[Game] Game 54: Sacramento Kings vs Boston Isaiahs, 2/20/15. 7PM PST, 10PM EST

Predict tonight's game!

  • Kings win in a blowout

    Votes: 18 39.1%
  • Kings win a close game

    Votes: 16 34.8%
  • Kings win an overtime thriller

    Votes: 1 2.2%
  • Kings lose an overtime thriller

    Votes: 1 2.2%
  • Kings lose a close game

    Votes: 3 6.5%
  • Kings are blown-out

    Votes: 4 8.7%
  • The roof caves in and the game is cancelled

    Votes: 4 8.7%
  • Earth is struck by a gigantic meteor and everyone dies.

    Votes: 6 13.0%
  • Vivek leads a "Karl Rocks!" chant from half-court.

    Votes: 13 28.3%

  • Total voters
    46
  • Poll closed .

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#1
Kingsfans.com Official Game Thread
Game 53
Sacramento Kings versus Boston Celtics

By Stephen Tetsu, Kingsfans.com Unofficial Game Thread Snarker.


So many storylines, so little time.

Hey! We got a new coach! Sure, it took longer than it probably should have and made everyone in the front office and ownership group out to be incompetent nincompoops who both cannot seem to keep their yappers shut or make a decision that doesn't directly contradict their previous actions but them's the serpent's apples. And, heck, the guys apologized (about things not entirely related to what they should actually be apologizing for) so all's well that ends in a fiery ball of metal and glass.

And so starts the George Karl era.

Considering the guy's only been with his team and staff for less than a business week, there's really no telling what we're going to see against the mighty Boston Celtics tonight but I can almost guarantee you that we won't be seeing the gross timeout mismanagement that we've grown so accustomed to over the past three minutes. We also won't be seeing Darren Collison tonight as he recovers from his hip flexor injury.

We will be seeing a lot of Ray McCallum against the Boston Celtics because another thing we'll no longer be seeing as Kings fans is Ramon Sessions in the purple and black. After joining the ranks of Jason Hart, Orien Green, and Pooh Jeter in the hallowed halls of the Legion of Awful Kings Point Guards, the former Nevada star was traded to the Washington Wizards for the NBA equivalent of a coelacanth (look it up, kiddos), the seventy-five-year-old Andre Miller, who has ties to both George Karl and the Sacramento area but also is now old enough to the father of most of this year's rookie class. He also won't be suiting up against the Celtics, meaning Ray Mac is going to be the first point guard of George Karl's reign (keep that one marked away for your next game of Trivial Pursuit) and also going to have to play some serious minutes (which he has done before) lest we all want to see how unlike his father David Stockton is (also going to be in a future game of trivial pursuit).

Also lost in the madness of the last couple of weeks is the fact that Boogie Cousins appeared in his first All-Star Game and played pretty well. I mean, he wasn't exactly Brad Miller out there but he did alright, I guess. He was also getting doubled... in a game notorious for its lack of defense.

And, yeah, Isaiah Thomas may be making an appearance in Sleep Train Arena... again, after being unceremoniously dumped by the Suns after he singlehandedly blew up their entire backcourt situation. And the worst part of the situation if you're an IT fan is that the guy is going to be stuck being the third guard again, this time backing up Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley. I don't know if the guy is going to be playing tonight but if he does, I hope he goes full IT mode. It would be nice to start out the Karl era with a nice win.

GO KINGS!

Probable Celtics Lineup as recalled from memory:
C:
A Zeller brother (don't remember which one)
PF: Brandon (The other guy in the NBA named after a fish) Bass/ Jonas Jerebko
SF: Evan Turner/ Jae "Clam" Chowder/ European dude from the Pistons/Guy from the stands/a pile of rocks/AIDS/Elderly washed-up corpse of Gerald Wallace
SG: Avery Bradley/ a rookie
PG: Marcus Smart/ Captain Heroball/ Elvis's grandson?
Injured: Dopey looking stretch big with long hair and hard name to spell/Jared Sullinger/ Guy not related to Z-Bo even though they have the same last name

Fun fact of the night: The Celtics still own the rights to Michael Olowokandi. Yes, that Michael Olowokandi. The Kandi Man. Yes, he probably still sucks.


Hello there.
 
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Kingster

Hall of Famer
#5
I just wonder how many turnovers the Kings are going to have in this game. They want to speed things up, implement some new stuff, change some habits. A "transition period" normally implies more mistakes. If they can stay under 15 TOs in this game I'll be happy.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#6
I just wonder how many turnovers the Kings are going to have in this game. They want to speed things up, implement some new stuff, change some habits. A "transition period" normally implies more mistakes. If they can stay under 15 TOs in this game I'll be happy.
15? I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it hit 20+...
 
#8
Olynyk & Sullinger out tonight. Considering trades the Celtics could be ultra thin.

But without a single practice most likely it would be fun to watch IT, would see some interesting ball.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#9
Oh lord, I missed that bit of trade news. crape. that means I kinda have to root for him again.
 
#15
"SF: Evan Turner/ Jae "Clam" Chowder/ European dude from the Pistons/Guy from the stands/a pile of rocks/AIDS/Elderly washed-up corpse of Gerald Wallace"

Haha nice.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
#16
For the first time in awhile, I'm looking forward to the Kings game. Looking forward to see Karl work. Wouldn't even mind to see Stauskas at PG a bit....I've got my doubts about that and him in general but would love for him to prove me wrong. Does Cuz and Smart have any moments? And before I forget, I hope IT has a craptastic game.
 

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#17
Tetsujin,
I think your characterization of IT is off. He competed for playing time and was effective which upset the starters. The Celtics got a bargain and they know it.
IT competes against his own teammates so much he's almost a cancer. Trouble has followed his ego. He's not competing against teammates for the team. he's competing against teammates for himself.
 

Glenn

Hall of Famer
#19
tbh isaiah is too good of a player to treated like this. might it be his attitude..?
I have a serious question. Are you asking a serious question? In my mind dating back several years it has always been about his attitude.


Edit: IT is the anti Boogie in a way. With IT, the closer you look, the more problems you see. With Boogie, I think he is always under rated until seen up close and personal. Even Karl missed the skills of Boogie until seeing him.

Perhaps with both their real skills and attitude are so very difficult to believe.
 
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#20
Weird thing about IT.

Very talented scorer (and guard off the bench)? Absolutely. Borderline elite.

Smart guy? I think so, just hasn't manifested itself. I think he's a smart guy but has serious issues. Not my place to define them but I think it's true and he has no idea of it.

Good team mate? Yeah, if you consider entitled and passive aggressive "good".

I actually feel pissed about IT. Here we had a fan favourite who is passionate, very talented, a true "against all odds" type guy. Would have thrived here long term. But his ego killed him. KILLED him, whether he knows it or not, and it's continuing to do so. He's an annual candidate for 6th man of the year on a WINNING team if he could sacrifice his pride. He's so determined to prove his size isn't an issue that he's killing his rep. He has serious value but not as a starter.

He can be a 7-8 mill type guy off the bench if he really embraced that role. He's obsessed with starting. Shame as he has the talent to go down as one of the best 6th men of all time when it's all said and done. That's really not an exaggeration, I was one of the biggest "anti"-IT guys here, but the guy has talent and a spark of energy, but it's true.

Shame that he will realise this in about 5 years of so, if ever.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#21
Weird thing about IT.

Very talented scorer (and guard off the bench)? Absolutely. Borderline elite.

Smart guy? I think so, just hasn't manifested itself. I think he's a smart guy but has serious issues. Not my place to define them but I think it's true and he has no idea of it.

Good team mate? Yeah, if you consider entitled and passive aggressive "good".

I actually feel pissed about IT. Here we had a fan favourite who is passionate, very talented, a true "against all odds" type guy. Would have thrived here long term. But his ego killed him. KILLED him, whether he knows it or not, and it's continuing to do so. He's an annual candidate for 6th man of the year on a WINNING team if he could sacrifice his pride. He's so determined to prove his size isn't an issue that he's killing his rep. He has serious value but not as a starter.

He can be a 7-8 mill type guy off the bench if he really embraced that role. He's obsessed with starting. Shame as he has the talent to go down as one of the best 6th men of all time when it's all said and done. That's really not an exaggeration, I was one of the biggest "anti"-IT guys here, but the guy has talent and a spark of energy, but it's true.

Shame that he will realise this in about 5 years of so, if ever.
It's not his ego, dude. It's his inferiority complex. He'll never be happy because he's not happy in his own skin.
 
#22
Any announcement on status of Andre Miller and Isaiah Thomas for tonight's game? I heard both have not been cleared to play at least as of this morning since neither had taken physical or possibly not even yet arrived in Sac.
 
#23
IT seems to be on a similar trajectory to Jamal Crawford. A guy who needed the ball in his hands who nobody could stand playing with early in his career. Eventually he accepted his role as a bench scorer, which turned his career around and made him a valuable asset.

Like Dime Dropper mentioned it's a shame Isaiah's ego has gotten in the way, because he could of been a valuable piece for this team.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
#29
so Boston is missing Sullinger, Olynyk and IT....there is no reason to lose this game here but it's the Kings so let's see what happens....