Sacramento Kings Thread

[Bosnian 23]

MAJOR UPDATE: Tyreke Evnas won't play for the second half because he has been throwing up since the halftime break. This is probably why he hasn't been effective and missing layups.

EDIT: Tyreke has returned the bench (thank goodness)!

[CKR13]

Well, we deserved to lose. They shot a high 50 percentage in the two territory while we shot terrible in the 30s percentage. It seems the Nuggets' wide spread offense proved too much for our man to man defense.

What the Kings need to learn is communicate through defense. It is bad enough they freelance on offense, but to freelance in defense as well is terrible. Everyone had single coverage minus the timely help out.

[CKR13]

Tomorrow night, the Sacramento Kings will host the Milwaukee Bucks.

A home win is a must in which is a home cure itself, partly for the Kings' woes. Losing at home would be horrid.

Meanwhile, Tyreke Evans is a game decision. Evans was suffering from a flu during the game against the Nuggets.

[bukefalos]

I watched most of Kings games this year,
and I am sure that they should fire Westphal. They play nothing.

sending Beno udrih away is the most crucial move so far.

[BrokeJumper]

Their shooting last night was horrible, Fredette 3-13, Evans 3-10, the Kings are back to their old ways again.

[DonPugfâché]

I watched most of Kings games this year,
and I am sure that they should fire Westphal. They play nothing.

sending Beno udrih away is the most crucial move so far.

Kings just fired Westphal. Smart, who did a good job with the Warriors last season, takes over.

[Bosnian 23]

I, personally, like the move in firing Westphal. It was obvious that we were going nowhere with him at the hel;m. Our defense was terrible, as previously pointed out, and mainly: we weren't winning games with Paul as the head coach. I think Smart will do good for now but I'll be interested to find out whp we sign to officially take over. As for the game tonight, Beno is returning to Sacramento and I think it'll be competitive with us eventually pulling away for the victory. But in order for a win to happen, we have to play as a team, and not 1 v 5. Btw, anyone voting for Tyreke, Demarcus, or Marcus as All-Stars? I sure will.

[NorCal]

The optimist in me says the Kings only have 2 problems in the short term- 1) they don't pass to each other (they are on pace to set the all time lowest assist per game average for a team since the merger) and 2) not enough guys are trying on defense. Westphal definitely had to go because he was not the right person to implement a culture which is what Sacramento needs- they need to think more long term and draft and develop guys that fit into a particular scheme and who understand that the coach and management dictate the rules and the structure, not the players.

Now the problem with that is twofold- one, the Kings in lots of respects are probably thinking short term because they are trying to do everything they can to stay in Sacramento and two, by doing things like they just did- firing Westphal (which again I have no problem with but the timing and circumstances are questionable) and publicly stating that they are not trading Cousins- they have just told Cousins that all of his antics and B.S. are okay because ultimately they will defer or choose him. Great teams, especially great small market teams have a culture that they have grown over the years with strong-willed coaches and management. Could you ever picture the Spurs putting up with a player like Cousins or firing Popovich right after he got into a disagreement with a player?

Sorry for the rant, just a passionate Kings fan that is sad to see what we have become in the last few years.

[Bosnian 23]

For people who want to see what our new coach, Keith Smart, is about just look to nba.com for the press confernce. He's discussing his plan with the Kings, what he wants to change, etc. I like him so far.

[CKR13]

We are in the same predicament for the last few games.

58-37 MIL

The Kings are shooting into the horrid 30%+ again. Tyreke Evans is faring a bit better with 14 points on 6-12 shooting. But is 1-4 from beyond the arc.

[CKR13]

SAC 103 MIL 100

The Kings made a comeback in the 4th quarter by outscoring the Bucks 35-18. Down by 21 points at some point, the Kings completed their comeback. Tyreke Evans lead the team with 26 points, 10 rebounds and with 5 assists. Marcus Thornton, despite his halftime slow start, caught fire and finished with a team high 27 points.

Demarcus Cousins getting his start and produced with 19 points and 15 rebounds despite fouling out.

The win gives head coach Keith Smart a debut win.

[Bosnian 23]

I'm glad for the comebak win, and now we are tied for ninth place in the conference (with the Mavericks). But if we want to consistently win, we can't dig ourselves in a 20 point deficit early on. Glad to See Tyreke and Demarcus both with a double-double. Sad to see Chuck Hayes come out of this game with a dislocated shouder.

[CKR13]

The victory was a costly one indeed. Hayes will be out for weeks it seems. We have lost our starting power forward. His rebounding, defense and overall hustle will be missed.

I expect JJ Hickson to be inserted as the starting power forward.

[DonPugfâché]

For people who want to see what our new coach, Keith Smart, is about just look to nba.com for the press confernce. He's discussing his plan with the Kings, what he wants to change, etc. I like him so far.

He did well with a similar kind of team (young, talented, but somewhat raw) last year in Golden State. I have A LOT more hope about the season with him at the helm, as opposed to Westphal. Not that I expect any miracles, but I think he can get us headed back in the right direction.

[Raze Lupin]

Sac King players hold a players only meeting.

Leadership and accountability are certainly lacking in Washington. They’re also lacking in Sacramento, where Chuck Hayes organized a players-only meeting on Thursday as well, according to Matt Kawahara at the Sacramento Bee:
At the meeting, said DeMarcus Cousins, players “had our heart-to-hearts, we all discussed what we need to do better, we all held each other accountable. Chuck, he got on the bigs. I got on the bigs. (Francisco Garcia) got on the guards.
“It showed tonight,” Cousins said. “We went over film and showed our mistakes, just rotations and how in the offense we catch (the ball) and just stop. So we went over a lot and we got a good thing out of it.”
Francisco Garcia said he addressed the team, not just the guards, about the need to play together on the defensive end.
Guard Marcus Thornton said the main message players took away from the meeting was that better effort was needed.
That, along with a coaching change and 23 offensive rebounds, sparked the Kings to a 103-101 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night.
Will Evans’ meeting similarly help the Wizards? On Friday, they host the New York Knicks (7 p.m. ET, League Pass), a team that’s dealing with its own crisis. They’re two desperate teams who feel like they can use a weakened opponent to get back on track. It will be bad offense vs. bad defense, so something’s got to give.