Grades v. Warriors 11/08/09

[Bricklayer]

Nocioni ( C- ) -- maybe the only King not having fun in an easy blowout against a team that plays no defense. Got torched by Azuibuike in the early going, and was really forcing the offense trying to take advantage of his size inside. Throw in a cold shooting night (0-5 from 3pt land), only 1 rebound in 28 minutes, and it was just a forgettable night

Thompson ( A- ) -- was a little shaky on which way to go with this grade because as I've mentioend before in regards to this opponent -- its just all too easy. I've also mentioned before my experience back when I was 22 or 23 playing pickup ball against a bunch of 14 year olds and looking like Shaq. Scrawny little bodies strewn all over the court crying for mommy, but at the end of the day just how proud are you for beating up a bunch of twerps? Same thing when playing the Warriors. Jason actually started the game as the only guy being guarded by a full size defender in Biedrins, and while matched size on size he was not terribly effective, missing his early shots and taking a while to get on the glass. But by the end of the first quarter he was starting to play volleyball in there over the heads of the NBA's version of a bunch of 14 year olds, and by the end of the first half he was dominating offensively as well, able to get up any shot he wanted and converting on most of them. A couple of nice feeds from Casspi in particular seemed to get him going, and he closed the third with an alley oop dunk from Donte to finish his night.

Hawes ( C+ ) -- first move was to the hoop and drew a foul, but he was quickly pulled as Westphal felt the small ball pull and went small with Casspi to match the 4 guards the Warriros try to call an NBA team. But even when reinserted as the only big was unable to get much going in first half. Finally got a good hook in just before half when Mikki Moore checked in wearing his practice dummy hat. Hawes came out in the third unwilling to use his size to diominate the little Warriors guards guarding him, flipping up shots, being pushed out of position, being outmuscled for rebs by guys 5 inches shorter than him. And it cost him most of his minutes with the starters. Instead he had to settle for a long stint of garbagetime play during whihc he did pretty well. Hey, at least he's staying away from the 3pt line and trying to work inside, but with this team rapidly forming a new much tougher personality Spencer has to continue to play stronger still or risk getting left behind as the designated softie.

Udrih ( A- ) -- and so the Beno revival continues (can you have a revival without ever having had a vival?). Was largely splitting PG duties (defined here as bringing the ball up and initiating the offense) with reke in the early going to moderate effect, but came up with a little burst of energy when Reke left and he (Beno) moved over the point full time in the late first quarter. Had a big second half as the Warriors became, unsurprisingly, highly focused on Reke and Beno was able to find seam after seam. Started off the quarter maybe pressing a bit too much, but he split a terrible double team nicely and was repeatedly able to slice into the edge of the paint and shoot over the Warriors "bigs" (actually sometimes smaller than Beno himself ). Took over the point again as we decided to call off the dogs in the blowout, and played very well in the late 3rd/early 4th pushing open the blowout during semi-garbagetime. What really stood out in those minutes ws his leadership. He was running the show, absolutley, and looked every bit the steady vet. No fingerpointing, no shirking of duties, little selfish play. Just a new man. Seemed to take particular delight helping Donte to a second straight strong NBA caliber game. Actually not sure why Beno was getting so many late minutes -- played until about the midway of the 4th in a game that was out of reach. I know we were killing them with Reke, so maybe Sergio? In any case think ewestphal is either a gambler or just ignorant of Beno's own glassman injury history,and we can hardly afford to lose him too racking up minutes in a glorified scrummage.

Evans ( A ) -- got off to a fairly slow start in the first as quickness was trumping power at the start and the Warriors were showing help when he treid to post, but he had some highlights, including a great defensive block and save, and repeatedly penetrating, drawing attention, and kicking the ball out to Casspi for wide open threes. And then, just like last night in Utah, the second quarter began and he just exploded again. At the 11:40 mark of the second quarter Reke had 2 points. 9 minutes later at the 2:24 mark he had 20. And as it was in Utah, Havoc reigned, physically overpowering everybody who got in his way, driving and kicking when cut off, scrapping on defense, and getting back on the defensive glass to take the d-board and go end to end. He chased Ellis from the game with fouls, just embarrassed Curry who had no chance, and showed the the strength to guard Stephen Jackson inside. After the break the Warriors were literally giving him 3-4 feet of space when guarding him, and Reke responded by seeming to take the time to work on his jumper. It wasn't on like it had been in Utah, but he finally hit a three for his only points in the third before coach called off the dogs and declared garbaetime. Now like anybody else, the notation always must be applied here that the Warriros will inflate your numbers, and overall I do not think this one was quite as impressive as the night before in Utah. But then again it was 23pts 8rebs on 55% shooting in 28 minutes before he sat out because we were whipping them so bad. Make that 35 minuntes and its 29 and 10. Make it 42 minutes and we're talking 34 and 12. Just as importantly, Reke's play is bleeding over and giving confidence to the entire team. So I'll straight A him for a second night just to distinguish him from all the other guys having good nights, even though I have a feeling there may come a time when this is Reke's A- game, or even B+ game.

 

[Bricklayer]

Casspi ( A- ) -- came in off the bench spotting up and firing. One three, then another, then a third, within the first 5 or 6 minutes of coming in. In fact was the only guy on the team to hit a three except Reke in his final shot, and Omri hit 4 of them. Took another step forward in looking like potentially a very good roleplaying starter in the future. Tonight had the act entirely down -- all of his FGs were threes, most on kickouts from Reke after penetration. Got on the glass as well -- actually came in the game for Spencer as part of a smallball shceme that saw hi logging most of his minutes at PF (where he;s actually taller than our backups at the position) and we did not lose anything. Grabbed 10 boards, got three steals. And dished out 5assists as well, helping Jason in particular get off after a slow start. One wart allowing me to "-" this, other than quite a bit of the prodcution coming in semi-garbagetime late, was that he missed all 4 of his FTs. don't think that's been a problem so far, so we'll just call it a blip.

Udoka ( C- ) -- not nearly as effective this time out, struggled as many roleplayers do in the GS scramble game -- just not enough offense to play that game adn with every opponent just coming down and launchng idiotic shots willy nilly it makes it hard ot bear down defesively on any one man. Struggled as we tried to isolate him in the post to make use of him offensively, and missed the jumper at the first half buzzer. Had none of that comzort zone he walked right onto the court with on Saturday.

Greene ( A- ) -- flying alley opp from Beno to start things off immediately + rand own the other way and played good defense on Jackson, crashed the glass for a foul, drove hard...and not a bad chucked three in the bunch. In the third missed a three, but had a nice strong finish along the baseline finishing through Randolph (really the only Warrior in Donte's class size/athletically). Then came up with a nifty nifty reverse layup. Closed the third with an alley oop to Thompson. And just continued flying around attackng the rim wiht that size and athleticism right through garbagetime on his way to a career high 17 points. Maybe got a tad silly there and regressed a bit toward the end, but it was normal young player silliness, not the cluelessness he often displayed last year. Not sure what to say here except that like Beno, Donte right now is playing like an entirely different player. Its like the light has suddenly turned on, and hs game right now is a pro's game -- it bears almost no resemblance to what he was doing last year. Fairly remarkable for whoever is responsible for htis welcome transformation, whetehr that be Donte, Westphal, one of the assistants, whoever. The guy we've seen the last couple of games clearly has an NBA future. The kid last year you weren't sure about.

Rodriguez ( INC ) -- in late in the 4th to replace Udoka, and immediately led off on the break with an alley oop to Greene. Unfortunately that was about it

Brockman ( INC ) -- garbagetime, but was active on the glass

Notes: we ran iso after iso in this in the post trying to punish the Warriros for their smalball. Looked like me coaching a computer game. But maybe too much in the end as it got fugly and inefficient for us as we repeatedly tried to feed guys who aren't primary scorers and ended up instead with turnovers and forced junk shots.

 

[IDidntDoDat]

Prediction: Tyreke - A

 

[VF21]

Request: I'd like to see a grade for Westphal this time, Brickie. I'm interested to see if your opinion is anywhere close to mine.

 

[IDidntDoDat]

Brick, dont overload yourself with grading every player tonight.

Just drop an A+ for the Kings and that's that!

 

[6th]

Brick, dont overload yourself with grading every player tonight.

Just drop an A+ for the Kings and that's that!

Step right up, Kings players, and collect your A pass.

 

[stevetaebo]

Boy this feels a tiny bit like 1998 again.

 

[HighFlyingMonkey]

And Bricklayer's Tyreke Evans mancrush continues

 

[Bricklayer]

And Bricklayer's Tyreke Evans mancrush continues

You know I have sat here for years swatting down pretender after pretender advanced as "the next great" for the Kings. Made a lot of fans of the various pretenders mad in the process. But they just didn't have "it". And "it" is hard to define, but its something you recognize after watching the league long enough. Forceful, indomitable, physically dominant. Maybe Ron could have had "it" if he wasn't nuts. Some nights he came close. Bonzi had "it" for 6 amazing games one April. But really the last player to have "it" for the Kings was Webb himself. Kevin never had it. Peja never had it. Bibby never had it. Brad obviously not. Spencer has an intriguing skillset, but as the softness became obvious, the chances of having it plummetted. Jason looks like he's running 1000 miles an hour just trying to keep up, that's not an it player trait. And I'm not quite ready to say yet that Reke 100% has "it", that he's the future face of the franchise. But I am saying that he may very well, that "it" is there to see in his game for all those able to discern it. He's got a chance. And if he's got a chance, so do we as a franchise. And coming from somebody who has mocked all the pretenders advanced over the years as "the next great", it should tell you something. He does things that only a handful of people can do and its causing people fits. And he's doing them in the first month of his first NBA season. If he keeps working, if he rounds out his game...

 

[MoneyMike916]

Whooooo!

 

[Emma]

Cosign MoneyMike. Has Buckets finally arrived?

 

[bajaden]

You know I have sat here for years swatting down pretender after pretender advanced as "the next great" for the Kings. Made a lot of fans of the various pretenders mad in the process. But they just didn't have "it". And "it" is hard to define, but its something you recognize after watching the league long enough. Forceful, indomitable, physically dominant. Maybe Ron could have had "it" if he wasn't nuts. Some nights he came close. Bonzi had "it" for 6 amazing games one April. But really the last player to have "it" for the Kings was Webb himself. Kevin never had it. Peja never had it. Bibby never had it. Brad obviously not. Spencer has an intriguing skillset, but as the softness became obvious, the chances of having it plummetted. Jason looks like he's running 1000 miles an hour just trying to keep up, that's not an it player trait. And I'm not quite ready to say yet that Reke 100% has "it", that he's the future face of the franchise. But I am saying that he may very well, that "it" is there to see in his game for all those able to discern it. He's got a chance. And if he's got a chance, so do we as a franchise. And coming from somebody who has mocked all the pretenders advanced over the years as "the next great", it should tell you something. He does things that only a handful of people can do and its causing people fits. And he's doing them in the first month of his first NBA season. If he keeps working, if he rounds out his game...

This will sound like I'm tooting my own horn, but what I'm really trying to do is validate what you just said. Well before the draft when everyone was speculating on who we should pick. I stated that right now in this draft, the Kings needed to pick a star. And the only two players in the draft that I thought could be stars were Griffin and Evans. I suggested that if we wern't lucky enough to get Griffin, then I would draft Evans. He just looked like a star to me. He had that special something, thats hard to define. I know at least one person agreed with me and I think it was Kingster. But my point is, that I believe your right. Yes, its still early, but my gut still tells me that we have a star in the making. Casspi could be the icing on the cake..

 

[bajaden]

A fun game tonight. In some ways amazing. We could actually go small and still be bigger than the Warriors. Which showed in the disparity of rebounds. It got a little sloppy at the end and kudo's to Westphal for calling a timeout and not allowing it to continue. Westphal deserves a lot of credit. The Kings are starting to look like a team with an identity. I couldn't say that for the last two years. Heart, hustle and no quit in them, along with defense that, though still a work in progess is starting to rear its head.

The players look like their starting to believe, and more importantly, their starting to trust each other on the floor. Too many players played well tonight for me to single them out. I'll leave that to Bricky. But I believe that a star is being born before our eyes in Tyreke. I thought he would be good. But I didn't think he would be this good this soon. Knock on wood...

I listened to the Warrior pre-game show before switching to the Kings broadcast. The all knowing Gary St. Jean was asked who would be the better player. Point guard being implied. He picked Curry, with some dumb analogy about there only being one point guard that had size and that it was Magic, or some such nonsense. At halftime, the announcers were saying that for the Warriors to win the game, someone had to be able to stay in front of Evans. That his penetration was breaking down the Warrior defense. ( I didn't know that the Warriors had a defense )

After our post game show, I switched back to Mr. St. Jean and company. I think he has changed his tune. He mentioned that Tyreke was too strong for Curry to guard. He failed to mention that Tyreke was too strong for Ellis to guard. I'm starting to have fun... And its been a while. Were not going to the playoffs. But I think were going to make a few statements along the way. And, maybe play the role of spoilers at the end.

 

[CruzDude]

THAT was a fun game to watch with best defense being a great offense. But the Kings played good defense frequently and everyone but K9 played. So...

A for Tyreke, Beno, JT and Casspi.
B for Hawes, Donte,
C for Udoka, Sergio, Brockman
D for Noce (hey, you can't have great game EVERY game but look what he did to Jazz)
K9 and May DNP/CD

 

[rhythmless]

You know I have sat here for years swatting down pretender after pretender advanced as "the next great" for the Kings. Made a lot of fans of the various pretenders mad in the process. But they just didn't have "it". And "it" is hard to define, but its something you recognize after watching the league long enough. Forceful, indomitable, physically dominant. Maybe Ron could have had "it" if he wasn't nuts. Some nights he came close. Bonzi had "it" for 6 amazing games one April. But really the last player to have "it" for the Kings was Webb himself. Kevin never had it. Peja never had it. Bibby never had it. Brad obviously not. Spencer has an intriguing skillset, but as the softness became obvious, the chances of having it plummetted. Jason looks like he's running 1000 miles an hour just trying to keep up, that's not an it player trait. And I'm not quite ready to say yet that Reke 100% has "it", that he's the future face of the franchise. But I am saying that he may very well, that "it" is there to see in his game for all those able to discern it. He's got a chance. And if he's got a chance, so do we as a franchise. And coming from somebody who has mocked all the pretenders advanced over the years as "the next great", it should tell you something. He does things that only a handful of people can do and its causing people fits. And he's doing them in the first month of his first NBA season. If he keeps working, if he rounds out his game...

"It," imo, is the ability to not only impose your will and tempo against the other team, but to have them think about your will and tempo, regardless of whether it is fully there on a given night. Kmart, Chris Bosh, these guys are #1 guys who do not have "it." Even If Kmart continues to do 30/5/3, does he have "it?" Bosh puts up spectacular numbers, but he hasn't shown "it." They score when there are opportunities, but the ones who have "it" score when there are none. Tyreke has the potential to have "it," but many before have had the same potential.

 

[Arkitect]

The style of game that Tyreke is capable of playing makes him the type of player that could be that franchise type guy. He is bigger, stronger, and quicker than most of the other guards in the league. He is able to penetrate at will. You can just see it coming. Once he is inside he can effectively pass out. There were multiple plays tonight where he sucked in 3 or 4 defenders and just left the shooters wide open or powered it over and around the guys who were trying to guard him. The key for superstar level players is whether he can make his team better and he seems to do that when he is on the floor. He is already near unstoppable offensively. The kid has the tools. The key for him to take that next step is being able to do it in crunch time. Obviously, 7 games into the season he hasn't had much chance to work on that part of his game. If he shows the ability to close out games consistently, look out.

 

[Eclipse]

You know I have sat here for years swatting down pretender after pretender advanced as "the next great" for the Kings. Made a lot of fans of the various pretenders mad in the process. But they just didn't have "it". And "it" is hard to define, but its something you recognize after watching the league long enough. Forceful, indomitable, physically dominant. Maybe Ron could have had "it" if he wasn't nuts. Some nights he came close. Bonzi had "it" for 6 amazing games one April. But really the last player to have "it" for the Kings was Webb himself. Kevin never had it. Peja never had it. Bibby never had it. Brad obviously not. Spencer has an intriguing skillset, but as the softness became obvious, the chances of having it plummetted. Jason looks like he's running 1000 miles an hour just trying to keep up, that's not an it player trait. And I'm not quite ready to say yet that Reke 100% has "it", that he's the future face of the franchise. But I am saying that he may very well, that "it" is there to see in his game for all those able to discern it. He's got a chance. And if he's got a chance, so do we as a franchise. And coming from somebody who has mocked all the pretenders advanced over the years as "the next great", it should tell you something. He does things that only a handful of people can do and its causing people fits. And he's doing them in the first month of his first NBA season. If he keeps working, if he rounds out his game...

It's been YEARS since I've enjoyed watching the Kings this much - in fact, since the Webber era. And, coicidentally, I see similarities between CWebb and Tyreke in the "It" department. Most notably, the ability to impose their will - not only on opponents but their own team. Also their obvious love & respect for the sport, above all else, their burning desire to win, and not get hung up on individual stats & performance. I do agree that it's difficult to put into words what "It" is, but whatever Webber had, Tyreke seems to have as well. I know it's way early to pile all of these accolades on him this early in his NBA career, but one can hope.

 

[Bricklayer]

Sorry, I had forgotten the poll.

 

[TheWileyVet]

-Great game tonight! I really like seeing our young players play well together. It makes me smile about the future. Beno had another great night. So far this season he has played really well. Maybe the right coach and a good kick in the *** was what he needed.


-I'd really like to see more of Donte Greene. Casspri needs to keep getting minutes too. We are gonna have a major log jam at 2 and 3 when Kmart and Cisco return. Hopefully we pull a trade to bring in a big man because we need somebody else to give Thompson and Hawes a break.

But for now I like playing small ball. We're pretty long - Greene is 6'11'', Casspi is 6'9'', and Evans is 6'6'' - so we would have quickness advantage without giving up too much height.



-Do I dare suggest we may play better without Kevin Martin? It's possible.. I noticed that our offense consisted of passing to Kmart and letting him try to create a shot. Although we did pulled similar offense against the Jazz in the 4th, we looked much more creative today and our offense was in a better rythym. Kev is definitely our best player, I just hope we can have the same flow when he gets back instead of being stagnant.



-On a final note: plz come to the games fans! Today there were def more seats empty than taken. I've been a big advocate of getting to home games thus far and I'm not gonna stop all season! We gotta support this team while we can!

Thats all and goooooo Kings!

 

[GoGoGadget]

Dammit. I could have actually watched this one.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

I listened to the Warrior pre-game show before switching to the Kings broadcast. The all knowing Gary St. Jean was asked who would be the better player. Point guard being implied. He picked Curry, with some dumb analogy about there only being one point guard that had size and that it was Magic, or some such nonsense. At halftime, the announcers were saying that for the Warriors to win the game, someone had to be able to stay in front of Evans. That his penetration was breaking down the Warrior defense. ( I didn't know that the Warriors had a defense )

After our post game show, I switched back to Mr. St. Jean and company. I think he has changed his tune. He mentioned that Tyreke was too strong for Curry to guard. He failed to mention that Tyreke was too strong for Ellis to guard.

I like how one game against Evans tends to change opponents' opinions from "he's not a point guard, he can't shoot, he can't pass" to "Mommy, make the bad man stop!"

 

[TheWileyVet]

I like how one game against Evans tends to change opponents' opinions from "he's not a point guard, he can't shoot, he can't pass" to "Mommy, make the bad man stop!"

i lol'd

 

[Widowmaker2k]

Casspi ( A- ) -- came in off the bench spotting up and firing. One three, then another, then a third, within the first 5 or 6 minutes of coming in. In fact was the only guy on the team to hit a three except Reke in his final shot, and Omri hit 4 of them. Took another step forward in looking like potentially a very good roleplaying starter in the future. Tonight had the act entirely down -- all of his FGs were threes, most on kickouts from Reke after penetration. Got on the glass as well -- actually came in the game for Spencer as part of a smallball shceme that saw hi logging most of his minutes at PF (where he;s actually taller than our backups at the position) and we did not lose anything. Grabbed 10 boards, got three steals. And dished out 5assists as well, helping Jason in particular get off after a slow start. One wart allowing me to "-" this, other than quite a bit of the prodcution coming in semi-garbagetime late, was that he missed all 4 of his FTs. don't think that's been a problem so far, so we'll just call it a blip.

Well, so far this season he's 25% from the line, but as he's a rookie and all, and a 23 pick at that, I'd let it slide. Eventually, the fact that he is an excellent shooter should allow him to correct his FT shooting woes. That's not a huge concern for me, however, seeing as that he has far surpassed expectations up to this point.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Well, so far this season he's 25% from the line, but as he's a rookie and all, and a 23 pick at that, I'd let it slide. Eventually, the fact that he is an excellent shooter should allow him to correct his FT shooting woes. That's not a huge concern for me, however, seeing as that he has far surpassed expectations up to this point.

Actually, Yahoo has him at 16.7%

Then again, after summer league I wasn't convinced he was a good shooter yet, and now his 3PT% is 53.3%. (That's probably worth another ) I'm confident that the FTs will come in time, and I wonder if it has more to do with too much time (and too little knee bend, it seemed last night) It looks like he shot 77% from the line last year at Maccabi so I'm about as unconcerned as you.

 

[Jkbiker]

I Want to give an A to Westphal for not playing Sean May!!!

Yeah I know, its the fact that we were playing Nellie Small-ball
But maybe it could be a trend? Hope, Hope

 

[kupman]

The Warriors don't even deserve an "F." The professor would ask them to just drop the class after the first week and may even go so far to to ask them to find another university. It looks like they have already quit on the season. pathetic.

 

[TTown Kings]

awesome, awesome game, so fun to watch...


DOOOOOONNNNNTTTTEEEEE!!!!!!!!

 

[FaStRmAn]

The Warriors don't even deserve an "F." The professor would ask them to just drop the class after the first week and may even go so far to to ask them to find another university. It looks like they have already quit on the season. pathetic.

As bad as the Warriors played, They are an NBA Franchise. There are 32 or so Franchises, so if you are in the NBA, you have talent on your team and on any given night your team should have a chance to win. Any win at home or on the road is an impressive win!!

My Grades:

(A+) Tyreke Evans: Single handedly trying to pick up the slack from Martin the porcelain doll. Has the ability to attack the rim at will. Getting double teams since his first game in the NBA. Name the last 5 players that were double teamed from their first season, Short list and all HOF candidates. Has the ability to score over the double team, or find the open man for the easier score. Has a magic bag of tricks around the hoop to score in many many different ways.Plays solid defense. Doesn't leave his feet on head and shoulder fakes. That is solid veteran like defense. Quick enough to get to the rim and strong enough to score even after being bumped on the shot. OMG this player could be the ONE. Is greatness making it's appearance in Sacramento? Only time will tell. R O T Y is starting to look like a REAL POSSIBILITY! He has all the moves, skills, athleticism, and heart. Kid has it all, and he makes players around him B E T T E R!! It took MJ 5 seasons to figure out that he couldn't do it alone. This kid knows he only goes as far as his team takes him. We need to keep this kid happy, give him the max deal, and bring in as much talent as we can afford. 2-3 years down the road this team will be an unstoppable force, as other teams in the west are just starting to wind down from their talent getting older. Evans is our "E" ticket to being relevant again! He needs to work on his consistency and his outside jumper, that is looking a lot better these days (Thanks Coachie!!)

(B+) Omri Casspi: This cat has the hustle and the motor that just dont stop. he is everywhere and going after the ball. That steal and pass to Beno for the score in the 4th was a masterpiece of hustle and unselfish play. He just wants to win! His outside stroke is Peja Like. Maybe not as automatic, but he has skills hitting the 3 ball. His defense is pesky and causes turnovers. He is a pest that can guard the 3 and 4, maybe even the 2 at times. Love his game. Reminds me of a Hedo Turkolu, but about 4 seasons ahead of schedule. Casspi is doing his country proud

(B) Beno Udrich: Welcome back Beno. The flair and the confidence are back! He is a great little scat back that can really cause a defense fits. His shooting is a bonus, because he has the ability to distribute and find the open player on the offensive sets better than anyone else on the team. Good Job Beno, keep up the good work!! Needs to improve on the defensive end but he at least has bigs who will come over and help now.

(B-) Brockman: Brings toughness when needed under the boards so the Kings do not get bullied out of the paint and outworked going for the Rebounds. John brings the toughness and a knack of finding the ball coming off the rim. And he gets him self there with sneaky speed and jumping ability that he does not seem to possess when taken at first glance. He has the unteachable skills for knowing where the ball is going to come off the rim, gets to the spot where the ball is coming down, and works hard to seal his man under the basket to get the rebound. He is an impressive specimen who works harder and longer to make up for what he lacks in size and flash. A blue Collar work horse that wont get a lot of credit, but will get a lot of rebounds. That is just what the Kings needed. ANY offense by Brockman will be just added bonus. Put backs and tip ins are his offensive standards. All he needs to do is go get the ball, and get it to a guard asap for the Kings to trigger their offense. Any Offensive rebounds or put backs he gets are absolutely a bonus! I really love the way this kid works HARD.

(B+) Donte Greene: This Kid needed to grow up. He has all the skills in the world in his favor, but last year he was too much into video games, face book, the "Donte Greene" show, and way too many other non-NBA distractions. I was very disappointed by his play during the end of last season and I think the demotion to Reno for a few games got him to thinking about what he really wanted from his NBA Career. I think he wants to succeed, and Paul Westphal has given him the path he needs to follow to succeed. I think with this new coach and the efforts by Donte Himself seeing the end of his rookie contract, he has finally started making the necessary effort in his offensive game AND the area where he has really struggled which is on defensive. How he plays defense, rebounds the ball, and his shot selection will either keep him on the floor or earn him a trip to the bench. The one aspect of Donte's game that has kept him off the court in the past was his total disregard for the defensive end of the court. Since he cant dunk on defense, he had pretty much given up learning anything about defense. In College he was not taught man to man defense. But I believe Paul Westphall has gotten into Greene's ear and has straightened out his perceptions of how the NBA really works and how a player has to be either Exceptionally good at offense or defense, or he has to be professional at both ends and make a good effort. Donte has responded by playing much better team defense and one on one defense this season. This has equated into more playing time for Greene. The Kings desperately need an athletic 6-11" player with skills, and Donte could be that cat! If he can guard the 3 and 4 positions, while playing the offense he has shown by draining the 3 balls within the context of the offense, and going in after offensive rebounds, he is going to be a big contributor on this Kings team! I am really pulling for Greene to have a breakout season. Comeback player of the year anyone??

(B-) Spencer Hawes: Has the ability to score in the low block when he is given room to work. Has an outside game, but he needs to tone down his 3 point shooting just a bit. Where he really needs to work is at the defensive end. Centers in the league are all moving toward smaller, faster players who can score inside and out. Hawes isnt naturally fast, but he can work on his rebounding and footwork around the basket to improve his inside scoring. He has the skills to be a very good center. I am glad that Westphal benched him at the beginning of the season! It kind of woke Spencer up and let him know that no one just gets handed playing time, it has to be earned. There will be games where his outside shot will really help the Kings draw the opposition's center away from the basket to allow for the slashers we have to operate. But hoisting up threes by Spencer has to be limited because his percentage isn't great. The Threat of making those 3's is enough to draw centers out to guard him. That is a great weapon to have and really helps the whole team to succeed. I think Hawes is going to be a very good center if he continues to work out and get stronger every year. He might be ready to really blossom just in time for the younger player to come together and make the playoff push 2-3 years from now. He just needs to keep working on his defense, because he is getting bullied around the rim. Against teams that dont have a true center, Hawes is as effective as any player on the Kings. He has a bright future and if he keeps working hard, he will be a center for years to come on the Kings. He is durable and consistent. Maybe a Chris Kaman type with more offense down the road. I am pulling for this kid to succeed!!

I really like the young nucleus of this Kings team. Petrie flushed all the deadwood out of town, but it cost us a chance at a decent record last season, and has effected the beginning of this season. Petrie is building for the long term through the draft. It is the only way a small market team like the Kings can compete. It's just like baseball, the Kings need to draft smart and rely on those drafted players to turn out to be contributors. Sprinkle in some free agent vets that are not top tier, but can play basketball (like Udoka). That is the recipe for victories here in Sacramento, one of the smallest markets to HAVE a professional sport franchise of ANY league.

We are L U C K Y to have the K I N G S and we should do everything to help the Maloofs to get a new arena going in the right direction. The economy will get better despite the Governments best efforts to undermine the free market economy and delaying the actual recovery. When it does recover, we need to secure funding for the new arena and get a start date and break ground! The Downtown site is the BEST PLAN! Totally Revitalizing the rail yards and making what is now an eyesore into the GEM of the downtown area. But people need to let go of the mud that Heather Fargo threw all over the Kings and their owners. She was so ANTI KINGS that she did everything in her power to block or derail any attempts at positive measures to take to make Sacramento a first class community. Fargo was only interested in her own reelection, not in what was best for Sacramento, or the region in general. What a relief that she is gone. A lead weight holding this town back from becoming a well planned community that is projected to grow like crazy after the economy turns around. There will be a new arena, but it wont be at Cal Expo. The 2 sites are Downtown, which in my opinion is the best option, or back out in Natomas on the land the Maloofs already own. The Downtown option has the potential to create a downtown hub of business, activity, and commerce that will help this region bring jobs BACK to the state, not run them off like the politicians have done for the last 10 years. With server visualization, many companies are finding ways to do business in California without even being in California. that means no jobs for Californians. These companies need to be singled out and not patronized. Californians need to help other Californians by supporting jobs here in California, and boycotting companies that are leeching the jobs out of the state!! But enough politics!! Downtown would be great, perhaps even having a lite rail spur go out to the airport! That would be awesome!! The Old Arco Arena site would do, but it would not generate the extra revenue for the region, nor improve our chances at hosting an all star game that draws millions in revenue for the region. Downtown is where it's at. Petrie is getting the team together to win, all we need now is some fans to fill the stands!! This club is on the way up. It's time to trade oft injured players like Martin and Garcia for draft picks and solid NBA players who will make a difference for 82 games a year. Martin will fetch a really good player in return and a draft pick. Garcia will fetch a good draft pick in return at the least. More good drafts by Petrie, who has done a fine job drafting players who are immediate impact players has been key in the Kings resurgence. Sure he made some mistakes (Douby) but for the most part Petrie has done a good job finding talent even in the lower picks in the draft (Casspi, Greene). Give this Kings team some continuity and let the team come together to form a good young team that will grow together into a playoff contender. The young players on this team are all about the same age, and there will be times when the youth causes lapses in play. But the last 2 nights have proven to me that the Kings are headed in the right direction and just need to keep doing what they have been doing to succeed!!

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

Im happy that it looks like Donte has grabbed the K9, Sean May, Brockman minutes. Hopefully he keeps them.

 

[Kingsguy881]

Helluva game by the Kings. Was a lot of fun to watch. My buddy is a Warriors fan and the smack started an hour before tip off. An hour after tip off all you could hear was my chuckles. Got the kids in bed and proceeded to continue the Sacramento domination of the Bay by slapping him silly on the xbox.

What is there to say about Tyreke that hasn't been said? Not like everything I predicted about him has come true in 7 games, but those who were his detractors, their arguments are getting quieter and more scattered, grasping at straws and full of plain denial and closemindedness. And some of them aren't even posting anymore, it's like they were just here to complain and when things are going well they have nothing to say? I don't get it.

Beno has been reborn, I think a combo of a good coach and a kick in his rear have made him come out and actually put forth effort, and it's paying off for him.

Loving JT, he hasn't been as celebrated recently but he has been very VERY solid from the ft line and with his face up jumper. Seen a LOT of improvement in his around the bucket game, and even threw in a nice lefty hook last night, that was a VERY promising sign as he looked very comfortable executing it.

Hawes needs to step up his aggressiveness and he needs to stay on the low block. I like that he can step out and hit a jumper but he shouldn't be shooting jumpers until he has 10-15 points in the paint.

Westphal Westphal Westphal. Love this guy. Love his timeouts, love his control over the team, love his demeanor, love his sarcastic humor, love his rotations, love love love this coach.

I'm fired up! The future of this team looks very bright indeed. Now we just need to keep them together and let them grow as a unit. The only way to go is up!