The James Ham Show – This Is Who the Sacramento Kings Have To Be
Uh let’s bring our man James ham in here Hammer that was a nice win last night for Sacramento was a good win bunch of guys contributed like some surprise performances um overall yeah like really impressive that’s a physical team it’s a veteran team it’s got a whole bunch of
Hall of Famers and I I thought the Kings just pushed them around they pushed him around all night long I thought the rotations were incredible um just like the int it the Kings played with that’s exactly what they have to do the rest of the season
If they’re going to have any shot at all at somehow making it to the playoffs and one of the things we kind of talked about a little bit on the handoff and want to hear you speak a little bit more about it I wouldn’t dare say that this is a better team now
Without Monk and herder but maybe it’s a team where these guys get into roles that they’re a little more comfortable with uh feel a little more free you look at Davon Avon has probably looked at he maybe he’s been in a situation where like man I was a little bit of a score
In college I’m a score I work on my game but I’m not given these opportunities to score I’m asked to play a different way or a setup role or something like that and now he’s in something that maybe is a little more comfortable and conducive to his game and and and being as
Productive as possible because he is going to be needed to score Off the Bench do you think that there’s a possibility that people fall in into roles that are a little bit more comfortable for them with Monk and her her out yeah I mean that might be it um
It’s it’s possible that it’s just like they’re waiting for their opportunity and they’re finally getting it type deal um but I would also point out like when you lose Monk and you lose herder that’s like 21 shots a game and you got to find somebody to make up those shots and that
I think the good thing is you know you can get four extra shots for sabonis you can get like five or six extra shots for Keegan Murray but there’s still like another 10 shots so who’s going to get those and um I think right now um this
Team had become overly reliant on dearon Fox Deus sabonis and Malik monk saving their bacon every single game and now that’s just not who they can be it’s got to be someone else someone else has to step up because there’s a snowball effect that happens when you take away
Herder and you take away monk life gets a lot more difficult on Deon sabonis and dearn fox because none of these other guys are are people that you Scout for or people that you know we always hear we joke around about it on the the Kings
Be podcast the hot guys as Mike calls them on the other team um well like Trey Lyles can can shoot the ball but he’s not someone that like you’re going to worry about on on any given night that if you’re the other team that you don’t
Have to scout for and you’re not putting a huge emphasis on so even a guy like him who’s a solid veteran he’s still a guy who’s averaging less than you know seven points a game so your focus is going to shift even more to stopping Fox
And sabonis so these guys are going to have a little bit of a free run here early as as we try to trudge through this this section of games without those without uh Monk and fox I Monk and and herder and uh you hope that they can take advantage because it kind of
Doesn’t get any better than this for them you know this is a point where they’re they’re starting or they’re getting major minutes and you know guys like Keon guys like Davon guys like Trey even guys like Alex Len yeah they’re getting extra time they’re getting extra
Minutes and like no one is worried about what they’re going to do in a game they’re so hyperfocused on what’s happening with Fox and what’s happening with sabonis and now maybe a little bit more on Keegan Murray but that’s about it I I certainly want to spend a lot of
Time talking about Keegan but you talked about them being hyperfocused defense is being hyperfocused on domas and and and dearen how much of that is there any concern at all about like Keon and Casey and I have talked about this over the last couple of days Keon hasn’t really
Established himself as a scoring thread he was 0 for one last night I think he was one of four the night before and it’s not really the percentage that I’m I’m I’m concerned about when it comes to Kon it’s the amount of shots that he
Takes and I said yesterday if I was tyo I just challenge him to see not not if he’d go four of five because we’ve seen him do that not that he go you know five of eight but would he be willing to shoot 10 or 12 shots something he’s only
Done twice since getting back into the start or getting back into the rotation uh being a big part of what the kings are doing since the beginning of March I think it was yeah I think we all looked at this game and thought Tai Lou was GNA
Have like a game plan and to be honest I just think he got out coached because that should have been well I also not sure his wanted yeah yeah but you know what I’m saying that should have been the game plan was for Keon Ells to beat you like
Hey if Keon’s gonna beat us that’s the way it is um and that’s just not what happened I mean they didn’t force the ball out of Fox’s hands uh out of uh out of demonus sabonis his hands and certainly out of Keegan Murray’s hands he shot 18 shots uh they basically
Allowed Keon Ellis to to be they they guarded him straight up and and it’s a strange idea I don’t know why that happened and it’s almost like they didn’t have the same approach with with uh with Davon they’re like oh no we we should probably leave that guy wide open
And see what he does to us and Davon busted him up and treyes busted him up and so like look it it is an all Hands-On deck thing uh when it comes to how we’re going to see this team finish out the season but I do think that you
Know the opposing coach does play a role in this and we’ve seen seen plenty of games where it’s like okay you know how well did Mike Brown Fair against somebody else and and then but we have to look at it both ways like I don’t think that that team came in mentally
Prepared and and like looked like they were fully 100% ready to face the Kings no they they look like they were not interested in being there you know what I mean and and they got down early and fought back a little bit but once the Kings fought back from that and got the
Le in the double digits seems like they just kind of packed their bags and was like let’s let’s get to La and that’s not the king’s fault or anybody else like that but uh that Clippers game you talked about it earlier Damian James Harden just was completely nonexist there yeah completely non-existent that
Was that was surprising to see I thought that was going to be a tough opponent in a tough game even without kawh Leonard um but the the Kings they made sure it wasn’t close yeah I mean I thought that uh like we watched Paul George he was
Like he was all over Keegan Murray for stretches and I I thought it was great I thought he was overplaying Keon uh Keegan and I thought Keegan uh there was one play where he just stuck to uh Keegan Paul George did as he was trying
To fight through a dho at the top and then Keegan got to the other side and and de deonis just flipped it right over the top of him to the basket for a wide open dunk and it to me it was again another maturation moment for for Keegan
Where he’s starting to figure out that like look if a great defender is going to is going to try to take you away like that you’ve got to be more creative it can’t just be like the pin down and or or a dho off the top and expect that
You’re just going to get a wide open shot now you got to start you know getting into the second and the third option on your offensive set and see what you can come up with and um you know again like I’m ready to see Keegan
Shoot you know 15 16 17 18 times a game from here on out and if and if he doesn’t want to do that um you’ve got to address that you’ve got to address the the third score second score in the off season well he’s off to a pretty good
Start as he was uh eight of 18 last night and I think I think he led the team in field goal attempts the game before on Sunday is that right I could be making that up I could be making that yeah no he shot 18 times then too yeah
So uh that’s a good start that’s what both of you I know it’s virtually what everybody but it’s been a a topic of discussion here on this station Casey Hammer uh Kyle it’s it’s been hey Keegan’s gota Keegan’s got to be that guy he’s got to
Be the one to make up that that scoring and those shots and you know James you mentioned this at the beginning when you when you when you first joined us it was a collective and that’s what games need to be for Sacramento moving forward there
Isn’t a single guy who can make up for Malik Monk’s absence I think Keegan Murray doing more in the starting lineup is a great start but you need Knights like that from Trey LS and if it’s not Tre LS it’s Davon Mitchell and if it’s not Davon Mitchell it’s it’s it’s Chris
Dorte it’s whoever is is is in the rotation like you’re going to have to have performances and I think we even set the number at 30 to 40 points for the bench yesterday and they got 39 and man that feels like a good recipe if you’re able to get it uh for the
Sacramento Kings moving forward yeah I mean that’s a big number and I don’t know how how often you’re going to get that number um but I also kind of have this feeling that that’s how this team should have been playing all year long like this is a collective it’s not it’s
Not the Clippers it’s not the Phoenix Suns like this is a a group with a bunch of guys who can outage in double figure scoring uh a bunch of guys who are primarily offensive players not defensive players like they should have kind of been like the recipe all season
Long and I’m glad they’re getting to it right now but that’s where I kind of like I don’t think so much that fox and sabonis and monk are playing herob ball as I do think that their teammates have just like kind of Aces to like that being the way this te is built
Yeah and so I’m slightly confused by it because this is really who you should have been you aren’t like the the elite of the elite of the elite you have really good players but whether those players could take the leap to Greatness is still in question and I mean I think
They’re consistently good and they’re you know Fox and sabonis are all NBA players but we’re not talking about you know again you just play Dallas twice theca Kyrie tandem we’re not talking about that and so this is a group that needs to share the wealth and needs to
Get everybody involved every night we we talked a little bit about the fact that they’re doing it a different way you know 109 points last night holding another opponent under 100 and maybe there’s a shift in how this team kind of plays basketball Mike Brown talked about
It after the game or whatever the case may be but I look at it another way too though ham and and Damen they scored 109 points last night they didn’t shoot the ball well at all they make three more threes you’re up to you know almost one uh 120 something like that
So they I know we talked about a different style of play well I think that play is still there for him they just had a bad shooting night last night they were able to overcome the bad shooting night last night because of the way they defend but
James do you see a different style of play for this team right now no I mean I think it’s still like what Mike keeps harping on every single time we see him um like the spray three it’s still like get to the key uh and that’s what I
Think fox has done a really nice job of you know whether he’s scoring the ball like he he has in the past or not which he’s not I mean he his points per gamer way down over the last you know maybe four weeks um but he is getting to the
Key he is breaking down the defense he’s collapsing everything and he’s getting wide open looks and you know I think guys like Davon are hitting his shots uh what’s he shooting 44% from three since the uh the All-Star break um that’s impressive I think Keon Ellis is hitting his shots when he’s getting
Those opportunities we saw Kessler Edwards against Dallas hit the wide open shot like that’s what you you can hope for that your your players that uh you’re relying on for this style of play are are doing their best to to keep the opponents honest and so maybe we do see
A shift at some point if if we start seeing again lyes and Ellis and Davon like consistently hitting these three-point shots maybe we see the spacing open up a little bit for Fox and sabonis but this is kind of who they are and who they have to be from here on out
Sort of this gritty defensive team that you know once was a great offense and now is is kind of I don’t want to say sputtering but has has to play the game a different way because of injury uh one thing I wanted to get to Casey that we hadn’t really touched on
Yet today Hammer you just brought up Davon in the way that he’s been playing and the way that he’s been shooting Mike Brown acknowledged last night that the consistency of davon’s minutes have helped out Davon and we’ve discussed that at length how difficult it is for
Guys to not really know their role and I think we forget this sometimes especially young guys like Davon Mitchell wondering what his role is on a night toight basis and the fact that things have kind of leveled out for him and now it appears at least according to
Mike Brown and and davon’s play is certainly reflective of that Davon knows what is exactly what is expected of him every night man and and to me hammer he has performed at a high level over the course of the last three months or so yeah really to me it started like at the
Allstar break I know you could trace it back a little bit further but at the All-Star break it seems like I don’t know if he had a really good conversation with somebody or if he had a couple of really good workouts in the gym with one of the assistants or a
Development guy or he saw something whatever it was it feels like he’s like just like the Light Bulb Has Gone on and he stopped fighting it because it to me it’s felt so much like he’s fighting the offense all the time and you’re watching it and it’s just you know again he’s the
One guy that just stands out that doesn’t really just understand the flow and then all of a sudden he’s in the flow and he’s being aggressive and he’s not he’s not hesitating and you know we talk about not hesitating on shooting the three he’s getting to the perfect
Spot on the floor for himself and he’s getting a perfect pass from his teammates because he’s keeping the sight line he’s doing all of these little nuances of the game that often go completely missed and it’s something that for me it’s it’s sort of the bigger
Picture of what has why he hasn’t found success it’s that he’s just a little bit off of what every else is doing and so that puts you just out of position here and there it puts it so as opposed to just catching and shooting a ball you’re
Still coming out of a out of some sort of motion before you go to catch and shoot and so now you’re delayed just a little bit and now the opponent is able to close out on you a little tighter and he’s not a big guy to to start with so
It’s all of these little nuances of the game which I keep telling you guys just like I know he’s not a bad basketball player he just doesn’t seem to fit what the kings are doing all a sudden I don’t think that’s the case he seems like he’s
Fitting in just perfectly fine he’s in the right spot he’s ready he’s attacking the rim with like a a perfect amount of force and I I even mentioned on the Insiders earlier with Kyle it almost feels like he watched a little bit of Isaiah Thomas during the uh the off
During the break during the uh the All-Star break and saw how how it uses his chest to create width and space when he’s going to the rim and separation from his from a larger opponent and also he’s at The Rim he’s scoring he he’s have he’s fearless and just it’s the
Confidence that he’s playing with it’s the lack of hesitation that he’s playing with but I also think it’s that he’s in the flow all of a sudden with everyone else all a sudden he’s part of this this symbiotic system that they have that they all feed off each other and uh it
For me it’s really good to see there’s speculation that he’s recharged on tacos well see I need to recharge on them tacos then last week but yeah shout out where you get hey inito let us know where you gonna be at next time man drop
The pin yeah man pull I’m pulling up I need that um you know the other thing about uh daveon is I think do you somebody would ask me what type of player is Davon MIT I think we’d all go to like defense first or whatever and not necessarily wrong I think he’s a
Scorer I think he’s a scoring guard he’s not your set things up tight point guard all this other stuff distributor and all this other stuff at least on the offensive end he’s a scoring point guard and I feel like in the system that the Kings had and what they were needing
From him and asking for him um you know when everybody was healthy was hey go in there and just hold it down until Fox gets back into the game and now due to the injuries and U having to step up a little bit he gets to be a little bit
More of that scoring guard look for his shots look for attacking look to be aggressive on the offensive end not saying nobody saying before don’t shoot the ball but just maybe a little bit more comfortable now do you see that in his game as well James well yeah I mean
I it’s a big deal when monk isn’t there right because even when he’s not on the when Davon is playing with Fox you know Fox is going to have the ball as a primary ball handler but when he’s playing with monk it’s the same exact thing they use those guys almost identif
And you know the way that they they hand the ball to them what I think though is like when he starts dribbling it used to be that he was almost like kind of circling around domas trying to find the seam and now he’s not waiting he’s just going and so
I think he can be more of a scorer I mean people forget he averaged 11 points a game as a rookie and you know he kind of like in his rookie season might player comp with it the way that he attacked was he’s very similar to Ty Lawson and so you’re always watching
Like he’s super quick in the half court and he’s got a really ni he’s got nice handles stop and go Motion but then he’s got the floater he can get to the rim because he’s so quick um you know he’s got a pull-up game and so that’s where I
Kind of thought I didn’t think he was gonna reach the heights of Ty Lawson but I did see him as like a very very nice defensive player and then you know just it hasn’t really progressed from there especially you know that first year it
Was it was dearen it was Tai and it was uh Ty halberton and it was Davon and so again he’s just being asked to play off the ball the whole time he looks more comfortable and and that’s for sure he’s he’s always going to be a a player a
Little bit like Tyreek Evans that is very he’s a lot more comfortable in the floor when on defense the ball is in front of him and he’s defending not not he’s over defending a guy in the corner that doesn’t have the ball um and then
On the offensive end when the ball is in his hands that’s when he’s the most like sort of confident because that’s who he’s been as as a player his whole life did anybody else see that play last night James talked about uh you know his helps side and and guarding the ball
Anybody else see that that play last night that was kind of bizarre where davon’s at the top of the the key like not even the key he’s more towards like half court but he’s one one guarding somebody they’re running a play and I think they pass it to Norman pal and
When the pass is made Davon jets away from Harden to go guard Norman pal and stop him in the key I said what what the hell was that you never see that kind of stuff I don’t know maybe I’m the only one that like it stood out because it
Didn’t result in anything it was just bizarre to see somebody uh have that type of thing happen just like this is it’s great timing yeah this is great this tickles me every time every I swear to God this show dude like I real I apology the the the radio
Audience can’t see this James’s screen just went black he basically went Undertaker right now he he pretty much he ascended to Heaven this tickles me every time and and I guarantee you right now at the hammer compound he is not amused he’s gonna come in right now with
A smirk and the shaking his head that’s exactly what he’s gonna do uh so while James res that’s there uh we’ll bring our man B Zito back in here he said he’s trying to lock in the 11th and 14th games he’ll keep us posted man say the
Word uh we let not that you need our help letting anybody know that you’re out there but let us know um and I gotta P I gotta pull up to see you uh here he go he he’s back and he Shake shrugging his shoulders we got something different
Today yeah that was wild everything just it’s almost like the power went out that’s pretty much what it looked like I was like his screen didn’t freak like his internet might have dropped yeah just everything everything died completely saw way responded you noticed that play too yeah it’s I saw it I
Talked about it with Kyle this morning he was guarding Harden and I think Harden threw it it was either Norman Powell or it was Paul George and Paul George was in the middle of the key around the free throw line and Davon Just Darts right in and starts running
At him and I was like holy cow look at the closing speed what is he doing and and he just caught everybody off guard and I thought okay like just that was kind of the general feel of the team all night long that’s what everyone was
Doing it was like these little bits of extra effort that made a tremendous amount of impact overall we live in Wild times you didn’t see it I just looked up to the screen they’re hyping up Lakers Wizards tonight oh yeah I did see him Courtside Courtside yeah that MCM yeah yeah of
Cour side they’re hyping up Lakers Wizards tonight big game in the association come on Wow a live look at Lakers Wizards you think this Lakers thing is ever gonna end like the way they cover the Lakers uh well I think it’ll change when LeBron’s not there um if there’s if
There’s a starless Lakers yeah probably are you sure because a bunch of national TV games they were in the dangelo uh Ingram Randall years yeah I am 100% not sure about that I’m pretty sure that today Jerry West was inducted into the Hall of Fame for the third time y the
Third time so if you think it’s gonna go away he’s the Rick flairer of the NBA like no they’re just gonna keep inducting people into the Hall of Fame for random reasons like oh okay well a contributor now like it was enough that he’s a player that he’s the uh the logo
Uh that he was an executive but now let’s just like contributor jeie pitched they should put Kobe in for eight and then put Kobe in for 24 so it could be a two-time I’m just kidding I don’t know that oh I thought she really did no no
No I was kidding she didn’t do that well not that I know of not that you know of we’ll come back we’ll talk more Kings basketball with our Kings Insider from the Insiders it’s our man James ham here with d and KC on Sacramento sports leader ESPN 1320 it’s believable like the
Allegations of Kanye well lock them in cages I need to know if what Manny mentioned is this is this is this the shoot is this accurate or was that last Friday he tweeted us it says four five in Roseville Friday nights at the taco truck come out this Friday 45 for
Our first dinner service at our new rosville popup oh hey wait who’s that bitto’s got a pop yeah yeah oh yep I’m in there well we got I’m in there we got a game at don’t we have a game on Thursday Friday we we we as in like we’re going to be
Watching a game yeah oh yeah that’s the night that the kings are going 25 to the Celtics I’ll beat the Kings fans there then oh this is the spot like wasn’t he there last weekend one by the the Shar joint yeah oh yeah okay I’ll see you if
I’m I’m going try to sneak out the house Friday I’m gonna see you yeah no Aldren J I will not be giving WrestleMania a chance this weekend just a boo I don’t have time to take on another sport man another well whatever that is another entertainment venue I mean Avenue so hm
I was at the Costco today uh filling buying replacements for the Fortress of snack itude no and I’m not gonna I think someone may have left that open in recent days oh my Kenny left it open in recent days do you know who I don’t it was one morning I went
To sometimes I don’t I just look and I’m like I’m kind of hungry let’s see what’s in here and I looked and I’m like uhoh and I pulled it and it was open get the camera maybe it was Me Maybe I I Wasing it oh no it’s possible I was refilling
It and forgot it open I don’t know I don’t we’re gonna put a I don’t think so I can’t Kenny in there like my hands are full it could have been Kenny well I I don’t even go to that Locker if there’s someone like standing thereby that’s facts that’s a shoot y
About to go after this is there popcorn yeah there’s still a few I think well there was I’m I’m just gonna go get some stuff I need to go get some more not all of us are rich with Costco cards like you too I need to go get the the uh chocolate
Chocolate bar things speculation Style’s broken stealing our snacks um long list I was just looking over I was in Costco and I’m like I’m going to get some Whistle Pig because I thought I was out and I’m sitting here looking and I I still have like that much of a bottle
Left like all right well I don’t know that’s easy work for James now I got extra oh there you go there you go there you go I tried getting through a Costco parking lot yesterday I almost took my ass home oh man that is that is
A tough n is still popping heavy huh yeah and like people were just like parking in theid middle of the parking lot waiting for this car to back out so they can take that spot meanwhile it is a mess I’m always fascinated by the people who have to have like the closest
Parking spot oh yeah that’s just not my bad I park far away and car don’t touch my car that like I just if there’s a open one close cool if there’s a open one in the back I’ll take that no big deal I park in the same general vicinity
Every time everywhere I go I’ve not switched my parking spot here at all either no you that’s the shoot you haven’t yep James look like he got a brand new car James had the people with the T out there ready to go I was like oh man Casey here oh that’s not
Casy that’s Hammer looks good profiling it’s a little dark usually what I try to speak to Katrina night shopping is the best people don’t even there’s no one there I’m more of an early morning guy yeah I’m excited about the Rockland Costco opening soon that’s at least
Closer to the house and it should be less crowded although I don’t know wait where is that going it’s off Sierra College Boulevard but opposite the side of Sierra College I got you over across from the amm I guess yeah that’s Sierra College is way fact coming back hammer not that
One that one back here with our man James ham talking Kings basketball James you brought it up several times seven games left sample sizes double digits you concerned about dearen on the offensive side I mean he scored 30 once in the last I don’t know 17 games something
Like that um yeah I mean I I I was uh pretty concerned about deus’s scoring as well I mean I think both of these guys um just because of the way this team is built uh and the way that and that fact that they’ve had guys who I don’t know
Who just are okay taking a back seat um I I think a lot of pressure and a lot of the workload has been put on sabonis and fox and I think both of them are feeling it at this point um and this is you know year two of both of them playing Super
Meaningful games late in the season and that’s not easy they’re they’re learning it’s the process of figure figuring out how to you know carry yourself all the way through a long season um so yeah I think I like in a perfect world you would be able to give dearen Fox a game
Or two off down the stretch to get him ready for the playoffs but it’s just not a luxury the Kings have same thing with sabonis and you know it is what it is at this point if if you get uh 14 more games out of these guys then I think
Everyone would be super excited if you get a few more than that that’d be great but I also like I mean this is a brutal season and uh you can see that they just don’t have the bounce they don’t have the same legs that they had and sabonis
Being a groundbased guy that means he can still get the rebounds and some of the assist numbers but he’s working hard to get these points and see same thing with Fox you know he’s working really hard and I I’m concerned about Fox’s scoring um because I also know that the defenses
Are just just completely like teeing off on him they’re sending extra guys his way because they can and because the other guys that the Kings have aren’t proven yet and I think those guys have stepped up and done a nice job but at the same time it it doesn’t take away
From the fact that they’re sending all of these bodies at dearon and he’s the one who’s taken a lot of the abuse right now James anything going on with uh with his thumb and I noticed and a couple other people noce he had a little wrap
On his thumb uh yesterday I think that was the first time in recent memory that he’s he’s had a rrap but any any word on that no uh to be honest I didn’t even notice it um was it his right hand or his left his left thumb I think it was
Okay I thought I I don’t think it was there before yesterday and I don’t even know when it got there yesterday but um yeah something I noticed I mean it didn’t this game didn’t look any different to me I didn’t shoot the ball well but you know he usually shoots
Better than that but I thought he was attacking still and making moves or anything else like that so I I didn’t know if you know anybody had brought it up or even noticed it really no I hadn’t noticed it but I would also tell you that he’s shooting like 85% from the
Free throw line since the All-Star break and yesterday he shot seven to seven from the free throw line and so that tells me that I think he’s okay I just think his legs his legs are hurting uh you know he just again he’s fighting through it this is you know the second
The third wind of the Season that you’ve got to find and now you don’t have anyone to take any of that pressure off you and uh well especially with monk out you just don’t have anyone to to help you out so there’s G be a lot of focus
On him he did Miss games with the knee contusion or whatever it was classified as you know oh yeah just over a month or so ago yeah month and some change um do think he makes all defense I don’t know like his numbers are really like they’re really starting
To add up like he’s one of the top defending guards in the entire league yeah I I think defense is a lot about reputation and I think eventually you’ll see him probably make an all defensive team like second team or something um I certainly think at this point he
Probably has a better chance at all defensive team than he does at all-nba um just because that’s you know kind of the way The Season’s gone and I think he’s been overlooked quite a bit but he’s up to what is he second in the
League in in a in steals per game um and he’s super close to Shay uh Shay gilas Alexander um so I think he’ll average over two uh two steals per game like I think he’s improved a ton but you still have this group of players that are just
Known for their defense more than they are for a guy who puts up 26 points per game and uh they usually give a lot of those guys nods over a player like Fox especially who’s played for a team that is even though like they are what are
They like 16th 17th in the league right now in defensive rating um they’re still a team that most people think of as a really bad defensive team and until they sort of clean that up and and show that they they’ve taken another step I think it’ll be tough and I’m not saying it’s
Impossible Lord knows those V aren’t watching to see what’s happening about to say and that’s this isn’t James is saying correct information like these things happen but it’s just a bunch of uh usually in the past years this guy’s good so I I’ll vote for him what not
Wrong this guy could be like he he could have the worst indiv individual defensive rating in the league like ah Dr holiday is usually good so just that’s a first team well Draymond Green Defensive Player of the Year based on the last week yeah well and I
Certainly think you you brought up Drew holiday I think he’ll be there I think Derek white will be there so like the the Celtics are going to get plenty of defensive guys in this and then I think you go to Minnesota where they’ll have one or two guys that are all defensive
Um just because those are some of the best defensive teams in league but I’m talking I’m thinking about the guards they should have anybody yeah and I assume all defense works the same way as all NBA where it’s just five like it’s just well 10 right is there yeah I think it’s
Question yeah I thought they still kept uh still kept the the format though the two guards two forwards in the center I shall search the internet and find out he should he should get there I think um Fox is also isn’t he up towards the top with SGA and like deflections or
Something like that yeah virtually every category he’s it’s it’s it’s it’s some combination of Shay Donovan and um dearon uh Jesse did you I believe all defensive team I’m looking at right now it’s on position L now position L okay okay and and you’re saying donov and
Mitchell okay and oh and he’s well you’re right he’s not eligible he’s not eligible for anything nonsense we didn’t make it an hour without more nonsense allegations yeah that’s right I’ll say like look if he made it I wouldn’t be shocked if he didn’t make it I also wouldn’t be
Shocked because it’s just kind of you know he plays in Sacramento and and there it doesn’t always translate to uh to the voting yeah Benjamin is right is voters like Kevin oconnell who just don’t pay attention Kevin okon man is his name oh I choose to call him by his name his
Name is Kevin oconnell okay not gonna disrespect that man call him that is the Vikings coach right just to be clear that’s is that the name oh that’s not his name I didn’t know Conor yeah man he’s con some of y’all into believing he knows what the hell he’s talking
About what is what is Kevin okono gonna tell me about basketball well that the Celtics broke the Kings or that dearon fox is broken or or something I’m not I’m not sure it’s probably something along those lines uh did the blueprint get set for the Kings last night can Mike point to
This game as they head to to New York tomorrow and they head out on this road trip and they can say hey this is what we got here like this is what we need you’ve got to take advantage of the opportunities you have we’re we’re down a man we’re still in this
Thing we have an opportunity to play in the playoffs we’re going to have an opportunity to play in the playoffs no matter what we have an opportunity to solidify a playoff spot before a couple of other teams do I feel like Mike can use you know if you want
To brush aside Utah I don’t I don’t think coaches do that and I I don’t think players do that I think we do it I don’t think they do it but you can f hey this was this was a four seed that you know is is struggling right now we took
Advantage we had our way with him we did what we were supposed to do we’re down you know 25 with the possibility of 50 and we made this thing pop and if I’m Mike which I’m very much not because he’s very good head coach yo I’d say yo
We we set the template guys this is what we got to do on a night toight basis yeah I mean I think that that’s the hope but you have to make sure that the things that you did in this game are repeatable that that that your players understand that the reason why again
Like DAV o Mitchell and Trey Lyles hit all those threes is because you did exactly what he asked you to do you Shrunk the defense and then you sprayed it out to the guys for wide open looks um yeah I think there was something interesting you talk about the blueprint
Or whatever um we we got it both from Trey lyes and from Davon Mitchell both of them said we followed the game plan and it was like okay does that mean you don’t usually follow the game plan or was this a different game plan or what do what do
You exactly mean by that and I just think that they walked into that game super prepared and with some very very fine points that that they were looking for in order to find success and everything that they did when they followed the plan it worked and if they
Can keep doing that I think that they’re going to have a shot because I don’t think the game plan has been bad all year I think some of the execution of the game plan has been poor and and that’s not for everybody but that’s for some individuals on some nights and the
Way that this team is built that can be a different individual every night or two different individuals every night night that just aren’t completely following what it is that everyone is supposed to be doing and if you can get a 100% Buy in from here on out you might
Have a shot and so that’s kind of where um again I think a blueprint is tough because who knows if the shots are going to fall who knows if Trey lyes is again going to go what three of eight from from three and and uh Davon is going to
Go four of seven um but the ideas behind what they’re doing I think is repeatable and the fact that it doesn’t have to be Trey and Davon next game it could be Harrison and Keon next game that do that exact thing that’s that’s the big deal
That you need to keep rolling and keep trusting that each of you have a role to play in in what’s happening here if you’re gonna find success yeah man I I I I don’t like I said I don’t want to say that this team is better without those guys but I I
Really like what I’ve seen in those last two games much like you Damien and the coaches and the players and all I don’t dismiss what happened in Utah Utah there was some things to overcome in that game right like the the energy The Vibes you just learned you know 24 hours before
That that you were without Malik monk you just come off a devastating loss James you were there you said they felt it felt like they they felt the weight of that loss on Friday there was some things you had to work through and they the same day they they lost herder by
The way like that herder was officially ruled out the Le monk injury happened the same day yeah you had a bad 24 to 48 hours and there was something to work through there and they did that they found and and then the game like the
Game kind of like got a little wonky and the crowd was wearing it like there was a lot yeah absolutely out of nowhere they just n we’re done with all this flipped a little bit of a switch carried that into yesterday and now the hope is
Carry that on the road with you because I James I think tomorrow’s a a huge game a huge game for this team to set the tone for this four game trip and could set the tone for what they need to do to finish out theas seven games yeah I mean
This is the big game this is a physical team that beat you up at your home on your home court um you allowed one player to really just trash you and they’re short-handed and I mean we all know like the Knicks are always short-handed it seems like but no OG who
Was not very good against the Kings no Julius Randall um I think Mitchell got hurt again and might be questionable uh this is one of those games where like look there are no more excuses you can lose to bad teams but this team has shown they can beat any good team in the
League and the Knicks are a good quality team but they’re also they have the same win total you do and they just beat you at at your home so go in there and and you know step up I think that’s the biggest thing they do have some tough
Defenders and they are physical and all that but like look this is an matchup nightmare for just the Knicks looking across and seeing sabonis like they don’t have anyone that can stop sabonis even if Mitchell Robinson was healthy uh like there’s there’s nothing he can do
To stop sabonis so um this is a it’s a big game and and I think it’s even it’s bigger because like let’s just be honest if anyone thinks that the kings are going to win Friday night in Boston like uh okay like I they they have a real tough time with Boston normally
And I would even in this situation where you’re on the second night of a back toback on an East Coast Road Trip um when you you really you had no time like they they left today to fly out to New York where they’re gonna it’s New York
And then Boston and back to New York like this is a tough one and uh I I don’t think that that we can expect them to somehow magically beat a team that they haven’t been able to beat in the Celtics so it puts a little more
Emphasis on the front side on that next game and for Mike it’s it’s also got to be one of those games where you’re looking at it like do I go to a seven-man rotation do I go to a six-man rotation do I just realistically play
The guys that I know that I can trust and that’s it no one else and that might be what he has to do I mean it’s a starter should play 40 minutes if they have to in this game and you got to do everything you can do to get the first
One because the second one’s going to be tough that’s correct there isn’t a professional athlete on the planet that thinks that way nor a coach in my mind like we can talk about it this what we do Darren’s gonna go into that game being let’s beat
The Celtics ass and Trey lles is gonna have the same feeling and so is Damonte sabonis now whether they can do it is another story and real quick to use a James line how quick if it goes bad they let go of the Rope that’s something
Different too like if you go in there say yo we got these guys and then it’s 20 to eight you know we ain’t got him then you could you could you could fold it in we saw that with the Clippers last night and and and and also we got
To keep the same energy because everyone does this when the Kings win a couple of games at the end well let’s let’s look around here the Celtics got the one spot by 12 games they look look ESPN countd down to tip off the Thunder versus the Celtics who
Cares the Celtics are chilling so it could be you talk about the Kings letting go of the Rope we go into that game on on on Friday Kings punch him in the mouth Joe was like n this ain’t worth it they could wind up looking like the
Clippers did last night yeah they got nothing to play for no that would be great I I I totally get what you guys are saying I I’m just saying like if I’m circling no I don’t think that that’s G to happen yeah if I if I go through the
Entire King’s schedule with like like a a pink highlighter there’s like three games on the schedule that I’m circling and saying loss loss loss and this is one of them it is what it is like now you shocked me that’s fine fine go ahead when you did your schedule circling
Thing what did you Circle for Detroit Washington and and and and Portland that’s like the green highlighter easy guaranteed win yeah done seven and one versus the Lakers and Nuggets you mentioned the killing and stuff too last week moula was talking about he let porzingis get cooked by Deontay Murray all fourth
Quarter of the game they lost so that he could see what the match up looked like so yeah they’re not like oh we gotta win these games like he’s testing things out too yeah he’s not gonna test I get you I get what you’re saying there but he’s
Not going to test out because I don’t think Joe moula thinks he’s GNA face the kings in the championship so he doesn’t need toong look yeah word yep going streaking boys grab your green hat get your green hat grab your green hat going streaking you know the other frustrating the other frustrating part
Of this Hammer is we look at everyone else’s schedule and you talk about circling wins and losses and none of it has gone the way we expected like you know we wondered I I didn’t know what way last night’s game would go but the Warriors they’re they’re hot right now they beat Dallas
Who was hot going into the game uh you’ve got you know the Lakers winning a ton of games right now uh what was the what was the oh Phoenix Phoenix randomly beating good teams and just kind of losing to like marginal teams yeah every now and then they do
Some things that you don’t expect right one way or the other one way or the other yeah yeah right yeah I mean the Pelicans the Pelicans win for Phoenix um where they and we had that discussion like who do you want to win the Kyle ask who do you want to win this
Game like while we were I think I was at the Kings game while that game was going on like who if you’re looking at the Kings and you you think hey like what what would it be more advantageous who would it be more advantageous whether
The Pelicans win or the Suns win I said oh no the Pelicans no I want like if the Pelicans lose you’re dropping them back into a larger pool and when you get to a larger pool their 4-0 against the Kings might not matter if you have a three-way
Tie and that that other team has a tiebreaker against the Pelicans and you have a tiebreaker against that team then it goes to something like Conference record and the Kings Conference record is really good they’ve got the conference record on all of these teams so like I would rather have more teams
Involved and more playoff seeds because that’s we’re talking about the the five six seven eight at this point as like one group and I would rather see the five and the six be part of that conversation and not just the six because you want you you know again you
Want more teams involved in that chase you know what our thinking with that was because there were a couple of the Pelicans and suns were one I think Warriors in Dallas might have been the other they got another one whoever wins the first one win the second
One don’t split don’t split the two games against each other just so the Warriors now go dubs beat Dallas again can see yeah the what what was it uh the Suns beat the Pelicans yeah when the second one yeah Valley no it was something stupid heated up coming in hot
Coming in hot noag that’s what it is we’re using the hashtags coming in hot coming who was let him know who was that again the Cleveland believe oh Cleveland Cleveland was hash let him know yeah I think it’s it’s interesting we’re gonna have to see how this all
Like all of the numbers are really really tough to look at right now and to know who’s going to make it and who’s not but the fact that these teams all play each other again a lot of them the fact the Kings still have another game against the Pelicans so even though they
Can’t tie the season series they can knock him down a peg even though they still got one against the the Suns and they can win that season series the fact that Dallas we all make it this big sob story that Dallas got you season series is tied and you have the conference
Record on him so yeah I mean this is this is gonna get wild and with all this stuff man I mean like like you said the es and flows of this last month last four or five weeks after all the the stuff that happened kings are one game back of five
Yeah one big one game back of five things could go all your way tonight and you could be looking at a golden opportunity going into tomorrow’s game so yeah it’d be nice to have a few things go our way tonight I need I need I’m not banking on the Wizards beating
The Lakers but well they’re hot right now the Wizards are hot yeah when one when another one that’s what you call win streak I’ve heard that before I’ve heard before what are the other games we’re watching tonight uh Magic at pelicans yeah I need the magic what earlier you talked about the magic
We need to stand up fight back yeah and let them know let them know Cs and Phoenix let them know Cleveland know let them know Cleveland um we appreciate you guys so much for being with us if you’re on YouTube hit the thumbs up before you go if you’re on
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