[ad_1]
OAKLAND – Marvin Bagley was sitting in his stand, still wearing his uniform, when reporters arrived after the Kings' 117-116 defeat of the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night. His right hand wrapped in the ice, the rookie had just felt a game slipping through his fingers and he was not very happy about that.
According to the great 19-year-old, he sprained his right hand in the third or fourth quarter, but there is nothing to worry about. He plans to run for Sunday when the Kings host Utah Jazz at Golden 1 Center.
This is good news for kings. Even more good news is that Bagley is growing in front of everyone. Against the Warriors, he was a beast, tying his career record with 20 points and setting a new career record with 17 rebounds.
Unfortunately, with the online game in the final seconds, the second pick in the NBA draft in 2018 has turned out quite short in his attempt to putback.
It started with a Buddy Hield reader. The shooting guard of the kings tried a float with 4.2 seconds to go and the kings lag behind. The shot rebounded from the edge to the weak side where Bagley was perfectly placed for the finish.
"I saw Buddy driving and at that point he was trying to score, so I was just trying to take a position, recover the rebound and go back up," Bagley said of the game. "It did not happen as I wanted."
The former Duke star is headed for the rebound and when he went to mark it, the ball got stuck between the glass and the backboard. The result was a jumped ball with 2.1 seconds left.
"I thought he was about to put it back," said De Aaron Fox. "The goal was exceeded and he was in a perfect position, sometimes the ball does not roll as expected."
Hield followed the tip, but the time has expired. The officials looked at the sequence and handed the ball to Sacramento with 0.3 seconds to go, but the Kings were not able to get a shot at the end of the allotted time.
It was another learning experience for a young team. It is one of the few times of the season that a result was decided at the last minute of a match. Bagley had the opportunity to get his first winning shot as a professional, but in the end, it did not work.
"He had a hell of a game," said coach Dave Joerger of Bagley. "He feels bad about the last goal at the end." He felt like an extra pound of pressure pushing the ball and it tilted instead of staying between the legs in the crotch.
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "[RELATED:[RELATED:[ENRELATION:[RELATED:The Warriors-Kings may not be a rivalry yet, but the game begins to count]"data-reactid =" 27 ">[RELATED:[RELATED:[ENRELATION:[RELATED:The Warriors-Kings may not be a rivalry yet, but the game begins to count]
Bagley had a career-high 34 minutes in the loss and it's hard not to notice his growth as a player. Joerger continues to give him a longer leash as the season progresses.
"He does great things with the ball and without," added Joerger. "He continues to grow up, I was very comfortable to have him on the floor."
It's not just the coach who notices the progress of Bagley's game. His teammates see a young player progressing as well.
"He's getting better every day," said Hield after the loss. "I'm going to stay on him because I want to see him succeed in this league, he's fine, man."
As he feels more comfortable on the field, the players who surround him continue to trust the rookie. He already gives the team numbers, but the player he eventually becomes is defined.
"It gives us a deeper team with him playing well," Fox said. "He lets the game come to him, I think he's running when his number is called."
Bagley is not one to lose self-confidence. He was a highly skilled prepositioning player who went to college and he did not hesitate to say that he thought that he should be the first choice in the final standings.
There is a moxie to the power striker and he seems to perfectly understand where he is heading as a player. Bagley is becoming a valuable member of the rotation and its benefits are enormous.
"Every game, I feel better and better, I feel it," Bagley said. "I'm learning, I see a lot of things every game when I play." This slows down dramatically since the first pre-season match up to now.
A loss is a defeat, but the Kings continue to turn the heads of the league. They will have another shot to get back in the win column Sunday afternoon when they host the Utah Jazz at Golden 1 Center.
Source link
