Kings' alleged demise is news to Warriors
PLAYERS PREPARED FOR USUAL DOGFIGHT
By Marcus Thompson II
Knight Ridder
The Sacramento Kings are done.
That's what's being said now that the Kings are struggling. The tradition of 50 victories and championship hopes is over for the time being, some predict.
Sacramento, picked by many to win a down Pacific Division, already has four double-digit losses, including a 26-point road loss to New Orleans in the opener, and has looked sketchy at best.
But the Warriors say they aren't falling for it.
``Not at all. I don't think they're done at all,'' forward Troy Murphy said. ``They've got real good players that have won a lot of games. It's going to be a real test for us.''
The Warriors have the better record entering tonight's game, the first time that has happened since March 1996, when the Warriors were 28-23 and the Kings 25-23.
Even with Sacramento's struggles, the Warriors -- who won last season's series 3-1, including two wins at Arco Arena -- are expecting a dogfight as the NorCal rivalry continues to intensify.
The Kings, who started 1-4 this season, have crawled out of the gate the previous three seasons as well but always responded with a winning streak. They lost their first three last season but improved to 8-4, eventually finishing with 50 wins. In 2003-04, they split their first eight games but went on an eight-game win streak to get to 12-4. They won 55 games that season.
In the 59-win campaign of 2002-03, Sacramento started 3-3 before rattling off nine of 10 to get to 12-4. Warriors point guard Derek Fisher, who has developed a distinct joy in beating the Kings from his days with the Los Angeles Lakers, said Sacramento just needs time to jell. The Kings have two new starters in shooting guard Bonzi Wells and power forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim, and have replaced regular reserve guards Bobby Jackson and Maurice Evans with rookie Francisco Garcia and journeyman Jason Hart.
``You can see the teams that have started the season and really struggled are the teams that had a lot of changeover, a lot of new personnel,'' Fisher said. ``I wouldn't expect that trend to continue.''
As usual, the Kings' defense has been their weakness. They entered Tuesday's home game against Charlotte ranking 25th in points allowed (98.7) and 28th in field-goal-percentage defense (46.8). But Sacramento has gotten going a bit because of a resurrected offense. The Kings entered Tuesday having scored 100 or more, shot 50 percent or better and totaled 20 assists or more in five of their previous six games -- and that's without sharp-shooting forward Peja Stojakovic (sprained right fifth metacarpal) for three games.
They averaged 109.2 points in that span, boosting them to sixth in the NBA in scoring (99.1). The Kings are fourth in assists (23.46).
``What makes them tough is that they've got a bunch of guys that can shoot,'' Murphy said. ``Brad Miller plays (center) and can make shots. It's a difficult team to defend and prepare for.
``Between Mike Bibby and Rahim and Bonzi Wells and Brad Miller -- those are some real good players. And they've got Stojakovic. If we play like we played (Monday), we're going to have a real tough time.''
