Kinda saw this train wreck coming for the wolves. Burnt out after giving it their all(?) against the Fakers. Then they ride into Sacto, one of the few places that make them home sick, and take the beat down they deserve for hiring Reggie Theus to ANY position in their organization. (on a side note: Glad Maloofs gave Petrie the last word on coach hiring. Rambust is living up to his reputation of all bark and no brains. Westphal was the perfect choice. The Farther the Maloofs step away from the basket ball decisions the better the Kings are gonna get)
On the lighter side, Hawes has elevated his complaining to the ref's game while Al Jefferson ran over him like a Popsicle stick in the snow. Hawes needs to grow a pair, and if he stays on the Brad Miller workout regime, he is headed to the NBA scrap Heap, because his shooting is no where near as good as Miller so teams wont put up with his total lack of effort on the defensive end. And having mentioned Miller, it is funny that the Bulls are having a heluva time rebounding, getting any post defense, while having Salmons dominate the ball as he trys to pound the rock into the hardwood to make up for his inability to share. I bet the Bulls would like to undo the deal they made with Petrie about now but too late suckaz!! The Bulls Brass shoulda watched some game tape and not just looked at the stats and sign 2 loadstones to the team.
Bulls wont even make the playoffs with Big "ole" B52 Bummer on their team. Salmons is relied on far too much to be effective. Looks mysteriously like the early 2008 Kings. The Bulls Locker room is probably just like the early 2008 Kings locker room as well. Many pissed off young players looking for a trade out of town because Miller and Salmons are too busy trying to get stats to bother with anything so tedious as WINNING GAMES ! Thanks Chi-Town! We needed to unload those 2 loadstones onto someone. Sorry your ship is sinking. Wanna trade any quality bigs for K9? He's a great locker room guy....
On the positive side, Tyreke Evans is seriously making the push for ROY. The matchup later this week with Jennings head to head should weigh heavily in the decision later down the road. I hope 'Reke Blows them up with 30 pts, 8 Rebs, 7 Asst. and 4 steals. That is the Kind of stat line that will get you a ROY. Unless the darkhorse from the Clippaz makes his debut and can carry the Clippers to a playoff spot. I think Blake Griffin will be a good player, but they have a lot of vet bigs on that team and they want to win games not feed the ball to a rook looking for ROY Hardware. So far, Reke is in the lead for ROY, and I dont think Jennings can keep the pace up for all he scoring He give up on the defensive end. Jennings isn't guarding anyone, and that makes it tough to win over even the most hardened East Coast Biased Writers who DO count defense as part of playing the game. "Reke is playing D better than 90% of the VETS in this league, and is scoring at a phenomenal rate. His assist to turnover ratio is good and the rebounds he is getting is only icing on the cake. One of these games he is gonna get a triple double for Points/Assists/Rebounds, and that is gonna blow the voters AWAY! Gotta love Petrie picking 'Reke AND Casspi in the same draft. Both playing great and BOTH are rookie contributors. One is a starter and the other one shortly will be. Tyreke, if he stays healthy, it ROY PERIOD! They are double teaming the Kid when he is waiting in front of the scorers table to get in the game!! He has been double teamed and triple teamed from DAY ONE, and yet he still scores, dishes, and succeeds on a nightly basis. What else are the East Coast Biased Media Voters looking for. I hope Tyreke keeps up the great game he is playing because he makes everyone else around him better while filling the stat sheets like a vet! All I can say about the Kid is W O W!
Casspi on the other hand is playing so well, that he might creep into the ROY race himself. He should be starting over whomever the Kings are starting. Sure, Noconi is a good vet who plays hard and scores when you need it. But he takes too many shots and misses a lot of shots he shouldn't be taking. There are many teams that need a player like Noche on their team to make the playoff push, so I see the Kings trading Noche before the deadline and install Casspi in his place. Casspi is getting more minutes now anyway, so the writing is on the wall already. Kings are looking for a good young physical big who isnt necessarily a great scorer, but can rebound, run the court, play good post defense, finish on the break, and put back garbage points. The Kings have Noche and K9 to dangle for trade bait. A solid big would turn the Kings from an interesting surprise team with a lot of spunk into a team that will scare other teams in the playoffs with their ability to score in bunches and can run with the best of them. I know Petrie is looking for that player and is eager to unload wing players because when Kmart and Garcia get off of IR, there will be a major log jam at the 2-3 positions. K-Mart HAS to play, as he scores like a machine. Garcia is a leader and will improve the team in the little things like hustle and garbage points. Plus Garcia has deadly 3 point range. Hopefully he fully recovers from the freak accident. Martin/Evans backcourt is gonna be a killer combo that teams will lose sleep over trying to figure out how to stop. It is hard enough to double ONE wing player, but TWO? I cant wait to see how that plays out. The way the Kings are playing now, it shouldn't be hard to attract a big to Sactown. We don't need a superstar Big, just a big that can defend the post and catch and put in dunks and Ally Oops, or receive drop passes for layups. Someone who wont mind playing behind Hawes because Hawes is still a rookie for the most part and needs to grow into the position still. Hawes needs another 2-3 years to bulk up and be able to hold his ground against the bigger centers in the league. His outside game isn't going so well lately because his confidence is shaken. Petrie will bring in a player to make a difference this year and maybe even down the road. NO ONE can see inside the head of Petrie. He is a shrewd playa who never shows his cards and always seems to make choices that have everyone scratching their heads. Somehow he seems to make the right moves though because he has been hitting on all cylinders lately in the draft and the draft day pickup of Sergio Rodriguez looks like a Genus move now when at the time the talking heads were saying is was a stupid move. NEVER underestimate Petrie!
