DING!-DING!-DING! Round three. Here comes the third consecutive MVP candidate, the third chance at a big upset ---- Hopefully the third time's a charm. How lucky are we that all of these big games are coming at Arco, and more than a few of us have a chance to see them all in person?
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[obligatory gush]
Our team is awesome. I think I'm going to have to adjust my expectations. What kind of team battles two consecutive title contenders into extra periods while being far and away less experienced, believed by experts to have lost the second the schedule was released? This group of young overachievers, that's who. I could not be more pleased with the effort and the passion these players put forth. I also like the unexpected general awesome feeling I get from watching these games this year.
[/gush]
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We have a few nits to pick:
The last two games have wrenched out my heart. It seems as though the coaching staff - in it's infinite wisdom - has decided to offer silver-plattered victories up in an effort to further evolve Evans as a super star. The "One-Four Flat" is becoming the most talked about play in basketball around here. Against Kobe, Lebron, and Anthony it may not get the job done. Every time it gets played with the game on the line the hairs on the back of my neck stand up - because it's exciting. It features the best offender vs. the best defender. It is the the NBA super star showcase come to life that fans most want to see. Evans needs the ball in his hands at the end of games to become the great finisher we never had. He needs to face off against Bryant and James to help his growth. Get ready for it again, we may see it against the Nuggets.
The Lakers are freakishly tall and crazy athletic. According to NBA standards we have a tall lineup. The Lakers are taller. I was amazed that we finished with more points in the paint, it still felt like we were neutralized down there. Our best game was played while Hawes was in the high post and Beno was zipping around the floor like a man possessed, Beno hates to lose to the Lakers. Beno and co. was amazing in the 1st OT. I know why Evans was inserted in the final 3 minutes of OT(the aforementioned growth thing), but I wanted to send the taker fans at Arco to their cars with their heads hanging low. If it isn't necessary to insert Evans into big time situations, the Kings win. It's not Evans's fault, it's not the coaches fault, it's just painful to know it could take a year or two for this group to get on the laker's level.
t[l]aker fans make me sick. They wave their god awful hideous colors around and dance like marionettes every time the Kobes eek out a win in Arco. The sight is too familiar, utterly disgusting. Blame their success on officiating, blame it on the league, blame it on whatever you want. I hope for the day that the Kings utterly humiliate the lakers in a playoff series, bust out the brooms, help half of those fake fans realize they are rooting for a single player - rooting for a brand - rooting because it's easy - rooting because it's popular. I hate the lakers.
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Awards -
TDM- Shannon Brown was too big of a factor. Watching him play made my head hurt.
LW-VC - Andrew Bynum is not a player I want on my team. Yuck.
JHA - Donte for playing off of Kobe in 2 OT
MIKKI - Nocioni - Awful: The sequel
SAR - Metuselah - Odom. Donte made him look like a fool most of the game.
RA&1 - Watching Rodriguez play out of control hurt my head as much as watching Shannon Brown have a good game.
WTF moment of the game - My vote goes to Pau throwing Thompson to the floor. If we get that call we win the game. So frustrating.
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The Nuggets are up. Chauncey Billups is out with a groin injury. That may open the door for a Kings win. Still, the Nuggets are the team most likely to fillet us and hand us a blow out loss. It just seems like they are built to hand us our rears. We push the tempo, but they do it better. They're fast, they're effective, they have the league's leading scorer. We'll see how well they perform without Big Shot Billups.
Predictions:
Nuggets 110, Kings 104
Pts: Evans 28, Anthony 40
Rbds: Thompson 9, Nene 8
Asts: Beno 6, Lawson 5
Blocks: Donte 2, Anderson 2
Probable Starters:
Kings - Nuggets
Evans - Lawson: Evans easily wins.
Greene - Afflalo: Keep your head on straight and you'll win too Donte.
Casspi - Anthony: You Casspi fans (myself included) should be juiced about this. This is gonna be interesting.
Thompson - Martin: Even match. Could go either way. I see Martin making JT struggle a little.
Hawes - Nene: Nene is gonna give us a headache. Not saying Hawes will suck, Nene is just so frustrating to play against.
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These young Kings keep their heads in the game, slow it down, utilize the back court mismatches, and we could end up with another nail biter.
GO KINGS!!!
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[obligatory gush]
Our team is awesome. I think I'm going to have to adjust my expectations. What kind of team battles two consecutive title contenders into extra periods while being far and away less experienced, believed by experts to have lost the second the schedule was released? This group of young overachievers, that's who. I could not be more pleased with the effort and the passion these players put forth. I also like the unexpected general awesome feeling I get from watching these games this year.
[/gush]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
We have a few nits to pick:
The last two games have wrenched out my heart. It seems as though the coaching staff - in it's infinite wisdom - has decided to offer silver-plattered victories up in an effort to further evolve Evans as a super star. The "One-Four Flat" is becoming the most talked about play in basketball around here. Against Kobe, Lebron, and Anthony it may not get the job done. Every time it gets played with the game on the line the hairs on the back of my neck stand up - because it's exciting. It features the best offender vs. the best defender. It is the the NBA super star showcase come to life that fans most want to see. Evans needs the ball in his hands at the end of games to become the great finisher we never had. He needs to face off against Bryant and James to help his growth. Get ready for it again, we may see it against the Nuggets.
The Lakers are freakishly tall and crazy athletic. According to NBA standards we have a tall lineup. The Lakers are taller. I was amazed that we finished with more points in the paint, it still felt like we were neutralized down there. Our best game was played while Hawes was in the high post and Beno was zipping around the floor like a man possessed, Beno hates to lose to the Lakers. Beno and co. was amazing in the 1st OT. I know why Evans was inserted in the final 3 minutes of OT(the aforementioned growth thing), but I wanted to send the taker fans at Arco to their cars with their heads hanging low. If it isn't necessary to insert Evans into big time situations, the Kings win. It's not Evans's fault, it's not the coaches fault, it's just painful to know it could take a year or two for this group to get on the laker's level.
t[l]aker fans make me sick. They wave their god awful hideous colors around and dance like marionettes every time the Kobes eek out a win in Arco. The sight is too familiar, utterly disgusting. Blame their success on officiating, blame it on the league, blame it on whatever you want. I hope for the day that the Kings utterly humiliate the lakers in a playoff series, bust out the brooms, help half of those fake fans realize they are rooting for a single player - rooting for a brand - rooting because it's easy - rooting because it's popular. I hate the lakers.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Awards -
TDM- Shannon Brown was too big of a factor. Watching him play made my head hurt.
LW-VC - Andrew Bynum is not a player I want on my team. Yuck.
JHA - Donte for playing off of Kobe in 2 OT
MIKKI - Nocioni - Awful: The sequel
SAR - Metuselah - Odom. Donte made him look like a fool most of the game.
RA&1 - Watching Rodriguez play out of control hurt my head as much as watching Shannon Brown have a good game.
WTF moment of the game - My vote goes to Pau throwing Thompson to the floor. If we get that call we win the game. So frustrating.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Nuggets are up. Chauncey Billups is out with a groin injury. That may open the door for a Kings win. Still, the Nuggets are the team most likely to fillet us and hand us a blow out loss. It just seems like they are built to hand us our rears. We push the tempo, but they do it better. They're fast, they're effective, they have the league's leading scorer. We'll see how well they perform without Big Shot Billups.
Predictions:
Nuggets 110, Kings 104
Pts: Evans 28, Anthony 40
Rbds: Thompson 9, Nene 8
Asts: Beno 6, Lawson 5
Blocks: Donte 2, Anderson 2
Probable Starters:
Kings - Nuggets
Evans - Lawson: Evans easily wins.
Greene - Afflalo: Keep your head on straight and you'll win too Donte.
Casspi - Anthony: You Casspi fans (myself included) should be juiced about this. This is gonna be interesting.
Thompson - Martin: Even match. Could go either way. I see Martin making JT struggle a little.
Hawes - Nene: Nene is gonna give us a headache. Not saying Hawes will suck, Nene is just so frustrating to play against.
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These young Kings keep their heads in the game, slow it down, utilize the back court mismatches, and we could end up with another nail biter.
GO KINGS!!!
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