And an excellent point in regards to McCants and his potential long-term value to this team.

I didn’t have a chance to watch the game last night, but I saw the scroll on ESPN this morning. I liked Spencer’s line of 20/10/5.

But dammit, watching McCants pretty much take Jeff Green completely out of the game in the second half last night was a blast. 18 for Green in the first half, 4 in the second, and he’s a handful, even when you aren’t giving up 6 inches.

There has to be a point guard who can operate with Martin & McCants on the floor, especially given the limited minutes you’d have both out there at the same time.

what do you guys think are the chances McCants gets resigned?

First, I think Natt is wrong, not lying. You don’t go down the stretch of your game because his ankle is stiff. You ask him if he’s ready to go: And he says: Yes I can or No I can’t.

Then, whatever happens, you play him the last few mins and try to ride him to victory. That’s the bottom line. Natt fucked up, and there’s no other way to spin that This game depended on his ability to coach for the Kings to win, and he failed the team. Yes, it’s more subtle than that, but at the bottom line level of it all, it’s really not.

Now, I will totally grant that Natt had every reason to think the lineup he did have in there for most of the 4th was working. After about the 6 min mark, and I don’t care what the reason was with Kevin, it became apparent that team had finished it’s ability to work well as a cohesive unit on the floor. Natt tapped the bench well last night; he failed to integrate Martin back properly, stiff ankle or no, back into the lineup for the stretch drive.

The point about McCants and Martin being on the floor is another issue altogether, and that’s something I think the Kings will look at in the off-season. I think a huge part of keeping McCants is whether they are able to trade Beno or not. If they’re able to move Beno in a deal (Washington? In a move that saves the Bullets luxury tax next season, and for the KIngs to dump Beno’s salary long term on Washington, or something like that—is what I’m thinking—here’s what I’m noodling: Kenny Thomas & Beno Udrih for Darius Songalia, DeShawn Stevenson, Mike James and Etan Thomas) is the primary factor I see in whether the Kings will keep McCants. Otherwise, I think it’s likely the Kings will let McCants walk because Beno makes too much to sit on the bench and be the next Kenny Thomas.

Cisco has been out there competing his ass off with a broken finger right in front of his eyes. And he wouldn’t put Speed in the game because of a stiff ankle? He’s the best player on the team, stiff ankle or not.

Going back to the comment about ball distribution between KMart and McCants… The thing that I notice every night is Spencer and/or Jason are the first down the court. You can’t ask for anything more than your bigs sprinting the floor. They beat their man down the court, gain position on him in the paint or on the block and PLEAD for the ball, only to get passed up or have to move out of the paint for 3 sec violation. I see this every night and I can’t stand it. I only know Ricky from a little bit of the olympics. I know he is fast, but don’t know how well he sees the court and his judgement on things developing before they happen. A solid point guard would change everything given the hustle the young bigs are putting out IMO. I can only dream of what a point like CP3 could do with our young bigs on the break…

I’d like to talk about thier post players getting to the free throw line 16 times (and hitting 15)

and ours getting there ….once. ONE $#@!ing Free throw?! Go to the hoop with some bad intentions guys!!!! (be an optimist and say Noce’s 1 attempt was while he was at the 4 – and stiiiiill)
I’ve said it before, but when your jumpshots stop falling you need to be able to throw it inside for a play at the freakin’ rim! Doesn’t have to be a great play – but you have to do it and have players who want to do it. Hawes line, 20 / 10, yeah thats great (really) but go in and draw some fouls young man!

A team consisting of a bunch of defensively-limited shooters and a center with five assists.

What offense are we running again?

that this was an act of tanking?

Oh, wait…

First off, I wouldn’t get too excited about what happened to Kmart last night. In some ways it was similar to the way Jason Richardson used to be treated every night at Golden State. It’s probably a one-time occurence.

We need a point guard and more depth at the big spots, but we seem to have an excess of 2 guards. So trade Martin and/or Beno in the summer and get a point guard or big back.

That gives you:

PG-Somebody not named Beno with a draft pick or Solomon or Bjax as backup.
SG-McCants/Cisco and/or maybe a draft pick (James Harden?)
SF-Nocioni/Cisco
Bigs-Hawes/Thompson/guy we got for Martin/draft pick.

Let’s be flexible.

Martin in a deal that gets us Bosh or Boozer, for instance?

Toronto signs Bosh to an extension as part of the deal. On second thought, thew young man may be greedier (and possibly rightly so) than I give him credit for.

who can really pull attention from him by consistantly scoring at the rim – and he’ll be in the top five in scoring every year. All-Star, the whole thing.

Period ! ! ! !

about worrying if there will be enough time for McCants: if Martin keeps getting hurt, there will be those opportunities to start and play extended minutes.

Would he be labeled soft on crime?

He is, in some respects, a younger version of Bobby Jackson – he plays with purpose, he shoots a bit too much, he scores the ball well, he defends well (no way he can rebound like BJax who is the ultimate 6’1" power forward on the boards). But McCants is the second coming of AI as a passer.

McCants as a killer off the bench is where he belongs IMO. I see him in that role on whatever team he ends up on. Will it be the Kings? Should it be the Kings? I can see him with Garcia who is a mixed bag as a facilitator. Can I see McCants with Beno – maybe if you add a back up big who can defend the rim and doesn’t need the ball (Thabeet). The Kings management has historically bought into a known commodity (Cisco, Beno) over an unknown.No one on this page would be surprised if McCants is wearing purple and white next season.

The thing about McCants is – the guy has talent. I am in favor ot this team collecting talent, and a coach who can figure out how to use that talent.

that I’m all for adding McCants at the right price. What I can’t figure out is how this guy is a career 43% shooter. Could it have been the cold weather in Minnesota? Because he looks like a stone-cold scorer.

the “stone-cold scorer” line, and yes it was more intended for the entire audience than specifically your post.

You are usually so reasonable section, we have to nitpick to tease. :)