Turnover Tuesdays with Mr. Taylor

At (1-7) overall, to say it has been a rough go for the good guys would be a massive understatement.

After hanging tough with the incredibly talented Los Angeles Clippers and a big home victory against the hated Lakers, the Kings had to face stiff competition without their best player and by the end of the week they had a laundry list of ballers on the injury report for one reason or another.

In short, it’s not pretty in the kingdom at the moment. Let’s take a deeper look.

• Ben McLemore isn’t giving the Kings anything right now. His PER is 4.1. That’s good (or bad) for worst in the league (minimum 140 minutes).
• Despite some stretches of decent play for James Anderson and Marco Belinelli, they haven’t been much better. Anderson is shooting 28 percent from the field, while Belinelli is at a subpar 37 percent. If the Kings expect to turn this thing around, they’re going to need a lot more out of their shooting guards.
• As a team, the Kings are shooting 67 percent from the charity stripe, with Rajon Rondo being the worst of them at a dreadful 36 percent. The team is sixth in free throw attempts, but their conversion rate is only good for 29th in the NBA.
• Rudy Gay seems to operate much better when he’s the second fiddle on offense. In the four games where DeMarcus Cousins didn’t play, Gay is averaging 16.3 points on 37 percent from the field and 27 percent from deep.
• Despite his free throw woes, Rondo’s strong early play is certainly encouraging. He appears to be a triple-double threat every night and is averaging 13.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 8.8 assists per 36 minutes.
• Willie Cauley-Stein has been impressive in limited minutes thus far. “Trill” is averaging 6.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, and one block per game in 21.9 minutes.
• George Karl surprised everyone by starting Quincy Acy against the defending champions, Golden State Warriors on Saturday night. Acy responded with strong defense and rebounding in a limited 15 minute stint.
• Speaking of starting lineups, coach Karl has used seven different ones in the eight games the Kings have played. Expect more of the same until any of them show any kind of continuity together.

The week ahead:

11/11 versus the Detroit Pistons (in Sacramento, CA)
11/13 versus the Brooklyn Nets (in Sacramento, CA)
11/15 versus the Toronto Raptors (in Sacramento, CA)

Even if the Kings win two of three, it only brings them to (3-8) for the season. It would be nice to get all three but at this point, it might be tough to get one.

The marathon continues…