20, 2012
I would love to see
A Bonner vs Jimmer 3 point fest.
/waits for the jokes…
thewaterispoison - January 20, 2012
Hahahaha!! Nice…
Skinsworth Bentley - January 20, 2012
ok this has nothing to do with kings/spurs
but i saw this and thought it was funny so i wanted to show yall
yaboyrafa - January 20, 2012
Is this from the guy who puts captions on sports photos?
What’s that website again?
caseycheesecake - January 20, 2012
Not sure if this is his
but Doc Funk’s Brain on Funk is the go to option:
http://docfunk.tumblr.com/
thewaterispoison - January 20, 2012
i go to withleather.com
pretty funny stuff there
yaboyrafa - January 20, 2012
This one is good too
thewaterispoison - January 20, 2012
Full of win
section214 - January 20, 2012
oh good glory gracious god yes
DOC FUNK IS BACK?!?!?!?!?!
Sorry guys, gonna disappear for an hour.
iashwash - January 20, 2012
A bad road team vs a great home team
Uh oh!
49er16 - January 20, 2012
Unfortunatley
I see a Dallas-esq type waxing tonight…I sure hope I am wrong.
LOL to the jackass who posted the pic of Dave Robinson..
G McDiddy - January 20, 2012
As terrible as we have been the last 4 or 5 years
Haven’t we played the spurs pretty well? Not necessarily beating them but playing respectively before losing?
Allbenji - January 20, 2012 via mobile
Yes, but ...
… we’ve lost our secret weapon against Pop: BENO.
Tom Ziller - January 20, 2012
Ya, but we didn't have Travis Outlaw
HeuristicLineup - January 20, 2012
I think we gave them a good run in the 05 playoffs
Crocoduck - January 20, 2012
We lost all 3 games to them last season
We lost by 13 in Feb at PBP
We lost by 5 in March in the AT&T Center, and then by 32 there in April
The last time the Kings defeated the Spurs was on Nov. 26, 2007, 112-99, at ARCO Arena. The last time the Kings won in San Antonio was on Apr. 5, 2006 (97-87).
HighTops - January 20, 2012
So . . . .
That’s a ‘no’ then?
lietothegirls - January 20, 2012
SO WE'RE DUE!
Shizzo - January 20, 2012
Lol
I know we haven’t beat them. I was just remembering them being good games.
Allbenji - January 20, 2012 via mobile
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