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Preview: Kings at Mavericks

Sorry y'all, can't watch the game tonight. Something more serious weighing on my mind right now.

Newmoon_medium

Just kidding! Y'all know where my heart lies. It's Paul Westphal you need to crack. (SPOILER ALERT! Donte Greene started Tuesday.)

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101 comments  |  6 recs |

I do believe that it is important and fair to paint an accurate picture of a player’s abilities, in that there is often a tendency to hype players up only to personalize their inability to meet those expectations. We attribute the incongruity between expectation and reality not to our own shortcomings as analysts, but to some failing of the athlete. This is most common at the team level, where fans will make a youngster out to be their savior–despite evidence to the contrary–only to turn on them.

about 15 hours ago Loofie_tiny Ziller 21 comments 3 recs

Forward Andres Nocioni (right hip pointer) was a limited participant in Wednesday's practice. Nocioni sat out Tuesday's game and was replaced by Donté Greene in the starting lineup.

1 day ago Loofie_tiny Ziller 89 comments 0 recs

When Magic Inevitably Fails: Bulls 101, Kings 87

Chicago Bulls forward Joakim Noah rips out his still beating heart just to find out what it looks like after scoring late in the fourth quarter in the Bulls 101-87 win over the Sacramento Kings in their NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

More photos » by Rich Pedroncelli - AP

Chicago Bulls forward Joakim Noah rips out his still beating heart just to find out what it looks like after scoring late in the fourth quarter in the Bulls 101-87 win over the Sacramento Kings in their NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Honestly, given the injury to Kevin Martin, five wins by the end of the November is a minor miracle. And there will be more on the next homestand (which includes the 1-9 Knicks and the 0-11 Nets), so let's not shovel dirt on the .500 Sacramento Kings just yet. But we knew the team was a bit over its head, specifically in a few key areas, and Tuesday's loss to Chicago reaffirmed that.

Sacramento's frontcourt is still in a bit of trouble, despite the fantastic growth of Jason Thompson's game. Joakim Noah dominated the game without a single play drawn up for him. He did a great job on the offensive glass, getting easy tips when the Kings bigs didn't box him out. At the other end, he helped force J.T. into 3-7 shooting (with none of those FGAs outside of five feet). Thompson and Kenny Thomas still led the Kings to a good overall showing on the offensive glass (13 rebounds in 42 opportunities), but that resulted in few points because the Kings shot terribly (31-60 on twos, a disastrous 4-21 on threes) and had more turnovers than an Austrian bakery. (Patissierie metaphor! Like what!)

Exactly two Kings scored efficiently, and if I told you one of them is named Donte Greene you'd burn me at the stake. Sergio Rodriguez -- ! -- was the other. Yes, this team's offense depended on superlative efforts from Donte Greene and Sergio Rodriguez. I don't mean this expression of surprise as a dismissal of the extensive talents of either -- I'm the biggest Donte supporter around -- but with all the other options, it's surprising that the young Greene and the denotative Sergio were the models of balance. Tyreke Evans had some monstrous drives and exclamatory defensive stands, but was too often unbalanced and uncomfortable. Spencer Hawes was an abject disaster in evert facet of the game, and his confidence is readably horrible. Beno Udrih wasn't awful, and in fact last season this type of performance would have registered as above average. But without Martin, the Kings need Udrih to be excellent, and he (13 points on 13 FGAs, five assists) was not near excellent.

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186 comments  |  2 recs |

More upbeat than most out-of-town (or country) pieces you see about Noc.

2 days ago Pa130037bwsmall_tiny andy sims 11 comments 0 recs

Post-game Thread: Bulls at Kings


We lost, and that sucks. But there were some positives. Discuss.

334 comments  |  0 recs

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