In order of my personal interest:
1. Jason Thompson – I am excited to see how he attacks on offense and runs the floor. I also want to see how he plays on defense, most importantly how he attacks the boards.
2. Spencer Hawes – Has his offseason work really come through? How does his hook shot look? Also will he be more aggressive on the boards and on shot blocking.
3. Donte’ Green – Just want to see him play. How will he possibly fit in.
4. Bobby Brown – Same as for Donte’.
5. John Salmons – Will be pound the ball a lot and slow down the offense? If he does, is he effective? Has his shot improved from 20’ and out?
6. Beno and Bobby J. – Are they attacking the lane and able to dish it out or move the ball for wide open shots?
7. The overall offense – I want to see if the offense has a noticeable difference. Does it flow better? How is the running game?
8. Sheldon and Douby (if he plays) – How, if at all, have they improved. Do they get any touches?
9. Kenny Thomas (woof) – What is the score when he enters the game and what is the score when he leaves the game. Will he score a point?? I sure hope he doesn’t have a fluke good game. Then again, maybe he will play 10 mintues and score 10 points and grab 5 boards!

So much to keep an eye on this preseason!

1: Getting a TV to watch the game
2: Everything else falls into another list after accomplishing 1.

I am very interested in seeing how the ball movement looks after a training camp sans Ron Artest. Without Miller or Martin, we won’t get a fully definitive grasp of it; but perhaps we will get a sense for the overall offensive strategy and mindset within the larger group of players.

And, I’d be happy just to see some actual defense….but that might be asking a lot from the first preseason game.

I’ve been appointed by Blazers Edge as the official ambassador to Sactown Royalty. I’ll be keeping our site informed on newsworthy posts from this site.

For an alternative look at the game tonight, here is our open gameday thread:

http://www.blazersedge.com/2008/10/7/629956/gameday-open-thread-pre-se

1. Spencer Hawes – Is it going to be Shaq vs. Vlade in 2001, or can Hawes compete with Oden? Where do Hawes shots come from? I don’t want to see anything outside 17 feet. I’ll specifically be looking at the rebounding differential between Hawes and Oden.
2. Jason Thompson – Can he rebound and play against an effective and proven Portland frontline? Is he better than Channing Frye? (Please let him be better than Channing Frye.)
3. Donte Greene – Where do his shots come from? He had a reputation as a chucker in college, so we’ll see if that carries over. Also, Theus pointed out how bad Greene’s defense is, so I’ll be watching that.
4. Bobby Brown – I’ll be looking closely at his assist to turnover ratio and jump shooting. Is he Jason Hart, or is he Jason Hart with a jump shot?
5. Shelden Williams – Will he get jumped over by Portland’s tall and athletic front line? Is Theus going to do something stupid like put Shelden on Greg Oden?
6. Francisco Garcia – Does everything come from 3 point land tonight? I think he’s got to change his offense up a bit when he’s starting.
7. Bobby Jackson – Can he jump over Greg Oden for a rebound? That sounds absurd, until you realize that we’re talking about Bobby Jackson.

In general:

• Turnovers – preseason is rife with TOs and we’ve got a bunch of young guys that have never played together. I’m interested to see how this turns out.
• Rebounding – The Blazers are an excellent rebounding team. I’ll be interested to see the rebounding differential in this game.

One thing I’m happy about this year is that the Kings camp roster is small. That means we’re going to see a LOT of the guys we want tonight, and very little of guys who won’t make the team. I’m hoping this limits the garbage-time quality of the game.

1. I’d like to see K-Mart play only if he can. Word is that Roy’s going to play.
2. Hawes v. Oden: I’ve been waiting for this match-up for a long time. Post-defense is what I want to see from Spence.
3. Jason Thompson: His combo of speed and ballhandling at his position is something to watch when he goes up against Oden or Aldridge. Won’t be surprised if he goes around them and slams it. On defense, play tough and get rebounds.
4. Donté Greene: We know he can shoot from distance. I want to see him get inside. Any D that he has that’s effective, use it.
5. Bobby Brown: I’ve heard what he offers on offense. What can he give the Kings on defense?
6. Shelden Williams: Now that he’s back to his playing weight of 250 lbs., can he be that bruiser they were talking about?
7. Beno Udrih: Reach his goal Theus set for 7-8 APG.
8. Bobby Jackson: To see him in a Kings uniform again and play hard.
9. Kenny Thomas: If you play, play to win.
10. The Kings execute the triangle well.
11. Less violations.
12. Team Defense!

Lot’s and lot’s of point producing, trade inducing Kenny Thomas.

any place online I can watch this game in decent quality?