GAME 23: MEM vs SAC

[VCfor3]

Now that we are over a quarter of the way through the season, how is everyone feeling?

It is frustrating how we are yet again getting smacked with injuries, but props to our guys for stepping up. Feels like this team should make the playoffs without having to worry about the play in if we can find some small sliver of health.

I'm quite confident I'll be eating crow on Wells. He didn't impress me in the summer league and I thought he'd have to have at least one year in the g league before he become someone of Konchar's caliber. So far this season he is already way above that (and I'm a Konchar fan).

Edey has been good so far this season until that dang injury. Hopefully he is back soon.

[jefe]

I'm still not sure what to make of the team this year. The record is good, but we've played an exceptionally home-heavy eastern-conference heavy schedule while dealing with a myriad of injuries up and down the roster. In other words, I can't figure out how much stock to put in that record when the schedule that lies ahead is quite different.

[El Hespiritu]

SAC is in fact a better team than it looks. Wish they don't have the weird occurrence to prove it just tonight.
On the other hand I expect a focused and hungry MEM. Players hurt by last defeat should ensure that.

Keep doing your thing. Push the tempo. Send waves of different players forcing them to change things that worked against the last ones. Don't care about the referees. Don't care about the score board.

Never mind the clock.

Whether clutch or Yuki Time.

[El Hespiritu]

Clutch it was.

They did it: they never lost focus no matter what... SAC runs, turnovers, Ja's ejection, long streaks without scoring...
They kept pounding relentlessly and they were rewarded by a satisfactory Win.

To no one's surprise, Kings played better here than they were doing lately.

Remarkable Jenkins' tactical adjusment to mess with SAC's Double-PG current systems: He sent 2 guys on full court pressure from minute 1 to 48 whatever the lineups at court.

Refs used to eject Ja for complaining about not getting enough calls in offense.
Now they eject Ja for showing frustration about getting too many calls in defense.
It's a nice switch: shows how much is invested in defense this season.

I won't talk about officiating too much.
We all know what referees think whenever something involves Morant:

[VCfor3]

Yeah I appreciate Ja increasing his defensive effort this year for sure.