Paul may have has 31, but he didn’t enjoy getting many of them against Tyreke. I said in the game thread and stand by, CP3 looked like he was let out of jail whenever he was on the floor and Tyreke wasn’t. At one point in the game, Tyreke had several steals and no turnovers, and CP3 had no steals and several turnovers.

Now, the 4th quarter was definitely a learning experience for Mr. Evans. But CP3 was seriously bothered by Tyreke’s long arms, and looked stunned when he’d put the ball on the floor, do his thing, drive, and Evans was still standing in front of him denying penetration.

Oh, and that Mason guy did a fabulous job on David West.

The Kings definitely thrived last night when they were more deliberate and focused on passing the ball. The passing was outstanding in the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter they deviated and started to go more 1-on-1 and force things, particularly Kevin.

They need to slow things down, be patient and make the defense work in crunch time. Be mentally tough for all four quarters. Believe you are going to find a way to win instead of a way to lose.

I’m also changing my thoughts on Kevin’s playing time and think they should shift Mason to the 2 guard to back Kevin up. Let Kevin play 32-36 minutes a game instead of 40, and I think he will be fresher at the end of games and throughout the season. That will also free up more time for Nocioni and Casspi and Greene to a limited extent to man the small forward position. Brockman looks like he is earning more minutes up front, and that’s going to limit Nocioni’s opportunities at the 4.

Evans, conversely, probably needs to play more minutes, particularly when you are facing a team with a premier point guard. He played 33 minutes last night. Paul seemed to get most of his points when Udrih was in the game. Probably the worst episode was Paul’s three-pointer to end the third quarter. Paul also got going a lot on our few turnovers or when Evans drove to the lane, allowing Paul a head start on the ensuing possession. Tyreke also shot the ball very well from outside and looked a lot more comfortable overall than against OKC.

Brockman brought a lot of energy, rebounding and defense to the team and deserves to play at least 10-12 minutes a night. May made some nice outside shots and played well. JT brought the energy, but the shots just would not go down. He had some great looks. Hawes played very poorly and deserved to play only 14 minutes.

The ending was disappointing, but it’s refreshing to see some new players emerge.

These were the Kings I expected to see this year.
Nice to see Beno distribute the ball well. I give him the edge over Sergio at this point.
Love the energy by both Brockman and Thompson.
Tyreke had some nice drives to the hoop, he’s going to be fun to watch.
A lot better ball movement this game.

Tonight will be tough considering it’s a back to back for the Kings, and the Spurs loss their last game. I expect tonight’s game to be a double digit loss.

THE KINGS ARE IN THIRD PLACE IN THE PACIFIC DIVISION!!!

From Chris Paul to Tony Parker for Tyreke . . . I sense he likes the challenges though.

And don’t start with never should have gotten rid of Salmons and Artest crap… Salmons 17.2% and Artest 24%… Kingsitis?

He is too single-minded when goes to the hoop to try and draw the foul. It has worked for 6 years but it is time for K-Mart to take the next step as a player. I am not sure what the refs have in mind regarding calling fouls, but a new trend seems to be emerging. There seems to be a new reluctance to give the offensive player the benefit of the doubt when contact occurs, specific to K-Mart or otherwise. A parade to the free throw line is not what the fans want, not what Stern wants, and the refs may have received the off-season memo to this effect.

Anyway, when is K-Mart going to make his teammates better? All-Star caliber players do this. He needs to make his teammates better. Get a lay-up for Brockman. Find a cutter for a flying jam. Be an offensive decoy if your shot is not falling. Get a struggling teammate, aka Spencer Hawes, an easy look. K-Mart is too skilled, too experienced, and too crafty not to make a contribution in more ways than just scoring.

Reke’s assist number don’t tell the whole story, since he did manage to find a lot of players for wide open looks that were missed. Also, even if he did make a bad decision at the end of game, you have to love the mindset of a rookie who wants the ball in the final seconds. I was impressed.

And Spencer Hawes officially sucks. He’s 7 foot, and fades away on EVERY f*cking shot. It drives me nuts.

…you could’ve connected with a sledge hammer on him and the zebras would have been immune to calling a foul last night.

Even with the terrible shooting by JT and overpaid-Mart the Kings were up by 3 with 1:35 on the clock and we had the ball. Then K-Mart proceeded to dribble the ball around for 15 seconds and not even get a shot up!! Hes proven to be an excellent catch and shooter, but at the end of games hes has no moves and tries to get bailed out by the refs every time. You dont see Melo, Lebron, or Kobe try to draw fouls at the end of games, they try to make buckets!! End of the game we need to give the ball to Tyreke at the top, pick and roll and spread the shooters out. At least he will try to make the bucket and not go for the bail out. I want Kmart catching and shooting at the end of the game, not trying to make 1 on 1 moves.

One of my big criticisms of the first game was that PW did not do that great. He just didn’t seem to have handle on how to play these guys.

I think that is fast changing and have to say that he was on his game last night. I love that he immediately pulled out anybody who screwed up. In one minute or less it seemed.

He also stayed with guys doing really well. Keeping Noc in the game for as many minutes as he got was very good. He had a hot hand and, thus, got more minutes.

With JT and Mancakes in the game this team is so dominant in rebounding at both ends it is awesome. Got to love the hustle and grit they both bring.

I was glad to see that the team didn’t really suffer with Beno at PG. I think the reason is he didn’t match up with Paul. Paul owns Beno, just look at the stats from last year. Beno dished and played better than I thought he would.

Paul… Ah yes, the defensive presence of Tyreke Evans is truly there. First the Jazz’s finest PG and now Paul. This guys is so fresh and young, yet he plays D like this? Just wow! Not like he shut Paul down, but he kept him out of the paint.

JT showed some new moves and is obviously getting well coached. He just has to hit his comfort zone for them to start dropping. Can’t wait. It is too bad he and Kev didn’t hit better. A win would have have nice.

Overall, a game we should have won.

Here.

If we should have won this game, then we’re gonna steal a win somewhere down the road. And once this team starts clicking (they’ve been together a sum total of 3 months?) we’ll actually be in more positions to win games too.

and there making a concerted effort not to look like the replacements. NO constantly had a hand on our shooters as they went up. Kevin came from the left side of the basket and stopped on the right side, received a pass from Hawes and went straight up. The ball never got as high as the rim and when he came down he was 3 ft behind the basket. The defender had his hand on him the whole time. Spencer got the ball from Tyreke on a pick & roll, but when he got to the basket he was sandwitch betwee 2 NO players. As he went up Okafur put a hand on Hawes’ hip. As Hawes released the ball you can see him being hit on the wrist by the player to his left, and you can see the arm opening of his jersey on his right streched down by Okafurs’ grab.

I’m not saying the game was called unfairly. Just that the players aren’t at their mid season form yet, and either are the refs. But, I do believe that the word is out on Martin. Not getting a single FT in 6 straight quarters, for a guy who touches the ball so much and attacks the basket so much, just has to be a conscience effort by the refs. Kevin needs to stop throwing up a shot everytime he’s bumped.

Paul got 8 of his 31 off of Beno, so Tyreke got 22 and gave up 23 to Paul. Beno played point well at the end of the 1st quarter and the start of 2nd, but that 3 pointer to Paul he gave up at the end of the 3rd and the wide open 3 to Brown, show Beno’s real weakness is defense.

I thought the movement slowly died in the 2nd half, but it wasn’t do to any adjustments on the part of NO. Others have already posted about PW playing Martin 40 minutes. Martin & Tyreke both lost a step by the end of the game. But, with Mason in the game and only a threat for an alley-oop, and Noc being our only 3pt threat and camping out beyond the 3pt line, there was no one else to move.

The pick & roll offense still is a challenge for the Kings. With Thompson, Brockman and Hawes getting blocked a total of 5 times, we’re not blessed by dominant finishers in the front line. Nor are any of out guards very accomplished with getting to ball down low to our bigs where they have a chance to finish well.

I think PW is still experimenting with his rotations( Beno doen’t play one game & Sergio doesn’t play the next, Omri get a lot of minutes then hardly plays the next), I do hope to decides soon. Whatever the rotation ends up being, I think it will be better for the players if they can get consistant minutes. There aren’t too many players on this team that are that sparkplug, who can come off the bench cold and light up the scoreboard.

I also think that until Cisco comes back, PW needs to decide who’s going to backup Martin. Switch Evans to the 2, play Omri, or my least favorite option play Beno at the 2.

This was a really great game with a disappointing outcome.

I was going to comment on Mason’s great play on the defensive end and how important it is for him to be in the starting lineup but Aykis covers that very nicely in his "Welcome to Westphalia" piece.

FACT
#1. Reke could shoot over CP3. CP3 could not shoot over ’Reke.

Paul only attacked the rim when Tyreke was on the bench. Also, for CP3 to only get 4 assists speaks volumes about Tyreke’s length and defense as well as the Kings’ team defense. The Kings’ ability to disrupt the passing lanes (see May and Mason) and the strategy to push their bigs out of their comfort zone were key in disrupting the Hornets’ offensive flow.

Digging the high pick and roll with May and ‘Reke. It almost looks unstoppable when May is doing his mid-range damage.

It was also nice to see Mason, JT and Hawes help each other out and box out on missed shots and missed tip-ins. A chemistry is certainly developing with all of the Kings, especially the boys in the front court.

Noc is such a dangerous weapon to have but he’s super streaky. I really like the fact that whether he’s hot or cold, he’s always willing to be aggressive and attack the basket.

When the Kings put out JT, Brockzilla and Tyreke on the floor at the same time, they become the Super Rebounding Squad, capable of cleaning glass on the tallest of buildings.

Brocktimus Prime. Our energy guy. Our David Lee. Our Louis Amundson. The Kings’ fan favorite. Loved his hard groin foul on CP3 that sent him to the ground. We’ve been needing a guy like this on our roster and I’m so glad he’s here. If he bangs and hustles the way he did against Brook Lopez and Kevin Love in the Pac-10, Kings fans will have another player to be excited about. I’m riding shotgun on this bandwagon.

Loved seeing CP3 give Tyreke major props after the game. I hope ‘Reke savors whatever encouragement CP3 gave him and remembers it when this season hits a low point…IF this season hits a low point.

Thanks to Coach Westphal, the Kings finally have a road map to where they need to be.

Bring on San Antonio. GO KINGS!