Espn: Kings deposed once again

Cerwindel

Prospect
Article Orignnally posted on ESPN.COM

Link to article here : http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-070320

Kings deposed once again
By John Hollinger
ESPN Insider

ATLANTA -- I asked Sacramento Kings coach Eric Musselman before his team took the court whether this was a must-win game, and he gave the usual answer about taking them one at a time. So I'll answer it for him -- this was a must win.

• With the Kings already reeling and trailing Golden State (among others) by two games for the West's final playoff spot, they needed this one in any event. But it was doubly important because of their upcoming schedule. Sacramento plays two of its next four games against the Suns; after that comes a five-game stretch at the start of April that goes Lakers-Mavs-Nuggets-Jazz-Rockets. The Hawks were the worst team Sacramento will play the rest of the season, so getting blown out of the building by them, 99-76, wasn't a real good omen.

• If the Kings miss the playoffs, they can blame it on their dilapidated frontcourt. It was sad watching Shareef Abdur-Rahim -- an All-Star in this building five years ago -- struggle to score on his post moves. Same goes for aging center Brad Miller, who checked out after 12 desultory minutes due to plantar fasciitis.

• Sacramento's most effective big man was veteran retread Corliss Williamson, and that's not the first time that's been the case. The Hawks took advantage by repeatedly scoring in the paint, with center Zaza Pachulia leading the way -- he had 14 points on 7-for-7 shooting in the first quarter. Sacramento's starting frontcourt combined to shoot 2-for-9 with five points and four rebounds. Ouch.

• With Miller presumably out for a while and Kenny Thomas already on the shelf, look for lots of small-ball from Sacramento down the stretch. Musselman sounded reluctant to use it heavily in his pregame comments, but at this point he might have no choice. It's certainly better than playing his regular lineup and watching his team get its brains blown out.

• Side note on Sacramento's frontcourt: I completely forgot Vitaly Potapenko was still in the league until he took off his warm-ups in garbage time. I can't be the only one. Side note No. 2: The league's only postgame conversation of the season in Ukrainian took place in a Philips Arena hallway after the game between Potapenko and the Hawks' Slava Medvedenko. I thought you should know these things.

• Atlanta's Josh Smith would have had his first career triple-double if he'd made one of two foul shots in the fourth quarter. Instead he missed both, leaving him a point short of the milestone. Hawks coach Mike Woodson left him in for several minutes of the fourth quarter -- by this point, the other nine players on the court were scrubs -- before finally hooking him with just 3:41 left.

• So the big question after all this is what's Musselman's job status? It hardly seems to matter by this point with just 15 games left, but the Kings' recent slump and tonight's no-show, along with comments by Kings owner Joe Maloof a few weeks ago that were something south of fully supportive, make you wonder.
 
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Article Orignally posted on ESPN.COM

Link to article here : http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-070320

Kings deposed once again
By John Hollinger
ESPN Insider

ATLANTA -- I asked Sacramento Kings coach Eric Musselman before his team took the court whether this was a must-win game, and he gave the usual answer about taking them one at a time. So I'll answer it for him -- this was a must win.

• With the Kings already reeling and trailing Golden State (among others) by two games for the West's final playoff spot, they needed this one in any event. But it was doubly important because of their upcoming schedule. Sacramento plays two of its next four games against the Suns; after that comes a five-game stretch at the start of April that goes Lakers-Mavs-Nuggets-Jazz-Rockets. The Hawks were the worst team Sacramento will play the rest of the season, so getting blown out of the building by them, 99-76, wasn't a real good omen.

• If the Kings miss the playoffs, they can%2

Edit : This article is NOT insider BTW, Just double checked :) Hollinger does "Write" for Insider, but this one is a free article.. What happened to the rest??

Well, VF I believe i posted it right, I guess edit and toss it up if you wish in the proper way if I did it wrong..

Thanks.. Not like its great news anyway.
 
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The only thing I thought I edited was to remove the "Insider only" comment.

Crap. I'll fix the mess I made... sorry.

:o
 
The only thing I thought I edited was to remove the "Insider only" comment.

Crap. I'll fix the mess I made... sorry.

:o

Nah I fixed hehe its ok.. You usually end up tidying them up after me anyway.. lol..

Fixed :) .. Hrm.. and Sidenote.. as much as hollinger is right, I hate that he is right :/
 
looks like captain obvious is at it again. i like how he says KT is "on the shelf" and because of THAT we will have to resort to small ball.
 
In all fairness IT WAS THE END OF A LONG HARD ROAD TRIP!

Not good to make a judgement on what players are or aren't in that situation.
 
This is also the NBA...The NBA... It happens. This team is screwed no doubt but there is more to it than simply "age" catching up with guys like Brad Miller and Reef.

That is true. It is also. . .

1. A coach that has NO clue how to lead this team.

2. Owners who think that they know more about how to run an NBA team than the guy they hired to run it.

3. Players who have to know that they are already out of it.

4. Players who already have to know that they probably will not be here next year.

5. The player that the owners wanted to be the face of the team can't keep his face out of mug shots (innocent or guilty - the issues don't help the team)

6. Our GM has assembled (his fault or the maloofs?) a group of players who do not seem to like each other at all and have PROVED that they can't play together.

7. An addiction to mysterious kool-aid that destroys hand-eye coordination, team work ability, and general decision making skills.


I could go on, but it is kind of depressing.
 
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