Welcome to the land where Basketball Players Are Gods, at least until they screw up off the court (unlikely for such a well-mannered young man) or they just stop trying to play hard (also unlikely for a motivated rookie).

Welcome to the land of Realistic Player Development Timelines, where we’ve been watching our draft picks go from “who’s the gawky kid with the awkward shot?” to “Go, Speed Racer, Go!

Welcome to the land of Personable Young Talent Being Embraced By The Community, a land rich with local endorsements, philanthropic opportunity, and a friendly press corps.

Welcome, JT, to Sacramento, home of the NBA’s classiest franchise and most hard-core fan base. Welcome to your Sacramento Kings.

No worries, Beagle. We’ll take care of your boy.

Actually I’m pretty happy with the selection truth be told. My dis-satsfaction with the Kings at the moment has next to nothng to do with Jason Thompson, and where he could have been selected. It’s clear Thompson has real talent that translates, I think,, to some level of success at the next level. What I’m curious is to see exactly where it translates, and where he ends up as a player because truthfully, unlike Anthony Randolph, seeing Thompson succeed would be far more gratifying anyway.

Thanks again for the background info.

My initial reaction was Who? WTF, couldn’t we have traded down and done this? Upon further evaluation, learning the Warriors were interested at 14, reading up on him etc. I’ve got no problem with the pick, especially knowing he has the Petrie character/talent stamp of approval.

As for expectations, Hawes was the 10th pick last year, we all new who he was, he put up 4.7pts and 3.2rebs in 13 min/g his rookie year and we’re all excited about his future. I think JT has a good chance of matching those numbers.

Thanks for the info and welcome to STR

It was a long (perceived) fall from Bayless and Augustin to Thompson. Once we had a chance to digest it, the thought of Thompson and Hawes potentially developing into a solid front line has many of us encouraged and excited. If he plays hard, he will be embraced by the community.

He works very hard and wants to do what is required for his team to win. He would rather score 10 points and help the team win then score 40 in a loss.

With that attitude he will be loved by the Kings community for years even if he has a slow start. One thing both you and Jason will learn is that Kings fans are intelligent, devoted, and patient. All we demand is a desire to win and a respectable person both on and off the court. Jason certainly seems to be all of that.

sounds like mikki mouse to me. just kidding :]

The most interesting info i’ve heard was that this dude was 5-11 his freshman year of highschool and his position was actually the point. So this guy was used to handling the ball, breaking down defenses, and passing to set teammates up. And in college he was an automatic 20/12/4 a night. If that doesnt sound like webber let me know. Also the Singletary pick kinda reminds me of B Jax, undersized guard. Quick and elusive scorer. I just hope we keep him long enough for him to develop, which takes longer for points to do so. It took Bobby what, like 3-4 teams before he found his niche with us.

Even if the boys don’t put up double-doubles numbers, our front court is already harder than the soft Lakers bigs. I don’t see Jason Thompson and Hawes playing matador with the game on the line.

Welcome to Sacramento, JT.

....a great job against Beasley in Nov against K-State, although JT’s bro did a lot of the work too. Numbers wise I see that game as a draw between Beasley and JT and if anything you have to give the nod to B-Easy since, ya know, his team won. I am excited to have JT here and I think he will be a very good cog, if not just straight clog, on the front line for years to come.

our freshman pg soiled the bed in that game, Rider hat it down to a 3 point game got a steal had a terrible foul called against them on the steal, coach got two tech’s and game was done. Jt and Bill Walker got tossed a minute later(no T’s but just tossed by the same ref) Ryan Thompson is a very good player and look for him to have a break out year this year. Did any of the posters meet JT at the mall on Sat?

congrats to Jason Thompson,the 1st player out of Rider University (Iona’s rivals in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) to play in the NBA. There aren’t many MAAC players who ended up in the NBA,but I can think of a few MAAC players who joined the Association:
1. LUIS FLORES was a point guard out of Manhattan College,who was the Jaspers’ all-time greatest player. He helped guide the Jaspers to an upset of Arizona in the ‘02 NCAAs and Florida in the ‘04 Big Dance. He would play for the Warriors and Nuggets in 04-05 and tried out for the Kings in 05-06.
2. SEAN GREEN was a forward for the Iona Gaels in the late 80s,and he would play for the Pacers and Magic from 1990 to 1993.
3. STEVE BURTT SR. was the MAAC’s 1st player to go to the NBA. He is Iona’s all time leading scorer with 2,534 points,he lead the Gaels to the NCAA tourney in ‘84,and he enjoyed some time in the NBA,playing for the Warriors,Knicks,Suns,Clippers and Bullets. His son,Steve Jr.,the Gaels’ 2nd all-time leading scorer,is playing for the Bobcats’ Summer League team.

Don’t forget that other MAAC teams had NBA stars before the conference was formed in ‘81:
NIAGARA had Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy and former Utah Jazz coach Frank Layden.
MARIST was home to Rik Smits,the Dunking Dutchman,who played for the Pacers from 89-01.
And my IONA GAELS had one of the greatest players of the 50s,Richie Guerin (Knicks,Hawks) and the original Bruise Brother,Jeff Ruland (who played for the Bullets,76ers and Pistons),and he was a 2-time All-Star.

Hopefully,Jason Thompson will help the Kings, and give the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Rider University a lot of publicity and success in the future. Go JT, go Kings!