The Sacramento Kings play their first preseason game today (October 4th). This article examines things to watch for during the game.
Finally, Sacramento Kings’ basketball is back! Tonight is the first of six preseason games. The Kings are heading to Anaheim tonight to play the Los Angeles Lakers. It will be exciting just to watch Kings’ basketball again, but here are a few other things I will be watching for during the game.
New Offense
New Coach Dave Joerger is planning on letting DeMarcus Cousins initiate some offense out of the high post. It will be interesting to see the flow of the offense and the effect on Boogie Cousins’ game. Just the first glimpse tonight as Cousins will probably only play about 12-20 minutes tonight.
Defensive Emphasis
It is no secret that the Kings allowed the most points per game in the NBA last season. Coach Joerger has been preaching defense first all camp. I am interested to see if the team is picking up its defensive intensity and just looking better overall on defense from last season.
Rookies
The Kings’ roster features four rookies this training camp. I love to watch rookies in preseason just to get a glimpse of their game against NBA competition. I am especially interested in seeing Georgios Papagiannis. He is the Kings’ lottery pick and a bit of unknown to most fans because he played in Greece the last few seasons.
I am also interested in seeing Skal Labissiere play tonight. According to the Kings website, Skal looks noticeably stronger than Summer League action. I am interested to see if he flashes stretch four potential after Coach’s Joerger’s recent comments about playing small this season.
Ty Lawson
The point of Ty Lawson’s down season has been hashed out many times, but I am interested to see how he looks tonight. Below is a video from his time with the Denver Nuggets to give you a glimpse of what I am hoping to witness.
DeMarcus Cousins has been heaping praise on Mister Lawson recently. I am hopeful he looks great and tonight is the first test.
Next: Darren Collison Got Off Easy on Domestic Violence Suspension
Summary
October 4, 2016, the opening preseason game of Kings basketball for the 2016-2017 season. Sit back and enjoy the game. Be on the lookout for new and surprising things that could impact the Kings for the upcoming regular season. Most of all just enjoy the game tonight and check back to A Royal Pain for analysis of this game and everything you need to know about the Sacramento Kings this season. Thanks for reading.