Report Card: Midterm Grades (Don't show mom!)

#1
Sports 1140 was doing midterm grades this morning, so I thought we should do the same and see how everyone feels about our Kings so far. It's been a rough start, and even though first-half grades may not reflect how much better the Kings are playing right now with artest, let's hear em!

I don't have time to go through each player right now, but as a team I'm giving the Kings a D+. Sounds a little harsh, but coming into the season I was definitely expecting a lot. The Kings looked really good on paper, and with a core of Peja-Bibby-Miller, I thought the Kings would be atleast mediocre. As we found out they played subpar most of the season, and are struggling to get to .500.

The Kings simply fail on attendance. They have failed to show up every night and consistency has been a problem. Nonetheless our first and second year men Cisco and KMart have showed great improvement since the beginning of the year, and its always exciting to see players mature and develop through the course of one season.

With that said, our new student Artest has brought a new dimension to the Kings, and hopefully with this squad they can put a playoff run together for the second half of the season.

Kings Team Grade: D+
 
#2
Kings grade for the first three months of the season: D

Kings grade for the last three weeks: B: the effort that was missing the first three months is finally there for this team. They are getting solid contributions from the young guys, Bibby and Miller alternate stepping up, and Ron's enthusiasm for the game is contagious. The results (6-5) are better, but still not where we need to be if we want to finish .500 and in the playoffs, but we are close. Plus, something that I couldn't say three weeks ago: I am excited to see how this team finishes out and where we go from here!!! Suddenly fun to be a Kings fan again, that has to count for something!
 
#3

I too am intrigued about how they will finish the season. I'd love to see them jump all the way to the 6th spot, but that's wishful thinking. The effort has improved, and that was my biggest complaint. Getting Bonzi back will make it interesting too. I really feel for him, he came to a team that expected to compete and turned into an underperformer. Add his injuries to that and the excellent play of Kevin Martin in his place, and this is not the "Contract" year anyone would want. I think Bonzi should sign a one year w/the Kings and make next years trip to the WCf his "Contract" year. As for the team grade for the first half, I say D+, with the plus for

BEATING THE LAKERS!!!:cool:
 
#6
VF21 said:
Team grade so far: INC
Good point.

But it's quite obvious that the post All Star Break Kings will be a TOTALLY different team from the prebreak team. We've seen signs, and it's really going to come to fruition and the Kings will make the playoffs...and could do damage once they get there. Clearly I'm feeling confident about this team right now.

That said, the team that existed before this new incarnation that we are witnessing deserved a D. The only reason it's not an F is because of the injuries that they had to work through, but the effort and passion was completely absent.