Two sodas - $2. One arena dog - $4.75. Two beers after standing in a 200 foot long line for 25 minutes - $2. Garlic fries - $6. Evans stopping Arenas as I stood covering half of my face in nervous anticipation, then sealing the win from the line... - freakin' priceless.
Big thanks to Kingsfans.com- and 6th in particular. I lost my voice.
The rest of the Kingsfans members in attendance could probably attest to a belief I've always held: there really are no bad seats at Arco Arena. I was in section 210, row G, seats 1&2. So I had a mid-upper bowl corner view the entire game. The players appeared to be bigger than they appear in my living room on a 32 inch widescreen TV sitting 14 feet away - when they're panned out to view the entire court. The game was a bit hard to follow. It's always easier to guage a player's effectiveness when you have constant stat updates, but I will give my best effort to summarize and grade the game anyway. (Kudos to the fans in attendance, the beer apparently played no factor in any confrontations that I know of. Shows class.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, there needs to be something done about our bigs. To my surprise Spencer Hawes started the game on the bench. I thought he was injured and I just didn't hear about it. Can you imagine how much more surprised I was when he magically appeared in the third? Then I understood: he must be being punished. You can start two small forwards and a power forward against the Wizards - theoretically. Antawn Jamison noticed the mismatch and put up 20 points before the half. Thompson had a mismatch against Haywood, but it seemed as though he was a little under utilized. The issue is not with Thompson, however. Thompson is in breakout mode and compliments Evans and Casspi well. If only we had someone (Okafor) to help anchor our front line and stop the abuse at C.
Ah, Spencer. Why must you make the coaching staff punish you? I noticed a bit more uniformity in the team's play while you were on the court. You played well while you were out there, you only blew it big time against Arenas once. But you have to sleep in the bed you make. Step it up, Cleveland and L.A. are big. And they're right around the corner.
......................................................................................................
Watching Evans play live is like no other sporting experience I've ever had before. He put on a show, impressed a national audience, and probably gave us immortal superstar highlight #1 with that steal from Arenas in crunchtime. Call me selfish, diluted, whatever; but I thought that he played a B- game up until that point. That steal wipes away the missed FT's and the small stretch of selfish play that got him benched in the middle of the game. I am glad he's not afraid to get himself into the lane and sacrifice his body, I just want him to develop a consistent draw and kick as a bail out plan.
Casspi was awesome. Crazy awesome. The odd box score did not tell half of the story. You had to be in the arena to get the vibe he puts out. Casspi plays like an angry samurai at all times. Every time he chucked a three I thought it would go in. Every time he had the ball he was in attack mode. If he doesn't have the ball he is always moving, dragging his defender around, causing general disarray. His size and toughness complement his scrappy style of play. I was actually most excited about Geoff picking him, because Geoff makes the magic happen right around pick 23. I'm happy that I chose his jersey as my first ever Kings Jersey. Watching him develop is gonna be highly entertaining.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Awards:
TDM - I'll give it to Earl Boykins. I'm 5'5" 150. He's 5'5" 135. He's an okay 32 year old vet in a league filled with genetic freak shows. Pretty inspiring.
LW-VC - Deshawn Stevenson. He's a starter?
JHA - Spencer Hawes. We no longer expect much of you Spencer, and you didn't get to do much. Thus, this is your award.
RA & 1 - Randy Foye. What is he doing for that team?
SAR - Methuselah - Haywood. Effectively contained.
WTF moment of the game - Stolen inbounds pass with the crowd on it's feet places the game in jeopardy. Not smooth.
I'm tempted to expound upon Piksi's matchups, but I think that's better left to him, should he decide to expand.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here come the T Wolves. They lost to us, beat Utah in Utah, stunk it up against the Clips, and now they're back. I don't believe they will pose a serious threat. Flynn vs. Evans will just be a replay, Haws/Thompson vs. Jefferson/Love could give us problems, but we simply overpower and outplay them at too many positions. Ryan Gomes is injured. The more I look at the matchups, the better it looks for us.
Predictions:
Kings 109 Wolves 94
Pts: Evans 26 Jefferson 22
Rbds: Thompson 11 Love 13
Asts: Udrih 6 Flynn 5
Blocks: Greene 2 Jefferson 2
This is almost a sleepwalk game. The only problem may be us not taking the Wolves seriously enough. But seriously, how serious should they be taken? We should finally get that road win #2, and inch back to within a game of .500. With the Bucks on the second night of this back to back, and the Bulls not far removed, we have a good chance of being even before we meet the grinder (Lebrons and Kobes). WOOT, what a time!
GO KINGS!!!
Big thanks to Kingsfans.com- and 6th in particular. I lost my voice.
The rest of the Kingsfans members in attendance could probably attest to a belief I've always held: there really are no bad seats at Arco Arena. I was in section 210, row G, seats 1&2. So I had a mid-upper bowl corner view the entire game. The players appeared to be bigger than they appear in my living room on a 32 inch widescreen TV sitting 14 feet away - when they're panned out to view the entire court. The game was a bit hard to follow. It's always easier to guage a player's effectiveness when you have constant stat updates, but I will give my best effort to summarize and grade the game anyway. (Kudos to the fans in attendance, the beer apparently played no factor in any confrontations that I know of. Shows class.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, there needs to be something done about our bigs. To my surprise Spencer Hawes started the game on the bench. I thought he was injured and I just didn't hear about it. Can you imagine how much more surprised I was when he magically appeared in the third? Then I understood: he must be being punished. You can start two small forwards and a power forward against the Wizards - theoretically. Antawn Jamison noticed the mismatch and put up 20 points before the half. Thompson had a mismatch against Haywood, but it seemed as though he was a little under utilized. The issue is not with Thompson, however. Thompson is in breakout mode and compliments Evans and Casspi well. If only we had someone (Okafor) to help anchor our front line and stop the abuse at C.
Ah, Spencer. Why must you make the coaching staff punish you? I noticed a bit more uniformity in the team's play while you were on the court. You played well while you were out there, you only blew it big time against Arenas once. But you have to sleep in the bed you make. Step it up, Cleveland and L.A. are big. And they're right around the corner.
......................................................................................................
Watching Evans play live is like no other sporting experience I've ever had before. He put on a show, impressed a national audience, and probably gave us immortal superstar highlight #1 with that steal from Arenas in crunchtime. Call me selfish, diluted, whatever; but I thought that he played a B- game up until that point. That steal wipes away the missed FT's and the small stretch of selfish play that got him benched in the middle of the game. I am glad he's not afraid to get himself into the lane and sacrifice his body, I just want him to develop a consistent draw and kick as a bail out plan.
Casspi was awesome. Crazy awesome. The odd box score did not tell half of the story. You had to be in the arena to get the vibe he puts out. Casspi plays like an angry samurai at all times. Every time he chucked a three I thought it would go in. Every time he had the ball he was in attack mode. If he doesn't have the ball he is always moving, dragging his defender around, causing general disarray. His size and toughness complement his scrappy style of play. I was actually most excited about Geoff picking him, because Geoff makes the magic happen right around pick 23. I'm happy that I chose his jersey as my first ever Kings Jersey. Watching him develop is gonna be highly entertaining.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Awards:
TDM - I'll give it to Earl Boykins. I'm 5'5" 150. He's 5'5" 135. He's an okay 32 year old vet in a league filled with genetic freak shows. Pretty inspiring.
LW-VC - Deshawn Stevenson. He's a starter?
JHA - Spencer Hawes. We no longer expect much of you Spencer, and you didn't get to do much. Thus, this is your award.
RA & 1 - Randy Foye. What is he doing for that team?
SAR - Methuselah - Haywood. Effectively contained.
WTF moment of the game - Stolen inbounds pass with the crowd on it's feet places the game in jeopardy. Not smooth.
I'm tempted to expound upon Piksi's matchups, but I think that's better left to him, should he decide to expand.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here come the T Wolves. They lost to us, beat Utah in Utah, stunk it up against the Clips, and now they're back. I don't believe they will pose a serious threat. Flynn vs. Evans will just be a replay, Haws/Thompson vs. Jefferson/Love could give us problems, but we simply overpower and outplay them at too many positions. Ryan Gomes is injured. The more I look at the matchups, the better it looks for us.
Predictions:
Kings 109 Wolves 94
Pts: Evans 26 Jefferson 22
Rbds: Thompson 11 Love 13
Asts: Udrih 6 Flynn 5
Blocks: Greene 2 Jefferson 2
This is almost a sleepwalk game. The only problem may be us not taking the Wolves seriously enough. But seriously, how serious should they be taken? We should finally get that road win #2, and inch back to within a game of .500. With the Bucks on the second night of this back to back, and the Bulls not far removed, we have a good chance of being even before we meet the grinder (Lebrons and Kobes). WOOT, what a time!
GO KINGS!!!
Last edited:
