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The Acceptable & Unacceptable of the Sacramento Kings’ Blowout Loss in Denver | Locked On Kings



The Acceptable & Unacceptable of the Sacramento Kings’ Blowout Loss in Denver | Locked On Kings

Tonight the Sacramento Kings had the chance to complete the 4 game regular season series sweep of the defending Champion Denver Nuggets and instead they were obliterated in the mile high city 117 to 96 believe it or not I’m not too bothered by the blowout loss however there are specific aspects of this loss

That don’t sit right with me and I’ll share those right here on locked on Kings you are locked on Kings your daily second meno Kings podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day and now ladies and gentlemen it is that time time for another episode of Locked on

Kings hello and welcome into lockon Kings your podcast hub for Sacramento Kings coverage all season long today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 150 bucks if your bet wins

Visit f.com lockon to get started my name is Matt George I have the privilege of being your host here I’m a Sacramento Sports Anchor and reporter for ABC 10 news and there have been some bad blowouts this season for the Sacramento Kings there have also been some bad wins

If we’re being honest where I’ve been more bothered more frustrated on this locked on Kings podcast than I’m going to be tonight truth be told even if dear Fox had played tonight and dearon was out he was a a late scratch he was a a questionable kind of a game time

Decision after banging knees with haime hawz JR uh in the Kings loss on Monday night against the Miami Heat and he was It was decided that he wasn’t good to go or he did not play in this game even if he had played I’ll be completely honest

With you I was expecting a loss because it is like the these things should matter as much as they do and they’re more narrative driven than they’re actually basketball driven CU each game takes on a life of its own but the defending Champions getting swept by the

Sacramento Kings in the four game series including two straight losses on their home floor Mike Malone who always has a little bit of Revenge on the Mind loves to beat the Sacramento Kings because of course how they treated him when he was their head coach a handful of years ago

All of that compiled into just my expectation tonight that the kings were not going to win this game that being said if we get a scenario where the Kings get the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs I don’t hate the king’s chances because of course with dearon Fox

Healthy and and overall healthy even if the Denver Nuggets have Jamaal Murray and he did not play in two of the three games that the Kings defeated the Nuggets earlier this season he did play tonight and we uh we saw how it looked for Denver Jamal Murray played very very

Well even if both teams are completely healthy if they competed in a best of seven series I’m not going to say anything as silly as I think the Kings would be the favorites in that series but I think the Kings could take that series to seven games I think there is a

Scenario where the Kings can win that series because it’s matchup based but specifically with tonight’s game I was not expecting a Kings win when we heard dear Fox was not playing I really wasn’t expecting a Kings win at that point I’m tuning in one because it’s my job and

Two because I want to see okay how is this King team going to respond and the way they started this game I was I was happy with they they showed great fight out of the gate and eventually the Denver Nuggets just kind of woke up we’ll get into that but but Sacramento I

Mean they they had good defensive effort good defensive intensity they were shooting the ball well which we’ll of course talk about living and dying by the three-pointer which the Kings very much did tonight but Sacramento was moving the ball their offense wasn’t spectacular but they were hitting shots

Keegan Murray got off to a really good start the ball movement was solid and then defensively they were playing physical they just looked engaged they looked locked in and it reminded me for a very short period of time it reminded me of how the Miami Heat played against

The Sacramento Kings on Monday right a Miami Heat all about heat culture right guys stepping up with Jimmy Butler out Terry roier out Tyler hero out the Miami Heat get guys to to step up to play hard and put themselves in a position to win

A game that on paper they should not be winning it looked like the Sacramento Kings had learned a thing or two from Miami and heat culture and was applying it to this game against the Denver Nuggets early on Kings built a 15-point lead early in the second quarter and

Then it completely fell apart right the the the the Nuggets rattled off like a quick 12 nothing run before the kings called a timeout that brought the 15-point lead down to like three the Nuggets continued that run the Run ended up being like 33-6 or 33 to8 to end the first half in

Total the nuggets outscored the kings 72-37 in the second and third quarters combined the Nuggets just exploded right the Champs woke up they said enough is enough they picked up their intensity on the defensive end Sacramento could not hit water if they fell out of a boat

Offensively for a period of time that’s where you’re really missing your star right that’s where if dearen Fox is playing he’s the guy that when that run gets to 12 points or 15 points and Sacramento’s offense is struggling that’s where you have the dynamic Superstar presence of dearin where he

Can hit a big three if he wants or he can attack the basket get to that mid-range jumper maybe finish at The Rim get out and transition and more importantly because the focus is going to be on dear and he’s going to try and get the Kings out of that defensively

They’re going to react differently to dearin and that might open up opportunity for Keegan or for Harrison or for herder or for Barnes or Malik or whoever’s out there no dearon Fox like we saw his absence the significance of dearen Fox’s absence could not be more apparent than during that massive Denver

Nuggets run I I say all this to say like the Kings lived and died by the three-point shot they went seven of 10 from three-point range uh in the in in the first quarter 0 of nine from the second quarter and I don’t think they hit another three until Malik monk hit

One Midway through the third quarter like it was just a disaster offensively the Kings completely fell apart credit to the Denver Nuggets they picked up the defensive intensity rattled Sacramento got out in transition and then this game completely fell apart I I’m truly not bother

By the 117 to 96 loss now I know the kings are in a playoff race and I know tonight’s loss had a negative impact on the standings I’m very aware of the situation that like I’ve talked about a lot the Kings don’t really have a lot of

Wiggle wiggle room for bad losses to me this isn’t a bad loss you lost to the defending Champions on the road without your Superstar this isn’t a bad loss it’s an expected loss maybe it makes Monday’s loss suck a little bit more or of course it makes the Detroit Pistons

Loss the the the Washington Wizards loss or any of those losses you want to point to earlier you can gripe about them and be frustrated about them I’m not really bothered by tonight’s loss I am bothered though by specific aspects of this loss things that speak to me a bigger issue

Than just one game I’m gonna I’m gonna kind of run through those really quick at one point the kings were like it was midway through the third quarter and the kings are just absolutely getting Punk they’re down like 16 or 18 points or something like this and Mike

Brown calls a timeout and I tweeted out I said like are the Kings GNA keep fighting or are they going to quit and I asked Mike Brown before the Miami Heat game on Monday in his pregame press conference I asked Mike what he’s learned about this king’s team this year

And one of the things that he brought up is that this team is very resilient he’s they have surprised him with their resolve there’s been multiple times and games this season where they could fold or they could quit and they don’t and I was interested to see okay is this going

To be a scenario on the road without your star are they going to fold or they going to fight well there was one play to me that was completely unacceptable in that third quarter the kings are getting blitzed they’re down 18 at this point like they’re getting outworked offensively they’re they’re complete

Shambles and then on the defensive end of the floor Aaron Gordon gets the ball like on the elbow or or around the elbow within three-point line and he jog dribbles to the rim past three Sacramento Kings players not a single Kings player makes any minimal effort to

Stop him to stop the ball or to make any kind of contact the loss is fine the loss is whatever to me that play the lack of effort in that play that’s unacceptable because what I want to see there is fight I want to see a team that’s getting embarrassed that is not

Happy that they’re getting embarrassed that is frustrated and at the very least is going to put a body on someone foul the guy let him complete a three-point play in the grand scheme of things that Aaron Gordon bucket didn’t really mean anything in this blowout loss but that

To me looked like quitting that to me looked like a team that was just like yeah we’re mailing it in whatever go ahead have a have a warmup dunk Aaron Gordon we don’t care at this point anymore that was concerning to me not nearly as concerning as some of the

Other things on this list but that was the the play that I saw in this game where I was like yeah the the kings are done like scoreboard wise they they pretty much were cooked but they they have no interest in in continuing to try

And fight and figure out a way back in this game and they were Midway through the third quarter at that point I know you’re down 18 I know you’re without your star but the Kings offense is more than capable of going on a 120 run the

Same way the Nuggets did in four or five minutes closing the Gap and and and and and making a game of it and suddenly giving yourself new life and maybe a a chance to work your way back in in the fourth quarter nope Kings didn’t even

Look like they were going to put up that fight speaking of which the king’s 15-point lead disappeared Duce Mason pointed this out in the postgame show that 15-point lead was gone in four minutes and three seconds again a long Denver Nuggets run probably would have been handled differently by Sacramento if dearon Fox

For playing that being said with Fox playing this season Sacramento has done a horrible job a horrible job of Defending big leads this king’s team does not know how to play Win ahead by significant margin they blow double digigit leads almost nightly now a 10-point lead or a 15-point lead in 2023

Is NBA or 2024 now AR we in 2024 I honestly yeah we’re 2024 15-point lead in this year’s NBA very different to even five years ago right 15 points can be gone like that in with how offense is is run in the NBA today so it’s not so much oh my God this

Is a problem only specifically to the Sacramento Kings but the Kings consistently whether it’s taking their foot off the gas or whatever metaphor you want to use this Kings team builds a lead at home on the road does not matter and they just stop or more specifically

They allow teams to get back into games far too easily and when a team starts rolling they don’t go on these 10 to2 or 14- six runs they go on 12 nothing they go on 20 to4 like teams go on these long drawn out exaggerated runs where the

Sacramento Kings just spiral out of control and again it happen tonight in 4 minutes and 3 seconds that 15-point lead poof gone just like that if it were a one-time thing with fox out I’d just chalk it up to circumstance but it’s not this is an issue with this king’s team a

Lot and I wonder if it speaks a little bit to the entitlement of this team this is a conversation I’ve heard a lot on ESPN 1320 DLo and KC have talked about entitlement a lot is this Kings team a little bit entitled did they come into this season running last year’s season

Back thinking everything was going to be beam and sunshine and rainbows and fun and Good Vibes like it was last season and that they weren’t going to have to put into the work to really get better you could talk about the sense of entitlement with how the Sacramento

Kings approach games against teams that are short-handed or teams with worse rosters teams that on paper the Kings know that they’re better than and yet consistently they play poorly and unfortunately more often than not are are losing games like that I think that speaks to a sense of entitlement maybe

The same thing here with with you go up big you think you’re rolling you think A team’s going to quit you think well look at us like we’re we’re we got swag we we’re showboating a little bit we’re up 15 and then boom it’s gone like that and

The Kings just look like they get punched in the face and they’re looking around like somebody saved me what do I do I can’t stop like this is an issue with this Kings team consistently this season not just in a game missing your star against the defending champs

Another issue with this Kings team that I’ve talked a lot about since last year’s playoffs Keegan Murray tonight was easily the best offense that Sacramento could generate right in the first quarter he was fantastic scored the majority of his 15 points in that first quarter finished with 15 points

Four rebounds and one Steel in this game only played like 26 minutes the good news is nobody really played a boatload of minutes in this blowout I guess that’s a good thing heading into next game against Minnesota but Keegan Murray shot six of 12 from the first half

Right 50% shooting very very well was he looked like the guy that was like okay I’m going to Step Up offensively I’m going to do what I can to do as much or to try and make up for the 27 points per game that we’re missing with dear and

Fox out right it certainly wasn’t going to be Davon Mitchell doing that we’ll talk about Davon later in the show but it looked like Keegan was like okay I I had a really really good game against Miami I’m GNA build off that keep that momentum going I’ll make up for some of

That fox absence I’m going to step up he gets off to this great start he shot one shot the rest of the game your best offense the only guy that had any sort of show uh consistent shooting touch disappears again this happened in the playoffs this has happened now two or

Three times I think it’s three times now this season where Keegan Murray’s gotten off to a good start in a game and the Kings go away from him I we’ve talked about this before who do we place the blame on at this point I’m looking at Keegan Murray first demand the freaking

Basketball I know Keegan is not this Alpha personality I know he’s not someone that’s going to scream and yell and say give me the freaking Ball but maybe sometimes he has to of course I put blame on in tonight’s instance dear and fox didn’t play but I put blame on

Fox and sabonis and monk I.E the primary ball handlers for the Sacramento Kings when Keegan gets going and they the primary ball handlers do not get him the ball that’s a failure on their part of course that’s a failure on Mike Brown and the coaching staff too to not call a

Timeout and say let’s draw something up for Keegan and get him the freaking ball and then Keegan again you got to make an emphasis M like assert yourself a little bit you are the only one with a pulse offensively while your team is completely falling apart the wheels of

This king’s offense have completely fallen off and you don’t have the star there to bail you out I know Keegan is not the individual shot creator that dearn fox is and I don’t expect him to be if dearon and Keegan can keep working together each summer to get Keegan to

That point fantastic I’m aware he’s not there right now in his second year in the league but I don’t care how good the defensive pressure was from Denver in that second half or really from the the the late or midc quarter on you gotta find more than one shot you got to get

Even a bad shot Chuck something up Force something at The Rim I don’t care do something I put it on Keegan I put it on the Kings I put it on their system I put it on their ball handlers I put it on Mike Brown whoever wants to take the bra

Blame feel free to put your hand up step to the podium and say it’s on me in reality I don’t need someone to blame I need it to change I don’t understand why the Kings continue to go away from Keegan Murray when he is shooting the ball well and is playing well

Offensively to start a game and then finally I I want to talk about damont sabonis too and this is not the first first time we’re going to talk about him on this podcast going to talk about him later on as well Dam sabonis tonight 13

Points five of 14 from the field did get 10 rebounds he sub back in in the fourth quarter of a blowout ended up getting hit in the face I think by Mason Jones that cut his head open or something um but he did continue his double double

Streak hooray it’s at 41 of them now but this is what this is why some people I mean why they refuse to look at sabonis the same way they look at a guy like Nicola yic even even if both guys came into tonight’s game with a triple

Double streak and Nicola yic didn’t have that impressive of a statline tonight he still finished with a triple double absolutely outplayed sabonis no ifs hands or buts about it but sabonis you are absolutely the b or the second best player on this Kings roster the second

Star on this Kings roster I would argue that sabonis has been consistently the best player night in night out for the Kings this year but you are paid like a superstar you’ve played like a superstar when dearon Fox is out you got to get me more than than 13 points you

Got to shoot better than five of 14 from the field the shortcomings of damand sabonis game really stand out on a night like tonight where you need offense when your main guy is out and sabonis is just not the guy to give it to you it’s just

Not his first instinct to score that being said you know how much I love sabonis I’m not saying that the Kings need to get rid of him or anything like that I’m not that extreme you know I’m captain Defender sabonis to the end of the Earth and I still think sabonis is

Perfect for this Kings team in so many ways I’m just saying I understand the shortcomings of domas scoring the basketball I understand how that has an effect on people and how they view him around the league who cares about that tonight let’s just talk specifically about what the Kings needed

From sabonis they didn’t get it with the Aaron fox out they needed more today’s episode of the lockon Kings podcast is brought to you by Nissan are you the kind of driver that likes to push things a little further ever wonder what Adventure could be around the next

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Nissan Rogue Nissan path finder or Nissan Armada and go find your next big adventure shop Nissan USA tonight we saw the debut of Mason Jones two-way Kings player that when Keegan or rather um Keon Ellis got his contract converted from two-way to the full NBA contract they out a spot open they went

And gave it to Mason Jones now Mason Jones with his bright blonde hair has has quickly become a fan favorite here in Sacramento because of the energy that he brings on the bench right it’s absolutely undeniable Mike Brown has talked about questions have been asked

About it by the media you see it on TV you see it in person you see him up jumping he’s the first guy out high-fiving guys he just brings such an energy and fun to the Kings bench that you love to see right a guy that rarely

Plays is never really going to play someone who has a very very very uphill battle to get to accomplishing an NBA Dream of of playing consistently but he’s happy to be there he knows how he can help impact winning with this king’s team is to work hard in practice play

Hard in this time in Stockton and then come to Sacramento and be an a part of the energy on the bench that helps spur the team in any way he can you love that about Mason Jones right and we’ve been celebrating it and talking about it uh

And pointing it out and it’s been fun but I had and maybe it’s because it was a blowout loss and the pessimistic pessimistic dark thoughts are are sneaking into your brain right it dawned on me today your two-way guy a brand new two-way guy has become the most noticeable vocal energetic player on

This team now again he’s doing it in a bench roll right he’s doing it in someone who does not play his job is to bring energy on the bench he’s not actually running up the floor for 20 to 30 to 40 minutes a night right so keep

That in mind he’s not have he doesn’t have the same workload as fox or sabon or Malik monk or other guys but even Mike Brown has talked about we need that energy that he brings and it’s good to see that’s meant I think as a compliment for Mason Jones but at the

Same time like am I overreact I probably am the answer to this question is yes it’s a blowout loss Matt you’re you’re you’re grasping at negative straws here but what dawn on me was like okay are we making such a big deal about the energy

And and the the how vocal Mason Jones is because this Kings team severely lacks it or is it just because he’s such a bright personality and he’s so loud and he’s so there and he’s so noticeable that we’re just reacting to what we’re seeing I know this king’s roster is not

Filled with a lot of guys that are going to scream and yell and tell it like it is like honestly what their most vocal leader on this roster is probably javil McGee like just based off of what I’ve seen him being a veteran seeing him in practice seeing him in puddles things

Like that like javil is is a talker now dearon will talk sometimes as well we’ve seen times where deont sabonis will pull guys aside we’ll see dear and damont talking to each other so we see individuals talking together but it still feels like this king’s team kind

Of lacks that inforcer lacks that dog lacks that vocal leader if a two-way guy is making this big of an impact maybe just maybe you need more from your main guys as well again could be just a negative thing could be completely unfair but let’s transition to something else that might

Be unfair as well I’m going to ask you is this fair or unfair I’m talking about Davon Mitchell here Davon Mitchell tonight Five Points two of five shooting from the field three assists one rebound one steel one turnover played like 15 16 minutes or something like that filling

In for dearon FOX NOW Davon Mitchell has an impossible task of stepping in into dear’s position right de Davon is not going to make up Fox’s 27 points per game Davon is not going to be able to do what dearen fox does to the king’s offense he’s not like he’s he’s trying

To hold down a spot and be a part of a team step up to make up for dear’s absence so I’ll already answer my own question it’s completely unfair to look at Davon and say replace dearon Fox that’s not what we’re doing here Davon Mitchell’s biggest impact

That he makes his calling card is his defense right off night we talked about it a lot coming into the league we’ve seen it in spurts right when Davon Mitchell plays engaged on ball defense he’s fun he’s aggressive he attacks ball handle he’s annoying it’s cool to see it

Doesn’t really matter that much ultimately on a bad defensive team and here’s where the fair or unfair part comes in Davon Mitchell’s defense is his calling card he doesn’t really do anything else noticeably I thought he played well to start this game even though he was engaged on the defensive

End of the floor Jamal Murray still cooked him to the point where Mike had to go to Keon Ellis just to get a little more size and I think that’s that’s the issue right Davon can’t do anything about his size he’s six feet tall or at

Least he’s listed as six feet tall and I think that’s in shoes and I think that’s being generous right now we’ve seen guys like Spud Web we’ve seen Isaiah freaking Thomas come into the league and be short guys who can be successful in the league the biggest difference is those guys

Typically did it on the offensive end Davon doesn’t bring you very much on the offensive end consistently and defensively while he has the work rate guys can shoot over the top of him because of just a god-given ability that he did not get right if I could give him

My height I’m 6’4 if I could get I I’ll take six foot you take those those four in Davon and you go and and and defend as a 6 fo4 point guard the way you do I think Davon Mitchell is a significantly more impactful player in this league it’s unfortunate it sucks it’s

Unfair to Davon to be judged based off his height but it’s the way it is and I think it’s an overall issue with this king’s team not just with Davon but Sacramento just lacks the length and athleticism at times but specifically the length to one of the reasons why I

Think they get torched on the perimeter so much is they try and close out with guys that are inch or two inches too short to truly disrupt the shooter and disrupt a shot Davon fits perfectly into that category I think Davon Mitchell’s days as a Sacramento King are very limited

Like he’s going to finish out this season maybe he’ll play in the playoffs I think he will I don’t know but him Chris Duarte these are guys that I imagine Mike or excuse me Monty might be moving on from if he can this off seon and replacing them with guys

That are a little bit taller a little bit longer maybe Duarte might stick around but unfortunately fair or unfair you tell me but I think Davon Mitchell’s height is really the hindrance to him being as impactful of a player as the kings were hoping that he would be

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Betterhelp.com logdon NBA get 10% off your first month that’s betterhelp hp.com locked on NBA all right we’re coming back to sabonis here before we rrap W up because and this is not as easy of a conversation or as fun of a conversation after a a blowout loss where sabonis

Didn’t play very well but there was a clip that surfaced today of a discussion on ESPN and Kendrick Perkins brought up they were talking about MVP candidates of course they were talking about all The Usual Suspects the nickol yices the uh the the Jason tatums the sheay gilis

Alexanders the uh Luca dones right like those these names that you just expect to see at the top of an MVP race Kendrick Perkins starts talking about all the historic numbers that these guys are putting up and he goes well if we’re talking about historic numbers why aren’t we talking about

Damont sabonis as an MVP candidate leads the league in triple doubles 41 now straight double doubles like leads the league in rebounding is uh one of the top sisters in the game right one of the best in terms of wind shares like sabonis statistically is up there

Amongst the best of the NBA and is continuing ly making history with the season that he’s having so why is he not talked about in the MVP ladder and it pans to all these other analysts and they’re all laughing or scoffing or making these like what faces I already take sabonis hate too

Personally I don’t know why like sabonis has probably no idea who I am or very little idea of who I am beyond the questions that I ask him I have no idea if he knows this podcast exists don’t really think he cares I don’t know sabonis personally I couldn’t call him a

Friend or anything like that but I take this crap personally this bothers the hell out of me because I think it also had there’s also a Sacramento King’s side to this and not just a sabonis side of this I think the fact that sabonis plays for the Sacramento Kings absolutely impacts how

People look at him but the problem is those three analysts act that way and scoff that way because they’re not watching sabonis actually play freaking basketball they’re all basing that off of a preconceived notion that sabonis didn’t play his best basketball against the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs

Like I’ve talked about this and regurgitated this a million times I don’t need to rant about it for another five minutes you’ve heard it before and if you haven’t heard it go back there’s plenty of episodes this season alone where I’ve talked about it but that reaction is what really pisses me off

It’s extremely condescending and I think it is very indicative of how the national media and how the average NBA fan because of the national media acts about sabonis and thinks about sabonis outside of this city or outside of this state really like damanda sabonis is a significantly better player than these analysts react

To now to be complet completely clear and full transparency so you you dorks out there that are trying to twist my words and are say you think that he should be an MVP over over Shay gilis Alexander no that’s not what I’m saying at all I’m not I don’t think I don’t

Think damanda sabonis is the MVP no the kings are a seventh seed he’s not even the best player he’s not even the biggest star on his team right am I putting him above Luca am I putting him above Shay am I putting him above yic as MVP of this freaking League the best

Player in this league no I’m not I’m not dumb I’m not taking issue with the fact that people don’t think he’s the MVP of this league I’m taking issue is with the fact that if he’s brought up in that conversation even at all just to discuss the great season that he’s having it’s

Met with scoffs and laughter and eye rolls that is what I have issue with because those are people that are not giving damanda sabonis specifically those are people that are not giving dearn Fox a chance and those are freaking analysts who are paid to watch

The NBA not just the Lakers not just the the the Knicks not just these big Market teams that are on our national tele are shoved down our throats every freaking guy night not just those teams your job goes beyond the bigger markets Believe It or Not ESPN analysts your job is to

Pay attention to all 30 NBA teams and if you were paying even a smidge of attention to what damand sabonis has been doing this year you wouldn’t roll your eyes at Kendrick Perkins bringing up a very reasonable topic bringing up damont sabonis and asking a very legitimate question not why are we not

Making damont sabonis the MVP of the league but why are we not talking about sabonis and the historic numbers that he’s putting up sabonis is doing things that only other players in the past have done when they’ve won MVP awards damont sabonis just averaged a triple double

For the month of freaking February in a leap year he averaged a triple double for the entire month while shooting over 60% the only other person to do that is Nicola yic the year he won MVP that is what gets under my skin don’t roll your eyes and scoff about it and

Dismiss it because you watched him play Just against the Golden State Warriors where he didn’t play that well still played fine in a playoff series where the Kings lost their first playoff series in 16 freaking years they lost surprise surprise do your job or at the very

Least if you don’t know what you’re talking about don’t act like you do regurgitate the same lwh hanging fruit that you see everybody else say or read in regarding regarding sabon sabonis in the National media and and act like an a-hole on live television when Perkins

Brings up a very valid point or brings up DeMont you know how you can handle that conversation it’s really easy you know what sabonis is having an excellent year I see the numbers I see what he’s doing Sacramento is a 7 seed I don’t think that sabonis is making the same

MVP caliber impact in this league the same way these other guys are move on done right there then you can move on to glossing and and and and and talking about these Darlings in the league that you love so much more because they’re the only guys you’re really watching

Easy spend 30 seconds give sabonis as props recognize him for what he’s doing but share why you don’t think it applies to the MVP argument more than any of these other guys and move on with the freaking conversation don’t roll your eyes scoff and laugh like a bunch of

Freaking school children because damont saone doesn’t belong at your cool kids table that part pissed me off all right maybe it was good for me to blow off that steam after a Kings blowout loss anyway the Kings did get kind of a little bit of help in the standings

Shout out the Indiana Pacers hey shout out Tyrese halberton the darling of the league and hey maybe some of these people refused to give damont sabonis credit also because they were dead wrong about the sabonis halberton trade and thought the Kings got flee and the kings were idiots and now sabonis is leading

The league in freaking triple doubles and they’re not going to give that any credit because it all matters about what sabonis does in the playoffs never mind Tyrese halberton has never played a playoff game in his freaking life but Tyrese halberton is this darling in the

League that can do no wrong all right get off your soap box MC M move on because tyres did you a favor tonight the Pacers did you a favor tonight they beat the New Orleans Pelicans hey shout out you the Pelicans dropped to like sixth I think in the west only problem

Is the Kings dropped to eight cuz the Mavericks won the Mavericks beat the Raptors and in reality the Mavericks got robbed the other night when Max shw hit like a three quarter Court buzzer beater Hail Mary to defeat the Mavericks in Cleveland like the king should be in

Eighth already going into tonight’s game whatever that being said it’s still they’re only half a game back of multiple spots they’re fine like well they’re not fine but they’re in a position where they win against the Minnesota Timberwolves coming up next they’re in great spot now hopefully

Dear Fox is playing in that game it’s going to be tough even with dear Fox playing hopefully the Kings can bounce back and look here we are because you didn’t handle your business against the Miami Heat on Monday now during this survive 4 game portion of the Season that I talked a lot

About your goal is to go two and two over these four games now you have to beat the number one team in the West on the road in order to make that a reality because you didn’t handle your business ahead of time and then of course you have a big

Home stand coming up but you’ve been struggling at home especially against teams that you know you should be beating at home we’s see how this King team King team responds you’ve heard enough of me now I want to hear from you how you feeling let me know atmad Georg

Stack on Twitter email me Mt Georg Sports atgmailcom leave your thoughts in the YouTube comment section down below appreciate your support can’t wait to have you join me on the next episode until then my name is Matt George you’ve been listening to lockon Kings part of the lock on podcast Network

Matt George separates the acceptable and unacceptable from the Sacramento Kings’ blowout loss in Denver without De’Aaron Fox. Plus, a rant on how ESPN analysts reacted to Domantas Sabonis’ name being brought up in MVP conversations.

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The Acceptable & Unacceptable of the Sacramento Kings’ Blowout Loss in Denver
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23 Comments

  1. Quick correction. When talking about Keegan Murray's stats, I said the rest of the game when I meant to say through the 3rd quarter. He actually finished with 21 points and took 5 shots in the 2nd half.

  2. Id like to be done with the davion Mitchell experiment. Pls just go back to keon Ellis,he plays kings basketball. Davion slows down to much

  3. Matt, I think you've got it wrong regarding Perkins. I think, not only most of the fans disrespect him, but also most of his colleagues, so they roll eyes pretty much every time he opens his mouth. I believe their reaction are towards him, not about Sabonis. Perkins pretty much all the time says stupid thinks and ESPN guys by default reacts.

  4. Way over rated player sorry. Keegan not all that. This is a bad look. He is not a player that is going to take charge.

  5. Mason Jones really. How about someone that can play. We don't need cheerleader here. We need players. He is a cartoon. OK

  6. The kings arnt a true contender. Last season they suppressed teams but that isn’t the case this year.
    As i said the kings arnt making the playoffs

  7. Sabonis actually has a nice post fadeaway. If he wanted to (or maybe if he just became aware of his potential) he could be a big time scorer. In the 2nd quarter (I think) Domas attempted 2 consecutive post fadeaways off of a simple 1on1 post-up against Jokic. He barely missed the first one and made the 2nd. Didn't look like Jokic's contest meant anything. Neither shot was late-clock desperation. I've seen him do this sporadically in certain situations, and I wish he'd do it more

  8. I thought about this after listening and the only player in the entire NBA that i can think of that gets overlooked and dismissed like this is Karl Anthony Towns.

    Ive seen NBA fans bash this Guy for years and the media rarely if ever giving Him his flowers.

    I think 90 percent of NBA fan base would be shocked if they googled Towns career stats. Hes had 28/13 AVERAGES during seasons before and has shot over 40 percent from 3 for an entire season. But all the media does even now is give all the flowers to Anthony Edwards.

    This is the first year in Towns career that the Timberwolves are vieed as legit and not mocked. Even Jokic wasnt taken as seriously as He finally is now after finally getting over the hump.

    Fans and media think Sabonis is soft is what it is. Skip Bayless obliterated Him with tweets during last years playoff series on twitter. As did his former co host.

    The Kings finally did get respect going into that series with Golden State last year but Fox broke his finger so had an off game 7 and Sabonis was outrebounded the entire series. Thats the lasting impression fans from other teams and media have.

    It shouldnt matter but unfortunately it does. The playoffs are where players are ultimately judged and rated as players. At least casual fans and nation wide media.

    Ill tell You this though, if Sabonis gets stepped on again by Draymond He cant roll around in agony in the fetal position. He has to get right up and do what Jokic did to Markief morris after He was cheap shotted.

    As great as Sabonis is and He is most definitely great, there is still another level He can go to mentally. He can even be better then he is now. There is another level He can get to mentally.

    Winning solves all. If Kings win a playoff series or two and He plays well the perception will slowly but surely change as far as media and casual fans. People who know the Game know how good He is

  9. Man I want to okay you guys round one to knock the delusion out of you all. It’s be the easiest sweep these year. You guys have two solid players and got lucky with scheduling. Please match us up with you.

  10. The Kings lose leads FAST for the same reason we're last in FT% and can't run an efficient 1/2 court offense. They run the NBA version of Mouse Davis' "run & shoot" offense. Frenetic, loose, wild. That's not a winning scheme, and the coach is lazy on X's & O's. We need Stockton/Malone 1/2 court perfection to offset the runs.

  11. As it concerns Davion, he runs the 1/2 court offense and would do it better w'out SABONIS and others dismissing him and taking the ball out of his hands. That's the coaches fault. He, like others, are used improperly.

  12. Wild to say the analysts are focusing on big market teams, when the candidates they are supporting are from Denver, OKC, Dallas, & Milwaukee

  13. Everyone forgets that Sabonis was playing through injury and badly stamped on by Green during playoffs… Most of the players wouldn't come back and play with broken thumb and most likely would not play for a while if Green would step on them with full mass…

  14. Like I said, when this Sacramento Kings get punch and punched hard, more often than not, they FOLD. It's hard to change the character of an adult person. Just too many nice guys, no Caruso, Payton, Green type of guys on the Sacramento Kings. Speaking of the latter two, here comes the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers, both of which are playing better than the Sacramento Kings during the last 10 games. I hope for the loyal Sacramento Kings fans, they will survive the play-in, their fans deserve better than a "run it back" of a team.

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