The Sacramento Kings preseason began on October 5th against the Portland Trail Blazers. Although the game play was sloppy from both teams, there were definitely some positive takeaways from the Kings’ 109-105 victory.
Kosta Koufos came as advertised
Koufos started the game next to DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo, Rudy Gay and Ben McLemore. Surprisingly, head coach George Karl decided to play the big man 32 minutes, more than any other starter.
At the end of the game, the 7-footer finished the game with 12 points, eight rebounds, on 6-of-9 shooting. The numbers may not jump off the table but most of the positives from Koufos were the things that were not on the stat sheet.
The best thing about Koufos is that he knows where to be on the floor. You won’t expect anything crazy out of Koufos, but when he is on the court he stays efficient.
With the Kings moving Jason Thompson in the Nik Stauskas trade, the Kings needed to find a guy who can come in and help this team on both ends of the floor.
Koufos is expected to get a handsome amount of minutes, as a starter or off the bench, and if he can continue being efficient, his presence on the floor will be (“YUGE”, Donald Trump) during the regular season.
The invisible McLemore
Thankfully for the third-year shooting guard, this game was an exhibition with no meaning. However, when you have a versatile veteran fighting for minutes, executing during your time on the floor is a necessity for a guy like McLemore.
In 18 minutes, McLemore finished with one point on 0-of-5 shooting.
This was the biggest worry about McLemore following his improved sophomore season. Consistency was an absolute “must fix” for the former Jayhawk going into his third season.
The Kings have recently picked up McLemore’s fourth year player option and the Kings have high hopes that the improving shooter can reach his full potential under a full training camp and summer under coach Karl.
We can’t read too much into one preseason game, but it’s not a good start. The Kings are expected to play a lot of small-ball this upcoming season. That means they need to have a reliable shooter on the floor. Belinelli proved he could be that guy.
The Kings bench has weapons
Darren Collison (21 points and 10 assists) and Marco Belinelli (32 points and four 3-pointers) are going to be the catalysts for the Kings’ offense and against the Blazers they showed that.
Prior to tip-off, guest writer Drew Runberg, was able to get a one-on-one interview with coach Karl.
“He (Belinelli) was a lot better than I thought he was,” Karl said. “Highly offensively skilled, better defensively than he gets credit for. Can be a playmaker and he has a knack of making other people play the game the right way.”
Coach Karl’s statement was put on full display, as Belinelli was a big reason in why the Kings were able to make a second half comeback and ultimately win the game.
After missing the final 37 games of the season last year, Collison now finds himself in a familiar role, as the teams backup point guard. Collison was the first player off the bench for the Kings and all the praise about his play in training camp was put on full display.
Collison was changing the pace, finishing baskets, and leading with his playmaking ability. He was the only player for Sacramento to gather a double-double by the time the clock expired.
The team has a strong one-two punch with these guys holding down the forte while Cousins and Rondo get their few moments to breathe.
Don’t be surprised if we see these two averaging more minutes than the starters in front of them.
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