2012 NBA Summer League: Kings’ offense continues to struggle in 96-89 defeat to Raptors

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZG7psV4_2E&w=560&h=315]

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LAS VEGAS – The Sacramento Kings played another disjointed game offensively and lost 96-89 to the Toronto Raptors in their second-to-last Summer League game.

  • Thomas Robinson once again struggled find his rhythm on offense. However, the Kings started running low-post sets midway in the fourth quarter for Robinson and he had some success. Coach English said Robinson’s opportunities were a result of the flow of the game. “We ran sets, our early offense,” English said. “He would roll into the post (and) he got some looks. But I think he’s still pressing a little bit and he has to let the game come to him. If the shot’s not there, move it, swing, go set a screen.” Robinson finished with just seven points on three of 13 shooting from the field.
  • Just like Monday’s loss to the Houston Rockets, Robinson was not happy with himself and wasn’t eager to focus on the strides he made late in the game. “I got a little bit of rhythm in the fourth quarter,” said Kings power forward of the mild success he found scoring on the block. “But it still wasn’t nothing.” Even though Summer League is just the first step in his NBA career, Robinson clearly takes every loss and bad game seriously.

  • Once again, Jimmer continued to swing freely on offense.  Primarily looking for his own shot, the Kings guard attempted 17 shots, but made only five en route to 19 inefficent points.  At this point, is the mentality for Jimmer to score first then pass second? “That’s what they want me to do,” he said after the loss. “They want me to be aggressive. That’s what I’m going out there (to) do. And just take whatever the opportunity is. If you be aggressive and look to score, the passing opens up and that’s what happens.”
  • Bobby Jackson was absent from the Kings’ sideline, leaving Alex English to coach the team on his own. Jackson’s departure was not pre-planned and was a result of a family matter according to English. The former Kings-guard-turned-coach sent a tweet on Twitter yesterday, informing his followers that he was leaving Las Vegas.
  • After scoring 20 points off the bench in Saturday’s win over the Los Angeles Lakers, Josh Akognon did not play Monday. But the Kings reserve looked like he didn’t miss a beat Wednesday, finishing with 18 points in roughly 19 minutes of play. Said Akognon after the game: “I didn’t want to come in and be overly aggressive, but at the same time, that is my game. But I didn’t want people to think that I was trying to take T-Rob and Jimmer’s light. This is their team, period. So I just wanted to come in and try to take the things that were open to me. Because I’m so aggressive, sometimes it looks like a lot more things for me are open than maybe than to the public eye. But for me that’s what I tried to do coming in, just try to stay my normal self and be aggressive.”


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