Kevin Huerter: Kings Are "Hungry To Win"

GSWFan1994 · Post #1 » by **GSWFan1994** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:44 am

Kevin Huerter knows the Sacramento Kings haven't had a lot of success recently, but he's ready to help turn that around. Huerter told Kings social media that the team has a lot of guys who are "hungry to win".

Huerter believes his playoff experience from his time with the Atlanta Hawks will help the Kings set a winning culture.

"It's everything. It starts with the front office, with the coaching staff, and it continues and just buys in with the players," Huerter said.

The veteran wing said he believes that adding himself, Mike Brown as the new coach and Malik Monk will help Sacramento break their playoff drought.

"It's really the first thing I heard about when I first got traded here is how long it's been since they made the playoffs and how hungry everyone is to make it," Huerter said.

The question remains... how hungry?

GiannisAnte34 · Post #2 » by **GiannisAnte34** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:49 am

Honestly this is the best Kings roster I’ve seen in a long time, they’ll be a play-in contender IMHO

no dice · Post #3 » by **no dice** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:53 am

I am only voting because I see Big O

shangrila · Post #4 » by **shangrila** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:54 am

GiannisAnte34 wrote:Honestly this is the best Kings roster I’ve seen in a long time, they’ll be a play-in contender IMHO

The problem is the west is brutal yet again.

GiannisAnte34 · Post #5 » by **GiannisAnte34** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:55 am

shangrila wrote:
GiannisAnte34 wrote:Honestly this is the best Kings roster I’ve seen in a long time, they’ll be a play-in contender IMHO

The problem is the west is brutal yet again.

I think they could leapfrog the Spurs and Lakers. The Lakers are a joke if LeBron or AD miss time which they both inevitably will

HayKee · Post #6 » by **HayKee** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:56 am

GiannisAnte34 wrote:Honestly this is the best Kings roster I’ve seen in a long time, they’ll be a play-in contender IMHO

Hang the banner!

sp6r=underrated · Post #7 » by **sp6r=underrated** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:57 am

GiannisAnte34 wrote:
shangrila wrote:
GiannisAnte34 wrote:Honestly this is the best Kings roster I’ve seen in a long time, they’ll be a play-in contender IMHO

The problem is the west is brutal yet again.

I think they could leapfrog the Spurs and Lakers. The Lakers are a joke if LeBron or AD miss time which they both inevitably will

Imagine waking someone up in 2004 and telling them the Kings are hoping to pass the Lakers and Spurs to finish with a top 10 record in the West

GiannisAnte34 · Post #8 » by **GiannisAnte34** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:59 am

HayKee wrote:
GiannisAnte34 wrote:Honestly this is the best Kings roster I’ve seen in a long time, they’ll be a play-in contender IMHO

Hang the banner!

Gotta start somewhere, play-in would be an achievable goal to set for them this year

GiannisAnte34 · Post #9 » by **GiannisAnte34** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:00 am

sp6r=underrated wrote:
GiannisAnte34 wrote:
shangrila wrote:The problem is the west is brutal yet again.

I think they could leapfrog the Spurs and Lakers. The Lakers are a joke if LeBron or AD miss time which they both inevitably will

Imagine waking someone up in 2004 and telling them the Kings are hoping to pass the Lakers and Spurs to finish with a top 10 record in the West

Lol yea every team has their down years, forgot to include the Jazz as a potential leapfrog

pootybooty · Post #10 » by **pootybooty** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:01 am

Huge Sabonis fan but their front court is going to be terrible defensively. If they can score like the Warriors without the defense I guess that would still be pretty good. I think there their defense will inevitably be too awful.

Wammy Giveaway · Post #11 » by **Wammy Giveaway** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:37 am

Best chance for Kings to make playoffs is to take advantage of a team that is destined to make the playoffs. It won't do by simply leap frogging the expected lottery teams. They have to win a season series against one of the top teams in the league.

For example, I'm picking Clippers as King's primary target. Clippers have a history of not taking lottery teams seriously. The last time they looked down on their competition, they ended up turning said opponent into a dark horse juggernaut, later a dynasty. I'm referring to the Golden State Warriors back in 2012-13 season, when Clippers treated them as easy pickings just because they missed the playoffs in the 2012 lockout season. By losing the season series to Golden State on MLK day, the Clippers inadvertently punched the Warrior's ticket into the playoffs. The playoff results for both teams spoke volumes as well: Golden State made it to 2nd round, Clippers lost after going up 2-0, one game away from an automatic series win (ie. 3-0, no team has ever come back from down 3-0). It would take losing Game 1 in the 2014 NBA Playoffs for Clippers to finally accept that Warriors had their number.

Defeating Clippers as the answer to all the team's problems is becoming a running gag, but the truth of the matter is that mindset still exists within the league. Chris Paul kept losing with Clippers, so he ended up defeating Clippers as a member of the Suns, resulting in his lone Finals appearance. The Kings have to think the same way like Paul and Warriors did: get a season series victory vs. Clippers in regular season, they will get a huge confidence boost that will bring them into the playoffs. And if Kings draw Clippers in playoffs with that season series victory to their resume...

Automatic sweep.

blind prophet · Post #12 » by **blind prophet** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:37 am

It's been so long since we've won.

Afraid to even ponder the play in.

JoseRizal · Post #13 » by **JoseRizal** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:41 am

No option for "Hungry Like a Wolf"? Yeah!

giberish · Post #14 » by **giberish** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:49 am

Are they hungry to play defense?

The only above-average defender I see in their rotation is Mitchel, and as a short guard he's not making a big difference.

The rest look to be average (Barnes, Davis), below-average (Fox, Sabonis, Murray) or just bad (Monk, Huerter at SF).

Ckay · Post #15 » by **Ckay** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:49 am

Is he really a veteran?

GSWFan1994 · Post #16 » by **GSWFan1994** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:49 pm

blind prophet wrote:It's been so long since we've won.

Afraid to even ponder the play in.

Kidding aside, the Kings have really improved their roster... their top 8 players are much better than past seasons' teams.

I'll wait and see how much the defense improves, though. On paper it should be a well rounded offensive team, yes.

I like Murray very much and think he will be a great player in the league.

whatisacenter · Post #17 » by **whatisacenter** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 4:01 pm

I don't think the Warriors and Kings have ever been playoff teams at the same time. It would be fun to have the Kings make the postseason.

PaulKellerman · Post #18 » by **PaulKellerman** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 4:21 pm

whatisacenter wrote:I don't think the Warriors and Kings have ever been playoff teams at the same time. It would be fun to have the Kings make the postseason.

That is true as far as I can recall. Kings last saw the Playoffs in 2006, a year before the "We Believe" Warriors decimated the Mavs. Those were the best of times

Hoppy1 · Post #19 » by **Hoppy1** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 4:30 pm

JoseRizal wrote:No option for "Hungry Like a Wolf"? Yeah!

I was thinking more along the lines of a Hungry Hungry Hippo.

Jadoogar · Post #20 » by **Jadoogar** » Thu Aug 11, 2022 4:34 pm

GiannisAnte34 wrote:Honestly this is the best Kings roster I’ve seen in a long time, they’ll be a play-in contender IMHO

It's absolutely wild that their goal is the play-in tournament and we're still not 100% sure they'll even achieve that.

How hungry are the Kings?