piksi
Hall of Famer
Finally, Kings have found their master in giving away games down the stretch. In a text book choke mixed in with some clutch play by the Kings - Grizzlies gave it us since they don't need it and don't want it anyways. We really can't need it either but we weren't too proud to take it and improve the record to 14-20 for the season which is 10 worst in the NBA and with a win against the very sucky Pacers we could climb to the 13th worst in the NBA making a Hawes pick look like a lottery. And no, we won't make the playoffs. We won't even be top 10 in the West. Kings are on the 2 game winning streak and 2-0 on a 4 game home stand with Pacers and Mavs to come. Kings have been playing .500 ball - clear sign of upcoming mediocrity that seams to have found home right here in Sacramento threatening to stay for good.
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I am continuing my advertisement for importance of draft picks using this time the Grizzlies as an example. Now - they are a young team. Gay and Conley sure look good Respectively 8th and 4th pick in the NBA draft the last 2 seasons. Memphis has another high pick coming up this year because they know how to do it right. Their upside is way above our and their future at least from the present stand point looks good. We do have things in common too. Neither team made post season last year and neither will make it this season. Unfortunately, at some point - they might get into position to be in the mix.
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Us on the other hand if things stay the same - we will "compete" each and every night, get win against the teams in rebuilding process and some scheduling wins too - all in all to stay mediocre. We will continue to be the leader in number of MLE contracts and signing a high caliber players will only work via blackmail or kidnapping. Luckily for us - the NBA will never run out of "Mikki Moore" type of players who need someone to give them 17 millions for 3 years - easy money and a summer vacation from April 15th to October, each and every year. We will have good wins and the team will be "fun" on regular occasions. We can always go back to the golden era because the memories of good things don't fade this quickly but experience something like this again - will stay a dream. And if it happens again - will the Kings be in Sacramento ?
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Soon we will be getting our "starters" back and some of them will hopefully play well enough to be traded to Cavs and Heats of the world giving us hope. The 3 guys that a playing substitutes to the starter position gave us 75 pts, with 54 % from the field,14rb,11a, 6 st and 6 TOs. Those numbers might have been produced by Bibby, Martin and Artest on very rare occasion too but the offensive efficiency is remarkable. More so because it is coming from guys that have never had the opportunity to play this much and carry the load. However, when we are at full strength - it doesn't automatically mean the the team will raise to a level above the one that we are playing. Chemistry is more important than it is given credit. Are the starters going to be as effective ? Will they share the ball this well ? Will the defense and the effort be there ? Will the guys off the bench be able to adjust to not playing and matter as much anymore ? How will they guys respond who will completely lose the PT like Hawes and QD. Even at the best case scenario - we will remain mediocre. We have 48 games left and only 15 against the East. I don't even have to mention how brutal is the Western conference.
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Charles Barkley manage yet again to show his level of pathetic. And I blame myslef for switching to TNT to see the half time show of the 2nd game but I wanted to hear it because sometimes he does say something that makes sense. Nothing has changed - we still suck and should rebuild which is something that He and I agree on but I would have never say it on national TV. And then bringing up DC wife and playing clever and funny - that is vintage CB. Basically, only thing that he is good at is kissing donkey's behind.
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I can't believe - I saw one of the Maloofs jumping and screaming after Cisco hit the three - as if Kings have won the championship and not barely beat a 10-26 team that didn't want to win and even if it wanted - didn't know how. Now - if that happens in 1999 or 2000 - it is understandable but after 2002 and 2003 - it just looks kinda pathetic. Maybe - that is just the way I see it but it was just sort of inappropriate in a way. Don't get me wrong - when Cisco hit the shot - it was normal to get happy and show some emotions because we do care but there is a measure at everything or at least they should be. Makes me wonder whether they have lost a touch with the "reality" a little. Reminds me of a gambler who just won a million $ playing black jack and he is very happy about it disregarding the fact that ha has lost about 10 millions the night before.
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The game last night was as expected. When 2 poor teams play each other there are always swings in result because neither team is capable of playing on a high level for the long stretches. Usually such games end in a close finish which regularly turns into tragicomedy. For me it is always fun to watch which team will be the one that will be more pathetic. This time - Grizzlies won that contest in a dominating fashion. Kings were trailing for almost 3/4 of the game and then they were right there profiting from the Grizzlies inability not to play retarded down the stretch. We won the rebounding battle and we had 6 more assists than turnovers. Ended up being just enough to survive and bring us the all important victory #14.
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AWARD NIGHT
TDM award goes to Conley for the first but not the last time in his 11 NBA games long career. He scored his career high and that is enough for the award any day
LW-VC went to Darko but it is a borderline one because he didn't really suck much but he could have done more
RA&1 award went to Navaro. It is my pleasure to give it to him and to wish him many, many more in the future. This is on a personal level. What Leandro Barbosa is for the Kings - Navaro is for Serbia on international level.
DC-DT award goes to John Salmons for not only playing sick but playing well
WTF moment of the game - I was going to give it to Iavaroni because he gave me headache until I saw a Maloof jumping trough the roof. It was a clutch play and Iavaroni just like his team are going home empty handed.
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Pacers are next and they are stinking it up big time which might not mean anything. They have lost 8/9 games recently. They are 0-3 on the 5 game West Coast road trip and might very well go home with 0-5 as they will be a victim to the Warriors in the back to back game on Sunday. So they are seeing this game as winnable but so do we. They yet again won have to face Ron which is good just in case. They have been playing without JO lately, they don't really defend and it might very wll be the carbon copy of the game from last night. A game with lots of lead changes and a close tragicomedy at the end. It should be fun to watch.
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Salmons - sick or healthy - I like it
Cisco - the last shot made up for a mediocre game that he had being himself yet again
Beno - more assists that turnovers would be nice
Brad - nice
Mikki - fouled out again - just because
Hawes - needs more PT
Williams - also
QD - hit some big shots, made some mistakes that drove me crazy - all in all Cisco II
Jones - not a guy who should try to do too much. When he loses control - worse than Cisco
KT - phenomenal right to the moment where Cisco hit the shot where he showed how much he cares which is as much as we care about him playing.
Coach T - good
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Pacers are 16-21 which is as good as us and but they do have chances to get to the post season because they play in the East. They are 8-12 on the road but they are very inconsistent and have injuries on their own. Granger is finally showing that he will not stay just a potential playing really well this season. The ex Warriors have been decent too. TDM will go to Rush or Foster. Hard to go against either one. LW-VC will go to Tinsley. Other awards possible. Kings make it 3 in a row just to make us - who want to rebuild badly - crazy
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I am continuing my advertisement for importance of draft picks using this time the Grizzlies as an example. Now - they are a young team. Gay and Conley sure look good Respectively 8th and 4th pick in the NBA draft the last 2 seasons. Memphis has another high pick coming up this year because they know how to do it right. Their upside is way above our and their future at least from the present stand point looks good. We do have things in common too. Neither team made post season last year and neither will make it this season. Unfortunately, at some point - they might get into position to be in the mix.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Us on the other hand if things stay the same - we will "compete" each and every night, get win against the teams in rebuilding process and some scheduling wins too - all in all to stay mediocre. We will continue to be the leader in number of MLE contracts and signing a high caliber players will only work via blackmail or kidnapping. Luckily for us - the NBA will never run out of "Mikki Moore" type of players who need someone to give them 17 millions for 3 years - easy money and a summer vacation from April 15th to October, each and every year. We will have good wins and the team will be "fun" on regular occasions. We can always go back to the golden era because the memories of good things don't fade this quickly but experience something like this again - will stay a dream. And if it happens again - will the Kings be in Sacramento ?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Soon we will be getting our "starters" back and some of them will hopefully play well enough to be traded to Cavs and Heats of the world giving us hope. The 3 guys that a playing substitutes to the starter position gave us 75 pts, with 54 % from the field,14rb,11a, 6 st and 6 TOs. Those numbers might have been produced by Bibby, Martin and Artest on very rare occasion too but the offensive efficiency is remarkable. More so because it is coming from guys that have never had the opportunity to play this much and carry the load. However, when we are at full strength - it doesn't automatically mean the the team will raise to a level above the one that we are playing. Chemistry is more important than it is given credit. Are the starters going to be as effective ? Will they share the ball this well ? Will the defense and the effort be there ? Will the guys off the bench be able to adjust to not playing and matter as much anymore ? How will they guys respond who will completely lose the PT like Hawes and QD. Even at the best case scenario - we will remain mediocre. We have 48 games left and only 15 against the East. I don't even have to mention how brutal is the Western conference.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Charles Barkley manage yet again to show his level of pathetic. And I blame myslef for switching to TNT to see the half time show of the 2nd game but I wanted to hear it because sometimes he does say something that makes sense. Nothing has changed - we still suck and should rebuild which is something that He and I agree on but I would have never say it on national TV. And then bringing up DC wife and playing clever and funny - that is vintage CB. Basically, only thing that he is good at is kissing donkey's behind.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can't believe - I saw one of the Maloofs jumping and screaming after Cisco hit the three - as if Kings have won the championship and not barely beat a 10-26 team that didn't want to win and even if it wanted - didn't know how. Now - if that happens in 1999 or 2000 - it is understandable but after 2002 and 2003 - it just looks kinda pathetic. Maybe - that is just the way I see it but it was just sort of inappropriate in a way. Don't get me wrong - when Cisco hit the shot - it was normal to get happy and show some emotions because we do care but there is a measure at everything or at least they should be. Makes me wonder whether they have lost a touch with the "reality" a little. Reminds me of a gambler who just won a million $ playing black jack and he is very happy about it disregarding the fact that ha has lost about 10 millions the night before.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The game last night was as expected. When 2 poor teams play each other there are always swings in result because neither team is capable of playing on a high level for the long stretches. Usually such games end in a close finish which regularly turns into tragicomedy. For me it is always fun to watch which team will be the one that will be more pathetic. This time - Grizzlies won that contest in a dominating fashion. Kings were trailing for almost 3/4 of the game and then they were right there profiting from the Grizzlies inability not to play retarded down the stretch. We won the rebounding battle and we had 6 more assists than turnovers. Ended up being just enough to survive and bring us the all important victory #14.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
AWARD NIGHT
TDM award goes to Conley for the first but not the last time in his 11 NBA games long career. He scored his career high and that is enough for the award any day
LW-VC went to Darko but it is a borderline one because he didn't really suck much but he could have done more
RA&1 award went to Navaro. It is my pleasure to give it to him and to wish him many, many more in the future. This is on a personal level. What Leandro Barbosa is for the Kings - Navaro is for Serbia on international level.
DC-DT award goes to John Salmons for not only playing sick but playing well
WTF moment of the game - I was going to give it to Iavaroni because he gave me headache until I saw a Maloof jumping trough the roof. It was a clutch play and Iavaroni just like his team are going home empty handed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacers are next and they are stinking it up big time which might not mean anything. They have lost 8/9 games recently. They are 0-3 on the 5 game West Coast road trip and might very well go home with 0-5 as they will be a victim to the Warriors in the back to back game on Sunday. So they are seeing this game as winnable but so do we. They yet again won have to face Ron which is good just in case. They have been playing without JO lately, they don't really defend and it might very wll be the carbon copy of the game from last night. A game with lots of lead changes and a close tragicomedy at the end. It should be fun to watch.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Salmons - sick or healthy - I like it
Cisco - the last shot made up for a mediocre game that he had being himself yet again
Beno - more assists that turnovers would be nice
Brad - nice
Mikki - fouled out again - just because
Hawes - needs more PT
Williams - also
QD - hit some big shots, made some mistakes that drove me crazy - all in all Cisco II
Jones - not a guy who should try to do too much. When he loses control - worse than Cisco
KT - phenomenal right to the moment where Cisco hit the shot where he showed how much he cares which is as much as we care about him playing.
Coach T - good
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacers are 16-21 which is as good as us and but they do have chances to get to the post season because they play in the East. They are 8-12 on the road but they are very inconsistent and have injuries on their own. Granger is finally showing that he will not stay just a potential playing really well this season. The ex Warriors have been decent too. TDM will go to Rush or Foster. Hard to go against either one. LW-VC will go to Tinsley. Other awards possible. Kings make it 3 in a row just to make us - who want to rebuild badly - crazy
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