Kings Win Opener at Minnesota 117-116

So this sports night is basically perfect.

that the T Wolves best player wasn’t playing tonight. But once he comes back from overseas, watch out!!

Encouraging to see the team pull together for a win, even without Tyreke or Dalembert in the line-up. I’m really excited to see what this team will be capable of at full strength.

As TZ mentioned, the defense was seriously lacking, which I would hope and anticipate that Dalembert will help. The team still needs a lot of work defending the pick and roll.

I was impressed with Luther Head, proof again that the preseason may not tell us everything. Even still, it is only one game. Nonetheless, he looks like a nice player to provide some guard depth.

Whiteside is still very raw. Zach Harper tweeted that he looked lost on defense, and I’d agree. Not good for a guy expected to make his living on his defense. I’m just happy that with Dalembert, Landry, JT and Cousins, we shouldn’t have to rely on Whiteside as much as we may have in years past.

Landry turned it on late in the game, very nice job coming up big when it mattered.

Cousins, oh Cousins. What an impressive debut. Maybe you’d like more points or more rebounds, but it’s hard to complain. And for a guy that everyone wants to paint as unstable, he showed a ton of composure, particularly in the clutch. Giddy about this kid.

I am happy that the offense looked good and fluid for the most part. Little hic-ups here and there. The preseason had me scared for a moment.

And….82-0 is still a possibility.

and since the Wolves project to be one of the worst teams in the league, I think this is kind of a wake-up call.

I think Dalembert will prove to be way more important than we give him credit for.

5 assists by dmc, suck it minny

so yes, Cousins is THAT good

So logically, Kings > Heat.

That game was a sloppy one on defense but it sure was a fun game to watch regardless. Udrih, Garcia and Landry were pimps tonight. I like their second and third effort that these guys were showing tonight.

Cousins warmed up after halftime and was in on some clutch plays in the fourth, I like his free throw stroke, he’s going to be a blast to follow this year. Luther Head impressed me tonight, he brings some energy and some veteran smarts to the team, I wasn’t expecting much from him so it was a nice surprise.

Casppi even played a nice role tonight with some effort plays. Donte’ and JT didn’t look good on defense or offense, they’ll pick it up though, I have faith. It was an overall team win, especially missing our best player plus our best post defender. GO KINGS!

Cousins’ competitiveness came through. “No I haven’t,” he said with a scowl. “We’re not friends right now. I’m here to play ball. We’ll talk later on. We’ve got plenty of time for that.”

love it, The NBA needs more of this

the ball moved well this game and the offense was somehow executed quicker… but with reke coming back, i just dont like how our offense will be stagnant with him dominating the too much…. although with reke we get another true scorer and go to guy… its the ball movement that changes with reke in the game….

It was awesome to see him sink 4 free thorws to ice the game at the end, and it was also nice to see the big man, DeMarcus hit 3 of 4 clutch throws (especially with that smile on his face, after I’m sure one of the wolves’ players was talking smack). He looked very calm and collective at the line for a rookie big dude.

But the play of the game was Beno’s “motorbike on the 90 deg turn” / 180 drive where he dished a perfect pass to Omri for the solid dunk finish. The whole first half I was thinking, where are they going to create their own shot/opportunity w/ Tyreke off the floor…that take by Beno answered that. There’s not many players in the NBA that can make that move. It was in the middle of Steve Nash and Jason Kidd with the footwork, agility, eyesight, and strength.

All around a good game, but in the end, Beno stepped up and won this one for us IMO.

Shelden Williams, SheWill with 16 boards for the Nuggets in their win. Reggie Evans with 16 boards, and no points in the Raptors loss. Miami won, Celtics lost to the Cavs.Spurs won. Hibbert with 28 and 9 in the loss.Portland 2-0.

Lots of high scoring games. Boy, it is great to have the NBA back and running.

Win is a Win. If it wasnt for beno udrih breaking down the defense and dish out to Omri in crunch time for dunk, then who knows, it could have gone the other way.

Great Creative Assist by UDRIH: one of many GCA to come.

GCA is patent and registered trade mark of sacboiiiii Ent.

a lot of things to work on as we thought after an uneven preseason that saw little of regular rotation out there. Nice debut from Cousins.

A good road win at someone’s Home opener (stress that, it’s hard to do see Boston at Cleve and Houston at GS)

I unfortunately probably won’t see any of the first three games so I’m counting on you guys for good details!

You guys probably already know about this site, but it was the first time I’d seen it. It’s really only a more detailed plus minus, but quite interesting to see it all laid out in one place. Amazing how often our plus minus plummeted as soon as Cuz left the game. Will it be the same against a more dominant center, like Lopez?

I’m hoping Cuz will get better at not picking up stupid fouls so we can see him on the floor more. It will also be interesting to see how the return of Sammy and Reke affect his numbers.

Also have to give credit to Garcia for stepping up in Tyreke’s absense.

Rather than OKC/New Orleans/San Antonio.

Great job by the team to close out a road game. That was definitely an issue last season (home and away at times).

We won on the road and that is an accomplishment by itself. The Kings played a decent team game and played just enough D when it counted to pull out a victory. On to individual performances.

Francisco Garcia

Cisco played a fantastic game. In the first half, his timely offense kept the Kings afloat and he was clearly the veteran leader needed out on the floor. When the Kings are at full strength, minutes will need to be funneled to El Flaco.

Beno Udrih

Beno played a wonderful offensive game and seems to have continued where he left off last season and has not regressed to the debacle of 2008-9. Unfortunately, he let Luke Ridnour explode on the Kings. Luckily for the Kings, the Wolves are coached by Kurt Rambis and Luke’s number wasn’t called on much in the second half. In Beno’s defense, Ridnour is a nice PG and I wouldn’t mind him on my team, but you cannot let him have free reign on the court.

DeMarcus Cousins

Overall, Cuz had a pretty good game. He didn’t try to force the issue too much and didn’t Artestify some poor Wolves fan. The one issue that I had with his game was his passing. Yes, I know he had 5 assists and I am happy with the number, but many of the assists came form the top of the key as a facilitator. I have no issue with this, I have qualms about his inability to pass out of the post, especially when faced with a double-team. Darko cannot stop the Red Flag. Niko Bellic (or whoever that large Eastern European man was) cannot stop D-Cuz. No one man on the Wolves can stop DeMarcus. This is why he was consistently doubled on the block. Not once did I see him pass out of this situation. Invariable he tried to beat the double and score. At times this is acceptable, but when your opponent doubles, somebody is open. The defense is at a disadvantage and he has enough passing skills and court awareness to try to exploit this situation better than a turnaround jumper or muscled drive to the cup. This is a skill he must and I think will learn.

Donte Greené

Alt-0223 played a fairly poor game in my opinion. As mentioned perviously, he tried to make up for his poor shooting and playmaking by hustling and rebounding and I applaud his effort. Hopefully this game is an anomaly and DG settles nicely into his starting role. If he continues to struggle from the line, I do not see how you can keep him on the court. He is going to get fouled and he needs to knock them down.

Omri Casspi

Omri played a decent game. He was a bit hesitant at times when he should have taken the shot, but I won’t fault him too much for trying to play a team game. He shot well when he did pull the trigger and always hustles when on the court.

Carl Landry

Top Hat was stellar. ironically, just as the StR community was ripping him for his rebounding, he goes out and has a fantastic game on the boards. Go figure. I do not suspect that he will continue at his current clip, but a yeoman effort from Carl was instrumental in last night’s win.

Luther Head

What can I say, he played well. I have seen more of Luther than most as I live in Houston and have watched my fair share of Rockets games. He usually isn’t this good. That being said, I am pleased with this effort and hope the trend continues. When Tyreke gets back he shouldn’t get too much PT, but it is nice to know that Head is at least capable at times. Of course, I knew this from his Houston days and know what you will get from him in extended minutes. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen and that Luther comes in for about 10 minutes a game and hits a three or two in the process.

Jason Thompson

Ughh. Not a good game. JT haters just got some more ammo. Like Donté, here’s hoping this game was a one-time occurrence. At least he made most of his free throws. Step it up JT.