Watch Kings Open Practice LIVE on Kings.com

[Bricklayer]

I heard this on Grants show also and I took it to mean that the teams were going to volutarily carry only 13 players on their roster. I believe that Dallas has 15 guaranteed contracts right now.

They broadcast Grant's show down in Baja?

Live stream I presume?

 

[AussieKing]

I watched the open practice last night on YouTube and i was very impressed with Tyreke and JT in particular, and Brockman was a pleasant surprise.

Reke seemed very controlled, shot the ball well from range, penetrated with ease as expected, but i was impressed most by his court vision and passing ability. It was better than i expected, but i guess it was only an open practice.

JT also looked controlled in the post and seemed to have a few more tricks. He also used an impressive pump fake early on.

Bring on the preseason games.

 

[bajaden]

They broadcast Grant's show down in Baja?

Live stream I presume?

There's an AOL sports and music website that happens to carry KHTK.


http://music.aol.com/radioguide/sports-radio

Try it some time. Just like being in Sacramento...

 

[kennadog]

There's an AOL sports and music website that happens to carry KHTK.


http://music.aol.com/radioguide/sports-radio

Try it some time. Just like being in Sacramento...

Except better?

 

[Kingsguy881]

I watched the open practice last night on YouTube and i was very impressed with Tyreke and JT in particular, and Brockman was a pleasant surprise.

Reke seemed very controlled, shot the ball well from range, penetrated with ease as expected, but i was impressed most by his court vision and passing ability. It was better than i expected, but i guess it was only an open practice.

JT also looked controlled in the post and seemed to have a few more tricks. He also used an impressive pump fake early on.

Bring on the preseason games.

Yeah, there are a few people, 2 I have off the top of my head in particular (who have been very quiet on the subject lately, especially with everyone heaping praise on how well Evans looked handling the offense on Saturday, hmmm....), who are just waiting to lament every turnover, bad pass, or other perceived mistake he might make. Because it was only an open practice, and things will only get worse from here the more experience he gets.....

 

[VF21]

Yeah, there are a few people, 2 I have off the top of my head in particular (who have been very quiet on the subject lately, especially with everyone heaping praise on how well Evans looked handling the offense on Saturday, hmmm....), who are just waiting to lament every turnover, bad pass, or other perceived mistake he might make. Because it was only an open practice, and things will only get worse from here the more experience he gets.....

I wouldn't put a deposit on that smug ensemble quite yet.

The people you're referring to have every right to their opinion, and AS KINGS FANS, I know both of them will be quite happy if Evans turns out to be much better than they first thought. We're all Kings fans here (with the notable exceptions of fine folks like hoopsfan and Gargamel) so I don't see any need to poke the stick at one of our own, you know?

Let's just enjoy what happens and hope it's not a fluke. Tyreke's success will be a bonus for all of us.

GO KINGS!!!

 

[Kingsguy881]

I wouldn't put a deposit on that smug ensemble quite yet.

The people you're referring to have every right to their opinion, and AS KINGS FANS, I know both of them will be quite happy if Evans turns out to be much better than they first thought. We're all Kings fans here (with the notable exceptions of fine folks like hoopsfan and Gargamel) so I don't see any need to poke the stick at one of our own, you know?

Let's just enjoy what happens and hope it's not a fluke. Tyreke's success will be a bonus for all of us.

GO KINGS!!!

I'll let it rest....for now. I won't be the one to revisit it, but if it comes back up in any way shape or form like I predicted, you can bet I'm going to be defending the players on the squad I am going on 25 years of loyalty to.

 

[rainmaker]

I'm surprised no one has gone off on a tangent about Cisco, so allow me! I was utterly sick of his crap last season, his lack of good decision making and his insistence upon chucking up shots when there is still time on the shot clock and better options might open up.

His penchant for driving into the lane after passing up an open 15-18 footer, then getting a charge call because he was out of control with the drive is disturbing. You would think any half wit would have figured it out after 2-3 times of it happening, but nope, not Cisco, and not even 4 years later.

I think the major reason why I didn't like Theus as the coach was because of his man-love for Garcia, when it was obvious Cisco just wasn't getting it. When Cisco has good games he is GOOD, but more often than not there aren't many of those because he inevitably does something to show just how dumb a player he is with the ball in his hands.

During the practice, it seemed 90% of the time when Evans had the ball and was running the offense, the offense was poised, not rushed, under control, and it seemed that a lot of options were explored. When Cisco initiated, it gave the appearance of a frenetic, out of control offense that did not exhibit the patience of finding a high percentage look or open cutter to the basket, very reminiscent of last season and the frustrations that came along with it.

After that practice, I am glad that we have Evans to run the offense. For everyone in the offseason who said that Evans is not a pure point guard, well, you're right. Evans is a scoring point guard, almost in the same mold as Gilbert Arenas. However, what is going to make him succeed at the point position is the CONTROL he exhibits over the offense. His demeanor on the court, his poise, his certainty in what he wants to see happen, and his ability to get where he wants to on the court while enhancing his decision making is going to make watching their offense perform a pleasure.

Cisco and Beno have ran this offense into shambles, and from what I saw Saturday night Evans is here to pick up the pieces. He is not going to deliver flashy no-look passes, behind his back and off the shot clock like Nash would. But he will deliver the solid, unspectacular-yet-get-the-job-done pass that will lead to a basket, or the pass that leads to an assist due to throwing the defense off balance.

Thank the Maker we no longer have Cisco and Beno as our main offense initiators. Our offense was stagnant, unpredictable and unreliable. A new era is dawning. It's a good thing.

I agree with you for the most part. I rarely have anything positive to say about Cisco. My biggest problem with him, he doesn't seem to have improved at any one thing since his first couple years in the league. Most fans will say his decision making has improved, but its still nowhere near where it should be.

I thought his talent level was comparable to a young KMart when they both were young players in the league. But 5-6 yrs later, I can't say Cisco has shown improvment in any one area. He can hadle the ball, but his playmaking hasn't improved. He can get hot from 3, but he is still as streaky as he was when he first entered the league. When he comes off the bench, he looks for his own shot too much. He forces a lot of contested shots when he should be making the extra pass. One area, that a really though he would have excelled in is getting to the basket. With his ability to handle, and athleticism, I though as his career progressed he would attack the rim more often. That never happened.

He has improved on defense and as a leader. But the latter might be by default becasue this team doesn't have a true leader.

 

[Section 101]

Yeah, there are a few people, 2 I have off the top of my head in particular (who have been very quiet on the subject lately, especially with everyone heaping praise on how well Evans looked handling the offense on Saturday, hmmm....), who are just waiting to lament every turnover, bad pass, or other perceived mistake he might make. Because it was only an open practice, and things will only get worse from here the more experience he gets.....

It was a practice. They weren't going to do anything to make them look bad. IE full court pressure the ball for turnovers.

Teams don't game plan for the pre season either.

 

[bajaden]

It was a practice. They weren't going to do anything to make them look bad. IE full court pressure the ball for turnovers.

Teams don't game plan for the pre season either.

Well your right and your wrong.. Your right, it was a practice, but they did play hard. I don't know if you watched it or not, but I was surprised by the intensity. Your right, in that I didn't see a full court press, but I did see Evans pressure the ball several times and steal the ball. By the same token I saw them pressure Evans with the ball several times. It had the feeling of a real game, and it certainly was a no holds barred practice for Brockman, who decked Thompson early and flatened Mason later.

I don't think anyone that watched, thought that they were trying to avoid anyone looking bad. I thought the practice did what it was susposed to do. Give the coaching staff info on the progress of the team, and who might be in the rotation. I'll finish by saying that this practice had no resemblence to the usual fanfest exhibiton practice they held last year. I think most of these players know that there's rotation spots available, and their doing their best to earn one.

 

[Kingsguy881]

It was a practice. They weren't going to do anything to make them look bad. IE full court pressure the ball for turnovers.

Teams don't game plan for the pre season either.

It was a pickup game, it was a glorified, set running pick up game. And you wanna tell me their pride wasn't on their sleeve? In case you missed it, there was an audience there

Just to refresh, these are professional, competitive athletes. I know they didn't show it at times last year, but there is a different demeanor with this squad. I like it! It's got me excited because I can see where the franchise is headed.

Professional sports is peaks and valleys. You have to fall to rise again. I think we can all agree that we have fallen. As far as we are going to go too. Now its the upswing, and there are some really nice pieces to do it with. A lot of teams are going to be surprised when they take the court against this new look, bruising, athletic squad.

You have your finesse with Martin, Hawes, May and sometimes JT. You have your athleticism in Mason, Greene, Casspi, Thompson and sometimes Reke, you have your bruising/interior/exterior with Nocioni, Brockman, May and sometimes Reke and JT. Really, I see Beno, Cisco and sometimes Greene as the hangers-on, don't really fall into a niche but are serviceable in their own respects. I was able to take this away from the practice, and just imagine what Westphal, a coach that has been to the finals, was able to take away.

It is truly a good time to be a Kings fan, as even those I have given a hard time to will still be able to attest that as the lean years hit they were still here, being a fan, doing what true fans do : questioning upper management because they wanted a winning product and got a little impatient with the rebuild. That is loyalty.

And here you are, still loyal, yet fed up with what you deem as mediocre moves and blind faith. Just remember, Brandon Roye came out of nowhere, Chris Paul was a 4th pick, and DWade was not widely considered a top 5 prospect in his draft.