The Kings didn't win a championship. They didn't win anything more than a game. They beat a team, that with a loss, is at 500 for the first time in almost 100 games. The Kings didn't score more than 28 in any one qtr, but scored that total twice. The Kings didn't turn the ball over more than 14 times, but after turning the ball over 9 times at the half, that was a miracle. The Kings didn't out-rebound the Hornets, they were just simply not badly out-rebounded. Bob Licht, and Gil McGregor, the Hornets announcing team, made a huge deal of the amount of 3's the Kings had hit. Indeed, in the 1st half, they were 63% at one point. They ended up just over 33%. The game was not perfect. The Kings started the 4th qtr with a 3 min drought, and ended up scoring 28 in the next 9 mins. Bobby Jackson, having been held scoreless, didn't just come alive, but took the team along for the ride. Donte Greene didn't just perform, but he did so well it made Joe Maloof seem like a prophet. Reggie Theus had been preaching to Beno Udrih since his arrival on the shores of the Evil Cowtown, that he needed to be more aggressive. Perhaps, he needs to teach John Salmons to not take his lessons so literally. Even if Salmons practically was a one man wrecking crew with 29 points on 13 of 18 shots, and 3 of 4 at the line. The Kings weren't just hot, althought they were definitely that, ending the game with just under 55 % FG sh ooting, and having spent a large portion of the game hovering around the 60% mark. The Hornets, who built much of their large lead, until it started to dwindle right about the middle of the 2nd qtr, had 10 steals. In the 2nd half? None. Every once in awhile a game comes along that leaves you speechless. I'm not really sure what to say about this team as euphoria is the word I'm going for, but I'm not sure if that's strong enough to describe what I'm feeling about this team and this win.

I wont go livin in the past But I believe that love can last That youd always remain After all, were still the same

Take me high, take me high Say hello Take me high, take me high Say hello, say hello, say hello

Lets go out and paint the town And we could turn the world around If you say you agree Yeah, well thats the way that itll be

Take me high, take me high Say hello Take me high, take me high Say hello, say hello, say hello

What will be they say will be But Im for you and youre for me Evolution insane And we go on and play the game

Take me high, take me high Say hello Take me high, take me high Say hello, say hello, say hello

I'm seriously wanting to cry. I want to do back flips. I want to piss my pants. (Okay, maybe not.) I'm searching for adjective's, phrases, anything to describe how pleasing, how perfect this really is. But, I just, can't. I don't know how to. You have the beleaguered coach, the cutting the teeth in the league rookies, a young Center shooting 3's, a journeyman SF doing your All-Star SG impression, a former popular 6th man sprinkling some 4tn qtr magic in the Crescent City, another former team of his, and you have Gil McGregor. (Okay, again, maybe not. McGregor is a dope.) You aren't supposed to love a win like this. It isn't supposed to excite you. You aren't supposed to compare it to Kevin Martin hitting a bank shot at the buzzer to beat the Spurs in a playoff game. You aren't supposed to feel good about a team that couldn't defend the 3 ball against Memphis, but suddenly ran against a struggling Hornets team that couldn't hit water from the side of the boat.

You aren't supposed to care about one win or another in the regular season. There are just too many games for that. I don't care. This matters. This was a championship. There was a stake claimed, and 8 guys took it. And the stake was: They Care! I care, because they did. I care because they out hustled the Hornets all night long. I care because a team that couldn't share the ball, and do things capably, suddenly did. I care because a team talking about the potential talent some saw of it realized Wednesday with Donte Greene hitting 3 after 3 in the first half. Lord, that was pleasing. I was pleased to see Jason Thompson beat David West down the court and lay the ball in with his right hand. I was pleased to see him fail with his left. It means he knows his left hand is something he will have to develop if he's going to score consistently down low on the block. (I believe he can. It's just time folks. All it ever is with young guys.) I believe in Bobby Brown's understated ruthless efficiency. I believe in making Chris Paul a fantasy player. I believe, err wait a minute. What? Chris Paul a fantasy player? What the fuck did I just say?

Chris Paul scored 20 pts, and 15 dimes, had 4 stl's, 3 boards, and still, I feel he didn't have quite the impact those numbers indicate. He propelled the team to a strong start; indeed the Hornets would have never led the 1st half had he not had a such a strong game in the early going. But after that, when the game was on the line, when only David West was making plays offensively for himself, Paul was a footnote. The damage was done from his end, and he became Mr. Fantasy. Chris Paul isn't Vince Carter. He will blame himself. I'm pretty sure he will torch the Kings next time out when the Hornets come into Sacramento or the Kings roll around in the Crescent City again. But for one night, for one team, it was special to see a truly legitimate Isiah Thomas clone of a short PG disappear for a half. It was special because I can't remember it happening. It was special, because the Kings changed. It was special because Bobby Jackson, while not playing a beautifully artistic game until his short flurry which nearly sealed the deal for the Kings midway through the 4th qtr, helped lock Chris Paul down offensively. Even if Paul was effective, he wasn't penetrating at will, and there wasn't a sign inviting Paul to ravage the Kings like crack did in Harlem in the 70's and 80's. For an opposing defense, Paul is a vicious virus whose total destruction is the only thing he knows how to accomplish. The only thing that he accomplished tonight was being a stat line. And for one night, if for nothing else, if not a miracle, it's a wonderful thing to witness.

One could easily argue that the Hornets lost the game because the Kings got hot from 3 denying the Hornets an outright blowout. I would agree. Without those early bombs from Miller, Udrih, and Greene in a 4 min span in the mid parts of the 1st qtr, the Kings effectively survived the Hornets trying to knock them out. Sometimes surviving another team's attempted knockout punch is as good as knocking them out. It takes a lot of will and effort to try to knock somebody out, and when you come up short, sometimes you just don't recover. I think that's what happened to the Hornets. They just kept trying to make the Kings fall flat on their face, and this team was determined to come out & play. I thought one tactical error of the Hornets was to slow the game down. The Kings couldn't play any consistent defense, especially in the 1st half, and with the Hornets speed, and of course Paul, constantly running up & down would make the Kings play a game they're not as adept at. Alas, however, it did not happen. The Kings played their controlled break free flow offense type of game, and the Hornets just couldn't combat it. I also think, for posterity sake I suppose at this point, that the Kings have several matchup problems for the Hornets that just make it difficult for them to handle as well as opposed to the Kings teams of the past. When you have to deal with Jason Thompson's consistent activity inside, it forces David West to get 1 rebound all game. (That is the other amazing stat.)

The things that impressed me:

1. Donte Greene being effective, particularly from 3 - Jason Thompson being active when it counted -
   
2. John Salmons choice of shots, and choice of when to attack--he exposed a very big weakness of the Hornets tonight--and despite what Gil McGregor kept saying, he does pass the ball, and to the tune of 6 dimes--stick that where the sun ain't ever shinin no mo Gil! -
3. Beno Udrih, while not shooting well from the floor--3-9 from the floor--missing all 3 3's, did hit 8-9 from the line for 14 pts, and had 7 big assists
   
4. - Reggie Theus gameplan was evident: Hit them with inside/outside activity and use Udrih/Miller to setup guys when and where they could, but it morphed into Beno/John Salmons time when both got 13 dimes between them, and Brad had 2 -
   
5. I don't know if Bobby J could have had a better swan song, but if he tops tonight's performance, 8 very very clutch points, particularly after opening the night with 5 misses, and 5 extra dimes to boot, then I will have to eat a lot of crow about Bobby being done--Bobby I still love ya finished or not!

Reggie Theus tonight did something that most people had been screaming about for some time. He put his best 8 on the floor, and he let them fly. It wasn't always pretty--see repeated Chris Paul steals in the 1st qtr, but it worked for the majority of the game when the Hornets weren't effectively trapping (it worked in spots), or standing around watching Bobby J dribble. It was certainly part of the game plan for Donte Greene to stay out high (he haa a much better shot from deep than I expected--it's smooth, and effortless) and spread the floor. When Beno and Johnny drove, Greene and BradBaby flanked them. JT cut to the hoop resulting in a few buckets (like the bucket I mentioned before the jump where JT beat West down the floor and got the pass at the very last moment from Johnny). That wasn't the brilliance of how Reggie coached tonight. Tonight, he rolled the balls out there, and said you know what, go at em guys. I ain't stoppin ya. And the Hornets couldn't either. The Hornets took multiple time-outs just to stop a team that was 4-8 coming into the game, had lost 3 in a row in a largely disconcerting fashion, and had turned the ball over in spades at exactly the wrong times, and was so fluid and effortless it was a thing of beauty. Not to quote the title, but this is Reggie's vision for the team. An aggressiveness spread offense that cuts from the middle of the floor up high to while keeping a big man high (ala Brad Miller) to space the floor for a big man or two down low (hello JT), and keep the ball in the wings hands (hello Johnny, Kevin and Beno) to either penetrate and dish, or simply bomb away from the outside. It kept the Hornets off balance all night when the Kings actually executed it. (Imagine that! Running your offense, and getting points out of it!) Jerry Reynolds once wrote," When great coaching and great playerswork together, though, you get teams that are wonderful to watch, and win championships." That's even true for coaches who aren't being minted for  Springfield greatness quite yet, and for a young/ rebuilding/ up & coming team too. Coaches and young players need each other just as much. Tonight Reggie acted like those young players mattered, and tonight those young players, and veterans, played like the system Reggie put together is a system they can win with. With the addition of Francisco Garcia and Kevin Martin, this team can improve. In fact if it doesn't, that's probably the real grounds for Reggie getting fired. Not these first 13 games.

I believe things happened for the reason. I believe the awful end to a woefully short handed Suns team happened for a reason. I believe the Kings are better off for having blown out in Memphis, in part because the total effort wasn't there, and in part because the personnel didn't fit right. Reggie needs to embrace the youth on this team that is for sure. But the youth on this team needs to fit in with the veteran personnel, and whether or not that happens, the KIngs won't succeed if it doesn't. Win or lose, what we really want is a team that will dive after loose balls, and play hard every night. This team's most frustrating aspect has been defending the 3, and the injuries. One is controllable, and I suspect, fixable when the team gets healthy and Reggie can use a whole rotation the way it's supposed to be used. If nothing else, I can say the roller coaster ride of the awful road trip, the awesome gutty play of Martin on a bad ankle, one that ended up seeing him miss games because of rolling it again, watching a team totally implode offensively down the stretch of games, and a head coach so firmly entrenched on the hot seat the Human Torch is fearful. If anything was learned tonight, the players are ultimately responsible for how they perform.

I'd love to see I think this will do the team some good. I think if the team strings some wins this month it will do Reggie good. Ultimately, the KIngs will have to badly overachieve for Reggie to keep his job. Whether it's warranted I don't know, because quite honestly, and to be fair, tonight was only one game. It was only one fun game, that amidst the circumstances, shouldn't be that big of a deal. Winning on the road, for a young, beat up team, against a potential championship contender struggling, shouldn't be that big of a deal. But that's cynicism. It's big because the Hornets didn't give the Kings the game. They took it. They took it with Donte's 3's, with Johnny's drives, with Beno's dishes, with Bobby J's clutchness, with Shawes post defense on West down the stretch, with Reggie asking this team to give it's all. For one night, for one group, for one city, and for all the world will care, it's just one win. But for me, it was why I became a fan of the team in the first place. For night's just like this.

I wanna have you 'Cause you're all I've got Don't wanna lose you 'Cause it means a lot All the joy this world can bring Doesn't give me anything When you're not here ...

Idiot me Stupid fool How could you be So uncool? To fall in love with someone who Doesn't really care for you It's so obscure...

But I feel... Wonderful Yes I feel... Wonderful