Tweets For Blazers vs Kings 10-31-14

[Boise Blazer]

[TWEET]528006582454345730[/TWEET]

 

[THE HCP]

Denny, anybody working on getting tweets to show up on our phones on TapaTalk. This is literally a thread with NO content!

 

[Boise Blazer]

[TWEET]528014398255005696[/TWEET]

Rome was not built in a day, and another opportunity to improve comes Friday night as the Portland Trailblazers, fresh off a 106-89 win over Oklahoma City, come to town.

For the Kings, Mark Twain’s line may fit:

“The inability to forget is infinitely more devastating than the inability to remember.”

Sacramento may not learn much from the sloppy game film from Opening Night, and may be better off just turning the page to prepare for Damian Lillard, LeMarcus Aldridge and company.

If we have really picked up LaMarcus' twin brother LeMarcus then we are going to dominate this year.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

[TWEET]527924435815518208[/TWEET]

That gave me a seizure.

 

[Boise Blazer]

That gave me a seizure.

Ha, I had the same thought.

 

[Boise Blazer]

[TWEET]528054892355928064[/TWEET]

THREE KEYS
▪ 1. 13 or less: The Kings would like to cut their turnovers – at least in half – from Wednesday’s season opener (27), the team’s most since March 19, 2006, at Minnesota. The Kings cannot afford to give Portland too many extra possessions or they’ll lose big.

▪ 2. Pass, pass, pass: Sacramento needs to make multiple passes to create the best shots for teammates. The Kings make themselves easier to defend when they hold the ball and players stop moving. It’s a reason the team shot just 30.8 percent Wednesday against Golden State.

▪ 3. Stay defensive: The biggest positive from Wednesday’s loss was the team’s overall defense. It’ll need another big defensive effort against the Trail Blazers, who can hurt the Kings with perimeter shooting or in the post with All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge.

 

[Boise Blazer]

[TWEET]528054866493865987[/TWEET]

“(The Spurs) have what they call a 0.5 mentality,” Malone said. “When you catch the ball, you have 0.5 seconds to shoot, pass or drive. If you’re holding it, you’re wrong. And right now we have a five-second mentality. Instead of 0.5, we’re at five seconds where each guy thinks they have five seconds to hold it, jab, dribble to make a play, and that’s killing the flow to our offense.”

The Kings are supposed to be all about flow on offense this season with much of the offseason spent discussing how they could generate more efficiency and fluidity on the court.

The theme of Malone’s offense is to make a play for a teammate, and he demands his team stick to the plan. But it’s hard to make a play when the ball is not passed. There is no rhythm when four players watch one player dribble-down the clock.

“If you don’t have a shot or pass or drive right away, just get off the ball; and we did a poor job of that (Wednesday), obviously,” Malone said. “If you’ve got to take five, six, seven dribbles to get a shot off, that’s a bad shot.

 

[Boise Blazer]

[TWEET]528094875359535104[/TWEET]

Looking Back to Last Kings Win

Damian Lillard tallied a career-high 41 points on Jan. 7, 2014, but Sacramento pulled out a 123-119 victory the last time these teams met inside Sleep Train Arena.

Big Cuz led the way for the Kings scored 35 points and adding 13 boards, and Rudy Gay added 33 points in the victory.

As for Lillard, coach Malone is hoping the talented Warriors backcourt prepared his team for the upcoming challenge.

“Steph Curry and Damian Lillard are both very good shooting guards, so we’ll play Damian in a similar fashion,” said the second-year head coach, “chasing him over screens, taking away his air space and our bigs have to be up the floor – they can’t be in the paint.”

Looking to execute their coach’s plan, the Kings backcourt will need to keep track of Lillard throughout the game.

“You have to want to take on that challenge and compete,” admitted Collison. “I’m not worried because I think our defense is where it needs to be as a team. It’s not about any of their individual players or about our individual players. It’s about what we can do to cut down on our turnovers and not beat ourselves.”

 

[Boise Blazer]

[TWEET]528169586516967425[/TWEET]

3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. Wednesday night saw the Kings turn the ball over 27 times, an absurd amount for an NBA team. The Kings can't win a game against the Philadelphia 76ers let alone the Portland Trail Blazers if they turn the ball over that much. Learning and running a new offense takes time, but cutting down on stupid mistakes like 5 second violations and over the back calls will help. DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay also have to lead by example here as the team's best players.

2. Sacramento actually did a pretty good job of executing defensively against the Warriors. The Blazers are similar in that they will also try to shoot a lot of threes so the Kings should be ready for a similar game plan. The Blazers do have LaMarcus Aldridge though, a player unlike any on the Warriors, and he has hurt the Kings in the past.

3. The Kings bench will need to perform much better than they did, particularly Ramon Sessions. Sessions was a non-factor in Wednesday's game, and the Kings need him to be effective, especially during offensive lulls like Wednesday's third quarter.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

Rudy Gay vs. Nicolas Batum

Rudy Gay was not at his best on Wednesday, forcing the issue several times and moving the ball even less. He had most of his success taking the ball inside, but he'll have a tough matchup in Portland's Nicolas Batum. Batum's a fantastic all-around player, and will make Rudy work hard on both ends of the court. Rudy has to do his part to not give the defense what they want in taking tough shots or not moving the ball quick enough.

 

[Boise Blazer]

[TWEET]528214872526704640[/TWEET]

 

[Boise Blazer]

[TWEET]528250172866719745[/TWEET]

Three things to ponder

1. Sense of urgency

The Kings looked lifeless at times versus the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, particularly in the second half when they were outscored 48-28. Sacramento must respond to getting punched in the gut by coming out tirelessly swinging at the Trail Blazers. They must remain collected and making smarter decisions on both sides of the court. Another 20+ turnover night will result in a guaranteed loss to a Portland team that doesn’t waste its own possessions.

2. Ben McLemore

No longer “M-16,” McLemore dressed in his new No. 23 jersey on Wednesday. The 21-year-old guard finished 0-of-5 on field goals and 0-of-2 on 3-pointers for a grand total of zero points. Klay Thompson also challenged him with determined drives, picking up a few shooting fouls with McLemore out of position. The Kings’ 2013 lottery pick will have his hands full getting things going while facing another feisty defender in Wesley Matthews.

3. How to shut down L.A.

Last season, LaMarcus Aldridge averaged 22 points on 46.8 percent shooting and only two turnovers per game playing the Kings. Aldridge scored 27 points in the Blazers’ season-opening win versus Serge Ibaka and the Oklahoma City Thunder, so the All-Star is already red-hot coming to Sacramento. Jason Thompson will be primarily tasked with slowing down the power forward, who will try to pull the Kings big out with his fakes and unblockable elbow jumpers.

 

[Boise Blazer]

[TWEET]528263304687280129[/TWEET]

Ultimately, here are the keys for Sacramento to bounce tonight versus the Blazers.

1. Defend - Take away the 3-point line: Blazers are shooting .379 so far this year, 10th in NBA.
2. Poise – Take care of the ball and decrease turnovers. The Kings must trust the offense, especially deep in the shot clock, instead of defaulting to one-on-one tactics.
3. Crunch time – Recognition of score, clock and situation will be vital to protect home court against a tough Portland contingent.

 

[BrianFromWA]

[TWEET]528054866493865987[/TWEET]

a.k.a., the Mo Williams Corollary

 

[Boise Blazer]

[TWEET]528282864623046656[/TWEET]