GAME 25/82: at Charlotte, Open Game Thread

by Tom Ziller on Dec 19, 2005 3:59 PM PST in News

Believe it or not, but a lot rides on the game tonight.

To wit:

A win gives the Kings a 2-2 road trip, with the losses coming in Detroit and in San Antonio.
A win gives the Kings wins in four out of the past six games - not a bad mark considering it follows a 5-game losing streak.
A win will give the Kings a season sweep of the Bobcats. A good team hopeful of making a deep playoff run should probably get a number of season sweeps against the lower-tier teams in the league.
Three losses in a row is three losses in a row, no matter who the opponents are.
Getting to .500 before the season is halfway through is highly advisable. Tonight is game 25 of 82. The Kings are currently four games under; with a loss, the Kings would have to win 11 of their next 16 to be .500 at the midway mark. Get those wins sooner rather than later, please.
Last place sucks.

So, yeah. Go Kings. Here are the projected lineups:

CHARLATANS OF CAROLINA
PG - Brevin Knight, former Stanford Cardinal
SG - Kareem Rush, former Laker
SF - Gerald Wallace, former star of Sacramento-area McDonald's commercials
PF - Emeka Okafor, former national champ
C - Primoz Brezec, purveryor of several Z's.

SACRAMENTO'S IN THE HOUSE
PG - Mike Bibby, who needs peach fuzz on the scalp like Martha Stewart needs cooking tips.
SG - Bonzi Wells, who is the one Kings starter not on the All-Star ballot.
SF - Peja Stojakovic, who really needs a change of scenery, please.
PF - Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who needs some jersey love. He's a mild star, he's got guts, he's going to be in town for a while.
C - Brad Miller, who needs the headband back. And needs a Team USA invite. And needs an intervention, apparently.

The line: -3.5. The Kings should be able to pull away from Los Gatos del Roberto. This is a solid wager, given a) Charlotte is unhealthy, and b) Charlotte sucks.

Fun bet o' the night: Another real bet from Bodog - Shareef's points plus rebounds at 24.5. I like the over a lot. Wish I was a betting man.

Sideshow most likely to be entertaining: Will Bonzi try to defend GDub the same way he did in Sactown, by playing real physical and punking the kid into submission? I hope so. Even if Bonzo gets into foul trouble, it'll give us some more time to look at Kevin Martin, potentially. KMart has gotten real short shrift thus far. (I'm almost ready to break out a "Free Speed Racer" campaign.)

Best matchup: Peja vs. his bruised and fragile psyche. A thrilling battle every night so far this season.

Pregame haiku:

Off to the east coast
To battle the young Bobcats.
A win would be nice.

As the great Luigi would say, "Here we go!" 4:30 Pacific start on Comcast SportsNet. Let's go KINGS!

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Comments

Peja Stojakovic; Inside Player

That Brezec kid is not bad.

by Tom Ziller on Dec 19, 2005 4:46 PM PST reply actions

As is...

...this Emeka Okafor fella.

by Tom Ziller on Dec 19, 2005 4:50 PM PST reply actions

Uh oh..

Bonzi is done for today. Groin stain. Ouch, on several levels.

I like Francisco and all, but Kevin Martin anyone?

Also, I <3 Shareef.

by Tom Ziller on Dec 19, 2005 4:54 PM PST reply actions

Stain, straing...pfft.

Both cringe-worthy, no doubt.

by Tom Ziller on Dec 19, 2005 4:55 PM PST up reply actions

Adelman

You know who was the best player in the game tonigh? Martin and he would not have even been in there if Wells was not hurt and forced Adelman's hand. These guys are bad. You better get use to it. Petrie is going with them no matter what. Plus what do you get for a bomb like Peja now?

by Jubilado1 on Dec 19, 2005 7:37 PM PST reply actions

This game...

sucked.

Bad loss to a bad and injury depleted team.

I would normally say that losing to the Bobcats is unacceptable, but I don't remember how many times I've said that this season. For every step forward, this team takes a step backwards. We started the roadtrip very well, winning that game in Minnesota, but three consecutive losses after that have been very painful. Detroit and San Antonio didn't sting as much because they are simply better than the Kings. But this one was just flat out awful. Way too many TOs and lack of execution. Terrible, terrible, basketball.

Kevin Martin was the lone bright spot, but I'm not expecting much from him, or this team. We can only hope Bonzi's injury isn't that serious. If he is out for a while... I'm afraid to finish this sentence. It's not like we have any depth to begin with.

GO KINGS!!!

by Krazy4Kings on Dec 19, 2005 8:51 PM PST reply actions

Not done venting yet

And yes, last place does suck. I have a feeling we will be there for a while. Just a hunch.

And I agree with Jubilado1. Peja's value decreases every time he puts up a performance like this one. Unfortunately, we have seen that way too many times this year. I heard a stat on the radio that this was the FOURTH consecutive game where Peja was held scoreless in the fourth quarter. I'm not really surprised, but I didn't realize it was that bad.