Completely Lost

That was a good-looking team out there last night against the Lakers, as you said. Good efforts all around, and Theus looking very smart in his moves.

But can this team beat the Lakers on Friday?

I suppose that’s the rebuild in a nutshell, just never knowing what to expect. We could get destroyed by 25, or take another one from a very good Lakers team. The Kings actually do match up quite well with LA, and when Salmons manages to annoy Kobe into having an off night, it gives your team the chance it needs. I recall games where Ron Artest, and any number of great defenders, were living inside the front of Bryant’s jersey, and he’d still go for 35. Some nights, there’s not a damned thing you can do to stop the guy, but Salmons gets full credit last night.

If you could bottle the Kings’ effort and play from yesterday, you’d be rich. Of course, those guys are already rich, but I think I’ve made my cliche’.

But this is one that’s nearly perfect, one of your very best pieces TZ. I didn’t get a chance to watch the game (stuck in SFO—thank you Alaska Airlines—then on 2 buses to get home) and it’s unfortunate that I did. I had a chance to watch the Denver game on the TV, and it was so nauseating I turned it off.

If this team gives this kind of effort the rest of the year, Reggiei is going to have to be thought of as a future coach. Because, clearly, this team still has it’s back. This is generally an open point, but at some point, we have to give Reggie some slack for the issue’s surrounding this team. It has one all-star, and he’s played 7 games, 3 of which were total blowouts themselves. This is not been a complete, healthy, or lucky team. Maybe this orbits the team into something else for awhile. That would be a welcome change for all concerned.

This isn’t to understate the pride Reggie himself showed Tuesday night. His rotations were great.

Agreed, this was very impressive.

It may get lost in the shuffle of the team’s impressive effort, but Reggie showed his potential last night. If he adds some consistency, he can still show he’s the right guy long-term.

As an aside, you can see why there are so many man-crushes around here towards Cisco. He played inspired ball last night, mixed it up with Gasol and Bryant at various points, and hit some big shots. The guy isn’t going to get you 20 every night, but he might be the on-court leader (along with Spencer eventually) that this club needs.

and most nights that would have been enough. But not last night.

It was a meaningful game, and Reggie coached like it. He used just the right mix of veterans and rookies at the right time. When Kobe came back in, so did Salmons. When the rooks got a little shaky, in came Miller.

Probably better was him putting in Spencer for Moore late in game after Moore had actually done something right. Spencer was super cool in the end, and his kickout to Salmons helped seal the deal. We’ve definitely turned the page there.

Copy the formula, and repeat, repeat, repeat.

I just hope there’s more games like that coming soon, that we see THAT team, THAT style and determination often from now on. Too often the last few years we’ve seen them rise up against a good team – then fall back asleep.

My wife, not as passionate a fan as I – but a big fan who loves to go to games – wouldn’t watch the game.

We were at that NJ game and she’s very discouraged right now, she was sooooo hurt and dissappointed by that choke.

They’ll have to win some more games – or lose them playing that hard – to win her confidence back, so she’ll allow herself to risk some emotional currency.

STAY AWAKE guys, its a lot more FUN to play like that than the ‘cool’ professionalism some of our vets tend to fall into. I’ve got news for you, THAT performance was the ultimate show of professionalism.

Moral victories suck, but they feel good during a bad season. This feels like more than just a moral victory.

Here’s to hoping the team plays out of its mind for awhile and makes a good run.

I wanted to kill after Hedo beat my Blazers with a BANKED three ball last night, and then I saw your score. And I went to sleep thinking, Its almost a wash.

Punk them next time at Staples to make me really happy!