Presumably, when Kings coach Paul Westphal asks you where you’ve been writing, that means your hiatus has been a bit pronounced.
However, if you don’t feel it, then it’s better to wait until you do feel it, instead of just writing some garbage. As my man legendary funkster George Clinton says, “If you fake the funk, your nose will grow.”
Thinking of Westphal and looking at how this season has unfolded for him, made me think of Detroit head coach John Kuester’s situation.
As jacked up and uncertain as things are for the Kings, at least there have been no reports of boycotts and uprisings.
On virtually every life level, whenever it seems as if things aren’t going your way, look around. There’s likely someone close by who has similar or worse problems.
Kuester Monday received the dreaded support of Pistons President Joe Dumars. Often times, that’s a coach’s kiss of death. However, Kuester’s Pistons are 5 1//2 games out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and that’s close enough to keep him around until season’s end.
There would be nothing served positively by replacing Kuester.
As for Westphal, he and the Kings receive credit for being consistent. Sacramento is 8-22 at home and 7-21 on the road. Unfortunately, the Kings have been consistently poor.
With 24 games remaining, there is plenty of time for improvement, individual and team.
Forget not knowing whether the Kings will continue playing in Sacramento or be moved to Anaheim or elsewhere for that matter.
From a team standpoint, the Kings have displayed the ability to effectively perform every facet of the game. It’s their inability to sustain a high level of efficiency that has left them with a 15-43 record.
Yet, unlike those semi-experts such as Hall of Famer and TNT broadcaster Charles Barkley who believe the Kings talent is totally subpar, that’s not the case.
Certainly, it’s not equal to the level of the league’s best, but the Kings have proven capable of competing.
Many, if not most, of the Kings difficulties have been born from inexperience, immaturity and unfamiliarity.
If you’ve listened to Westphal all season, his comments are so similar to those out of the mouths of other coaches whose teams lose close games.
And these teams are far deeper and more experienced than the Kings, yet the methods of winning games are all the same. Teams have to protect their lane and basket. They have to consistently execute their offense.
And perhaps most importantly, teams have to play with heart and ferocity. They have to take advantage of opportunities and minimize the opportunities they present to the opposition.
Rookie DeMarcus Cousins has struggled since the All-Star break and that’s not highly surprising. Cousins is shooting 32 percent (16 of 50) from the field and averaging 5.5 turnovers during his past five games.
No. 1, all players have their struggles. No.2 Cousins still hasn’t scratched the surface of learning his game.
That’s before mentioning the 20-year-old still is trying to figure out who he is and what he truly wants to become. If you are older than 20, then you might be able to remember what those thoughts were then and how life has run its ever-unfolding misdirection plays.
Look at Monday night’s starting lineup and only center Sameul Dalembert and guard Beno Udrih have a strong knowledge of their respective games and themselves. Hence, that’s hardly a logical prescription for nightly success.
As the Maloof family and their plans, those appear far shakier than the team’s prospects. It seems to me as if the Maloofs don’t know what they are going to do.
If they know they are going to relocate the team in Anaheim, the easiest and most humanistic thing to do is say that’s the deal.
That’s more so for their employees if not just for their devoted and loyal fans, many of whom I’ve had the privilege of meeting and getting to know.
Throughout my 13 years of dealing with them, I’ve always said the Maloofs are the most down-to-earth millionaire business folk I’ve met. Yet, what’s real is once the family decided to sell their Coors distributorship, that was a major sign their financial situation was approaching dire straits.
From a bottom-line perspective, until prohibition hits, beer likely always will be consumed. So desperation had to factor into that decision.
Moreover, that was their late father’s business – not something easily kicked to the curb.
Not knowing the family’s financial standing, it’s impossible to truly know how the Maloofs will play their hand. Shoot, we don’t even know what cards they are holding.
And I wonder if they do.
Showing posts with label Beno Udrih. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beno Udrih. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Kings making moves to become relevant
It has taken nearly three months, but the Sacramento Kings have become worthy for time spent viewing.
Actually, the Kings (8-25) only were unworthy of watching if you were looking for victories. Winning was the game’s feature they couldn’t decipher.
Now, they’ve won three of their past four home games and with Thursday night’s 122-102 victory over the Denver Nuggets, Sacramento earned its first win over a plus-.500 team.
Moreover, the Kings recently have begun to receive productive play from four, five and even six players. That was not happening a month ago and still isn’t something coach Paul Westphal can wake up in the morning and count upon.
Really, though, counting upon major nightly, consistent production from five or six players only is a dream/fantasy for coaches on any level.
Yet, when you are the Kings, it’s time to appreciate blessings. Seeing patience and nightly growth from DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans, ages 20 and 21, respectively, is a blessing.
Surely, Evans has played a number of excellent games during his brief time as a King, but this performance was as complete as I’ve seen. His scoring (27 points) was timely and impactful and against solid defensive guards in Aaron Afflalo and Chauncey Billups.
More importantly, Evans looked to make plays for his teammates. He had a season-high 12 assists, in part, because the Kings made a season-high 56.4 percent of their field-goal attempts.
However, it also was because Evans made timely deliveries to give teammates layups, dunks and wide-open jumpers.
Include five rebounds, two steals and only one turnover in more than 41 minutes and there is the type of performance Westphal needs to get his team on the right track.
Cousins continues to show more poise and composure. His shot selection is improving and subsequently, his field-goal percentage rises.
By the way, when you see Cousins get excited over referee’s calls, keep this in mind. He received a technical in the third quarter for his reaction over a non-call.
He also heard Denver’s Carmelo Anthony threaten in front of an official to beat up Omri Casspi and go without a word.
That’s the type of stuff NBA officials need to clear up. It’s one thing to give stars calls non-stars don’t receive. Yet, stars often are allowed to say things other players are not.
All that does is give stars more belief they are untouchable and make others believe they are not getting a fair shake.
Think Cousins needs to feel that anymore than he already does?
Cousins, though, consistently reveals more facets of his skill set. It’s always important to remember he’s 20 years old.
There are parts of Cousins’ game that barely have been touched. There are things he’ll soon learn he can do that he never imagined himself capable.
That’s what growing up as a player and a person is about.
Now, as a team, the Kings have to prove they take their show on the road. They begin a six-game East Coast road trip in Toronto.
Certainly, it’s easier to play at home, but if Sacramento can use its longest trip of the season to display consistency of performance and focus, it can continue to improve.
They’ll need continued production from Omri Casspi, Francisco Garcia, Beno Udrih, Pooh Jeter and Carl Landry.
Samuel Dalembert and Jason Thompson need to continue pounding the boards to help the Kings continue to lead the league in second-chance points (16.4) per game.
Dalembert wants the Kings to show him more time, but he’s got to show he can score consistently around the basket to earn that.
No doubt he is a defensive impact guy, but missing six-footers is not the way to increase playing time.
Side note: Dalembert’s decision to attend the recent funeral of long time Philadelphia sports Phil Jasner was as classy a move as I’ve seen from a player during 32 years in the game.
And I’ve seen many classy acts unlike others who lump all young athletes into one group of knuckleheads with no sense and awareness of how fortunate they are.
Indeed, I’m aware how many knuckleheads populate, but I’m also aware of how many chumps there are in my profession and many others.
Actually, the Kings (8-25) only were unworthy of watching if you were looking for victories. Winning was the game’s feature they couldn’t decipher.
Now, they’ve won three of their past four home games and with Thursday night’s 122-102 victory over the Denver Nuggets, Sacramento earned its first win over a plus-.500 team.
Moreover, the Kings recently have begun to receive productive play from four, five and even six players. That was not happening a month ago and still isn’t something coach Paul Westphal can wake up in the morning and count upon.
Really, though, counting upon major nightly, consistent production from five or six players only is a dream/fantasy for coaches on any level.
Yet, when you are the Kings, it’s time to appreciate blessings. Seeing patience and nightly growth from DeMarcus Cousins and Tyreke Evans, ages 20 and 21, respectively, is a blessing.
Surely, Evans has played a number of excellent games during his brief time as a King, but this performance was as complete as I’ve seen. His scoring (27 points) was timely and impactful and against solid defensive guards in Aaron Afflalo and Chauncey Billups.
More importantly, Evans looked to make plays for his teammates. He had a season-high 12 assists, in part, because the Kings made a season-high 56.4 percent of their field-goal attempts.
However, it also was because Evans made timely deliveries to give teammates layups, dunks and wide-open jumpers.
Include five rebounds, two steals and only one turnover in more than 41 minutes and there is the type of performance Westphal needs to get his team on the right track.
Cousins continues to show more poise and composure. His shot selection is improving and subsequently, his field-goal percentage rises.
By the way, when you see Cousins get excited over referee’s calls, keep this in mind. He received a technical in the third quarter for his reaction over a non-call.
He also heard Denver’s Carmelo Anthony threaten in front of an official to beat up Omri Casspi and go without a word.
That’s the type of stuff NBA officials need to clear up. It’s one thing to give stars calls non-stars don’t receive. Yet, stars often are allowed to say things other players are not.
All that does is give stars more belief they are untouchable and make others believe they are not getting a fair shake.
Think Cousins needs to feel that anymore than he already does?
Cousins, though, consistently reveals more facets of his skill set. It’s always important to remember he’s 20 years old.
There are parts of Cousins’ game that barely have been touched. There are things he’ll soon learn he can do that he never imagined himself capable.
That’s what growing up as a player and a person is about.
Now, as a team, the Kings have to prove they take their show on the road. They begin a six-game East Coast road trip in Toronto.
Certainly, it’s easier to play at home, but if Sacramento can use its longest trip of the season to display consistency of performance and focus, it can continue to improve.
They’ll need continued production from Omri Casspi, Francisco Garcia, Beno Udrih, Pooh Jeter and Carl Landry.
Samuel Dalembert and Jason Thompson need to continue pounding the boards to help the Kings continue to lead the league in second-chance points (16.4) per game.
Dalembert wants the Kings to show him more time, but he’s got to show he can score consistently around the basket to earn that.
No doubt he is a defensive impact guy, but missing six-footers is not the way to increase playing time.
Side note: Dalembert’s decision to attend the recent funeral of long time Philadelphia sports Phil Jasner was as classy a move as I’ve seen from a player during 32 years in the game.
And I’ve seen many classy acts unlike others who lump all young athletes into one group of knuckleheads with no sense and awareness of how fortunate they are.
Indeed, I’m aware how many knuckleheads populate, but I’m also aware of how many chumps there are in my profession and many others.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Kings win back-to-back home games, but what does it mean? We'll see
It’s important to attempt to discern what we’re seeing.
It’s not just that the Kings have won two of their past three games.
Or that they’ve won their past two home games over Memphis and Phoenix, respectively.
Or that their 7-24 record results in the NBA’s worst winning percentage at .226. Or that the Kings currently are grouped with the L.A. Clippers (10-24); Minnesota (9-25); New Jersey (9-25); Washington (8-24); Detroit (11-22); Toronto (11-22) and Charlotte (11-20).
Basically, these are the worst of the worst. And Sacramento’s .226 winning percentage comes on the heels of two victories, while uplifting in nature, that surely rank as remarkable, if not downright miraculous.
Actually, the Kings could have lost those games more easily than they were won.
Teams usually do not win with 55-foot shots, buzzer-beaters as the Kings did with Tyreke Evans bomb against Memphis.
Nor do they normally outscore their opponents, 19-2, during the game’s final six minutes by limiting a team to one basket in its final 10 possessions as they did against Phoenix.
There can be no sugar-coating where the Kings and the rest of these teams reside in the NBA’s hierarchy. We’re talking way on the outside hoping to get into a position in which they can look.
While assessing the Kings, the surroundings cannot be ignored. The teams whom share Sacramento’s early-season struggles have youthful bases.
New Jersey (Avery Johnson) and Washington (Flip Saunders) are considered first-class coaches. Larry Brown almost is universally acknowledged to be one of the world’s best coaches, yet he’s already been replaced in Charlotte by Paul Silas.
Others such as the Clippers, Minnesota, Detroit and Toronto have relatively young, new and/or inexperienced coaches.
The league’s most successful coach – the L.A. Lakers’ Phil Jackson – has his own problems at this time. Granted, the two-time NBA champion Lakers’ problems are relative and totally unlike those of the bottom-barrel group.
Yet, problems are problems and as Kings coach Paul Westphal alluded to following the victory over Memphis, the season can be described as attempting to plug leaks in a dike. Just when a hole is filled, another arises.
Many of the teams struggling to win also struggle to score. The Kings rank sixth from the bottom in scoring at 94.1 points per game. The inability to score usually indicates a lack of prime-time talent.
Yet, New Orleans averages 93.9 points with all-star point guard Chris Paul running the show. There are no givens when teams struggle other than all teams will. Some just will do it more and longer than others.
Clearly, the recent performances of rookie center DeMarcus Cousins have given the Kings reason for optimism. While Cousins figures his way, the Kings should be realizing their course of patience with the 20-year-old must be followed.
Cousins’ youth and inexperience will be a factor, but his growth cannot be denied. Cousins understands his growth also requires patience. As much as he’d like to be an immediate dominant presence, he has to learn the league, his teammates and himself.
Said Westphal of Cousins, “He’s cutting down some of his impatient mistakes and doing a better job of getting a wider base. He’s reading the defenses better, before he makes his move and he’s staying out of foul trouble.”
Cousins has a unique and distinctive game. He’s listed at 6-foot-11, yet at times he plays the game as if he’s a 6-footer. He’ll attempt to push the ball upcourt via the dribble or lay in the backcourt to try to poke the ball away from a guard.
These aren’t particularly smart moves, but they are part of what makes him who he is. Cousins isn’t scared and that heart in a big man has been needed around here a little longer than virtually forever.
He plays as if he‘s a big guy who grew tall relatively late instead of always being a big guy. He says that’s not the case.
“For me, I was never afraid to try stuff,” he said Sunday night after scoring a career-high 28 points, grabbing eight rebounds and handing out season-high and team-leading six assists. “When I first started playing ball, I used to take off dribbling the ball and coaches would flip their (lids). I’d just keep going and I guess I’ve benefited from it.
“My shot has been messed up, but I’m comfortable shooting (15-footers).”
The extra bonus Sacramento gets with Cousins is he is naturally silly and funny. It’s difficult ever imaging an uptight locker room with him roaming with walk-bys.
When told most of the Phoenix players believed he’d walked on a key fourth-quarter, three-point play, he said, “I took eight steps because I had a guy (Robin Lopez) on my back and I couldn’t control that.”
What Westphal and the rest of the Kings coaching staff and front office have not been capable of controlling is the players’ inability to make shots. It’s the coaching staff’s job to help their players get good shots. The coaches can’t make the shots for them.
Perhaps the players need to put in more work and control what they can control.
Witness 23.1 percent field-goal shooting (6-for-26) in the first quarter against Phoenix and 35 percent shooting in the second quarter. Then the Kings shoot 61.1 percent (11-for-18) in the third quarter and 10 of 20 in the fourth.
Explain that! Moreover, the Kings made eight of their last 12 shots in the fourth, so that means they missed six of their first eight. Explain that, too!
We’re still waiting to see what the Kings look like if they play a solid 48 minutes. It was nice Sunday, however, to see Sacramento receive workmanlike performances from Francisco Garcia, Omri Casspi, Carl Landry, Jason Thompson as well as Cousins. For once it didn’t matter that Evans and Beno Udrih stunk up the joint.
And it didn’t hurt that Pooh Jeter contributed four points, four assists and no turnovers during the fourth quarter, his only 12 minutes of action.
It’s not just that the Kings have won two of their past three games.
Or that they’ve won their past two home games over Memphis and Phoenix, respectively.
Or that their 7-24 record results in the NBA’s worst winning percentage at .226. Or that the Kings currently are grouped with the L.A. Clippers (10-24); Minnesota (9-25); New Jersey (9-25); Washington (8-24); Detroit (11-22); Toronto (11-22) and Charlotte (11-20).
Basically, these are the worst of the worst. And Sacramento’s .226 winning percentage comes on the heels of two victories, while uplifting in nature, that surely rank as remarkable, if not downright miraculous.
Actually, the Kings could have lost those games more easily than they were won.
Teams usually do not win with 55-foot shots, buzzer-beaters as the Kings did with Tyreke Evans bomb against Memphis.
Nor do they normally outscore their opponents, 19-2, during the game’s final six minutes by limiting a team to one basket in its final 10 possessions as they did against Phoenix.
There can be no sugar-coating where the Kings and the rest of these teams reside in the NBA’s hierarchy. We’re talking way on the outside hoping to get into a position in which they can look.
While assessing the Kings, the surroundings cannot be ignored. The teams whom share Sacramento’s early-season struggles have youthful bases.
New Jersey (Avery Johnson) and Washington (Flip Saunders) are considered first-class coaches. Larry Brown almost is universally acknowledged to be one of the world’s best coaches, yet he’s already been replaced in Charlotte by Paul Silas.
Others such as the Clippers, Minnesota, Detroit and Toronto have relatively young, new and/or inexperienced coaches.
The league’s most successful coach – the L.A. Lakers’ Phil Jackson – has his own problems at this time. Granted, the two-time NBA champion Lakers’ problems are relative and totally unlike those of the bottom-barrel group.
Yet, problems are problems and as Kings coach Paul Westphal alluded to following the victory over Memphis, the season can be described as attempting to plug leaks in a dike. Just when a hole is filled, another arises.
Many of the teams struggling to win also struggle to score. The Kings rank sixth from the bottom in scoring at 94.1 points per game. The inability to score usually indicates a lack of prime-time talent.
Yet, New Orleans averages 93.9 points with all-star point guard Chris Paul running the show. There are no givens when teams struggle other than all teams will. Some just will do it more and longer than others.
Clearly, the recent performances of rookie center DeMarcus Cousins have given the Kings reason for optimism. While Cousins figures his way, the Kings should be realizing their course of patience with the 20-year-old must be followed.
Cousins’ youth and inexperience will be a factor, but his growth cannot be denied. Cousins understands his growth also requires patience. As much as he’d like to be an immediate dominant presence, he has to learn the league, his teammates and himself.
Said Westphal of Cousins, “He’s cutting down some of his impatient mistakes and doing a better job of getting a wider base. He’s reading the defenses better, before he makes his move and he’s staying out of foul trouble.”
Cousins has a unique and distinctive game. He’s listed at 6-foot-11, yet at times he plays the game as if he’s a 6-footer. He’ll attempt to push the ball upcourt via the dribble or lay in the backcourt to try to poke the ball away from a guard.
These aren’t particularly smart moves, but they are part of what makes him who he is. Cousins isn’t scared and that heart in a big man has been needed around here a little longer than virtually forever.
He plays as if he‘s a big guy who grew tall relatively late instead of always being a big guy. He says that’s not the case.
“For me, I was never afraid to try stuff,” he said Sunday night after scoring a career-high 28 points, grabbing eight rebounds and handing out season-high and team-leading six assists. “When I first started playing ball, I used to take off dribbling the ball and coaches would flip their (lids). I’d just keep going and I guess I’ve benefited from it.
“My shot has been messed up, but I’m comfortable shooting (15-footers).”
The extra bonus Sacramento gets with Cousins is he is naturally silly and funny. It’s difficult ever imaging an uptight locker room with him roaming with walk-bys.
When told most of the Phoenix players believed he’d walked on a key fourth-quarter, three-point play, he said, “I took eight steps because I had a guy (Robin Lopez) on my back and I couldn’t control that.”
What Westphal and the rest of the Kings coaching staff and front office have not been capable of controlling is the players’ inability to make shots. It’s the coaching staff’s job to help their players get good shots. The coaches can’t make the shots for them.
Perhaps the players need to put in more work and control what they can control.
Witness 23.1 percent field-goal shooting (6-for-26) in the first quarter against Phoenix and 35 percent shooting in the second quarter. Then the Kings shoot 61.1 percent (11-for-18) in the third quarter and 10 of 20 in the fourth.
Explain that! Moreover, the Kings made eight of their last 12 shots in the fourth, so that means they missed six of their first eight. Explain that, too!
We’re still waiting to see what the Kings look like if they play a solid 48 minutes. It was nice Sunday, however, to see Sacramento receive workmanlike performances from Francisco Garcia, Omri Casspi, Carl Landry, Jason Thompson as well as Cousins. For once it didn’t matter that Evans and Beno Udrih stunk up the joint.
And it didn’t hurt that Pooh Jeter contributed four points, four assists and no turnovers during the fourth quarter, his only 12 minutes of action.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Kings put 'F' in futility
Marty Mac’s World – 12-22-2010
If you’ve come looking for answers, you’re in the wrong place.
I’ve been watching the Sacramento Kings (5-21) consistently for the past 20 years. NBA veteran observers such as me like to believe and say nothing surprises them.
Yet, I was perplexed when walking out of Arco Arena Tuesday night following Sacramento’s come-from-ahead 117-109 overtime loss to Golden State.
What was that I’d just seen? As I said, I’ve seen the Kings since 1990 and just knew I’d seen pretty much every possible type of collapse. I’ve seen the Kings lose more than 40 consecutive road games as well as get out-shot from the free-throw line by Shaquille O’Neal at home in Game Seven of the 2002 Western Conference Finals.
Almost inevitably included in every collapse are the losing team misses free-throws down the stretch. The Kings, read Beno Udrih, made each of his four attempts during the final 14.3 seconds.
Meanwhile, Golden State (10-18) twice in five seconds during the game’s final 19 of regulation was fouled attempting a three-point attempt. Then the Warriors missed three of the six free-throw attempts.
And because they did, amazingly they gave themselves a chance to win.
The Kings wouldn’t let Golden State lose. They committed nine fourth-quarter turnovers and that doesn’t include one of the dumbest shots ever. With Sacramento leading, 98-93, the Kings inbounded following a Dorell Wright foul with 31.1 seconds left and veteran swingman Francisco Garcia inexplicably hoisted a wide-open three-point shot.
Perhaps even scarier than the ill-timed attempt was Garcia saying after the game he took the shot because he wanted to stick a dagger into the Warriors.
Garcia is one of the team’s best free-throw shooters and the intelligent play would have been to take time off the clock. Had Garcia just held the ball, Golden State likely would have had to foul. If Garcia makes two free throws, the Kings are up seven points with approximately 20 seconds remaining.
There’s the dagger, ‘Cisco.
Instead, Garcia became part of the team-wide dagger the Kings shoved into their own chest. DeMarcus Cousins lost the handle on a Reggie Williams free-throw miss with two seconds. Golden State turned that possession into Vladimir Radmanovic’s 27-foot, game-tying three-pointer.
Udrih scored a career-high 34 points, but fouled Williams on a three-point attempt. Then Carl Landry did the same thing four seconds later when he Wright to the line.
Coach Paul Westphal could have inserted Samuel Dalembert to perhaps get the rebound Cousins did not. The coach could have stationed five smaller players around the arc on the last play of regulation and told them to ignore every player inside the three-point line.
Perhaps the craziest thing of this crazy game was how many times Golden State failed to take advantage of opportunities and still won.
Ultimately, though, where do the Kings go from here? Do you change the coach? How soon will the calls for talented, but quirky also-rans Larry Brown and Don Nelson begin? Do you gut the entire project starting from President Geoff Petrie?
Does Petrie stay and begin to shake up this roster? The addition of one, possibly two more veterans would do a world of good for all things Kings.
Do the Maloofs get so scared and frustrated they open their checkbooks and say we have to pay the cost to the be the boss and improve the product they are putting out to a dwindling fan base?
Their record is the league’s worst and the Kings are coming off one of the worst defeats imaginable.
From a franchise perspective, one has to go back to the 1958-59 Cincinnati Royals to find a team that was 5-21. The’73-74 Kansas City-Omaha Kings were 6-21 before finishing 33-49.
As a team, the Kings seem to be sticking together as they should. Since they are stinking it up together, they might as well stay together.
If you’ve come looking for answers, you’re in the wrong place.
I’ve been watching the Sacramento Kings (5-21) consistently for the past 20 years. NBA veteran observers such as me like to believe and say nothing surprises them.
Yet, I was perplexed when walking out of Arco Arena Tuesday night following Sacramento’s come-from-ahead 117-109 overtime loss to Golden State.
What was that I’d just seen? As I said, I’ve seen the Kings since 1990 and just knew I’d seen pretty much every possible type of collapse. I’ve seen the Kings lose more than 40 consecutive road games as well as get out-shot from the free-throw line by Shaquille O’Neal at home in Game Seven of the 2002 Western Conference Finals.
Almost inevitably included in every collapse are the losing team misses free-throws down the stretch. The Kings, read Beno Udrih, made each of his four attempts during the final 14.3 seconds.
Meanwhile, Golden State (10-18) twice in five seconds during the game’s final 19 of regulation was fouled attempting a three-point attempt. Then the Warriors missed three of the six free-throw attempts.
And because they did, amazingly they gave themselves a chance to win.
The Kings wouldn’t let Golden State lose. They committed nine fourth-quarter turnovers and that doesn’t include one of the dumbest shots ever. With Sacramento leading, 98-93, the Kings inbounded following a Dorell Wright foul with 31.1 seconds left and veteran swingman Francisco Garcia inexplicably hoisted a wide-open three-point shot.
Perhaps even scarier than the ill-timed attempt was Garcia saying after the game he took the shot because he wanted to stick a dagger into the Warriors.
Garcia is one of the team’s best free-throw shooters and the intelligent play would have been to take time off the clock. Had Garcia just held the ball, Golden State likely would have had to foul. If Garcia makes two free throws, the Kings are up seven points with approximately 20 seconds remaining.
There’s the dagger, ‘Cisco.
Instead, Garcia became part of the team-wide dagger the Kings shoved into their own chest. DeMarcus Cousins lost the handle on a Reggie Williams free-throw miss with two seconds. Golden State turned that possession into Vladimir Radmanovic’s 27-foot, game-tying three-pointer.
Udrih scored a career-high 34 points, but fouled Williams on a three-point attempt. Then Carl Landry did the same thing four seconds later when he Wright to the line.
Coach Paul Westphal could have inserted Samuel Dalembert to perhaps get the rebound Cousins did not. The coach could have stationed five smaller players around the arc on the last play of regulation and told them to ignore every player inside the three-point line.
Perhaps the craziest thing of this crazy game was how many times Golden State failed to take advantage of opportunities and still won.
Ultimately, though, where do the Kings go from here? Do you change the coach? How soon will the calls for talented, but quirky also-rans Larry Brown and Don Nelson begin? Do you gut the entire project starting from President Geoff Petrie?
Does Petrie stay and begin to shake up this roster? The addition of one, possibly two more veterans would do a world of good for all things Kings.
Do the Maloofs get so scared and frustrated they open their checkbooks and say we have to pay the cost to the be the boss and improve the product they are putting out to a dwindling fan base?
Their record is the league’s worst and the Kings are coming off one of the worst defeats imaginable.
From a franchise perspective, one has to go back to the 1958-59 Cincinnati Royals to find a team that was 5-21. The’73-74 Kansas City-Omaha Kings were 6-21 before finishing 33-49.
As a team, the Kings seem to be sticking together as they should. Since they are stinking it up together, they might as well stay together.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Little things keep Kings from improving
It seems as if it were just 2½ weeks ago the Sacramento Kings were 3-1 and preparing to play the Los Angeles Lakers.
It was.
Fast forward to Wednesday night against the New York Knicks, the Kings had lost five straight games, four at home and three to teams struggling as badly if not more than themselves.
The Kings raced to a 15-point lead near the end of the first quarter against New York, which had lost six straight, and the early consensus was Sacramento was moving toward stopping the bleeding with a reconfigured starting unit including Luther Head and Jason Thompson.
Wrong! Now the Kings have lost six straight entering tonight's home game against the New Jersey Nets.
The Kings went to their new second unit and allowed points so quickly, the term point-shaving entered the mindset. The Knicks scored so easily, it was like the Kings just had to be letting them, right?
After the game, coach Paul Westphal said this same second-unit Tuesday had battered the first unit so badly he almost felt sorry for his starters.
Against the Knicks, the second unit received what it had given in the previous day’s practice because during a 20-2 New York run I felt sorry for what predominantly was the Kings second unit of DeMarcus Cousins, Omri Casspi, Darnell Jackson, Francisco Garcia and Beno Udrih.
Or maybe it was that they were sorry. It was one of those two, well, maybe both.
The Kings twice ran away from players with the ball in the half-court. Those are a couple of moves that likely inspired Westphal to later compare their performance to ‘sub sixth-grade basketball that was indescribably bad.’
Now that was an accurate description. Include an incorrect traveling call on Cousins; an accurate traveling call on Cousins, an unnecessary 20-footer by Jackson, who appears to have 15-foot range at best; and a missed layup by Udrih; and the Kings had handed momentum to the Knicks like a friendly black jack dealer with an eight on a 13.
Check out this Kings defensive possession midway through the second quarter with four of the five starters in the game. Carl Landry had just made a jumper over Amare Stoudamire to cut New York’s lead to 38-37.
Then New York’s Toney Douglas (defended by Udrih) runs a high angle screen-roll with Stoudamire (defended by Samuel Dalembert). Stoudamire rolls and on the move gets stopped by Landry. Stoudamire goes to the floor.
Douglas passes to Ronny Turiaf at the top of the key with Stoudamire still on the floor. Turiaf takes one dribble and passes back to Douglas who has faded beyond the three-point line. He makes one hard dribble left to elude Udrih (yes, it was that easily done) and rises for a three-point attempt. Landry steps out to challenge the shot because Udrih now was behind Douglas.
The shot misses badly. Dalembert moves over to box out Turiaf. That leaves Stoudamire, who had risen from the floor, a wide-open path for a two-handed tap dunk and a 40-37 lead.
Now the Kings had spaced the floor on the opposite side with Danilo Gallinari (defended by Garcia) up top and Wilson Chandler (defended by Tyreke Evans) in the short right corner.
Evans remained in a four-foot area throughout the possession and basically did nothing. He didn’t go for the rebound nor did he attempt, maybe not even think about boxing out Stoudamire.
More importantly, Evans (last season’s NBA rookie of the year and 20-5-5 guy, yada, yada, yada) let his teammates down. He certainly could have and should have had Dalembert’s back when the center had Landry’s back who had had Udrih’s back.
On one possession, Udrih and Evans stunk it up defensively. In a five-man game, that’s 40 percent of your defense giving you nothing and the opposition everything.
It was just one possession, but the line between NBA success and failure can be that fleeting. Just like 17 days can turn into a 2½-week trip to hell and just like four minutes can turn a 31-18 Kings lead with 10:35 left in the second to a 38-35 Knicks lead with 6:30 left.
Heck, it wasn’t even four minutes of game time, but in real time it seemed less. And Westphal during one stretch called a time out with 8:59 left and followed with a 20-second time out 45 seconds later.
Now, the Kings had ample opportunities later to win this game, but this one stretch of play, low-lighted by one defensive possession, was an indicator of why they didn’t. It is a possession such as this that leads to Sacramento allowing a league-high 49.2 defensive field-goal percentage.
Moreover, it’s an example of how a team has to work in concert and trust each other defensively if it is going to be successful.
It’s not rocket science but it is a thinking man’s game.
Simply, though, let’s get back to Marty Mac’s theory of needing five or six players performing near or above their potential against the Knicks.
Landry, who is making me re-think his potential of scoring with his back-to-the basket, had 21 points and nine rebounds and played well.
Westphal credited his team with doing a better job of getting Landry the rock. Perhaps the Kings can begin to go inside to Cousins with more diligence and success, too.
Cousins committed a team-high five turnovers, but scored 15 points and had 10 rebounds.
Moreover, he played so hard, it was noticeably different than most of his teammates. The dude is intense. He plays as if he doesn’t want to lose. He sells out. I’m not sure I can say that about each of his teammates.
Donte Greene played 20 minutes, all in the second half and never came out of the game once he entered.
It could just be me, but his quickness and athleticism are needed on this team. He’s going to make mistakes, but when he’s playing really hard and relaxed, the Kings are a better team.
That’s three out of 12 who played well and that will not get the job done.
Evans scored a team-high 23, five of which came after the outcome had been decided. He added five rebounds and five assists, but soon must figure out how to stop leaving his feet and passing.
Being one who was guilty of the same thing, Evans has to stop taking off from so far away from the hoop and not knowing what he’s going to do. He’s got to get one dribble deeper on drives so he can fully take advantage of his strength and body control.
Moreover, he and Udrih both have to stop jumping into the air and passing almost blindly backwards. Those passes usually start the opponents’ fast break.
Udrih scored 18 and helped fuel the Kings fourth-quarter comeback with 11 points, but his recent defense has been embarrassing.
As Head said after the game, “This is so disappointing because we can play so much better than we’ve been playing.”
This is true and in the darkness, you’ve got to look for a little light somewhere. Sacramento’s light from one vantage point is it can play better. Maybe the Kings will when they truly get tired of getting their butts kicked.
It was.
Fast forward to Wednesday night against the New York Knicks, the Kings had lost five straight games, four at home and three to teams struggling as badly if not more than themselves.
The Kings raced to a 15-point lead near the end of the first quarter against New York, which had lost six straight, and the early consensus was Sacramento was moving toward stopping the bleeding with a reconfigured starting unit including Luther Head and Jason Thompson.
Wrong! Now the Kings have lost six straight entering tonight's home game against the New Jersey Nets.
The Kings went to their new second unit and allowed points so quickly, the term point-shaving entered the mindset. The Knicks scored so easily, it was like the Kings just had to be letting them, right?
After the game, coach Paul Westphal said this same second-unit Tuesday had battered the first unit so badly he almost felt sorry for his starters.
Against the Knicks, the second unit received what it had given in the previous day’s practice because during a 20-2 New York run I felt sorry for what predominantly was the Kings second unit of DeMarcus Cousins, Omri Casspi, Darnell Jackson, Francisco Garcia and Beno Udrih.
Or maybe it was that they were sorry. It was one of those two, well, maybe both.
The Kings twice ran away from players with the ball in the half-court. Those are a couple of moves that likely inspired Westphal to later compare their performance to ‘sub sixth-grade basketball that was indescribably bad.’
Now that was an accurate description. Include an incorrect traveling call on Cousins; an accurate traveling call on Cousins, an unnecessary 20-footer by Jackson, who appears to have 15-foot range at best; and a missed layup by Udrih; and the Kings had handed momentum to the Knicks like a friendly black jack dealer with an eight on a 13.
Check out this Kings defensive possession midway through the second quarter with four of the five starters in the game. Carl Landry had just made a jumper over Amare Stoudamire to cut New York’s lead to 38-37.
Then New York’s Toney Douglas (defended by Udrih) runs a high angle screen-roll with Stoudamire (defended by Samuel Dalembert). Stoudamire rolls and on the move gets stopped by Landry. Stoudamire goes to the floor.
Douglas passes to Ronny Turiaf at the top of the key with Stoudamire still on the floor. Turiaf takes one dribble and passes back to Douglas who has faded beyond the three-point line. He makes one hard dribble left to elude Udrih (yes, it was that easily done) and rises for a three-point attempt. Landry steps out to challenge the shot because Udrih now was behind Douglas.
The shot misses badly. Dalembert moves over to box out Turiaf. That leaves Stoudamire, who had risen from the floor, a wide-open path for a two-handed tap dunk and a 40-37 lead.
Now the Kings had spaced the floor on the opposite side with Danilo Gallinari (defended by Garcia) up top and Wilson Chandler (defended by Tyreke Evans) in the short right corner.
Evans remained in a four-foot area throughout the possession and basically did nothing. He didn’t go for the rebound nor did he attempt, maybe not even think about boxing out Stoudamire.
More importantly, Evans (last season’s NBA rookie of the year and 20-5-5 guy, yada, yada, yada) let his teammates down. He certainly could have and should have had Dalembert’s back when the center had Landry’s back who had had Udrih’s back.
On one possession, Udrih and Evans stunk it up defensively. In a five-man game, that’s 40 percent of your defense giving you nothing and the opposition everything.
It was just one possession, but the line between NBA success and failure can be that fleeting. Just like 17 days can turn into a 2½-week trip to hell and just like four minutes can turn a 31-18 Kings lead with 10:35 left in the second to a 38-35 Knicks lead with 6:30 left.
Heck, it wasn’t even four minutes of game time, but in real time it seemed less. And Westphal during one stretch called a time out with 8:59 left and followed with a 20-second time out 45 seconds later.
Now, the Kings had ample opportunities later to win this game, but this one stretch of play, low-lighted by one defensive possession, was an indicator of why they didn’t. It is a possession such as this that leads to Sacramento allowing a league-high 49.2 defensive field-goal percentage.
Moreover, it’s an example of how a team has to work in concert and trust each other defensively if it is going to be successful.
It’s not rocket science but it is a thinking man’s game.
Simply, though, let’s get back to Marty Mac’s theory of needing five or six players performing near or above their potential against the Knicks.
Landry, who is making me re-think his potential of scoring with his back-to-the basket, had 21 points and nine rebounds and played well.
Westphal credited his team with doing a better job of getting Landry the rock. Perhaps the Kings can begin to go inside to Cousins with more diligence and success, too.
Cousins committed a team-high five turnovers, but scored 15 points and had 10 rebounds.
Moreover, he played so hard, it was noticeably different than most of his teammates. The dude is intense. He plays as if he doesn’t want to lose. He sells out. I’m not sure I can say that about each of his teammates.
Donte Greene played 20 minutes, all in the second half and never came out of the game once he entered.
It could just be me, but his quickness and athleticism are needed on this team. He’s going to make mistakes, but when he’s playing really hard and relaxed, the Kings are a better team.
That’s three out of 12 who played well and that will not get the job done.
Evans scored a team-high 23, five of which came after the outcome had been decided. He added five rebounds and five assists, but soon must figure out how to stop leaving his feet and passing.
Being one who was guilty of the same thing, Evans has to stop taking off from so far away from the hoop and not knowing what he’s going to do. He’s got to get one dribble deeper on drives so he can fully take advantage of his strength and body control.
Moreover, he and Udrih both have to stop jumping into the air and passing almost blindly backwards. Those passes usually start the opponents’ fast break.
Udrih scored 18 and helped fuel the Kings fourth-quarter comeback with 11 points, but his recent defense has been embarrassing.
As Head said after the game, “This is so disappointing because we can play so much better than we’ve been playing.”
This is true and in the darkness, you’ve got to look for a little light somewhere. Sacramento’s light from one vantage point is it can play better. Maybe the Kings will when they truly get tired of getting their butts kicked.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Kings get early test Wednesday against Lakers
It is perfect timing for the world champion Los Angeles Lakers to show up in Sacramento earnest.
No more exhibition games and no more regular-season games during which the Kings could spend the first halves looking like they wanted to give up 80 points.
Sacramento (3-1) gets the Lakers Wednesday night at Arco Arena and it’ll be something serious. Granted, serious and special come in different packages for the teams, Sacramento has an opportunity to prove something to itself.
This will be Sacramento’s first opponent destined for the 2011 playoffs. That’s a bit of a guess, but anyone betting against a Lakers post-season appearance is on for double-double wager at your local cheeseburger establishment.
Those who have watched the Kings win three of their first four games should be aware of how slim the margin can be between winning and losing. The Kings just as easily could be undefeated as winless.
Victories are not to be undersold, no matter the method of achievement. The ‘W’ is the bottom line.
And there is certain strength in being able to come back from double-digit deficits to get a win, even if a similar ugliness exists in the abhorrent performance that takes a team to such depths.
For example, the Toronto Raptors, in Monday night’s Kings home season-opener, literally conducted fast-break drills that ended in dunks and lay ups throughout much of the first half.
It wasn’t exactly the way the new-style Kings wanted to greet their sellout crowd. However, led by Tyreke Evans and Beno Udrih, the Kings were able to hang around in the second quarter and eventually outscore the Raptors in each of the final three quarters.
Evans is a statistical phenomenon. He’s perhaps on his way to becoming the most unusual player I’ve had the opportunity to watch.
The guy can look like one of the most devastating drivers I’ve ever seen. Therefore, passing the ball, particularly in a one-on-one situation, is unnecessary, if not even foolish.
Then Evans can attack a defense, either in a half-court situation or on the break, and appear to be one of the most selfish cats ever. He has no problem driving into a group of three or four defenders and forcing up an off-balance attempt that seemingly has nary a chance of conversion.
On a similar possession, Evans can draw all of that attention and somehow find an open teammate he seemingly has no apparent ability to locate and hit for a basket or at the least, an easy opportunity.
And just like Monday night, despite the distractions of receiving his 2010 Rookie of the Year award before the game and missing the start of the second half with an upset stomach, Evans finished the night with 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and a blocked shot in nearly 37 minutes of action.
It was another night at the office for 21-year-old.
Not to be overlooked was the contribution/on-the-job training of center DeMarcus Cousins. The 20-year-old is on the early road to becoming a low-post, go-to-guy. Without him they become a jump-shot reliant, Evans-penetration dominated offense.
Cousins quickly is showing his mettle as a beast. Clearly, he’s ferocious on the boards and is capable of getting rebounds the Kings have struggled to get for years. Cousins rebounds in traffic. He rebounds with people on his back or on each shoulder. He rebounds with the hands of others on the ball, at least momentarily.
Yet, on this night, it was possible to watch him grow. He had two low-post moves blocked virtually before they left his hand by seven-foot non-shot blocker Andrea Bargnani.
Cousins, who played just 17 minutes, scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half. Ten of those came during the fourth quarter where he played Bargnani like an oboe.
The education taught in the first half already had been eaten, digested and evolved into a learned lesson in the fourth quarter. Cousins is an amazing case. Among all the words of critics heard about him during the draft, I can’t remember any of them mentioning his considerable intelligence.
Its clear Samuel Dalembert is rounding into shape. Dalembert grabbed a Kings’ season-high 14 rebounds in a little more than 22 minutes. His career-high is 23 boards. Dalembert’s tremendous length did not result in a blocked shot on the stat sheet, but if there was a stat for altered shots, he’d have had a couple.
What the Kings have lacked in recent years are players of impact - those who change the directions of a game with intelligence or heart in addition or independent of talent.
Omri Casspi didn’t do much in the first half, but his steal and driving dunk with 1:16 left in the third quarter was dynamic and quickly sent the crowd into a frenzy. Casspi outran the Raptors defenders and quickly forced down a surprising two-handed dunk.
“I just said, ‘(bleep) it,” Casspi said after the game.
Casspi clearly is unafraid of the moment. He scored 12 of his 14 in the second half and nine of those came on three of three three-point shooting in the fourth.
What Casspi appeared afraid of on this night were rebounds. He didn’t have one in nearly 33 minutes. Perhaps it was a positional thing. Toronto small forward Linas Kleiza had just one rebound during 34 minutes.
On a night, where Carl Landry’s jump shot was harassed by Reggie Evans (game-high 19 rebounds, 10 offensive), Darnell Jackson (eight points), Jason Thompson (seven points) and Luther Head (nine points, three assists) made impacts off the bench.
Donte Greene was the lone active player to receive a DNP-CD (Did Not Play-Coach’s Decision). Coach Paul Westphal said after the game Greene has done nothing wrong.
“There is no problem with Donte,” the coach said of Greene, who started at small forward in the season-opener but has been replaced by Casspi. “There are only so many minutes. We had so many bigs out.
“I’ve found out Luther and Darnell can come off the bench with energy and I don’t need Omri to come off with his energy. But it’s nothing Donte has done. Right now, Omri is the answer to the equation. It’s more of the contributions of Luther and Darnell than it is a slam on Donte.”
Greene opted not to discuss the situation following the game.
No more exhibition games and no more regular-season games during which the Kings could spend the first halves looking like they wanted to give up 80 points.
Sacramento (3-1) gets the Lakers Wednesday night at Arco Arena and it’ll be something serious. Granted, serious and special come in different packages for the teams, Sacramento has an opportunity to prove something to itself.
This will be Sacramento’s first opponent destined for the 2011 playoffs. That’s a bit of a guess, but anyone betting against a Lakers post-season appearance is on for double-double wager at your local cheeseburger establishment.
Those who have watched the Kings win three of their first four games should be aware of how slim the margin can be between winning and losing. The Kings just as easily could be undefeated as winless.
Victories are not to be undersold, no matter the method of achievement. The ‘W’ is the bottom line.
And there is certain strength in being able to come back from double-digit deficits to get a win, even if a similar ugliness exists in the abhorrent performance that takes a team to such depths.
For example, the Toronto Raptors, in Monday night’s Kings home season-opener, literally conducted fast-break drills that ended in dunks and lay ups throughout much of the first half.
It wasn’t exactly the way the new-style Kings wanted to greet their sellout crowd. However, led by Tyreke Evans and Beno Udrih, the Kings were able to hang around in the second quarter and eventually outscore the Raptors in each of the final three quarters.
Evans is a statistical phenomenon. He’s perhaps on his way to becoming the most unusual player I’ve had the opportunity to watch.
The guy can look like one of the most devastating drivers I’ve ever seen. Therefore, passing the ball, particularly in a one-on-one situation, is unnecessary, if not even foolish.
Then Evans can attack a defense, either in a half-court situation or on the break, and appear to be one of the most selfish cats ever. He has no problem driving into a group of three or four defenders and forcing up an off-balance attempt that seemingly has nary a chance of conversion.
On a similar possession, Evans can draw all of that attention and somehow find an open teammate he seemingly has no apparent ability to locate and hit for a basket or at the least, an easy opportunity.
And just like Monday night, despite the distractions of receiving his 2010 Rookie of the Year award before the game and missing the start of the second half with an upset stomach, Evans finished the night with 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and a blocked shot in nearly 37 minutes of action.
It was another night at the office for 21-year-old.
Not to be overlooked was the contribution/on-the-job training of center DeMarcus Cousins. The 20-year-old is on the early road to becoming a low-post, go-to-guy. Without him they become a jump-shot reliant, Evans-penetration dominated offense.
Cousins quickly is showing his mettle as a beast. Clearly, he’s ferocious on the boards and is capable of getting rebounds the Kings have struggled to get for years. Cousins rebounds in traffic. He rebounds with people on his back or on each shoulder. He rebounds with the hands of others on the ball, at least momentarily.
Yet, on this night, it was possible to watch him grow. He had two low-post moves blocked virtually before they left his hand by seven-foot non-shot blocker Andrea Bargnani.
Cousins, who played just 17 minutes, scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half. Ten of those came during the fourth quarter where he played Bargnani like an oboe.
The education taught in the first half already had been eaten, digested and evolved into a learned lesson in the fourth quarter. Cousins is an amazing case. Among all the words of critics heard about him during the draft, I can’t remember any of them mentioning his considerable intelligence.
Its clear Samuel Dalembert is rounding into shape. Dalembert grabbed a Kings’ season-high 14 rebounds in a little more than 22 minutes. His career-high is 23 boards. Dalembert’s tremendous length did not result in a blocked shot on the stat sheet, but if there was a stat for altered shots, he’d have had a couple.
What the Kings have lacked in recent years are players of impact - those who change the directions of a game with intelligence or heart in addition or independent of talent.
Omri Casspi didn’t do much in the first half, but his steal and driving dunk with 1:16 left in the third quarter was dynamic and quickly sent the crowd into a frenzy. Casspi outran the Raptors defenders and quickly forced down a surprising two-handed dunk.
“I just said, ‘(bleep) it,” Casspi said after the game.
Casspi clearly is unafraid of the moment. He scored 12 of his 14 in the second half and nine of those came on three of three three-point shooting in the fourth.
What Casspi appeared afraid of on this night were rebounds. He didn’t have one in nearly 33 minutes. Perhaps it was a positional thing. Toronto small forward Linas Kleiza had just one rebound during 34 minutes.
On a night, where Carl Landry’s jump shot was harassed by Reggie Evans (game-high 19 rebounds, 10 offensive), Darnell Jackson (eight points), Jason Thompson (seven points) and Luther Head (nine points, three assists) made impacts off the bench.
Donte Greene was the lone active player to receive a DNP-CD (Did Not Play-Coach’s Decision). Coach Paul Westphal said after the game Greene has done nothing wrong.
“There is no problem with Donte,” the coach said of Greene, who started at small forward in the season-opener but has been replaced by Casspi. “There are only so many minutes. We had so many bigs out.
“I’ve found out Luther and Darnell can come off the bench with energy and I don’t need Omri to come off with his energy. But it’s nothing Donte has done. Right now, Omri is the answer to the equation. It’s more of the contributions of Luther and Darnell than it is a slam on Donte.”
Greene opted not to discuss the situation following the game.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Who are the Sacramento Kings destined to become
It’s anybody’s guess what the Sacramento Kings ultimately will become this season.
They could end up in the playoffs or the lottery. Currently, more folks likely would wager their valuables on the lottery.
Yet, three games into their campaign, the schedule indicates we’ll likely be receiving a GPS-type directional indicator before we sit down for turkey.
The Kings not only play their next four games at Arco Arena, but eight of their next nine and 10 of their next 13.
Sacramento opens its home campaign against the Toronto Raptors tonight before games Wednesday and Saturday nights, respectively, against the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies.
Statistics don’t mean much at this juncture; nor do records.
However, there are a few indicators, if proven to be reasonably legitimate, that prove somewhat telling.
So far, the Kings appear to have nine to 10 players capable of playing productive ball. One of the many questions surrounding them will be how consistently they can perform. Another will be what type of defensive mentality they can establish as a unit.
Sacramento has just one set of back-to-back games – Nov. 21 home vs. New Orleans and Nov. 22 in Salt Lake City against Utah.
The Kings were the lone NBA squad to begin its season with three road games, yet the schedule presents an opportunity for Sacramento to establish itself capable of successfully competing – or not.
There are a couple of phases the Kings immediately will have to correct if they are to take advantage of the early schedule.
The Kings won two of three road games despite consistently committing dumb, careless fouls. It’s one thing to foul defensively in an attempt to prevent a player from establishing good position or easily penetrating its defense.
Fouling to prevent lay ups or dunks are good because they are the last line of defense.
It’s another thing to foul by needlessly reaching or gambling to make a steal, particularly in the backcourt. Those fouls merely fuel the opposing offense as well as weaken the Kings.
Sacramento’s ability to convert fast-break opportunities has to improve. Three-on-two advantages are basic basketball plays that have to be converted at a high rate if the Kings are to continue as a high-scoring squad.
It would help if the Kings get the ball into the hands of Beno Udrih at every opportunity. Tyreke Evans may be listed as a point guard, but at this stage of his career, the talented second-year guard goes for his better than creating opportunities for others.
It is easier for a team to improve offensively. Everyone wants to score, but few want to make the mental and physical commitments required to defend.
Individually, the Kings have to be impressed by rookie DeMarcus Cousins, Carl Landry, Francisco Garcia, Samuel Dalembert, Luther Head, Udrih, Darnell Jackson and Evans.
Cousins has been a force offensively and has been the lone back-to-the-basket post weapon. Additionally, the 20-year-old can and will pass.
Landry has been its most dependable scorer, but does most of his work facing the basket.
Garcia and Omri Casspi have combined to shoot 12 of 23 from three-point range, while the rest of the squad is six of 23. Casspi was incredible with six of seven in the win over Cleveland, but was zero of six during the previous two games.
Hence, there is a level of consistency yet to be established. As good as Casspi was offensively, his hustle and toughness defensively were equally important to the win.
Dalembert, in a combined 23 minutes during two games, has shown he can anchor the defense and provides a badly-needed shot-blocking presence. Like most defensively-oriented centers, he wants to prove he can be a scorer.
Dalembert has been in the league too long to become something new. His offensive game should be limited to put-backs and rolling to the hoop on screen-roll plays. That’s it. Jump shots should be a rarity for Dalembert.
If Head and Jackson can continue to produce at relatively similar levels, they will provide coach Paul Westphal options one month ago he had no reason to believe existed. The pair has been solid and consistent, characteristics only a coach truly can appreciate.
Jason Thompson has to figure out how to become more effective offensively. The guy misses more four-to-six footers than normally imaginable. Meanwhile, exactly what the deal is with Donte Greene is unknown to me at this point. I’m interested in asking a few questions this week to try to get a clue.
Organizationally, the Kings did not expect Jackson to make the team entering training camp. Head was a question mark at best. So his current assist-to turnover numbers of 10-to-one certainly qualify as a surprise.
It’ll be fun to see what other surprises the Kings have to offer this month.
They could end up in the playoffs or the lottery. Currently, more folks likely would wager their valuables on the lottery.
Yet, three games into their campaign, the schedule indicates we’ll likely be receiving a GPS-type directional indicator before we sit down for turkey.
The Kings not only play their next four games at Arco Arena, but eight of their next nine and 10 of their next 13.
Sacramento opens its home campaign against the Toronto Raptors tonight before games Wednesday and Saturday nights, respectively, against the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies.
Statistics don’t mean much at this juncture; nor do records.
However, there are a few indicators, if proven to be reasonably legitimate, that prove somewhat telling.
So far, the Kings appear to have nine to 10 players capable of playing productive ball. One of the many questions surrounding them will be how consistently they can perform. Another will be what type of defensive mentality they can establish as a unit.
Sacramento has just one set of back-to-back games – Nov. 21 home vs. New Orleans and Nov. 22 in Salt Lake City against Utah.
The Kings were the lone NBA squad to begin its season with three road games, yet the schedule presents an opportunity for Sacramento to establish itself capable of successfully competing – or not.
There are a couple of phases the Kings immediately will have to correct if they are to take advantage of the early schedule.
The Kings won two of three road games despite consistently committing dumb, careless fouls. It’s one thing to foul defensively in an attempt to prevent a player from establishing good position or easily penetrating its defense.
Fouling to prevent lay ups or dunks are good because they are the last line of defense.
It’s another thing to foul by needlessly reaching or gambling to make a steal, particularly in the backcourt. Those fouls merely fuel the opposing offense as well as weaken the Kings.
Sacramento’s ability to convert fast-break opportunities has to improve. Three-on-two advantages are basic basketball plays that have to be converted at a high rate if the Kings are to continue as a high-scoring squad.
It would help if the Kings get the ball into the hands of Beno Udrih at every opportunity. Tyreke Evans may be listed as a point guard, but at this stage of his career, the talented second-year guard goes for his better than creating opportunities for others.
It is easier for a team to improve offensively. Everyone wants to score, but few want to make the mental and physical commitments required to defend.
Individually, the Kings have to be impressed by rookie DeMarcus Cousins, Carl Landry, Francisco Garcia, Samuel Dalembert, Luther Head, Udrih, Darnell Jackson and Evans.
Cousins has been a force offensively and has been the lone back-to-the-basket post weapon. Additionally, the 20-year-old can and will pass.
Landry has been its most dependable scorer, but does most of his work facing the basket.
Garcia and Omri Casspi have combined to shoot 12 of 23 from three-point range, while the rest of the squad is six of 23. Casspi was incredible with six of seven in the win over Cleveland, but was zero of six during the previous two games.
Hence, there is a level of consistency yet to be established. As good as Casspi was offensively, his hustle and toughness defensively were equally important to the win.
Dalembert, in a combined 23 minutes during two games, has shown he can anchor the defense and provides a badly-needed shot-blocking presence. Like most defensively-oriented centers, he wants to prove he can be a scorer.
Dalembert has been in the league too long to become something new. His offensive game should be limited to put-backs and rolling to the hoop on screen-roll plays. That’s it. Jump shots should be a rarity for Dalembert.
If Head and Jackson can continue to produce at relatively similar levels, they will provide coach Paul Westphal options one month ago he had no reason to believe existed. The pair has been solid and consistent, characteristics only a coach truly can appreciate.
Jason Thompson has to figure out how to become more effective offensively. The guy misses more four-to-six footers than normally imaginable. Meanwhile, exactly what the deal is with Donte Greene is unknown to me at this point. I’m interested in asking a few questions this week to try to get a clue.
Organizationally, the Kings did not expect Jackson to make the team entering training camp. Head was a question mark at best. So his current assist-to turnover numbers of 10-to-one certainly qualify as a surprise.
It’ll be fun to see what other surprises the Kings have to offer this month.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Kings just work now - progress to come later?
Early NBA preseason games often provide more questions than answers.
There were times during Sacramento’s game Sunday night in Oakland against Golden State when it seemed as if the Kings didn’t want to play.
Now, we always must be careful of what we think we see and be capable of maintaining an open mind to all the circumstances involved.
Confusion can appear to be disinterest.
Coach Paul Westphal during his post-game comments did not implicate his team’s effort or lack thereof. He pointed towards his team’s lack of experience on the floor and indicated at times it made his team appeared disorganized.
“It’s hard for us to find the rhythm with a lot of key players out that we need to have on the floor,” Westphal said. “But that’s part of training camp. So it looks disorganized like we’re trying to learn our offense, so our offense is not effective at all.
“We’re not functioning smoothly. We’re not getting the ball inside. And that’s a problem.
I’m sure we’ll get better. We’ll get on the same page as we start getting some guys back.”
Center Samuel Dalembert, who has the NBA’s third-longest active games played streak with 354, has yet to play during the preseason because of a left adductor strain. The Kings miss him dearly at the defensive end.
“I don’t go to the trainer for an update every day,” Westphal said after Sunday night’s game, “but I’m hopeful to see him this week. I really don’t want to rush him, but at the same time, you can see that we can use him.”
The Kings Sunday also played without forward Carl Landry (eye injury) and guard Beno Udrih (sprained right shoulder). Westphal said he thought both could return to action this week.
Sacramento begins the regular season Oct. 27 in Minneapolis against the Timberwolves. It has four preseason games remaining, with tonight’s return engagement against Golden State at Arco Arena the only one at home.
Tonight’s contest should provide a more realistic indication of what the Kings will be working with this season. However, these upcoming games are dwindling opportunities for players (Luther Head, Darnell Jackson, Joe Crawford and Marcus Landry) to show they belong on this team.
Neither Marcus Landry nor Omri Casspi nor Donte Greene nor Antoine Wright has distinguished himself enough to win the wide-open starting small-forward position. The entire training camp body of work will be considered, yet making due with the minutes received during the next two weeks likely will go a long way to claiming that position.
Then again, Westphal has numerous frontcourt options. He could opt to go with Dalembert at center, Jason Thompson at power forward and Carl Landry up front. Francisco Garcia also factors into the mix at small forward.
It may not be fair to call this a work in progress at this juncture.
We must wait to see how it evolves.
There were times during Sacramento’s game Sunday night in Oakland against Golden State when it seemed as if the Kings didn’t want to play.
Now, we always must be careful of what we think we see and be capable of maintaining an open mind to all the circumstances involved.
Confusion can appear to be disinterest.
Coach Paul Westphal during his post-game comments did not implicate his team’s effort or lack thereof. He pointed towards his team’s lack of experience on the floor and indicated at times it made his team appeared disorganized.
“It’s hard for us to find the rhythm with a lot of key players out that we need to have on the floor,” Westphal said. “But that’s part of training camp. So it looks disorganized like we’re trying to learn our offense, so our offense is not effective at all.
“We’re not functioning smoothly. We’re not getting the ball inside. And that’s a problem.
I’m sure we’ll get better. We’ll get on the same page as we start getting some guys back.”
Center Samuel Dalembert, who has the NBA’s third-longest active games played streak with 354, has yet to play during the preseason because of a left adductor strain. The Kings miss him dearly at the defensive end.
“I don’t go to the trainer for an update every day,” Westphal said after Sunday night’s game, “but I’m hopeful to see him this week. I really don’t want to rush him, but at the same time, you can see that we can use him.”
The Kings Sunday also played without forward Carl Landry (eye injury) and guard Beno Udrih (sprained right shoulder). Westphal said he thought both could return to action this week.
Sacramento begins the regular season Oct. 27 in Minneapolis against the Timberwolves. It has four preseason games remaining, with tonight’s return engagement against Golden State at Arco Arena the only one at home.
Tonight’s contest should provide a more realistic indication of what the Kings will be working with this season. However, these upcoming games are dwindling opportunities for players (Luther Head, Darnell Jackson, Joe Crawford and Marcus Landry) to show they belong on this team.
Neither Marcus Landry nor Omri Casspi nor Donte Greene nor Antoine Wright has distinguished himself enough to win the wide-open starting small-forward position. The entire training camp body of work will be considered, yet making due with the minutes received during the next two weeks likely will go a long way to claiming that position.
Then again, Westphal has numerous frontcourt options. He could opt to go with Dalembert at center, Jason Thompson at power forward and Carl Landry up front. Francisco Garcia also factors into the mix at small forward.
It may not be fair to call this a work in progress at this juncture.
We must wait to see how it evolves.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Kings Jeter is little man making huge impressions
It’s impossible to know how good Kings rookie guard Eugene (Pooh) Jeter (that’s Jet-er, not as in Derek Gee-ter) will become.
However, two facts so far are undeniable. Jeter will not be out-worked. And he has impressed, personally and professionally, everyone who has been around him.
Kings coach Paul Westphal may have seen Jeter up close and personally more than anyone in the organization. Westphal was coaching Pepperdine when Jeter was playing for Portland State.
The coach said he didn’t know Jeter, but did recognize his talents.
“He was a great scorer,” Westphal said of the 26-year-old Jeter. “He’s always had a beautiful jump shot and he’s got that great speed. He’s a handful.”
Westphal said Jeter’s speed can be utilized particularly in a couple of ways.
“In the open court, especially,” said the coach, “but in high-and-pick roll situations is where a player like Pooh can be effective. I think the place Pooh’s improved the most since college is his leadership. He has improved his ability to get other players involved and be more than just a scorer.”
It’s good to see Jeter listed at 5-foot-11 because that means I’ve grown. After being measured my entire life at 5-9, I’m looking the Southern California native dead in the eyes.
Unfortunately, Jeter’s 175-pound listing is doing nothing for my 215 pounds.
Jeter said he's carried the nickname, Pooh, since birth.
"When I was born, my grandmother said I looked like a little black Pooh bear," he said.
Jeter was in 2006 Kings training camp and when asked what he’s done since, it didn’t take long to answer.
“I’ve been in the gym,” said Jeter, who has played in the NBDL and all over in Europe, including Spain, Ukraine and last season in Jerusalem.
Jeter said his European trip was no vacation, but it was enjoyable.
“It was a great experience,” he said. “In Europe, they have two-a-days (practice) the whole season. The (maximum) you can play is two games a week, so you play European competition and then you play in your league. There’s a lot of shooting.”
His elongated journey to the NBA unquestionably helps make him a favorite of Kings assistant coach Mario Elie.
Elie, a seventh-round pick in 1985 (back when the NBA draft was more than two rounds), played in Portugal, Argentina and Ireland before stints in the USBL, WBL and CBA.
“I love Pooh,” Elie said. “I love his command of the court and his work ethic. He sort of reminds me of me. He’s a guy who has been around. He’s an older player who has a good feel for the game and brings a lot of leadership out there.
“The boy works his butt off. He’s the first one (to practice) and the last one to leave. He’s always working on his game. I’m excited for him and for him to get the opportunity to play.”
Elie said he believes Jeter will get playing time. And that makes sense. Numerically, Jeter likely would be listed as the third point guard behind Tyreke Evans and Beno Udrih.
However, they likely will be starters. So, it’s conceivable Jeter, with solid early play, could be the first guard off the bench.
“You’ve got to love guys like him,” Elie said of Jeter. “You’ve got to love this (basketball) thing here and he loves it. He’s always asking questions and what he needs to do to get better. I think he’s going to get some minutes on this team. He’s made a good case for himself. He came into camp in terrific shape.
“You never see this guy breathing hard,” said the assistant of Jeter. “He’s picking up (defensively) and he’s very vocal.”
Jeter’s penchant for quickly advancing the ball up court, via the pass as well as the dribble, could lead to easy baskets.
Moreover, his ballhandling ability makes him a perfect compliment to move Evans or Udrih to shooting guard.
Evans was asked if he and Jeter can play together.
“Definitely,” the Rookie of the Year said. “The coach and everybody on the team like him. He makes smart decisions and he’s really smart. He knows how to play the game the right way.”
Evans struggled when asked who in the league was as small as Jeter.
“Is Earl Boykins in the league?” Evans said with a chuckle. (He’s) probably the closest one. Oh, yeah, Nate Robinson, yeah.”
Should Jeter simulate Robinson’s impact (minus winning the dunk contests), the Kings should be very content.
Francisco Garcia said Jeter and Jason Thompson came into camp in the best shape, other than himself, of course.
“That’s what I do,” Garcia said. “I’m always in great shape.
“Pooh is going to be a very good player. He’s a good player, who works hard. He just doesn’t get tired. He’s going to be around this league a long time if he keeps doing that.”
The Kings will be happy with that and so will Jeter.
However, two facts so far are undeniable. Jeter will not be out-worked. And he has impressed, personally and professionally, everyone who has been around him.
Kings coach Paul Westphal may have seen Jeter up close and personally more than anyone in the organization. Westphal was coaching Pepperdine when Jeter was playing for Portland State.
The coach said he didn’t know Jeter, but did recognize his talents.
“He was a great scorer,” Westphal said of the 26-year-old Jeter. “He’s always had a beautiful jump shot and he’s got that great speed. He’s a handful.”
Westphal said Jeter’s speed can be utilized particularly in a couple of ways.
“In the open court, especially,” said the coach, “but in high-and-pick roll situations is where a player like Pooh can be effective. I think the place Pooh’s improved the most since college is his leadership. He has improved his ability to get other players involved and be more than just a scorer.”
It’s good to see Jeter listed at 5-foot-11 because that means I’ve grown. After being measured my entire life at 5-9, I’m looking the Southern California native dead in the eyes.
Unfortunately, Jeter’s 175-pound listing is doing nothing for my 215 pounds.
Jeter said he's carried the nickname, Pooh, since birth.
"When I was born, my grandmother said I looked like a little black Pooh bear," he said.
Jeter was in 2006 Kings training camp and when asked what he’s done since, it didn’t take long to answer.
“I’ve been in the gym,” said Jeter, who has played in the NBDL and all over in Europe, including Spain, Ukraine and last season in Jerusalem.
Jeter said his European trip was no vacation, but it was enjoyable.
“It was a great experience,” he said. “In Europe, they have two-a-days (practice) the whole season. The (maximum) you can play is two games a week, so you play European competition and then you play in your league. There’s a lot of shooting.”
His elongated journey to the NBA unquestionably helps make him a favorite of Kings assistant coach Mario Elie.
Elie, a seventh-round pick in 1985 (back when the NBA draft was more than two rounds), played in Portugal, Argentina and Ireland before stints in the USBL, WBL and CBA.
“I love Pooh,” Elie said. “I love his command of the court and his work ethic. He sort of reminds me of me. He’s a guy who has been around. He’s an older player who has a good feel for the game and brings a lot of leadership out there.
“The boy works his butt off. He’s the first one (to practice) and the last one to leave. He’s always working on his game. I’m excited for him and for him to get the opportunity to play.”
Elie said he believes Jeter will get playing time. And that makes sense. Numerically, Jeter likely would be listed as the third point guard behind Tyreke Evans and Beno Udrih.
However, they likely will be starters. So, it’s conceivable Jeter, with solid early play, could be the first guard off the bench.
“You’ve got to love guys like him,” Elie said of Jeter. “You’ve got to love this (basketball) thing here and he loves it. He’s always asking questions and what he needs to do to get better. I think he’s going to get some minutes on this team. He’s made a good case for himself. He came into camp in terrific shape.
“You never see this guy breathing hard,” said the assistant of Jeter. “He’s picking up (defensively) and he’s very vocal.”
Jeter’s penchant for quickly advancing the ball up court, via the pass as well as the dribble, could lead to easy baskets.
Moreover, his ballhandling ability makes him a perfect compliment to move Evans or Udrih to shooting guard.
Evans was asked if he and Jeter can play together.
“Definitely,” the Rookie of the Year said. “The coach and everybody on the team like him. He makes smart decisions and he’s really smart. He knows how to play the game the right way.”
Evans struggled when asked who in the league was as small as Jeter.
“Is Earl Boykins in the league?” Evans said with a chuckle. (He’s) probably the closest one. Oh, yeah, Nate Robinson, yeah.”
Should Jeter simulate Robinson’s impact (minus winning the dunk contests), the Kings should be very content.
Francisco Garcia said Jeter and Jason Thompson came into camp in the best shape, other than himself, of course.
“That’s what I do,” Garcia said. “I’m always in great shape.
“Pooh is going to be a very good player. He’s a good player, who works hard. He just doesn’t get tired. He’s going to be around this league a long time if he keeps doing that.”
The Kings will be happy with that and so will Jeter.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Lessons learned part of process for young Kings
The Sacramento Kings are in the midst of an overhaul and coach Paul Westphal realizes keeping life real is more important to their growth than worrying about their feelings.
Tuesday night, they open the 2010 preseason at home against the Phoenix Suns, so things are about to get real. Well, as real as the preseason can get.
Reality comes in different shapes and forms to different people. The Kings will open the regular-season as one of the NBA’s youngest teams.
They’ll also be one of the most inexperienced. Only six of the current Kings were here for 2009 training camp.
Tyreke Evans and Omri Casspi were rookies last season. Now they are relative Kings veterans just because they’ve been here before – once.
Westphal said Saturday he read a quote from Utah coach Jerry Sloan describing his Jazz players. Westphal liked the message, so he brought the sentiment to his players.
Sloan told the Salt Lake Tribune, “At this stage, they’re probably a little but tired, but I don’t really care. From that standpoint, they should be in better shape when they get here. If you’re going to spend your time getting conditioned in training camp, then you’re probably going to be trying to play catch-up the biggest part of the time.”
Westphal was not dogging his team in any manner. In fact, following Saturday’s long afternoon workout, he spoke of how his team had been fortunate to have few players miss practice.
He was asked how his team was holding up physically.
“Pretty well, really,” he said. “Five days of training camp, a lot of times you can expect more missed practices than we’ve had. They are tired and they are sore, but that’s to be expected.”
Said Westphal of Sloan's quote, “I read that and told that to our young guys today. That’s the way it is. If you don’t come (into camp) in great shape, don’t complain about being sore. It’s time to pay the piper.”
The NBA season is a long, long journey and it’s conceivable the Kings will begin the regular season with seven players (possibly more) with fewer than three seasons of experience.
Center Samuel Dalembert, acquired this summer from Philadelphia, is the most experienced with eight NBA seasons. Beno Udrih is next with six and Francisco Garcia is entering his fifth season.
Conversely, Boston’s Shaquille O’Neal has 18 years of NBA experience all by his large lonesome.
So, many of the team’s key performers will balance the positives of younger legs against on-the-job education.
One of the lessons Westphal hopes his players acquire is respect for the game. All the players truly need to do research the fervor and aggression with which Westphal and assistant coaches, Mario Elie and Leonard (Truck) Robinson played the game.
Check out the sideline antics of 80-year-old assistant coach Pete Carril. He could be a veritable mad man when his passion and competitive nature was unleashed.
Sloan’s Utah teams usually display his intensity. It’s one reason why Sloan ranks among Westphal’s most respected coaches.
“There are a couple of coaches that I think really respect the game in a way I admire,” the Kings coach said. “(Those are) Larry Brown and Jerry Sloan.
“Both of them, I think, would rather have a game called correctly than in their favor. At the same time, they’d fight for every advantage they could get. They love the game and they have a good perspective about competition.
“I don’t want to slight anybody else, but those guys have been around for a long time and I think it’s because they have such a great love for the game.
They’d do anything to win, but at the end of the game, they’d shake your hand and mean it.”
.
Tuesday night, they open the 2010 preseason at home against the Phoenix Suns, so things are about to get real. Well, as real as the preseason can get.
Reality comes in different shapes and forms to different people. The Kings will open the regular-season as one of the NBA’s youngest teams.
They’ll also be one of the most inexperienced. Only six of the current Kings were here for 2009 training camp.
Tyreke Evans and Omri Casspi were rookies last season. Now they are relative Kings veterans just because they’ve been here before – once.
Westphal said Saturday he read a quote from Utah coach Jerry Sloan describing his Jazz players. Westphal liked the message, so he brought the sentiment to his players.
Sloan told the Salt Lake Tribune, “At this stage, they’re probably a little but tired, but I don’t really care. From that standpoint, they should be in better shape when they get here. If you’re going to spend your time getting conditioned in training camp, then you’re probably going to be trying to play catch-up the biggest part of the time.”
Westphal was not dogging his team in any manner. In fact, following Saturday’s long afternoon workout, he spoke of how his team had been fortunate to have few players miss practice.
He was asked how his team was holding up physically.
“Pretty well, really,” he said. “Five days of training camp, a lot of times you can expect more missed practices than we’ve had. They are tired and they are sore, but that’s to be expected.”
Said Westphal of Sloan's quote, “I read that and told that to our young guys today. That’s the way it is. If you don’t come (into camp) in great shape, don’t complain about being sore. It’s time to pay the piper.”
The NBA season is a long, long journey and it’s conceivable the Kings will begin the regular season with seven players (possibly more) with fewer than three seasons of experience.
Center Samuel Dalembert, acquired this summer from Philadelphia, is the most experienced with eight NBA seasons. Beno Udrih is next with six and Francisco Garcia is entering his fifth season.
Conversely, Boston’s Shaquille O’Neal has 18 years of NBA experience all by his large lonesome.
So, many of the team’s key performers will balance the positives of younger legs against on-the-job education.
One of the lessons Westphal hopes his players acquire is respect for the game. All the players truly need to do research the fervor and aggression with which Westphal and assistant coaches, Mario Elie and Leonard (Truck) Robinson played the game.
Check out the sideline antics of 80-year-old assistant coach Pete Carril. He could be a veritable mad man when his passion and competitive nature was unleashed.
Sloan’s Utah teams usually display his intensity. It’s one reason why Sloan ranks among Westphal’s most respected coaches.
“There are a couple of coaches that I think really respect the game in a way I admire,” the Kings coach said. “(Those are) Larry Brown and Jerry Sloan.
“Both of them, I think, would rather have a game called correctly than in their favor. At the same time, they’d fight for every advantage they could get. They love the game and they have a good perspective about competition.
“I don’t want to slight anybody else, but those guys have been around for a long time and I think it’s because they have such a great love for the game.
They’d do anything to win, but at the end of the game, they’d shake your hand and mean it.”
.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Kings getting ready to line up
The Sacramento Kings, like all NBA teams, are attempting to finalize their training camp roster.
According to Kings President Geoff Petrie, the Kings have 18 commitments for the start of camp Sept. 28, preceded one day earlier by media day.
"We have 18 committed and we may add one or two more before camp starts," Petrie said Tuesday afternoon. "We're still two weeks away and there's always the possibility that someone could go to Europe or elsewhere."
Elsewhere has become a major option for players over the past 15-20 years. Back in the day, there weren't options of going to play all over the world.
Now, it's nothing for a player to take guaranteed money in Italy or Lithuania or Japan or China or Australia over the non-guaranteed opportunity to make an NBA team.
So far, the Kings expect the usual suspects - Tyreke Evans, Beno Udrih, Francisco Garcia, Samuel Dalembert, DeMarcus Cousins, Omri Casspi, Hasaan Whiteside, Jason Thompson, Carl Landry, Donte Greene, Pooh Jeter and Antoine Wright.
Then there are the hopefuls - Darnell Jackson, Donald Sloan, Luther Head, Joe Crawford, J.R. Giddens and Connor Atchley.
Any of the hopefuls could be swayed by guaranteed loot elsewhere. However, Head, Crawford and Giddens likely will see openings with the Kings for anyone who consistently can make perimeter shots.
Petrie estimates, "close to 30 percent of the league's players are from other countries."
That's an amazing change from 25 years ago when the number of NBA international players was in single-digits.
Bush to surrender his 2005 Heisman Trophy
New Orleans Saints and former USC running back Reggie Bush is taking a hit for a whole lot of people.
Bush announced Tuesday he will return the 2005 Heisman Trophy he won following reports he and his family received hundreds of thousands of improper benefits while playing at USC.
Bush's family reportedly lived rent-free in a home and received substantial cash gifts from two different agent groups positioning themselves to represent him in the NFL.
Bush, 25, was 20 years old in 2005. Since he's opted to return the Trophy, in my eyes, he's admitted wrongdoing of some extent.
However, clearly the adults (i.e., parents, any advisers, agents Mike Ornstein, Michael Michaels and Lloyd Lake) also were at fault in a major way and were at least as responsible for the chicanery.
I'd love to hear from Bush's parents about what they did. I'd love for Ornstein, Michaels and Lake to come clean about their parts in the entire deal.
Plane tickets, free hotel stays and cash would seem highly difficult to bypass, especially for a 20-year-old.
In a related thought, I'd still have the Trophy if I was Reggie. Five years later, they are coming to get it? C'mon now.
Just a thought. Had Reggie Bush been in a car accident and died, would the Heisman folk still have wanted their Trophy returned? As my son and sister say, I'm just saying.
Five years? Come now. What's up with that?
The Barry Bonds trial should be something special at this rate.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Kings look to make moves under radar
The Kings won't use their entire $15 million queen in this mega free-agent game of chess.
However, it wouldn't be surprising for Kings President Geoff Petrie to use a couple of pawns, knights and bishops to fill a hole or two.
Petrie said Wednesday afternoon he planned to make calls after the 9 p.m. (PST) opening of free-agency.
"I'll probably call any number of different players," he said, "and some agents who represent some pretty large groups of players to get a lay of the land."
Petrie admitted the Kings are more inclined to wait and watch.
"Sometimes it better to stand pat and see how it all shakes out," he said.
The Kings priorities recently have been altered following the recent additions of 6-foot-11 rookie DeMarcus Cousins, 7-foot rookie Hasaan Whiteside and 6-foot-11 Samuel Dalembert.
Amazingly, the Kings' roster now is big-man heavy. The Kings are young up front with the likes of 6-11 Jason Thompson (23), 6-11 Donte Greene (22), 6-9 Carl Landry (26), 6-9 Omri Casspi (22) and 6-7 Jon Brockman (23).
The Kings need more backcourt depth with just Tyreke Evans, Beno Udrih and Francisco Garcia as natural guards. And Garcia, who can handle the ball well enough to play guard, might be more of a small forward.
Certainly, the Kings need a backup point guard capable of changing tempo, running the fast break and penetrating defenses to create shots for teammates. Handling his weight defensively would be a nice trait as well.
Said Petrie, "If we were to prioritize, getting more shooters and more depth at the '1' and the '2' probably would be what we'd like to do."
Unrestricted free agents who bring these qualifications are Ray Allen (shooter), Nate Robinson (point guard), Flip Murray (shooter), Jannero Pargo (point-shooter), Earl Watson (point guard), Luther Head (combo guard), Steve Blake (point guard), Rafer Alston (point guard), Carlos Arroyo (point guard), Luke Ridnour (point guard), Eddie House (combo guard), Jason Williams (point guard), Kyle Korver (shooter), Randy Foye (point guard) and Shaun Livingston (point guard).
Actually the guard I'd love to see the Kings get is point Kyle Lowry, but he's restricted and Houston publically said it plans to re-sign him.
Petrie said he's enthusiastically looking forward to watching his team in the Las Vegas Summer League.
The Kings won just 17 games in 2008-09 and 25 games last season.
"We've had some pretty lean couple of years," he said of games won.
Petrie also could have been referring to the team's spending as it created salary cap room that can be used to facilitate trades as well as signing free agents.
However, Petrie is mindful of making the most of this money under the cap.
And consider the current 10 highest salaries:
1) Kobe Bryant - $24,806,250.
2) Rashard Lewis - $20,514,000.
3) Kevin Garnett - $18,800,000.
4) Tim Duncan - $18,700,000.
5) Michael Redd - $18,300,000.
6) Pau Gasol - $17,822,187.
7) Andres Kirilenko - $17, 822,187.
8) Gilbert Arenas - $17,730,694.
9) Zach Randolph - $17,333,333.
10) Vince Carter - $17, 300, 000.
How many of those salaries would you like to be paying this season?
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