The James Ham – What’s the Fix For the Sacramento Kings?

The James Ham – What’s the Fix For the Sacramento Kings?

I that just reminded me come on man anybody want to say anything about Amy trash Oh damn it yes come on Amy I got respect for am did you watch the did you hear the clip I didn’t hear the clip I don’t know I don’t know why she did that yeah I

Didn’t hear the clip I I I’ll get it but it’s it’s like you know I got respect for Amy so I’m not gonna go crazy on so I was gonna reach out to her I was like come on now I was gonna reach out to her

So so tell tell everyone well don’t tell I’ll play it yeah um here is Amy did she join no she didn’t this is all right all right Amy hang on relax Amy shoot here’s Amy tras uh talking about the quarterbacks in the playoffs this week four games this week that means we

Have eight quarterbacks did that math all by myself good girl four games eight quarterbacks seven terrific quarterbacks and Brock pie now Brock py is a good quarterback make no mistake about it everybody become C 49er fans I’m not suggesting Brock’s not a good quarterback he is I simply don’t put him

In the same category as the other quarterbacks so I’ll say it again eight qu the other I just hit pause I’ll let the right I I just I I love that woman to death but the other quarterbacks also include Jared G come on man and and and

I love Baker Mayfield but I I don’t I don’t know quarterbacks seven terrific quarterbacks and Brock pry what don’t you like about him it’s not that I don’t like him it’s not that I dislike him he does things very well he is surrounded by a tremendous tremendous Supporting

Cast both on offense and defense he is a good quarterback I don’t put him in the category of the other seven four man that was just such a a that was such a bizarre breakdown seven didn’t even didn’t even look at it like well you know okay there’s the three or four that

I don’t put him in the category of but you know maybe he’s golf maybe he’s Baker just no all seven are terrific okay like if you if you I don’t know I don’t even know what what the point of that was James what do you she f it felt

Like she had a point to make about because she delivered that in a dramatic fashion right like she delivered that in a very specific dratic dramatic she was trying to make a point about Brock pie which I don’t quite understand James do you no I don’t like look um two

Two three years ago the the ners were in the like the same situation where there eight teams remaining right and it was like Josh Allen Joe burrow um Patrick momes Matthew Stafford Matthew Stafford Tom Brady uh Ryan tanah Hill and Aaron Rogers and then Jimmy grappolo for me

There was no question that Jimmy G was either the seventh or the eighth best quarterback like you could say tanah Hill you could make an argument either way with him and tanah Hill the other guys all are guys that you could see winning a Super Bowl or have win won a

Super Bowl or made it to a Super Bowl even if you they hadn’t done it that yet at that point they still were that good right and you you knew that your quarterback was not good enough and that’s why I think they go out and they

They trade picks for uh Trey Lance and you know they they tried to go get one of those guys right but you found one of those guys and he just put up better numbers than Patrick Mahomes this season way better numbers I think Patrick Mahomes threw 26

Touchdowns like there are there are a lot of things like you could say CJ strad is probably going to be a better quarterback than him okay but this year Brock py was a better quarterback and we can go through like most of the team well yeah like Jordan love he’s to

Me he had a great final seven weeks of the season but he’s not so if I’m gonna put like Brock py in the conversation like where do I rank him out of all of these quarterbacks it might be fourth it might be fifth might be sixth at the lowest

But I don’t think so like who else are you gonna put up there so I don’t get it because this is not about hey who if you put this quarterback in that situation what would he do like you got eight teams left this is his team you

Can’t like make up some imaginary you know Stephen Reyes thing on the ringer I think that’s who it was that like oh like we’re just gonna put guys wherever I want to put them because it’s my list and you guys can kiss my bleep you know that’s that’s not where we are like

These guys are really really like overanalyzing Brock pie and has he won a big game I don’t know you know he’s won as many playoff games in his career as Dak Prescott he’s won a big game he he’s beaten the Cowboys in the divisional

Round it a big game you know what I mean handled that you say people can say whatever they want I don’t I don’t know how they rate beating the Seahawks in the Wild Card round throwing for I think 350 or some yards in that game or

Whatever the case may be I just well Brock pie I’m not I haven’t studied the game of football the way Amy trash trash ass um and other people who say this stuff but I don’t I just don’t know what they’re watching maybe it’s hard to say they’re not watching because I’m sure

They are Niners are one of the Premier teams in football but like what if you’re talking about oh Brock just doing it because the people around him do you see the throws that he’s making do you do you see the the high level throws that he’s making the the pinpoint

Accuracy pinpoint accuracy every time the decision making I don’t really know what they want out of a quarterback at this point he’s got everything that you want out of a quarterback outside of Lamar Jackson’s speed I guess I guess he’s a better pocket passer than than Lamar Jackson

Though I don’t know like I think he’s a better quarterback than Josh Allen that’s he’s been that this year and they love Josh Allen I think he’s a better quarterback than him yeah and I mean did they not watch what Brock pie did to the Cowboys

Or what he did to Philadelphia I mean they broke Philadelphia flat out just broke them now you can go back and say well he didn’t step up in that three- game stretch where um you know their field goal kicker lost him a game in uh in Cleveland um they they got like a

Crazy really good version of uh the Minnesota Vikings and then um Joe burrow was healthy at for one of the few times all season long and torched them like sure he wasn’t good in those games and he wasn’t good in the in the Ravens game

But the other 12 games he was you know for the most part exceptional and you can’t take away the fact that at what point do you look at a guy and say he threw for 4,400 yards and 31 touchdowns it is what it is those are his stats

There’re they’ll be his stats like you can’t go back and just erase his stats because you don’t you don’t think that he’s as good as that I don’t know this isn’t like the year Scott Mitchell throws for like 35 touchdowns and he was just a bad quarterback that happen to

Have one good season that’s not what this is this is a a Young quarterback that can grow into to be a great quarterback and we we can leave this after I say this but he’s done it since the second he stepped on the field yep the second he stepped on the field now

Probably 20 games ago or something like that from the moment he stepped on the field he’s been making high level passes high level decisions and and game-changing throws from the second he came on the field so it’s it’s it’s whatever I just don’t understand kind of

What they’re looking at yeah uh a weird assessment from someone whose opinion I value very very very very much um our 1320 uh Kings Insider of the Insiders James ham with us here on dealing with KC brought to you by Sky River cassino Hammer Hammer before we get too far down

The road did you happen to catch that clip of Chris Haynes uh Chris Haynes talking on a podcast that he believed something happened with Pascal cakam and the Sacramento Kings that soured cakam on Sacramento uh he said he was going to do a little bit more digging check with

Some other people have you heard anything along those lines I’m I’m I’m guessing you haven’t but have you heard anything along those lines about SE yakum potentially souring on Sacramento and maybe that’s why the deal fell apart or a potential deal fell apart no I have

Heard a little bit of murmur that uh that the Raptors tried to change a deal at the last second and and also just that it’s possible that the Kings weren’t weren’t interested in a 5year $250 million deal or a 4year $192 million deal that they would have wanted

A a lower dollar figure to really match who he is today as a player and who he’ll be over the next four to five years as a player but I haven’t heard anything that would have made him sour on on Sacramento as an organization I mean just don’t me you know what might

Have soured uh hey we’re not g to pay you $250 million maybe that’s what him on the king well I mean it very well could have been that they all were in a room and they had a conversation like what does this look like and would you be willing

To sign and he could have said well what are you offering you know under the guys that that the Raptors are in the room and saying that you know are part of the discussion right and they could have been like hey look uh this is what we

Would hope to sign you to and itd be like oh no that makes me have a sour stomach I I want to I want to leave now I like okay okay well you know gonna text W that it’s over or sham Shams I’m sorry I’m GNA text Shams that talks are

Over yeah and I mean like look all of these like that is such a complicated deal because you’re all in and you’re all in on an almost 30y old player and then he wants all this money and you understand like if if you’re doing like basic capology that

You’re not going to be able to pay all these dudes a couple years down the road you’re going to be an all kinds of cap hell and you’re going to have to find ways to bail yourself out and so one of those guys isn’t going to be around and

The one guy who probably is is a guy that still owed 60 million bucks when he’s 34 years old and that’s not easy you’re not gonna be able to move that contract uh or there’s a good chance you’re not gonna be able to move that

Contract so yeah I mean I I think it’s complex all of these all of these deals they have their own pluses and minuses you know we we’ve talked about it you know like you could go chase a guy like Grant who doesn’t rebound at all but he

Plays good defense and he can score uh you can chase a Kyle kozmo who I think you should be questioning his motivation as a basketball player but he his contract’s incredible and his numbers are solid and maybe he does fit next to these guys like they’re whatever deal

You’re going to look at they all have pluses and minuses and you have to take a calculated risk and and try to minimize that risk as much as possible by by collecting as much information on a player and on the team you’re dealing with uh throughout the process but you

Know that’s why Monty mcir makes a big bucks he’s got a complicated job where do you think they they are as an organization right now when it comes to feeling like they need to make a move do they do they feel like they need to make

One or are they just like well if we get one that’s cool too um but we’re not pressed to do something no I mean I think that there is certain expectations within the organization and those expectations right now are being tested greatly right this team you know a week ago was nine

Games over 500 they’ve lost four in a row um I you know I don’t know if you guys noticed but uh FY s was in uh the crowd uh Mitch Richmond was there um MC Hammer was there like a bunch of Giants players like that game last night was

That’s not what you the show you want to put on if you’re V ronad and if you can’t homecoming yeah if you can’t tell that there was something off with that team last night uh that that it’s been off for you know maybe maybe a month or two

It just looks they something is is weird with this group and they’ve got to figure it out and one of the easiest ways to figure things out is to mix it up and and I don’t think the Kings need to make a trade to make a trade I do

Think they need to make a trade because they plateaued and you know we’re starting to see some players step up and be better and maybe that can have an impact guys like Kevin herder guys like Keagan Murray uh if they can start matching what we’ve seen from you know

All of these other guys then you know what we’ve seen from uh Fox and sabonis and you know and and Monk all season long maybe you start to see the kings of last year kind of take shape again but I don’t know it’s it’s a little rough out there right now yeah

This team of last year isn’t going to take shape Harrison uh uh James when one of their starters has two points one rebound and one assist or when one of those starters and I’m sorry to continue to pick on him has 12 games with one rebound or

Less that’s a problem and if Mike is gonna go out there screaming about rebounds which he’s stopped doing probably partially because he recognizes one of his starters is in fact not rebounding um this one is’s the only one he had nine boards last night that’s fact keeps doing what he’s

Doing yeah Kevin her out there working it’s tough like we looked at it today uh Kyle and I like per 36 like Harrison barens is 16th on the team in rebounds per 36 minutes like an NBA roster is 15 dudes so that means you got dudes that are above him that are

Either like like want Tano Anderson who are who’s on a 10day which again that 10day should have expired by now or it should be any time I’m not quite sure yeah all that I think uh Keith Keith Smith yeah yeah he he said that yeah but we haven’t seen any any announcement on

That so you’re right you’re right yeah yeah whether he’s still there or not because he you can sign up to two 10 days um and then after that you have to either uh they have to you know wave you or you just move on or um or they can

Sign you for the rest of the season uh we’re not to that point yet you got to get past February 8th before we see any of that but like look I’m with you like you have to find somebody who can do something other than what Harrison Mar’s

Doing and I he’s under a tremendous amount of stress this is you know like his name is being mentioned every day in trade uh you know rumors and everything else but he he been in this leag like 10 years yeah I know but you I don’t mean

To be insensitive to that like I’m not trying to be like unfair but like Bro you’ve been in the league 10 years you’ve been traded like three times yeah yeah but you gotta go and perform I think that’s it right that’s what I’m say you got a job that’s it no know

Especially on the glass especially on the glass like I don’t understand that part of it like the trade deadline is three weeks away yeah this what we’re doing for the next three weeks well hopefully not hopefully they figure out a way to get through this because as of right now they just seem

Rattled like I you know you had a couple of bad losses not a couple of couple of bad beats punches yeah yeah yeah not not that you did like you did anything well you missed your free throws um but like that that uh Milwaukee loss that’s just

Such a blow losing you know when you you got a lead and and you miss a couple of free throws you could have gone up six with 18 seconds left and you end up losing that’s brutal and then you come back to and you got 22-point lead and

You blow it in the fourth quarter like these are hard losses they’re not like the other ones that you just like okay we got to forget that one you know be a goldfish let’s move on like that’s not what we’ve seen these are tough ones that stick with you and they got to

Figure figure out a way to you know like mentally clean this slate and get out there and they got a a weekend this is like one of the rarest things I’ve ever seen where a team has Friday Saturday and Sunday off totally bizarre uh but yeah maybe they they come back refreshed

Renewed um focused and and ready to roll on Monday they a tiger tonight might be the RP brunch it might be there I’m through where do you start James you you talking about fixing this thing correcting thing wiping this like where where if if you’re Mike Brown I’m

I’m assuming they’re off today I have no idea yeah they’re your brown what’s the first thing you’re saying to this team tomorrow at practice it’s a good question um that you know what at this point the first thing I think I would say what would

Be what do you guys think where are we how do we get through this what are there any grievances what do we need to put out on the table right now do you ask Jason Anderson question from last night do you if you’re Mike Brown do you walk in and

You go are we still together are we are we is this still us are we still are we still together I I don’t think so because I think we saw that that answered by Deon sabonis last night I do like demonus sabonis said it very clearly like no no we’re still good

We still love each other we’re still a team we still have each other’s backs yeah there’s a couple of guys though I’d make answer that question well including yeah yeah I mean I guess but I I don’t think that that’s the problem that he’s turned on them because look

There’s a big difference between Harrison Barnes heel turn is wild well well no but there’s a big difference I agree with you who’s in your locker room and and who’s on floor with you and the business side of it that’s on you know that’s up above like

If you go in the practice facility there’s two courts and then up above them there’s a wall of Windows and there are offices in those that include uh Monty McNair’s office and I think VC has an office up there and like there’s offices up there that Overlook the

Court the decisions that are being made up there and the decisions that are being made down on the court are two totally different things and if you’re Harrison Barnes that’s what you have to think of the whole time those are your brothers that you’re you’re going into uh a game with

Every single night and trying to come up with a win and you got to do the best you can for them in that moment and then if that’s not where you are at the end of the season it’s unfortunate uh and especially because I know he wants to be

Here and you know he signed a three-year deal with the intent to be here not a three-year deal with the intent to be traded and uh you know that’s even you know he has Insurance put in 50% trade kicker that that helps out but getting traded in the NBA midseason is is really

Difficult for a lot of these guys and and I know it’s violins and stuff but you know someone said oh we make 17 million bucks you should be just fine like look he could he almost got traded to a different country he almost got traded to Canada uh 3,000 miles away and

Whether his wife and and and child can pick up and go with him or not a lot of times that’s not what happens they’ve got school they’ve got things going on they’ve got businesses they’ve got other things that are happening here and these guys go live in a hotel for six weeks or

Or 12 weeks until the end of the season and they don’t see their family hardly at all it’s it it is jarring for these guys and I know a lot of people just like throw that out the window but like there’s a lot on these dudes mind right

Now there’s a lot of like Harrison Barnes is one thing but look at dearen Fox has been right next to Harrison Barnes Locker to Locker for the last four or five years five years five and a half years like that’s his dude that’s his his veteran and like you’re you’re going through situations

Together as a team it’s rarely just you have your individual stuff off the court but on the court you’re going through stuff together and there’s a bond that’s there and like I don’t none of these situations are easy getting traded to Canada on an election year probably isn’t the worst thing either just

I look at the bright side of this like that’s your problem now sry yeah I’m a Bret Hart fan now buddy I’m in Canada well I mean did you guys see the thing with SE yakum where seak getting traded from Toronto to Indiana instantly picked up $4 million in taxes like a tax

Break that big like right away so going from Canada to Indiana Canada’s uh tax bracket is 50% income tax oh Lord yeah so from going from there certain dollar figure I’m assuming oh no it’s it’s pretty Universal I believe I’m not sure yeah but it’s a lot Canada you’ve been

Ruled out I thought California was bad so yeah he he just picked up like 4.3 million bucks or something like hey there you go no salute to stum I mean probably won’t notice with the 250 coming his way but still anytime you can find $4 million salute I think Buddy

Heel might tell him about it I’m just saying factss facts be like that sometimes you know uh one are you you asked the question of what Mike would say um I don’t know if it would be the first thing you would say I think it’d be one

Of the first things and it’d be one of the the tone Setters for practice is I’m a believer that could be wrong and it could be completely different in the NBA I’m a believer of sometimes uh you you give a Stern tongue lashing and then sometimes you you give

Them a swift kick in the butt sometimes you give your players a hug sometimes it calls for hug sometimes it calls for you guys Let’s Get Closer now because we’re all we got we’re all we got right now everybody thinks we suck we’re all we got if we’re gonna get

Out of this we have to come together and if I was Mike Brown that probably would be how I would that would be the tone for practice you’re gonna go hug everyone we gotta we got to do this together we got to do this together well that’s what

What I’m saying Kenny and everything domas talked about it in a video that you had is hey we we’re we’re still a tight group we got to come together right now that’s the only way we get out of this yeah I think that’s what I’m saying like get everybody in the room

Like you know where are we how what do we need what do you need for me what do I need to give you as a player like how do we how do we get on the same page right now how do we put whatever it is it’s that’s

Broken with us whatever it is it’s like bugging us it’s under our skin uh whether it’s on the basketball court or it’s off the basketball court how do we clear that up right now and how do we move forward and if there’s something that’s bugging you guys if there’s a

Reason why you’re frustrated with this or this let’s put it out there right now let’s just have an honest conversation and if not you know what let’s just sit here and hang out with each other uh let’s let’s get on the basketball court let’s make this a fun day play play a

Couple of games that make sense that that are light-hearted and like let’s figure out a way to like connect right now and like sometimes that’s what you need like this the missing free throws is like I keep saying it it’s it’s a clear symptom of something and I don’t know what it is

Because like it’s it’s a lack of focus for sure but what is causing that and why is it that it keeps popping up and if you can figure some of these things out I think you can you can go a long way towards piecing the thing together well real quick to that point

Domas talked about it last night a little bit In that clip and and he’s right now it’s I don’t even know if it’s focused it’s just something that is messing with him like we keep talking about it because it keeps happening and it’s it’s one of those things that um

Self fulfilling prophecy self-fulfilling or like when hitters are in slumps and they’re like you can’t something about you can’t see the simplest thing in front of you like that’s the answer to get out of the slump is right in front of you and you can’t see it because

You’re so deep forest through the trees yeah they I think they’re they’re in their own heads a lot Malik went one for six that’s insane on 90% free throw shoo has been his entire life yeah and and you could see him you could like the look on his face after those two free

Throws yeah and it’s something I don’t know if they’re gonna be like a great free throw team moving forward it’s not something that is going to last all season long but it can be something that lasts for like two weeks and then but hasn’t it already it’s lasted to this

Point it’s just worse now yeah to this degree this is something that just last until one day they shoot one game they shoot like 85% from the free throw line then it’s gone and then and then we’re not thinking about it on this level again right yeah we’ll come back we’ll

Continue to try to fix the Sacramento Kings with James ham when Dow and Casey return here on sac Sports leader ESPN 1320 there right back I agree saurin take him to Sky River there you go that might be the answer right there yeah I’m intrigued like I haven’t looked game in and game

Out what what they uh maybe I can look at Team splits um okay uh um let me see splits splits as a team I bet you I bet you it’s just hiding in here and it’ll be like what in the world um okay so the Kings again they’re

23 and 18 so that’s actually relatively equal number of things in their wins they actually have more turnovers than they do in than in their losses they have more steals in their wins um um 31.5 assists per game in their wins versus 25.6 in their losses so that

Tells you the ball gets sticky free throw percentage in their wins 73.2 and their losses 71.7 but the true shooting oh that here this might be the biggest one Kenny and it’s something I think you’ve brought up multiple times threo percentage in wins 40.5 and their losses

32.9 like you don’t hit your threes you live and die by the three so that could be it and one of the things that I think will Z talks about in that and will Z if you’re looking um or you’re listening excuse me one of the things I always

Talk about is the looks that they get right I don’t think the looks change I think they still get this around the same amount of wide openen three point shot looks in wins and losses um they just for whatever reason aren’t hitting them at the same

Actually hang on I think I was wrong with some of those numbers let what was I looking at why is there two different three-point percentage oh opponents opponent’s three-point percentage um yeah and their losses it this might all come down to like the same thing that Mike Brown keeps harping

On flat out just defense like in their losses they allow their opponents to issue 51.9% 41.9% from three and their wins it’s 46.3 and 37 last night was a mess defensively in that first half yeah I mean did you did you see Mike like explain what was happening

There that that wasn’t like like he’s like hey it’s it’s not just the guards man like at what point he’s like our our basic rule is for the weak side Defender to slide down and and cut the Baseline like where we they like it didn’t matter

How many times they talked about it like it it was whoever was defending McConnell was uh was on a island by themselves he’s like that’s just not what we’re trying to do here it was not supposed to be oneon-one you’re supposed to somebody’s supposed to stop Baseline

And stop him from doing that every single time every time he had opportunity to go Baseline he was going Baseline Mike also brought up an interesting point he says that McConnell goes way under the basket really close to the inbounds and then comes back out from behind the basket to lay those

Balls up so he’s using like the the backboard as like a as part of his defense and he’s so quick with it and you don’t think you think he’s so far under that he can’t get back and then he finds a way to get right back to the rim

So yeah I don’t know I thought it was interesting because there aren’t a lot of players who just do that exact thing go Baseline like that all the time again and again he was cooking their asses last night oh yeah and as soon as they tried to take

It away then he just started dealing so he ended with 20 and 10 it felt didn’t it feel like he scored like 37 like if someone told me TJ McConnell scored 43 points last night I would have been like okay that that makes sense well the frustrating thing for me was

All this shot attemps were in the paint I mean he scored 20 that’s all he scored he was like their third leading scorer I think he got he got in the paint for those shot attempts it’s like come on man give him give him a step

Give him a step back up half a step and try and contest a shot if need be but give him that yeah coming back James it’s funny all right I don’t think we fixed anything during the commercial break either we’ll continue to try to work on the

Sacramento Kings and as James laid out there a moment ago like we’ll come back here Monday and it’s going to be the same conversation because the Kings don’t play for the next couple of days uh which could be a good thing or it could be a bad thing like they’ve done

The hey we got to get right back there out there on the floor and it hasn’t worked so let’s try something different they got a couple of days off maybe just getting away from each other today uh will help them and then whatever they have planned for the rest of the weekend

And uh you know they can they can address some of these issues um you brought up the free throw stuff uh a minute ago hammer and how now it’s just living in their head and you saw Malik’s reaction after missing the two there at the end

And domma saying you know I I just someone asked him like how do you get better and that said well we’re we’re practic them like we keep practicing now it’s in our head and I wonder how much of not playing well is in their head like we he just like kind of

Acknowledged like a component to the game that it’s just it’s it’s in their head it’s being talked about now now it’s like all you can see I wonder how much of TJ McConnell getting to the basket 50 times and then Mike five minutes after the game ends says exactly

What they did wrong which matched exactly what Mike Biby said he would do during the broadcast to stop TJ McConnell like there’s a weird there’s a there’s a clear disconnect somewhere and this group and that coaching staff is going to have to spend the next couple

Of days trying to find it and fix it yeah and maybe that’s what it is maybe you know I think every team is different right so maybe they could use like a a field trip to San Francisco to Santa Clara on Saturday to go watch the

Game together they all get a box and they they just sit there and hang out and watch 49ers game and maybe that’s what they they need because you know Mike Brown’s son is on is on Kyle Shanahan’s staff um he’s a quality control manager or something like so

He’s he’s there in um in Santa Clara maybe that’s something or or maybe it’s we need three really really hard days of practice everybody get here early everybody get ready we’re going to work this thing out maybe uh hey maybe they need to have a conversation with the

Coaches on the outside maybe they need to say let’s do the old players only meeting we got to find ourselves and you know that’s possible but I also I feel like a where domos was last night was and we just lost three games barely we barely lost all three of those sure we

Did not play well in Philadelphia but the last three like we could have won all three of those we could have easily had a four a 5 in1 road trip we easily could beat not on a four game Los losing streak but on a four game a three game

Four game win streak and I get it like they maybe that’s just they don’t feel like they’re that far away but it’s also possible that it’s that deonis sabonis is just such a a basketball Junkie and like a Hooper that all he can think is how close they were to winning and not

Realizing like how far away they were from winning and and how they you know their own like the self-inflicted thing that’s what everyone keeps saying that’s you know like I they don’t need to make a t-shirt of it uh like they do with everything else but maybe they do like

Stop with the self-inflicted stuff stop forcing it stop trying to do too much play Within the flow like everybody should succeed and like maybe that’s how they get back but they’re still five games over 500 just because they’re on a four-game losing streak as opposed to a three-game

Losing streak uh win streak they were on last year at the same time same record they had last year they got a a road trip coming up it’s not even that bad like there are wins out there for them so you know I I think if they

Can have a real heart-to- heart here and like a sort of a reset button moment uh you know at the Midway point of the Season then I I think they’ll be just fun I don’t like the shot you took at people who turn everything into t-shirts by the way put it

On took that a little personally I need to make a bunch of them for Kyle like like me and Kyle we have all kind we have a a large inventory of smash them boys hoodies if you’d like those that one was not I don’t know why that one didn’t

Sell too well I I can’t quite can’t quite put my finger on it but again that one was not cleared with with anybody I it wasn’t clear that’s just Dave Garcia being a fan of the show going hey you know what Kenny says this all the time

Let’s make it a shirt and it’s not as funny when you’re walking around with that on on your hoodie go ahead to distract you I I I hear everything that you’re saying uh James about you know there’s a number of different things internally um that they

Could do to kind of get a better spot I’ll just ask you personally you think they need to make a move like they need to they need to shake something up in that locker room yeah I do like and I don’t know if it shakes something up in the locker room I

Just like if your goal is to go from good to great then you have to be honest about who you are and you’re not great yet and in order to get great I think you have to make a move that makes you better and it’s again it’s not make a

Move to make a move make you need to make a move that’s not on the peripheral that’s not like your eighth ninth tth guy you can push a couple of guys down to eth nth 10th bringing in the fourth fifth sixth best guy but like you need

To make something impactful here and it and it’s because you you have plateaued like you got to a point where this you don’t want this to be who you are like you need to be better than what you are and like everyone in can see they still

Need the long super athletic you know defensive-minded like three four it’s just it’s obvious it’s not that like we’re not like calling them out or anything we’re just saying you don’t have that player and until you you find some of these pieces that are missing then you’re going to continue to have a

A major glaring weakness where half the teams in the league or or 35% of the teams in the league have a player that you can’t match up with and you can hope that Keegan Murray can get to be that player and you know either be that player that other teams can’t match up

With or be that player that teams can that you can put on that player on the other team but that’s a lot to put on a young guy like go get that guy you know if you want Keegan to be your second best scorer you know a 20 plus Point per

Game guy then go get him the guy they can stand next to him and help support him to get him to that way to to that point and I I just don’t think that that’s where the kings are they’re not there like if how many times do we have

To say hereis some Barnes doesn’t get a rebound before you say okay I need someone else that will get a rebound instead of Harrison Barnes and they’re not hiding on the bench like Kessler Edwards is not just like they’re holding him back like he he just got sent to the

G-league so he could stretch his legs a little bit but and I’m not trying to dig in on on Kess it’s just you need a you’re if you’re going to be a really good team you need really good players and so that means you you still have to

Go find a couple of them you’re not there yet and again that’s okay but be realistic about who you are and where you’re going and then hopefully you can get there by by going out there and making a couple of moves and what if they don’t um I mean I’m not saying that

They’re they’re not going to make the playoffs or the playin like it’s okay even this season to get through this season and say okay we need to address it this off season mhm that’s fine but like you have to be realistic about who you are and where

You are like it’s always possible that this team just gets on some crazy hot streak that all of this just seems like a distant memory two weeks from now and they’re they’re riding a six game win streak and they’re cruising along and you know well there is a certain level

Of pressure and uncertainty that we talked about at the beginning of this conversation that is gone on February 9th could that have a positive or that I’m not asking you could it obviously it could maybe that has a positive effect on this team and I still think their ceiling is probably

Exactly the same but maybe this extreme roller coaster that we’re experiencing right now maybe that maybe that settles down a little bit in instead of a roller coaster maybe it’s just some bumper cars the rest of the way yeah you got to hope that their floor isn’t lower than you

Think really you do sure like I I mean I think the ceiling is probably roughly the still the same I think it’s probably still like first second round of the playoff team mhm but when you have this type of Roller Coaster season the first thing it does is it impacts where you’re

Playing your your first and second round playoff games sure so that’s the first thing is you L lose home court advantage people forget like that was a big deal last year to have homec court advantage although it didn’t work out all that well especially game seven but like

That’s that’s the first thing that you lose so I I don’t know like I this team to me it feels like a team that for whatever reason like something’s been hanging over their head for a while and they can’t figure it out and they gota they got to take another step and and

And a lot of times that means that they’ve gota they’ve got to make a move they’ve got to make a move that helps them become a better team that that increases their talent level and gives them a better chance at winning and it’s got to be a player that

Fits what they’re doing and and again not to knock on har Barnes but like you can find a player that they can play better defense than him they can shoot the ball close to what he does at the three but that gives you just way more opportunity way more flexibility way

More options than what we’re seeing so far and that player might struggle to get the shots too but if he can average five or six rebounds a game or if he can play Stellar defense then he brings a different value to the team and that’s

Kind of where I’m at like you don’t make a move to make a move you make a move because you have to because this is where you’re at as a franchise do you think um dear Fox and Malik monk not that they’re done for the season but do you think they’re kind of

Going through a a spot where they’re out of gas a little bit I don’t know you know I wrote um at the Kings beat I do my weekend review and I tracked the previous four games where they were like four- one right uh maybe they were two and two over the

Four games that I covered but the common denominator in all four games except for the final game which is the one where Kevin hder Went off for 28 points was Fox sabonis Murray monk Fox sabonis Murray monk Fox sabonis Murray monk it’s like four Dudes carrying all

The weight yep and then all of a sudden Kevin herder’s like I got this and then we have some of the other guys make some mistakes and hurt you and so like look when you’re four guys who are carrying all of the weight you’re going to have

Moments where you run out of gas where the weight gets too heavy and you need somebody else to pick it up and so hopefully that’s what we’re seeing right now with Kevin herder and hopefully we’re seeing a young guy in Keegan Murray who’s willing to take on more and

More because I that looks like what’s happening right now um but at the end of the day like these guys do need help they need to make sure that they’ve got you know that they’re eight to 10 Deep of guys that are going to be out there

Doing things that matter each and every night and at this point I don’t think they have they they can’t write and Pen what they’re getting from a bunch of guys and like the instability that that Kevin herder has shown not just like throughout the first half of the season

But in the playoffs uh through that stretch last year it has to if you’re a GM if you’re a coach it’s got to be in the back of your mind that we’re seeing a really good stretch from Kevin hder for like three or four games and that could snowball into eight weeks of

Really good Kevin herder but is it is he the right fit is he sustainable and all that stuff right now man he makes him look totally different and like you can see why they were so good last year with Kevin herder but you can’t have these you know four to six week stretches

Where he’s just not the same player and all of these things have to go into calculus you know you gotta look at yourself honestly and say can we resign Malik monk this offseason and if you can’t what do you do then you got until February 8th to like make decisions

These are all part of like what’s going on right now and and it’s not if you’re a player and those things all of these thoughts keep start seeping into your mind maybe that’s why you’re Miss some free throws how much of this falls on Mike Brown obviously the free throws that’s

Not a Mike Brown thing at all but could be some other things with team that you you you you got to look at the coaching staff a little bit yeah I mean I I think like nobody’s clean in this like I think Mike Brown knows that too

And be honest like I just I’ll just keep saying this they’re five games over 500 they’re still a playoff team right now like they it just doesn’t feel that good so I there you know a coach has to take on some of the blame for what’s happening that’s just the nature of the

Business uh but you know he’s also the coach that led you to 48 wins last year and you’re you’re trying to build a structure and a a culture that’s different than it was before and I think that that culture is still there um you just got to find a way to get through

This sort of weird area um and like look there are games where this team has come out and you know Mike’s been very like we had a game plan they did not run the game plan yeah or a game where they just flat out miss all the free throws and

They lose you know again two of the last three if if they don’t lose these uh you know if they win two of the last three that they barely lost right if somehow you win two we’re talking about a team that’s like right at nine games over 500

Again so because you know what the Kings record reminds me of you ever like been watching league pass or flip over to a game that you weren’t watching it doesn’t have to be be on ESPN TNT whatever and the home team you’re coming back and they’re coming back back from

Commercial and the Arena’s going nuts crowd is on fire and the home team is down 15 and you’re really confused as to why the arena is so lit with their team down 15 and then you find out they were just down 30 and that’s why the crowd is

It’s a 15-point game but it’s not a 30-point game anymore it’s like you look at you look at the king schedule and you go well the five games over 500 yeah but we’re watching and we see what’s happen and it doesn’t as as you said like it just it

It’s doesn’t it’s it’s off like it’s not it’s not right no I totally agree Dum analogy but I always find it funny when like a Arena goes nuts and the old Mark Jon the lead has been cut to 15 the crowd’s going crazy and you’re like what what is going

On right here sometimes feel it though like you feel like ah things are changing but every once in while you also are feeling right now but it’s the wrong change I agree but I also I think sometimes turn to that game and what you don’t realize is that some guy just

Missed two free throws and everyone got cookies well well and they’re just screaming to scream they’re just having a great time you know great glad that they’re not paying $6 for a cookie greatest in ingame activation in history cookie the cookie crumble just shout out to crumble cookie man that is phenomenal

Stuff yeah man well like I said put that into the Kings playoff chances every Kings fan gets a cookie the further they slide down the I think um I think they they they need uh a little bit of a reminder that they are a good team you

Know what I mean I I can I I sense that that they need they need a reminder from from you know each other and from the coach hey man we still a good team we’re in a rough spot right now yeah we’re we’re not going to shoot we may not be

Number one but we’re not going to shoot 50% from the free throw line line every game we will get better at the free throw line um just stay locked in Stay Together guys that’s what I that’s what would be my message if I was on the team

And just Let’s Stay Together Let’s Stay Together and one of the things we did talk about earlier which we had a little bit more time to talk about is I think one of the differences between between uh this year and last year is I don’t know if this team winning is

The number one most important thing to everybody on the team and last year like it was yeah well that’s an interesting I mean that’s a lot to unpack yeah sorry we did it three minutes left but like it’s not to say that I think they all

Want to win I think they all want this team to win but they might be distracted with contract or trade talks and you know where they’re going to be at in a month or six months is at the Forefront and then it’s winning last year it felt like because of the circumstances with

The players are coming contracts where they were in their career nothing else really mattered except for whether or not they could win and if they could win everything would fall into place and I don’t know if that’s the case this year right now well they got to find that like they

Got to figure that one out and you know I I think sometimes that’s what that that might be like the elephant in the room like what are motivations are we still all in are we still are we still moving together and and I can understand someone like Davon saying well no I’m

Not really I got one foot out because you guys clearly have one foot out on me and and I’m not playing I’m not in the rotation but maybe that’s not the case maybe maybe you do get an Allin from him maybe you do get an Allin from Chris DTE

Who’s out of the rotation again or javil McGee who’s out of the rotation again but th that’s I I think at this point you need to have that conversation like where are we where are we as a group because right now we’re in a a rough

Spot and we need to figure out how we move forward together um and and if you’re not all in Like Mike has always said if you’re not all in it’s you can tell us that you know you don’t have to sign the banner but we understand what

That means that means that you’re not all in and we’ll find someone who is and so sometimes that’s that’s a tough reality of the business I can’t wait for them to have that conversation as a team and for Jake to ask domas to expand on it and then Zas

Tell him to shut the hell up yeah yeah I I look forward to that c Jak ask questions in such a like happy way you know Jake’s a happy guy and hey hey you want to expand on what happen no I don’t also get your stupid microphone out of

My face I will not be answering that question yeah yeah um all right most unpredictable team in the league man hey and sorry to damont sabonis 211 and 10 no coverage today well his teammates should apologize they absolutely should talk bro is racking up like bro did 0 for three in the second

Half shot attempts D that’s crazy that’s insane goodness gracious hey herder was getting them up though and Keegan was getting them up uh salute to them I mean gosh it’s incredible to think the Sacramento Kings had a 27 point score 21 Point score 31 and 24 and lost and a

Triple double to a team without their best player who apparently sat out last night so he could return tonight with Pascal cakam his new teammate so they’re two best players there Tyrese you’re getting clowned forever for your dramatic ass exit for something that kept you out five

Games um go ahead Hammer oh no he was all over the place last night he was engaged in what was happening I think he was booing buddy budy yeah it’s amazing that’s why Tyrese will always be one of us he was boing buddy heel yeah yeah and I swear

Jth it looked like at one point Jaylen Smith was thrown up in the trash can they also lost Isaiah Jackson in the middle of the game like sometime he hit his head at some point like there was all kinds of weirdness I think I saw you tweet that

Did you tweet that yeah that that kid was throwing up in the trash can yeah he was right by my guy Larry he was like literally like hugging the bowl like of a trash can that’s what it looked like you know I don’t know if he had someone

Hold his glasses or what I don’t know he had a nice little game last night so he might throw up again tonight real quick before we get out of here I meant to talk about this earlier but it’s been a busy day just want to say rest in peace

Sports illustr maybe yeah I wanted to talk talk about it more on Monday sad sad that is absolutely we’ll talk about that more on Monday because man memories yeah awful that that is just terrible terrible terrible news yeah um make sure you check out uh the Kings beat

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