Sacramento Kings: Baby steps

Derrick Williams #13 of the Sacramento Kings dunks the ball against the Los Angeles Clippers at Sleep Train Arena on November 29, 2013 in Sacramento, California.

Last night marked the debut of recently acquired forward Derrick Williams from theMinnesota Timberwolves. However, the Kings were not able to pull out a win in overtime against the Los Angeles Clippers, falling 104-98. With Chris Paul missing the game and J.J. Redick leaving early, it seemed like the perfect game for the Kings to pull out, but the hot shooting by Jamal Crawford was to much for the purp and black to overcome. However, as I was reminded on Twitter yesterday, point differential is a better indication of how a team is doing than win/loss record, so in a season that is more about improvement and changing the culture of the organization, this game was a step in the right direction.

Boogie Cousins is continuing his run of above-average games, finishing the game with 25 points (11-19), 9 rebounds, and 6 assists. This whole game served to show how much Boogie is improving under coach Mike Malone’s tutelage, while also letting the fans know he still has a ways to go. He is attacking the hoop more and more on offense, rarely settling for the horrendous mid-range jumpers that he tried to make the cornerstone of his game the first three years. The Kings were feeding Cousins in the post with regularity, and though the ball tends to stop a little to much in this situation, he continues to do a great job of not just facing up and shooting the jumper that is always there.

Boog still needs to work on making quicker decisions so the offense doesn’t come to a grinding halt when he’s in the post, but as the title says, “Baby steps”, so I am okay with the early kinks that come from playing with your back to the basket. What was truly great to watch last night was his passing out of the high and low post, as he hooked up with cutters to the tune of 6 assists. Boogie really possesses some underrated passing skills, and when he is dialed in like last night, some truly good passes happen such as his lob for an alley oop to Derrick Williams. The effort on defense, though it still comes and goes, is much more evident this year, seen when he got crossed by Darren Collison in the lane only to recover and block the layup attempt, leading to a fast-break dunk.

To expect old DeMarcus to be completely eradicated from his game at this point is too much to ask, and we still got reminded that that old scoundrel still lives. He played 41 minutes which allowed him to pick up 5 fouls (duh) because this guy just doesn’t have control of his body sometimes. He reminds me of the big kid in youth basketball who is bigger, taller, and better than everyone, but still isn’t sure of his body so he is prone to fouls because he’s not totally sure what he’s doing.

However, Boogie is in the NBA, so I’m not sure how this is still happening. The overall defense still lacks, especially in the pick and roll where his positioning and energy ebb and flow throughout the game. He also gave the stink eye to Ben McLemore after he attempted a late 3 in overtime, once again acting like a big child when he needs to be a leader. (Baby Steps Ryan , Baby Steps).

Derrick Williams had a strong debut posting 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists (!), while showing the Kings the athleticism he displayed in Minnesota with several high flying alley oops. (He had a dunk face on Blake Griffin taken away for reasons that I still am not sure of.) The reason he gets the exclamation point next to the assists is because he had one, I repeat one, assist this entire season while playing for the Wolves. He displayed a good amount of aggressiveness on the offensive end, hunting his shot, and even though it wasn’t falling, I never felt like he was forcing it or over shooting.

Blake Griffin #32 of the Los Angeles Clippers dunks the ball against the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena on November 29, 2013 in Sacramento, California.

Overall, he gave the Kings a promising start, even if he played mostly out of position at small forward, especially in the sorely needed athletic department currently occupied by Ben and half of Boogie. It’s going to be interesting to see what Williams can bring to the Kings on a nightly basis, hopefully he just needed a change of scenery and a new coaching staff to believe in him.

Ben had another solid showing for the team, staying active on both sides of the ball and giving off an infectious energy of hustle and determination. The stroke wasn’t there, but as I have been saying all year, my biggest thing with him is not getting dismayed when this happens and still actively looking to shoot when the opportunity arises. The young kid will be just fine if he learns to weather the bad shooting games by staying aggressive and not becoming gun shy because a stroke like that will always fix itself.

I feel that it was big for him to have a rough shooting night but still be able to step to the line and calmly drill 2 free throws to tie the game with 17 seconds left. He also got into the dunking act in the second when he stole a pass to the wing and had a one on none that produced a sick rock the cradle dunk. What I never have to worry about is his effort on the defensive end, a place where he battles throughout the game and does not let the offensive side of the ball affect him there whatsoever. I am hoping he rubs off on his teammates in this way (Boogie), as defense has been what has doomed the team to be unwatchable for much of the last 3 years.

Notes

First game Isaiah hasn’t impacted the game in anyway that I’ve watched. He was largely invisible and only played 17 minutes, including none at the end of the game.
Greivis Vasquez had an up and down game, hitting a few threes in a run during the second, and helping to spark a run with two oop passes in the third, but his defense was just horrendous, letting Darren freaking Collison penetrate the lane to much on him.
Patrick Patterson provided good energy off the bench (9 boards), and helped make up for Jason Thompson’s low impact in 23 minutes.
Finally, it might make me a bad fan, but I hate when John Salmons does well because it only reinforces him to keep shooting the ball. Yeah he had 14 points, but this just gave him reason shoot a couple shots late in the game that were just dumb decisions.