Impressions from Media Day

by Ziller on Sep 29, 2008 8:13 PM PDT

* Donté Greene is exceedingly pleasant, and seems to get on well with everyone. He gave it to Spencer Hawes regarding Sunset Tan. Donté said he hopes to sneak in some weakside blocks this season, and vowed to "get Shaq a few times." Really funny, nice guy.

* Brad Miller looks as fit as he did last October. I didn't watch him run wind sprints or check his body fat or anything, but he looks good.

* Spencer Hawes said he's lost some body fat and added a bit of muscle. He said he's been working on the hook shot all summer. Got a B+ in Sociology of Sport at UW.

* Reggie Theus was very gracious with his time, and talked a lot about the team's offense going forward. Some mentions of a primitive version of the Triangle, which was played with during summer league. Theus said it's Kevin Martin's time to run a team, which is encouraging. He also talked about the need for Beno Udrih and Francisco Garcia to elevate their games.

* Gavin Maloof said he thinks this team has a chance to make the playoffs, and that he and Geoff Petrie haven't been this excited for the team in two seasons.

* Martin spent the whole day walking around dribbling and pump-faking with a ball in his hands. I don't think he ever stops thinking about basketball.

* Beno Udrih needs a haircut.

* Mikki Moore misses Ron Artest, and hopes Houston's star understand him. Mikki also said he looks forward to being the team's leader.

* Shareef Abdur-Rahim appeared in a suit, a Kings official polo, and a screen tee. He will be joining the quick-change act this season.

All told, the individual players seemed more relaxed this season. Is it comfort with Theus with a year in the books? Or lowered expectations based on the accelerated youth movement? We'll find out, but it's a positive vibe.

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Thanks for the report

Gavin Maloof said … that he and Geoff Petrie haven’t been this excited for the team in two seasons.

Same here.

Ball movement ... is like jogging for most people: They do it occasionally, and it makes them happy. Then they go back to not doing it. - Henry Abbott

by Kfan in Korea on Sep 29, 2008 8:24 PM PDT 0 recs

Let’s get the ball rolling!

Is Kenny Thomas cut?

BOOK IT!

by kingme18 on Sep 29, 2008 8:37 PM PDT 0 recs

Mikki wants to be the team's leader...

That made me laugh like the Pillsbury Doughboy.

by CloudyEyes on Sep 29, 2008 8:49 PM PDT 0 recs

Mikki is definitely the Kings leader...

in weight of hair

by furious.d on Sep 29, 2008 9:07 PM PDT up 0 recs

Now hold on

Not many been-around-the-block guys. While he won’t be a leader on the court, he can certainly contribute to the locker room in a mentor sort of way.
Remember, this is a guy who turned non-NBA-level talent into an NBA-level player. Something should be said for his work effort, consistency and energy. If he can imbue those attributes into our younger players, then I say $15million+ well spent. Those are difficult lessons for young millionaire hot shots to learn. Combined with Martin and hopefully Brad’s renewed focus, hopefully the Kings can get a can-do don’t-quit attitude prevalent in the roster.

Donte? Donte'! Donté?!?!
'spect da 'xtra E'

by iashwash on Sep 29, 2008 10:34 PM PDT up 2 recs

Agreed

And as Mikki himself said, “I have a big mouth, so I’m going to be loud.”

by Ziller on Sep 30, 2008 5:48 AM PDT up 0 recs

But is mouthy leadership?

I think that’s an interesting question to pose on for a moment and think back to players whom you considered for leadership. But then again I’m also a guy whose dumb enough to get fired on the first week of a new job too. Shit is relative.

No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. It's simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get tangled, you tango on

by pookeyguru on Sep 30, 2008 10:46 PM PDT up 0 recs

You're right

Mikki has a lot of great qualities that I would love to see passed on to our young guys. I just don’t want him to lead his way into $6+M in 2009/10 salary cap space. Maybe we should sign him up to be Hustle Coach Mikki Moore in 2009.

by furious.d on Sep 30, 2008 9:53 AM PDT up 0 recs

Hmmmm

Gavin Maloof said he thinks this team has a chance to make the playoffs, and that he and Geoff Petrie haven’t been this excited for the team in two seasons.

I like this statement in a way, but I hope it isn’t the way they will critique Reggie’s job performance. I haven’t been this excited about the team in 2 years as well, but at the same time, and this is of course important to remember I think, is that unless Greene and Thompson grow up, Shelden exceeds prior performance, and the veterans like Miller play as well as they did last year, and Beno becomes that poor man’s Steve Nash or whatever, then it’s hard to imagine this King’s team making the playoffs. There are just too many holes on both ends of the court for this team to fill before it becomes a great team. Or hell even just a playoff team.

No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. It's simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get tangled, you tango on

by pookeyguru on Sep 29, 2008 10:33 PM PDT 0 recs

Agreed. Still no shot blocking or rebounding.

by BrooklynFan on Sep 30, 2008 7:20 AM PDT up 1 recs

Agreed, agreed.

The Kings are going to have to outscore teams, because they aren’t stopping anyone.

Shut up and Coach

by Carl on Sep 30, 2008 6:13 PM PDT up 0 recs

Which can be a good thing, entertainment-wise

I’m not going to complain about 131-127 finishes. I’ll expect defense in a year or two when Hawes/Thompson/Greene/Brown have developed (or not).

Shut up and Coach

by Carl on Sep 30, 2008 6:14 PM PDT up 0 recs

who needs defense when you can drop 150?

Oh, that’s right… Denver.

Donte? Donte'! Donté?!?!
'spect da 'xtra E'

by iashwash on Sep 30, 2008 8:10 PM PDT up 0 recs

primitive version of the Triangle?

does this make anyone else nervous?

by sactoreg on Sep 30, 2008 7:27 AM PDT 0 recs

Yeah

and what is a “primitive version of a triangle”? A trapezoid?

Ball movement ... is like jogging for most people: They do it occasionally, and it makes them happy. Then they go back to not doing it. - Henry Abbott

by Kfan in Korea on Sep 30, 2008 7:31 AM PDT up 1 recs

Ha!

I’d have rec’d that if you were LPA.

SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!

by section214 on Sep 30, 2008 7:39 AM PDT up 0 recs

No

A primitive version of the triangle would be a “V”.

"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom

by HighTops on Sep 30, 2008 12:53 PM PDT up 0 recs

Theus

Theus likened it to San Antonio’s offense, and said there are a hundred different names for the Triangle … this offense includes some of the introductory patterns/movement of that.

Hawes actually seemed most enamored with the idea. Mikki, too. I didn’t hear from Brad.

by Ziller on Sep 30, 2008 7:54 AM PDT up 0 recs