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By Ryan Rodriguez
Ok, so the NFL season is finally over and all focus shifts to the NBA. I decided to enjoy a day of League Pass, as I popped around the league to check out the action. I realized I hated the picture in picture and the mosiac viewing options; I simply would rather watch one game on the screen so I can focus. Fun night all around, and now I’m ready to bring a running commentary of tonight’s game against the Bulls.
Being a little bit of an NBA nerd, I really enjoy the Bulls and how hard they play, especially how they manufacture offence out of nothing, with Joakim Noah as the focal point. He is one of my favourite players, and it will be fun to see a battle of him vs Boogie. Speaking of Boog, he is making his return from a 6 game hiatus due to an ankle sprain and looking to get the Kings back into the win column. Though I don’t like losing, it was good to drop in record without Boogie there, showing to the outside world he is truly a star this year.
Well, it’s game time now, so sit back and enjoy my thoughts on tonight’s matchup.
0-0: So we are about to tip off and I sadly leave the Knicks-Bucks game (yeah I know, why the hell am I watching that game. I love Melo, that’s the only reason. He’s scored 7 of the last 9 in case you were wondering).
Kings 2 – Bulls 0: And we are off. Bulls get the tip and Boozer hits a mid range jumper.
2-2: Boog just takes it right at Noah for a layup. Thank God he does that more often now
3-2: Boogie with the offensive board and foul. It’s nice to have his 9 free throws a game back.
Thanks for the PUJIT long 2 Thornton. Please, just take the 3.
DeMarcus came to clean the glass today. Nice effort, strength, and power early on.
5-2: Rudy Gay with his first points, followed up his own missed layup. Bulls really playing D and controlling the pace. I don’t like that. Acy in for JT. Interesting sub this early, I’d rather see Derrick Williams personally, if only because I want to definitely determine if he’s worth having around.
7-4: Nice pass by Rudy to Boog on a cut across the lane for the layup.
8-4: DeMarcus gets the defensive board and leads the break. I wonder how that ends? Charge. Seems appropriate. Don’t apologize Boogie, just don’t do it with the defence that has the numbers.
10-6: 4:50 left in the first quarter and this game has the Bulls’ imprint all over it. IT has been quiet as Rudy and Boog have dominated the shots and shot creation so far. The defence looks good right now, flying around, flashing doubles and getting back to their man. Noah had a dunk on one defensive break down but besides that, it’s been pretty tight. Bulls’ unforced errors have helped.
12-7: Boog takes it right at my boy Taj in the post and eats him up. That’s how we do it Boog!
12-9: Tony Snell goes fast break block to fast break layup; pretty impressive sequence by the rookie.
17-9: Great save by Acy after the Bulls force a bad shot by Boogie, and Boog finishes the play with an and. Once again he is back at the line. 5 free throws this quarter.
17-12: Acy bails out Gibson with a foul on the jumper. Can’t do that to a team that is struggling to score.
19-12: IT takes over with the bench unit (Ben McLemore, Williams, Acy and Carl Landry) and hits Acy for a layup. Watching IT the lead player is always fun to watch. Now he hits a jumper and it’s 21-12.
24-12: Quicny Acy hits a 3 to end the first quarter. Are you kidding me! Boogie is going crazy on the bench. IT owned the last 3 possessions, and the Kings played great D the whole quarter. Having DeMarcus back is a great thing.
Start of the second and Ray is in. Is Jimmer dead? Ben misses another shot. Sigh, that kid couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat right now. I want him to pick it up so badly. Carl Landry is a real bench scorer though. Nice to have that. 26-12 Kings.
26-16: Ray with a bad pass that leads to a 2-on-1 fast break and he has to foul. That wasn’t good.
The Bulls are so vocal. They are constantly yelling during the play, whether it’s about the game or just some Carlos Boozer theatrics.
Ben gets 2 minutes and 45 seconds, 3 missed shots. I can’t say anything else right now about him.
26-19: Back and forth with three straight fast break layup misses before Taj rebounds a 3 and gets an and 1 dunk on Aaron Gray. That was some bad basketball. McCallum out quickly just 3 and a half minutes. IT in.
26-22: As much as I like Landry on offense, he does not help on D at all. Small in the post, very easy to shoot over as Taj Gibson does just that.
It’s 7:03 and the Bulls are already in the bonus. With as many turnovers as the Kings have been having, this is not a good sign. Kings take a timeout up 28-23.
28-25: Joakim with a sick lob to Taj from the high post. He’s what I want Boogie to be as a passer. And I definitely don’t want him shooting turnaround jumpers like he just did. Now its tied 28-28. 5:51 in the sencond. Just poor offence. Bulls really clamping down, it’s gonna be another grind fest like the Grizzlies game.
30-28: Isaiah reminds me a little of Mike Bibby. He takes charge in the same way and is the guy the team is going to when it needs to stop a run. Great midrange jumper by him. And what! DeMarcus fouls Joakim while the ball is in the air and he sends Jo to the line for free throws. C’mon Boog, 30-30.
32-30: IT is now 5-7 from the floor after a drive and high lefty layup off the glass. So crafty inside.
34-30: Rudy isn’t shooting too well, but I like most of the shots he’s getting, and he finally cashes in with a jumper in the paint. Then goes coast to coast for a layup 36-30.
Kings seemed to have stopped Mike Dunleavy on a fastbreak on the baseline, only to have a foul somehow be called on Boogie, giving him his third. Boogie goes all the way to the stands before walking off to the bench when the foul is called on him, and he is visibly pissed. I feel for him too because that looks to be a pretty bunk call. However, I still believe his actions have to be above reproach so that he can create a new image and that he doesn’t have those questionable calls go against him.
38-31: While Grant Napier is acting like Rudy Gay is an All Star, I, of sounder mind, can simply say he is playing very nice today. Aggressive, taking efficient shots, while not stagnating the offence. Good to see.
39-33: Why does JT sag off Carlos Boozer at the free throw line? That’s his shot. So dumb.
Kirk Hinrich can’t make s*”^. The Kings are just leaving him open and watching him brick. It’s pretty nice to watch, haha.
42-33: Kings play good D to force an above the break 3 by Snell, only to give up the offensive board and foul Boozer. Thankfully, he misses both.
44-33: IT takes it to the hole and makes a layup from the left with .1 left on the clock! 11 point half-time lead.
Seeing as they are playing the Bulls, 44 points at the half doesn’t overly surprise me. They are shooting 45%, which is respectable, but it’s the 9 turnovers that are killing them. The Kings could be up by another 6 points or so if they cut their turnovers in half.
On defence, they are playing decent, as some wide open shots have been missed simply because the player is wearing a Bulls jersey. Still, to hold a team to 24% shooting in a half is very impressive, and the only reason the Bulls scored any points in the second quarter was because of free throws. In the next half, if the Kings stop fouling, they could really put this game in a stranglehold.
46-33: JT gets great positions but misses a lay in over his left shoulder and then commits the foul. Gotta convert great position like that into a score.
Keep shooting those corner 3s Kirk, you aren’t gonna make them.
Textbook lob help by the Bulls, suckered in IT to throwing that pass to Boog and Butler was there to knock it away for a steal.
49-35: Joakim using some crafty moves and positioning on Boogie to stop him. Knows he’ll get over powered straight up so he’s using all of his veteran tricks.
49-37: And DeMarcus gets a T for the refs not liking him. It’s chippy and anything thing he does will be called. It sucks. So he just goes into the post and gets a soft lay in from point blank range. 51-38, the guy is a beast.
51-40: Damn, Joakim is ejected and he goes after the ref, yelling at him and pointing his finger. That sucks, and this sucks. Joakim seemed like he wanted to leave. Any way it’s now 52-40 after IT hits the T free throw and Boog misses both of his. Here’s a gif of the ejection cc:@TeamZiller.
54-47: The Kings are letting Dunleavy hit a couple open shots and this game is back to single digits. They should just suffocate the Bulls tonight, can’t let them back in it.
56-49: Thornton called for a foul and then Boog gets into Dunleavy’s landing zone on the jumper. Cheap play by Boog if you ask me. I hear they have some history together. (Note: after the game, DeMarcus said Dunleavy was a clown, so there you go).
60-49: Rudy Gay knocks down 2 free throw after IT hits a jumper as the Kings get the lead back to double digits. Well done to get the lead back up. Let’s play D now.
62-49: Great curl off a screen by Rudy and he finishes off a high post pass by DeMarcus.
63-51: DeMarcus takes his 12th and 13th free throws (8-13) after getting fouled off a great entry pass by IT. Then he hits a jumper (1st of the game) to put them up 65-51. He just makes the team so much better.
66-55: Jimmer in this time instead of Ray late in the third. Don’t know if I agree with both playing. Give one or the other the game. Acy with a little drive and reverse layup, 68-55.
71-57: Jimmer and DeMarcus run the pick and roll to perfection as Jimmer gets back into the middle before finding DeMarcus on the roll for a big jam! Derrick Williams closes out the quarter with a good D on Butler and the Kings take a 14 point lead into the fourth. Good showing by the offence in that quarter after some early turnovers.
Great D by Acy to start the quarter, pokes it away from Gibson.
73-57: Jimmer takes it to the hole and hits a spinning layup. I’m in favour of him playing over Ray even if the team doesn’t re-sign him. Let Ray get better in the D league, because he needs it. Jimmer can at least create some excitement and production at this point.
80-58: Ben gets ahead on the fastbreak and Jimmer finds him. And 1! Great to see the ball go in the bucket for him. Kings just killing the Bulls now. Great team effort. Multiple guys just bringing it tonight.
82-62: Jimmer uses the pick for a nice little mid range jumper! 4 poitns and 2 assists is very nice in 5 minutes. Well, until you throw a pass to nobody, but at least you have been productive. Now a steal and pass ahead that results in a foul on Ben McLemore. This is fun basketball today.
84-62: Ben with a nifty finish. I don’t care about the score, it is nice to see Ben scoring. Then Jimmer with a mid range (3-3) to make it a 24 point lead. Good shwoing in this fourth quarter by these two.
92-65: Boog checks out with 4:54 left with 25 and 16. Great game by him. Lets see if the Kings can close this game out with some solid play. Like this great deflection by Jimmer that results in in the Kings ball. He’s playing great in the fourth. Hits the 3! 5-5 now with 11 points. 95-95.
95-67: Derrick Williams goes off the backb, er, never mind. Thrilly D blows the T-Mac off the backboard 1 on one fastbreak. Thank God for a 28 point lead. That was horrible.
99-69: Travis Outlaw with the PUJIT. Once again I say, thank you for a 30 point lead.
And with the final horn the Kings win the game 99-70 as they hold the Bulls to 28% shooting, helping them overcome 22 turnovers. The game will be remembered for the thunderous return of DeMarcus as he posted 25 points, 16 boards, and 4 assists, but this was truly a team effort. IT was an efficient 7-9 for 19 points, Quincy Acy was all over the court, Jimmer showed up at the end of the game and the Kings posted a +22 rebounding advantage.
The defensive intensity was very good, as they put the clamps down on a team that already has trouble scoring. What ensued was some ugly offensive basketball, but watching the Kings inflict that kind of pain on someone else was nice. As I have been saying all year, the key to turning around a franchise is defense. Just look out in the East, where Washington is climbing back to respectability on the strength of their defence. Hopefully the defence carries over to Wednesday’s game against the Raptors, another of the East’s barely .500 teams, in the return matchup of the former Kings who were traded earlier this year.
