Tyreke took care of the Hogwarts staff and ate some Venison this week, but none of the Kings had an answer for Kit Carson and a pack of wolves.

This was an odd week.  The record was disappointing (2-2 should have been 3-1) but the highs of this week were just ridiculous, and both wins came down to His Majesty Tyreke Evans doing what he does best: Being a Star.

The Good:

1. Tyreke Evans

Perhaps we need to start calling this guy ShamWow because I say Wow every time I see him play.  He did have one of his worst games of the season scoring wise against Minnesota, but he more than made up for it by winning two games against Washington and Milwaukee in the final seconds.  The game against Washington might have been even more impressive because he won it with his defense, and then had to ice the game with a pair of free throws and 16,000 + drunk people in the arena with him.  Tyreke deserves All-Star consideration this year.

2.  Iron Man aka Jason Thompson

See Player of the Week

3.  1st Israeli in the NBA gets Starting Job

Omri finally cracked the Starting 5 this week, and definitely made the most of it, scoring 20+ twice in his 3 games started so far.  I don't think you can put him back on the bench.  He provides a few things Donté doesn't yet: better rebounding, consistency, and Omri Mean Face.  Omri has a really bright future ahead of him, and he'll definitely be in Dallas during All-Star break for the Rookie-Sophomore game, and it'd be nice to see him in the 3-point shootout as well.  Also a nice thing to note, Omri's poor free throw shooting seems to be a thing of the past and he hit 20/25 free throws this week.

4. Ime Udoka

Ime finally is feeling better after suffering a few weeks of Desmondmasonitis, and played really well this week.  He reminds me of a poor man's Shane Battier, in that he can hit his shots although he doesn't really look for them, and he plays smart defense and rebounds well for his size.  Ime has been a very solid pickup for us.

5. Beno Draino

ESPN has Beno ranked as #1 on their Most Improved Player Awards watch list, and I have a hard time disagreeing.  He's shooting above 53% from the field (his TS% is now at 61%), is averaging almost 14 points a game with 4 assists, is actually trying on defense (he just doesn't have the lateral quickness to keep up with some guys but his effort shows) and has simply been a rock.  His MLE contract is starting to look like a steal.

6.  Free Throws

This team finally started hitting their free throws this week, and its led to a couple wins.  It was seemingly a mental thing I think.  When Kevin and Cisco get back, the teams total percentage will likely improve quite a bit.  Its nice to see the team improving in their weaknesses each and every week.  At first the problem was turnovers, and they've responded nicely.  Then it was free throws.  Now its defensive rebounding and winning on the road.  I have very high hopes for this team.

7. Hulk Hawes

When Spencer gets angry, he can play really well, and he did so off the bench against Washington and Minnesota, and he had a pretty good game against Milwaukee as well.  By far the biggest weakness in Spencer's game is rebounding, and defensive rebounding to be exact.  That is a team wide weakness, but when you're a 7 footer you're the one we should look to.  Get even madder Spence.

8. A win on the road!

Finally the Kings notched win #2 on the road in Milwaukee, and hopefully win #3 comes next against Chicago.  They have had quite a few opportunities to win on the road, and once we start winning there is when I'll start calling us a playoff team.

The Bad:

1. The Show got benched

Donté really hasn't had many great games since he gained the starting role after his New York blow up and the only thing I can ask of him is consistency. He still takes way too many threes (and his percentage, which had been so good early in the year, has fallen all the way to 33.3%).  I don't think we'll see as much of Donté now that Omri has gained the starting role, and especially when Kevin gets back.  But there is hope.  We have seen a big defensive improvement from him this year, and he's still really young.

2. Three Pointers

The Kings were awful from 3 point land this week, shooting 18 of 75 for a 3P% of .240.  Sometimes the shots don't fall too much, but I think we have too many guys that shoot three pointers that shouldn't.  Donté, Sergio and Tyreke shouldn't be shooting 3 pointers in my opinion.  And Noc can hit them, but he tends to go on streaks where he'll keep firing till he hits one and that really hurts the offense.  His 3s were huge in the Washington game though.

3.  Sergio

Sergio had a bad week, and it seems to have left him out of the rotation for now.  He tried too hard in Portland, played pretty well in limited minutes against Washington, and didn't really do much against Minnesota.  He had a DNP-CD against Milwaukee, but that was probably more for matchup reasons and how well Beno and Tyreke played.  I think he'll see extended time against the Lakers next week though, as they have a huge weakness defending against fast point guards since Derek Fisher is 102 or something.

4. K-9

Another player with a bad week.  K-9 is sent in to do two things, rebound and play defense, and even though he saw 15 plus minutes twice, he failed to grab more than 3 rebounds in a game.  Still he's been a professional.

5.  Bruce Banner Hawes

Against Portland, Spencer had his worst game of the season.  He was ineffective almost everywhere, and it definitely cost him his starting position for the next two games.  He needs a fire lit under his ass, and I think the Kings are going to do that in next years draft.

6. The Portland game

The Kings had this game, even leading by 11 at halftime.  But the execution in the 2nd half, especially defending the pick and roll was horrible.  The Kings couldn't execute their offense either, instead focusing on trying to get Tyreke the ball instead of playing the way they had been to get the lead.  The Kings still had a chance to win the game within the last few minutes but the execution was terrible.  You expect rookie teams to have lapses like this, and its a part of the learning process, but a loss is a loss in my book.

7. Spray and Pray Noc

Noc has a really bad tendency to keep firing when he's obviously not feeling it.  It kills the offense, and most of the time its not needed.  I think the Kings should start shopping Noc as soon as they can, and if its for expirings, see if one of those expirings is a good rebounding big.

The Ugly:

1. Defensive Rebounding

For the first time this year, the Kings were outrebounded in every single game this week.  And although this team excels on the offensive glass, they are pretty horrible on the defensive glass, and as such that leads to a lot of 2nd chance points for the other team.  The Kings wouldn't have needed Tyreke Evans to bail them out of the Wizards and Bucks games this week had they rebounded better.  I would not be surprised to see the Kings acquire a big man in a trade before the deadline that will add a big rebounding presence. 

2. The Minnesota game

This was a bad loss.  The Kings need to learn to beat the teams they should beat, and there is no doubt that the Wolves are better than their 5 wins would show (mainly because Kevin Love had been absent for so long), but this is still a team you're better than.  You can't allow Corey Brewer to score 20 points on you and expect to win.  You can't let the worst offense in the league outrebound you by 10, shoot 54.7% and score 112 points and expect to win.  JT and Omri were the only ones to really show up for this game.

Player of the Week:

Jason Thompson

18.8 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 2 BPG, 2 APG, .574 FG%

JT was a monster this week, putting up All-Star like numbers, being one of the few bright spots in the disappointing losses to Minnesota and Portland.  His defense still needs work (mostly his footwork), but his blocking has improved and he's made some very timely blocks.  His FG% is awesome and he continues to be the best offensive rebounder on the team.  If he ever becomes as good a defensive rebounder as he is offensive, he'll be a multiple time All-Star.  As it is now, it still looks like he'll see at least one All-Star game in his future.

Co-Highlights of the Week:

Tyreke won two games this week, using both ends of the floor.

Defense:

And Offense:

The rest of the league is on notice.

Comment of the Week:

pookey is like your drunk Uncle on Thanksgiving -

You can respond to his rantings, or wait for him to pass out on your sofa and then shave off his eyebrows.

by section214 on Dec 17, 2009 4:27 PM PST up reply actions   7 recs

And Nostradumbass Predicitions for Next Week:

@ Chicago 12/21 W (Kings want revenge, but they'll need to guard the glass if they want to win this game)

v. Cleveland 12/23 W (Cleveland has a tendency to play to their opponents level, LeBron is quickly reaching a level of douchiness rivaled only by Kobe, and I think the Kings can outwork the Cavs)

v. Lakers 12/26 L (Kings do usually tend to get one surprise win v. the Lakers a year, but they just have way too imposing of a front line for Sacramento, and they'll be able to put Artest or Kobe, both excellent defenders, on Tyreke.  This could be a blowout loss when you factor in Bynum, Pau, and Odom as well.  Lakers weakness is quick guards so look for Sergio to see extended time.)

Nostradumbass record for the season: 14-12