First, I gotta be a little selfish. This one felt REALLY good because I was there. I was at Arco for the Portland blowout (my birthday), the Orlando blowout, the Wizards failed comeback, and the Utah loss (thanks refs!) so as a fan (and paying customer) I really needed this win. The best part was that I wasn’t even expecting it, I just hoped for a close game and a good time with the wifey and her best friend. I know there are a lot of fans who have been to other games this season and feel the same way so I’m sure they understand how it is.

The Kings played a very consistent game from beginning to end, something we definitely have not seen most, if not all, of this season. We jumped on to the lead and never let them come back all the way. We gotta be honest too though: everything was falling from 3 for Sacramento and the Nugs didn’t have it going when they needed it. It happens; I guess it’s just weird because it happened in our favor, again, something we haven’t seen all year. On top of good 3 point shooting, the offense seems to be running smoothly which is always good to see. The defense was active, which is what should be expected I think. We have players limited on the defensive end so when they at least put in the effort and hustle I’m happy. Not great D but enough to get the win (add some bad shooting by Denver in there too)

Some player observations:

Kevin – Had a really good game. His line looks better in the box score that it did live. Not saying that he didn’t look good, he just looked even better when just looking at the numbers. I definitely noticed the rebounds (I needed them for my fantasy team too so that kinda helps noticing them). The defense wasn’t great at first IMO, but I think it got better once he settled into the game. I could be wrong but I think he was the one that called the huddle before some Denver FTs, and rallied the troops to finish the game (Not sure it was him or someone else, did anyone see that?)

Spencer – Came out on fire making 3s like that’s his main thing. It was good to see him work in the post after that and make a couple nice shots off of nice post moves. I’m expecting big things from him next year in terms of offensive moves. You can also tell his defense is improving and he’s trying hard to alter shots on the defensive end without fouling as much, something this team really needs.

Cisco – What can I say about Cisco? You are gonna love the guy’s heart and hustle more times that you are going to hate his knucklehead plays. With an injured finger he still comes out and gave it his all. Not sure how some of those shots went in, but it was that kinda night for this team so we would take it. That 3 from looooong range with the clock running out was a great shot and got the fans fired up. That 2 at the end was the dagger and gave the team the W.

Nocioni – I love me some Shaggy. The guy came out firing (with Spencer) and scored from every way possible. Want a 3? Gave us some. Post up moves? Got those too. Midrange? How many do you want? And on defense he was harassing Melo and whoever he was guarding. He may not be the best defender but he is annoying as hell and this team needs those kinds of players. He brought some fire too and you know he’s not gonna back down from anyone. I read from Bulls fans that he’s gonna be hot and cold at times so we better enjoy when he’s hot I guess.

Bobby Jackson – Veteran leadership as always. Not a lot of chuckers which is always good. You know what Bobby brings to the table. Those drives to the hoop with the floaters to score were pretty sweet.

JT – Rough game for the rookie. He wasn’t in foul trouble at first but went unnoticed for a while until his dunk for his first 2 points. Not sure what his line was but I didn’t see him in action much. With the way Spence was playing, Natt (may I say) made the right decision at keeping him in the bench. Pretty scary moment when he got hit by Nene and then had to go to the locker room. He came back and appeared to be fine.

Solomon – I’m really sorry but I really hate the guy. He does not cut it for me as a point guard. That entry pass he messed up got me really pissed. Good thing Natt took him out right after it.

Tenacity – I like him off the bench bringing in some scoring punch. The problem I have with him is that you can tell that he is always looking to score. When he gets the ball, watch. He thinks about getting past his opponent or how to get his shot off before he even thinks about passing. The crowd saw that too and urged him to pass it more than once. Love the scoring and he’s very capable of putting points on the board but he needs to develop better habits. I wouldn’t mind keeping him as a backup for Kevin, at the right price of course. His effort and hustle is something else I like. He’s been showing some good defense and we all like that.

Donte – I don’t understand Natt when it comes to double e. I don’t think he’s putting him in a position to succeed, just my impression. He did look lost and wasn’t surprised when he got subbed after only 4 minutes but I think it is in part to how and when Natt puts him on the court. He has ways to go and I’m really rooting for him to work hard this summer and be a contributor next year.

Arco really appreciated the win. You could feel all of the fans’ excitement after finally getting a nice win at home. I got there early and it looked like it was going to be really empty but it began to fill out late and it was a nice crowd (for this season’s standards). Arco was quiet at first, but the 3s really got the crowd going and they were rocking for the last 3 minutes to close the game.

After re-reading this post it mostly sounds reeaaallly positive. I know this team is still bad and has long ways to go but it is nice to feel good about what we have for a night

Just as an add:

My Kings roster next year: Kevin, Beno, Cisco, JT, Hawes, Greene, Nocioni, Bobby Jax (veteran’s minimum), Tenacity (@ the right price), 3 rookies (hopefully 1 PG, 2 big men), X veteran big men, and, almost forgot, Kenny Thomas’ expiring contract

Francisco Garcia is a man, man

Francisco Garcia is THE man, man.

Was looking for more from JT but can’t complain with the results. Spencer was Hawesome, and finally Natt put Nocioni and his “enerzhee” (love the way he says it) into the starting lineup like I’ve been wanting him to. I think having him starting and Cisco coming off the bench is the best thing because Cisco seems to get more into the game later.

And Cisco. My oh my, Cisco. Great game from him, all with a broken finger.

Great win.

That every game the Kings play well I dread them losing it in the final minutes, I wait with a tickle in my stomach for the wheels to fall off. I’ve attended several this year, Phx, Utah (etc) that it happened. In retrospect though, last nights game was a clear wire to wire win. Last night the Kings looked like the better team.

Strange.

Great efforts by our wings, Noce, Cisco and Mccants – and of course KM who filled the stat sheet in a way we’d all like to see more regularly. That looks like a wing rotation that, though a little small, could work well for several years.
Hawes had a very good game as well, but this game, and the gross rebounding disparity, especially on the offensive end, proved to me once again that whatever you think of the future of our young bigs – they’re going to need to more help.

No news flash here but we must add depth and a future at the 1 and the 4-5 in the offseason.

Great Freakin’ wire-to-wire win guys!

So I missed Noc’s 3’s to begin the game along with Shawes starting out there. That being said I have some observations of my own.

• Last night’s game thread sucked—I couldn’t post any of my comments—which doubly sucked considering last night’s win was so out of the blue that it made me smile
• Bobby Jackson has made me look both foolish, and right—he’s well past his prime and doesn’t have much left to give a team every night—on the flip side he plays so hard, and with so much passion and intensity that’s it’s almost heart breaking to see him not have that anymore (I miss the Bobby J of his first 2 seasons in a Kings uni)
• I was very disappointed that Spencer reached his career high with 18 mins left in the game, and that was all he scored after that—there were so many times the team just ignored him
• The offense was awful in the 4th qtr, and had the Nuggets ever gotten hot, they would have won
• Cisco proved why he was great—a man’s man even, but also lacking in some important fundamentals to win games, many of those shots he took last night missed every time over the course of the season
• Even the sun shines on a dog’s ass some days—it was shining like crazy last night in Arco
• Last night was pure sunshine with Cisco playing tough, with Kevin playing the all around game, with Noc bringing the toughness, with Spencer playing a quality all around game, with the Kings hanging on to win, with room for improvement if this team can ever figure out to run it’s offense consistently, and last but not least, the passion and caring for how well the team was evident last night

Being a Kings fan was fun for the first time since the win vs LA. I hope to never go 3 months and say that again.

I love that you included the box score in this. Can you do that on every post-game blog? Sometimes I don’t get to see it and I always come here first for news :x

Kings were killing it from long range. My Nuggets looked awful and suffered an embarrassing loss.

Still wish Denver would have drafted Cisco 22nd overall instead of Julius Hodge … but no they pass him for a guy who can’t shoot or play and the Kings get a steal at 23. What a blunder.

Although I have somewhat reveled in the losses this season, looking at them w/ great satisfaction in light of rebuilding and our chances at the draft lottery, I have to say that this was a solid, feel-good win.

Of course, I wouldn’t want the team to make a habit of it with only Umpteen games left to play. Save it for next season, when Griffin or Rubio is on the squad.*

*I realize we have a less than 50% chance of the getting one of the first 2 picks in the draft, but it’s still (currently) a better chance than every other team.

Everything going according to plan…. muaaahhahaahahahaaaaa

for one night.

Here’s hoping he can make that kind of solid all-around performance a habit, win or lose.