The Kings started off their longest road trip of the season last night in Chicago, and while they fought valiantly and got big performances from each of their main players, the defense was terrible and the Bulls came away with the victory.
Tonight the Kings travel to New York, and Madison Square Garden, a building the Kings have had a lot of recent success in. You have to go back to January 15th, 2007 to find the last time the Kings lost in New York. In fact, New York was the only East Coast team the Kings beat in the miserable 2008-09 season.
Tonight won't be easy though, as the York Knicks have finally found their groove thanks to the emergence of one Jeremy Lin (you might have heard his name mentioned somewhere). Lin has carried the Knicks to a 6 game win streak, starting 5 of those games, and averaging 26.8 PPG and 8.5 APG during that span. Lin has done most of his damage in the Pick & Roll, as according to Synergy Sports, almost half of his possessions come as a P&R Ball handler. As anyone who watches the Kings knows, the Kings have been killed by the Pick & Roll this year, but not by the Ball handler. Instead it has been the roll man or cutter who has destroyed the Kings.
The Knicks happen to have two of the best roll men in the league in Tyson Chandler and Amar'e Stoudemire. As big as the hype surrounding Lin is, those two guys are the ones I'm worrying about. Chandler is 38 of 53 in P&R situations this season, and is currently shooting an absurd 70.4% from the field. Chandler is also one of the best defensive big men in the league and a huge reason why New York's Defensive Rating has gone from 22nd last year to 8th this year.
Stoudemire is in just his 2nd game back after taking a leave of absence following his brother's untimely death. Last night he finished with 21 points and 9 rebounds, but did struggle with his shot, something that's been a regular occurrence throughout this season. His 44.2% from the field is a career low, and he spends about a quarter of his time in Isolation possessions, where he's only converted on 34.7% of opportunities. Still, Stoudemire is an offensive force, and Jason Thompson will have his hands full.
Carmelo Anthony will miss tonight's game with a back injury. This is good news for the Kings, as they really have absolutely nobody who can guard him.
Sacramento will once again need big performances from their big players to win this game, and the defense will have to be much better. The one flaw Lin has shown in these past six games is that he can be very turnover prone, and so the Kings should pressure him as much as possible, and make him beat you with his outside shot. Essentially, play Jeremy Lin like you would play Tyreke Evans, but make sure you stick to roll men like Chandler and Stoudemire. The Kings have a terrible tendency to make bad switches and over-help, as evidenced last night by the continual leaving of Kyle Korver wide open from three.
The Game begins at 4:30. Game Threads are at 4:30 and 6:00.
Let's Go Kings!
0 recs | 92 comments
I hope the Kings players didn't sleep on the plain
I’d hate for them to have been LINCENPTIONED.
Exhibit G - February 15, 2012
Linsanity ends tonight!
These guys usually compete at MSG.
The Crown Royal Gentleman - February 15, 2012
It would be great for the Kings to win
and bring some attention to the vote that just passed last night.
Mad D - February 15, 2012
Somebody better tell LINderella,
the clock is about to strike midnight for him!!
JohnSalmons19 - February 15, 2012
Need Cousins and Thompson to be dialed in tonight
Unfortunately our best defensive big is playing injured and badly and looks to be out of shape to boot. I admire his toughness, but Hayes needs rest the shoulder and hit the treadmill. Hickson needs to step up as well.
Deleran - February 15, 2012
PS
For the love of God stay on Novak. Dude can’t do anything but hit open 3s.
Deleran - February 15, 2012
I could totally see him droppin 5 threes on us
Shizzo - February 15, 2012
Especially if Thronton is assigned to him
Our team is terrible at knowing when to play help defense. Half the time they don’t move and the other team gets a layup. The other half they help when they don’t need to and give up and open three or dunk.
Towards the end of the game John Lucas drove and the defender was right there and Cousins stepped up for some reason, leaving Noah for a dunk. Thornton will always leave a three point shooter to run inside unnecessarily.
SPTSJUNKIE - February 15, 2012
Novak is a 6'10" SF
Not sure if they’d put MT on him because he might not be able to bother his shot that much anyway, but the point stands. Make Lin hit a circus layup over Reke and Cousins. Stay the hell on Novak.
Deleran - February 15, 2012
Good call
And yes, I’d rather see Lin go for 40 on Evans than watch Amare dunk the ball and Novak & Shump drilling open threes.
SPTSJUNKIE - February 15, 2012
WooHoo!
We’re gonna be on SportCenter!!
Steevo - February 15, 2012
with an 's'
Steevo - February 15, 2012
Its too easy
Lin = Losing In New york
Reke = Reke Equals King’s Excellence
ElRonToro - February 15, 2012
Bonus points for the recursive acronym
REKE’d
rpmonkey - February 15, 2012
REKE - O -Mmended
Slam_Dunk - February 15, 2012
Needs to be Greened
Slam_Dunk - February 15, 2012
LOL slam dunk you are funny sir!!!
CousinsEvansDUO - February 15, 2012
*madam
Shizzo - February 15, 2012
I'll be at MSG at the game tonight.
Longtime creeper on this site, but diehard kings fan. I feel like i know all of you so well! Hahaha. I’ll be in New York watching the game! If Tyreke can get goin offensively and play solid D on Lin, we have a pretty decent chance of winning. Real question is: Whose bigs will get into foul trouble first? Play hard all 4 quarters and we got this! Go Kings!!
chestercheetah - February 15, 2012 via mobile
Tyreke in New York
Equals the End for the Lin
Respect will be earned
Crocoduck - February 15, 2012
Gameday Haiku
6 straight games with wins;
It’s Lintastic! But tonight,
Harvard comes second.
drock1331 - February 15, 2012 via mobile
Back to back on road
Thornton leaves Novak open
Means long night ahead
SPTSJUNKIE - February 15, 2012
how do i copy and paste from a post so that it is highlighted in purple?
if i knew how this is where I would post aykis’ comment about how carmelo being gone is a good thing.
Don’t understand how people still believe that guy positively influences a basketball game…. especially fans of a team that has had similar style players, at times, absolutely grind our offense to a hault over the last few years.
the knicks have played their best ball all year, and are showing the most cohesiveness than they ever did with melo on the floor. Don’t see how throwing a wrench like carmelo in the gears would be worse for the kings than the knicks’ current, active roster.
Loyalty2Royalty - February 15, 2012
you put "bq. " in front of a paragraph (notice the space)
EXAMPLE A
bq.this is doing it wrong
EXAMPLE B
that second pagraph is all on it’s own.
(before clicking “Post” on any of these you want to click the “Preview” button to make sure you did it correctly)
wallywagon11 - February 15, 2012
Or just copy and paste what you want
Highlight that, and click on the " icon above
lietothegirls - February 15, 2012
I think there are two different questions here
One is “can Carmelo Anthony lead a team to the championship?”.
Another is “is a team generally better with Carmelo on the court?”
The answer to the former may be no, but the answer to the latter statistically has been a yes to this point in his career.
The guys is maligned, but his on-court/off-court numbers and generally solid play in close games belies the idea that he’s a win-sucking malcontent. I wouldn’t assume that he and Lin can’t play together until they’ve had some time to play together.
otis29 - February 15, 2012
Carmelo destroyed the Kings the last time out
When they blew us out at home. The man is a star, and having one less weapon for the opponents is a good thing in my books. I’d much rather see Steve Novak and Jared Jeffries for extended periods.
Aykis16 - February 15, 2012
I prefer my stars to be able to play on both sides of the court
HeuristicLineup - February 15, 2012
So do I
But it doesn’t mean he’s not a star who would really, really hurt the Kings if he was playing tonight.
Aykis16 - February 15, 2012
He's an incredible scorer, there's no debating that
HeuristicLineup - February 15, 2012
Donte would be the only person we have that could even come close to stopping him
HeuristicLineup - February 15, 2012
definitely
on any given night, melo could tear it up and lead his team to a victory against any team in the league.
but from what i have seen this season, and comparing the jeremy lin knicks to the carmelo anthony knicks, i would would have no problem with carmelo coming back tonight because of his potential to kill his team’s mojo.
Loyalty2Royalty - February 15, 2012
Go Kings! put a dent in this thing...
I hope Marcus blows up this game
mjtig - February 15, 2012
Carmelo Anthony coming back
Is going to ruin Lin’s run. Lin may never touch the ball again once Carmelo comes back. Carmelo is basically the reincarnation of Tracy McGrady. He puts up a ton of numbers while making everyone around him worse.
Carl - February 15, 2012
I can't stand Carmelo
Him and Amar’e are two of the most overrated players in the league
HeuristicLineup - February 15, 2012
The statistics don't really prove that out - and here's an interesting read on Carmelo's ability to help a team
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/why-carmelo-anthony-is-the-ultimate-team-player-and-what-advanced-stats-miss-about-him/
There are some fair criticisms of Carmelo in there as well. But historically he hasn’t made “everyone around him worse”.
Anthony does seem a strange fit in a D’Antoni offense though…but hell, he seemed like an odd fit in a George Karl offense.
otis29 - February 15, 2012
Yeah, I don't see Carmelo ruining Lin
May take away some usage, but D’ Antoni prefers a PG led offense. Carmelo is not a primary ball handler. His Assist Rate has always been in the low to mid teens. He’s a great scorer and shooter though. Having Lin dissect the D will help him and Anthony’s ability to shoot (compared to Bill Freaking Walker) should help Lin and lead to more assists.
If the Knicks were 1-6 with Lin, then perhaps the O would be revamped. But considering they are 7-0, I see them continuing to have Lin conduct the offense until it stops working.
SPTSJUNKIE - February 15, 2012
I did not see him in Denver a lot...
did he get a bunch of iso’s when he was there? Melo is a decent shooter and can drive to the rim off it but he is not really quick and is just not a very good point forward as the iso’s have usually broken down into either a good shot or tough shot for him the others standing and watching. I have not seen him post up a whole lot (back to the rim stuff) either. Amare is perfect for LIn if LIn can keep this up. Maybe Melo is too—run the pick and roll him Lin, post up or spot up three, but time will tell.
mjtig - February 15, 2012
He can do both. He played with Iverson, Miller, Lawson and Felton
Obviously Iverson’s name sticks out on this list for not being a pure PG.
But Melo plays off ball just fine. He can also attack and create points out of thin air when needed. But agree, he is not a very good point forward.
SPTSJUNKIE - February 15, 2012
I hope we end Linsanity tonight!
As much as I’m happy for the guy, it’s gotta end now! If we end it, maybe we’ll actually get some acknowledgment on national TV?? Is that too much wishful thinking?
ina_118 - February 15, 2012
me too, Kings gave the Bulls all they could want, hopefully they can get it done tonight
mjtig - February 15, 2012
End them like the LINdenburg
tonyfrmnatomas - February 15, 2012
My question about Lin is
does he play Pokemon? Cause I need somebody to help me evolve my Graveler into a Golem.
I kid, I kid.
caseycheesecake - February 15, 2012
Hopefully we won't be seeing stuff like this from Linsanity . . .
Normdog - February 15, 2012
it's coming if it is not already out there, Kings need to dragon punch through that fireball and knock him down
mjtig - February 15, 2012
I thought our only hope was
Freeze, Uppercut. Rinse and repeat.
caseycheesecake - February 15, 2012
Someone much better at Photoshop than I am needs to put Evans in the Guile or Ken outfit throwing something back or doing the Dragon Punch
SPTSJUNKIE - February 15, 2012
Not worried at all
Lets just say someone might get “LINjured” if they try taking it to the rim against DeMarcus Cousins….
kslick - February 15, 2012
Hope Thorton can slow Lin
13uppercut - February 15, 2012
I'd hope we switch it up on him
We can give PGs alot of different looks with our defensive guys. Reke has length and strength, IT can bother you with speed, John has a bit of all three. Not to mention Jimmer playing textbook matador D.
Deleran - February 15, 2012
Big test on the road...
This young Kings team has a chance to show everyone that they can string together competetive road games by pushing the pace tonight and staying active on defense.
I was really proud of the effort and will to not give up last evening in Chicago and I would be AOK if they came out with the same passion and hustle tonight regardless of the outcome.
Showing the ability to bring positive attitude and a high level of basketball night in and night out is the next key in the maturation process for our boys. Get that down then the wins will start pouring in as the team begins to click.
Porter02 - February 15, 2012
Chandler is one of those guys that Cousins needs to go up strong against
none of that weak stuff, and he can really use his jumper on him as well.
(not that I don’t think Cousins just generally needs go stronger around the rim period, picky picky me)
lietothegirls - February 15, 2012
Good D on
Chandler and Stoudemire can win the game. It’ll be interesting watching DMC, JT and Hickson all take turns on these two. Hickson has a great opportunity here. Donte might even play a little on Tyson.
13uppercut - February 15, 2012
On Amare you mean?
caseycheesecake - February 15, 2012
No, on Tyson. He's the skinnier one.
13uppercut - February 15, 2012
Cousins owned Chandler last season in every game we played against Dallas
HighTops - February 15, 2012
Aykis is Spot On.
How will we do on the Pick and Roll? Not good in the past.
13uppercut - February 15, 2012
Where is HighTops when you needim'!!!!!!
CousinsEvansDUO - February 15, 2012
Under the weather, cold has me enjoying all of you guys great posts
HighTops - February 15, 2012
Get well soon!
CousinsEvansDUO - February 15, 2012
I've really enjoyed watching Linsanity this past week
But playtime’s over. We have superior firepower and our own quality big in Cousins. Time to show the City that they really do miss Melo.
huntingtrees - February 15, 2012
Time to show them chandler is overrated as pie
Need cousins to be a MAN tonight.
CousinsEvansDUO - February 15, 2012
Linsanity > Jimmermania
Until tonight! haha
ThomasGQ - February 15, 2012
Roll out the Chuckwagon
Shut Amar’e down:
http://youtu.be/B6f5Uyu6Dv4
thewaterispoison - February 15, 2012
Haha
it’s nice to have somebody who can do this. Hopefully it works.
caseycheesecake - February 15, 2012
Go Kings!
Get a win and shut down Lin, only then the dance party can begin. (lame, I know, the best I got for now) :P
DiegoKing - February 15, 2012
Whatever happened to our guy who posted like Ali G?! I can't figure out if I miss him or not.
gregory l - February 15, 2012
Predictions for tonight.
- JT or DMC get into early foul trouble. (Not really a prediction…seems like a forgone conclusion)
-MT23 thinks it’s his time to shine in MSG and takes many frustrating shots towards the end of the game.
-Then, MT23 makes a huge shot in the 4th to put us ahead.
-Demarcus goes for 24/18/4 tonight. Continues his dominance. (His progression makes me forget about Tyreke’s horrible jumper a little more every day.)
-The Jimmer contributes with 2 three’s.
-IT plays 20 minutes and has a solid game.
-I see JT fouling STAT or Chandler a ton tonight. So, hopefully Hickson can step in and do something for once in his Kings life.
-In the end, we win 101-97,
Feezy13 - February 15, 2012
In the end, we win 101-97,
I’d be happy with 98-97
Skeptic con Urquell - February 15, 2012
Tyreke Evans will put a halt to this Linsanity tonight like when the cops pulled him over
Letsgokings13 - February 15, 2012
wut?
caseycheesecake - February 15, 2012
Lin will reek, and Reke will win.
haglnuts - February 15, 2012
Reke's gonna toy with Lin... you heard it here first.
haglnuts - February 15, 2012
The Spider is my favorite fighter
His domination in the octagon is insane. He goes up against his “hardest competition he’s faced yet” and toys with them.
I really wish he’d get a shot at the LHW belt. Might as well have the belt in two weight classes
HeuristicLineup - February 15, 2012
He didn't want to fight Machida when he held the belt
Because they are friends. Don’t know why he isn’t fighting Bones for it though. Outside of a Sonnen rematch he’s basically cleaned out the division.
Deleran - February 15, 2012
I think he would have beat Machida
Not sure about Bones. The two of them might be champs for quite awhile.
A Sonnen rematch really is the only thing they can throw at him at this point. It doesn’t help that Sonnen got popped for steroids after losing either.
HeuristicLineup - February 15, 2012
True. I'm excited for the Sonnen rematch, I think he left a blue-print on how to beat Spider.
Jones is similar in that he has the athleticism, reach, and innovation to stand with anyone… But he also is a great wrestler (something that Silva is NOT), so I think a LHW match would not end well for Silva or his legacy. Still love to see it though.
haglnuts - February 15, 2012
How is Silva not a great wrestler?
He originally was known for his ground game… He just realized early that it’s easier to just knock an opponent our
HeuristicLineup - February 15, 2012
First programmer to develop an app that automatically changes any word starting with "in" to "Lin" wins at life.
Er, Lins at life.
AnotherStupidSN - February 15, 2012
heres some exceLINt LINt For the KNICS
tonyfrmnatomas - February 15, 2012
OMG... I can't stop looking at it. Unsure of whether to laugh or be grossed out lol
ina_118 - February 15, 2012
I know
tonyfrmnatomas - February 15, 2012
Timeout Tapper!!!
quasi-porn or something worse?
SharkKings49 - February 15, 2012
just a strategically placed cat tat on the LINt catcher
tonyfrmnatomas - February 15, 2012
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome
Salmons has started every game except one. IN the Kings 28 games they have lost the 1st quarter 21 times by an average of 6.6 pts. Now, I’m not going to say that John Salmons is the whole reason for all of the Kings losses but his 1-8 didn’t help the Kings against the Bulls. And, his defense against Deng was non-existent.
When the team made the big drive in the 4th quarter to get back in the game, John wasn’t on the floor. It’s about time for Coach Smart to take that stand in the 1st & 3rd quarters too.
It’s time for Coach Smart to stop the insanity and change up his starting lineup. John Salmons is not earning his starting minutes. 7.5pts and 3 rebs in 30 mpg. What other starting 3 in the league is putting up numbers like that? It means no matter who we go up against we’re always going to start off in a hole.
Id rather see Cisco, then Salmons. even thought I don’t see Tyreke defending many 3’s, I’d go with Jimmer, Thornton & Tyreke as long as Salmons never gets minutes again. At least we’d have a chance to get some points out of our starters.
We’re already getting 9pts out of JT, 6pts out of JJ and 4pts out of Chuck, lets give some minutes to players who can score.
HighTops - February 15, 2012
I agree.
At least bench Salmons, let him sit a couple games to work on getting his game back, then give him some burn. I would say start Donte at the 3, and give him some serious burn in the next month, and let him try and prove he belongs in this league.
Wonderchild - February 15, 2012
This chart agrees with you
Kfan in Korea - February 15, 2012
Free Honeycutt?
Deleran - February 15, 2012
I'd give greene more minutes
Sure he sometimes makes dumb mistakes, but then again salmons makes a mistake every time he decides to shoot the ball. Greene has been impressing the shit out of me, he is getting defensive rebounds very easily, hustling, running up and down the court and seems to position himself for open 3s often.
CousinsEvansDUO - February 15, 2012
Lind of the road for the Knicks tonight
they’ll be knee-Lin before the Kings.
rockrichmond2 - February 15, 2012
put in tyler!! sit salmons!!
cowboyron96@yahoo.com - February 15, 2012 via mobile
I'd give him minutes for his hustle alone.
Then you factor in that he also knows how to dunk. It’s already 10+minutes.
CousinsEvansDUO - February 15, 2012
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